Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying: Arise, go towards the south, to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza: this is desert.
αγγελος δε κυριου ελαλησεν προς φιλιππον λεγων αναστηθι και πορευου κατα μεσημβριαν επι την οδον την καταβαινουσαν απο ιερουσαλημ εις γαζαν αυτη εστιν ερημος
7 Church Fathers comment on this verse
It seems to me that Philip received this command while he was in Samaria, because from Jerusalem to Gaza one must go not south, but north; from Samaria, however, one goes south. “Which is desert.” This was said so that he would not fear an attack from the Jews. And he did not ask, “Why?” Rather, “he arose and went.”
It seems to me that this Philip was one of the seven. Otherwise he would not have gone from Jerusalem to the south, but to the north. From Samaria, where Philip, one of the seven, was staying and teaching, the road goes south. “The one going down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert.” The angel said this so that Philip would not fear an attack from the Jews.
It is good that at midday he seeks, finds, and washes the one who, burning with devotion of soul, was counted worthy to be dedicated to God as a kind of firstfruits of the nations. In him especially was fulfilled what the psalmist said: "Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God" (Ps 67:32).
It is not the road, but Gaza, that is called deserted. This is that Gaza which in ancient times, being the boundary of the Canaanite people near Egypt, was completely destroyed. In its place another city was built elsewhere.
Allegorically, this signifies the people of the Gentiles, who once refused the worship of God and were not enlightened by the predictions of the prophets. But the road leading there from Jerusalem and revealing the fountain of salvation (Acts 8:36) is Jesus Christ. He says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6). He came down from the Jerusalem above to our infirmities and whitened our blackness by the water of baptism.
Soon after the planting of Christianity in the region of Samaria, another great event in the spread of the Church of Christ outside Judea took place. This was the conversion to faith in Christ and baptism by the deacon Philip of the Ethiopian dignitary.
This Ethiopian dignitary was probably Ethiopian not only by place of residence, but also by nationality. Yet he had come to Jerusalem to worship the one true God. Returning from there, he was sitting in his chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah. From this it is evident that he was a proselyte.
The detail noted by the writer of Acts, that he was also a eunuch, compels us to suppose that he was not a full proselyte, a "proselyte of righteousness," but only a "proselyte of the gate." For, according to the Law of Moses (Deut 23:1), a eunuch could not be received into the assembly of Jehovah.
The event of the Ethiopian man's conversion to faith was especially important because, in this case, not merely an unclean Jew, and not even a Samaritan, but a Gentile by birth and blood, though a Jew by faith, was counted worthy to be received as a member of the Church of Christ.
Furthermore, by the place of his residence this Ethiopian man was also a Gentile. Consequently, through his conversion to Christ, the Church spread far beyond the boundaries of orthodox Judea and even directly into a Gentile country.
For this reason the Ethiopian man's conversion to faith in Christ is accomplished by a special and extraordinary prompting and command. An angel of the Lord visibly appears to Philip while he still remained in Samaria, and most precisely determines the place toward which he must direct his preaching path.
Even this was not enough. When Philip came to the place indicated by the angel and saw there the Gentile dignitary sitting in his chariot and occupied with the reading of the word of God, a special prompting of the Spirit of God came to Philip. He was to approach with the Gospel of Christ precisely to this man.
The opinion of some interpreters that he was a Jew born in Ethiopia rests on the fact that he was reading the prophet Isaiah. This would be sound if one supposed that he was reading the prophetic book in the Hebrew text, and not in the Greek translation.
A proselyte is a person who has adopted a new confession of faith, in this case the Jewish one.
In the East, not only castrated men in the strict sense were called eunuchs, but also all persons holding the highest state offices. Yet that the word eunuch is used here in the strict sense is indicated by the fact that this eunuch was a dignitary serving a queen. It is also indicated by the fact that otherwise the word eunuch would be superfluous here, since this man's high position and office are designated in the same place by other words: a dignitary of Candace, which was a common title in Ethiopia like Pharaoh in Egypt, queen of the Ethiopians, and keeper of all her treasure.
