Дела 8:5 Коментар

In this chapter we have an account of the persecutions of the Christians, and the propagating of Christianity thereby. It was strange, but very true, that the disciples of Christ the more they were afflicted the more they multiplied. I. Here is the church suffering; upon the occasion of putting Stephen to death a very sharp storm arose, which forced many from Jerusalem (Act 8:1-3). II. Here is the church spreading by the ministry of Philip and others that were dispersed upon that occasion. We have here, 1. The gospel brought to Samaria, preached there (Act 8:4, Act 8:5), embraced there (Act 8:6-8), even by Simon Magus (Act 8:9-13); the gift of the Holy Ghost conferred upon some of the believing Samaritans by the imposition of the hands of Peter and John (Act 8:14-17); and the severe rebuke given by Peter to Simon Magus for offering money for a power to bestow that gift (Act 8:18-25). 2. The gospel sent to Ethiopia, by the eunuch, a person of quality of that country. He is returning home in his chariot from Jerusalem (Act 8:26-28). Philip is sent to him, and in his chariot preaches Christ to him (Act 8:29-35), baptizes him upon his profession of the Christian faith (Act 8:36-38), and the leaves him (Act 8:39-40). Thus in different ways and methods the gospel was dispersed among the nations, and, one way or other, "Have they not all heard?"

And Saul was consenting unto his death,.... This clause, in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic versions, stands at the close of the preceding chapter, and which seems to be its proper place; and so it does in the Alexandrian copy: that Saul consented to the death of Stephen, and approved of that barbarous action, is evident from his taking care of the clothes of the witnesses that stoned him; but the word here used signifies not a bare consent only, but a consent with pleasure and delight; he was well pleased with it, it rejoiced his very heart; he joined with others in it, with the utmost pleasure and satisfaction; this, and what is before said concerning his having the clothes of the witnesses laid at his feet, as well as what follows, about his persecuting the saints, are, the rather mentioned, because this violent persecutor was afterwards converted, and became an eminent preacher of the Gospel; and these accounts serve to set off and illustrate the grace of God, which was abundant towards him. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem: it began "on that day", as the words may be rendered, on which Stephen was stoned. As soon as they had put him to death, these bloodthirsty wretches were the more greedy after the blood of others; and being now in great numbers, and filled with rage and fury, fell upon the members of the church wherever they met them, and killed them; for that more, besides Stephen, were put to death, seems plain from Act 26:10 and, according to some accounts, though they cannot be depended on, two thousand persons suffered at this time: and if this was the case, it might be called a great persecution: and they were all scattered abroad; not all the members of the church, nor perhaps any of the private ones; for we afterwards read of devout then that carried Stephen to his grave; and of the church being made havoc of by Saul; and of men and women being haled out of their houses, and committed to prison by him; but all the preachers of the word, except the apostles; for they that were scattered, went about preaching the word, Act 8:4 They seem to be the seventy disciples, and other ministers of the word, on whom the Holy Ghost fell at the day of Pentecost, or was since bestowed; among who were Philip, who went to Samaria; and Ananias, who was at Damascus; and others that went as far as Phenice, Cyprus, and Antioch: and particularly they are said to be dispersed throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria; where their ministry was so greatly blessed, to the conversion of souls, that there were quickly many churches planted and formed in these parts, as appears from Act 9:31 so that this persecution was for the furtherance and spread of the Gospel: that upon this dispersion any of them came into France and England, or into any other parts of Europe, is not probable; since the particular places they went to are mentioned; and since they preached to Jew only: and this scattering by reason of the persecution, was of all the preachers, except the apostles; the twelve apostles, who stayed at Jerusalem to take care of the church; to encourage the members of it to suffer cheerfully for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; and to animate them to abide by him: and this was not only an instance of courage and constancy in them, and of the divine protection and preservation of them, in the midst of their enemies; but also of the timidity of their adversaries, who might be afraid to meddle with them; remembering what miraculous works were performed by them, and how they had been delivered out of prison, and especially the case of Ananias and Sapphira, who were struck dead by Peter. Beza's ancient copy adds, "who remained in Jerusalem".

