Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Gaza - "The most southern of the five great cities of the Philistines which played so important a part in Old Testament history. It was two miles from the sea. The main road to Egypt passed through it, so that it was an important centre of traffic. It appears to have been destroyed about 96 B.C. by the Maccabaean prince Alexander Jannaeus, a new city being built in the Roman period on the sea-coast and distinguished from its predecessor by the name of 'maritime Gaza'." (Walker)
"Gaza was deserted then. Gaza was a fortress in the extreme south of Palestine. It was destroyed by Alexander the Great in the fourth century before Christ. What was not destroyed by him was in the year 96 completely overthrown by the Maccabaean prince Alexander so that it was literally a desert." (Gaebelein)
a desert place - "If this remark refer to Gaza, we must understand it as indicating the old city which lay in ruins. Since the high way to Egypt passed through the old city, the comment of the text is pertinent. Others, however, consider that the road from Jerusalem to Gaza is intended, and not the city. In that case, we must understand that Philip was instructed to take the less frequented route via Hebron..." (Walker)
Ethiopia - "Not present-day Abyssinia but ancient Nubia, south of Aswan. Apparently he was not yet a full-fledged proselyte." (Ryrie)
"In the light of Acts 11:19 and 15:14 it appears that the eunuch was a proselyte to Judaism. He had come all the way to Jerusalem to worship." (Stam)
Candace - "The hereditary title of Ethiopian queens." (Ryrie)
"It was the name of a dynasty of queens, just as Pharaoh and Ptolemy were the titles of different lines of Egyptian kings." (Walker)
like a sheep...like a lamb - "The order of these words in the LXX differs from that in the Hebrew which is more precise. 'All the utterances of the New Testament regarding the Lamb of God are derived from this prophecy' (Delitzch)." (Walker)
In his humiliation justice was denied him - "This may be interpreted iin a twofold sense: (a) In His state of humiliation, the righteous judgement which was His due was taken away; i.e. He was unjustly treated; (b) When He humbled Himself (Phil 2:8), His condemnation was taken away and cancelled; i.e. He was exalted because of His self-humiliation. The Hebrew original emphasizes the severity of the suffering by, or from, which He was taken away." (Walker)
Who can describe his generation? - "The most natural interpretation of this is, 'Who shall declare and number the generation or seed which He has won by His death and passion?' (cf. Ps. 22:30). They have, however, been explained as meaning 'Who shall declare the wickedness of the generation in which He lived and by which He was put to death?' The Hebrew original seems to lay stress on the carelessness and thoughtlessness of His contemporaries who failed to lay to heart the meaning of His passion." (Walker)
his life is taken away from the earth - "This means, most naturally 'He was put to death', and the Hebrew original agrees. Some, however, interpret 'His life is taken from the earth to a high and heavenly sphere' (Phil 2:9-11), referring the words to His exaltation." (Walker)
told him the good news about Jesus - "Before the coming of Jesus, the Jews understood Isa. 53 as referring to the Messiah. This interpretation was abandoned as believers applied the prophecy to Jesus of Nazareth, and Isa. 53 was then considered by the Jews to be referring either to Isaiah himself or to the people of Israel, who would be a light to the nations, etc." (Ryrie)
"To gain an understanding of this passage it was necessary for the Ethiopian prince to start from the very beginning: 'Of whom speaketh the prophet this?' Also, his visit to Jerusalem had left him with even this question—the most important of all—unanswered, for the religious leaders there would not believe, hence could not tell him, that Christ was the theme of the prophetic Scriptures. Indeed, until this present day apostate Israel refuses to see Christ in Isaiah 53, contending that the prophet in this passage described Hezekiah's sufferings, or perhaps Jeremiah's or his own or Israel's...Yes, Jesus is the theme of Isaiah 53. He is the key to all the Word of God. One can look anywhere and find Him, for every page of it has a vital relation to Him (Lk 24:27; Jn 5:39)" (Stam)
