Acts 8:26

The south (μεσημβρίαν) A contracted form of μεσημερία, midday, noon, which is the rendering at Acts 22:6, the only other passage where it occurs. Rev. gives at noon in margin. Desert Referring to the route. On desert, see on Luke 15:4. There were several roads from Jerusalem to Gaza. One is mentioned by the way of Bethlehem to Hebron, and thence through a region actually called a desert.

Acts 8:26-28 . And — After the important affairs above mentioned were despatched at Samaria, and a church was established there, and supplied with proper pastors and teachers; the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip — Probably in a dream or vision by night; saying, Arise, and go toward the south — Though angels were not employed to preach the gospel, they were often employed in carrying messages to those that preached it, for advice, direction, and encouragement. And it gives us a very high idea of the gospel, to see the ministers of it receiving such immediate direction from celestial spirits, in the particular discharge of their office. Unto the way from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert — There were two ways from Jerusalem unto Gaza; one desert, the other through a more populous country. And Philip is directed in these words to go to some part of the former, because there he would find work to do. And he arose and went — Without objection, or presuming to inquire into the errand on which he was sent; and behold, a man of Ethiopia — Greek, Αιθιοψ ευνουχος , an Ethiopian eunuch. The Hebrew word סריס , which answers to that here rendered eunuch, is sometimes very properly translated an officer: and chief officers were often anciently called eunuchs, though not always literally such; because such used to be chief ministers in the eastern courts.

Of great authority — Δυναστης , a grandee; under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians — It appears that Candace was a name common to several of the queens who reigned in Meroe, a part of Ethiopia to the south of Egypt; who had the charge of all her treasure — So great a trust did she repose in him; and had come to Jerusalem to worship — Being a proselyte to the Jewish religion, and as such having renounced idolatry, and being brought over to the worship of the God of Israel. This man was then returning home, and sitting in his chariot, read Esaias — It is probable his mind was deeply impressed with devout and religious sentiments, in consequence of his having attended the solemnities of divine worship at one of the festivals at Jerusalem, and that he was therefore thus employed in reading the writings of this prophet, that he might learn the will of God and his duty. God meets those that remember him in his ways. It is good to read, hear, and seek information even on a journey. Why should we not redeem all our time?

Some speak of two Gazas, one distinguished from the other by this epithet of desert; but rather there were two ways unto one and the same Gaza, and that it was not the city but the way unto it, which is called desert; by which difference, here mentioned, the angel admonishes Philip not to go the ordinary road, but the more unusual road over the mountians, which was rarely travelled over, but was now necessary to be gone in to meet with the eunuch. God telleth our wanderings, and ordereth our steps.

Acts 8:26 . Ἄγγελος , the angel ) The angel bids him arise; the Holy Spirit, to “go near:” Acts 8:29 . Philip is hereby fortified against acting too timidly after the deceit of Simon.— κατὰ μεσημβρίαν , towards the south ) This was to serve him as his guide as to his course. The Gospel soon reached all quarters of the world: ch. Acts 11:19 .— ἐπὶ , unto ) It is not yet told him what he is about to find. Always faith and obedience have to be exercised. So also in ch. Acts 13:2 , “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work” [without adding then what that work should be].— αὐτὴ ) Others [Lachm. and Tisch.] have αὕτη . But הוא αὐτὸς is wont to be used to designate anything; as here, αὐτή ἐστιν ἔρημος . So Ἱεροβάαλ , αὐτός ἐστι Γεδεών , Jdg 7:1 ; and so 2 Kings 18:9 ; 1 Chronicles 7:31 ; 1 Chronicles 8:12 ; 1 Chronicles 27:6 ; 1 Chronicles 27:32 ; 2 Chronicles 5:2 . Philip was directed that he should betake himself to the desert way, not to the other, which was the more frequented way. [Gaza, it seems, had lain desolate for a long time; and so it is probable that the use of the way had in the mean time, for the most part, ceased. Comp. Leviticus 26:22 . On that account the direction of the angel is the more wonderful.—V. g.]

{11} And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. (11) Christ, who calls freely whom he wishes, now uses Philip, who was not thinking about any such thing, to unexpectedly instruct and baptize the eunuch, and by this means extends the limits of his kingdom even into Ethiopia.

Ac 8:26-40. The Ethiopian Eunuch. "With this narrative of the progress of the Gospel among the Samaritans is connected another which points to the diffusion of the doctrine of the Cross among the remotest nations. The simplicity of the chamberlain of Meroe forms a remarkable contrast with the craft of the magician just described" [Olshausen]. 26-28. 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" (Ac 26:19; Heb 11:8).

