Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 8:5

"And Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed unto them the Christ." — Acts 8:5 (ASV)

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria.—More accurately, “a city.” The sequence of events implies that it was not the Apostle, but his namesake who had been chosen as one of the Seven. Because he was conspicuous in the work of “preaching the glad tidings of Christ,” he was afterwards known as Philip the Evangelist (Acts 21:8).

It was natural enough that the identity of name would lead writers who were imperfectly informed to confuse the two, as Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, seems to have done in the passage quoted by Eusebius (History 3.31).

The “city of Samaria” is described in precisely the same terms as in John 4:5, where it is identified with Sychar, the Sichem of the Old Testament. (See Note on John 4:5.) “Samaria,” throughout the New Testament (for example, in Acts 9:31; Luke 17:11; John 4:4–5), is used for the province, and not for the city to which it had been attached in earlier times. This had been renamed Sebaste (the Greek equivalent of Augusta) by Herod the Great in honor of the Emperor, and this name had more or less superseded the old one (Josephus, Antiquities 15.8.5).

Assuming its identity with Sychar, the narrative in John 4 at once suggests the reason that probably determined Philip’s choice. The seed had already been sown, and the fields were white for harvest (John 4:35). Possibly, as suggested above , there may have been some previous connection with the district, as some in that city had already accepted Jesus as the Christ.

Preached Christ.—The verb is not the same as in Acts 8:4, and is the word used for “preaching” or “proclaiming.” The tense implies continued action, extending, perhaps, over weeks or months. We find in John 4:25 that the expectation of the Messiah was as strong among the Samaritans as among the Jews. Philip’s work, therefore, was to proclaim that the long-expected One had come, and that the Resurrection was the crowning proof that He was the Christ, the Son of God. The readiness with which the proclamation was accepted shows that despite the adverse influence that had come into play since our Lord had taught there, the work done at that time had not been in vain.

Hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.—Better, the signs, as this is closer, here as elsewhere, to the force of the Greek. It is remarkable that they had believed in the first instance without any other sign than the person and the teaching of the Lord Jesus. Miracles came, not as the foundation, but for the strengthening of their faith; perhaps also as a corrective to the adverse influence about which we are soon to hear.