The Extension of the Church to Judæa and Samaria (Acts 8:4 to Acts 11:18)The Christians, scattered by persecution, preach everywhere through Judaea and Samaria. The places specially mentioned are Samaria, Azotus, Caesarea, Lydda, the Sharon valley, and Joppa. read more
The Extension of the Church to Judæa and Samaria (Act 8:4 to Act 11:18)The Christians, scattered by persecution, preach everywhere through Judaea and Samaria. The places specially mentioned are Samaria, Azotus, Caesarea, Lydda, the Sharon valley, and Joppa. read more
VIII.(1) And Saul was consenting unto his death.—The word seems carefully chosen to convey the fact that he did not himself take part in stoning, but contented himself with guiding and directing the murder. He “kept the garments” of the witnesses who flung the stones (Acts 22:20). The statement came, we can scarcely doubt, from St. Paul’s own lips, and in his use of the same word in the passage just referred to, and in Romans 1:32, we may see an indication that he had learnt to see that his... read more
(2) And devout men carried Stephen to his burial.—It has sometimes been asserted, as e.g. by Renan (Les Apôtres, p. 145), that these were proselytes. St. Luke, however, always uses a different word to describe that class (comp. Acts 13:43; Acts 13:50; Acts 16:14; Acts 17:4; Acts 17:17), and the word used here is applied by him to Simeon (Luke 2:25), to the multitude of Jews present on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:5), to Ananias as devout according to the Law (Acts 22:12). This notion must... read more
(3) As for Saul, he made havock of the church.—The tense in the Greek implies continuous action, and so indicates the severity of the persecution. Further details are given by St. Paul himself. He “persecuted this way unto the death” (Acts 22:4). It does not follow, however, that this points to more than the death of Stephen. Both men and women were imprisoned (ibid). The fact that the latter class were included among the sufferers, implies that they had been more or less prominent in the... read more
(4) They that were scattered abroad.—These. As has been said above, would in all probability be Stephen’s Hellenistic fellow-workers and followers. As in later ages, the axiom that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church,” held true from the beginning. The attempt to stamp out the new faith did but give it a wider scope of action, and urged it on to pass the limits within which it might otherwise have been confined for a much longer period.Preaching the word.—Better, preaching the glad... read more
(5) Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria.—More accurately, “a city.” The sequence of events implies that it was not the Apostle, but his namesake who had been chosen as one of the Seven. As having been conspicuous in the work of “preaching the glad tidings of Christ,” he was afterwards known as Philip the Evangelist (Acts 21:8). It was natural enough that the identity of name should lead writers who were imperfectly informed to confuse the two, as Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, seems to... read more
(7) For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice.—The MSS. present several variations in the structure of the sentence, but they do not affect its meaning. The character of the “signs” agrees with those that are recorded in the Gospels. The “great cry,” partly, it may be, of agony, partly of exultation at deliverance, agrees with Mark 1:26; Luke 4:33. read more
(8) There was great joy in that city.—This and the whole narrative may well have been learnt by St. Luke from the lips of Philip himself, when St. Paul and his companions visited the Evangelist at Cæsarea on his way to Jerusalem (Acts 21:8), or during the Apostle’s two years’ imprisonment in that city (Acts 24:27), or, we may add, from St. Paul’s report of what he had heard when he travelled through Samaria (Acts 15:3). read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 8:1-40
Philip in Samaria. Simon MagusThe graphic details of the ministry of Philip which follow, were doubtless obtained from Philip himself. St. Luke stayed at his house at Cæsarea, and made the acquaintance of his four virgin daughters, prophetesses (Acts 21:8). During St. Paul’s three years’ imprisonment at Caesarea, St. Luke doubtless had much intercourse with Philip, with whose liberal views he was in sympathy. The historical character of the following narratives stands upon a firm basis. In... read more