Acts Chapter 8 verse 5 Holy Bible
And Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed unto them the Christ.
read chapter 8 in ASV
And Philip went down to Samaria and was teaching them about Christ.
read chapter 8 in BBE
And Philip, going down to a city of Samaria, preached the Christ to them;
read chapter 8 in DARBY
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
read chapter 8 in KJV
read chapter 8 in WBT
Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ.
read chapter 8 in WEB
And Philip having gone down to a city of Samaria, was preaching to them the Christ,
read chapter 8 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 5. - And for then, A.V. ; proclaimed unto them the Christ for preached Christ unto them, A.V. Philip; the deacon and evangelist (Acts 6:7; Acts 21:8), not the apostle. As regards Samaria, it is always used in the New Testament of the country, not of the city, which at this time was called Sebaste, from Σεβαστός, i.e. Augustus Caesar (see Acts 25:21, 26, etc.; John 4:5; and Josephus, 'Ant. Jud.,' 15. 7:9). Whether, therefore, we read with the T.R. πόλιν, or with the R.T. τὴν πόλιν, we must understand Samaria to mean the country, and probably the city to be the capital, Sebaste. Alford, however, with many others, thinks that Sychem is meant, as in John 4:5.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(5) Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria.--More accurately, "a city." The sequence of events implies that it was not the Apostle, but his namesake who had been chosen as one of the Seven. As having been conspicuous in the work of "preaching the glad tidings of Christ," he was afterwards known as Philip the Evangelist (Acts 21:8). It was natural enough that the identity of name should lead writers who were imperfectly informed to confuse the two, as Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, seems to have done in the passage quoted by Eusebius (Hist. iii. 31). The "city of Samaria" is described in precisely the same terms as in John 4:5, where it is identified with Sychar, the Sichem of the Old Testament. (See Note on John 4:5.) "Samaria," throughout the New Testament (as, e.g., in Acts 9:31; Luke 17:11; John 4:4-5), is used for the province, and not for the city to which it had been attached in earlier times. This had been new-named Sebaste (the Greek equivalent of Augusta) by Herod the Great in honour of the Emperor, and this had more or less superseded the old name (Jos. Ant. xv. 8, ? 5). Assuming the identity with Sychar, the narrative of John 4 suggests at once the reason that probably determined Philip's choice. The seed had already been sown, and the fields were white for harvest (John 4:35). Possibly, as suggested above (Note on Acts 7:16), there may have been some previous connection with the district. Some of that city had already accepted Jesus as the Christ. . . .
