ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Acts 8.26-35

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

There are ads on our codex that pay for hosting and keep the codex free. If you can, please consider whitelisting ris3n.com or allowing scripts to support the work.

Sponsored

ASV (ASV)

"24. And Simon answered and said, Pray ye for me to the Lord, that none of the things which ye have spoken come upon me. 25. They therefore, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans."

"26. But an angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza: the same is desert. 27. And he arose and went: and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship; 28. and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29. And the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30. And Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31. And he said, How can I, except some one shall guide me? And he besought Philip to come up and sit with him. 32. Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth: 33. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: His generation who shall declare? For his life is taken from the earth. 34. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other? 35. And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached unto him Jesus."

"36. And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?" (Acts 8:24-37, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"24. Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that none of the things which you have spoken happen to me.” 25. They therefore, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the Good News to many villages of the Samaritans."

"26. But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert.” 27. He arose and went; and behold, there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship. 28. He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29. The Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.” 30. Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31. He said, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He begged Philip to come up and sit with him. 32. Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn’t open his mouth. 33. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth.” 34. The eunuch answered Philip, “Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?” 35. Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him about Jesus."

"36. As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?”" (Acts 8:24-37, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"24. Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. 25. And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans."

"26. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28. Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31. And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 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: 33. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35. Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus."

"36. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37. And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." (Acts 8:24-37, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"24. And Simon answering, said, 'Beseech ye for me unto the Lord, that nothing may come upon me of the things ye have spoken.' 25. They indeed, therefore, having testified fully, and spoken the word of the Lord, did turn back to Jerusalem; in many villages also of the Samaritans they did proclaim good news."

"26. And a messenger of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, 'Arise, and go on toward the south, on the way that is going down from Jerusalem to Gaza,', this is desert. 27. And having arisen, he went on, and lo, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch, a man of rank, of Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to worship to Jerusalem; 28. he was also returning, and is sitting on his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29. And the Spirit said to Philip, 'Go near, and be joined to this chariot;' 30. and Philip having run near, heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, 'Dost thou then know what thou dost read?' 31. and he said, 'Why, how am I able, if some one may not guide me?' he called Philip also, having come up, to sit with him. 32. And the contents of the Writing that he was reading was this: 'As a sheep unto slaughter he was led, and as a lamb before his shearer dumb, so he doth not open his mouth; 33. in his humiliation his judgment was taken away, and his generation, who shall declare? because taken from the earth is his life.' 34. And the eunuch answering Philip said, 'I pray thee, about whom doth the prophet say this? about himself, or about some other one?' 35. and Philip having opened his mouth, and having begun from this Writing, proclaimed good news to him, Jesus."

"36. And as they were going on the way, they came upon a certain water, and the eunuch said, 'Lo, water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?' 37. [And Philip said, 'If thou dost believe out of all the heart, it is lawful;' and he answering said, 'I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God;']" (Acts 8:24-37, YLT)

Setting

  • Speaker: Luke the physician (traditionally) / narrator + multiple speeches (Peter, Stephen, Paul)
  • Audience: Theophilus + Gentile Christian audience (companion to Luke)
  • Location: Jerusalem → Judea → Samaria → Asia Minor → Greece → Rome
  • Time period: events c. AD 30-62; composed c. AD 62-80

Theological reading

Key words

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.