- » Be
in various senses.—apfdpevos, see on i. 22, cf. Luke xxiv. 27.-- ταύτης, see above on ver. 3...--εὐηγγελίσατο: used with an accusative both of the person ad- dressed, as in vv. 25, 40, and of the message delivered, cf. Luke viii. 1, Acts V. 42, Vili. 4, 12, etc., but when the two are combined the person is always ex- pressed by the dative, cf. Luke i. 109, ii. 1ο (Acts xvii. 18), Simcox, Language of the N. Τ., p. 79. From the sequel it is evident that Philip not only preached the glad tidings of the fulfilment of the prophecies in Jesus as the ideal and divine Sufferer, but that he also pointed out to the eunuch the door of admission into the Church of Jesus; cf. Jerome, Efist., liii., 5
Ver. 36. ἰδοὺ ὕδωρ: “intus fides, foris aqua presto erat” Bengel. According
15
τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν. 36. ὡς δὲ ἐπορεύοντο κατὰ τὴν ὁδόν, ἦλθον ἐπί τι
«η , ε 3 [ο 3 Ν 9, , A nA
ὕδωρ: καί φησιν 6 εὐνοῦχος, Ιδοὺ ὕδωρ” τί κωλύει pe βαπτισθῆναι ; 37.1 etme δὲ ὁ Φίλιππος, Et πιστεύεις ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας, ἔξεστιν. Β A 4 > a x εν A a > 9 > ~ ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ εἶπε, Πιστεύω τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ εἶναι τὸν “Incouy
Χριστόν. 38. καὶ ἐκέλευσε στῆναι τὸ ἅρμα : καὶ κατέβησαν ἀμφό-
ς
4 τεροι εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ, ὅ τε Φίλιππος Kal 6 εὐνοῦχος: Kal ἐβάπτισεν
1 The whole verse as it stands in T.R. is read in one form or another, with varying variations, also in Patristic quotations, by E (Ώ is wanting from viii. 208---χ. 14), 15, and other good cursives, Gig., Par., Wern., Vulg. (clem. + am.xx demid. tol.), Arm., Syr. Harcl. mg., Iren., Cypr., R.V. marg., and by Hilg.; om. by ssABCHLP 13, 61, Vulg. (am.x fu.), Syr. Pesh. Harcl. text, Sah., Boh., Aeth., Chrys., so Tisch., W.H., Weiss, Wendt, R.V. text. The verse is strongly defended by Belser, Bettrdge, p. 50, as originally Lucan, but omitted by Luke for brevity as in many other cases—but on the other hand Wendt, edit. 1899, p. 180, note, justly points out that it is difficult to see any reason for its omission, whilst it is easily con- ceivable that the words would have been inserted perhaps originally as a marginal note, since otherwise the belief of the eunuch is nowhere expressly stated in the text; cf. Rom. x. g (but cf. ii. 41, xvi. 33). But they were evidently known as early as Irenzus, Adv. Ηαγ., iii., 12, as also to Oecumenius and Theophylact, and they may well have expressed what actually happened, as the question in ver. 36 evidently required an answer. Augustine did not question its genuineness, although he refused to shorten the profession at Baptism on account of it, De Fide et Operibus, ix. (see
W.H., App., p. 93; Felten, crit. notes, p. 177; Speaker's Comm., in loco).
to Jerome (Efist., ciii.) and Eusebius (περὶ τόπων), the site of the baptism was placed at Bethsura (Bethzur, Josh. xv. 28, 2 Chron. xi. 17, Neh. iii. 16, etc.), about twenty miles from Jerusalem, and two from Hebron. Robinson (Biblical Researches, ii., 749) thinks that the place is more probably to be found on the road between Eleutheropolis (Beit-Jibrin) and Gaza, whilst Professor G. A. Smith (see above on ver. 26) considers that the fact that Philip was found immediately after at Azotus suggests that the meeting and baptism took place, not where tradition has placed them, among the hills of Judza, but on the Philistine plain (Hist. Geog. of the Holy Land, pp. 186, 240). But as he finds it impossible to apply the epithet ‘‘ desert ” to any route from Jeru- salem to Gaza, whether that by Beit- Jibrin, or the longer one by Hebron, he does not hesitate to apply the epithet to Gaza itself, and as the meeting (accord- ing to his view) took place in its neigh- bourhood, the town would naturally be mentioned. Gaza and Azotus, ver. 40, are the only two Philistine towns named in the N. Τ.---τί κωλύει pe βαπ- τισθῆναι;: ‘‘ mark the eager desire, mark the exact knowledge . . . see again his modesty; he does not say Baptise me, neither does he hold his peace, but he utters somewhat betwixt strong desire and reverent fear”? Chrys., Hom., xix. []