Acts 7:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The same was true with Christ, for Joseph was a type of Him. Having this in mind, Stephen sets forth Joseph’s history in full.

They could accuse him of nothing, yet they treated him wickedly when he came to them with food.

See how here also the promise is distant, yet nevertheless is finally fulfilled.

“The patriarchs,” Stephen says, acted “out of envy.” Joseph, however, does them no harm for this, but benefits them.

He calls the forefathers “patriarchs,” since the Jews took great pride in them. At the same time, he shows by this that even the saints were not free from sorrows, but received help amid sorrows.

These men not only did not lighten their sorrows, but even assisted their enemies, though they ought, on the contrary, to have brought those sorrows to an end.

Just as those men made Joseph very renowned by selling him, so the king made Moses renowned by ordering the infants to be slain. If he had not ordered this, neither would the other thing have happened.

"They sold him into Egypt." Though they knew no fault in their brother, they treated him so wickedly. They did this at the very time when he had come to them with food for them. By their act they assisted the prophecy without knowing it. Against their will they became the causes of his prosperity, though only after many trials for him. They brought upon themselves great fear and unbearable shame. Yet Joseph did not remember the wrong and plotted nothing terrible against them. On the contrary, he fed them when they were tormented by hunger and made them known to Pharaoh.

In the speech which Stephen delivered in the hall of the Sanhedrin, in answer to the high priest’s interrogation, he recalled before his judges the history of the people of God. He began with their forefather Abraham and ended with Solomon (vv. 1-50).

In conclusion he reproached the persecutors of Christians for their resistance to the Holy Spirit, Who was calling them to salvation (vv. 51-53).

Stephen’s speech is both defensive and accusatory. The accusation reported that he had spoken blasphemous words against the Law of Moses and the Jerusalem temple, and against Moses and God.

“Patriarchs”: this is the name given to the children of Jacob, as the forefathers of the twelve tribes of Israel.

“Out of envy they sold him,” and so forth: Joseph stirred the envy of his brothers by telling them about the dreams he had seen. These foretold his superiority over his brothers and his future greatness (Gen. 37).

Stephen surely points to this feature of envy with special intent. His aim is to point to the similar malicious disposition of his own judges against the Lord Jesus.

Thus in Joseph, who was dishonored by his brothers, and later also in Moses, he indicates historical types of Christ the Savior, as deliverers of their people from troubles and misfortunes. Compare Chrysostom.

The sale of Joseph by his brothers is an unfavorable history for the eleven tribes of Israel. Yet the outcome of this history was glorious, and therefore the account cannot be reckoned as blasphemy against the Jews, but rather as their glory.

For Joseph was great in the eyes both of his own people and of the Egyptians.

One may say that in his person the most tender care of God was shown to the Jewish people. For this reason he was considered a type of the Messiah, both as Sufferer and as Savior, raised to royal glory at the throne of God.

At the same time, in the person of his eleven brothers there is, as it were, established even now the relative number of Christ-sellers and enviers of Him Who was God’s Chosen One (see 1 Pet. 2:4).

God was with Joseph first by providence over him, and then by providence through him. Providence over Joseph is revealed in the many temptations by which he was tested, purified, and made wise. It is also revealed in the exaltation by which he was prepared as an instrument of beneficent Providence. Providence through Joseph is seen in the preservation of the Egyptians and Israelites by his means.