The Ethiopian Eunuch

The Ethiopian eunuch was the official of Queen Candace of Ethiopia, in charge of her treasury, and was baptized by the deacon Philip according to the account in the Acts of the Apostles. The Church honours him as a saint and as the first preacher of the faith among the Ethiopians. The Serbian Orthodox Church commemorates him on 4 January by the church calendar, and other traditions keep his memory on 17 June or 27 August.

The account in Acts

An angel sent Philip to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. There he met the official of the queen of the Ethiopians. "Candace" was the Meroitic title for queens, or perhaps for a woman of royal birth. The man had been to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home. Sitting in his chariot, he was reading from the prophet Isaiah.

Philip asked whether he understood what he was reading. The official answered that he could not without someone to guide him and asked Philip to explain the text. Philip told him the Gospel of Jesus, and the Ethiopian asked to be baptized. They both went down to some water. Tradition points to the Dhirweh spring near Halhul as the place of the baptism, while others name the Ein Hanya spring. Philip baptized him.

In some manuscripts and early translations verse 37 carries the confession, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." The best manuscripts do not have it. After the baptism the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the official went on his way rejoicing.

Tradition

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons writes in Against Heresies (around 180) that this man was sent into the regions of Ethiopia to preach what he himself had believed: that there is one God, announced by the prophets, and that His Son had appeared in human flesh. In the tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church he is called Bachos and is known as Simeon, also called the Black. He is regarded as a founding figure of that Church.

According to the Serbian tradition, after his baptism the eunuch returned home and began to preach Christ. He was the first apostle of the faith among the Ethiopians. The same tradition says he ended his life as a martyr and was found worthy of the Kingdom of God. In Russian tradition he is also called Djan Darada.