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Acts 8:26
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24 Then Simon answered and said, a“Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”  
25 So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

Christ Is Preached to an Ethiopian

26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to aPhilip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.  
27 So he arose and went. And behold, aa man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and bhad come to Jerusalem to worship,  
28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
a“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
bSo He opened not His mouth. 
33 In His humiliation His ajustice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is btaken from the earth.”  
34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, aand beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.  
36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. aWhat hinders me from being baptized?”  
37 Then Philip said, a“If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, b“I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”  
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
39 Now when they came up out of the water, athe Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.  
40 But Philip was found at1 Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to aCaesarea. 
Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
<< Acts 8:25   Acts 8:27 >>


Acts 8:26

And the angel of the Lord - The word "angel" is used in the Scriptures in a great variety of significations. See the notes on Matthew 1:20. Here it has been supposed by some to mean literally a celestial messenger sent from God; others have supposed that it means a "dream" ; others a "vision," etc. The word properly means a "messenger" ; and all that it can be shown to signify here is, that the Lord sent a "message" to Philip of this kind. It is most probable, I think, that the passage means that God communicated the message by his Spirit; for in Acts 8:29, Acts 8:39, it is expressly said that "the Spirit" spake to Philip, etc. Thus, in Acts 16:7, the "Spirit" is said to have forbidden Paul to preach in Bithynia; and in Acts 8:9, the message on the subject is said to have been conveyed in "a vision." There is no absurdity, however, in supposing that an "angel" literally was employed to communicate this message to Phil See Hebrews 1:14; Genesis 19:1; Genesis 22:11; Judges 6:12.

Spake unto Philip - Compare Matthew 2:13.

Arise - See the notes on Luke 15:18.

And go ... - Philip had been employed in Samaria. As God now intended to send the gospel to another place, he gave a special direction to him to go and convey it. It is evident that God designed the "conversion" of this eunuch, and the direction to Philip shows how he accomplishes his designs. It is not by miracle, but by the use of means. It is not by direct power without "truth," but it is by a message suited to the end. The salvation of a single sinner is an object worthy the attention of God. When such a sinner is converted, it is because God forms a plan or "purpose" to do it. when it is done, he inclines his servants to labor; he directs their labors; he leads his ministers; and he prepares the way Acts 8:28) for the reception of the truth.

Toward the south - That is, south of Samaria, where Philip was then laboring.

Unto Gaza - Gaza, or Azzah Genesis 10:19, was a city of the Philistines, given by Joshua to Judah Joshua 15:47; I Samuel 6:17. It was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines. It was formerly a large place; was situated on an eminence, and commanded a beautiful prospect. It was in this place that Samson took away the gates of the city, and bore them off, Judges 16:2-3. It was near Askelon, about 60 miles southwest from Jerusalem.

Which is desert - This may refer either to the "way" or to the "place." The natural construction is the latter. In explanation of this, it is to be observed that there were "two" towns of that name, Old and New Gaza. The prophet Zephaniah Zephaniah 2:4 said that "Gaza" should be "forsaken," that is, destroyed. "This was partly accomplished by Alexander the Great (Josephus, Antiq. , book 11, chapter 8, sections 3 and 4; book 13, chapter 13, section 3). Another town was afterward built of the same name, but at some distance from the former, and Old Gaza was abandoned to desolation. Strabo mentions ' Gaza the desert,' and Diodorus Siculus speaks of ' Old Gaza' " (Robinson' s Calmet ). Some have supposed, however, that Luke refers here to the "road" leading to Gaza, as being desolate and uninhabited. Dr. Robinson ( Biblical Res. , 2:640) remarks: "There were several ways leading from Jerusalem to Gaza. The most frequented at the present day, although the longest, is the way by Ramleh. Anciently there appear to have been two more direct roads. Both these roads exist at the present day, and the one actually passes through the desert, that is, through a tract of country without villages, inhabited only by nomadic tribes." "In this place, in 1823, the American missionaries, Messrs. Fisk and King, found Gaza, a town built of stone, making a very mean appearance, and confining about five thousand inhabitants" (Hall on the Acts ).




Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Acts 8:26:

Isaiah 45:14
Acts 8:29

 

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