NT Text: Acts 7:42-43
OT Source(s):
Source: Beale & Carson (eds.), Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (2007); Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): Redemptive-Historical Progression + Contrast
Significance: Stephen quotes Amos 5:25-27 (following the LXX text form, which reads "Babylon" instead of the MT's "Damascus") to demonstrate that Israel's idolatry was not an isolated incident but a persistent pattern extending from the wilderness period through the prophetic era. The introductory formula is implicit in the flow of Stephen's argument. Amos's rhetorical question — "Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?" — indicts Israel for offering worship to false gods (Molek, Rephan) even during the wilderness period. Stephen uses this quotation to advance his argument about Israel's consistent rejection of God's purposes, climaxing in their rejection of the Righteous One (Acts 7:52). The connection operates through redemptive-historical progression (tracing the pattern of idolatry through Israel's history) and contrast (Israel's unfaithfulness highlights the need for something greater than the old covenant arrangements).
NT Use Pattern: Ironic / Inverted — Stephen turns Amos's indictment of Israel's wilderness idolatry back on the present temple establishment — the prophetic critique reread as judgment on the very religious institution that has put Stephen on trial.