Acts 8:26

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

8:26 Then an angel of the Lord ¹  said to Philip, ²  “Get up and go south ³  on the road that goes down from Jerusalem ⁴  to Gaza.” (This is a desert ⁵  road.) ⁶ 

Acts 10:5-6

10:5 Now ⁷  send men to Joppa ⁸  and summon a man named Simon, ⁹  who is called Peter. 10:6 This man is staying as a guest with a man named Simon, a tanner, ¹⁰  whose house is by the sea.”

Acts 11:13

11:13 He informed us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,

[8:26]  ¹ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[8:26]  ² tn Grk “Lord spoke to Philip, saying.” The redundant participle λέγων (legwn) has not been translated.

[8:26]  ³ tn Or “Get up and go about noon.” The phrase κατὰ μεσημβρίαν (kata meshmbrian) 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.

[8:26]  ⁴ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:26]  ⁵ tn Or “wilderness.”

[8:26]  ⁶ tn 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.”

[10:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “And now.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[10:5]  ⁸ sn Joppa was a seaport on the Philistine coast, in the same location as modern Jaffa.

[10:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “a certain Simon.”

[10:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “with a certain Simon Berseus.” Although most modern English translations treat βυρσεῖ (bursei) as Simon’s profession (“Simon the tanner”), it is possible that the word is actually Simon’s surname (“Simon Berseus” or “Simon Tanner”). BDAG 185 s.v. βυρσεύς regards it as a surname. See also MM 118.