Acts 8:25

Acts 8:25 . And when they had testified, and preached the word of the Lord — Had borne a solemn testimony by word and deed to the truth of the gospel, and confirmed what Philip had preached; they returned to Jerusalem — To the other ten apostles, having executed their commission, and performed the errand on which they were sent; and preached the gospel — As they went along; in many villages of the Samaritans — Which lay in their way, doubtless confirming their doctrine by miracles, though none are here recorded.

Acts 8:25 . Διαμαρτυράμενοι , having testified ) having fulfilled their testimony, which was circulated abroad among all.— εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ , towards Jerusalem ) for what they did on the way to it is subjoined. As yet it was the province of the apostles for the most part to remain at Jerusalem.— πολλὰς , in many ) Divine operations easily succeed: human counsels, only with anxiety.

25. and they—Peter and John. when they had … preached—in the city where Philip's labors had been so richly blessed. returned … and preached … in many villages of the Samaritans—embracing the opportunity of their journey back to Jerusalem to fulfil their Lord's commission to the whole region of Samaria (Ac 1:8).

25 . And they [They therefore], when they had testified and preached [spoken] the word of the Lord, returned to [towards] Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in [to] many villages of the Samaritans ] Peter and John had not been sent forth to make an extended missionary journey, but only to confirm the work of the Evangelists who had first preached and baptized in Samaria, by laying their hands upon the converts. This done they returned to their place in Jerusalem, but by the way preached in such villages of Samaria as lay in their road.

Acts 8:25-26 . Τὸν λόγ . τ . κυρ .] The word which they spoke was not their word, but Christ’s , who caused the gospel to be announced by them as His ministers and interpreters. Comp. Acts 13:48 f., Acts 15:35 f, Acts 19:10 ; Acts 19:20 . But the auctor principalis is God ( Acts 10:36 ), hence the gospel is still more frequently called ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ ( Acts 4:29 ; Acts 4:31 , Acts 6:2 , and frequently). πολλάς τε κώμας … εὐηγγελ .] namely, on their way back to Jerusalem. εὐαγγελίζεσθαι , with the accusative of the person ( Luke 3:18 ; Acts 14:21 ; Acts 16:10 ), is rare, and belongs to the later Greek. See Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 267 f. ἄγγελος δὲ κυρίου ] is neither to be rationalized with Eichhorn to the effect, that what is meant is the sudden and involuntary rise of an internal impulse not to be set aside; nor with Olshausen to the effect, that what is designated is not a being appearing individually, but a spiritual power, by which a spiritual communication was made to Philip (the language is, in fact, not figurative, as in John 1:51 , but purely historical). On the contrary, Luke narrates an actual angelic appearance , that spoke literally to Philip. This appearance must, in respect of its form , be left undefined, as a vision in a dream (Eckermann, Heinrichs, Kuinoel) is not indicated in the text, not even by ἀνάστηθι , which rather ( raise thyself ) belongs to the pictorial representation; comp. on Acts 5:17 .

Philip received this angelic intimation in Samaria (in opposition to Zeller, who makes him to have returned with the apostles to Jerusalem), while the two apostles were on their way back to Jerusalem. Γάζα , עַזָּה , i.e. the strong ( Genesis 10:19 ; Joshua 15:45 ; Jdg 3:3 ; Jdg 16:1 ; 1Ma 11:16 ), a strongly fortified Philistine city, situated on the Mediterranean, on the southern border of Canaan. See Stark, Gaza u. d. philistäische Küste, Jena 1852; Ritter, Erdk. XVI. l, p. 45 ff.; Arnold in Herzog’s Encykl. IV. p. 671 ff. It was conquered (Plut. Alex. 25; Curt. iv. 6) and destroyed (Strabo, xvi. 2. 30, p. 759) by Alexander the Great,—a fate which, after many vicissitudes, befell it afresh under the Jewish King Alexander Jannaeus, in B.C. 96 (Joseph. Antt. xiii. 13. 3, Bell. i. 4. 2). Rebuilt as New Gaza farther to the south by the Proconsul Gabinius, B.C. 58, the city was incorporated with the province of Syria. Its renewed, though not total destruction by the Jews occurred not long before the siege of Jerusalem (Joseph. Bell. Jud. ii. 18. 1). It is now the open town Ghuzzeh. αὕτη ἐστὶν ἔρημος ] applies to the way (von Raumer, Robinson, Winer, Buttmann, Ewald, Baumgarten, Lange, and older commentators, as Castalio, Beza, Bengel, and others).