Acts 8:26-31

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  8:27 So ⁷  he got up ⁸  and went. There ⁹  he met ¹⁰  an Ethiopian eunuch, ¹¹  a court official of Candace, ¹²  queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He ¹³  had come to Jerusalem to worship, ¹⁴  8:28 and was returning home, sitting ¹⁵  in his chariot, reading ¹⁶  the prophet Isaiah. 8:29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 8:30 So Philip ran up ¹⁷  to it ¹⁸  and heard the man ¹⁹  reading Isaiah the prophet. He ²⁰  asked him, ²¹  “Do you understand what you’re reading?” 8:31 The man ²²  replied, “How in the world can I, ²³  unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

[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.”

[8:27]  ⁷ tn Grk “And,” but καί (kai) carries something of a resultative force in this context because what follows describes Philip’s response to the angel’s command.

[8:27]  ⁸ tn Grk “So getting up he went.” The aorist participle ἀναστάς (anastas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[8:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “And there.” 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.

[8:27]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and behold.” This expression is used to portray Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian in a vivid way. In the English translation this vividness is difficult to convey; it is necessary to supply the words “he met.”

[8:27]  ¹¹ sn The term eunuch normally referred to a man who had been castrated, but this was not always the case (see Gen 39:1 LXX, where Potiphar is called a eunuch). Such castrated individuals were preferred as court officials in the East, although Judaism opposed the practice. The Mosaic law excluded eunuchs from Israel (Deut 23:1), although God certainly accepted them (Isa 56:3-5; Wis 3:14). This individual was a high official, since he was said to be in charge of all her treasury. He may or may not have been a eunuch physically. He appears to be the first fully Gentile convert to Christianity, since the Samaritans mentioned previously (Acts 8:4-25) were regarded as half-breeds.

[8:27]  ¹² tn Or “the Candace” (the title of the queen of the Ethiopians). The term Κανδάκης (Kandakh") is much more likely a title rather than a proper name (like Pharaoh, which is a title); see L&N 37.77. A few, however, still take the word to be the name of the queen (L&N 93.209). BDAG 507 s.v. Κανδάκη, treats the term as a title and lists classical usage by Strabo (Geography 17.1.54) and others.

[8:27]  ¹³ tn Grk “who was over all her treasury, who.” The two consecutive relative clauses make for awkward English style, so the second was begun as a new sentence with the pronoun “he” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun to make a complete sentence in English.

[8:27]  ¹⁴ sn Since this man had come to Jerusalem to worship, he may have been a proselyte to Judaism. This event is a precursor to Acts 10.

[8:28]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and was sitting.” 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.

[8:28]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and was reading.” 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.

[8:30]  ¹⁷ tn The participle προσδραμών (prosdramwn) is regarded as attendant circumstance.

[8:30]  ¹⁸ tn The words “to it” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[8:30]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “heard him”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:30]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[8:30]  ²¹ tn Grk “he said”; but since what follows is a question, it is better English style to translate the introduction to the question “he asked him.”

[8:31]  ²² tn Grk “He”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:31]  ²³ tn 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.