Comments on Acts 8 v1-4 Saul becomes the lead persecutor of the disciples, and his tactics are most effective. The result is the church in Jerusalem is scattered with the exception of the apostles. v5-8 With the intense persecution in Jerusalem, Philip heads out to Samaria and preaches there, having considerable success. This success was foreshadowed by the events of John 4. v9-13 A man named Simon, a sorcerer, is a local big shot in Samaria, having tricked the people into thinking he was a powerful man of God with his sorceries. When all of the other Samarians follow Philip, he goes along with it. And when he sees all of the miracles Philip performs he wonders over how they are performed, apparently assuming this was some newer and more impressive means of sorcery. v14-24 When the apostles get word that Philip is having success in Samaria, Peter and John travel there. When they get there they perform laying on of hands for the Holy Spirit. This Simon sees them doing it and attempts to bribe or buy in to this new type of sorcery. Peter rebukes Simon for his attempts and calls him to repentance, resulting in an apparently contrite plea for help in v. 24. v25 After Philip, Peter, and John preach in Samaria, they head back to Jerusalem stopping in various towns along the way to preach the gospel. v26-40 While Peter and John head back to Jerusalem, Philip is called by an angel to travel along a different route wherein the Spirit guides him to an Ethiopian eunuch who is studying the book of Isaiah. Philip meets him, expounds the scriptures to him, and ultimately baptizes him. The poignant subject in this passage is that a black Gentile eunuch is targeted by the Spirit, proselyted by Philip, and ultimately baptized. It is a literal fulfilment of the prediction in Isa. 56:3 wherein all those formerly excluded from full fellowship with Israel are accepted. Another thing this account indicates is that the scriptures were in fact available to the lay people. Here is an Ethiopian eunuch, granted an influential one but still well outside Jewish circles, who has a copy of an Isaiah scroll. It is commonly speculated among our contemporary scholars that common people did not have access to the scriptures in such a manner, but this contradicts such a notion. v39-40 is rather strangely worded and obscure in meaning. The text almost seems to suggest a miraculous removal of Philip by the Spirit and transferal to Azotus. However, in v. 26 we have the same sort of situation, which is less ambiguous, of an angel telling Philip where to go and meeting someone specific and so on. I would assume the present strange wording is intended to convey a similar idea, that Philip is being impelled by the Spirit to specific locations such that he is difficult to keep track of. That "the eunuch saw him no more" doesn't necessarily mean a miraculous departure, it more likely means Philip left promptly and they never saw each other again. Miraculous transportation, which is unambiguously so, is limited to resurrected persons, spirits, and angels (i.e., non- mortals), cf. Judges 6:21, Luke 1:11, John 20:19. One exception would be Elijah, but that was one way travel, cf. 2 Kings 2:11. Philip could have been miraculously transported here, but if so it is unparalleled in the scriptures. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.