Ethiopian eunuch - wikipedia Ethiopian eunuch Rembrandt, The Baptism of the Eunuch, c. 1626. The Ethiopian eunuch is a figure in the New Testament of the Bible. The story of his conversion to Christianity is recounted in Acts 8. Contents 1 Biblical narrative 2 Christian traditions 3 Assessment and interpretation 4 References Biblical narrative Philip the Evangelist was told by an angel to go to the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, and there he met the Ethiopian eunuch. He had been to Jerusalem to worship ( Acts 8 : 27 ), and was returning home. The eunuch was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah, and had come to Isaiah 53 : 7 - 8. Philip asked the Ethiopian, `` Do you understand what you are reading ? '' He said he did not ( `` How can I understand unless I have a teacher to teach me ? '' ), and asked Philip to explain the text to him. Philip told him the Gospel of Jesus, and the Ethiopian asked to be baptized. They went down into some water and Philip baptized him. In the King James Version and the Catholic Douay - Rheims Version, the Ethiopian says, `` I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God '' ( verse 37 ), but this is omitted in most modern versions. Hubbard suggests that confession is `` not supported in the better manuscripts ( i.e. the Alexandrian text - type ) ) '', although the Ethiopian is still `` one of the outstanding converts in Acts. '' After this, Philip was suddenly taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch `` went on his way rejoicing '' ( verse 39 ). Christian traditions A stained glass diptych showing the baptisms of the Ethiopian eunuch by St. Philip the Evangelist and of Jesus Christ by St. John the Baptist, from the Cathedral of the Incarnation ( Garden City, New York ). Church Father St. Irenaeus of Lyons in his book Adversus haereses ( Against the Heresies, an early anti-Gnostic theological work ) 3 : 12 : 8 ( 180 AD ), wrote regarding the Ethiopian eunuch, `` This man ( Simeon Bachos the Eunuch ) was also sent into the regions of Ethiopia, to preach what he had himself believed, that there was one God preached by the prophets, but that the Son of this ( God ) had already made ( His ) appearance in human flesh, and had been led as a sheep to the slaughter ; and all the other statements which the prophets made regarding Him. '' In Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo tradition he was referred to as Bachos and in Eastern Orthodox tradition he is known as an Ethiopian Jew with the name Simeon also called the Black, the same name he is given in Acts 13 : 1. Assessment and interpretation The Ethiopian is described as a eunuch and a treasury official at the court of Queen Candace ( Acts 8 : 27 ). D.A. Hubbard suggests that he may have been a proselyte, though Paul Mumo Kisau argues that he was a Godfearer instead. Scott Shauf suggests that the `` primary point of the story is about carrying the gospel to the end of the earth, not about establishing a mission to Gentiles, '' and thus Luke `` does not bring the Gentile status of the Ethiopian into the foreground. '' However, `` the suggestion that the eunuch is or at least might be a Gentile in the story, by both his ethnic and possibly physical description, serves to tantalize the reader with the mystery of the situation. '' The eunuch may have been from Nubia or the Sudan : David Tuesday Adamo suggests that the word used here ( Αίθίοψ, aithiops ) is best translated simply as `` African. '' Commentators generally suggest that the combination of `` eunuch '' together with the title `` court official '' indicates a literal eunuch, who would have been excluded from the Temple by the restriction in Deuteronomy 23 : 1. Some scholars point out that eunuchs were excluded from Jewish worship and extend the New Testament 's inclusion of these men to other sexual minorities ; John J. McNeill, citing non-literal uses of `` eunuch '' in other New Testament passages such as Matthew 19 : 12, suggests that this eunuch was `` the first baptized gay Christian, '' while Jack Rogers writes that `` the fact that the first