Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 8:30

"And Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?" — Acts 8:30 (ASV)

Having been directed to the desert road on the way to Gaza, Philip is again directed by the Spirit to the carriage that the Ethiopian minister of finance is traveling in. As Philip approaches, he hears the man reading aloud from Isaiah (the normal practice in the ancient world). So while running along beside the Ethiopian’s carriage, Philip asks, “Do you understand what you are reading?”