And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw ° a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.

Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.

Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode ° both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.

And the saying pleased ° the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

8:39 out of the water. It is obvious that the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch took place in either a river or a pool. He and Philip first “went down both” into the water (Acts 8:38), and then came “up out of the water.” Any other interpretation than immersion would seem forced and unnatural. There would be no need to go down into a pool for any other reason.

8:37 If thou believest. This response that Philip gave to the Ethiopian clearly shows that baptism is to be preceded by saving faith in Christ. This truth is also evident from many other Scriptures, but the authenticity of this particular verse has been questioned because of its omission from a number of ancient manuscripts. Either the verse was carelessly omitted by the earliest copyists of the book of Acts, or else some ancient scribe deliberately inserted it, with the error in either case being perpetuated thereby into many later copies. Either could be a possibility, although the latter alternative would seem less probable. In either case, there is no doubt that Philip would have expected a profession of faith from the Ethiopian before he baptized him.

8:40 Caesarea. Evidently Philip continued preaching in all the coastal cities until he settled down in Caesarea. Twenty years later, Philip is mentioned as residing at Caesarea with his four daughters (Acts 21:8-9).

10:1 man in Caesarea. It had been in Caesarea that Pontius Pilate had his palace, and also in Caesarea that Philip the evangelist had settled down. Cornelius undoubtedly was aware of Pilate’s role in the execution of Jesus. Whether he had met Philip or heard him preach is unknown. In any case, he was a worshipper of the true God and was open to Peter’s message when he came.

21:9 four daughters. Philip the evangelist was last mentioned in the book of Acts as going to Caesarea (Acts 8:40), about twenty years previously. There he apparently settled, raising a godly Christian family. His four daughters had been entrusted with the gift of prophecy (note I Corinthians 14:1-4). According to early church historians, they lived long and fruitful lives in Christ’s service.

6:5 Philip. Philip, like Stephen, was a powerful evangelist (Acts 8:5-8, 26-40). The same was probably true, according to tradition at least, of the other five as well. It may be significant that all seven had Hellenistic names, suggesting the church was very sensitive to the charge recorded in Acts 6:1.

8:39 caught away Philip. This was evidently a unique miracle, God somehow translating Philip rapidly from Gaza to Azotus (same as the ancient Ashdod), twenty miles to the north along the Mediterranean coast. For reference to similar miraculous translations in space, see I Kings 18:12, II Kings 2:16; Ezekiel 3:14; 8:3. A far greater translation will take place when Christ comes again (I Thessalonians 4:16,17).