Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
a man of Ethiopia—Upper Egypt, Meroe.
an eunuch of great authority—Eunuchs were generally employed for confidential offices in the East, and to some extent are still.
Candace—the family name of the queens of Upper Egypt, like Pharaoh, Cæsar, etc. (as appears from classic authors).
had come to Jerusalem to worship—that is, to keep the recent feast of Pentecost, as a Gentile proselyte to the Jewish faith. (See Isaiah 56:3-8, and John 12:20).
THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. (Acts 8:26-40)
the angel of the Lord—rather, "an angel."
go . . . south, the way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza—There was such a road, across Mount Hebron, which Philip might take without going to Jerusalem (as VON RAUMER'S'S Palæstina shows).
which is desert—that is, the way; not Gaza itself, which was the southernmost city of Palestine, in the territory of the ancient Philistines. To go from a city, where his hands had been full of work, so far away on a desert road, could not but be staggering to the faith of Philip, especially as he was kept in ignorance of the object of the journey. But like Paul, he "was not disobedient to the heavenly vision"; and like Abram, "he went out not knowing whither he went" (Acts 26:19; Hebrews 11:8).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Acts 8:27:
Isaiah 18:1
Isaiah 18:7
Isaiah 45:14
Isaiah 56:3
Jeremiah 38:7
Acts 8:26-28
Acts 9:6
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