And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip. To deny the supernatural character of this removal of Philip (as Olshausen, Meyer, Bloomfield, Hackett, and others do) is vain. It stands out on the face of the expressions, "caught away" х harpasen (G726)], "saw him no more" х eiden (G1492) auton (G846) ouketi (G3765)], "was found" х heurethee (G2147)]. In fact, on comparing what is here said of the eunuch with what we read of Elijah (1 Kings 18:12; 2 Kings 2:16), it will be seen to be but a repetition of the Lord's method with the ancient prophets on important occasions. (So Bengel, Alford, Lechler, and the great majority of interpretors.) The word, to "catch away" х harpazoo (G726)], is used (as Bengel notes) to express a similarly supernatural removal, in 2 Corinthians 12:2, and 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
And he went on his way rejoicing. He had found Christ, and the key to the Scriptures; his soul was set free, and his discipleship sealed; he had lost his teacher, but gained what was infinitely better; he felt himself a new man, and "his joy was full." Tradition says he was the first preacher of the Gospel in Ethiopia; and how, indeed, could he choose but "tell what the Lord had done for his soul"? Yet there is no certainty as to any historical connection between his labours and the introduction of Christianity into that country.