Gentile convert to Christianity is from a sexual minority and a different race, ethnicity and nationality together '' calls Christians to be radically inclusive and welcoming. Illustration from the Menologion of Basil II of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Other scholars have addressed the issue of the eunuch 's race. Some, such as Frank M. Snowden, Jr., interpret the story as emphasizing that early Christian communities accepted members regardless of race : `` Ethiopians were the yardstick by which antiquity measured colored peoples. '' Others, such as Clarice Martin, write that it is a commentary on the religion rather than on its adherents, showing Christianity 's geographical extent ; Gay L. Byron goes further, saying, `` The Ethiopian eunuch was used by Luke to indicate that salvation could extend even to Ethiopians and Blacks. '' C.K. Barrett contrasts the Ethiopian eunuch 's story with that of Cornelius the Centurion, another convert. He notes that while the Ethiopian continues on his journey home and passes out of the narrative, Cornelius and his followers form another church in Judea, and speculates that this reflects a desire to focus on Peter rather than Philip. Robert O'Toole argues that the way Philip is taken away parallels the way Jesus disappears after he has been talking to the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Ethiopian eunuch. References ^ Jump up to : Hubbard, D.A. ( 1962 ). `` Ethiopian eunuch ''. In Douglas, J.D. New Bible Dictionary. IVF. p. 398. Jump up ^ Paulos, Abune ( 1988 ). The Mariological tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. New Jersey : Princeton University Press. Jump up ^ History of the Church Jump up ^ Kisau, Paul Mumo ( 2006 ). `` Acts of the Apostles ''. In Adeyemo, Tokunboh. Africa Bible Commentary. Zondervan. p. 1314. Jump up ^ Shauf, Scott ( 2009 ). `` Locating the eunuch : characterization and narrative context in Acts 8 : 26 - 40 ''. CBQ. 71 ( 4 ) : 774. Jump up ^ Adamo, David Tuesday ( 2006 ). Africa and Africans in the New Testament. Lanham : University Press of America. pp. 89 -- 91. Jump up ^ MacArthur, John ( 1994 ). New Testament Commentary, Volume 6 : Acts 1 - 12. Moody. p. 254. ISBN 0 - 8024 - 0759 - 5. Jump up ^ Johnson, Luke T. ; Harrington, Daniel J. ( 1992 ). The Acts of the Apostles. Liturgical Press. p. 155. ISBN 0 - 8146 - 5807 - 5. Jump up ^ McNeill, John J. ( 1993 ). The Church and the homosexual ( 4 ed. ). Beacon Press. pp. 63 -- 65. ISBN 9780807079317. Jump up ^ McNeill, John J. ( 2010 ). Freedom, Glorious Freedom : The Spiritual Journey to the Fullness of Life for Gays, Lesbians, and Everybody Else. Lethe. p. 211. ISBN 9781590211489. Jump up ^ Rogers, Jack ( 2009 ). Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality. Westminster John Knox. Jump up ^ Snowden, Frank M. ( 1970 ). Blacks in Antiquity : Ethiopians in the Greco - Roman experience ( 3rd ed. ). Harvard University Press. p. 2. ISBN 0 - 674 - 07626 - 5. Jump up ^ Witherington, Ben ( 1998 ). The Acts of the Apostles : A socio - rhetorical commentary. Eerdmans. p. 295. ISBN 0 - 8028 - 4501 - 0. Jump up ^ Byron, Gay L. ( 2002 ). Symbolic blackness and ethnic difference in early Christian literature. Psychology Press. pp. 105 -- 115. ISBN 9780203471470. Jump up ^ Barrett, C.K. ( 2004 - 06 - 26 ). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Acts of the Apostles. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 421. ISBN 9780567083852. Jump up ^ O'Toole, Robert F. ( 1983 ). `` Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch ( Acts 8 : 25 - 40 ) ''. JSNT. 17 : 31 -- 32. New Testament people Jesus Christ In Christianity Historical Life in the New Testament Gospels Individuals Alphaeus Anna the Prophetess Annas Barabbas Bartimaeus Blind man ( Bethsaida ) Caiaphas Man born blind ( `` Celidonius '' ) Cleopas Clopas Devil Penitent thief ( `` Dismas '' ) Elizabeth Gabriel Impenitent thief ( `` Gestas '' ) Jairus ' daughter Joanna John the Baptist Joseph Joseph of Arimathea Joses Jude Lazarus Legion Luke Lysanias Malchus Martha Mary, mother of Jesus Mary Magdalene Mary, mother