8:39 out of the water. It is obvious that the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch took place in either a river or a pool. He and Philip first “went down both” into the water (Acts 8:38), and then came “up out of the water.” Any other interpretation than immersion would seem forced and unnatural. There would be no need to go down into a pool for any other reason.

8:39 caught away Philip. This was evidently a unique miracle, God somehow translating Philip rapidly from Gaza to Azotus (same as the ancient Ashdod), twenty miles to the north along the Mediterranean coast. For reference to similar miraculous translations in space, see I Kings 18:12, II Kings 2:16; Ezekiel 3:14; 8:3. A far greater translation will take place when Christ comes again (I Thessalonians 4:16,17).