Acts 6:5

6:5 The ¹  proposal pleased the entire group, so ²  they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with ³  Philip, ⁴  Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism ⁵  from Antioch. ⁶ 

Acts 8:12-13

8:12 But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God ⁷  and the name of Jesus Christ, ⁸  they began to be baptized, ⁹  both men and women. 8:13 Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to ¹⁰  Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed. ¹¹ 

Acts 8:26

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

8:26 Then an angel of the Lord ¹²  said to Philip, ¹³  “Get up and go south ¹⁴  on the road that goes down from Jerusalem ¹⁵  to Gaza.” (This is a desert ¹⁶  road.) ¹⁷ 

Acts 8:39

8:39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but ¹⁸  went on his way rejoicing. ¹⁹ 

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¹ tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

² tn The translation “so” has been used to indicate the logical sequence in English.

³ tn “With” is smoother English style for an addition like this. Because of differences between Greek and English style, καί (kai), which occurs between each name in the list, has not been translated except preceding the last element.

⁴ sn Philip. Note how many of the names in this list are Greek. This suggests that Hellenists were chosen to solve the problem they had been so sensitive about fixing (cf. 6:1).

⁵ tn Or “a proselyte.”

⁶ map For location see JP1-F2; JP2-F2; JP3-F2; JP4-F2.

⁷ sn The kingdom of God is also what Jesus preached: Acts 1:3. The term reappears in 14:22; 19:8; 28:23, 31.

⁸ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

⁹ tn The imperfect verb ἐβαπτίζοντο (ebaptizonto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

¹⁰ tn Or “he kept close company with.”

¹¹ sn He was amazed. Now Simon, the one who amazed others, is himself amazed, showing the superiority of Philip’s connection to God. Christ is better than anything the culture has to offer.

¹² tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

¹³ tn Grk “Lord spoke to Philip, saying.” The redundant participle λέγων (legwn) has not been translated.

¹⁴ tn Or “Get up and go about noon.” The phrase κατὰ μεσημβρίαν (kata meshmbrian) can be translated either “about noon” (L&N 67.74) or “toward the south” (L&N 82.4). Since the angel’s command appears to call for immediate action (“Get up”) and would not therefore need a time indicator, a directional reference (“toward the south”) is more likely here.

¹⁵ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁶ tn Or “wilderness.”

¹⁷ tn The words “This is a desert road” are probably best understood as a comment by the author of Acts, but it is possible they form part of the angel’s speech to Philip, in which case the verse would read: “Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza – the desert road.”

sn The concluding note about the road appears to be a parenthetical note by the author.

¹⁸ tn BDAG 189 s.v. γάρ 2 indicates that under certain circumstances γάρ (gar) has the same meaning as δέ (de).

¹⁹ sn Note that the response to the gospel is rejoicing (joy, cf. Acts 11:23; 13:48).