Luke The Great Historian of Christ & His Church Lesson 63 Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch Acts 8:26 40 In our last lesson, we were introduced to

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1 Luke The Great Historian of Christ & His Church Lesson 63 Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch Acts 8:26 40 In our last lesson, we were introduced to Philip, another of the seven chosen to handle the distribution of food to the widows within the early church community... When the believers were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1), Philip went to Samaria... He completed a successful ministry to this group of Jewish/Gentile descendants... At that point an angel of the Lord sent Philip to the Gaza road... This was a desert road that was rarely busy... It must have seemed strange to Philip that following his successful ministry in Samaria, he would be sent to such an abandoned place... There are several notes that will add interest as this story unfolds... Biblical Ethiopia was considerably farther north and west of the present Ethiopian state... Today it would be located in the south of Egypt and north of Sudan... It should not be confused with Abyssinia which became known as Ethiopia in more modern times... The term eunuch could refer technically to a male who had been castrated, but more likely at the time of this story referred to a title of one well placed in a royal administration... The same title is given to Potiphar, an official in Pharaoh's court (Genesis 39)... Candace was probably a title for the female ruler of Ethiopia, not a personal name... The kingdom of Ethiopia was already ancient at the time of this story... It can be traced back as far as 750 BC... Ethiopians were black Africans (Jeremiah 13:23)... Reading aloud, even with no audience, was normal... The skill of reading silently to one's self had not been developed by this time...

2 Most people would have walked along the Gaza Road... Some may have ridden animals... Only the wealthiest would have ridden in a chariot (most likely a carriage with seats, not a battle chariot)... Typically only one attendant would have ridden inside the chariot with the official... There would have been room for Philip... We can reasonably place this story in December to March... The Gaza Road was a desert road along the coast... The Jewish concept of baptism at this time was full immersion... Seasonal streams would have had to have water to provide the needed depth... They would have been dry most of the year except during the wettest part of the rainy season, December to March... As you prepare for this lesson, please climb into the Ethiopian official's chariot as Philip... Starting with the passage from Isaiah 53, how would you develop the Good News about Jesus? The text is from the New English Translation (the NET Bible)... Please also refer to the version you usually use for study... If you notice any significant differences, please plan to discuss them in our Sunday school... Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) 26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. (This is a desert road.) 27 So he got up and went. There he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and was returning home, sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. He asked him, Do you understand what you re reading? 31 The man replied, How in the world can I, unless someone guides me? So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of scripture the man was reading was this:

3 He was led like a sheep to slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In humiliation justice was taken from him. Who can describe his posterity? For his life was taken away from the earth. (Isaiah 53:7-8) 34 Then the eunuch said to Philip, Please tell me, who is the prophet saying this about himself or someone else? 35 So Philip started speaking, and beginning with this scripture proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. 36 Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, Look, there is water! What is to stop me from being baptized? 38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through the area, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

4 Study Questions and Thoughts How would you react to being sent from a very solid ministry to one with few prospects? Before the use of chapters and verses, how do you think a person like Philip would have known what was read? How does Isaiah 53:7-8 fit into the Good News of Jesus Christ? How would you have responded when the official asked if there was any reason he should not be baptized? We know nothing about how the official was received when he returned home... What do you think happened? What life lessons for today can be taken from these passages?

5 Lesson 63 Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch Acts 8:26 40 Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch A (Acts 8:26-40) 26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Get up and go south B on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. C (This is a desert road.) D A Luke devotes nearly as much space to the conversion of this one foreigner, who can function as an indigenous witness in his own culture, as to the revival in Samaria. Because Samaritans were considered half-breeds, this is the first fully Gentile convert to Christianity. [IVPBBC] B Or Get up and go about noon. The phrase κατὰ μεσημβρίαν (kata mesēmbrian) can be translated either about noon (L&N 67.74) or toward the south (L&N 82.4). Since the angel's command appears to call for immediate action ( Get up ) and would not therefore need a time indicator, a directional reference ( toward the south ) is more likely here. [NET_Bible] C Two roads led south from near Jerusalem, one through Hebron into Idumea (Edom) and the other joining the coast road before Gaza heading for Egypt, both with plenty of Roman milestones as road markers. Old Gaza was a deserted town whose ruins lay near the now culturally Greek cities of Askalon and New Gaza. Philip might have no one to preach to on a little-traveled road that would lead by a deserted city, and after the revival in Samaria this command must seem absurd to him; but God had often tested faith through such commands. [IVPBBC] D The words This is a desert road are probably best understood as a comment by the author of Acts, but it is possible they form part of the angel's speech to Philip, in which case the verse would read: Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza the desert road. The concluding note about the road appears to be a parenthetical note by the author. [NET_Bible] This is one of those verses that can be read differently without any impact on doctrine... The Greek had no quotation marks as written... Modern English translators are divided as to whether the comment regarding the desert road should be included in the words from the angel (CEV, CJB, ERV, GW, HCSB, ISV, NIV, NLT) or is a parenthetical comment by the author (EMTV, ESV, GNB, LEB, NASB, NET, NKJV) or ignore it altogether by leaving out quotation marks (ASV, BBE, JUB, LITV, MSG)...

