Acts 8 · WEB

Philip in Samaria and the Ethiopian Eunuch

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Saul was consenting to his death. A great persecution arose against the assembly which was in Jerusalem in that day. They were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.

²Devout men buried Stephen, and lamented greatly over him.

³But Saul ravaged the assembly, entering into every house, and dragged both men and women off to prison.

⁴Therefore those who were scattered abroad went around preaching the word.

⁵Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ.

⁶The multitudes listened with one accord to the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did.

⁷For unclean spirits came out of many of those who had them. They came out, crying with a loud voice. Many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.

⁸There was great joy in that city.

⁹But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who used to practice sorcery in the city, and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out to be some great one,

¹⁰to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is that great power of God."

¹¹They listened to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his sorceries.

¹²But when they believed Philip preaching good news concerning God's Kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

¹³Simon himself also believed. Being baptized, he continued with Philip. Seeing signs and great miracles occurring, he was amazed.

¹⁴Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,

¹⁵who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit;

¹⁶for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of Christ Jesus.

¹⁷Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,

¹⁹saying, "Give me also this power, that whomever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit."

²⁰But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

²¹You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart isn't right before God.

²²Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.

²³For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity."

²⁴Simon answered, "Pray for me to the Lord, that none of the things which you have spoken happen to me."

²⁵They therefore, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the Good News to many villages of the Samaritans.

²⁶But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert."

²⁷He arose and went; and behold, there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship.

²⁸He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.

²⁹The Spirit said to Philip, "Go near, and join yourself to this chariot."

³⁰Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"

³¹He said, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" He begged Philip to come up and sit with him.

³²Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn't open his mouth.

³³In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth."

³⁴The eunuch answered Philip, "Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?"

³⁵Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Jesus.

³⁶As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?"

³⁸He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

³⁹When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch didn't see him any more, for he went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip was found at Azotus. Passing through, he preached the Good News to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.

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Summary

Stephen's death ignites a fierce persecution led by Saul, scattering the Jerusalem church across Judea and Samaria — and the scattered believers gospel everywhere they go. Philip preaches Christ in Samaria with great power and joy, and even Simon the magician believes and is baptized; when Peter and John arrive to lay hands on the new converts and the Spirit comes, Simon tries to buy the gift and is sharply rebuked. The Spirit then sends Philip south to a desert road to intercept an Ethiopian court official reading Isaiah 53; Philip explains the suffering Servant, baptizes the eager seeker, is whisked away by the Spirit, and continues preaching up the coast to Caesarea.

Themes

Persecution as a mission strategy
The gospel crossing the Samaritan barrier
The unbuyable gift of the Spirit
Scripture interpreted from Christ
The gospel reaches Africa

Key verses

Acts 8:20 — “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!”
Acts 8:35 — “Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Jesus.”
Acts 8:39 — “The eunuch... went on his way rejoicing.”
Acts 8:4 — “Those who were scattered abroad went around preaching the word.”

Context & background

C. AD 35-37. Samaria sat between Judea and Galilee (modern central West Bank and parts of Israel); Samaritans were a mixed-religion people whom mainstream Jews despised since the Babylonian exile — Jesus' commission in Acts 1:8 deliberately included them. Simon Magus became a legendary figure in early church writings (Justin Martyr, Irenaeus) as a founder of Gnostic distortion; the word *simony* — buying church office — comes from his name. The Ethiopian eunuch likely came from the kingdom of Kush/Meroë (modern Sudan), where "Candace" was a dynastic title for the queen mother; as a eunuch he was permanently excluded from the assembly of Israel (Deuteronomy 23:1) — yet Isaiah 56:3-5 specifically promises a place for "foreigners and eunuchs" who hold fast to God, and that promise is fulfilled in him. Gaza was on the coast (modern Gaza Strip); Azotus (modern Ashdod) and Caesarea Maritima (modern Caesarea, Israel) were Mediterranean cities. Verse 37 is absent in the earliest manuscripts (and so omitted in the WEB), reflecting a scribal addition of an early baptismal confession.

Cross-references

Acts 1:8 — "You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria" — this chapter shows that map being filled in.
Isaiah 53:7-8 — The Servant led as a sheep to slaughter — read by the eunuch and explained by Philip.
Isaiah 56:3-7 — God's promise to foreigners and eunuchs — fulfilled in this conversion.
John 4 — Jesus to the Samaritan woman, anticipating the harvest Philip now reaps.
Luke 24:27 — Jesus explained from "all the Scriptures the things concerning himself" — the same method Philip uses with Isaiah 53.

Philip in Samaria and the Ethiopian Eunuch

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