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria,.... The city which was formerly called Samaria, but now Sebaste; it had been destroyed by Hyrcanus, and was rebuilt by Herod; and called by him, in honour of Augustus, by the name of Sebaste (d); and so R. Benjamin says (e), that "from Luz he came in a day to Sebaste, , "this is Samaria"; where yet may be discerned the palace of Ahab king of Israel-----and from thence are two "parsas" to Neapolis, this is Sichem.'' Which last place, Sichem, is by Josephus said to be the "metropolis" of Samaria; and is thought by Dr. Lightfoot to be the city Philip went to, and where our Lord had before been, and preached to the conversion of many persons: this place lay lower than Jerusalem, and therefore Philip is said to go down to it; and who was not Philip the apostle, but Philip the deacon, for the apostles abode at Jerusalem; and beside, though this Philip preached the Gospel, and baptized, and wrought miracles, yet did not lay on hands, in order that persons might receive the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost; this was peculiar to the apostles, and therefore Peter and John came down for this purpose, when they heard of the success of Philip's ministry: the subject matter of which follows: and preached Christ unto them; that Christ was come in the flesh, that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, and that he was the Son of God, and the alone Saviour of men; who by his obedience, sufferings, and death, had wrought righteousness, procured peace and pardon, and obtained eternal redemption for his people; and was risen again, and ascended into heaven, and was set down at the right hand of God, where he ever lived to make intercession, and would come again a second time to judge both quick and dead. (d) Joseph de Bello Jud. l. 1. c. 2. sect. 7. & c. 21. sect. 2. Plin. l. 5. c. 13. (e) Itinerar. p. 38.

Not the apostle Philip who is counted among the twelve is this, but one of the seven, the one chosen with Stephen for the administration of the widows. That it is true is clear from here. For of the apostles only those left behind in Jerusalem, while the rest of the disciples were scattered elsewhere, as has already been said; and all were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Among those who were scattered was this Philip, who also instructed Simon in Samaria, and having baptized the Eunuch by a divine oracle, was found by the Spirit of the Lord at Azotus, and then hurried on to Caesarea where he also came to be. For being tried by the persecution against Stephen, and fearing for fear that he share the lot of his partners, he returned home. Moreover, if the one who baptized in Samaria had been one of the apostles, he would have had the authority to bestow the gift of the Spirit, and Peter and John would not have had to come down from Jerusalem to confer the gift of the Spirit upon them. This one therefore baptizes only as a disciple; the apostles perfect the grace, to whom the authority for such a bestowal had been given. [LETTER FROM ISIDORE]

But Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And he was from among the disseminated ones, who first preached Christ in Samaria, and he began through the deacon, as Christ said to the apostles: And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria (Acts I).

This is not the apostle Philip who is counted among the twelve, but one of the seven chosen for the care of widows, who also baptized the eunuch and catechized Simon. Listen to what the evangelist Luke says: after the killing of Stephen, "a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles" (8:1). From this it is clear that the apostle Philip, along with the other apostles, was in Jerusalem. Luke made this remark in order to show that Philip baptized those who had been given Christian instruction in Samaria. But the apostles Peter and John, having come to them from Jerusalem, imparted to them the grace of the Spirit. And if he had been one of the twelve apostles, he would have had the authority to impart the gifts of the Spirit as well. He baptizes only as a disciple, while the completing grace is imparted by those apostles who were given the authority to impart such a gift. Others say that Philip did not bring down the Spirit upon those baptized because he was only a deacon, put forward by those who were with Stephen, and did not hold either the presbyteral or the episcopal rank, as did the chosen disciples of the Lord. And that he was a deacon is attested by Paul in the "Canons" — he attests this not only about him, but also about Ananias, who baptized Paul himself. And being a deacon, he baptized due to the lack of presbyters in Samaria, because in case of necessity, when there is no presbyter, deacons are also permitted to baptize, as the Spirit Himself taught, having inspired that same Philip with the thought to approach the eunuch. It should be noted that after baptism, the Holy Spirit descends upon those baptized through the laying on of hands by virtue of prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, to this day this rite is observed in the same form.

