Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary – Acts (Vol. 1)》

Act . And when Simon saw.—Most likely through hearing the baptised speak with tongues. He offered them money.—From Simon's name and proposal arose the expression "Simony" for the purchase of spiritual offices. Inde Simoniœ vocabulum (Bengel).

Act . To me also.—I.e., "as well as to you"; not "as well as to others," "since no example of such transfer was known to him" (Hackett).

Act . Thy money perish with thee.—Lit., thy silver with thyself be for destruction. Neither an implication nor a prediction, but a strongly expressed negation. May be purchased.—The verb in Greek being active, the clause should be translated, "because thou didst think to acquire," etc.

Act . In this matter.—Or, in this word—i.e., doctrine or gospel which we preach (Olshausen, Neander, Lange, Zöckler, Hackett).

Act . For God the best authorities read Lord, as in Act 8:24, signifying the exalted Christ If perhaps.—Taken in connection with Joh 20:23, these words show "how completely the apostles themselves referred the forgiveness of sins to, and left it in the sovereign power of God, and not to their own delegated power of absolution" (Alford).

Act . Art in the or wilt become gall or a gall root of bitterness.—As in Rom 3:14; Eph 4:31; and Heb 12:15. And in the bond or a bond of iniquity.—As in Isa 58:6.

Act . Pray ye to the Lord for me.—Compare the language of Pharaoh to Moses (Exo 8:28; Exo 9:28; Exo 10:17).

Act . The imperfects returned or kept returning, and preached or kept preaching, show that the evangelistic activity of the home-returning apostles was not confined to isolated acts of preaching but was continued all along the route.

Act . For the read an before angel. Towards the south.— κατὰ μεσημβρίαν might be rendered, but not so well, at noon (compare Act 22:6). Gaza, the modern Guzzeh, was one of the five cities of the Philistines at the southern boundary of Canaan (Gen 10:19), about an hour's journey from the Mediterranean. Originally belonging to Judah (Jos 15:47) it was subsequently captured by the Philistines (1Sa 6:17; Jud 16:1). Gaza "is an important place still, though no vestige of the ancient city remains. It stands on an isolated mound one hundred and eighty feet above the sea, from which it is about two miles distant, and is surrounded by gardens; it is said to have still a population of eighteen thousand" (Palestine, by Rev. A. Henderson, M.A., p. 167). Which, better this or it or the same, is desert; but whether Gaza (Lekebush) or the road is meant, and whether the clause was spoken by the angel (Holtzmann, Zöckler, Alford, Hackett, and others), or by Luke (Bengel Olshausen, Winer, De Wette, and others), is doubtful, though perhaps it is more correct to regard the clause as the angel's direction to follow the desert or unfrequented road to Gaza. Robinson (Biblical Researches, ii. 514) mentions several routes from Jerusalem to Gaza, the most frequented being by Ramleh, another by Bethshemesh, and a third by Eleutheropolis. A fourth went by Hebron and across the plain, passing through the southern part of Judæa, which in Luke (Luk 1:80) is called "the desert."

Act . A man of Ethiopia.—Or an Ethiopian, but whether a native or only a resident cannot be inferred from this clause, though the former is the more probable. An eunuch.—Not a term of office, but a description of bodily condition (see Tacit., Ann., vi. 31: ademptœ airilitatis. Of great authority.—An official or ruler; in this case a courtier and statesman. According to Oriental custom to employ such persons in high offices of state. Candace.—Not a personal, but a dynastic name, like Pharaoh and Cæsar. Strabo and Dio mention a queen of Ethiopia of this name in the twenty-second or twenty-third year of the reign of Augustus Caesar; while Pliny (Nat. Hist., vi. 35), states that a Candace ruled in Ethiopia in his day. The Ethiopians inhabited the region in the Nile Valley south of Egypt—Meroe, a fertile island, formed by two branches of the Nile, being a portion of their territory, The word for tressure, γάζα, is Persian, and occurs in the LXX. (Ezr 5:17; Ezr 6:1; Est 4:7). To worship.—Heathen proselytes (Joh 12:20) as well as foreign Jews were accustomed to perform pilgrimages to Jerusalem for this purpose.

