Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Acts 8:31

ἐάν. For an example of ἐάν with future indicative cf. Luke 11:12, ἐὰν αἰτήσει ὠόν.

ὁδηγήσει με, shall guide me. The eunuch living far away from the received expounders of the Scriptures, feels that in a dark passage like that which he was reading he has need of trained instruction. He uses therefore the word which is employed for the guidance given by teacher to pupil. Our Lord uses it (Matthew 15:14; Luke 6:39) reproachfully of the blind guidance which the scribes and Pharisees in His day were giving to the people who came to them for instruction. He uses the same word for the guidance of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13). The word is common in LXX. version of the Psalms. Cf. also Ecclesiastes 2:3 and Wis 9:11, ὁδηγήσει με … σωφρόνως καὶ φυλάξει με ἐν τῇ δοξῇ αὐτῆς, where divine wisdom is the guide spoken of. It was a marked feature in the teaching of the Jews that explanations of Scripture were passed on from generation to generation, and that only was highly valued by them which a man had received from his teachers. Such a system (unhappily not without its parallels in the history of the Christian Church) accounts for the permanence of all their traditions.

παρεκάλεσέν τε, and he besought. The verb implies a very earnest request, and betokens the great desire which the eunuch had for more enlightenment.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Acts 8:31

Old Testament

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