"Philip dealt with the Ethiopian in a way exactly fitting to the dispensation in which he lived, but if we were to deal with souls today in exactly the same way we should most assuredly suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Cor 3:13). In Philip's day God was still dealing with Israel as a nation and the kingdom rights of Christ were being proclaimed. But not long after that Israel lost her favored position and the kingdom was held in abeyance while God ushered in the dispensation of grace." (Stam)
Isaiah - "Those who have supposed that the gospel of the grace of God is found in Isaiah 53 and that this is what Philip preached to the eunuch, have failed to notice two things: the scope and the tone of Isaiah's prophecy. As to the scope of the prophecy, it must be noted that Isaiah speaks strictly as a Hebrew prophet. He does not speak of Christ dying for the world, but of His dying for Israel. The 6th verse says: 'All WE [not 'all men'] like sheep have gone astray ... and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of US all.' The thoughtful student of Scripture will therefore immediately inquire: To whom does the 'all we' and the 'us all' refer? This question is plainly answered in Verse 8, where the prophet goes on to say: 'For the transgression of MY PEOPLE was He stricken.' Thus Isaiah, as a Hebrew prophet, spoke of Messiah's death for his (Isaiah's) people and it must not be forgotten that the eunuch had joined himself as a proselyte to this people. All this is not to deny that we Gentiles too were lost when God found us, or that Christ died for us too. It is simply that this had not yet been made known. Nor did Philip expound Romans, Galatians or Ephesians to the eunuch, but the Old Testament Scriptures, in the light that had thus far been given. The tone of Isaiah's prophecy, too, deserves careful notice. It is by no means the joyous proclamation that Christ should die for sinners and that they might find salvation through faith in His finished work. There is rather a tone of disappointment and wonder that He should have to suffer for their sins though, indeed, the prophet declares that God will reward Him and that He shall yet see the glorious results of His humble submission...Some suppose that substitution—which indeed is taught in Isaiah 53—is the very acme of Christian truth, while in fact it is but the very beginning...Many an innocent man has suffered for a guilty one, but do people generally rejoice in this? No indeed. And neither were the twelve nor Philip yet proclaiming the cross in this manner. There was as yet no boasting about the cross, as in Gal. 6:14. God was rather calling upon His people to repent of their wicked deed and to be baptized, acknowledging Jesus as their Messiah (Read carefully Acts 2:23,32,36,38; 3:13-15;19-21; 4:1012; 5:30,31 and cf. John 1:31). Those who have not quite taken in this important fact should reflect that the Scriptures clearly teach that the nation Israel will be saved only when she acknowledges her sin against Christ; when, condemned by her guilt and touched by His gentle submission, she breaks down in contrite confession and humbly acknowledges Him as her Messiah (Zech. 12:10,11; 13:6; 14:9) This, then, is God's purpose in the cross as revealed in Old Testament prophecy and it must not be confused with 'the mystery,' that deeper, more glorious purpose 'hid from ages and from generation' but made known in due time through Paul (Col 1:26) Not until the chief of sinners was saved and sent forth with the gospel of the grace of God did the world hear what is properly called 'the preaching of the cross,' i.e., as good news. Not until Paul did God offer salvation through faith in Christ's shed blood. Thus in expounding Isaiah 53, Philip called upon the eunuch, not to trust in Christ's shed blood (though we NOW know he was saved THROUGH that blood) but to acknowledge the lately crucified One as 'the Christ, the Soon of God' (See Matt. 16:16; John 1:49; 11:27; 20:30,31; etc.)." (Stam)
vs 37 - Most manuscripts do not contain this verse.
