And the place of the scripture which he was reading was this: He was led as a sheep to the slaughter: and like a lamb without voice before his shearer, so openeth he not his mouth.
η δε περιοχη της γραφης ην ανεγινωσκεν ην αυτη ως προβατον επι σφαγην ηχθη και ως αμνος εναντιον του κειροντος αυτον αφωνος ουτως ουκ ανοιγει το στομα αυτου
8 Church Fathers comment on this verse
This also proves his love of wisdom, that he held in his hands such a prophet, one higher than the others. Therefore he speaks to Philip without vainglory, but calmly. Nor does he speak in this way before being questioned, but only when Philip questioned him.
"As a sheep He was led to the slaughter." The meaning of the words just cited is very clear. At the appointed time sheep are led away for shearing, and the shepherds lay the shearing instruments upon them. Yet they endure it and do not attack those who do this. So also Christ, while enduring reproaches, did not repay reproach with reproach.
He is called the Lamb, not as irrational, but as cleansing the world from sins by His precious Blood. He is led before the shearer and knows when He must be silent, Is 53:7.
As a sheep that is led to slaughter does not resist, so He also suffered by His own will.
Or, in a higher sense, as it was customary to sacrifice a lamb at Pascha, so also "Christ, our Pascha, has been sacrificed for us," 1 Cor 5:7.
He not only redeemed us by His blood, but also covered us with a covering, so as to warm with clothing those who were freezing in their unbelief.
Thus we might hear the Apostle saying to us: "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ," Gal 3:27.
So He does not open His mouth, since during His Passion He answered Pilate and the chief priests only a little, and would not answer Herod at all, Mt 26:62-64; Mt 27:11-14; Lk 23:6-9.
Approaching the chariot at the prompting of the Spirit of God, Philip heard that the eunuch was reading the fifty-third chapter of the prophet Isaiah.
He begins the work of evangelization by asking the eunuch, "Do you understand what you are reading?" For he supposes that the courtier does not understand the passage correctly.
That is, he does not see in it the image of the Savior of the world suffering for the sins of men.
The courtier appears so immersed in meditation on God, and so humbly and diligently striving for knowledge of the truth, that he simply admits that he does not understand what he reads.
He also asks Philip to come up into the chariot and sit with him. From Philip's question he guesses that Philip possesses knowledge of Scripture and can explain what is being read.
The passage from the prophet Isaiah, Is 53:7-8, which the eunuch was reading when Philip approached him, depicts the Servant of Jehovah, cf. Is 42:1.
For the sins of men He goes without complaint to voluntary sufferings and death. In this voluntary humiliation, the judgment, the divine predetermination concerning Him, was fulfilled.
Yet who will understand His generation, γενεὰν, cf. Mt 11:16, the generation of people contemporary with Him, and their moral fall? For by their very malice against their Savior, His life is taken from the earth.
Concerning this passage the eunuch asked Philip, "Of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?"
Philip then began to explain this passage of Scripture to him as a prophecy of the Messiah. He preached Jesus to him as the One who had already fulfilled this prophecy in Himself.
By His sufferings on the Cross and His death, He cleansed the human race from its iniquities.
If this verse, Is 53:8, is explained in connection with the words by which it ends in the book of the prophet Isaiah itself, it can also be paraphrased this way.
"In His voluntary humiliation the divine predetermination concerning Him was fulfilled. But who of His generation, of the men of the age contemporary with Him, can understand that His life is taken from the earth?
And who can understand that He is led to death for the iniquities of men?"
And now he was returning to his homeland, riding in a carriage and accompanied by his retinue. In accordance with the rules of the rabbis, he spent the time reading Holy Scripture.
At that very moment he was reading aloud, from the Greek translation of the Seventy, the prophecy of Isaiah: "As a sheep He was led to the slaughter. And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He does not open His mouth.
In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. But who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth," Is 53:7-8.
Philip asked him whether he understood what he was reading. The eunuch admitted that all this was dark to him. He invited Philip to sit with him in the carriage and asked who the one was of whom the prophet spoke.
In this way Philip received the opportunity to unfold the Christian interpretation of this great prophecy.
"The passage of Scripture," and so on. This passage is found in chapter 53 of the book of the prophet Isaiah. It is given here exactly according to the translation of the Seventy.
That translation differs somewhat from the Hebrew original, though not much and not in essential points, but only in words.
Perhaps the writer himself cited these words according to the Greek translation. Yet it is probable that the eunuch also read the book in this same translation, and not in the original.
Among the Jews living in Egypt and the neighboring lands of Africa, this translation was widely used and took the place of the original.
Indeed, it had been made precisely for this purpose, since the Egyptian Jews spoke Greek.
Both the Jewish Church and the early Christian Church unanimously recognized the cited passage from the prophet's book as referring to the Messiah, cf. Mt 8:17; Mk 15:28; Jn 12:38 and following; 1 Pet 2:22 and following.
He is depicted here as the sufferer, under the name of the Servant or Child of Jehovah, see note on Mt 12:18.
His voluntary sufferings, not for His own sins but for the sins of the whole world, are portrayed here in very moving features.
"As a sheep He was led to the slaughter," that is, in sacrifice. "And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He does not open His mouth," whether for complaint, reproach, or anything similar.
Cf. Is 53:7-8.
The prophetic words read by the eunuch were referred to the Messiah both by the Jews and by Jesus Christ Himself, see Mt 8:17, as well as by the Apostles, see Mk 15:28; 1 Pet 2:22.
This, of course, could not have been unknown to the Apostle Philip. Perhaps it was also partly known to the eunuch himself.
He had undoubtedly been in Jerusalem more than once and had heard about Jesus Christ and His teaching.
Therefore perhaps he was reading this passage in order to understand it in relation to Jesus Christ.
The prophet Isaiah foretold much about Jesus Christ. Much of what he said was applied by Jesus Christ to Himself.
For Isaiah, above all, portrayed the Messiah as the Sufferer, the Deliverer of men from their sins by His sufferings and death.
These sufferings and this death were to be accepted by our just and merciful Heavenly Father in place of our sufferings for our sins.
This substitution is what the prophet Isaiah depicts here. He presents the Messiah as like a meek sheep led to slaughter, or like a lamb being shorn and not even uttering a sound.
Meanwhile, in this humiliation of the Messiah, the great work of God's judgment was accomplished. By this judgment He was handed over to death.
Those for whom this condemnation fell upon Him received justification. For He was not merely a simple man, but the God-man, a being of another order than all others.
He is the Only-begotten of the Father. Therefore one can understand how precious His life was, and consequently how fruitful His death was, if it was accomplished for the redemption of many who believe in His name.
"Who will be able to express in words, when it comes to mind who He is and what kind of One He is, that even the Son of God endured all this?"
In the text of this prophecy there is a notable difference from the Hebrew text and a closeness to the translation of the Seventy.
It is therefore clear that the eunuch was reading the prophetic book in the Greek translation.
The words "because of the transgressions of My people He endured punishment," Is 53:8, were for some reason not cited. Yet they are so clear.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 28 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS