Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Acts Kabanata 8

Acts 8:1. And Saul was consenting unto his death— Dr. Heylin renders this, And Saul was accessary to his death; and he joins it to the last verse of the foregoing chapter. The circumstances relative to St. Paul, recorded by his most intimate and familiar friend, not only shew the fidelity of the historian, but likewise illustrate the miracle of his conversion. It was possibly at this time, when the Christians were so dispersed, that Ananias went to Damascus, ch. Acts 9:10.; while others, after they had preached the gospel in the neighbouring parts, travelled on to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. See ch. Acts 11:19.

return to '

Acts 8:2. And devout men— Yet devout men. Some learned writers have been of opinion that these were proselytes; of which, however, there does not appear to be any proof. See on ch. Acts 2:5. Such a token of respect, to one who had been publicly executed as a blasphemer, was an expression of zeal and piety which might justly entitle these men to the honourable character here given. Thus St. Luke calls Joseph of Arimathea, a good and just man, when he speaks of the generous and courageous regard that he shewed to the body of Jesus. See Luke 23:50.

return to '

Acts 8:3. He made havock of the church— He ravaged it, like some furious beast of prey. This is the proper signification of the word ελυμσινετο, which is often applied to the ravages of the desert.

return to '

Acts 8:4. Went every where preaching the word— As the apostles were natives of Judea, and had no notion of the conversion of the Gentiles, but would have confined theirministry within the narrow bounds of their own country; this dispersion was nicely ordered by Divine Providence, to render the design of Christ's coming among men fully effectual, which was both to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of his people Israel.

return to '

Acts 8:5. Then Philip went down— We are sure that it was not Philip the apostle, both as he continued at Jerusalem, and as this Philip had not the power of communicating the miraculous gifts of the holy Spirit by laying on of hands. Comp. Acts 8:14; Acts 15:17. It must therefore have been the deacon; no other of that name, beside the apostle, having been mentioned in this history. Instead of to the city of Samaria, some would read to a city of Samaria, as it is not specified what city it was. The mode of expression, however, seems to point out the capital of Samaria, which was Sechem, or Sebaste, where Christ himself had preached in the beginning of his ministry. See John 5:40., &c. It is certain, that the Samaritans were better prepared to receive the gospel than most of the Gentile nations, as they worshipped the true God, and acknowledged the authority of the Pentateuch. Nay, indeed, in some respects they were better prepared than the body of the Jewish nation; as we do not find, that they had either such notions of the Messiah's temporal reign as the Jews, or had received the Sadducean principles, which were both very strong prejudices against the Christian religion.

return to '

Acts 8:9. Used sorcery, &c.— Had practised magical arts, and astonished the people. Heylin and Doddridge. Some think the word Μαγευων to be entirely of the same signification with the word Μαγος, and intended to inform us, that this Simon was one of the sect of the Magi. He might possibly profess himself of this sect; but the word Μαγευων imports much more, and amounts to the same with "one who used enchantments," pretending at least, in consequence of them, to exert some supernatural powers: whereas the word Μαγος, at least about Christ's time, signified much the same with our English word sage, and denoted a proficient in learning, and especially in astronomy and other branches of natural philosophy, to which the Persian magi addicted themselves, and so gave name to many who were far from holding the peculiarities of that sect. Irenaeus informs us, that Simon boasted he had appeared to the Samaritans as the Father, to the Jews as the Son, and to the Gentiles as the Holy Spirit; and Justin Martyr informs us, that he asserted, that all the names of God were to be ascribed to him, and that he was God, above all principality, power, and virtue. But if ever he made these pretences, it was probably after this time; for before it he seems to have been entirely a stranger to the first elements of the Christian doctrine, to which these blasphemies refer. Dr. Heylin renders the last clause of this verse, pretending that he was some extraordinary person.

return to '

Acts 8:10. This Man is the great power of God— "The long expected Messiah, and, if we may so speak, Omnipotence itself incarnate, or he could never do such wonderful things." Doddridge. If we believe Justin Martyr, almost all the Samaritans, and not a few other nations, adored him; acknowledged him to be as it were the supreme Deity. See the former note.

return to '

Acts 8:11. He had bewitched them— Had astonished them. Doddridge.

return to '

Acts 8:13. Then Simon himself believed also:— that this Jesus who enabled Philip to do these things, was some Power superior to any he conversed with. Perhaps as L'Enfant and Limborch conjecture, he might think Philip an abler magician than himself, and hoped, by pretending to be his disciple, that he might have an opportunity of learning his superior arts; or possibly he was afraid, lest Philip should draw away the people from him, if he stood out and opposed him. It seems, however, unquestionable,thathewasfrom the beginning hypocritical and insincere. But though the apostles and several of the primitive Christians had the gift of discerning the spirits and secret intentions of men in some cases; yet this was not one of the gifts which they could exercise at all times, but only upon certain occasions, according to the pleasure and direction of the Spirit; and the Divine Wisdom saw fit that Simon's insincerity should be concealed till he himself discovered it. It is with particular elegance and propriety, that the same word which had been used to express the manner in which the Samaritans were affected with Simon's enchantments, Acts 8:9; Act 8:11 is here used to describe the impression which Philip's miracles made on him. It seems therefore quite a mistake to translate the former bewitched, and the latter wondered, or was astonished.