"We have omitted the 37th verse. It does not belong into the text at all, but is an interpolation. The profession of faith put by this verse in the mouth of the Ethiopian anticipates Paul. The first time that Christ is preached that He is the Son of God is in Acts 9:20. Peter preached Him as the rejected Jesus of Nazareth, raised from the dead and Philip simply preached Jesus. It was reserved for Paul to declare the fullness of the Gospel of the Son of God, that Gospel of which he writes to the Galatians 'I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ' (Gal. 1:12) The best Greek manuscripts have not the verse, which speaks of the eunuch's confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." (Gaebelein)
What prevents me from being baptized? - "...It must be remember that this incident took place before Paul was even converted. At that time there had as yet been no hint of any change from the Pentecostal program or from the instructions of our Lord that 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved' (Mark 16:16)...As far as the record of Scripture is concerned, water baptism was still required for salvation at that time and Philip merely pointed out to the Ethiopian prince that if he truly believed, it was his privilege to avail himself of the means of salvation. (We do not use the term 'means' as Lutherans and Roman Catholics do in their doctrine of baptismal regeneration. We hold simply that when God required water baptism for salvation it was necessary to submit to that rite to be saved, even though the baptism in itself accomplished nothing.)" (Stam)
"Those who would make this incident a pattern for our day should not overlook the miracle with which the story closes, for no sooner is the eunuch baptized than the Spirit catches Philip away to another. This is not in harmony with God's program for today, but it does coincide with the 'great commission' to the eleven, where we find that miraculous signs were to follow those who believed and were baptized. It is not without significance that wherever we read of water baptism in the Book of Acts we find some miracle taking place in the near context." (Stam)
Azotus - "...was OT Ashdod, 20 mi (32 km) N of Gaza. Apparently Philip settle in Caesarea, for he was there 20 years later (Acts 21:8)." (Ryrie)
Caesarea - "A city on the sea-coast, about thirty miles north of Joppa. It was originally an obscure town called Strato's Tower; but Herod the Great, to whom Augustus had given it, rebuilt it on a large scale and constructed a fine harbour with immense breakwaters. He renamed it Caesarea Augustus in honour of the emperor, and built himself a magnificent palace there. The population consisted partly of Gentiles and partly of Jews, between whom frequent feuds occurred. When Judaea passed directly under Roman rule, Caesarea became the residence of their procurator, and so alike the capital city and a garrison town. Since we find Philip residing there still in A.D. 57 (see Acts 21:8), it seems almost certain that he made it his head-quarters from this time forward." (Walker)
Gaza - "The most southern of the five great cities of the Philistines which played so important a part in Old Testament history. It was two miles from the sea. The main road to Egypt passed through it, so that it was an important centre of traffic. It appears to have been destroyed about 96 B.C. by the Maccabaean prince Alexander Jannaeus, a new city being built in the Roman period on the sea-coast and distinguished from its predecessor by the name of 'maritime Gaza'." (Walker)
"Gaza was deserted then. Gaza was a fortress in the extreme south of Palestine. It was destroyed by Alexander the Great in the fourth century before Christ. What was not destroyed by him was in the year 96 completely overthrown by the Maccabaean prince Alexander so that it was literally a desert." (Gaebelein)
a desert place - "If this remark refer to Gaza, we must understand it as indicating the old city which lay in ruins. Since the high way to Egypt passed through the old city, the comment of the text is pertinent. Others, however, consider that the road from Jerusalem to Gaza is intended, and not the city. In that case, we must understand that Philip was instructed to take the less frequented route via Hebron..." (Walker)
Ethiopia - "Not present-day Abyssinia but ancient Nubia, south of Aswan. Apparently he was not yet a full-fledged proselyte." (Ryrie)
"In the light of Acts 11:19 and 15:14 it appears that the eunuch was a proselyte to Judaism. He had come all the way to Jerusalem to worship." (Stam)
Candace - "The hereditary title of Ethiopian queens." (Ryrie)
"It was the name of a dynasty of queens, just as Pharaoh and Ptolemy were the titles of different lines of Egyptian kings." (Walker)
