ACTS OF THE APOSTLES (Anchor Bible) (Paperback)

by Joseph A. Fitzmyer (Author) "1 In my first account, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning, until the day that he was taken..." (more)
Key Phrases: illicit marital unions, itinerary source, read sabbath after sabbath, Acts of the Apostles, Asia Minor, Jewish Christians (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
For anyone interested in the origins of Christianity, Joseph A. Fitzmyer's "The Acts of the Apostles" is indispensable. Beginning with the Ascension of Christ into heaven, and ending with Paul proclaiming the kingdom of God from a prison in Rome, this New Testament narrative picks up where the "Gospel of Luke" left off. "The Acts of the Apostles" is indeed a journey of nearly epic proportions - and one that requires a guide as adept as Fitzmyer.Since "Acts" was most likely written by the same person who composed the "Gospel of Luke", it is only fitting that the "Anchor Bible Commentaries" on these New Testament books should be written by the same author. With "The Acts of the Apostles", Fitzmyer gives readers the long-awaited companion to his two-volume commentary on the "Gospel of Luke".The Four Gospels recount the life and teachings of Jesus, but only the book of the "Acts of the Apostles" tells the story of what happened after Jesus' departure. In this second of St. Luke's two-volume work, he picks up with Jesus saying farewell to his followers; then Luke tells the fast-paced story of the birth and growth of the early church. This narrative reads like a major breaking news story, with the apostles Peter and Paul as the main characters.The interpretation of "Acts" requires a scholar of the highest quality. As he demonstrates in "The Acts of the Apostles", Joseph Fitzmyer not only is up to the task but establishes once again why he is ranked among the world's top biblical scholars. Far from being a rehash of old ideas and well-rehearsed theories, Fitzmyer's commentary distinguishes itself as the capstone of his career, with a new synthesis of all the relevant data from the Roman world to the present. He provides a thorough introduction to the background, text, and context of the book, as well as chapter-by-chapter notes and comments in which are offered insights and answers to questions that have long plagued preachers and parishioners, teachers and students. This commentary is destined to join Fitzmyer's "Anchor Bible" commentaries on the "Gospel According to Luke" and the "Epistle to the Romans" as the most authoritative commentary available on "Acts". --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Greek --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 864 pages
• Publisher: Anchor Bible (December 2, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385516797
• ISBN-13: 978-0385516792
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,046,874 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Sequel to Fitzmyer's commentary on Luke, February 13, 2008

By	B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Acts of the Apostles (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries) (Paperback)

`The Acts of the Apostles' in the Anchor Bible series, by distinguished Jesuit scholar, Joseph Fitzmyer, is one of the better commentaries on Acts I have read (with the understanding that I have certainly not seen all those done in the last 25 years, especially the very highly regarded one by Ben Witherington. Fitzmyer's volume has an advantage shared with several others, in that the same author has also done a commentary on the Gospel of Luke, written by the same ancient writer who wrote Acts.
I was quite surprised to discover that this work was but one volume long, since `Acts' is almost as long as the Gospel. The reason is as mundane as an editorial judgment by senior editors at Doubleday, the publisher of the Anchor Bible series. Oddly enough, the foreshortened perspective this forced on the author may actually have been a very good thing for non-professional readers. That is, pastoral and lay readers, who may be using the book as part of a Bible study series. Fitzmyer left out much discussion on the wide range of opinions on many issues which, for the non-scholarly user is largely a waste of time.
In spite of this loss, Fitzmyer still provides one of the most valuable resources, the detailed bibliographies after each pericope, giving sources of opinions in interpreting the text. Fitzmyer also includes several features which one does not find very often, and which are revealing, even if you do not read them in depth. The first is the complete text of his own translation of `Acts'. This is an excellent feature, as one suggestion all advisors on Bible reading agree on is that it is wise to read the entire book through before digging into the details of individual verses and pericopes. It is unusual for him to do this, as he did not do it in his two volume treatment of `Luke'.
A second valuable feature is Fitzmyer's survey of all the different sources of the original Greek texts. Few commentaries on `Acts' do this, and few commentaries on many books of the Bible do this. It is interesting to see this survey for at least one book, and Acts is more interesting than many, since there seem to be many more such sources than for, for example, the Synoptic Gospels.
I have used Fitzmyer's commentary on `Luke', and found it slightly less useful than some others, especially Joel Green's contribution to the NICNT series. In contrast, F. F. France's NICNT volume is also quite good, but not as deep as Green's, so Fitzmyer comes off (sans scholarly baggage) much more useful than his `Luke' volume. Fitzmyer's `Acts' (and everyone else's `Acts') may also benefit by the absence of the many comparisons between the three synoptic Gospels, which may be interesting for textual analysis, but is not too rewarding for those interested in culling the pastoral lessons from the text. The other side of the coin is that since `Acts' stands alone, it is much harder to get some sense of from where Luke's sources came. Much of this thinking seems pretty speculative. While Fitzmyer gives us a fair reading of current thought on this, he also wisely agrees that this is secondary to Luke's pastoral message. What is vexing is that we have only the barest sense of why this book was written. Why did no others write similar texts, just as there were four Gospels written. (Of course, I know of all the various apocryphal `Acts of' this, that and the other figure, but none carry the interest of the book which made it into the canon.
One of the few drawbacks of Fitzmyer's `Acts' is that it relies on your reading his `Luke' volumes, especially his long exposition on Luke's theology in Volume 1. This is fair, since the overwhelming consensus is that `Luke' and `Acts' are very much two volumes of a single cohesive work.
I would not go so far as to say this was the BEST 'Acts' commentary, as you may simply want the less scholarly offering by F. F. Bruce or the social orientation of Wetherington, but this is very good, especially for serious Bible study.

13 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent,,, August 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Acts of the Apostles (Anchor Bible) (Hardcover)

Fitzmyer, once again produces a herculian work for the serious New Testament student. His work invites one to grapple with the text in a mature fashion, once again, a well done accomplishment.