6 27 So he got up and went. There he met an Ethiopian E eunuch, F a court official of Candace, G E Ethiopia [burnt face] figured in Mediterranean legends and mythical geography as the very end of the earth (sometimes extending from the far south to the far east), and the most commonly mentioned feature of Ethiopians in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature is their black skin. [IVPBBC] (Jeremiah 13:23 NET.) But there is little hope for you ever doing good, you who are so accustomed to doing evil. Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard remove its spots? This is a common proverb in English coming from this biblical passage. For cultures where it is not proverbial perhaps it would be better to translate Can black people change the color of their skin? Strictly speaking these are Cushites inhabitants of a region along the upper Nile south of Egypt. The Greek text is responsible for the identification with Ethiopia. The term in Greek is actually a epithet = burnt face. [IVPBBC] F When meant literally (which was not always the case Genesis 39:1 Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh), eunuch referred to a castrated man. Although eunuchs were preferred court officials in the East, the Jewish people opposed the practice, and Jewish law excluded eunuchs from Israel; the rules were undoubtedly instituted to prevent Israel from neutering boys. But God could certainly accept eunuchs (Isaiah 56:3-5, even foreign eunuchs; Wisdom of Solomon 3:14). An Ethiopian eunuch in the Old Testament turned out to be one of Jeremiah s few allies and saved his life (Jeremiah 38:7-13). [IVPBBC] G Or the Candace (the title of the queen of the Ethiopians). The term Κανδάκης (Kandakē) is much more likely a title rather than a proper name (like Pharaoh, which is a title); see L&N A few, however, still take the word to be the name of the queen (L&N ). BDAG 507 s.v. Κανδάκη, treats the term as a title and lists classical usage by Strabo (Geography ) and others. [NET_Bible]

7 queen H of the Ethiopians, I who was in charge of all her treasury. J He had come to Jerusalem to worship, K H The ancient kingdom of Ethiopia was ruled by a queen mother or Candace, who ruled on behalf of her son the king. Because the king was considered the child of the sun, he was too holy to become involved in secular affairs. Therefore, his mother took over the responsibility. The eunuch in this passage was the minister of finance, a prominent position in the Ethiopian regime. He was responsible for distributing the funds of the treasury based on the desires of the queen mother. [NNIBC] I Candace (kan-dak a) seems to have been a dynastic title of the queen of Ethiopia and is mentioned elsewhere in Greco-Roman literature; tradition declares that the queen mother ruled in that land. She seems to have ruled a black Nubian kingdom south of Egypt partly in what is now the Sudan, a kingdom that had lasted since about 750 B.C. and whose main cities were Meroe and Napata (this should not be confused with Abyssinia, which came to be called Ethiopia in more recent times and converted to Christianity in the fourth century A.D.). This kingdom had some trade with Rome, but this official and his entourage must have been among the few Ethiopian visitors this far north. He is probably a Gentile God-fearer. As the queen s treasurer, this man is a high and powerful official. [IVPBBC] J This individual was a high official, since he was said to be in charge of all her treasury. He appears to be the first fully Gentile convert to Christianity, since the Samaritans mentioned previously were regarded as half-breeds. [NET_Bible] K Jerusalem to worship: Many Gentiles in the first century had grown weary of the multiple gods and loose morals of their nations. They were searching in Judaism for the truth. If they accepted Judaism as their faith, they would obey all the rules and regulations of the Law of Moses. This would include being circumcised and baptized. This type of convert was called a proselyte. Gentiles who did not become proselytes but did attend the Jewish synagogues to listen to the Scriptures were called God-fearers. We cannot be sure which the Ethiopian eunuch was. [NNIBC]

