Philip and his daughters

Acts 21:8-10 in Cæsarea

Verse 8: The next stop was in Cæsarea, about 30 miles further south. Here they are hosted in the house of Philip the evangelist. “which was one of the seven” Not Philip the apostle. See Acts 6:5, where Philip was one of seven men “of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom” that the church appointed over the business of ministering to the widows in the church at Jerusalem. This same Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached there (Acts 8:5-25). Following the message from an angel, Philip went down toward Gaza, witnessed to and baptized the eunuch of Ethiopia (Acts 8:26-38). After this Philip was at Azotus and passed through preaching in other cities of the coastal plain until he came to the city of Cæsarea (Acts 8:39-40). He seems to have then settled down here as his place of operation, where he is living with his family when Paul and company arrive. Philip was a disciple on the move at the time of “the persecution that arose about Stephen.” Compare Acts 8:3-5: “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.”

Verses 9-10: Philip’s family included four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy (“did prophesy”). Cf. Acts 2:17 and I Corinthians 11:5. Whether they prophesied anything concerning Paul’s trip to Jerusalem, we are not told, and another prophet brings a specific message to the apostle.[1]

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[1] It was the opinion of many of our older brethren that this conduct was a matter of propriety in not usurping the authority over a man. This may well explain why Agabus specifically is sent with the message concerning Paul’s fate at Jerusalem. “Philip had four daughters who were prophetesses. Paul was abiding at Philip’s house at Caesarea ‘many days.’ While there God sent to him a prophet named Agabus…Now why did God send a man all the way from [Judaea] to tell Paul that, when he was staying in the home of man who had four daughters who were prophetesses?” (H. Boyce Taylor, “Women Speaking in Mixed Assemblies,” in Feminism: Woman and Her Work, John William Porter, editor, p. 142) This view has not been altogether abandoned. For example, “...since it is expressly forbidden for women to teach, speak, or have authority over the men in the assembly (1 Cor. 14:34,35; 1 Tim. 2:11,12), it can only be concluded that the prophetic ministry of these four virgin daughters was carried on in the home or in other non-church gatherings.” (William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, 1995, p. 1650).