Acts 8:32

The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(32) The place of the scripture which he read.—The word for “place” is apparently used as an equivalent for the Hebrew Parashah, or Haphtarah, which were technically used for the sections of the Law and Prophets respectively appointed for use as lessons in the synagogue services. It was in common use among the Greek writers, and was adopted by Cicero (Ep. ad Att. xiii. 25).

He was led as a sheep to the slaughter.—We may venture, taking as our guide the statement in Acts 8:35 that Philip “preached unto him Jesus,” to represent to ourselves the method of interpretation which would be given of each clause. In 1Peter 2:23 we find the outlines of such a method. The story of the Passion would be told; the silent patience of the Sufferer; His previous life and work; the proofs which both had given that He was none other than that which He claimed to be—the Christ, the Son of God.

Benson Commentary

Acts 8:32-33. The place — Η περιοχη, the portion, or paragraph, of the Scripture which he read was, He was led, &c. — These words were taken from Isaiah 53:8; where, that the prophet speaks of Christ, no Christian can reasonably doubt, there being scarce a verse in the whole chapter which is not by the Holy Ghost applied to Christ in the New Testament; the 1st verse, John 12:38; the 3d, Mark 9:12; the 4th, Mark 8:17; the 5th, Mark 15:28. And by reading this same chapter, many Jews, yea, and deists, have been converted. Some of them history records; but God knows them all. The passage here referred to is quoted according to the Septuagint version, which differs in some things from the original Hebrew. Grotius thinks the eunuch read it in Hebrew, having learned, from the many Jews that were in Ethiopia, both their religion and their language, and that Luke gives it to his readers in Greek, as being the language in which he wrote his history, and which he knew would be more generally understood. But, considering that the Septuagint version was made in Egypt, which was the country next adjoining to Ethiopia, and lay between it and Jerusalem, it is more probable that translation was most familiar to the eunuch, and therefore was now used by him. The greatest variation from the Hebrew here is, that what in it is, He was taken from prison and from judgment, or, as the margin has it, He was taken away by distress and judgment; that is, he was taken out of this life by oppression, violence, and a pretence of justice; is here read, In his humiliation his judgment was taken away — That is, he appeared so mean and despicable in the eyes of mankind, both Jews and Romans, that they denied him common justice, and, against all the rules of equity, condemned him, even while they declared him innocent. To take away a person’s judgment is a proverbial phrase for oppressing him. The sense therefore is nearly the same with that of the Hebrew. But see the notes on Isaiah 53:7-8; where the paragraph is explained at large.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:26-40 Philip was directed to go to a desert. Sometimes God opens a door of opportunity to his ministers in very unlikely places. We should study to do good to those we come into company with by travelling. We should not be so shy of all strangers as some affect to be. As to those of whom we know nothing else, we know this, that they have souls. It is wisdom for men of business to redeem time for holy duties; to fill up every minute with something which will turn to a good account. In reading the word of God, we should often pause, to inquire of whom and of what the sacred writers spake; but especially our thoughts should be employed about the Redeemer. The Ethiopian was convinced by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, of the exact fulfilment of the Scripture, was made to understand the nature of the Messiah's kingdom and salvation, and desired to be numbered among the disciples of Christ. Those who seek the truth, and employ their time in searching the Scriptures, will be sure to reap advantages. The avowal of the Ethiopian must be understood as expressing simple reliance on Christ for salvation, and unreserved devotion to Him. Let us not be satisfied till we get faith, as the Ethiopian did, by diligent study of the Holy Scriptures, and the teaching of the Spirit of God; let us not be satisfied till we get it fixed as a principle in our hearts. As soon as he was baptized, the Spirit of God took Philip from him, so that he saw him no more; but this tended to confirm his faith. When the inquirer after salvation becomes acquainted with Jesus and his gospel, he will go on his way rejoicing, and will fill up his station in society, and discharge his duties, from other motives, and in another manner than heretofore. Though baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, with water, it is not enough without the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Lord, grant this to every one of us; then shall we go on our way rejoicing.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The place ... - Isaiah 53:7-8.

