Lampstep · Passage reading exercise

What does Acts 8 actually tell us?

Read Acts 8:27–35 in your Bible. For each statement, choose Stated if the passage supplies it, Inferred if details support the interpretation, or Unanswered if you would need information outside these verses.

Read the six statements and answer guide
  1. The traveller was reading Isaiah when Philip approached. Verse 30 says Philip heard him reading Isaiah.
  2. The traveller was willing to learn from another person. In verse 31 he invites Philip to sit with him, and in verse 34 he asks a question. Those actions support this reading of his attitude.
  3. The traveller had discussed this passage with Philip on a previous journey. Verses 27–35 give no account of a previous meeting.
  4. The traveller asks whom the prophet is describing. In verse 34 he asks whether the prophet means himself or someone else.
  5. We know which language the traveller used to ask his question. The scene records the question without identifying the language spoken.
  6. Philip connects his explanation to the traveller’s immediate question. Verse 35 says Philip began with the passage and spoke about Jesus. The connection to the question is a reading of that sequence.

Try it on one more sentence

Choose a sentence in the same passage. Name the verse, say what you observe, then say what you think it suggests. If you cannot give a reason for your interpretation, turn it into an open question.