like a sheep...like a lamb - "The order of these words in the LXX differs from that in the Hebrew which is more precise. 'All the utterances of the New Testament regarding the Lamb of God are derived from this prophecy' (Delitzch)." (Walker)
In his humiliation justice was denied him - "This may be interpreted iin a twofold sense: (a) In His state of humiliation, the righteous judgement which was His due was taken away; i.e. He was unjustly treated; (b) When He humbled Himself (Phil 2:8), His condemnation was taken away and cancelled; i.e. He was exalted because of His self-humiliation. The Hebrew original emphasizes the severity of the suffering by, or from, which He was taken away." (Walker)
Who can describe his generation? - "The most natural interpretation of this is, 'Who shall declare and number the generation or seed which He has won by His death and passion?' (cf. Ps. 22:30). They have, however, been explained as meaning 'Who shall declare the wickedness of the generation in which He lived and by which He was put to death?' The Hebrew original seems to lay stress on the carelessness and thoughtlessness of His contemporaries who failed to lay to heart the meaning of His passion." (Walker)
his life is taken away from the earth - "This means, most naturally 'He was put to death', and the Hebrew original agrees. Some, however, interpret 'His life is taken from the earth to a high and heavenly sphere' (Phil 2:9-11), referring the words to His exaltation." (Walker)
told him the good news about Jesus - "Before the coming of Jesus, the Jews understood Isa. 53 as referring to the Messiah. This interpretation was abandoned as believers applied the prophecy to Jesus of Nazareth, and Isa. 53 was then considered by the Jews to be referring either to Isaiah himself or to the people of Israel, who would be a light to the nations, etc." (Ryrie)
"To gain an understanding of this passage it was necessary for the Ethiopian prince to start from the very beginning: 'Of whom speaketh the prophet this?' Also, his visit to Jerusalem had left him with even this question—the most important of all—unanswered, for the religious leaders there would not believe, hence could not tell him, that Christ was the theme of the prophetic Scriptures. Indeed, until this present day apostate Israel refuses to see Christ in Isaiah 53, contending that the prophet in this passage described Hezekiah's sufferings, or perhaps Jeremiah's or his own or Israel's...Yes, Jesus is the theme of Isaiah 53. He is the key to all the Word of God. One can look anywhere and find Him, for every page of it has a vital relation to Him (Lk 24:27; Jn 5:39)" (Stam)
"Philip dealt with the Ethiopian in a way exactly fitting to the dispensation in which he lived, but if we were to deal with souls today in exactly the same way we should most assuredly suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Cor 3:13). In Philip's day God was still dealing with Israel as a nation and the kingdom rights of Christ were being proclaimed. But not long after that Israel lost her favored position and the kingdom was held in abeyance while God ushered in the dispensation of grace." (Stam)
Isaiah - "Those who have supposed that the gospel of the grace of God is found in Isaiah 53 and that this is what Philip preached to the eunuch, have failed to notice two things: the scope and the tone of Isaiah's prophecy. As to the scope of the prophecy, it must be noted that Isaiah speaks strictly as a Hebrew prophet. He does not speak of Christ dying for the world, but of His dying for Israel. The 6th verse says: 'All WE [not 'all men'] like sheep have gone astray ... and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of US all.' The thoughtful student of Scripture will therefore immediately inquire: To whom does the 'all we' and the 'us all' refer? This question is plainly answered in Verse 8, where the prophet goes on to say: 'For the transgression of MY PEOPLE was He stricken.' Thus Isaiah, as a Hebrew prophet, spoke of Messiah's death for his (Isaiah's) people and it must not be forgotten that the eunuch had joined himself as a proselyte to this people. All this is not to deny that we Gentiles too were lost when God found us, or that Christ died for us too. It is simply that this had not yet been made known. Nor did Philip expound Romans, Galatians or Ephesians to the eunuch, but the Old Testament Scriptures, in the light that had thus far been given. The tone of Isaiah's prophecy, too, deserves careful notice. It is by no means the joyous proclamation that Christ should die for sinners and that they might find salvation through faith in His finished work. There is rather a tone of disappointment and wonder that He should have to suffer for their sins though, indeed, the prophet declares that God will reward Him and that He shall yet see the glorious results of His humble submission...Some suppose that substitution—which indeed is taught in Isaiah 53—is the very acme of