He was led ... - This quotation is taken literally from the Septuagint. It varies very little from the Hebrew. It has been almost universally understood that this place refers to the Messiah; and Philip expressly applies it to him. The word "was led" ἤχθη ēchthē implies that he was conducted by others; that he was led as a sheep is led to be killed. The general idea is that of "meekness" and "submission" when he was led to be put to death; a description that applies in a very striking manner to the Lord Jesus.

To the slaughter - To be killed. The characteristic here recorded is more remarkable in sheep than in any other animal.

And like a lamb dumb ... - Still, patient, unresisting.

So he opened not his mouth - He did not "complain" or "murmur"; he offered no resistance, but yielded patiently to what was done by others. Compare the notes on Isaiah 53.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

32, 33. The place … was this, He was led as a sheep, &c.—One cannot but wonder that this, of all predictions of Messiah's sufferings in the Old Testament the most striking, should have been that which the eunuch was reading before Philip joined him. He could hardly miss to have heard at Jerusalem of the sufferings and death of Jesus, and of the existence of a continually increasing party who acknowledged Him to be the Messiah. But his question to Philip, whether the prophet in this passage meant himself or some other man, clearly shows that he had not the least idea of any connection between this prediction and those facts.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

God’s providence is remarkable, that the eunuch should be reading this very scripture, which contains such fundamental truths, and which he had most need for to be informed of. The words referred unto are in Isaiah 53:7. Whether read in the Hebrew tongue, which the eunuch might have learned of many Jews living in Ethiopia; or whether they were read out of the translation of the Seventy, which was then in common use, is not so necessary an inquiry; both being to the same intent and purpose. Christ was indeed as a sheep for his patience, not opening his mouth to defend his own case; but especially he was as a sheep in being a sacrifice for us, the true paschal Lamb that causeth the destroyer to pass from us; and yet he is our Shepherd too, to supply and preserve us, Psalm 23:1.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The place of the Scripture which he read was this,.... Or the paragraph or section of Scripture; that part of it in which he was reading was Isaiah 53:7 which shows, that by this time the Scriptures were divided into sections, chapters, and verses; whereas the Jews say the whole law at first was but one verse (t).

He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before the shearer. The metaphors of sheep and lamb express the innocence, meekness, and patience of Christ in his sufferings and death; and his being like these when led to the slaughter, and dumb before the shearer, show his willingness to suffer and die for his people, and to become a sacrifice for their sins. The allusion is to the sheep led either by the butcher to the slaughter house, or by the priest to the altar, and to the lamb of a year old being silent while it is shearing; and both denote the voluntariness of Christ in his sufferings, the stripping him of his good name, credit, and reputation among men, and of all worldly substance, though Lord of all, and even of the common blessings of nature, as of meat, drink, and raiment, and the light of the sun; and particularly the stripping him of his clothes, when his raiment was parted, and lots cast on his vesture, is very aptly signified by the shearing of the lamb, all which he took very patiently; and his being led forth to be crucified, when he was offered up as a sacrifice on the cross, very fitly answers to the sheep being led to the slaughter, without showing any reluctance. It was a custom with the Heathens to offer no creature in sacrifice, that struggled as it was led, or made an opposition, or showed any reluctance: it is remarkable, that there was nothing of this kind to be observed in Christ, who gave himself an offering, and a sacrifice; the reasons of which were, because of the great love he bore to his people: and because of the good and advantage that would come to them thereby: he was content to be poor, that they might be rich; to be made sin, that they might be made righteousness; to become a curse, that the blessings of the covenant might come upon them; to be stripped of all things, that they might enjoy all: and because no other sacrifice could atone for their sins; and because it was his Father's will, which always involves his own.

So opened he not his mouth: in defence of himself, when such false things were laid to his charge, and which he could have so easily refuted, and yet answered to nothing, to the astonishment of his judge; the reason was, because he had the sins of his people on him, for which he was willing to suffer; and therefore declined self-vindication, lest he should hinder the judicial process against him; nor did he open his mouth against his enemies by way of threatening or complaint, when they spat on him, blindfolded, and buffeted him, and bid him prophesy who smote him; and when the chief priests, Scribes, the common people, and thieves mocked at him, and reviled him on the cross, he opened not his lips unto them, nor against them, only for them, saying, Father, forgive them; nor did he open his mouth against the justice of God, as bearing hard upon him; neither did he complain of the strictness of its demands, abating him nothing; nor of the severity and weight of its strokes, not sparing him at all; nor did he say one word against his people, whose sins brought all his sorrows and sufferings on him, but made intercession for the transgressors, whose sins he bore.

