Ethiopian Eunuch

VIEW:43 DATA:01-04-2020
ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH.—According to Act_8:27, an Ethiopian eunuch, minister of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, was met shortly after the martyrdom of Stephen by the deacon Philip when returning from a religious journey to Jerusalem, and converted to Christianity. The confession of faith put into his mouth in Act_8:37 (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ) is now universally admitted to be an early interpolation. Assuming the Lukan authorship of the Acts, the source of the above narrative may have been personal information received from Philip (cf. Act_21:8). Like the baptism of Cornelius by St. Peter, the case of the Ethiopian eunuch marked an important stage in the question of the admission of the Gentiles to the Christian Church.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


ē-thi-ō?pi-an ū?nuk εὐνοῦχος, eunoúchos): A man who occupied a leading position as treasurer at the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, and who was converted and baptized by Philip the deacon (Act_8:27-39). Being a eunuch, he was not in the full Jewish communion (compare Deu_23:1), but had gone up to Jerusalem to worship, probably as a proselyte at the gate. During his return journey he spent the time in studying Isaiah, the text which he used being that of the Septuagint (compare Professor Margoliouth, article ?Ethiopian Eunuch? in HDB). On meeting with Philip the deacon, who was on his way to Gaza, he besought of him to shed light upon the difficulties of the Scripture he was reading, and through this was converted. The place of his baptism, according to Jerome and Eusebius, was Bethsura: by some modern authorities, e.g. G. A. Smith, it has been located at or near Gaza. The verse containing the confession of the eunuch, ?I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,? is omitted either in whole or in part by some texts, but Hilgenfeld, Knowling, etc., regard it as quite in keeping with the context. Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, Revised Version (British and American) text, etc., uphold the omission. The verse occurs in the body of the King James Version, but is given only as a footnote in the Revised Version (British and American) and the American Standard Revised Version. The diligence with which the eunuch pursued his reading, the earnestness with which he inquired of Philip, and the promptness with which he asked for baptism - all testify to the lofty nature of his character.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


Ethiopian Eunuch
(ἀνὴρ Αἰθίοψ, εὐνοῦχος), a person described (Act_8:27) as a chief officer (vizier) of the Ethiopian queen Candacs (δυνάστης Κανδάκης τῆς βασιλίσσης Αἰθιόπων), who was converted to Christianity through the instrumentality of the evangelist Philip (q.v.). Ethiopic tradition calls him Indich (see Bzovii Annal. ad 1524, page 542; but comp. Ludolf, Hist. AEth. 3:2), and Irenaseus (Act_3:12) and Eusebius (Hist. Ecc_2:1) make him thie founder of Christianity in Arabia Felix and Ethiopia, but according to Sophronius he preached in the island of Ceylon, and suffered martyrdom there. His official title does not necessarily indicate an emasculated person SEE EUNUCH, but probably here denotes a prime minister of state rather than a simple cubicularius or chamberlain (q.v.). Kuindl (ad loc.) thinks he was a Jew of the Diaspora; and certainly he was at least a proselyte (q.v.). As to the place of his power, it is not quite certain that the passage in Pliny (Hist. Nat. 6:5) refers to Meroa as the seat of government of the female sovereigns (comp. βασιλέας, Strabo, 17:2, 3); but possibly rather to Napata (Τανάπη, Dion Cass. 54:5), the capital of a different part of Ethiopia (Rawlinson, Herodotus, 2:35), or perhaps an uncertain locality (Ritter, Erdk. 1:592). On the historical elements of the question, see Laurent, Neutestamen. Studien (Gotha, 1866), page 140 sq.; Bibliotheca Sacra, July 1866, page 515; on the religious teachings of the narrative, SEE SAM. Smith, Sermon on the Eth. Eunuch's Conversion (Lond. 1632). SEE CANDACE.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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