Acts 8:26
New International Version
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

New Living Translation
As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

English Standard Version
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.

Berean Standard Bible
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

Berean Literal Bible
Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Rise up and go toward the south, to the road going down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is the desert road.)

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.

New American Standard Bible
But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

NASB 1995
But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

NASB 1977
But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Arise and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

Legacy Standard Bible
But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Rise up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

Amplified Bible
But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the road that runs from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” (This is a desert road).

Christian Standard Bible
An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road. )

Holman Christian Standard Bible
An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.)

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And The Angel of THE LORD JEHOVAH spoke with Philippus and he said to him, “Arise, go to the south by the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

Contemporary English Version
The Lord's angel said to Philip, "Go south along the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza."

Douay-Rheims Bible
Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying: Arise, go towards the south, to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza: this is desert.

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
An angel from the Lord said to Philip, "Get up, and take the desert road that goes south from Jerusalem to Gaza."

Good News Translation
An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get ready and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This road is not used nowadays.)

International Standard Version
Now an angel of the Lord told Philip, "Get up and go south on the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a deserted road."

Literal Standard Version
And a messenger of the LORD spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise, and go on toward the south, on the way that is going down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is desolate.)

Majority Standard Bible
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

New American Bible
Then the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.”

NET Bible
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert road.)

New Revised Standard Version
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.)

New Heart English Bible
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."

Webster's Bible Translation
And the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Arise, and go towards the south, to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert.

Weymouth New Testament
And an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and proceed south to the road that runs down from Jerusalem to Gaza, crossing the Desert."

World English Bible
Then 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.”

Young's Literal Translation
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.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Philip and the Ethiopian
25And after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many of the Samaritan villages. 26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship,…

Cross References
Genesis 10:19
and the borders of Canaan extended from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

Acts 5:19
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out, saying,

Acts 8:5
Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them.

Acts 8:29
The Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to that chariot and stay by it."


Treasury of Scripture

And the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert.

The angel.

Acts 5:19
But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,

Acts 10:7,22
And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; …

Acts 12:8-11,23
And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me…

Arise.

1 Chronicles 22:16
Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee.

Isaiah 60:1
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

Gaza.

Joshua 13:3
From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites:

Joshua 15:47
Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border thereof:

Zechariah 9:5
Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

desert.

Matthew 3:1-3
In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, …

Luke 3:2-4
Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness…

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Acts 8
1. By occasion of the persecution in Jerusalem, the church being planted in Samaria,
4. by Philip the deacon, who preached, did miracles, and baptized many;
9. among the rest Simon the sorcerer, a great seducer of the people;
14. Peter and John come to confirm and enlarge the church;
15. where, by prayer and imposition of hands giving the Holy Spirit;
18. when Simon would have bought the like power of them,
20. Peter sharply reproving his hypocrisy and covetousness,
22. and exhorting him to repentance,
25. together with John preaching the word of the Lord, return to Jerusalem;
26. but the angel sends Philip to teach and baptize the Ethiopian Eunuch.