(t) Eliae Levit. praefat. 3. ad Sepher Hammasoreth.

Geneva Study Bible

{12} The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

(12) Those things which seem to come most by chance or fortune

(as men term it) are governed by the secret providence of God.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Acts 8:32-33. But the contents of the passage of Scripture which he read was this. τῆς γραφῆς] is here restricted by ἣν ἀνεγίνωσκεν to the notion of a single passage, as also, Acts 8:35, by ταύτης (comp. Acts 1:16; Luke 4:21; and on Mark 12:10). Luther has given it correctly. But many others refer ἣν ἀνεγίνωσκ. to ἡ περιοχή “locus autem scripturae, quem legebat, hic erat,” Kuinoel, following the Vulgate. But it is not demonstrable that περιοχή signifies a section; even in the places cited to show this, Cic. ad Att. xiii. 25, and Stob. Ecl. Phys. p. 164 A, it is to be taken as here: what is contained in the passage (Hesych. Suid.: ὑπόθεσις), and this is then verbally quoted. Comp. the use of περιέχει, 1 Peter 2:6, and Huther in loc.

ὡς πρόβατον κ.τ.λ.] Isaiah 53:7-8, with unimportant variation from the LXX.[230] The subject of the whole oracle is the צֶבֶד יְהֹוָה, i.e. according to the correct Messianic understanding of the apostolic church, the Messiah (Matthew 8:17; Mark 15:28; John 12:38 ff; John 1:29; 1 Peter 2:22 ff.). Comp. the ΠΑῖς ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ, Acts 3:13; Acts 3:26, Acts 4:27; Acts 4:30. The prophetical words, as Luke gives them, are as follow: As a sheep He has been led to the slaughter; and as a lamb, which is dumb before its shearer, so He opens not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away; i.e. when He had so humbled Himself to the bloody death (comp. Php 2:8), the judicial fate imposed on Him by God[231] was taken from Him, so that now therefore the culmination and crisis of His destiny set in (comp. Php 2:9). But His offspring who shall describe? i.e. how indescribably great is the multitude of those belonging to Him, of whom He will now be the family Head (comp. Php 2:10)! for (ground of the origin of this immeasurable progenies) His life is taken away from the earth, so that He enters upon His heavenly work relieved from the trammels of earth (comp. John 12:32; Romans 5:10; Romans 8:29; Romans 8:34; Romans 14:9). γενεά does not, any more than דוֹר, signify duration of life (Luther, Beza, Calvin, and others). The explanation, also, of the indescribably wicked race of the contemporaries of Christ, who proved their depravity by putting Him to death (ὍΤΙ ΑἼΡΕΤΑΙ Κ.Τ.Λ.), is inappropriate. Such is the view I have previously taken, with de Wette and older commentators. But in this way the prophecy would be diverted from the person of the Messiah, and that to something quite obvious of itself; whereas, according to the above explanation, the ΑἼΡΕΤΑΙ ἈΠῸ Τ. Γ. Ἡ ΖΩῊ ΑὐΤ. stands in thoughtful and significant correlation to Ἡ ΚΡΊΣΙς ΑὐΤΟῦ ἬΡΘΗ. In these correlates lies the ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΎΝΗ of the Humbled one, John 16:10. The Fathers have explained γενεά in the interest of orthodoxy, but here irrelevantly, of the eternal generation of the Son. See Suicer, Thes. I. p. 744.

[230] Which, however, deviates considerably, and in part erroneously, from the original Hebrew.