Act . The place, or passage, of the Scripture—i.e., of the Old Testament—which he read, or was reading, the verb being imperfect, was this.—The citation, from Isa 53:7-8, follows the LXX., and differs from the Hebrew which gives in the 8th verse—"By (or, from) oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living?" or "and his life who shall recount?" etc. (R.V.).

Act . Of the A.V. is omitted from the R.V. in accordance with the best authorities, א A. B.

Act .—The Alexandrian MS. (A) reads "The Holy Spirit of the Lord fell on the eunuch but an angel of the Lord caught away Philip." The other codices read as in the text. That Philip's disappearance was not a natural occurrence, such as an impulsive and hasty withdrawal, but a supernatural removal (compare 1Ki 18:12; 2Ki 2:16), effected by the Spirit, was obviously the view of the historian.

Act . Azotus.—Or, Ashdod, originally a seat of the Anakim (Jos 11:22), became one of the five chief cities of the Philistines (Jos 13:4; 1Sa 6:17), and the principal seat of the Dagon worship (1Sa 5:1; 1Ma 10:83; 1Ma 11:4). It was handed over to the tribe of Judah at the conquest (Jos 15:46), but did not continue long in their possession, and after the exile appeared among Israel's foes (Neh 4:7). It is represented by the present day Esdud, a miserable Mohammedan village, two miles south of Jamnia, and half an hour's journey from the sea. Philostratus mentions that Apollonius of Tyana was found one day at noon in Rome before the tribunal of Domitian and at evening in Puteoli. Cæsarea.—Six hundred furlongs distant from Jerusalem, built by Herod the Great on a site before called Strato's Tower, named Cæsarea Sebaste, and inaugurated with great pomp and splendour in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, B.C. 12 (Jos., Ant. XV. ix. 6). As the official residence of the Herodian kings and Roman governors, it soon became the most important city in Palestine, as well as its chief port. Paul visited Cæsarea more than once (Act 9:30; Act 18:22; Act 21:8-16; Act 22:23-30; Acts 24-26.). In the third century it became the seat of a bishopric and of a public school in which afterwards Origen taught. Eusebius was born in Cæsarea in the fourth century. At the present time "by the sea shore, midway between the Nahr-er-Zerka and the Nahr-Mef-jir, a vast expanse of ground is covered with the almost indistinguishable débris of Herod's once splendid city."—Picturesque Palestine, iii., 126).

HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Act

The Conversion of the Eunuch; or, the Gospel carried into Ethiopia

I. Occasioned by Providence.—The preparatory steps which led to this remarkable occurrence were seven.

1. The Eunuch's adhesion to the Hebrew faith. An Ethiopian from the upper valley of the Nile, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians (Ethiopia being at this time ruled by female sovereigns, of whom Candace was the official title), who had charge of all her treasure, who was her Finance Minister—five clauses descriptive of his extraction, his condition, his dignity, his time, and his office—he had in measure at least renounced his original heathen superstitions, having, like so many others about that period, come to realise their inability to satisfy the wants of the soul. It has been supposed indeed that he was a Jew who had risen to eminence in Ethiopia, as Moses had done in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, and Mordecai in Shushan (Stokes), chiefly on the ground that had he been a heathen, Cornelius could not have been designated the first Gentile convert. As an argument, however, this is scarcely convincing, since in the Eunuch's case no question arose about terms of admission to the Palestinian Church, while if as stated he was a circumcised pagan, his case was sufficiently distinguished from that of Cornelius, who was certainly an uncircumcised Gentile. The probability, therefore, is that he was an African who, having embraced the Jewish faith, was attached to the temple as a proselyte (compare Act ; Act 13:16), but whether of the gate (Alford, Renan) or of righteousness (Plumptre) cannot be determined. Neither can it be ascertained how he had been led to such an act of renunciation and acceptance as this his proselyte relation to Judaism implied. Jews, it is known, had for centuries been settled in Ethiopia; and the Greek or Septuagint translation of the Scriptures was at this time widely diffused throughout the world.

