The Verse in Focus (Acts 7:14)
ἀποστείλας δὲ Ἰωσὴφ μετεκαλέσατο τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Ἰακὼβ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν συγγένειαν αὐτοῦ ἐν ψυχαῖς ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε
The Aorist Participle: ἀποστείλας
The participle ἀποστείλας comes from the verb ἀποστέλλω, meaning “to send.” It is an aorist active participle, nominative masculine singular, agreeing with Ἰωσὴφ — “Joseph.” In Greek, the aorist participle often conveys an action prior to the main verb. Thus, “having sent” introduces the cause or means for what follows.
Joseph, having sent a message or delegation, performs the next action: he summons.
Main Verb: μετεκαλέσατο
μετεκαλέσατο is the aorist middle indicative of μετακαλέομαι, meaning “to summon” or “to call for.” The middle voice indicates personal involvement or interest, often reflexive in sense — Joseph took it upon himself to call for his family.
This verb is the narrative engine of the sentence: having sent, he summoned.
Direct Objects: τὸν πατέρα… καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν συγγένειαν
Joseph’s summons has two objects:
– τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Ἰακὼβ — “his father Jacob.” This full phrase includes article + noun + possessive pronoun + proper name, emphasizing respect and clarity.
– πᾶσαν τὴν συγγένειαν αὐτοῦ — “all his relatives/kin.” The word συγγένεια refers to extended family or clan, and the adjective πᾶσαν (“all”) gives the sense of total inclusion. The phrase is in the accusative case, as expected with a direct object of the verb μετεκαλέσατο.
Numerical Note: ἐν ψυχαῖς ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε
This closing phrase modifies the preceding noun συγγένειαν and specifies how many came. The preposition ἐν (“in”) here functions idiomatically to express the number or group total: “in seventy-five souls.”
– ψυχαῖς (dative plural of ψυχή) is a Hebraic idiom for “persons” or “lives.”
– ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε is “seventy-five,” a compound numeral.
This number differs from the Masoretic Text of Genesis 46:27 (which says 70), but aligns with the Septuagint, where the number is 75. Luke, quoting Stephen, reflects the LXX tradition, possibly drawing from Exodus 1:5 or Genesis 46:27 in the Greek version.
The Family That Crossed Over
This single verse tells of more than a summons — it encapsulates the movement of a people from famine to preservation. Grammatically, it hinges on a purposeful participle (ἀποστείλας) and a volitional verb (μετεκαλέσατο), pointing to intentional deliverance. The specificity of number — ἐν ψυχαῖς ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε — draws us into a tradition where textual variations reflect theological richness, showing how even the smallest phrases can carry historical weight and spiritual depth.
