Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 8:34

"And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other?" — Acts 8:34 (ASV)

The Ethiopian, being open to instruction from a Jew, invites Philip into his carriage to explain Isa 53:7–8 to him. His problem, it seems, concerns the references to suffering and humiliation: “Who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Perhaps he had heard an official explanation of this passage at Jerusalem, but he still had questions about its meaning.

While in Judaism at this time the concept of God’s Servant carried messianic connotations in certain contexts and among certain groups, there is no evidence that anyone in pre-Christian Judaism ever thought of the Messiah in terms of a Suffering Servant. What rabbinic interpretations are available relate the suffering either to the nation Israel (53:2, 4, 10) or to the wicked Gentile nations (at 53:3, 7–9, 11). Though it is true that the certain Jewish elements were in the process of forming the concept of a suffering Messiah (such as at Qumran), a doctrine of a suffering Messiah was generally considered unthinkable.