of James Mary of Bethany Mary of Clopas Naked fugitive Son of Nain 's widow Nathanael Nicodemus ( Nicodemus ben Gurion ) Salome Samaritan woman Simeon Simon, brother of Jesus Simon of Cyrene Simon the Leper Simon the Pharisee Susanna Syrophoenician woman Theophilus Zacchaeus Zebedee Zechariah Groups Angels Jesus 's brothers Demons Disciples Evangelists Female disciples of Jesus God - fearers Herodians Magi Myrrhbearers Nameless Pharisees Proselytes Sadducees Samaritans Sanhedrin Scribes Seventy disciples Shepherds Zealots Apostles Andrew Bartholomew James of Alphaeus ( James the Less ) James of Zebedee Evangelist Patmos `` Disciple whom Jesus loved '' Judas Iscariot Jude Thaddeus Matthew Philip Simon Peter Simon the Zealot Thomas Acts Aeneas Agabus Ananias ( Damascus ) Ananias ( Judaea ) Ananias son of Nedebeus Apollos Aquila Aristarchus Barnabas Blastus Cornelius Demetrius Dionysius Dorcas Elymas Egyptian Ethiopian eunuch Eutychus Gamaliel James, brother of Jesus Jason Joseph Barsabbas Judas Barsabbas Judas of Galilee Lucius Luke Lydia Manaen ( John ) Mark Evangelist cousin of Barnabas Mary, mother of ( John ) Mark Matthias Mnason Nicanor Nicholas Parmenas Paul Philip Priscilla Prochorus Publius Rhoda Sapphira Sceva Seven Deacons Silas / Silvanus Simeon Niger Simon Magus Sopater Sosthenes Stephen Theudas Timothy Titus Trophimus Tychicus Zenas Romans Herod 's family Gospels Antipas Archelaus Herod the Great Herodias Longinus Philip Pilate Pilate 's wife Quirinius Salome Tiberius Acts Agrippa Agrippa II Berenice Cornelius Drusilla Felix Festus Gallio Lysias Paullus Epistles Achaicus Alexander Andronicus Archippus Aretas IV Carpus Claudia Crescens Demas Diotrephes Epaphras Epaphroditus Erastus Eunice Euodia and Syntyche Herodion Hymenaeus Jesus Justus John the Presbyter Junia Lois Mary Michael Nymphas Olympas Onesimus Onesiphorus Pudens Philemon Philetus Phoebe Quartus Sosipater Tertius Revelation Antipas Four Horsemen Apollyon Two witnesses Woman Beast Three Angels Whore of Babylon Acts of the Apostles Bible Acts 1 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Places Achaea Alexandria Amphipolis Antioch of Pisidia Antioch of Syria Asia Assos Atalia Athens Berea Bithynia Caesarea Cenchrea Chios Cilicia Corinth Cos Creta Cyprus Derbe Ephesus Forum Appii Galatia Iconium Italy Jerusalem Lycaonia Lystra Macedonia Malta Mytilene Miletus Mysia Neapolis Paphos Pamphilia Patara Perga Philippi Phrygia Pisidia Pontus Ptolemais Puteoli Regium Rodos Rome Salamis Samos Samothrace Seleucia Syracuse Syria Thessalonica Thyatira Tyre Three Taverns Troas People Aeneas Agabus Agrippa Agrippa II Ananias ( Judaea ) Ananias ( Damascus ) Ananias ben Nebedeus Apollos Aquila Aristarchus Bar - jesus Barnabas Berenice Blastus Cornelius Demetrius Dionysius Dorcas Drusilla Ethiopian eunuch Eutychus Felix Festus Gallio Gamaliel James the Just Jason Joseph Barsabbas Judas Barsabbas Judas of Galilee Lucius Luke Lydia Lysias Manaen ( John ) Mark Mary mother of John Mark Matthias Nicanor Nicholas Parmenas Paul Paullus Peter Philip Priscilla Prochorus Publius Rhoda Sapphira Sceva Seven Deacons Silas / Silvanus Simeon Niger Simon the Sorcerer Sopater Stephen Theudas Timothy Titus Trophimus Tychicus Other Events Ascension Pentecost Conversion of Paul Peter 's vision Peter 's liberation Council of Jerusalem Areopagus sermon Book burning at Ephesus Sources Greek Text Latin Vulgate Wycliffe Version King James Version American Standard Version World English Version ← Gospel of John ( chapter 21 ) Epistle to the Romans ( chapter 1 ) → Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ethiopian_eunuch&oldid=806737507 '' Categories : People in Acts of the Apostles Converts to Christianity Eunuchs LGBT topics and Christianity Ethiopian saints Bible - related controversies Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Français Bahasa Indonesia עברית Kiswahili Српски / srpski اردو Edit links This page was last edited on 23 October 2017, at 21 : 12. 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Question: which book of prophecy was the ethiopian eunuch reading from
Answer: Book of Isaiah