Christian truth, while in fact it is but the very beginning...Many an innocent man has suffered for a guilty one, but do people generally rejoice in this? No indeed. And neither were the twelve nor Philip yet proclaiming the cross in this manner. There was as yet no boasting about the cross, as in Gal. 6:14. God was rather calling upon His people to repent of their wicked deed and to be baptized, acknowledging Jesus as their Messiah (Read carefully Acts 2:23,32,36,38; 3:13-15;19-21; 4:1012; 5:30,31 and cf. John 1:31). Those who have not quite taken in this important fact should reflect that the Scriptures clearly teach that the nation Israel will be saved only when she acknowledges her sin against Christ; when, condemned by her guilt and touched by His gentle submission, she breaks down in contrite confession and humbly acknowledges Him as her Messiah (Zech. 12:10,11; 13:6; 14:9) This, then, is God's purpose in the cross as revealed in Old Testament prophecy and it must not be confused with 'the mystery,' that deeper, more glorious purpose 'hid from ages and from generation' but made known in due time through Paul (Col 1:26) Not until the chief of sinners was saved and sent forth with the gospel of the grace of God did the world hear what is properly called 'the preaching of the cross,' i.e., as good news. Not until Paul did God offer salvation through faith in Christ's shed blood. Thus in expounding Isaiah 53, Philip called upon the eunuch, not to trust in Christ's shed blood (though we NOW know he was saved THROUGH that blood) but to acknowledge the lately crucified One as 'the Christ, the Soon of God' (See Matt. 16:16; John 1:49; 11:27; 20:30,31; etc.)." (Stam)
vs 37 - Most manuscripts do not contain this verse.
"We have omitted the 37th verse. It does not belong into the text at all, but is an interpolation. The profession of faith put by this verse in the mouth of the Ethiopian anticipates Paul. The first time that Christ is preached that He is the Son of God is in Acts 9:20. Peter preached Him as the rejected Jesus of Nazareth, raised from the dead and Philip simply preached Jesus. It was reserved for Paul to declare the fullness of the Gospel of the Son of God, that Gospel of which he writes to the Galatians 'I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ' (Gal. 1:12) The best Greek manuscripts have not the verse, which speaks of the eunuch's confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." (Gaebelein)
What prevents me from being baptized? - "...It must be remember that this incident took place before Paul was even converted. At that time there had as yet been no hint of any change from the Pentecostal program or from the instructions of our Lord that 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved' (Mark 16:16)...As far as the record of Scripture is concerned, water baptism was still required for salvation at that time and Philip merely pointed out to the Ethiopian prince that if he truly believed, it was his privilege to avail himself of the means of salvation. (We do not use the term 'means' as Lutherans and Roman Catholics do in their doctrine of baptismal regeneration. We hold simply that when God required water baptism for salvation it was necessary to submit to that rite to be saved, even though the baptism in itself accomplished nothing.)" (Stam)
"Those who would make this incident a pattern for our day should not overlook the miracle with which the story closes, for no sooner is the eunuch baptized than the Spirit catches Philip away to another. This is not in harmony with God's program for today, but it does coincide with the 'great commission' to the eleven, where we find that miraculous signs were to follow those who believed and were baptized. It is not without significance that wherever we read of water baptism in the Book of Acts we find some miracle taking place in the near context." (Stam)
Azotus - "...was OT Ashdod, 20 mi (32 km) N of Gaza. Apparently Philip settle in Caesarea, for he was there 20 years later (Acts 21:8)." (Ryrie)
Caesarea - "A city on the sea-coast, about thirty miles north of Joppa. It was originally an obscure town called Strato's Tower; but Herod the Great, to whom Augustus had given it, rebuilt it on a large scale and constructed a fine harbour with immense breakwaters. He renamed it Caesarea Augustus in honour of the emperor, and built himself a magnificent palace there. The population consisted partly of Gentiles and partly of Jews, between whom frequent feuds occurred. When Judaea passed directly under Roman rule, Caesarea became the residence of their procurator, and so alike the capital city and a garrison town. Since we find Philip residing there still in A.D. 57 (see Acts 21:8), it seems almost certain that he made it his head-quarters from this time forward." (Walker)
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