He was a deacon of the same rank.

A general persecution is raised against the Church, Act 8:1. Stephen's burial, Act 8:2. Saul greatly oppresses the followers of Christ, Act 8:3, Act 8:4. Philip the deacon goes to Samaria, preaches, works many miracles, converts many persons, and baptizes Simon the sorcerer, Act 8:5-13. Peter and John are sent by the apostles to Samaria; they confirm the disciples, and by prayer and imposition of hands they confer the Holy Spirit, Act 8:14-17. Simon the sorcerer, seeing this, offers them money, to enable him to confer the Holy Spirit, Act 8:18, Act 8:19. He is sharply reproved by Peter, and exhorted to repent, Act 8:20-23. He appears to be convinced of his sin, and implores an interest in the apostle's prayers, Act 8:24. Peter and John, having preached the Gospel in the villages of Samaria, return to Jerusalem, Act 8:25. An angel of the Lord commands Philip to go towards Gaza, to meet an Ethiopian eunuch, Act 8:26. He goes, meets, and converses with the eunuch, preaches the Gospel to him, and baptizes him, Act 8:27-38. The Spirit of God carries Philip to Azotus, passing through which, he preaches in all the cities till he comes to Caesarea, Act 8:39, Act 8:40.

Then Philip - One of the seven deacons, Act 6:5, called afterwards, Philip the Evangelist, Act 21:8. The city of Samaria - At this time there was no city of Samaria existing: according to Josephus, Ant. lib. xiii. cap. 10, sect. 3, Hyrcanus had so utterly demolished it as to leave no vestige of it remaining. Herod the Great did afterwards build a city on the same spot of ground; but he called it ΣεβαϚη i.e. Augusta, in compliment to the Emperor Augustus, as Josephus tells us, Ant. lib. xv. cap. 8, sect. 5; War, lib. i. cap. 2. sect. 7; and by this name of Sebast, or Augusta, that city, if meant here, would in all probability have been called, in the same manner as the town called Strato's Tower, (which Herod built on the sea coasts, and to which he gave the name of Caesarea, in compliment to Augustus Caesar), is always called Caesarea, wherever it is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Bp. Pearce. As Sychem was the very heart and seat of the Samaritan religion, and Mount Gerizim the cathedral church of that sect, it is more likely that it should be intended than any other. See Lightfoot. As the Samaritans received the same law with the Jews, as they also expected the Messiah, as Christ had preached to and converted many of that people, Joh 4:39-42, it was very reasonable that the earliest offers of salvation should be made to them, before any attempt was made to evangelize the Gentiles. The Samaritans, indeed, formed the connecting link between the Jews and the Gentiles; for they were a mongrel people, made up of both sorts, and holding both Jewish and Pagan rites. See the account of them on Mat 10:5 (note).

PERSECUTION CONTINUED, IN WHICH SAUL TAKES A PROMINENT PART--HOW OVERRULED FOR GOOD. (Act 8:1-4) Saul was consenting unto his death--The word expresses hearty approval. they were all scattered abroad--all the leading Christians, particularly the preachers, agreeably to their Lord's injunctions (Mat 10:23), though many doubtless remained, and others (as appears by Act 9:26-30) soon returned. except the apostles--who remained, not certainly as being less exposed to danger, but, at whatever risk, to watch over the infant cause where it was most needful to cherish it.

SUCCESS OF PHILIP'S PREACHING IN SAMARIA--CASE OF SIMON MAGUS. (Acts 8:5-25) Then Philip--not the apostle of that name, as was by some of the Fathers supposed; for besides that the apostles remained at Jerusalem, they would in that case have had no occasion to send a deputation of their own number to lay their hands on the baptized disciples [GROTIUS]. It was the deacon of that name, who comes next after Stephen in the catalogue of the seven, probably as being the next most prominent. The persecution may have been directed especially against Stephen's colleagues [MEYER]. the city of Samaria--or "a city of Samaria"; but the former seems more likely. "It furnished the bridge between Jerusalem and the world" [BAUMGARTEN].