Bible Strands
Acts 8:33
In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Philip explains the scroll to the Ethiopian eunuch while traveling on the desert road. The eunuch pauses after reading a prophetic passage and asks Philip to identify whether the speaker refers to himself or another person.
The words — The text emphasizes ταπεινὸς (tapeinōsei), meaning humiliation, and ἤρθη (ērthē), meaning was taken away. These terms directly state the figure's degradation and sudden removal from the earth.
The thread — This phrasing parallels Isaiah 53:8, which records the figure being cut off from the land of the living, and aligns with Philippians 2:8, which notes the same figure's obedience unto death.
Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to accept the literal claim that the figure's life was abruptly ended and his descendants cannot be numbered. It forces the reader to confront the text's explicit statement of unjust deprivation before moving to any theological application.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 53:12 Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
- Isaiah 53:8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and who can recount His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people.
- Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.
- Zechariah 13:7 Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.
- Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
- Job 27:2 “As surely as God lives, who has deprived me of justice—the Almighty, who has embittered my soul—
- Job 34:5 For Job has declared, ‘I am righteous, yet God has deprived me of justice.
- Psalms 22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death.
- Psalms 22:30 Posterity will serve Him; they will declare the Lord to a new generation.
- Isaiah 5:23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.