Acts 8

Saul agreed that Stephen should be put to death. That same day a fierce attack began against the church in Jerusalem. All the believers were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. Only the apostles stayed.

1And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Note"The church" translates a Greek word meaning a called-out assembly, that is, the community of believers itself. There were no church buildings yet; they met in houses and in the temple courts. Saul is the same man called Paul from Acts 13 onward. The apostles were the inner group Jesus had commissioned as his authorized messengers; the word means "ones sent out." Judea is the region around Jerusalem, Samaria the region immediately north of it.

2Men who took God seriously buried Stephen and wept loudly over him.

2And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

Note"Devout" translates a word for men careful in their religious duty. Loud wailing was the expected public form of mourning, performed openly and often with hired mourners, not kept private. Burying a man a mob had just killed for blasphemy also carried risk, since it publicly identified the mourners with him.

3But Saul set out to wreck the church. He went into house after house, dragged out men and women, and had them thrown into prison.

3As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

NoteTwo King James words have shifted since 1611. "Havock" is an older spelling of havoc, which then meant the wholesale wrecking and plundering of a captured place. "Haling" means hauling or dragging by force; it has nothing to do with hailing someone.

4So the believers who had been scattered preached the message everywhere they went.

4Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

5Philip went down to a city in Samaria and told the people there about the Christ.

5Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

NoteSamaria was the name of a region and, historically, of its old capital city. The Samaritans were descendants of the northern Israelites who worshiped at Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem and accepted only the five books of Moses as Scripture; Jews and Samaritans regarded each other as outsiders and dealings between them were strained. Manuscripts differ over whether Luke wrote "the city" or "a city" of Samaria. "Christ" is not a surname but a title, Greek for "anointed one," the word that translates the Hebrew "Messiah."

6The crowds listened closely to everything Philip said. They heard him and saw the miracles he did.

6And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

Note"Gave heed" simply means paid attention. The word the King James renders "miracles" is literally "signs": acts understood to point beyond themselves to the one who sent the person doing them.

7Evil spirits screamed loudly as they came out of many people they had controlled. Many who could not move their bodies, and many who could not walk, were healed.

7For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

Note"Palsy" was the ordinary English word in 1611 for paralysis, from the same root, covering a range of conditions in which the body will not move properly. "Unclean" is a ritual term, not a comment on dirt: it marks something as unfit to come near what is holy.

8So there was great joy in that city.

8And there was great joy in that city.

9There was a man named Simon who had been practicing magic in that city. He had amazed the people of Samaria, and he claimed to be someone important.

9But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

Note"Bewitched" in 1611 English means amazed or astounded, and that is what the Greek says: he put people out of their senses with astonishment. It does not mean he cast spells on them. "Used sorcery" means practiced magic as a trade, which in the Roman world was a recognized and often lucrative profession.

10Everyone, from the least important to the greatest, paid attention to him. They said, "This man is the power of God that is called the Great Power."

10To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

NoteThe words read like a title. In Samaritan religious language "the Great Power" was a way of naming God's own active power, so the crowd is not merely praising Simon's skill; it is saying that this power is present in him.

11They listened to him because he had amazed them with his magic for a long time.

11And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

12But when they believed Philip as he told the good news about the kingdom of God and about the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

12But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

NoteBaptism was a washing in water that marked a person's entry into a community. Ritual washings were already familiar in Jewish practice, and a full bath was used when a Gentile converted, so the act itself needed no explaining to Luke's first readers.

13Simon himself believed too. After he was baptized, he stayed close to Philip and was amazed as he watched the miracles and signs that were done.

13Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

14The apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God. So they sent Peter and John to them.

14Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

15When Peter and John arrived, they prayed for the Samaritan believers to receive the Holy Spirit.

15Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:

NoteIn 1611 "Ghost" simply meant "spirit." "Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit" translate the same two Greek words, and nothing about a haunting is implied.

16The Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

16(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

Note"Baptized in the name of" is an idiom of transfer. A name in this construction marks whose possession or allegiance a person now enters, much as money could be paid "into the name of" someone's account.

17Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

17Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

NotePlacing hands on a person was a recognized formal gesture in Jewish practice, used to bless, to commission someone to an office, and to mark the passing of something from one party to another. It was a public, deliberate act, not an affectionate touch.

18Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given when the apostles placed their hands on people. So he offered them money.

18And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,

NoteThe English word "simony," meaning the buying or selling of a religious office or privilege, is taken from this Simon and this offer.

19He said, "Give me this power too, so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit."

19Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

20But Peter said to him, "May your money be destroyed along with you, because you thought you could buy God's gift with money.

20But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

NotePeter's words are literally "your silver be with you into destruction." "Silver" is the ordinary Greek word for coined money. The sentence has the form of a curse or oath rather than a prediction of what will in fact happen.

21You have no part and no share in this work, because your heart is not right in God's sight.

21Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

Note"Part nor lot" is a legal idiom for a share in property. A "lot" was originally a portion assigned by casting lots, the method by which land was divided in Israel, so the phrase means he holds no stake in this whatever.

22So turn away from this evil of yours, and pray to God. Maybe he will forgive you for what you were thinking.

22Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

Note"If perhaps" preserves a genuine tentativeness in the Greek, which leaves the outcome open rather than promising it. "Heart" here means the mind and the will, the place where intentions are formed, not the seat of feeling.

23I can see that you are full of bitter poison and tied up by sin."

23For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.

