Acts 8
DOYLY— the city of Samaria.] The ancient city of this name had been destroyed by Hyrcanus, but it had lately been rebuilt by Herod the Great, and in honour of Augustus called Sebaste, or Augusta. Dr. Case. Perhaps it may mean, “a city of Samaria;” that is, a city of the region of Samaria, as Sychem. Dr. Lightfoot, Bp. Pearse.
The Apostles at their first mission were charged “not to go into the way of the Gentiles, nor to enter into any city of the Samaritans.” But when Christ by His death “had broken down the middle wall of partition, and abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances,” then the Gospel came and “preached peace as well to them that were afar off, as to them that were nigh,” Eph. ii. 15, 17. Dr. Case.
— on them.] Not on all that had been baptised, but on some of them, chosen out and distinguished from the rest; for Simon was among those that were baptised. Bp. Pearce.
— went unto the high priest, &c.] The Jewish Sanhedrim had not only the power of seizing and scourging offenders against their law, within the bounds of their own country, but, by the connivance and favour of the Romans, might send into other countries, where there were any synagogues that acknowledged a dependence in religious matters upon the council at Jerusalem, to apprehend them. Dr. Crow.
Acts 8:4
4.—went every where preaching] Meaning that, to whatever towns they came in this their dispersion, they preached the word, or the Gospel, to the inhabitants. Bp. Pearce.
Acts 8:5
5.—Philip] Not the Apostle of this name, but one of the seven deacons, chap. vi. 5.
The Evangelist, having finished the history of St. Simon the sorcerer is baptized with many others. Anno DOMINI 24.
Acts 8:9
9.— used sorcery.] The Greek word means, used magick arts, professed to be a magician. The Magi in the best sense were Eastern philosophers; see note on Matt. ii. 1; but the term magick was used to express sorceries or unlawful arts, to which some of them pretended, applying their knowledge of nature to these impostures. Dr. Benson.
— bewitched the people of Samaria.] So amassed them that they were in a manner beside themselves. Dr. S. Clarke.
Acts 8:10
10.— This man is the great power of God.] Meaning, some minister of God, assisted by His mighty power. Dr. Whitby.
He astonished the people by his curious arts, and by his bold professions had raised their opinions of him to the highest pitch. Bp. Mame.
Acts 8:12
12.— concerning the kingdom of God.] That is, the Gospel kingdom, the religion of Christ.
Acts 8:13
13.— Simon himself believed also:] That is, he believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the true Messiah, and so was made capable of baptism, (as was the belief of the Ethiopian nobleman at ver. 27,) and was indeed
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, ver. 16, Dr. Lightfoot.
Acts 8:14
14.— they sent unto them Peter and John:] Here we find St. Peter sent by the other Apostles, and by the Church, which is a proof that he was not, as the Romanists pretend, their head and superiors; for he that sends is greater than he that is sent. Dr. Whitby.
Acts 8:15
15.— prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:] It hence appears that Philip, who was only a deacon, and a preacher of the Gospel, had not the power of conferring the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that this was a privilege which belonged at that time peculiarly to Apostles. Beamsbre.
Acts 8:17
- Then laid they their hands on them, &c.] That which is done by the Apostles on this occasion, is justly considered a fit pattern for bishops to follow in the apostolical rites of confirmation and ordination, by laying on of hands; by which rites they, as successors of the Apostles, confer the ordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, as the Apostles did the extraordinary gifts of the same Spirit. Dr. Whitby.
We may infer from this passage the expediency and the usefulness of confirmation after baptism. For we see that, after the Samaritans were converted and baptized by Philip, the Apostles sent two of their number to confirm the new converts, to pray for them, and to lay their hands, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. Hence we see the reason why the office of confirmation is performed by the bishop, and by some of the other inferior ministers of the Gospel. For, though Philip converted and baptized the Samaritans, yet, being only a deacon, he did not take upon him to confirm them, but the Apostles sent two of their number for that purpose. Hence we also collect the benefits of confirmation. In the primitive times, it was attended with extraordinary gifts and manifestations of the Spirit, suited to the then infant state of the Church; but now that the Christian religion is fully established, we must expect only the secret and ordinary communications of the Holy Spirit, without which it is impos-
Peter sharply reproach the hypocrisy and covetousness of Simon. 
