Acts 8:30-31
What is written? (ESV)
So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
What does it say?
Philip ran to him [Ethiopian Eunuch] and heard him reading from the prophet Isaiah and asked him if he understood it. The Ethiopian Eunuch admitted that he couldn't unless someone taught him and invited Philip to join him.
What is its immediate context?
A persecution of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 2-6) has begun following the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7). “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” (vs 4)
How Acts 8:30-31 is applied across Bible answers
Can we interpret Bible prophecy?
A God-fearing person is reading from the prophet Isaiah and requires a Holy Spirit-inspired person's help to understand what he is reading.
God sends someone in Philip that is himself "full of the Spirit and of wisdom" (6:3) and imparted miraculous spiritual gifts through the laying on of the apostles' hands (6:6, 8:13,18). This Holy Spirit-inspired person "opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus." (vs 35)
