“This new king
Dealt craftily
With our people.
He mistreated
Our ancestors.
He forced them
To abandon
Their infants,
So that they would die.”
οὗτος κατασοφισάμενος τὸ γένος ἡμῶν ἐκάκωσεν τοὺς πατέρας τοῦ ποιεῖν τὰ βρέφη ἔκθετα αὐτῶν εἰς τὸ μὴ ζωογονεῖσθαι.
The author of Acts indicated that Stephen said that this new king dealt craftily (οὗτος κατασοφισάμενος) with their people (τὸ γένος ἡμῶν). He mistreated (ἐκάκωσεν) their ancestors (τοὺς πατέρας τοῦ). He forced (ποιεῖν) them to abandon (ἔκθετα) their infants (τὰ βρέφη αὐτῶν), so that they would die, not live (εἰς τὸ μὴ ζωογονεῖσθαι). Acts was the only Greek biblical writing that used this word κατασοφισάμενος, that means to deal craftily with or outwit, and the word ἔκθετα, that means to cast out, expose, or abandon. Once again, Stephen seemed to be relying on Exodus, chapter 1, about the evil Pharaoh in Egypt who had not remembered Joseph. He was having the midwives kill off the young male Hebrew babies. Have you ever been mistreated?