return to '

Acts 8:14. They sent unto them Peter and John:— John was one of the two who were for calling down fire from heaven upon the Samaritans when they refused to entertain Christ. To sucha length did his zeal then carry him; but it was a zeal without knowledge. After the Spirit was poured out upon him, however, his mind was enlarged, and his zeal guided by knowledge and charity; then he makes no scruple of going to the Samaritans, imparting to them the gift of the Holy Spirit, and acknowledging them for Christian brethren, whom his Jewish zeal would have burnt up and destroyed. As the apostles sent Peter along with John, and he went accordingly at their appointment, it is plain that neither he nor they had any notion of the supremacy of that apostle.

return to '

Acts 8:20. Thy money perish with thee, &c.— The fathers look upon the first clause of this verse as a prophetical prediction rather than an imprecation. And as for the sin of Simon, it not only consisted in his ambition and avarice, that he would be advanced to the higher dignity, and have those gifts, by the exercise of which he hoped to be the greater gainer; but there was something peculiarly enormous in his crime, as it struck at the very essence of the Christian religion, supposing that the apostles and other Christiansperformedtheirmiraclesinconfirmationofit, by some higher art of magick than that which he had learned; and so they, by the same art, could teach others to do the same works for any other end.

return to '

Acts 8:21. Thou hast neither part nor lot, &c.— "Assure yourself, that you have no claim to the least share or inheritance in the privileges and blessings of this dispensation of the Spirit, and in Christ and heavenly glory: for how specious soever your professions of faith may be, it hereby appears, with undeniable evidence, that your heart is hypocritical and perverse."

return to '

Acts 8:22. And pray God, if perhaps, &c.— The dubious manner in which St. Peter speaks of Simon's being forgiven, intimates, not that his sincere repentance, accompanied with evangelical faith, might possibly fail of acceptance, for that is contrary to the whole tenor of the gospel; but that, after the commission of a sin of so heinous a nature, there was little reason to hope he would ever be brought truly to repent.

return to '

Acts 8:23. In the gall of bitterness,— That is, the bitterest gall. The whole sentence expresses, in St. Peter's strong manner of speaking, how odious and wretched a creature Simon now appeared to him. How much more odious in the sight of a holy God must such a sinner be! De Dieu would render it, I see thee as the very gall of bitterness, and a bundle of iniquity. The gall of bitterness seems to have been an allusion to Deu 29:18 or Deu 32:32 and the bond of iniquity to Isaiah 58:0.

return to '

Acts 8:24. Pray ye to the Lord for me,— It is greatly to be feared, that this pretence of conviction and humiliation was only to prevent Peter and John from disgracing him among the body ofChristians; for it is reasonable to suppose this conversation passed in private between them; and perhaps Simon might have some hope that if the secret were kept, he might reduce the people, when the apostles were gone, to their former subjection to him, notwithstanding their conversion to Christianity. The words, these things which YE have spoken, being plural, seem naturally to refer to the aweful things which Simon had heard in the course of Christian preaching, concerning the terrible effects of the divine displeasure against impenitent sinners in the future world. Perhaps too he might have heard of the dreadful punishment inflicted upon Ananias and Sapphira, ch. 5:

return to '

Acts 8:25. When they had testified, &c.— When they had borne their testimony, &c. that is, to the truth of the gospel. See on Luke 24:48.

return to '

Acts 8:26. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip,— It gives us a very high idea of the gospel, to see the ministers of it receiving immediate direction from celestial spirits, in the particular discharge of their office. The construction of the Greek leaves it dubious whether the clause which is desart, refers to Gaza, or the way that led to it. Those who are of the former opinion observe, that the ancient city of thisname was demolished byAlexander the Great, and afterwards rebuilt with great magnificence, though at some distance from the spot on which the old city stood, which was left in ruins, and therefore called Gaza the deserted, or Desolate. But they who question the truth of this assertion think, that Philip was directed to take that road to Gaza, which lay through the wilderness, and which, though perhaps it might not be the shortest, was chosen by the eunuch as the more retired; and the Greek seems to favour this interpretation. The Ethiopic version renders it, into the way which leads through the desart from Jerusalem to Gaza.

return to '

Acts 8:33. In his humiliation, &c.— This is the translation of the LXX. and, if it be admitted, seems to mean, that Jesus appeared in so humble a form, that though Pilate was convinced of his innocence, he seemed a person of so little importance, that it would not be worth while to hazard any thing to preserve him. To take away a person's judgment, is a known proverb for oppressing him. See Job 27:2. Dr. Heylin reads it, In his humiliation was his crisis; he was taken away, but who shall declare, &c.? Crisis, says he, is the word in the original, which I understand here, in its English signification, for "a decisive trial, in which he stood the test." The subject brings to mind that apt phrase of the chymists, experimentum crucis, "the experiment of the cross." Dr. Hammond expresses the clause, Who shall declare his generation? thus: "Who can describe the obstinate infidelity and barbarous injustice of that generation of men, among whom he appeared, and from whom he suffered such things?" But see the notes on Isaiah 53:8.

