Who was the eunuch from Ethiopia? Probably one of those who were called “God-fearers” at the time: a former pagan who had turned to the God of Israel without embracing Judaism in its entirety. Such people were not required to observe all Jewish religious rules and precepts, but...
Who was the eunuch from Ethiopia? Probably one of those who were called “God-fearers” at the time: a former pagan who had turned to the God of Israel without embracing Judaism in its entirety. Such people were not required to observe all Jewish religious rules and precepts, but they took part in the life of the synagogue. In synagogues they listened to preaching and prayed with the Jews, although they sat separately from them. Observing the Sabbath and the dietary laws was not obligatory for them, so they could not sit at the same table as Jews during ritual meals at home. Nor could they participate with them in sacrifices or sacrificial meals. A special place was set aside for them in the Temple, called, quite simply, the Court of the Gentiles.
The Ethiopian eunuch belonged to these “God-fearers.” He was, incidentally, a man of high rank: in Ethiopia at that time—and not only there—this was a position of responsibility at court. But something else mattered more to him: he was waiting for the Messiah. It is no coincidence that the passage from the Book of Isaiah he was reading on his journey was precisely a messianic prophecy. Apparently he had already reread these passages from the prophetic books more than once, trying to understand what he and others like him could expect from the Messiah.
The position of the “God-fearers” was somewhat ambiguous. Inwardly they had distanced themselves from the familiar pagan—or rather secular—world and its way of life; that life no longer interested them. Yet they had not entered Judaism either and remained in many ways strangers to the Jewish world. In essence, they remained on its periphery, and one cannot say that the synagogue encouraged them to move further in that direction: the conversion of pagans to Judaism was regarded cautiously at the time. The synagogue’s missionary work consisted in arousing pagans’ interest and drawing them closer, but no more than that.
The “God-fearers” could only hope that the Messiah would come and everything would change, for them as well. But how could he change the world while remaining a nobody in it? Philip answers this question for the eunuch as he explains these messianic passages from the prophetic books. And the eunuch understands: what he has been waiting for so long has finally happened. The Messiah has come, and there is nothing more to wait for. He does not wait—and soon the Kingdom has one more inhabitant.
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8:26 The way which is desert - There were two ways from Jerusalem to Gaza, one desert, the other through a more populous country.
8:27 An eunuch - Chief officers were anciently called eunuchs, though not always literally such; because such used to be chief ministers in the eastern courts. Candace, queen of the Ethiopians - So all the queens of Ethiopia were called.
8:28 Sitting in his chariot, he read the Prophet Isaiah - God meeteth those that remember him in his ways. It is good to read, hear, seek information even in a journey. Why should we not redeem all our time?
8:30 And Philip running to him, said, Understandest thou what thou readest? - He did not begin about the weather, news, or the like. In speaking for God, we may frequently come to the point at once, without circumlocution.
8:31 He desired Philip to come up and sit with him - Such was his modesty, and thirst after instruction.
8:32 The portion of Scripture - By reading that very chapter, the fifty - third of Isaiah, many Jews, yea, and atheists, have been converted. Some of them history records. God knoweth them all. Isa 53:7
8:33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away - That is, when he was a man, he had no justice shown him. To take away a person's judgment, is a proverbial phrase for oppressing him.And who shall declare, or count his generation - That is, who can number his seed, Isa 53:10; which he hath purchased by laying down his life?
8:36 And as they went on the way they came to a certain water - Thus, even the circumstances of the journey were under thedirection of God. The kingdom of God suits itself to external circumstances, without any violence, as air yields to all bodies, and yet pervades all. What hindereth me to be baptized? - Probably he had been circumcised: otherwise Cornelius would not have been the first fruits of the Gentiles.
8:38 And they both went down - Out of the chariot. It does not follow that he was baptized by immersion. The text neither affirms nor intimates any thing concerning it.
8:39 The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip - Carried him away with a miraculous swiftness, without any action or labour of his own. This had befallen several of the prophets.
8:40 But Philip was found at Azotus - Probably none saw him, from his leaving the eunuch, till he was there.