2. The Eunuch's pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship. It was the custom for proselytes as well as for foreign Jews to undertake such pilgrimages in order to attend the great annual religious festivals at Jerusalem (Act ; Joh 12:20); and the Treasurer of Mero had manifestly been in the Jewish capital, observing one or other of these feasts; most likely a Pentecost, which was usually attended by the largest numbers. That he had done so had no doubt been of God's ordering.

3. The Eunuch's homeward journey through the desert. What particular motive the African statesman had for selecting the desert route to Gaza, vi Bethlehem and Hebron, in preference to any of the other roads, as for instance that which led through Ramleh or that which ran by Bethshemesh, cannot be conjectured; but it need not be questioned that God's object in directing him to the choice he made was to secure the quietude necessary for conversation with the messenger of heaven who was about to be despatched to join him.

4. The Eunuch's meeting with Philip at the moment of his need. According to the story, while his chariot, "a mode of locomotion at all times almost unknown to Syria and Palestine" (Renan), rolled along upon its homeward way, the distinguished traveller, following a custom then quite common, occupied himself in reading. The book which engaged his attention was that of Esaias the prophet. It is not necessary to suppose (Stier) that he had only for the first time procured a copy of the Scriptures when in the Jewish capital. It is more likely that he had long possessed one, but that, having heard in Jerusalem about the death and resurrection of Jesus, he may have been examining the prophecies to ascertain how far these had been fulfilled in Christ's person and work (Hackett). Anyhow, he had just arrived at a passage in the narrative for which he felt the need of an interpreter when he encountered Philip, whom, the moment before, he could hardly have expected to find in a solitude like that through which he was passing. But this also was of the Lord.

5. The Eunuch's occupation at the moment of Philip's appearance. Not merely reading but reading aloud, which furnished Philip with an opportunity and an excuse for striking in with a query—"Understandest thou what thou readest?"—which perhaps he could not otherwise so readily have done.

6. The Spirit's direction to Philip to approach the Eunuch. Although Philip had been sent to the desert road from Samaria—not from Jerusalem (Zeller)—by an angel, he had not been instructed by the angel as to what was the object of his journey. Even when the opulent African appeared, he could not be certain that his mission related to a personage so great without further instructions. These, however, were conveyed to him by a special inspiration: "The Spirit said to him, Go near and join thyself to this chariot"; and with that, of course, all hesitation vanished. It is worth observe that this is "the first mention in the Acts of that inner prompting of the Spirit which is referred to again, probably in Act , but certainly in Act 1:19, Act 16:6-7" (Alford). Such inward guidance is not unknown to Christians yet.

7. The Eunuch's request to Philip to ascend his chariot. Had the Eunuch resented Philip's inquiry, which from a worldly or at least modern point of view was not remarkably polite, there had been no conversation and no conversion; but being anxious to understand, and perhaps solicitous about salvation, and obviously humble withal, the distinguished official did not discern any lack of courtesy in Philip's question, or, if he did, he passed it over, and, like one willing to be taught, invited Philip to ascend and sit beside him. And so the providential chain was complete.

II. Effected by the word.—If, as already suggested, the Eunuch's conversion from heathenism to Judaism was brought about by a believing study of the Old Testament Scriptures, through the same instrumentality was he now to be led over from Judaism to Christianity.

1. By the word read. Or heard. Salvation is not a magical or supernatural transformation to be effected on the soul without intelligent co-operation on its part, but an inward moral and spiritual renewal which can be carried through solely by means of the truth. In accordance with this the Eunuch was engaged in reading the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah when Philip met him. Modern critics, on what seems to the present writer altogether insufficient grounds, have decided that the passage named was not penned by the son of Amos but by an unknown prophet who lived towards the close of the exile; but it is obvious that this was not the view taken either by the Ethiopian treasurer who was groping his way out of heathen darkness, or by Philip the Christian deacon, who at the moment was under the special guidance of the Holy Ghost, or by Luke the evangelist, whom the Holy Ghost employed to record the incident.

