The interpretation timeline

Acts 8:39

How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.

From the early Church Fathers to now.

4 Patristic · 1 Orthodox

Acts 8:39 · Douay-Rheims
“And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing.”
Patristic before A.D. 750
407
A.D.
John Chrysostom Patristic
A.D. 347–407
“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. But why did the Spirit of the Lord bear him away? Hereby the occurrence was shown to be more wonderful. Even then, the eunuch did not know him. Consequently this was done, that Philip might afterwards be a subject of wonder to him. For, it says, he went on his way rejoicing.”
Source
407
A.D.
John Chrysostom Patristic
A.D. 347–407
“It was well and expedient therefore that the Spirit caught Philip away; else the eunuch would have desired to go with him, and Philip would have grieved him by declining to comply with his request, the time being not yet come. So that had he known him, he would not have been so delighted.”
328 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
735
A.D.
Bede Patristic
A.D. 673–735
“The Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. There are some who testify that an angel did this in the Holy Spirit, as Jerome reports.”
391 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500
1126
A.D.
Theophylact of Ohrid Orthodox
c. 1055–1107
“"An Angel of the Lord caught Philip away." An Angel takes him, thereby adding greater wonderousness to what had happened, and at the same time bringing joy to Philip as well, that he was deemed worthy of the same things as the prophets, such as Habakkuk. It was good that he was taken from the eunuch, because the eunuch would have asked Philip to go with him, and Philip would have grieved him if he had refused due to the demands of circumstances.”
Source
Undated date unknown
Oecumenius Patristic
c. A.D. 550
“The Spirit seized Philip, for though the eunuch had indeed wished to converse, Philip, refusing and denying because it was not yet time, nevertheless would have grieved him. Philip himself also gained very much profit, seeing that what he had heard in Ezekiel and Habakkuk was fulfilled in him. [CHRYSOSTOM]”
Modern · 1953 →

The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.