Acts 8:18
18.— he offered them money.] From this act of Simon’s, of wishing to purchase spiritual gifts with money, all purchase of spiritual offices or places by such sordid means has been called simony. Dr. Whitby.
Acts 8:19
19.— Give me also this power.] How infinitely mistaken is this wretch, if he thinks that the gifts of the Holy Ghost could be bought and procured by silver or gold; and how much more mistaken is he still, if he thinks that the power of enabling others to confer these gifts could be thus attained, a power which the Apostles themselves did not possess. Dr. Lightfoot.
Acts 8:20
20.— Thy money perish with thee.] This expression has always been considered rather a prophetic prediction, than an impression. Simon by this sinful act struck at the very foundation of the Christian faith, in supposing that the Apostles and other Christians performed their miracles in confirmation of it, by some higher art of magick than that which he had learned, and that they could by the same art teach others to perform similar works for any other end. Dr. Whitby.
The accustomed seal of St. Peter kindled at the offer of the magician, and in strong language he reproves the offender, “Thy money perish with thee!” But as the Gospel of Christ opens the door to the most inverate offender, he insinuates that even Simon might be forgiven: “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.” At this admission the sinner may rejoice: he may also take up the words of Simon, whether pronounced from affected humility, or from real contrition, “Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of
Acts 8:29
29.— thou art in the gall of bitterness.] By this expression is meant the strongest of bitters, as gall is reckoned to be; and this phrase is used here to express a great degree of sin. So Deut. xxix. 18, idolatry is expressed by the Israelites having among them “a root that beareth gall and wormwood.” See also Heb. xii. 16. Bp. Pearce.
— the bond of iniquity.] Meaning the hardest of all bondage and slavery, even that of sinful lusts. Bp. Mann.
Acts 8:30
30.— and preached the Gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.] Thus were the Apostles ever mindful of the commission they had received, and of the necessity of putting it in execution. And in this instance the storm raised by the adversary against the Church turned out to the furtherance of the Gospel, being made the means of wafting the seeds of evangelical truth to distant lands, in order to a more plentiful and glorious harvest. Bp. Horne.
30.—Understandest thou what thou readest?] This is a question which every reader of the sacred books must frequently put to himself, if he would not read in
Acts 8:31
31.— unto Gaza, which is desert.] Gaza was at the south-west point of Judea. It was destroyed by Alexander the Great, and so made desolate; whence Strabo describes it as having been, and still continuing, “desert.” Dr. Wells.
The words, “which is desert,” seem to be added to distinguish the Gaza here meant from another Gaza in the tribe of Ephraim, (1 Chron. vii. 28,) not far from the place where Philip now was. Dr. Lightfoot.
Acts 8:32
32.— a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch] An eunuch or chamberlain. Bp. Pearce. By Ethiopia is not here to be understood the Asiatic Ethiopia, or part of Arabia, so styled in the Old Testament, but the African Ethiopia, lying below Egypt, in the south part of Africa. Candace had long been the name of the queens of this country, as we learn from Pliny, Strabo, and Dio, Dr. Wells.
— had come to Jerusalem for to worship.] It is probable that he had embraced the Jewish faith, having been converted by the Jews who from Alexandria may have spread themselves into Ethiopia. Dr. Whitby.
What gave this distinguished Ethiopian favour in the sight of God was his extraordinary piety, which led him
Philip is sent to convert and baptize an Ethiopian eunuch. Anon DOMINI 34. in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.
Acts 8:33
33.—sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.] Perhaps the fame which he had heard in Jerusalem of the sufferings and resurrection of Christ may have induced him to read this Prophet. Dr. Whitby.
How will this illustrious Ethiopian rise up in judgment against those Christians, who, in the hours of domestic ease and tranquillity, never open a Bible, when he did not even travel in his chariot without one! A nobleman thus employed was an object that engaged the attention of Heaven; and an Evangelist was sent to sow the seed of eternal life in a ground so well prepared. Bp. Horne.
