Acts 7:8,9 - Because the patriarchs were jealous

7:8

Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. Later the issue of circumcision was a major point of dispute when Gentiles started getting saved. In Acts we will read of the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, the matter was also central to Galatians, and also a significant matter in Romans. So Stephen has set out how the nation began, what Israel’s origins were.

7:9

Stephen then moves on to Joseph, pointing out that his brothers sold him as a slave into Egypt. He refers to the brothers as “patriarchs” rather than “brothers”, making the point that the patriarchs of Israel weren’t exactly a good lot. The second point he makes is “but God was with him”. So there is something of a parallel with Jesus. The Sanhedrin had sent Jesus to the cross, but God was with Jesus and overruled all their evil schemes, as He had done with Joseph and his brothers.