Acts 8:30

30 And Philip ranne to him and hearde him rede ye prophet Esayas and sayde: Vnderstondest thou what thou redest?

Acts 8:30 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 8:30

And Philip ran thither to him
Being very ready to obey the divine order, and hoping he might be an instrument of doing some good, which might issue in the glory of God, and the welfare of men:

and heard him read the prophet Esaias;
that is, "the Book of Isaiah the Prophet"; as before; and so the Ethiopic and Arabic versions read here, as there: he read it out, with a clear and distinct voice, so that Philip could hear him; and this he did, partly through reverence to the word of God, and partly to fix his attention to it the more, that he might the better understand and remember it, and also for delight and pleasure: it is very likely, that it was the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew tongue in which he was reading, and which language he might understand, though he might be at a loss about the sense of the prophet:

and said, understandest thou what thou readest?
meaning not the language, but the sense; for overhearing him, he perceived it was a prophecy in Isaiah he was reading; which was not so easy to be understood as laws and precepts are, which command this, and forbid that; whereas prophecies were more abstruse, and regarded things to come.

Acts 8:30 In-Context

28 And as he returned home agayne sittynge in his charet he rede Esay ye prophet

29 Then ye sprete sayde vnto Phillip: Goo neare and ioyne thy selfe to yonder charet.

30 And Philip ranne to him and hearde him rede ye prophet Esayas and sayde: Vnderstondest thou what thou redest?

31 And he sayd: how can I except I had a gyde? And he desyred Philip that he wold come vp and sit wt him.

32 The tenoure of ye scripture which he redde was this. He was ledde as a shepe to be slayne: and lyke a lambe dome before his sherer so opened he not his mouth.