Acts 7:23

Full forty years old. Literally, “when a time of forty years was being fulfilled for him,” that is, when he was about forty years old. The OT gives no information about his age at this juncture. It indicates that Moses was 80 years old when he was sent to Pharaoh (Ex. 7:7), and that he was 120 when he died (Deut. 34:7). Ancient Jewish tradition divides Moses’ life into three 40-year periods (Midrash Rabbah, on Gen. 50:22, Soncino ed., p. 1001), and Stephen follows a similar division: (1) the 40 years in Egypt, (2) the 40 years as a shepherd in the wilderness, (3) the 40 years in which he led his people from Egypt to the borders of Canaan.

To visit. Gr. episkeptomai, “to look upon,” in order to see how a person fares, “to inspect” (cf. Ex. 4:31; Luke 7:16; James 1:27). Moses was bent on helping his compatriots (see on Ex. 2:11).