26 And a messenger of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, `Arise, and go on toward the south, on the way that is going down from Jerusalem to Gaza,' -- this is desert.
27 And having arisen, he went on, and lo, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch, a man of rank, of Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to worship to Jerusalem;
28 he was also returning, and is sitting on his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
29 And the Spirit said to Philip, `Go near, and be joined to this chariot;'
30 and Philip having run near, heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, `Dost thou then know what thou dost read?'
31 and he said, `Why, how am I able, if some one may not guide me?' he called Philip also, having come up, to sit with him.
32 And the contents of the Writing that he was reading was this: `As a sheep unto slaughter he was led, and as a lamb before his shearer dumb, so he doth not open his mouth;
33 in his humiliation his judgment was taken away, and his generation -- who shall declare? because taken from the earth is his life.'
34 And the eunuch answering Philip said, `I pray thee, about whom doth the prophet say this? about himself, or about some other one?'
35 and Philip having opened his mouth, and having begun from this Writing, proclaimed good news to him -- Jesus.
36 And as they were going on the way, they came upon a certain water, and the eunuch said, `Lo, water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?'
37 `And Philip said, `If thou dost believe out of all the heart, it is lawful;' and he answering said, `I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God;''
38 and he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down to the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him;
39 and when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more, for he was going on his way rejoicing;
40 and Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through, he was proclaiming good news to all the cities, till his coming to Cesarea.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 8
Commentary on Acts 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
In this chapter we have an account of the persecutions of the Christians, and the propagating of Christianity thereby. It was strange, but very true, that the disciples of Christ the more they were afflicted the more they multiplied.
Act 8:1-3
In these verses we have,
Act 8:4-13
Samson's riddle is here again unriddled: Out of the eater comes forth meat, and out of the strong sweetness. The persecution that was designed to extirpate the church was by the overruling providence of God made an occasion of the enlargement of it. Christ had said, I am come to send fire on the earth; and they thought, by scattering those who were kindled with that fire, to have put it out, but instead of this they did but help to spread it.
Act 8:14-25
God had wonderfully owned Philip in his work as an evangelist at Samaria, but he could do no more than an evangelist; there were some peculiar powers reserved to the apostles, for the keeping up of the dignity of their office, and here we have an account of what was done by two of them there-Peter and John. The twelve kept together at Jerusalem (v. 1), and thither these good tidings were brought them that Samaria had received the word of God (v. 14), that a great harvest of souls was gathered, and was likely to be gathered in to Christ there. The word of God was not only preached to them, but received by them; they bade it welcome, admitted the light of it, and submitted to the power of it: When they heard it, they sent unto them Peter and John. If Peter had been, as some say he was, the prince of the apostles, he would have sent some of them, or, if he had seen cause, would have gone himself of his own accord; but he was so far from this that he submitted to an order of the house, and, as a servant to the body, went whither they sent him. Two apostles were sent, the two most eminent, to Samaria,
Act 8:26-40
We have here the story of the conversion of an Ethiopian eunuch to the faith of Christ, by whom, we have reason to think, the knowledge of Christ was sent into that country where he lived, and that scripture fulfilled, Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands (one of the first of the nations) unto God, Ps. 68:31.