Act 8:5, 26, 21:6 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 5. Then Philip . One of the seven deacons, . He is afterwards called the Evangelist , . The city of Samaria . This does not mean a city whose name was Samaria, for no such city at that time existed. Samaria was a region, . The ancient city Samaria, the capital of that region, had been destroyed by Hyrcanus so completely, as to leave no vestige of it remaining; and he "took away," says Justifies, "the very marks that there had ever been such a city there, Anti. b. xlii. chap. x. 3. Herod the Great afterwards built a city on this site, and called it Sebaste , i. e. Augusta , in honour of the emperor Augustus, Jos. Anti. b. xv. chap. viii. 5. Perhaps this city is intended, as being the principal city of Samaria; or possibly Sychar , another city where the gospel had been before preached by the Saviour himself, . And preached Christ . Preached that the Messiah had come, and made known his doctrines. The same truths had been before stated in Samaria by the Saviour himself, and this was doubtless one of the reasons why they so gladly now received the word of God. The field had been prepared by the Lord Jesus; and he had said that it was white for the harvest, and into that field Philip now entered, and was signally blessed. His coming was attended with a remarkable revival of religion . The word translated preach here is not that which is used in the previous verse. This denotes to proclaim as a crier , and is commonly employed to denote the preaching of the gospel, so called, ; . It has been argued that because Philip is said thus to have preached to the Samaritans, that therefore all deacons have a right to preach, or that they are, under the New Testament economy, an order of ministers. But this is by no means clear. For, (1.) it is not evident, nor can it be shown, that the other deacons ever preached. There is no record of their doing so; and the narrative would lead us to suppose that they did not. (2.) They were appointed for a very different purpose, ; and it is fair to suppose that, as deacons , they confined themselves to the design of their appointment. (3.) It is not said that Philip preached, in virtue of his being a deacon . From anything in this place, it would seem that he preached as the other Christians did--wherever he was. (4.) But elsewhere an express distinction is made between Philip and the others. A new appellation is given him, and he is expressly called the Evangelist , . From this, it seems that he preached, not because he was a deacon, but because he had received a special appointment to this business as an evangelist. (5.) This same office, or rank of Christian teachers, is expressly recognized elsewhere, . All these considerations show that there is not, in the sacred Scriptures, an order of ministers appointed to preach as deacons. (b) "Philip went down"

Acts 8:5

Verse 5. Then Philip. One of the seven deacons, Acts 6:5. He is afterwards called the Evangelist, Acts 21:8.

The city of Samaria. This does not mean a city whose name was Samaria, for no such city at that time existed. Samaria was a region, Mt 2:22. The ancient city Samaria, the capital of that region, had been destroyed by Hyrcanus so completely, as to leave no vestige of it remaining; and he "took away," says Justifies, "the very marks that there had ever been such a city there, Anti. b. xlii. chap. x. 3. Herod the Great afterwards built a city on this site, and called it Sebaste, i. e. Augusta, in honour of the emperor Augustus, Jos. Anti. b. xv. chap. viii. 5. Perhaps this city is intended, as being the principal city of Samaria; or possibly Sychar, another city where the gospel had been before preached by the Saviour himself, Jn 4.

And preached Christ. Preached that the Messiah had come, and made known his doctrines. The same truths had been before stated in Samaria by the Saviour himself, Jn 4 and this was doubtless one of the reasons why they so gladly now received the word of God. The field had been prepared by the Lord Jesus; and he had said that it was white for the harvest, Jn 4:35 and into that field Philip now entered, and was signally blessed. His coming was attended with a remarkable revival of religion. The word translated preach here is not that which is used in the previous verse. This denotes to proclaim as a crier, and is commonly employed to denote the preaching of the gospel, so called, Mk 5:20, 7:36, Lk 8:39; Mt 24:14, Acts 10:42, Rom 10:15, 1Cor 9:27, 15:12, 2Ti 4:2. It has been argued that because Philip is said thus to have preached to the Samaritans, that therefore all deacons have a right to preach, or that they are, under the New Testament economy, an order of ministers. But this is by no means clear. For,

(1.) it is not evident, nor can it be shown, that the other deacons Acts 6 ever preached. There is no record of their doing so; and the narrative would lead us to suppose that they did not.