(26) And the angel of the Lord . . .--Better, an angel. The tense of the verbs in the preceding verse, in the better MSS., implies that the events that follow synchronised with the journey of Peter and John through Samaria. The journey which Philip was commanded to take led him by a quicker route across country into the main road from Jerusalem to Gaza. The history of the city so named (appearing at times in the English version--Deuteronomy 2:23; 1Kings 4:24; Jeremiah 25:20--as Azzah) goes even as far back as that of Damascus, in the early records of Israel. It was the southernmost or border-city of the early Canaanites (Genesis 10:19), and was occupied first by the Avim, and then by the Caphtorim (Deuteronomy 2:23). Joshua was unable to conquer it (Joshua 10:41; Joshua 11:22). The tribe of Judah held it for a short time (Judges 1:18), but it soon fell into the hands of the Philistines (Judges 3:3; Judges 13:1), and though attacked by Samson, was held by them during the times of Samuel, Saul, and David (1Samuel 6:17; 1Samuel 14:52; 2Samuel 21:15). Solomon (1Kings 4:24), and later on Hezekiah (2Kings 18:8), attacked it. It resisted Alexander the Great during a siege of five months, and was an important military position, the very key of the country, during the struggles between the Ptolemies and the Seleucidae, and in the wars of the Maccabees (1 Maccabees 11:61). Its name, it may be noted, meant the "strong." . . . Verse 26. - But an angel for and the angel, A.V.; the same is for which is, A.V. An angel. "The angel," as in A.V., is right, just as ὄνομα Κυρίου (Matthew 21:9; Matthew 23:39; Luke 19:38, etc.) and שֵׁם יְהוָה in Hebrew mean "the Name of the Lord," not "a Name" (see Acts 5:19; Acts 7:31, notes). The south, meaning that part of Judaea which was called "the south country ;" Hebrew הַנֶּגֶב (Genesis 20:1; Genesis 24:62; etc.). This is generally rendered in the LXX. by πρὸς λίβα or πρὸς νότον. But in 1 Samuel 20:41, in Symraachus, μεσηνβρία stands as the rendering of חַנֶּגֶב. As regards the words, the same is desert, it is observable that in Numbers 31:1 and Deuteronomy 34:3 ἔρημος is the LXX. rendering of חַנֶבֶם, and that part of the country is called "the wilderness of Judaea." The words of the angel, therefore, mean, not that Gaza is desert, nor that the read itself is desert, but that the country to which he was directing Philip's journey was part of that known as the desert; αὕτη does not refer to ὁδός or to Γάζα, but to χώρα, understood as contained in ἔρημος. The meaning of the whole sentence I take to be as follows: - "Take thy journey in [or, 'by'] the south [comp. Luke 15:14; Acts 5:15; Acts 11:1; Acts 13. lids far as [ἐπί, 'notans locum vel terminum ad quem' (Schleusner)] the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, where the country is desert." Philip was to proceed from Samaria along the south country till he came to where the Jerusalem road met his road. That district, he is reminded, was desert, part, i.e., or the desert of Judaea. The spot was probably selected for that very reason, as affording the privacy necessary for the eunuch to read in his chariot, and for Philip to join him and expound the Word of God to him. Chrysostom (followed by others) takes κατὰ μεσημβρίαν in the sense of "at noonday in the most violent heat," though he also renders it "southwards" (Hem., 19.).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Now
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

an angel
Ἄγγελος (Angelos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 32: From aggello; a messenger; especially an 'angel'; by implication, a pastor.

of [the] Lord
Κυρίου (Kyriou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2962: Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master.

said
ἐλάλησεν (elalēsen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2980: A prolonged form of an otherwise obsolete verb; to talk, i.e. Utter words.

to
πρὸς (pros)
Preposition
Strong's 4314: To, towards, with. A strengthened form of pro; a preposition of direction; forward to, i.e. Toward.

Philip,
Φίλιππον (Philippon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5376: From philos and hippos; fond of horses; Philippus, the name of four Israelites.

“Get up
Ἀνάστηθι (Anastēthi)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 450: To raise up, set up; I rise from among (the) dead; I arise, appear. From ana and histemi; to stand up.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

go
πορεύου (poreuou)
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4198: To travel, journey, go, die.

south
μεσημβρίαν (mesēmbrian)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3314: From mesos and hemera; midday; by implication, the south.

to
ἐπὶ (epi)
Preposition
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.

the
τὴν (tēn)
Article - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

desert
ἔρημος (erēmos)
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2048: Lonesome, i.e. waste.

road
ὁδὸν (hodon)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3598: A way, road, journey, path. Apparently a primary word; a road; by implication, a progress; figuratively, a mode or means.

that
τὴν (tēn)
Article - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

goes down
καταβαίνουσαν (katabainousan)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2597: To go down, come down, either from the sky or from higher land, descend. From kata and the base of basis; to descend.

from
ἀπὸ (apo)
Preposition
Strong's 575: From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.

Jerusalem
Ἰερουσαλὴμ (Ierousalēm)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 2419: Of Hebrew origin; Hierusalem, the capitol of Palestine.

to
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

Gaza.”
Γάζαν (Gazan)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1048: Gaza, an old town in the south of Palestine, on the sea-coast. Of Hebrew origin; Gazah, a place in Palestine.


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