Strong’s Greek 1570 depicts the deliberate exposure or abandonment of a person—specifically infants—to certain death. In Scripture it appears singularly in Acts 7:19 where Stephen, recounting Israel’s history, says that Pharaoh forced the Hebrews “to abandon their infants so they would not survive” (Acts 7:19). The term therefore serves as a vivid reminder of human cruelty, societal injustice, and the covenant-people’s need for divine intervention.

Historical Background: Infant Exposure in the Ancient World

1. Widespread Practice

In Greco-Roman and Egyptian cultures, unwanted newborns—often girls or physically impaired children—were routinely left in open places, rubbish heaps, or riverbanks. Excavated letters (e.g., the Oxyrhynchus papyri) show husbands instructing wives to “expose” any female child. Exposure functioned as population control and a utilitarian response to poverty or social preference.

2. Legal and Social Sanction

Pagan legal codes seldom penalized the practice. An exposed infant could die, be taken as a slave, or be trafficked into prostitution. By contrast, Israel’s Law protected life from conception onward (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 30:19), making Pharaoh’s edict an affront not only to the Hebrews but to the Creator who values every image-bearer.

Biblical Context: Pharaoh’s Decree and Moses’ Deliverance

1. Pharaoh’s Strategy

Exodus 1:22 records, “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: ‘Every son born to the Hebrews must be thrown into the Nile, but every daughter you may keep alive.’” Stephen interprets this as mandated exposure. The order served two purposes: population control and psychological terror, aimed at crushing Israel’s hope of redemption.

2. Providence in Exposure

Rather than annihilating Israel, the decree became the stage for God’s redemptive action. A Levite couple hid their child, then set him afloat in a papyrus basket (Exodus 2:3). Pharaoh’s own daughter rescued him, naming him Moses. The tyrant who commanded exposure unknowingly fostered the deliverer of God’s people (Acts 7:20-21).

3. Typological Significance
• Moses, drawn from certain death, foreshadows Jesus, spared from Herod’s massacre (Matthew 2:13-15).
• Just as Moses was “exposed” yet protected, believers “were dead in trespasses” (Ephesians 2:1) yet are now sheltered in Christ.
• The episode proclaims God’s sovereignty over oppressive regimes and underscores His commitment to protect the vulnerable (Psalm 68:5).

The Sanctity of Life Across Scripture

1. Divine Ownership of Life

Genesis 9:6 and Psalm 139:13-16 affirm that God alone grants and sustains life. Any attempt to terminate innocent life arrogates divine prerogatives.

2. Prophetic Rebuke of Violence

Prophets denounce child sacrifice and neglect of the weak (Jeremiah 7:31; Amos 1:13). Acts 7:19 links Pharaoh’s exposure policy to the same spectrum of evil condemned by the prophets.

3. Christ’s Ministry to “Least of These”

Jesus blesses children (Mark 10:14) and defines greatness by service to the smallest (Matthew 18:1-6). The early church echoed this ethic, rescuing exposed infants and opposing infanticide, a practice well attested by second-century apologists (e.g., Justin Martyr, Tertullian).

Ministry Implications Today

1. Advocacy for the Unborn and Abandoned

Modern believers can echo Acts 7:19’s implicit condemnation by defending life through pro-life initiatives, adoption, foster care, and support for crisis-pregnancy ministries.

2. Confronting Systemic Injustice

Pharaoh’s mandate was governmental oppression; likewise, Christians are called to resist any state policy or cultural trend that devalues human life (Proverbs 31:8-9).

3. Gospel Witness

Rescuing the “exposed” mirrors God’s rescue of sinners. Practical compassion accompanied by gospel proclamation embodies the heart of redemption illustrated in Moses’ story.

Devotional Reflection

Acts 7:19 reminds the church that the darkest human edicts cannot thwart God’s redemptive plan. He transforms abandonment into adoption, exposure into deliverance. As recipients of such grace, believers are summoned to protect, nurture, and proclaim life, confident that the Lord “raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the trash heap” (Psalm 113:7).