Introduced in chapter 6 as one of the seven, Philip becomes the first to bring the gospel to the region of Samaria (8:5–25). In Greek, verse 5 should be translated as “the city of Samaria.” The fact that the city of Samaria no longer exists in the time of Philip can explain the omission of the definite article (“the”) in some manuscripts, thus allowing modern translators to render the phrase as “a city in Samaria” (NIV). Nevertheless, the external supp…