Was Philip transported miraculously after the Ethiopian was baptized?
After Philip baptized the Ethiopian treasurer, “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea” (Acts 8:39-40NIV). Was Philip miraculously transported to Azotus, a town that may have been 30 km away? Luke, the author of Acts, would have heard about this event directly from Philip as he stayed with him in Caesarea (Acts 21:8-9).
What happened to Philip is described by the Greek word harpazo (Strongs #726), which is translated above as “suddenly took”. The other occasion this word is used by Luke is when Paul was in Jerusalem and the Jews accused him of speaking against their religion: “The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks” (Acts 23:10). Here harpazo is translated “take by force”. In both cases someone is suddenly moved away from where they were – it is as though someone has seized them. In the second case it was via means of the troops and in the first case it was via means of the Holy Spirit.
In this brief account we are told that Philip left the Ethiopian suddenly after the baptism at the direction of the Holy Spirit. The Bible does not comment on how Philip got to Azotus or when he got there (Acts 8:40). There is no clear evidence in the text that any other miracle was involved and such a miracle is not necessary to explain what happened. For example, Philip could have been shown that he had to leave the Ethiopian immediately and then travelled by the normal means of transport to Azotus. After all, that’s what happened when Paul was directed by the Holy Spirit to travel to Macedonia instead of to Asia and Bithynia (Acts 16:6-10). In Paul’s case, they “got ready at once to leave for Macedonia”.
An “angel of the Lord” told Philip to go south to the road to Gaza (Acts 8:26). The Bible does not comment on how Philip got to this road or when he got there. But no one assumes that it was by miraculous means. So when “the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away” it was not necessarily by miraculous means (Acts 8:39).
Philip’s sudden departure meant that the Ethiopian was unable to thank or reward Philip for his help. Instead of being occupied with the person God used to assist in his conversion, he was occupied with Christ as “he went on his way rejoicing”, which is much more important than Philip’s mode of travel.
What do other commentators say about Philip’s transport to Azotus?
Appendix A: It wasn’t miraculous
Barnes says, “the Spirit had suggested to Philip to go to meet the eunuch, and the same Spirit, now that he had fulfilled the design of his going there, directed his departure”. “It is not wise to suppose the existence of a miracle except where the effect cannot otherwise be accounted for, and except where there is a plain statement that there was a miracle”.
Clarke says, “Perhaps this means no more than that the Holy Spirit suggested to the mind of Philip that he should withdraw abruptly from the eunuch, and thus leave him to pursue his journey, reflecting on the important incidents which had taken place”.
When Jesus was revealed to the disciples that travelled to Emmaus, He “disappeared from their sight” (Lk. 24:31). This means that he vanished (“aphantos”, Strongs #855). Two other Greek words are used in the New Testament to describe vanishing. “Aphanismos” (Strongs #854) – the old covenant was going to vanish (Heb. 8:13). “Aphanizó” (Strongs #853) – life is brief; like a mist which vanishes (Jas. 4:14). As none of these Greek words that describe vanishing is used in Acts 8:39, what happened to Philip wasn’t similar to what happened to Jesus in Lk. 24:31.
Appendix B: It was miraculous
According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, the Greek word harpazo (Strongs #726) is “used of divine power transferring a person marvellously and swiftly from one place to another, to snatch or catch away” in 2 Cor. 12:2, 4; 1 Th. 4:17; and Rev. 12:5. These all involve translation of the soul/spirit to heaven. The lexion includes Acts 8:39 in this list, but no reason is given for this. But Acts 8:39 doesn’t involve translation to heaven and it was written by Luke and not Paul or John.
William MacDonald says, “This suggests more than mere guidance to another location. Rather, it speaks of miraculous and sudden removal”. This is a tentative statement.
When Jesus boarded the boat after He walked on water, “immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading” (Jn. 6:21). It has been suggested that this is similar to what happened to Philip. But Jesus wasn’t present in the case of Philip and no other apostle had a similar experience (Paul’s vision in 2 Cor. 12:2, 4 didn’t involve his body).
Elijah was transported to hades without dying (2 Ki. 2:11, 16). It has been suggested that this is similar to what happened to Philip. But Elijah’s case didn’t involve transport of the body (only the soul/spirit goes to hades).
Ezekiel was transported (Ezek. 3:12, 14; 8:3; 1:1, 24; 43:5). But Ellicott says that this was a spiritual rather than a bodily transport.
Written, June 2012; edited June 2024
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