Philip the Evangelist
One of the seven men chosen with Stephen in Jerusalem. He preached in Samaria, baptised an Ethiopian official on the road to Gaza, and later lived at Caesarea with four daughters who prophesied.
Philip is named second, after Stephen, among the seven men chosen to serve the Jerusalem church (Acts 6:5). He is a different man from Philip, one of the twelve apostles (Acts 1:13): Acts says that the apostles stayed in Jerusalem when the others were scattered, and that they sent Peter and John to follow up Philip’s work (Acts 8:1, 14). He preached in Samaria and baptised an Ethiopian court official on the road to Gaza (Acts 8:5–40); see the Gospel Reaches Samaria and an Ethiopian Official.
Later in Acts Paul and his companions stayed at his house in Caesarea Maritima. Acts there calls him “Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven”, and says that he had four unmarried daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:8–9).
In the timeline
- about AD 34, estimated dateThe Gospel Reaches Samaria and an Ethiopian Official
Acts tells how Philip, driven from Jerusalem by persecution, preaches in Samaria, where Peter and John follow him, and then baptises an official of the Ethiopian queen on the road to Gaza. In Acts the message here first passes beyond Judea.