- In his humiliation &c.] The translation of this passage given in our Bibles at Iasi. liii. 8, is in some degree different from this. In this passage in the Acts, the Greek or Septuagint translation is followed; whereas in our translation of Isaiah the Hebrew text is directly followed. Bp. Pearce. ‘This prophecy from Iasi. liii. is perhaps the clearest and the strongest of all the prophecies in the Old Testament. It is entire, separate, and uninterruptedly directed to one scene of things. The application of it to the Evangelical history is plain and appropriate. I have not found that varieties of reading, or a different construing of the original, produce any material alteration in the sense of the prophecy.’ Archdeacon Paley.
Acts 8:35
35.—preached unto him Jesus.] Proved to him, not only from that passage of Isaiah, but from other passages also of the Old Testament, that Jesus was the Son of God, ver. 37. Bp. Pearce.
Acts 8:37
37.—I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.] Though this belief was the great article propounded, and first preached to every convert; yet, the end of baptism being the remission of sins, which it was declared could be obtained only through faith in His blood, it is certain that believing in the Lord Jesus must include faith in His meritorious death and passion, or, as the Scripture saith, faith in His blood. Dr. Whitby.
We should observe, that he does not merely profess his belief in Jesus, as a Teacher sent from God, or as the Christ expected by the Jews; but he declares his belief that Jesus Christ, the circumstances of whose life and resurrection Philip had related, is ’the Son of God,’ the Messiah, of whom the Prophets wrote, and whom Isaiah in particular had described in terms appropriate to God only. And, when we consider further, that this eunuch was a Jewish proselyte, going to worship at Jerusalem, we cannot but conclude that this confession of faith contained an acknowledgment of the divinity of Christ, since it is known that the Jews actually condemned our Lord to death for assum-
The Spirit carrieth away Philip. The conversion of Saul. Anno DOMINI 34.
Acts 8:39
- — the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip.] This miraculous disappearance of St. Philip was perhaps intended to afford the eunuch an additional attestation of the truth of the new religion he had now gladly embraced. Dr. Hales.
— he went on his way rejoicing.] Thus he who came from Ethiopia, treasurer to queen Candace, made his entrance into it again, in a far different character, that of an apostle of Jesus Christ, full of joy in the Holy Ghost: for, as such, the ecclesiastical historians inform us that he was commissioned to preach the Gospel to his countrymen, the truth of which it is related that he finally sealed with his blood. In heaven, he again beholds the face of his own pastor, and father in Christ, numbered with the saints of the Most High, in glory everlasting; with what pleasure do they now look back on the time they spent together over the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah; that small portion of time, productive of so much never-ending joy and comfort to them both! Bp. Horne.
Acts 8:40
- — at Azotus.] A town, called Ashdod in the Old Testament, on the coast of the Mediterranean, to the north of Gaza. Bp. Pearce. If what is here related occurred at or near Gaza, the distance from that place to Azotus is between thirty and forty miles. Dr. Lightfoot.
— to Cesarea.] Cesarea was situated on the Mediterranean sea, between Dora and Joppa. It was formerly called “the tower of Strato.” Herod the Great improved and beautified the town very much, especially by constructing a very commodious harbour there at a vast expense, and gave it the name of Cesarea, in compliment to Augustus Cesar. This place is very distinguished in the early history of Christianity. Here it was that St. Peter converted Cornelius and his kinsmen, the firstfruits of the Gentiles, chap. x. Here lived St. Philip the Evangelist, chap. xxi. 8. Here St. Paul defended himself against the Jews, and their orator Tertullus, chap. xxiv. Here, in the amphitheatre, Herod Antipas was smitten by an angel of God, chap. xii. 23. And here, in later times, was born Eusebius, the learned historian and chronologer, who was bishop of this city at the beginning of the fourth Christian century. Dr. Wells.
Chap. IX. ver. 1. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings &c.] Saul, (afterwards the distinguished apostle St. Paul,) considered as a persecutor of the Church of
AND Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,