Philip came because God sent him. The angel told him to go south, and the Spirit said, "Go near, and join thyself to this chariot" (Acts 8:26, 29). Barnes sees in Philip's running "his haste, and his desire to obey the suggestions of the Spirit." When Philip heard the man reading Isaiah, he opened with a question instead of a sermon. Gill notes the man "read it out, with a clear and distinct voice, so that Philip could hear him," and that Philip's question meant "not the language, but the sense." The question respected the man and gave him room to say what he needed.

The man answered honestly: "How can I, except some man should guide me?" and "he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him" (Acts 8:31). He then asked whom the prophet was speaking about (Acts 8:34). "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus" (Acts 8:35). Philip's simple question opened the way for the gospel.

In Greek, Philip's question has a play on words: "ginoskeis ha anaginoskeis," "do you know what you are reading?" The verb for reading, anaginosko, is built on the verb for knowing, ginosko. The man was "of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians" and "had come to Jerusalem for to worship" (Acts 8:27). Barnes takes this to show he was a Jew or at least a Jewish proselyte (a Gentile convert to Judaism), and notes it was customary for Jews in foreign lands to attend the great feasts at Jerusalem. Barnes also says he was "doubtless" reading the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Gill thinks it "very likely" he was reading Isaiah in Hebrew. "Esaias" is the Greek form of Isaiah's name.

The surrounding story shows God going after one seeking man. An angel directs Philip to a desert road, and Philip arrives just as the man is reading, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter" (Acts 8:26-29, 32). Matthew Henry observes, "Sometimes God opens a door of opportunity to his ministers in very unlikely places."

Philip had just seen a great work in Samaria (Acts 8:5-8), yet God sent him away from the crowds to one traveler. Philip's question shows the way God's servants can join what God is already doing: listen first, then ask, then point to Jesus (Acts 8:35).