2. By the word understood. Mere reading without intelligent apprehension can effect nothing. Hence the question of the deacon was directed towards ascertaining whether the Eunuch comprehended the import of what his eye followed and his tongue uttered; and on learning that he did not, immediately the deacon undertook the office of expounding to him the sense of the sacred text. The Eunuch could indeed perceive that the prophet spoke of a suffering servant of Jehovah; what was not apparent was whether that suffering servant should be identified with the prophet himself or with another. That he was neither, but, as the newer critical school asserts, the people of Israel, did not occur to either the Eunuch or the Deacon. Both sought him in an individual, and that individual Philip told his distinguished scholar was Jesus, whose death was foreshadowed in the prophet's language, which pointed out—

(1) the meekness of it on Christ's part—"He was led as a sheep to the slaughter," etc.;

(2) the iniquity of it on the part of those by whom it was compassed—"In His humiliation His judgment was taken away," meaning that "through oppression and a judicial sentence he was taken away"—i.e., the rights of justice and humanity were denied Him, or in other words He was judicially murdered;

(3) the fruitfulness of it in the number of spiritual descendants secured by means of it to Christ—"Who shall declare His generation?" or "Who shall count the number of His posterity?"—a translation which the Hebrew will support, though another rendering makes it equivalent to the preceding thought—"who shall declare the wickedness of His contemporaries?" and

(4) the triumph of it, inasmuch as through it His life was taken away from the earth, not merely by a violent death, but by exaltation to heaven—"for His life is taken from the earth" (Luke's translation is from the LXX., and every clause in Act has been debated by interpreters; but as all the above renderings are possible, they may be used as representing the course of evangelical instruction through which Philip put the Eunuch).

3. By the word believed. As salvation comes not by reading or hearing where understanding is wanting, so neither does it result from understanding where faith does not ensue. The truth concerning Jesus must be accepted as correct, in so far as it is a testimony, and relied on by the heart's trust in so far as it is a means of salvation. Faith in Scripture is always more than intellectual assent. It involves as well cordial reliance on Him of whom the testimony speaks. This faith was unquestionably exhibited by the Eunuch.

III. Accompanied by confession.—The particular mode in which the Eunuch avowed his acceptance of Christianity was by submitting to the rite of baptism, concerning which four things may be noticed.

1. The place where the rite was performed. Not otherwise indicated than by the circumstance that in its immediate vicinity was "a certain water," it cannot now be identified, although Eusebius and Jerome have decided for Bethsur (Jos ; Neh 3:16), near Hebron, about twenty miles south of Jerusalem, and two from Hebron, against which stands no improbability; but rather for which may be urged that a fountain named Ain-Edh-Dhirweh rises near the town, which still retains the old name in a slightly altered form, Beil-Sur. Other sites have been selected, as Ain-Haniyeh, about five miles south of Jerusalem, and a Wady in the plain near Tell-el-Hasy.

2. The talk before the rite was performed. Drawing attention to the water by the wayside, the Eunuch expressed a wish to be baptised, from which it has been inferred that Philip must have enlightened him concerning the nature and necessity of baptism. Of this, however, he may have learnt in Jerusalem. Philip's reply must have been something like that contained in Act , though by the best MSS. this is omitted. Yet, if spurious, the insertion must have been as old as Irenus, who cites the words without misgiving. Meyer thinks they have been culled from some baptismal liturgy, to show that the Eunuch was not baptised without a formal profession of his faith (see "Hints on Act 8:37").

3. The mode in which the rite was performed. It is commonly asserted that the words "and they went down both into the water" imply that the Eunuch was immersed; but if "into the water" signifies that the Eunuch was immersed then as Philip went down into the water, in company with the Eunuch, Philip also must have been immersed; while if Philip could have gone down into the water without being immersed, it is obvious that the Eunuch could have done the same. The impromptu character of the baptism suggests something simpler than immersion, most likely sprinkling or pouring.

