Ethiopian ednuch

According to Ac 8" an Ethiopian eunuch, minister of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, shortly after the martyrdom of Stephen was met by the deacon PhUiii when returning from a religious journey to Jerusalem, and converted to Christianity, trora the authorities cited in the article ETHIOPIA Ave know that Gr. literature had spread to the kingdom of Meroe as early as the 3rd cent. B.C.

: there is therefore nothing improb- able in the LXX translation, which this Ethiopian was found reading, having penetrated thither by the same channels ; but whether he also belonged to the Jewish community cannot be made out with certainty. While his journey to Jerusalem ' to worship' (cf. the inscription quoted in ETHIOPIA) might imply it, his apparent unfamiliarity with OT (v.") and his physical condition render it improbable.

The word ' eunuch ' might indeed be regarded as a mistranslation for ' minister ' if there were any likelihood that this narrative was originally in Aramaic, since in some dialects of that language the same word signifies both j but the fact that the passage of Isaiah quoted (Is 53'- *) is given according to the LXX, takes away the ground from any such supposition. The notices of the Eth.

kingdom for this period failing us altogether, it is impossible to identify this personage from external sources ; but the historical character of the narrative seems to be acknowledged in most quarters. The confession of faith put into his mouth in v.'^ AV is now universally admitted to be an early interpolation. Assuming the Lucau authorship of the Acts, the source of the above narrative may have been personal information received from Philip (cf. Ac 21*). Like the baptism of Cornelius by St.

Peter, the case of the Ethiopian eunuch marked an important stage in the {question of the admission of the Gentiles to the Christian Church. Its bearing from this point of view will be dis- cussed in art. Philip (the evangelist). See also Cornelius. D. S. Makgoliouth.