Now, the Septuagint being reference to is a formal Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible that was probably completed in the 3rd or 4th Century AD (although it began in the 3rd or 2nd Century BC), so it’s not the actual text used by the eunuch however, the eunuch is still using a Greek translation of the Hebrew, which is what the Septuagint is. The difference is because the reading you have in Isaiah 53:8 is from the Hebrew, but the reading you have in Acts 8:33 is from the Greek Septuagint. You’ll quickly notice that a good number of the words are different. This can be easily seen by comparing verse 33 in the citation in Acts 8 with Isaiah 53:8. The Ethiopian eunuch was reading from Isaiah 53, but the words he was reading were a translation of the original Hebrew into Greek. What’s up with that? Why the pointer to the Septuagint? The other section of the footnote has to do with the translation of Isaiah 53 that is referenced-the Septuagint. The New Testament does this all the time and it’s nice to be able to see the quotations for what they are and where they come from. This footnote (at least in the NIV2011) says: “Isaiah 53:7, 8 (see Septuagint).” The footnote is there to indicate that these two verses in Acts 8:32-33 are actually a quotation of Isaiah 53:7-8. Perhaps you have noticed, in reading this passage before, a footnote at the end of the Isaiah 53:7-8 citation (provided the Bible you use has footnotes).

He loves to save people who know nothing of him.Īnother wonderful aspect of this story has less to do with the actual story and more to do with how one particular detail of the story sheds light into our relationship and trust with English translations of the Bible.

God did this and still does this all the time. The story of the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip is a wonderful story of God’s mercy and grace in working through individual people to give the gift of salvation to someone who previously knew nothing about Jesus. The eunuch believed and was baptized and then Philip was “taken away” from the eunuch and the eunuch went on his way rejoicing (vv. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.įor his life was taken from the earth.” (Acts 8:32-33, NIV) “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,Īnd as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So, Philip took the passage the eunuch was reading (Isaiah 53:7-8) and explained to him the good news about Jesus (vv. The eunuch said he couldn’t unless someone explained it to him (v. 28), so Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading (v. As Philip ran to the chariot, he heard the eunuch reading from Isaiah (v.

The Holy Spirit told Philip to go to the chariot and stand near it (v. On his way to the road he met an Ethiopian eunuch who was in his chariot.

In Acts 8 Philip is told by an angel of the Lord to go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza (v. This version incorporates a few minor changes or corrections to the 1962 Amharic text of the New Testament, but the text of the Old Testament and Deuterocanon are identical to those previously published under Haile Selassie I.What in the world could the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip have to do with English Bibles? The 81 book Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Bible, including the deuterocanonicals, 46 books of the Old Testament and 35 books of the New Testament, was published in 1986. The five narrow canon Ethiopian deuterocanonical books comprise 1 Enoch (Henok different from the standard editions of Ge'ez manuscripts A~Q by foreign academics), Jubilees (Ge'ez: Mets'hafe Kufale) and I, II, and III Meqabyan (substantially different from I, II, and III Maccabees) those held canonical in common with Protestant and Catholic Christians), as the 5 narrow canon deuterocanonical books were published separately. It included the 66 books of the protocanon (i.e. AD 1962 in the Gregorian Calendar), and states that it was translated by the Bible Committee he convened between AD 19, 'realizing that there ought to be a revision from the original Hebrew and Greek of the existing translation of the Bible'. The preface by Emperor Haile Selassie I is dated '1955' (E.C.), and the 31st year of his reign (i.e. In 1962, a new Amharic translation from Ge'ez was printed, again with the patronage of the Emperor. Although Christianity became the state religion of Ethiopia in the 4th century, and the Bible was first translated into Ge'ez at about that time, only in the last two centuries have there appeared translations of the Bible into Amharic.

Ethiopian bible in english