Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH

A Jewish-sympathizing superintendent of the Ethiopian queen’s (Candace) treasury who received instruction and baptism from Philip along a desert route from Jerusalem to Gaza (Acts 8:26-39). His devotion to Judaism is evident in his pilgrimage to Jerusalem and his perusal of a personal copy of the Isaiah scroll (Acts 8:27-31). It is unlikely, however, that he was a proselyte or welcome adherent to Judaism. Although a wealthy and prominent official, as a eunuch he was defective and defiled according to traditional Jewish law, forever banned from the covenant community (cf. Lev. 21:18-21; Deut. 23:1; Josephus Ant. 4.290-91; Philo Spec. leg. 1.324-25). This marginal status is suggested in the eunuch’s question concerning what might “prevent” his baptism (Acts 8:36). The focus on the “generative” potential of the shorn and shamed figure of Isa. 53:7-8 — whom Philip implicitly identifies with the crucified and risen Jesus (Acts 8:32-35) — seems particularly relevant to the eunuch’s physical condition and social location.

The evangelization of the Ethiopian eunuch fulfills the inclusive vision of an Isaianic text (Isa. 56:3-8, although the foreign eunuch in Acts is accepted while moving away from, not toward, the holy city) and the expansive mission projected in Acts 1:8 “to the ends of the earth.” This incident also sets the stage for outreach to Cornelius, another God-fearing Gentile (Acts 10–11).

Bibliography. F. S. Spencer, “The Ethiopian Eunuch and His Bible,” BTB 22 (1992): 155-65; The Portrait of Philip in Acts. JSNTSup 67 (Sheffield, 1992), ch. 4.

F. Scott Spencer

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)