4. What happened after the rite was performed. The Alexandrian text reads, "And the Holy Spirit of the Lord fell on the Eunuch," which may have been inserted to harmonise the incident with theological requirements (see Act ), or with what was supposed to have usually occurred after baptism (Act 2:38); but the Samaritans were not endowed with the Holy Ghost immediately after baptism (Act 8:16), and the gracious indwelling of the Spirit in the heart of a believer is not necessarily connected with baptism (Eph 1:13). What did occur was that Philip was miraculously caught away by the Spirit of the Lord from the Eunuch's side, as Old Testament prophets had often been supernaturally rapt from the eyes of beholders (1Ki 18:12; 2Ki 2:16), as Paul afterwards was caught up into the third heaven (2Co 12:2; 2Co 12:4), and as the then living believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air at His second coming (1Th 4:17). By that (mysterious) departure the Eunuch's faith could scarcely fail to be confirmed (Bengel), unless indeed it was a purely natural, though sudden and impulsive withdrawal on the part of Philip (Zeller, Hackett, Plumptre, Olshausen, Meyer), in which case its effect upon the Eunuch would rather seem to have been disturbing. But the appended statement that Philip was found at Azotus, or Ashdod, one of the principal cities of the Philistines near the sea-coast, rather points to a miraculous removal (Bengel, Alford, Stier, Spence, Lechler, Holtzmann, Zckler).

IV. Followed by joy.—Though the Eunuch no more beheld the evangelist he went on his way rejoicing, thus showing that the change which had passed upon him was independent of the agent by whose mediation it had been effected. The causes of the chamberlain's rejoicing may be set down as four.

1. He had found the true object of worship. This in a manner he had known before, inasmuch as the object of his journey to Jerusalem had been to worship Jehovah, but since meeting with Philip he had learnt that Jehovah had revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, "the image of the invisible God" (Col ), "the brightness of His Father's glory and the express image of His person" (Heb 1:3), as the supreme and sole object of adoration.

2. He had found the key to the Bible. Before he encountered Philip the Bible which he read had been a dark book to him; after his conversation with Philip he discovered that he had obtained a light which enabled him to peruse its prophecies with understanding. "The golden key to the Psalter" says Bishop Alexander, "lies in the pierced hand." The same key unlocks the mysteries of the law and the prophets. "Moses wrote of Me," said Christ (Joh ); and of the prophets Peter affirms "The Spirit of Christ was in them" (1Pe 1:11).

3. He had found a personal Saviour. The faith professed by the Eunuch was more than a bare intellectual assent to the truths propounded by Philip. It was a heart reception of Jesus whom Philip had set forth as the Redeemer. It was a trust which reposed on His death as a true atonement for sin, and looked to His resurrection as the source of spiritual life for his soul. It was a faith that might have said "I am crucified with Christ," etc. (Gal ). A faith which enabled him to rejoice in Christ Jesus (Php 3:3) as his Saviour and friend.

4. He had found a blessed gospel for his countrymen. On his upward journey to Jerusalem he was only treasurer of Candace, the Queen of the Ethiopians; on his downward way he had become a treasurer of the King of kings, and was bearing to his benighted countrymen, in the name of that King, riches more precious than all the wealth of Ethiopia, the joyful tidings that for them, too, had arrived a day of salvation, and a heavenly Saviour who could, and would, rescue them from sin and misery, if only they put their trust in Him. Tradition preserves the Eunuch's name as Indich, and credits him with being the first to preach the gospel in Ethiopia, even converting Queen Candace, after which he departed to India and taught in Ceylon.

Learn.—

1. That earnest seekers after God will eventually be guided into the truth concerning God.

3. That nothing is so effective for conversion work as the story of the death and resurrection of Christ.

4. That Old Testament Scripture was intended to point the way to Christ.

5. That the ordinance of baptism should not be neglected by professed disciples of Jesus Christ.

6. That the mode of Christian baptism may be by sprinkling or pouring as well as by immersion.

7. That no joy can be compared to the joy of salvation.

Act . Angels.

I. Their nature.—Spiritual intelligences (Psa ).

II. Their number.—Practically beyond reckoning (Psa ; Heb 12:22; Rev 5:11).

III. Their dignity.—Superior to man (Psa ; 2Pe 2:11), they stand in God's presence (Psa 68:7; Zec 6:5; Rev 5:11; Mat 18:10).

IV. Their character.—

1. Holy (Dan ; Dan 4:17; Mat 25:31; Rev 14:10).

2. Reverential (Isa ).

3. Obedient (Isa ; Mat 6:10).

4. Powerful (Psa ; 2Th 1:7).

V. Their employment.—

1. Worshipping God (Neh ); Psa 148:2; Luk 2:13; Rev 4:8).