Acts 8:32–35

Context

These verses form part of Acts 8:26–40. Philip was one of the Seven appointed by the church in Jerusalem (Acts 6:5; 21:8) and is generally regarded as a different person from Philip the apostle, one of the Twelve. At an angel's direction, Philip went to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. On that road a eunuch who had charge of the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, was returning home in his chariot after worshiping and was reading Isaiah. When Philip asked, "Understandest thou what thou readest?" the eunuch replied that he could not understand without someone to guide him. The passage he was reading was Isaiah 53:7–8. When the eunuch asked whether the prophet was speaking of himself or of some other man, Philip "began at the same scripture" and preached Jesus to him. In the scene that follows, the eunuch is baptized.

Interpretation

• The Suffering Servant read as Jesus: Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox traditions all read this passage as a leading New Testament testimony that the "Suffering Servant" of Isaiah 53 was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The image of the lamb led away silently and without resistance is understood to point to Jesus' trial and death on the cross.
• A model of Christ-centered reading of Scripture: Some interpreters connect Philip's method of beginning with an Old Testament text and explaining Jesus from it to the scene in which the risen Jesus opened the Scriptures to his disciples (Luke 24:27, 44–46). On this view, the episode serves as a model for reading the Old Testament with Christ at the center.
• A text on evangelism and mission: The passage is read as one stage in the outward movement of the gospel toward "the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). It is also frequently interpreted as a model of personal evangelism, in which one approaches a person reading Scripture and begins a conversation with that person's own question.

Debates and Issues

• Who is the "servant"?: The eunuch's question remains a matter of interpretive debate. In Jewish tradition, a widely known interpretation identifies the Suffering Servant with the people of Israel. Some scholars identify the servant with the prophet himself or with another historical figure.
• Quotation from the Septuagint: The quotation is generally recognized as following the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) rather than the Hebrew text. As a result, verse 33 in particular differs noticeably in wording from Isaiah 53:8 as rendered in Korean Bibles.
• Omission of atonement language: The quotation stops short of the latter part of Isaiah 53:8, which contains expressions of vicarious suffering such as "for the transgression of my people." On this basis some scholars argue that Luke emphasizes humiliation and exaltation rather than atonement. Others counter that the phrase "began at the same scripture" presupposes the context of Isaiah 53 as a whole.
• The baptism scene that follows: Verse 37 (the eunuch's confession of faith) is absent from the oldest manuscripts, so modern translations usually omit it from the main text or mark it separately. Baptists cite the phrase "went down both into the water" in verse 38 as support for believer's baptism and for baptism by immersion. Presbyterians, Methodists, and others hold that this expression alone does not settle the mode of baptism. For further details, see Baptism and Immersion.

Related Passages

• Isaiah 53:7–8
• Isaiah 53:4–6
• Luke 24:44–46
• 1 Peter 2:24
• Acts 1:8