NoteBoth phrases are Old Testament idioms. "Gall" is a bitter and poisonous plant substance; Deuteronomy 29:18 speaks of a "root that beareth gall and wormwood," meaning a person whose loyalty has gone rotten. "Bond of iniquity" pictures wrongdoing as a chain or fetter. The Greek preposition is "into," so the phrase can be read either as the state he is in or as the state he is heading toward.

24Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me, so that none of the things you have said will happen to me."

24Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the LORD for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

25After Peter and John had given their testimony and spoken the word of the Lord, they went back to Jerusalem. Along the way they told the good news in many Samaritan villages.

25And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

26An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south, to the road that runs down from Jerusalem to Gaza." That road goes through empty country.

26And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

Note"Toward the south" translates a Greek word that can mean either "south" or "midday," so the instruction is either a direction or a time of day, and translators divide over which. "Which is desert" is equally ambiguous: the clause may describe the road or the town. Gaza was the southernmost of the old Philistine cities, on the coastal route toward Egypt, and marked the point where the road entered dry, thinly settled country.

27So he got up and went. On the way he met a man from Ethiopia, an important official who served Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. He was in charge of all her money, and he had come to Jerusalem to worship.

27And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

Note"Ethiopia" here is not the modern country. It refers to the kingdom of Kush or Nubia on the Nile south of Egypt, in what is now Sudan; to Greeks and Romans it stood for the far southern edge of the known world. "Candace" is a title rather than a personal name, borne by the queen mother who ruled in that kingdom. "Eunuch" means a castrated man, and such men were routinely employed as trusted officials in royal courts; because of that the word also hardened into a court title for a high official, so the term alone does not settle the man's physical condition. It bears on the story that under Deuteronomy 23:1 a castrated man was barred from the assembly of the Lord, so a worshiper in that state could go to Jerusalem but not enter fully.

28Now he was on his way home, sitting in his chariot and reading from the prophet Isaiah.

28Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

Note"Esaias" is the Greek form of the name Isaiah. He is reading from a scroll, an expensive object that in itself indicates wealth and position.

29The Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to that chariot and stay near it."

29Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

30Philip ran over to him and heard him reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"

30And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

NoteReading aloud was the normal practice in the ancient world, even when a person read alone. That is why Philip, running alongside the moving chariot, could hear what the man had in front of him.

31The man said, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" And he invited Philip to climb up and sit with him.

31And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

32This was the part of Scripture he was reading: "He was led like a sheep going to be killed. Like a lamb that is silent while its wool is cut off, he did not open his mouth.

32The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

NoteThe passage is Isaiah 53, quoted in its Greek version, which differs from the Hebrew in places. "Dumb" in the King James means unable to speak or making no sound; it carries no suggestion of stupidity. Shearing removes the wool and does not kill the animal, so the two pictures in the verse are not identical.

33When he was brought low, he was not treated fairly. Who can tell about his descendants? For his life was taken away from the earth."

33In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

NoteThis verse is obscure in the Greek and follows the Septuagint, which diverges here from the Hebrew of Isaiah. "Judgment" means justice, or a fair hearing, rather than a verdict against him: the sense is that he was denied due process. "Who shall declare his generation" is genuinely ambiguous. "Generation" can mean his descendants, his family line, the people alive in his own time, or the span of his life, and the line can be read as a question about who could recount them or as an exclamation that no one can.

34The official said to Philip, "Please tell me, who is the prophet talking about? Himself, or someone else?"

34And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

35Then Philip began to speak. Starting with that very passage, he told the man the good news about Jesus.

35Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

Note"Opened his mouth" is a set idiom in Hebrew and Greek for beginning a formal or weighty speech. It does not describe a physical action.

36As they traveled down the road, they came to some water. The official said, "Look, here is water! Is there anything to stop me from being baptized?"

36And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

NoteWater is scarce along that route, which is what makes the sight of it worth exclaiming over. The wording of the question, "what doth hinder me," may echo a fixed question put to candidates at baptism in the early churches.

37Philip said, "If you believe with your whole heart, you may." The man answered, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

37And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

ManuscriptsMost modern translations leave this verse out. It is in the Greek text the King James translators worked from, but not in the older manuscripts found since, so scholars generally take it as a copyist’s addition rather than part of the original.

NoteThis verse is absent from the earliest and best manuscripts of Acts, and most modern translations go straight from verse 36 to verse 38. It appears to be an early addition that preserves the question and answer used when candidates were baptized. The King James follows later manuscripts that include it.

38He ordered the chariot to stop. Then both of them went down into the water, Philip and the official, and Philip baptized him.

38And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

NoteThe wording describes both men stepping down into the water. It does not by itself specify how much of the body was covered.

39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the official did not see him again. But he went on his way full of joy.

39And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

Note"Caught away" translates a forceful Greek verb meaning snatched or seized, used elsewhere of someone being carried off suddenly and against expectation. Some manuscripts have a longer reading here: that the Holy Spirit fell on the eunuch, and an angel of the Lord then snatched Philip away.

40Philip turned up at Azotus. He traveled through that whole area and told the good news in every town, until he reached Caesarea.

40But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

NoteAzotus is the Greek name for Ashdod, one of the five old Philistine cities on the coastal plain. Caesarea, roughly sixty miles further north, was the harbor city built by Herod the Great and served as the seat of the Roman governor of Judea. Philip is still living there many years later, in Acts 21.