Acts 7:37 (KJV)

What does Acts 7:37 mean?

Acts 7:37 presents Moses as a witness to a future prophet whom God would raise up from among the Israelites. Moses says that the prophet would be like him and tells the people to listen to that prophet.

Stephen recalls these words while speaking to the Jewish council in Jerusalem. His speech draws attention to Moses himself: the leader Israel honored had told the people to expect another prophet.

The Greek behind Acts 7:37

• “prophet” — προφήτης (prophētēs): A prophet is a person who speaks a message from God. The word points to the person’s role as a speaker, not simply as someone who predicts the future.
• “raise up” — ἀνίστημι (anistēmi): The word can mean to cause someone to rise or to bring someone forward. Here it carries the sense of God bringing a person onto the scene for a purpose.
• “hear” — ἀκούω (akouō): The word means to listen or hear. In this instruction, listening includes paying attention to what the prophet says.

Why Acts 7:37 matters

• The expected prophet belongs to Israel. “Of your brethren” means that God would raise him up from among Moses’ own people, not from an outside nation.
• Stephen’s words echo Moses’ instruction in Deuteronomy 18:15. In that earlier passage, Moses tells Israel that the coming prophet would be “like unto me” and that the people should listen to him.
• Stephen later connects his account of Israel’s past with his hearers’ response to Jesus. In Acts 7:51–52, he accuses the council of resisting God’s message and speaks of “the Just One” whom they had betrayed and killed.