Verse 26. - But an angel for and the angel , A.V.; the same is for which is , A.V. An angel. "The angel," as in A.V., is right, just as ὄνομα Κυρίου ( Matthew 21:9 ; Matthew 23:39 ; Luke 19:38 , etc.) and שֵׁם יְהוָה in Hebrew mean "the Name of the Lord," not "a Name" (see Acts 5:19 ; Acts 7:31 , notes). The south , meaning that part of Judaea which was called " the south country ;" Hebrew הַנֶּגֶב ( Genesis 20:1 ; Genesis 24:62 ; etc.). This is generally rendered in the LXX. by πρὸς λίβα or πρὸς νότον . But in 1 Samuel 20:41 , in Symraachus, μεσηνβρία stands as the rendering of חַנֶּגֶב . As regards the words, the same is desert , it is observable that in Numbers 31:1 and Deuteronomy 34:3 ἔρημος is the LXX. rendering of חַנֶבֶם , and that part of the country is called "the wilderness of Judaea." The words of the angel, therefore, mean, not that Gaza is desert, nor that the read itself is desert, but that the country to which he was directing Philip's journey was part of that known as the desert; αὕτη does not refer to ὁδός or to Γάζα , but to χώρα , understood as contained in ἔρημος . The meaning of the whole sentence I take to be as follows: - "Take thy journey in [or, 'by'] the south [comp.

Luke 15:14 ; Acts 5:15 ; Acts 11:1 ; Acts 13 . lids far as [ ἐπί , 'notans locum vel terminum ad quem' (Schleusner)] the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, where the country is desert." Philip was to proceed from Samaria along the south country till he came to where the Jerusalem road met his road. That district, he is reminded, was desert, part, i.e. , or the desert of Judaea. The spot was probably selected for that very reason, as affording the privacy necessary for the eunuch to read in his chariot, and for Philip to join him and expound the Word of God to him. Chrysostom (followed by others) takes κατὰ μεσημβρίαν in the sense of "at noonday in the most violent heat," though he also renders it "southwards" (Hem., 19.). Acts 8:26

26–40 . Philip baptizes an Ethiopian Eunuch 26 . And the angel of the Lord ] The Gk. has an angel . While Peter and John were carrying on the work of Philip in Samaria, God directs the Evangelist to a new scene of labour. spake unto Philip ] Most probably in a vision as to Cornelius ( Acts 10:3 ) and to Peter ( Acts 11:5 ). saying, Arise, and go toward the south ] Gaza was the southernmost of the five great cities which the Philistines had formerly occupied, and was on the route which a traveller from Jerusalem to Egypt would follow. In 96 b.c. the city of Gaza had been destroyed and its inhabitants massacred by Alexander Jannæus (Joseph. Ant . xiii. 13. 3), but it had been rebuilt by Gabinius ( Antiq . xiv. 5. 3), though it is said that the restored city was nearer the sea than the ancient one. It continued to be a city of importance (see Antiq . xv. 7. 3 and xvii. 11. 4), and it could not therefore be to the city that the word “desert” which follows must be referred.

From Samaria Philip would come directly south, and leaving Jerusalem on the east strike the road at some distance from that city. unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza ] There was more than one road from Jerusalem to Gaza, the more northern route went first to Ascalon and then by the coast to Gaza, another road was by Hebron and through the more desert country which lay to the west of it, and this is most likely the road intended in the narrative. which is desert ] The Greek puts these words in a separate clause, “this is desert,” as is common in Hebrew. This disjunction has raised the question whether they belong to the direction which the angel was giving to Philip, or are an insertion by St Luke to mark the scene of the interview more clearly. If they had been inserted as an explanation it is not likely they would have been so brief, whereas if we regard them as a portion of the speech of the angel they contain all that was needed for Philip’s instruction. That road toward Gaza which passed through the desert explains exactly the place to which he was to go.

(26) And the angel of the Lord . . . —Better, an angel. The tense of the verbs in the preceding verse, in the better MSS., implies that the events that follow synchronised with the journey of Peter and John through Samaria. The journey which Philip was commanded to take led him by a quicker route across country into the main road from Jerusalem to Gaza. The history of the city so named (appearing at times in the English version— Deuteronomy 2:23 ; 1Kings 4:24 ; Jeremiah 25:20 —as Azzah) goes even as far back as that of Damascus, in the early records of Israel. It was the southernmost or border-city of the early Canaanites ( Genesis 10:19 ), and was occupied first by the Avim, and then by the Caphtorim ( Deuteronomy 2:23 ). Joshua was unable to conquer it ( Joshua 10:41 ; Joshua 11:22 ). The tribe of Judah held it for a short time ( Judges 1:18 ), but it soon fell into the hands of the Philistines ( Judges 3:3 ; Judges 13:1 ), and though attacked by Samson, was held by them during the times of Samuel, Saul, and David ( 1Samuel 6:17 ; 1Samuel 14:52 ; 2Samuel 21:15 ). Solomon ( 1Kings 4:24 ), and later on Hezekiah ( 2Kings 18:8 ), attacked it. It resisted Alexander the Great during a siege of five months, and was an important military position, the very key of the country, during the struggles between the Ptolemies and the Seleucidæ, and in the wars of the Maccabees ( 1 Maccabees 11:61 ).