The Eunuch Went On His Way, Rejoicing

You'll likely recall the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch[1] to Christianity, as recorded in Acts 8:26ff.

The Spirit of God had compelled the early Christian evangelist, Phillip, to go to a certain road toward Egypt, where he "happened" (*cough*) upon the eunuch, a high-ranking official, the Treasurer, in the Egyptian government. The eunuch was traveling home after worshiping in Jerusalem, as all Jewish men were expected to do.

What many of us in the 21st century fail to realize is that it was extremely rare for an individual to possess a copy of any portion of Scripture. The fact that the eunuch had a copy of the book of Isaiah testifies to his wealth, or more likely, power/prestige.

Also what many of us in the 21st century fail to realize is that for most of Scripture's history, the reading of Scripture has never been a private endeavor. The silent reading of Scripture, even among Today's Jews, is fairly well unknown. Instead, reading was always done aloud. You'll notice that the eunuch was reading aloud:

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. (Acts 8:30 HCSB)

Although the eunuch was almost certainly a Jew (albeit one not living in Judea, the homeland of the Jews), he was "cut off" from full participation in Jewish worship because his manhood had been "cut off":

No man whose [testicles] have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off may enter YHWH's assembly. (Duet 23:1)

So when Phillip joined the eunuch in the official's chariot, the eunuch was fully aware that he was both "less" of a man and less of a Jew than other "normal" men. They started studying the Bible at Isaiah 53:7-8.

Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning from that Scripture. (Acts 8:35 HCSB)

I find it interesting that just three chapters later in the book of Isaiah, 56:3ff, the eunuch and Phillip came across some very good news for the eunuch:

3 Let no foreigner who has bound himself to YHWH say,
"YHWH will surely exclude me from his people."
And let not any eunuch complain,
"I am only a dry tree."

4 For this is what YHWH says:
"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant-

5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.

This must have sounded good to the eunuch, who although a powerful official in Egyptian government was essentially a social outcast among his own people and his own God. No wonder that after immersion, making him a part of the new Kingdom, "he went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:39).

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1. Eunuchs were men who for one reason or another had part of all of their genitals removed, usually non-voluntarily. Many prisoners-of-war who were pressed into servant-hood were often made eunuchs (such as Daniel and his three friends (Dan 1:6, etc; although Daniel does not record such, it would have been standard practice for the Babylonians to do so, and was so prophesied in 2 Kings 20:16-18)), to help prevent them from being troublesome, the way "manly" men might be in such a position of slavery. The "surgery" was often crude and brutal, and very often resulted in death. Those eunuchs who survived the procedure often had the additional stigma of the stench of urine-soaked undergarments, as they had little control of their bladder functions afterward.