[231] The designation of His destiny of suffering as ἡ κρίσις αὐτοῦ presupposes the idea of its vicarious and propitiatory character.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Acts 8:32. περιοχὴ τῆς γραφῆς “the contents of the passage of Scripture” i.e., the one particular passage, Isaiah 53:7-8 (so Meyer-Wendt, Holtzmann, Hackett), cf. Acts 1:16, and 1 Peter 2:6 : περιέχει ἐν τῇ γραφῇ and ταύτης in Acts 8:35 below; περιοχή has been taken to mean a section, as in Cicero, Epist. ad Att., xiii., 25 (so in Codex [220], before the Gospel of St. Mark, its περιοχαί, i.e., sectiones, are prefixed), but in Cicero also Meyer-Wendt take the word to mean the contents of a passage, cf. notes, edit. 1888 and 1899; see also Felten and Plumptre, in loco. St. Chrysostom apparently takes γραφή here as = αἱ γραφαί, “totum corpus scripturae sacræ,” see Blass, in loco, but if so, the plural would be used as always; see above references and Light-foot on Gal., Galatians 3:22. The fact that the eunuch was reading Isaiah is mentioned by St. Chrysostom as another indication of character, since he had in hand the prophet who is more sublime than all others, Hom., xix.

[220] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

32. The place of the scripture] The A. V. omits the conjunction at the beginning of this verse. Read, Now the place, &c. The word rendered “place” signifies the whole context of the passage. The eunuch was studying the whole account of the sufferer whom the prophet here describes. The verses quoted here are Isaiah 53:7-8, and are given word for word from the LXX. which it is most probable that the eunuch was reading, as being made in Egypt that version was most likely to be circulated among those Jews with whom this man would be brought into communication. Philip also belonging to the Grecians (Acts 6:5) would be most familiar with the Greek translation. It will be seen that the translation differs in some points from the original, but yet it is sufficiently close in sense to express the intention of the prophet or rather the “mind of the Spirit” in the prophecy, and on this translation therefore Philip founds his teaching.

Bengel's Gnomen

Acts 8:32. Ἡ δὲ περιοχὴ, but [now] the passage) By means of that 53d chapter of Isaiah, not only many Jews, but even Atheists, have been converted: history records the names of some of these; GOD knows them all.—ὡς πρόβατον—κείροντος αὐτὸν—ταπεινώσει αὐτοῦ—τὴν δὲ γενεὰν, κ.τ.λ.) So the LXX., Isaiah 53:7-8; except that they have not αὐτὸν, αὐτοῦ, and δέ.—ἤχθη) It suffered itself to be led, i.e. the sheep: ἤχθη is connected with πρόβατον, and ἄφωνος with ἀμνός. For the Apodosis begins at οὕτως, so. Comp the Hebrew accents, Ὡς is put for καθώς, even as: Romans 5:18, ὡς διʼ ἑιὸς,—οὕτως καὶ: 2 Corinthians 11:3. It is not a mere simile (icon), but a comparison.—ἄφωνος, dumb, without a voice) though it has a voice, using none, as though it had none.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 32. - Now the place for the place, A.V.; was reading for read, A.V.; as a lamb... is dumb for like a lamb dumb, A.V.; he openeth not for opened he not, A.V. As a lamb... is dumb. The A.V. of this clause seems to me preferable as a rendering of the Greek, though the Hebrew has נֶאֶלָמָה, "is dumb." But this may be rendered "which is dumb." As regards the word περιοχή, rendered place, and considered as the antecedent to which, the use of it by Cicero ('Ad Attic.,' 13:25) for a whole paragraph, and the employment in the Syriac Version of this passage of the technical word which denotes a "section" or "paragraph," and the Vulgate rendering, Locus... quem (Schleusner), as well as the etymology of the word, which means "a circuit," or "circumference," within which something is contained - all strongly point to the rendering in the text. Meyer, however, and others make τῆς γραφῆς the antecedent to ἥν, and construe, "The contents of the Scripture which he was reading," and refer to 1 Peter 2:6. Acts 8:32

Vincent's Word Studies

The place of the scripture (ἡ περιοχὴ τῆς γραφῆς)

Strictly, the contents of the passage. See on Mark 12:10; and 1 Peter 2:6.

He read

Rev., correctly, was reading; imperfect.