Chizuk Emunah (Pt 2) Under the Microscope: Chapter 62

Acts 7:7, "And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God, and afterwards shall they come forth and serve me in this place." From this quotation it appears, that the disciples of Jesus were but superficially versed in biblical knowledge. For in Genesis (chap. 15) no such words as "in this place," are to be found; and in Exodus 3:12, the expression is, "When thou shalt bring out this people from Egypt, ye shall serve God on this mountain." 

 Again, this is from Stephen's speech. Again, Luke is recording the words of Stephen, and the accuracy of Acts depends only on whether these words are recorded accurately, not on whether Stephen's speech was accurate.

Let's look at the passage in Acts:

And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ (Acts 7:6-7) 

Let's look at Exodus:

Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:10-12) 

 And the passage from Genesis:

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. (Genesis 15:12-14) 

Direct quotation is a modern invention, and quotation marks are an artifact of the printing press. This makes it difficult to decide in ancient literature whether someone is quoting someone else, or if that person is paraphrasing the other. Stephen gets the main theme right: Israel was foreordained to be captured, sent into slavery, and then to come out and worship God in a designated location.

As Stephen Farade states about the Talmud:

Most often, however, scriptural verses are paraphrased; that is, they are not explicitly cited at all, but are rather "retold," with varying degrees of expansion, reduction, reordering, and combination with other retold scriptural verses. (The Cambridge Companion to the Talmud and Rabbinic Literature p. 106)

Citing pieces of two passages is quite common in rabbinic literature, and the rabbis have no justification for faulting New Testament writers or speakers for doing so.

Again, let me quote Williams:

No Jewish scholar is likely to find fault with him for shortening a quotation, for it is in full accordance with the principle laid down in Pesachim, 3b: "Rab Huna said that R. Jehudah said in the name of R. Meir: A man should always teach his pupil the shortest way."

Further, it is doubtful if a single Jewish writer of ancient times can be found who is punctilious about the exact accuracy of his quotations from Scripture. What does R. Joshua haLevi say (after 1467 A.D.) in his Halikoth 'Olam, II. 2? "The method of traditional teaching is to shorten the passages of Scripture, and it does not bring them forward as they are." Thus, for example, a Mishna-teacher of the school of R. Ishmael quotes: "and the priest shall come again, and the priest shall come in," as though one sentence followed the other, whereas in reality they are separated by four verses (Lev 14:39, 44). Makkoth, 13b. In fact, R. Isaac's objection to this part of Nepheri's speech is frivolous and ignorant.*

* The curious reader will find several other examples of the same kind in Surenhusius, Biblos Katallages, 1713, pp. 45 sq. Let him consult also Strack, Prolegomena Critica, 1873, pp. 65 sq., from which the reference to R. Joshua haLevi is taken.