Soon afterward Philip had to accomplish yet another important conversion, which was to prove still more decisively that the day had come when the rules of Judaism must lose their force. Guided by divine prompting and by the voice of an angel, he went south along the deserted road leading from Eleutheropolis to Gaza.
There he met the retinue of a wealthy Ethiopian eunuch, who held the high position of treasurer to Candace, queen of the then-powerful Ethiopian monarchy, whose capital was the city of Meroe.
There is reason to think that this country had, to some degree, been converted to Judaism by Jews who had entered it from Egypt in the days of Psammetichus. Their descendants still exist under the name Falashas.
The eunuch, faithfully fulfilling the duties of a proselyte of the gate, which in his position was more than possible, had gone to Jerusalem on pilgrimage, in order to be present at one of the great feasts.
But to Philip, that is, to the same Philip who preached the Gospel in the Samaritan city, the deacon Philip, the evangelist, the Angel of the Lord said, and so on.
The writer speaks directly, not figuratively, as, for example, in Jn 1:51. Therefore this appearance of the angel must be understood literally. It was a visible and real appearance of an angel to Philip, not merely a spiritual prompting from an invisible angel.
This appearance and command of the angel to Philip took place in Samaria, not in Jerusalem. Only the two Apostles had returned there, as v. 25 says, while Philip remained in Samaria.
"Go toward the south," and so on. By three marks the angel indicates the place where Philip must go in order to find what was needed. The general indication is south of Samaria. The particular one is the road going from Jerusalem to Gaza. The more precise one is the road that is empty or desert.
Gaza was a very ancient city, Gen 10:19; Josh 15:45. It was one of the five chief Philistine cities and lay in the southern borders of Philistine land, near the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Jerusalem.
Not one road leads from Jerusalem to Gaza even now, and probably not formerly either, but several. Therefore the angel more precisely indicates the road Philip must take by calling it desert, that is, one passing through a sparsely populated region, cf. note on Mt 3:1.
This was, in all likelihood, the southern road from Jerusalem to Gaza through Eleutheropolis. It was more desert than the roads north of it that also led to Gaza, cf. note on v. 36.
The Apostle Philip, as a proven evangelist, was sent through an Angel to a new and fruitful preaching.
In the presence of the Apostles Peter and John, he remained, as it were, in the background. They had received greater authority and performed the greater imparting of the gift of the Holy Spirit, which was necessary for all.
Yet as one who prepared men for Christ and baptized them, Philip himself could act freely and with complete success. He proved this by obeying the Angel fully and going southward.
He went to the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza, which lay in the southern borders of the former Philistine land, near the Mediterranean Sea, see Gen 10:19; Josh 15:15.
By specifying the road in detail, the Angel made it understood that here, and nowhere else, what was pleasing to the Lord would occur. This concerned both Philip himself and the work of Gospel preaching.
According to Blessed Theophylact, the mention that the road was desert could indicate that this route was safe from the Jews.
Yet one may also think that many roads led to the ancient city of Gaza. Therefore Philip had to take the very road on which what God foresaw, and even predestined, was to be accomplished.
It seems, however, that this was not explained to Philip. This makes especially precious his complete devotion to the Lord's guidance through the Angel, who undoubtedly appeared to him visibly.
It is worthy of note that some exegetes refer the word "desert" to the city of Gaza. According to the testimony of Josephus, it had been destroyed and laid waste shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem.
Blessed Jerome also testifies that the eunuch's baptism by Philip took place at Bethzur, which could not have been on the shortest road from Jerusalem to Gaza.
From this a very definite conclusion is drawn about the time when Acts was written. Yet it is joined with the less acceptable addition that the final words of v. 26 "are more conveniently regarded as a note by the writer himself."
The sorrowful history of the city of Gaza may be read in Geikie. Among other things, he says that this city was often destroyed, but because of its advantageous position it was rebuilt again.
"Baldness has come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is destroyed," proclaimed the prophet Jeremiah, Jer 47:5. Endless pity for the silent dead fills the heart.
Gaza is situated on a long, low hill and is immersed in dense greenery. To the southeast, through open country, the road goes to Beersheba. To the northeast a track marks the way to Hebron.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 24 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS