☰ Acts 8
Under persecution the Church moves out
8
1 At that time a major persecution arose against the church that was in Jerusalem, so all, except the Apostles, were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Devout men had buried Stephen and made a great lamentation over him.) 3 As for Saul, he was trying to destroy the Church; invading house after house and dragging away both men and women, he was putting them in prison. 4 So on their part those who were scattered abroad went about preaching the Word.
Philip's ministry
5 Now Philip, having gone down to a city of Samaria,* was proclaiming the Christ to them; 6 and the crowds gave heed with one accord to what Philip was saying, as they heard the words and saw the signs that he kept performing.† 7 Because unclean spirits came out screaming from many who had them, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 Yes, there was great joy in that city!‡
Simon, the sorcerer
9 Now a certain man named Simon was in the city first, practicing sorcery and astounding the people of Samaria, affirming himself to be someone great, 10 to whom they used to pay attention, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.”§ 11 They listened to him because he had amazed them with his sorceries for a long time. 12 But, when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news concerning the Kingdom of God and the name, Jesus Christ,* they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and having been baptized he stayed right with Philip; observing miracles and signs occurring, he was amazed.†
14 Now when the Apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who upon coming down prayed about them, so that they might receive Holy Spirit, 16 because He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized into the name of Jesus, the Christ.‡ 17 Then they laid their hands upon them and they received Holy Spirit.
18 Well, upon observing that the Holy§ Spirit was given through the laying on of the Apostles' hands, Simon offered them money 19 saying, “Give this power to me also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him: “May your silver go with you into perdition,* for thinking that the gift of God could be acquired with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Turn away therefore from this your wickedness and make petition to God,† in case the intent of your heart may be forgiven you; 23 for I see you being into a gall of bitterness and a fetter of unrighteousness.”‡ 24 So in answer Simon said, “You§ make petition to the Lord on my behalf, so that nothing of what you have spoken may come upon me!”
25 So when they had both* thoroughly testified and spoken the Word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem; they also evangelized many Samaritan villages.
The Ethiopian treasurer
26 Then an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza;† it is desolate.” 27 So he got up and went; and there, a man, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court-official of Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasury, who had come worshiping to Jerusalem‡ 28 —he was returning, sitting in his chariot and reading aloud the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go forward and join this chariot.” 30 So running up Philip heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, “Do you really understand what you are reading?” 31 So he said, “Well how can I, unless someone guides me?” And he urged Philip to come up and sit with him.§
32 Now the portion of the Scripture that he was reading was this:
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so He does not open His mouth.
33 In His humiliation His justice was removed,
and who will recount His generation?
Because His life is removed from the earth.”*
34 So continuing the eunuch said to Philip, “I ask you, about whom does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 So opening his mouth and beginning from this Scripture, Philip preached Jesus to him.
36 Now as they were going down the road they came upon some water, and the eunuch said: “Look, water! What is keeping me from being baptized?”† 38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, Spirit of the Lord‡ snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, because he went on his way rejoicing.§
40 Philip was found at Azotus,* and as he passed through he evangelized all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
* 8:5 Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have ‘the city’, instead of “a city”, to be followed by most versions, including AV and NKJV. † 8:6 He did not just talk, he demonstrated God's power. So how about us—do we just talk? ‡ 8:8 Not bad, for a deacon. § 8:10 That is what the Text says. I would expect ‘has’ the power or ‘shows’ it, or whatever, but the Text has ‘is’. Perhaps the Samaritans thought he was the Messiah. Around 9% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘is called’. * 8:12 He was proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah. † 8:13 Why? If he himself had really been producing miracles and signs, he could have said, “business as usual”. Presumably he had been faking it (or else doing it by demonic power), so when he saw the real thing, by God's power, he was genuinely impressed. ‡ 8:16 Some 30% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘Lord’ instead of ‘Christ’, as in most versions. § 8:18 ‘Holy’ is omitted by two (2) manuscripts (against over 600), to be followed by NIV, NASB, TEV, etc. Those two are ancient, but of objectively inferior quality. * 8:20 Peter is really upset and does not mince words; he evidently felt that the sin was so serious as to place Simon's eternal destiny in doubt (see verse 22, “in case”). Well, the Lord Jesus Himself had taught them that to blaspheme the Holy Spirit was unpardonable, and Peter evidently figured that Simon had come close. † 8:22 Some 5% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘Lord’ instead of ‘God’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). ‡ 8:23 The Text has ‘into’ not ‘in’, thereby emphasizing (I suppose) that this was a long-standing condition. Since gall is bitter, very, I take it that Peter is saying that Simon was controlled by a terrible bitterness. Isaiah 58:6 speaks of “fetters of wickedness”, where the fetters have been placed on the victim(s) by wicked men (or angels), presumably [the LXX uses the word that Peter uses here, ‘unrighteousness’]. We don't know if Peter was thinking of this text, and since Simon was into sorcery/spiritism, the fetter could have been of his own forging. The inspired author says that Simon believed, so I take it that he really did. But the consequences to his soul of years spent in sorcery/spiritism were not immediately, miraculously obliterated. Those in our day who have discipled people converted out of Satanism/spiritism (especially mediums—witches, warlocks) know that those consequences can hang around for quite a while, and be difficult to eliminate. § 8:24 The Text is emphatic. Simon is not being disrespectful; he doubts that his own pleading will do much good, so he begs them to do it for him (God is much more likely to listen to them). * 8:25 This word goes with the verbs ‘testify’ and ‘speak’, not Peter and John. I suppose the ‘thorough testifying’ would be with reference to the Lord's ministry, teaching, death and resurrection (they were eye witnesses). † 8:26 From Samaria to the Gaza road would be a walk of at least 60 miles, over accidented terrain. Notice that God removes Philip from a very successful ministry to reach one man (albeit a very strategic one). ‡ 8:27 So how did this man know about Jehovah, and why had he learned to read Hebrew (unless he was reading a Greek translation)? Although nearly a millennium had intervened, this could be a result of the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon. § 8:31 The Holy Spirit was obviously in charge of this whole operation and moved upon the man to trust Philip. * 8:33 See Isaiah 53:7-8. † 8:36 The AV and NKJV have verse 37: Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” It is the sort of thing that makes us think, “If Philip did not say that, he should have”. And maybe he really did, but the question immediately before us is whether Luke wrote it. 88% of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, do not have the verse—I imagine that the verse originated in the Latin tradition, during the second century. Philip doubtless recounted the event many times (his house in Caesarea received many visitors), and if the exchange recorded in verse 37 actually took place it would be part of the story that he told, and could easily have been added to the Text of Acts. (The addition appears in eighteen slightly different forms, which does not inspire confidence.) ‡ 8:39 Again there is no definite article with ‘Spirit’, nor with ‘Lord’—I would like to translate ‘Spirit of Jehovah’, but God's personal name never occurs in the New Testament. § 8:39 He did not stop to look for Philip or attempt any further contact with him; Ethiopia was a long way away and he just kept on going. He doubtless understood that Philip's ‘visit’ was a supernatural present, and let it go at that. * 8:40 The verb is in the passive voice, but I am tempted to translate, ‘found himself’. The Spirit put Philip down in a nearby town, perhaps 10-15 miles away. Caesarea was some 50 miles on up the coast; speaking of which, Philip evidently decided to settle there.
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