Retelling Moses's Killing of the Egyptian: Acts 7 in Its Jewish Context

Abstract

In his retelling of Moses's killing of the Egyptian in Acts 7:23–29, Luke casts Moses in the image of Jesus, as a rejected deliverer. Most scholarship on Acts 7:23–29 understands the overarching narrative of Acts as an explanation of the separation of Christianity from Judaism. The Israelites' rejection of Moses, which Luke reads into Exodus 2:11–15, is placed in parallel to the Jews' rejection of Jesus, which is understood as the impetus of Christianity's break from Judaism. I propose an alternative reading of Acts 7:23–29. Given that Luke's retelling of Exodus 2:11–15 has similarities with the retellings of the Egyptian Jewish writers Artapanus and Philo, and that Luke's use of Scripture to divide Israel into two streams has similarities with the Damascus Document's use of Scripture, I argue that Luke's retelling of Moses's killing of the Egyptian is best read within the Judaism of his time.