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The Acts of the Apostles : A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary

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Perhaps Witherington's best work, and one of the best commentaries on Acts to date.

There simply are no weaknesses in this commentary. It is well written and easy to read. It covers all of the issues you would expect, and more. It is up to date, engaging the most recent scholarship on Acts in an effective and informed manner. The organization is first rate and its special notes are consistently interesting and informative.

Witherington begins with over 100 pages of introduction that begins where most commentaries should--the issue of genre. Genre criticism is one of the underexplored areas of New Testament studies. Not so here. After exploring the prefaces in Luke and Acts, as well several categories of ancient historiography and examples of each, Witherington persuasively demonstrates that "Luke-Acts bears some strong resemblances to earlier Greek historiographic works in form and method of general arrangement of material, as well as some similarities to Hellenized Jewish historiography in content and genera apologetic aims." The introduction goes on to make a strong case for Lukan authorship and a date in the 70s or early 80s. Another feature of the introduction that is somewhat unusual is discussions of Acts and Pauline chronology. Though some may think this out of place, given the nature of Acts and its relationship with Paul's travels and letters, I enjoyed its content and placement.

The commentary on the text is excellent. Acts and Paul are Witherington's areas of speciality and it shows. He brings out the meaning of the text clearly and places it in its context. His analysis of ancient rhetoric -- something Witherington has pioneered in his commentaries -- is very helpful and delivers a better understanding of the intent of the author's text and purposes. Interspersed throughout the text are features titled, "A Closer Look." These sections delve deeper into issues raised by the main commentary, but are set apart and independently explored. I love them. They are topical, scholarly, and informative. I would have bought the commentary for these sections alone. The topics covered by "A Closer Look" are:

The Speeches in Acts
Luke's Use of the OT
Multiple Pentecosts
Salvation in Luke-Acts
Luke's Christology
The Summaries in Acts
Luke's Use of Sources in Acts
Lukan Eschatology
The Social Status and Level of the Early Christians
Miracles in Acts
Luke, Josephus, and Historical Reliability
The Hellenists
Synagogues?
Luke, Women, and Ministry
Gentile God-fearers--The Case of Cornelius
A Novel Approach to Acts
"The Way" and Other Religions: Competition and Conflict
The Paul of Acts and the Paul of the Letters
Of "We" Passages and Sea Passages
Altars to Unknown Gods
Claudius, Jews, and a Religio Licita
Miracles and Magic in Antiquity and Acts
"Paul's Departure"
The Pauline Perils: Travels and Travails in Antiquity
Paul and Lysias, Roman Citizens
Justice, Citizenship, and Appeals in the Provinces

Witherington concludes with two worthy Appendicies. The first examines reasons for dating Galatians as the earliest of Paul's letters. (Witherington is one of the leading proponents of this dating of Galatians). The second is an examination of Luke's view of salvation in its first century setting. Both are valuable additions to the commentary.

In short, no single commentary has ever added as much to my understanding of the New Testament book at issue as this one has for Acts. I highly recommend it.

This 850+ page book is a great introduction for the serious student of Acts. Witherington begins with a hundred pages of crucial background information covering traditional topics such as genre of Luke and Acts, authorship, date, audience, purpose, chronology, text, etc. He also shows the need for new literary criticism in Acts that looks specifically at Luke's use of rhetoric and the diverse social setting of the ancient world. He also includes an extensive bibliography of significant books and articles on Acts. Witherington's divisions of the text are orderly and easy to follow. He deals with the first chapter of Acts separately, then comments on Pentecost, the work in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, the Antioch church and its missionary efforts, the trials of Paul, and his subsequent journey to and imprisonment in Rome. Perhaps the most unique and helpful features are Witherington's "A Closer Look" sections. The commentary contains over 25 of these 4-8 page asides that deal with a specific topic in Luke-Acts scholarship mentioned in the text, but not eseential for reading Acts. You may want to read them all, but you will likely read some closely and skim over others. Another advantage of this work is that it is written from a very balanced position. Witherington believes that Acts is in some way inspired by God and treats it accordingly. But he is also a serious scholar and deals with problems related to the text or its interpretation. This commentary is not bedtime reading, but it's not impossible. Knowing Greek helps, but it is not necessary. Witherington is a good writer, and has produced a great volume of work in recent years. The book includes a great deal of information. You would have to buy several books and commentaries to cover this much ground in Acts.

If you are a student taking Acts or Luke-Acts in an undergrad or grad class, you really cannot afford to ignore this book. If you are teaching a bible class on Acts or Luke-Acts, this book is packed with goodies that will help you. If you are a pastor preaching through Acts or Luke-Acts this volume is surprisingly helpful. (that's what I am doing...preaching through Acts).

