Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

ACTS 7:43KJV
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Acts 7:43 (KJV)

What does Acts 7:43 mean?

Acts 7:43 describes Israel carrying objects connected with the worship of other gods. The verse joins that worship to a warning of removal beyond Babylon. Stephen presents the words as part of his account of Israel’s ancestors and their response to God.

The “tabernacle of Moloch” pictures a tent or shelter associated with that god. The “star” of Remphan is another object connected with worship. Stephen quotes these words from the prophet Amos as he speaks to the Jewish council.

The Greek behind Acts 7:43

  • “took up” — ἀναλαμβάνω (analambanō): The word can mean to lift up or carry. Here it gives the picture of people carrying the tent associated with Moloch.
  • “figures” — τύπος (typos): The word can mean a pattern or an image. Here it points to objects people made as representations for worship.
  • “carry you away” — μετοικίζω (metoikizō): The word carries the sense of moving people from one place to another. Here it describes removal from their homeland.

Why Acts 7:43 matters

  • The verse presents the worship as something people actively made and practiced. The words “figures which ye made to worship them” connect the objects with deliberate acts of worship.
  • The warning reaches beyond the setting of the wilderness journey. “Beyond Babylon” points forward to a later removal from the land, showing that Stephen’s quotation connects earlier worship with a later consequence.
  • Stephen’s wording differs from Amos 5:27 in the KJV, which says “beyond Damascus.” In Acts, “beyond Babylon” places the warning in terms of the later removal associated with Babylon.

Where else these words appear

“carry” Greek G3351 · used in 2 verses

  • Acts 7:4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

“star” Greek G798 · used in 4 verses

  • Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
  • Acts 27:20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
  • Hebrews 11:12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

“Babylon” Greek G897 · used in 11 verses

  • Matthew 1:11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
  • 1 Peter 5:13 The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.
  • Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

“up” Greek G353 · used in 13 verses

  • Mark 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
  • Acts 10:16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
  • Ephesians 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.