return to '

Acts 8:35. And preached unto him Jesus.— Limborch very largely shews, in his commentary on this passage, how shamefully the Jews pervert the whole 53rd of Isaiah, in expounding it of the afflictions of Israel, where, as we have shewn in our notes on that chapter, it can refer only to Christ.

return to '

Acts 8:36. They came unto a certain water:— Τι υδωρ, a certain water, seems to be of diminutive signification, and to intimate, that it was not water of any depth: and Jerome, Sandys, and other travellers, speak of it as a certain spring or fountain, that rises at the foot of a mountain in the tribe of Judah or Benjamin, whose waters are sucked in by the same ground that produces them; and they report that this was the place where the eunuch was baptized by Philip. See Hieron. de Locis Hebr. page 41 and Sandys' Travels, lib. 2: pag. 142.

return to '

Acts 8:37. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.— This passage fully proves that Philip had opened to the eunuch the doctrine of Christ's Divinity; and indeed if he had not done it, he must have given him a very imperfect account of the gospel. See ch. Acts 13:33.

return to '

Acts 8:38. And they went down both into the water,— The prepositions εις and εκ, here, and in the next verse, rendered into and out of the water, frequently signify unto and from, as every one must allow who understands the Greek language; and thus they are often used in the stile of the New Testament, and particularly of St. Luke, as for example; εις signifies unto in Matthew 15:24.Luke 4:5; Luke 4:5; Luke 6:12; Luke 9:28. Act 14:21 and Colossians 1:20.; and εκ signifies from, in Luke 20:4.John 19:12; John 19:12.Acts 14:8; Acts 14:8; Acts 15:29; Acts 27:3; Act 27:31 and Acts 27:34. But supposing, says Mr. Henry, we here understand them to signify into and out of, Philip and the eunuch did not strip off their clothes, and go naked into the water; but going barefoot, according to the custom, they went, perhaps, up to the ancles, or mid-leg, into the water, and Philip sprinkled water upon him, according to the prophesy which this eunuch had probably but just now read; for it was but a few verses before those which Philip found him upon, and was very apposite to his case, Isaiah 52:15. So shall he sprinkle many nations; kings and great men shall shut their mouths at him, shall submit to him: for that which had not before been told them, shall they see; and that which they had not heard, shall they consider.

return to '

Acts 8:39. The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip,— The Alexandrian manuscript, and several other ancient copies, read, The Holy Spirit fell upon the eunuch; but the angel of the Lord caught away Philip, &c. See Acts 8:26. This, I doubt not, was the case; and hence we learn, that as soon as they were come up from the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon the eunuch immediately from heaven, and without the imposition of Philip's hands. Probably the effusion was attended with a visible glory, like cloven tongues, or pointed flames of fire; for that external symbol seems always to have accompanied the pouring down of the Holy Spirit in his miraculous gifts. Though the eunuch thereby received some spiritual gifts, or miraculous powers, or both, yet this effusion of the Spirit was not in order to prepare the way for his reception into the Christian church, which was the case with Cornelius and his company, who were the first-fruits of the Gentiles; for then it ought to have been conferred on him before baptism; whereas the eunuch was a proselyte of righteousness, and therefore Philip made no scruple of baptizing him as soon as ever he professed the Christian faith, as knowing the rule in that case, Exo 12:49 namely, one law shall be unto him that is home-born, that is, a Jew by birth as well as religion, and to the stranger who sojourns among you; for so it plainly appears from the foregoing verse to be the circumcised proselyte, or proselyte of righteousness, and not of the gate. But as Philip was only an evangelist,—no apostleat hand,—the eunuch going directly into a distant country, and God, unwilling that he should go without the extraordinary attestation which was so commonly afforded to the Christians of that primitive age, and yet resolved not to break in upon the common method, which was to communicate the Holy Spirit by the hands of no other men than the apostles only:—for these reasons God seems to have poured the Holy Spirit upon him by an immediate effusion; and hereby this illustrious convert had the Spirit conferred in the most honourable manner, and in the way in which the highest and best gifts used to be bestowed. Presently after this signal evidence had been granted to the eunuch, an angel of the Lord caught away Philip; perhaps by a rapture through the air, in the sight of the eunuch and his attendants. See 1 Kings 18:12. 2 Kings 2:16. Ezekiel 3:14. And, after he was removed beyond their utmost ken, the eunuch saw him no more; nor did he search after, or follow the evangelist: he was satisfied that it was the will of God that they should be so separated, and therefore he pursued his journey to Ethiopia, greatly rejoicing at what had happened. For he was not only convinced of the truth of Christianity himself, but he had such gifts and powers as enabled him to instruct and convince others also; and accordingly he is said to have planted the gospel in Ethiopia, where there was a flourishing church, as most of the ancient histories of the country assure us: and as the apostles Bartholomew, Matthew, and Matthias preached the gospel there, it is not only an additional proof that he had paved the way for them; but as so many apostles were sent into those parts, it is a strong presumption in favour of the success of his ministry. See Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. 2: chap. 1:

return to '