8 28 and was returning home, sitting in his chariot, L reading the prophet Isaiah. M 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard the man reading N Isaiah the prophet. He asked O him, Do you understand what you re reading? 31 The man replied, How in the world can I, P unless someone guides me? So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Q L Most people walked, the more well-to-do rode animals, but only the most wellto-do had chariots. People were occasionally known to read while sitting in expensive carriages; thus the chariot may be moving while the eunuch is reading. [IVPBBC] This was probably an ox-drawn wagon... The distance between Meroe, the capital of Ethiopia, and Jerusalem was about 750 miles... The journey would have taken at least a month each way... It was a major undertaking to visit Jerusalem to worship God... [MRM] M The fact that this man was reading from a scroll (an expensive item in the first century) indicates his connection to a wealthy house. [NET_Bible] N Although taught along with reading aloud in modern times, the skill of reading silently was not developed in antiquity; those who could read nearly always read aloud. The situation here is obviously divinely arranged. [IVPBBC] O he said; but since what follows is a question, it is better English style to translate the introduction to the question he asked him. [NET_Bible] P Grk How am I able, unless... The translation is based on the force of the conjunction γάρ (gar) in this context. The translation How in the world can I? is given in BDAG 189 s.v. γάρ 1.f. [NET_Bible] Q Often only one attendant would accompany the official in a chariot; the wealthy eunuch may have more, but there is still room for Philip. [IVPBBC]

9 32 Now the passage of scripture the man was reading was this: He was led like a sheep to slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In humiliation justice was taken from him. Who can describe his posterity? R For his life was taken away from the earth. (Isaiah 53:7-8) 34 Then the eunuch said to Philip, Please tell me, who is the prophet saying this about himself or someone else? S 35 So Philip started speaking, and beginning with this scripture T proclaimed the good news about Jesus U to him. V R Or family; or origin. The meaning of γενεά (genea) in the quotation is uncertain; BDAG 192 s.v. γενεά 4 suggests family history. The rhetorical question suggests the insensitivity of this generation for its act against God's servant, who was slain unjustly as he was silent. [NET_Bible] S About himself, or about someone else? It is likely in 1 st century Judaism this would have been understood as either Israel or Isaiah. [NET_Bible] T Beginning with this scripture. The discussion likely included many of the scriptures Acts has already noted for the reader in earlier speeches. At the least, readers of Acts would know what other scriptures might be meant. [NET_Bible] U Preached Jesus to him: First-century Jews did not speak much about a suffering Messiah. The Jewish people, facing the yoke of Roman rule, believed that the Messiah would come as the Lion of Judah, a delivering King, not a weak lamb. They believed and taught that the suffering One spoken of by Isaiah was the suffering nation of Israel. Most likely this eunuch had heard the official teaching of this passage in Jerusalem but still had some questions. Philip showed him that suffering One was Jesus. He had to suffer on the Cross for the sins of all of humanity. [NNIBC] V Earlier servant passages in Isaiah refer explicitly to Israel, but Isaiah 49:5 distinguishes the servant from the rest of Israel, and in Isaiah 53:1-3 he is rejected by Israel; in Isaiah 53:4-12 he bears the sins of Israel, although he himself is not guilty (Isaiah 53:9) and suffers voluntarily (Isaiah 53:12). The official s confusion is understandable, but Philip s exposition is correct. (Luke does not report all of Isaiah 53:1-12, but the context is implied; because chapter and verse references had not yet been assigned, one had to cite part of a passage to let the readers know where one was reading.) [IVPBBC]

10 36 Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, Look, there is water! What is to stop me W from being baptized? 37 [Omitted] X 38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized Y him. Z W Or What prevents me. The rhetorical question means, I should get baptized, right? [NET_Bible] X A few later MSS add, with minor variations, Acts 8:37 He said to him, 'If you believe with your whole heart, you may.' He replied, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' Verse Acts 8:37 is lacking in [most early MSS]. It is clearly not a part of the original text of Acts. The variant is significant in showing how some in the early church viewed a confession of faith. The present translation follows NA 27 in omitting the verse number, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations. [NET_Bible] Y Philip baptized. Again, someone beyond the Twelve has ministered an ordinance of faith. [NET_Bible] Z There are some wadis near Gaza (wadis are dry creek beds that fill with water during the rainy season); because Jewish baptism presupposed full immersion, this is no doubt what Luke intends here. As a God-fearer, the Ethiopian may understand the Jewish view that full conversion includes baptism, even if Philip does not require him to be circumcised. (If he is a literal eunuch, circumcision may be impossible for him anyway; although castration sometimes involved only the testicles, this was not true of eunuchs from his region in this period.) [IVPBBC]

