Some equivalent of the transitional particle so is especially useful to point up the response of Philip to the immediately preceding command from the Lord.

The following sentence about the Ethiopian eunuch introduces another participant in the story. It is very important, therefore, to have some kind of transitional device to highlight the fact that another person is being introduced. In the Good News Translation this is done by the use of the conjunction now.

Although the word eunuch basically means “a man who has been emasculated,” the word is often used in the Old Testament as a synonym for a high political or military official; and the word translated important official (see New English Bible “high official”) indicates the importance of the position that he held in the court of Ethiopia. In some languages a literal equivalent of eunuch has such unfortunate connotations that in certain translations this type of reference has been omitted completely and simply an equivalent of “official” has been employed. This is perfectly acceptable within such a context, since there is no special reference to the physical condition of the official, only his position and prominence.

Jewish law forbade a eunuch to become a full convert to Judaism (see Deuteronomy 23.1); but hope was given to those eunuchs who obeyed the Law of the Sabbath day (Isaiah 56.3-8), and they were permitted to worship the God of the Jewish people. This eunuch had been to Jerusalem to worship God (perhaps it is too much to describe him as having been there “on a pilgrimage,” so New English Bible, though the identical expression in 24.11 may support this translation).

Candace (transliterated as Kandake in the New English Bible) is not the name of the queen but rather the title of the queens of Ethiopia, as Pharaoh was the title of the kings of Egypt. An equivalent of treasury may be “valuable possessions,” “the money of the kingdom,” or “the gold and silver which belonged to the queen.” An equivalent of Queen is in many languages simply “a woman ruler” or a “woman who ruled over the whole land.”

Carriage or “wagon” suits the context better than “chariot,” which suggests a two-wheeled cart used in war. As the eunuch rode along he was reading aloud, as was the custom in antiquity.

The expression the book of the prophet Isaiah must clearly indicate that this was “the book containing the words of the prophet Isaiah” or “the book written by the prophet Isaiah.” It is not “the book which belonged to Isaiah.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .