Acts 8:26

And 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.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
angel	Ἄγγελος Angelos	G32	compare G34 (ἀγέλη)) (to bring tidings) · noun — nominative singular masculine
Lord	κυρίου kuriou	G2962	supreme in authority · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
spake	ἐλάλησεν elalēsen	G2980	to talk · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
unto	πρὸς pros	G4314	a preposition of direction · preposition
Philip	Φίλιππον Philippon	G5376	fond of horses · noun — accusative singular masculine, a proper name
saying	λέγων· legōn	G3004	properly · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
Arise	ἀνάστηθι anastēthi	G450	to stand up (literal or figurative · verb — second aorist active imperative, 2nd person singular
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
go	πορεύου poreuou	G4198	to traverse · verb — present middle or passive deponent imperative, 2nd person singular
toward	κατὰ kata	G2596	(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
south	μεσημβρίαν mesēmbrian	G3314	midday · noun — accusative singular feminine
unto	ἐπὶ epi	G1909	properly · preposition
way	ὁδὸν hodon	G3598	a road · noun — accusative singular feminine
that	τὴν tēn	G3588	the (sometimes to be supplied · article — accusative singular feminine
down	καταβαίνουσαν katabainousan	G2597	to descend (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active participle, accusative singular feminine
from	ἀπὸ apo	G575	"off · preposition
Jerusalem	Ἰερουσαλὴμ Ierousalēm	G2419	Hierusalem (i.e. Jerushalem) · noun — genitive singular feminine, a place
unto	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
Gaza	Γάζαν· Gazan	G1048	Gazah (i.e. Azzah) · noun — accusative singular feminine, a place
which	αὕτη hautē	G3778	the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative singular feminine
is	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
desert	ἔρημος. erēmos	G2048	desert · adjective — nominative singular feminine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Acts 5:19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
2 Kings 1:3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it…
Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Acts 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
Acts 10:22 And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warne…
Acts 12:23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
Acts 10:7 And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waite…
Acts 12:8-11 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and f…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 8:26–end

We have here the story of the conversion of an Ethiopian eunuch to the faith of Christ, by whom, we have reason to think, the knowledge of Christ was sent into that country where he lived, and that scripture fulfilled, Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands (one of the first of the nations) unto God, Psa 68:31. I. Philip the evangelist is directed into the road where he would meet with this Ethiopian, Act 8:26. When the churches in Samaria were settled, and had ministers appointed them, the apostles went back to Jerusalem; but Philip stays, expecting to be employed in breaking up fresh ground in the country. And here we have, 1. Direction given him by an angel (probably in a dream or visi…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 8:26

THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. (Act 8:26-40) the angel of the Lord--rather, "an angel." go . . . south, the way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza--There was such a road, across Mount Hebron, which Philip might take without going to Jerusalem (as VON RAUMER'S'S PalÃ&brvbrstina shows). which is desert--that is, the way; not Gaza itself, which was the southernmost city of Palestine, in the territory of the ancient Philistines. To go from a city, where his hands had been full of work, so far away on a desert road, could not but be staggering to the faith of Philip, especially as he was kept in ignorance of the object of the journey. But like Paul, he "was not disobedient to the heavenly vision"…

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Adam Clarke on Acts 8:26

Arise, and go toward the south - How circumstantially particular are these directions! Every thing is so precisely marked that there is no danger of the apostle missing his way. He is to perform some great duty; but what, he is not informed. The road which he is to take is marked out; but what he is to do in that road, or how far he is to proceed, he is not told! It is God who employs him, and requires of him implicit obedience. If he do his will, according to the present direction, he shall know, by the issue, that God hath sent him on an errand worthy of his wisdom and goodness. We have a similar instance of circumstantial direction from God in Act 9:11 : Arise, go into the street called S…

The Church Fathers

He said, however, "this is a desert," so as not to fear the oversight of the Jews.
— Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts

For what reason does an angel not appear to the eunuch but instead leads him to Philip? Because perhaps he would not have believed, but would have been more terrified. For he was not like Cornelius.
— Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts

"Go toward the south." He would not have been going from Jerusalem toward the south, but toward the north; but from Samaria, where Philip of the seven was residing and teaching then, the road is toward the south.
— Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Angel — A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam.…
Chance — (Luke 10:31). “It was not by chance that the priest came down by that road at that time, but by a specific arrangement and in exact fulfilment of a plan; not the plan of the priest, nor the plan of…
Ethiopian Eunuch, The — a Jewish proselyte, (Acts 8:26) etc., who was treasurer of Candace queen of Ethiopia, but who was converted to Christianity on a visit to Jerusalem, through philip the evangelist. Nothing is known of…
Gaza — Called also Azzah, which is its Hebrew name (Deut. 2:23; 1 Kings 4:24; Jer. 25:20), strong, a city on the Mediterranean shore, remarkable for its early importance as the chief centre of a great…
Philip The Evangelist — is first mentioned in the account of the dispute between the Hebrew and Hellenistic disciples in Acts 6. He is one of the deacons appointed to superintend the daily distribution of food and alms, and…
Angel (A Spirit) · . — .
Angels · Communicate the will of God and Christ — Communicate the will of God and Christ
Deserts · Mentioned in scripture: Near Gaza — Mentioned in scripture: Near Gaza
Eunuch · Baptism of the Ethiopian — Baptism of the Ethiopian
Gaza · . — .
Judea, Modern · Parts of, desert — Parts of, desert

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Acts 8:26

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 8:26–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 8:26

Adam Clarke on Acts 8:26

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Acts 8:26

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 8:26–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 8:26

Adam Clarke on Acts 8:26

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Acts 8:26

John Calvin on Acts 8:26-31

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Acts 8:26-40