For example, Witherington gives a 35 page bibliography with all kinds of books and articles on Acts that give you more if you need or want it. In his 102 page introduction to Acts he deals with everything from the symmetrical balance of the book with Luke (well illustrated...and photos of those illustrations are really easy to find online), all the way to the hermeneutical application of Acts in contemporary theology.

His bibliography and introduction alone are probably worth the price of the book.

I have found in my limited research in Acts (I have only had an undergrad course in Acts and then done my own studies for sermon prep)...but I've found that Witherington adds helpful insight in his textual exegesis. I think so far I like Marshall and Witherington's stuff the best. I only wish Bock was done with his Acts BECNT...but it won't be on the market until I am done with my Acts series...such is life.

After I spent all my book money on Acts books, I had one regret. I wish I had purchased Witherington. I interlibrary loaned it instead. I did that because one time I borrowed a Witherington commentary on another book, and ended up not really using it much. But this one of his is far superior in my view. I don't know why, but I suppose another reviewer who said this is is best work may be correct? It's over 850 pages of well organized and very helpful material.

His stuff is fresh and carefully nuanced. I feel he complements Marshall's commentary well.

Here is his comment on part of Acts 1:8, which some believe references Rome in the phrase 'end of the earth'.

"...vs. 8 is seen as to a certain extent to be programmatic for Acts. Yet it is possible to see this verse as programmatic without identifying Rome with the ends of the earth, since Acts 28 is an intentionally open ended conclusion. It is programmatic in the sense that it alludes to a worldwide mission, and probably also to a mission to both jew and gentile in the Diaspora, not that it alludes to Rome."

This net effect is slightly different than Marshall's and in my view makes one pause and truly reflect. Acts 1:8 and it's meaning has been the subject of many dissertations...and I have to say that Witherington's perspective was fresh and perhaps somewhat convincing.

This also gives you a feel for how he handles most situations in the book. Although he did not interact in 1:8 on why he feels the 'end of the earth' cannot be Rome as much as I wanted(see Marshall for that)...he does give you his view and some support for why he likes it.

Overall I would encourage the use of his commentary as one of your top two or three on Acts. It's an A plus work in my view. I wish I owned a copy for myself. Buy this one if you have funds to work with!

Also worth noting is the fact that C.K. Barrett & Joel Green endorse this particular commentary!

Published in 1997, Ben Witherington's `The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary' is a comprehensive and erudite analysis of the Book of Acts. For those unfamiliar with the author, Witherington is a leading Contemporary New Testament scholar. The following comments are offered for readers who are considering a purchase of this text.

While I have mixed thoughts on this text, I am a fan of Witherington and have enjoyed other works of his such as the Jesus Quest. While Witherington is often described as an `evangelical' scholar, I would place his work with well within the mainstream of New Testament scholarship. In general, I have few qualms with Witherington's exegesis, and, the points of disagreement I do have are relatively modest. For instance, I think he understates the arguments for an earlier dating of Acts, and, I think his interpretation of scripture, is on occasion, overly influenced by the contemporary culture. On this latter point, in my opinion, Witherington, like other commentators, is sometimes guilty of overly interpreting scripture through the lens of contemporary Western socio-political views (e.g. individualism and private property), as in the case of the Ananias and Sapphria incident. These comments aside, Witherington has rightfully come to be recognized as a leading New Testament scholar.

My primary criticisms are in the areas of structure and presentation - that is, the author/publisher attempts to put too much material into the text. First, physical size, the field of New Testament studies has seen a proliferation of massive tomes, 600, 700, 800 and more pages in length (see some works by Wright and Brown). At almost 900 pages the current work is difficult to use, heavy and thick it is awkward to hold while sitting, and, in soft cover form it does not lend itself to easy use at a desk. Second, and related to the previous point, the commentary includes numerous multi-page capsules (asides from the primary discussion). And, while these digressions are interesting they make a long commentary too long. Third, the text of Acts is not included, which can cause the reader to needlessly go back and forth between texts. In my opinion the present material would be much more manageable as a 2-volume set, and, as such would likely find a larger readership.

Overall, Witherington is a first-rate scholar and his work deserves a broad audience. In its current form, however, this text is likely to be of interest to only a select group of readers. As a side note, both Reformed Theological Seminary and Covenant Theological Seminary have free audio lectures on the Book of Acts from a similar evangelical perspective available through itunes u.

As a pastor, I am privy to many commentaries and sources of information. I have found Withterington's commentary on Acts to be the best.

Witherington does the job every good interpreter should do: he asks, "How would the original audience have understood what was written?" His strength is his extensive understanding of the culture and era in which Acts was penned.