(2.) They were appointed for a very different purpose, Acts 6:1-5; and it is fair to suppose that, as deacons, they confined themselves to the design of their appointment.

(3.) It is not said that Philip preached, in virtue of his being a deacon. From anything in this place, it would seem that he preached as the other Christians did--wherever he was.

(4.) But elsewhere an express distinction is made between Philip and the others. A new appellation is given him, and he is expressly called the Evangelist, Acts 21:8. From this, it seems that he preached, not because he was a deacon, but because he had received a special appointment to this business as an evangelist.

(5.) This same office, or rank of Christian teachers, is expressly recognized elsewhere, Eph 4:11. All these considerations show that there is not, in the sacred Scriptures, an order of ministers appointed to preach as deacons.

(b) "Philip went down" Acts 6:5

Acts 8:26

Verse 26. And the angel of the Lord. The word angel is used in the Scriptures in a great variety of significations. Mt 1:20. Here it has been supposed by some to mean literally a celestial messenger sent from God; others have supposed that it means a dream, others a vision, etc. The word properly means a messenger; and all that it can be shown to signify here is, that the Lord sent a message to Philip of this kind. It is most probable, I think, that the passage means that God communicated the message by his Spirit; for, in Acts 8:29,39, it is expressly said that the Spirit spake to Philip, etc. Thus in Acts 16:7, the Spirit is said to have forbidden Paul to preach in Bithynia; and in Acts 16:9, the message on the subject is said to have been conveyed in a vision. There is no absurdity, however, in supposing that an angel literally was employed to communicate this message to Philip. See Heb 1:14; Gen 19:1, 22:11, Jud 6:12.

Spake unto Philip. Comp. Mt 2:13.

Arise. Lk 15:18.

And go, etc. philip had been employed in Samaria. As God now intended to send the gospel to another place, he gave a special direction to Philip to go and convey it. It is evident that God designed the conversion of this eunuch; and the direction to Philip shows how he accomplishes his designs. It is not by miracle, but by the use of means. It is not by direct power without truth, but it is by a message fitted to the end. The salvation of a single sinner is an object worthy the attention of God. When such a sinner is converted, it is because God forms a plan or purpose to do it. When it is done, he inclines his servants to labour; he directs their labours; he leads his ministers; and he prepares the way Acts 8:28 for the reception of the truth.

Toward the south. That is, south of Samaria, where Philip was then labouring.

Unto Gaza. Gaza, or AZZAH, Gen 10:19, was a city of the Philistines, given by Joshua to Judah, Josh 15:47, 1Sam 6:17. It was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines. It was formerly a large place; was situated on an eminence, and commanded a beautiful prospect. It was in this place that Samson took away the gates of the city, and bore them off, Jud 16:2,3. It was near Askelon, about sixty miles south-west from Jerusalem.

Which is desert. This may refer either to the way or to the place. The natural construction is the latter. In explanation of this, it is to be observed that there were two towns of that name, Old and New Gaza. The prophet Zephaniah Zeph 2:4 said that Gaza should be forsaken, i. e., destroyed. "This was partly accomplished by Alexander the Great. (Jos. Antiq. b. xi. ch. viii. 3, 4; b. xiii. ch. xiii. 3.) Another town was afterwards built of the same name, but at some distance from the former; and Old Gaza was abandoned to destruction. Strabo mentions 'Gaza the desert,' and Diodorous Siculus speaks of 'Old Gaza.'" (Robin. Calmet.) Some have supposed, however, that Luke refers here to the road leading to Gaza, as being desolate and uninhabited. But I regard the former interpretation as most natural and obvious. In this place, in 1823, the American missionaries, Messrs. Fisk and King, found Gaza, a town built of stone, making a very mean appearance, and containing about five thousand inhabitants." (Hall on the Acts.)

(d) "unto Gaza" Josh 15:47

Acts 8:5

Acts 8:26

Acts 21:6