Easter Season · Fifth Sunday of Easter · Year B
Acts 8:26-40
Philip and the Ethiopian
April 25, 2027
Overview & Insights
“See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:36)
If these stories of Philip belong in the sequence and close connection in which we now have them, then either he returned with the apostles to Jerusalem and from there set out for Gaza, or Peter and John returned without him and he traveled directly from Samaria. The Greek favors the first, in that Philip’s instruction was to go “on” the road, not to the road as in NIV; and the road to Gaza ran from Jerusalem. There were, in fact, two roads—the more northerly, which went first to Ashkelon and then by the coast, and the other, which went by way of Hebron and then westward through the desert. It may have been to this that Luke was referring when he added, “This is a desert,” rather than to its disuse. Or it may have been to Gaza itself (the Greek is ambiguous), for the old city had been destroyed and its site remained largely “a desert” (so Strabo described it, Geography 16.2.30; cf. Zeph. 2:4).
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Commentary
Commentary on Acts 8:26-40 Working Preacher
Reads Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, from Isaiah's suffering servant to baptism on the road.
Acts 8 Commentary: Philip and the Samaritans Enduring Word · David Guzik
Verse-by-verse account of Philip's mission, including the encounter with the Ethiopian official.
Acts 8:26 Commentaries BibleHub
Classic commentators on the angel's direction to the desert road and the eunuch reading Isaiah.
Acts 8 Commentary Precept Austin
A collated verse-by-verse study with word notes on the Isaiah scroll, the good news of Jesus, and baptism.
Acts 8:26-40 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching
Reformed commentary tracing Philip and the Ethiopian official as the Easter gospel spreads beyond Jerusalem.
Background & Word Study
Acts 8:26 Interlinear BibleHub
Greek word-by-word view of the desert road scene and the eunuch's question about the prophet.
Book of Acts Summary: Overview Video (Part 1) BibleProject
Animated overview of Acts chapters 1 to 12, tracing the gospel's spread beyond Jerusalem.
Acts 8:26-39, The Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary passage summary keyed to exactly this episode for background.
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
What happens with Philip and the Ethiopian?
Led by the Spirit, Philip meets an Ethiopian official reading Isaiah's suffering-servant song, opens the Scripture to him as good news about Jesus, and baptizes him on the road.
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