Witherington takes an evangelical perspective and interacts (in the footnotes--where interaction belongs) with liberal or alternative viewpoints.

Straightforward, thorough, scholarly, addresses the questions that arise -- a great job indeed. His "closer look" articles (for example, "Multiple Pentecosts") address topics or controversies that arise from Acts and are often interesting and relevant.

Few of us would probably agree with Witherington on every point, but it doesn't get much better than this.

This is very detailed for a person without a vast seminary education but it is a very readable book. The "closer look" sections are filled with information that makes certain issues in Acts much more understandable. Just an excellent book.

`The Acts of the Apostles, A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary' by the distinguished and prolific professor, Ben Witherington III may be one of the most readable Bible commentaries I have found. For that and several other reasons, it may be the very best commentary for any reader who approaches the Christian scriptures as literature rather than as Gospel.
The author's subtitle emphasizes the fact that unlike so many other commentaries, such as the superior volumes from Luke Timothy Johnson (Sacra Pagina series) and Joseph Fitzmyer (Anchor Bible series) as well as Pastoral aids such as the Robert W. Wall contribution on `Acts' in `The New Interpreter's Bible', this volume is far less dedicated to linguistic studies or theological interpretation. One symptom of this emphasis is that the book does NOT include either the author's own translation of the text, or anyone else's translation. You need a copy of the Bible open to `Acts' as you read Witheringtons book. This is especially true since much of Witheringtons text is a verse by verse commentary on the text. But, unlike Johnson, Fitzmyer, and others, the text flows in one continuous narrative rather than being broken up into different sections on `interpretation', `exegesis', and `commentary'. The other side of the coin is that unlike Robert Tannehill's widely quoted `The Narrative Unity of Luke - Acts', Witherington deals with the text from beginning to end, rather than dealing with topics, with common material taken from different parts of the text, making it a difficult resource when one is studying the text chapter by chapter.
In addition to these organizational aspects, Witherington's text is simply better written than many commentaries, and therefore, it yields its insights far more readily than those texts weighed down with references to every scholarly work on `Acts' since Eusebius. That is not to say there are no scholarly references. It's just that Witherington integrates them into his writing in a far smoother manner.
It also helps in that Witherington is dealing with his subject's (Luke) writing style and social and historical context. This adds to the interest to a lay reader. To highlight this emphasis, Witherington often digresses into historical asides to aid in understanding the context. Witherington also discusses certain aspects in depth that other commentators may ignore or pass over with the briefest comment. One example is the occurrence of the `we' passages which pop up in parts of the narration of Paul's missionary journeys. These have no theological or linguistic significance, but they are fascinating evidence for the fact that either author Luke accompanied Paul on some of his trips or Luke was copying material verbatim from another travel companion's journals.
Overall, Witherington's works are a real breath of fresh air when compared to many other Biblical commentary writers. I have seen other commentaries on `Acts' and some Hebrew scriptures which are simply one scholarly reference piled upon the next, making them unreadable except to someone doing a dissertation on the subject.
Witherington does not ignore comments on Luke's Greek, but his reflections seem to have more substance than most. The problem is that one needs a second volume to see the Greek in context. One is best served by having an interlinear text open as you read Witherington's linguistic comments.
If you are doing a Lay Bible study of `Acts', Witherington's book should really be one of your sources, but you should supplement it with Johnson, Fitzmyer, or F. F. Bruce's `The Book of the Acts'.

From the point of view of a professor of Bible, this is a great commentary. Witherington's discussion fo the genre of first century history is remarkably helpful. I have followed up on his secondary and primary research, and it seems sound. His control of the primary literature is remarkable. After twenty years of teaching, it is the first book taht gave me a big picture by which to understand the book of Acts.

This has to be as complete as a commentary can get. Witherington's translational based socio-rhetorical dissection to understand the intent of meaning is convincing and thought provoking. His use of extensive 1st century Jewish, historical, pagan, and biographical sources contemporary to Luke to squeeze every drop of meaning from Scripture is gifted.

I'm dumbstruck to know how any one person or team could compile and matrix so much knowledge. I know of no better material to enable a state of the art understanding of the mechanics of the incredible and incomprehensible Christian emergence into 1st century society, and the miracle that it can be studied today at the fidelity Witherington amplifies. Witherington may be debated in academic circles but it is hard to imagine how effectively a material criticism could be mounted. I'd be interested in other reader comments in this regard.

This is a monster read and worth it.

You don't know "Acts" until you've read through it with Witherington. Money well spent. The best of the wonderful, newer commentaries quote this book--extensively. That's a reminder that you need to read this one.