Acts 8:27Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The eunuch saw none of this. Perhaps this was because he was not yet perfect. Or perhaps it was because this is the work not of bodily eyes, but of spiritual eyes. He did not yet know what Philip taught him.

She sends the keeper of riches as her debt to the world. Having him as her pledge, she offers her treasures.

What wealth in her is better than the treasure received from the font? What gold is more precious than abundant faith of heart?

And how fitting it is, finally, that a eunuch goes before her. At her appearing, passion is rejected, and the pure inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

The queen of Ethiopia, sending the keeper of treasures to Jerusalem, signifies the Church of the Gentiles, gathering to offer the Lord the gifts of virtues and faith.

The etymology of her name also corresponds to this. Candace may be translated from Hebrew as "changed."

She is indeed the one to whom it is said in the Psalm, concerning those who will be changed: "Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house," Ps 44:11, and so forth.

For according to the Law of Moses, Deut 23:1, a eunuch could not be admitted into the assembly of Jehovah.

The conversion of the Ethiopian man was especially important because, in this case, one deemed worthy of admission into Christ's Church was not merely an unclean Jew, nor even a Samaritan.

He was a Gentile by birth and blood, although a Jew by faith.

Moreover, this Ethiopian man was also a Gentile by the place where he lived. Therefore, by his conversion to Christ, the Church spread far beyond the borders of orthodox Judea, and directly into a Gentile country.

For this reason the conversion to faith in Christ of the Ethiopian man occurs by a special and extraordinary prompting and ordering.

The Angel of the Lord visibly appears to Philip while he still remained in Samaria. He then defines with the greatest exactness the place toward which Philip must direct his preaching journey.

Even this was not enough. When Philip came to the place indicated by the angel, he saw there the Gentile courtier sitting in a chariot and occupied with reading the word of God.

Then there followed a special prompting of the Spirit of God to Philip, that he should begin preaching Christ to this particular man.

The opinion of some interpreters, such as Olshausen, that he was a Jew born in Ethiopia, rests on the fact that he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

This would be well founded if one supposed that he read the prophetic book in the Hebrew text, and not in the Greek translation.

A proselyte is a person who has accepted a new confession of faith, in this case Judaism.

In the East, not only eunuchs in the strict sense were called eunuchs. The name was also given to all persons who occupied the highest offices of state.

Yet here the word "eunuch" is used in the strict sense. This is shown by the fact that this eunuch was a courtier attached to the queen.

It is also shown by the fact that otherwise the word "eunuch" would be superfluous here. The man's high position and office are indicated in the same place by other words.

He was a courtier of Candace, a common title in Ethiopia, like Pharaoh in Egypt, queen of the Ethiopians, and keeper of all her treasures.

There is no doubt that Jews lived in Ethiopia at that time, and in rather significant numbers. Yet the writer does not call him a Hebrew from Ethiopia, but an Ethiopian.

"Eunuch" means a castrated man. In the East such men were, among other things, overseers of royal harems. From this office they often advanced to higher offices of state.

Moreover, eunuchs in general were sometimes appointed to high state offices. Consequently, the name "eunuch" was sometimes used of any person holding high office, even if he was not castrated.

Therefore many have supposed that here too the word "eunuch" does not properly mean a castrated man. They take it to mean a man holding high office under the queen of Ethiopia.

They support this reasoning by the fact that, according to the Law of Moses, Deut 23:1, a eunuch could not belong to the assembly of Jehovah.

Yet this eunuch traveled to Jerusalem as a pilgrim and read the prophet's book.

But if this eunuch had not been a eunuch in the strict sense, that is, a castrated man, the word would be superfluous in the text. His high office under the queen is directly mentioned afterward.

Moreover, his very position as a courtier close to the queen compels one to suppose, according to Eastern customs, that he was a eunuch in the strict sense.

According to the Law of Moses, a eunuch could not be admitted into the assembly of Jehovah. This only means that such a man could not be a full proselyte, a "proselyte of righteousness."

Such a man could be a proselyte of the second degree, a "proselyte of the gate," see note on Jn 12:20. Such, probably, was this Ethiopian eunuch.

"Courtier" is further explained by the statement that he was keeper of all the queen's treasures. Therefore he was one of the most important officials in the East, and one of those closest to the queen.

"Candace, queen of Ethiopia." Ethiopia was the name of the country lying south of Egypt, where Nubia and Abyssinia now are. Its political and commercial center was Meroe.

Even in the time of Eusebius, as in ancient times, this country was ruled by women. As in neighboring Egypt all kings were called Pharaohs, so in Ethiopia all queens were called Candaces, Pliny, Hist. natur. 6.35.

He had come to Jerusalem to worship. As a proselyte of the gate, he had access to the temple and could offer sacrifice in the temple to the true God, on equal terms with the Jews.

Probably he had been converted to the Jewish faith by one of the Jews who lived in Ethiopia in significant numbers and were always zealous in spreading their faith.

The eunuch himself had probably often been there and could easily acquire these books, despite their cost. He was undoubtedly not poor, since he was a courtier and keeper of all the queen's treasures.

Having come to know the true God, he became a proselyte of the gate, see Jn 12:20. Because he was a eunuch, he could not be admitted into closer communion with the Jews, see Deut 23:1.

Meanwhile he was so pious that, despite the great distance, he traveled to Jerusalem, probably for the feast of Pentecost. He wished to take what part he could in the prayers and celebrations around the holy temple of Jerusalem.

His piety was so great that he read the word of God spoken through the prophet even while traveling by a difficult, desert, indirect road. It was safer than other roads, though they were straighter and better prepared.

It is reported that the Ethiopian queens received the kingdom by right of inheritance. The name Candace was common to them, as Pharaoh was to the Egyptian kings.