11 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, AA and the eunuch did not see him any more, AB but went on his way rejoicing. AC 40 Philip, however, found himself at Azotus, AD and as he passed through the area, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. AE AA Caught Philip away Philip was found: The Greek word translated caught here is also used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 for the catching away of the church into the air. Though this passage may say only that Philip went from the desert to Azotus, most likely the terminology indicates a miraculous transportation. [NNIBC] Some magicians claimed the ability to fly, but the language of Philip s removal suggests supernatural movement more like that mentioned in the Old Testament. [IVPBBC] AB Having heard the message of Christ's sacrifice for sin, the eunuch responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Irenaeus, an early church father who lived between A.D , wrote that the eunuch returned to Ethiopia and became a missionary to his own people. [NNIBC] AC Christianity especially began to expand in Abyssinia through lay witness in the third century, and that empire was declared Christian about the same time as the Roman Empire was. Nubia converted later; no certain record of this Ethiopian s witness remains, but with Luke we may suppose that he testified of his faith in high places. [IVPBBC] AD Azotus was a city on the coast of southern Palestine, known as Ashdod in OT times. [NET_Bible] AE Caesarea frequently was the scene of disturbances as cities of mixed Jewish- Gentile population tended to be. When Pilate was prefect (governor) of Judea, he lived in the governor's residence at Caesarea. In 1961, a stone inscribed with his name was found in the ruins of an ancient amphitheater there. Philip the evangelist preached there, and Peter was sent there to minister to the Roman centurion Cornelius. Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea, being eaten of worms. [NNIBD]

12 End Note Isaiah 53:1-12 (New International Version) 1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.

13 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the Lord s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

14 Referenced Bible Translations & Versions ASV The Holy Bible - American Standard Version; Original Copyright 1901, Public Domain. BBE CEV CJB EMTV ERV ESV GNB GW Bible In Basic English; ; The Bible In Basic English was printed in 1965 by Cambridge Press in England. Published without any copyright notice and distributed in America, this work fell immediately and irretrievably into the Public Domain in the United States according to the UCC convention of that time. Contemporary English Version 1995 by American Bible Society. Complete Jewish Bible, copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources Int'l. All rights reserved. Used by permission. English Majority Text Version of the Holy Bible, New Testament. Copyright Paul W. Esposito. Easy-to-Read Version; Copyright (c) 1987, 1999, 2006, 2008 World Bible Translation Center; All rights reserved. The Holy Bible, English Standard Version 2001 Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. Good News Bible; Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society GOD'S WORD; Copyright 1995 by GOD'S WORD to the Nations Bible Society. All rights reserved. HCSB Holman Christian Standard Bible; Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved. ISV JUB International Standard Version v1.2.2; Copyright The ISV Foundation. All rights reserved internationally. Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation); Edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright 2000, 2001, 2010, First edition published 2000, Abbotsford, WI, ANEKO Press

15 LEB LITV The Lexham English Bible; Second Edition; W. Hall Harris III, General Editor, The Lexham English Bible, Second Edition. Version Copyright 2010 Logos Research Systems, Inc. and "Logos Bible Software" to Green, Jay P., Sr., Green's Literal Translation is a formal equivalence translation of the Christian Bible. First published in 1985, it became integrated into the 1986 edition of his Hebrew-English- Greek work called The Interlinear Bible. MSG Peterson, Eugene H., The Message; Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. (This edition issued by contractual arrangement with NavPress, a division of The Navigators, U.S.A. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.) NASB New American Standard Bible; Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, A Corporation Not for Profit; All Rights Reserved. NET. NET Bible copyright by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. NIV The Holy Bible, New International Version; Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society; Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan. NKJV New King James Version; Copyright 1982, Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson, Inc. NLT Holy Bible, New Living Translation; copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois All rights reserved.

16 BDAG IVPBBC L&N Published Resources Used for This Lesson Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3d ed. Revised and edited by F. W. Danker. Translated by W. F. Arndt, F. W. Gingrich, and F. W. Danker. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, Used by permission... All rights reserved... Keener, Craig S., The Inter-Varsity Press Bible Background Commentary: New Testament; Inter-Varsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515; 1993, World Wide Web: Used by permission... All rights reserved... Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains. New York, NY: United Bible Societies, copyright All rights reserved. Used by permission. NA 27 Aland, B., K. Aland, J. Karavidopoulos, C. M. Martini, and B. M. Metzger, eds. Novum Testamentum Graece. 27th ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Used by permission, All rights reserved. NET_Bible New English Translation Bible Notes & Apparatus; by Biblical Studies Press (BSP) Used by permission, All rights reserved. The NET Bible verse text and the NET Bible notes, here after called NET Bible, is available on the Internet at: NNIBC Radimacher, Earl D., Th.D. (General Editor) Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary; Old Testament Editor Ronald B. Allen, Th.D., New Testament Editor H. Wayne House, Th.D., J.D.; Copyright 1999 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.; Used by permission; All rights reserved... and theology of early Christianity and the New Testament, including studies in its history of interpretation and effects. The editor is Francis Watson (University of Durham). Citation by Quarter (Year) Page(s)