“And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.”
'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.' So he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to the land where you are now living as a foreigner - Stephen quotes Genesis 12:1 and develops Abraham's call as the template for covenant faith: obedience to God's word (leaving country and people) before possession of land. Abraham is himself a foreigner (paroikos, sojourner) in the promised land, establishing that dwelling is temporary, not permanent.
Church Fathers on Acts 7:3
And said to him, Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and come into a land which I shall show you. Acts 7:3 It shows how far these men are from being children of Abraham, how obedient he was. And from your kindred. Uncomfortable (φορτικὰ) reflections, both, that he endured the labors, while you reap the fruits, and that all your ancestors were in evil case. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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