JSNT  32.

5 (2010): 53-64 © The Author(s) 2010

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DOI: 10.1177/0142064X10371575

7. Luke–Acts

Acts
Mikeal C. Parsons
Paideia; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008, 978-0-8010-3188-5, $27.99, xxv + 438 pb
Parsons offers a reading of Acts shaped by his earlier publications in this area.
Twenty pages of Introduction, 22 of bibliography (pp. 371-93), and 43 of indexes
enclose his substantial, four-part commentary (347 pages) aimed principally at
students. Parsons encourages reading Acts as narrative by tracing its flow, also
mapped by marginal boxes, and as theological narrative by reflecting at section
ends on theological issues; he also offers many information boxes, particularly on
rhetorical features characterizing Luke’s narrative. No one using this commentary
will miss the literary skills in Acts. While his volume addresses an English text
(cf. Culy & Parsons, Acts: A Handbook on the Greek Text [Waco, TX: Baylor, 2003]),
Parsons engages readers with a narrative rooted in an ancient culture, written by a
literate author.
Clear, informative, this welcome addition to work on Acts firmly sets ‘Luke’
in a cultural, educational context. Three niggles, however, persist: first, Parsons
underplays Luke’s use of Israel’s scriptures; his reasoning for that (pp. 104-108)
does not convince this reader. Second, Parsons majors on narrative features in Acts,
but largely ignores significant connectors between Luke and Acts, making for a
restricted reading of this text. Third, while ‘Theological Issues’ are a helpful fea-
ture of his work, Parsons’s dialogue between Lukan issues and concerns of later
ages tends to be idiosyncratic; if Luke’s narrative carries his theology, let that be
unpacked. Nonetheless, this commentary fits many a niche: one hopes that not only
students, but preachers and leaders of study-groups will welcome this accessible
volume for companionship in walking with Luke through Acts.
Peter Doble

Acts: A Commentary
Richard I. Pervo
Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2009, 978-0-8006-6045-1, $85.00, £56.99, xxxvi + 812 hb
This commentary follows the normal Hermeneia pattern with ET, textual notes,
analysis and comment. The short Introduction (26 pp.) summarizes Pervo’s views

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54 Journal for the Study of the New Testament 32.5 (2010)

on standard introductory issues. The translation includes a separate rendering of the

D-text where it varies significantly from the conventional one. Documentation is
thorough with extensive footnotes, 37 (unnumbered) excurses, a 64-page bibliogra-
phy, 50 pages of indexes (the subject-index is over-restricted) and 5 appendixes on
Graeco-Roman materials. The work embodies Pervo’s views on Acts, as evidenced
in his earlier publications: composed c. 115 ce by an anonymous author, in ‘mid-
dlebrow’ Greek, and not a genuine two-part work with Luke’s Gospel, Acts is a
‘history’, written to ‘legitimate’ the early church (this does not imply that what it
relates is historical; Pervo finds strong affinities with Greek novels). He believes its
author used a collection of Paul’s letters and, probably, Josephus. He takes a ‘low’
view of Luke as a theologian, but is perceptive on how he expresses his theology
in narrated action.
The Introduction and Commentary are written in a terse, at times sardonic, style
with some exceedingly short sentences. The translation is fresh but very free: e.g.,
‘On one of these occasions . . .’ (Acts 1.6), ‘he investigated the sights’ (17.16),
‘Best Wishes,/Your brothers and sisters,/The Apostles and Elders’ (15.29), with the
very doubtful addition of ‘sisters’ to the official senders of the apostolic decree.
One especially difficult feature is Pervo’s tendency to state his personal conclu-
sions as if they are facts (see, e.g., p. 5 on date and authorship); it would have been
helpful here to have a summary of his arguments for these. Pervo is extremely
sceptical about the historical worth of Acts, at times unduly so (e.g., on Paul’s
circumcision of Timothy), especially as he seems happy to accept the testimony of
other writers, like Justin on Simon Magus. Some of the source criticism is specula-
tive (see pp. 239f. on Paul’s Damascus Road experience). Despite these criticisms,
this work is a major achievement, which will provoke and challenge scholars for
many years to come.
Ruth B. Edwards

The Acts of the Apostles

David G. Peterson
PNTC; Grand Rapids/Nottingham: Eerdmans/Apollos, 2009, 978-0-8028-3731-8/-1-84474-386-5,
$65.00, lv + 790 hb
Peterson’s commentary has appeared hot-on-the-heels of much recently published
scholarship on Acts. This includes the two commentaries by Pervo (Hermeneia)
and Parsons (Paideia), as well as Walters’ challenge to the unity of Luke–Acts
(SNTSMS 145). It is a shame, but perfectly understandable, that Peterson was
unable to interact with these works which offer perspectives different from his
own. What is less understandable is the omission of works such as Fitzmyer’s
commentary (Anchor Bible, 1998), the joint work of Rius-Camps and Read-
Heimerdinger on the form of the text in Codex Bezae (3 volumes so far), and
minimal interaction with the work of Loveday Alexander and Joseph Tyson.
While these works may not articulate the same perspectives that Peterson wishes
to promote, his blindness to this recent scholarship severely narrows the scholarly
value of this commentary.

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 Booklist  7. Luke–Acts 55

There are two sections prior to the commentary proper, the Introduction and a
section entitled the Theology of Acts. In the Introduction Peterson affirms Lukan
authorship, states that a date for the work ‘in the 70s seems entirely reason-
able’ or that ‘a good case can be made for a date as early as 62–64’ (p. 5), he
advocates the unity of authorship of Luke and Acts, and in terms of genre is
drawn to Witherington’s suggestion that Acts is some kind of historiographic
work. The commentary itself is the heart of the volume, and Peterson does an
admirable job in articulating traditional and fairly mainstream exegesis of the
text. At times one may wish for more detail on debated issues, such as Luke’s
use of the term ‘hellenists’ (pp. 230-31), or more interaction with the debate
surrounding the Apostolic Council of Acts 15 and events described in Gal. 2.
Notwithstanding these lacunae in the commentary, the exegesis is itself clear and
reasonably detailed. Overall this is a welcome addition to scholarship on Acts.
The most obvious limitations are the selective use of recent scholarship and the
lack of significant discussion of textual variants (cf. the minimal comments on
Acts 8.37 and 15.20). This commentary can be used productively alongside other
recent treatments of the text.
Paul Foster

Contemporary Studies in Acts

Thomas E. Phillips, ed.
Macon, GA: Mercer, 2009, 978-0-88146-145-9, $35.00, 280 pb
These papers, emerging from the 2006/2007 sessions of the SBL Acts section, are
indicative of ways in which Acts research is currently developing. For example,
Paul as the focus of support by both Marcion and Acts, the lot of Acts in the sec-
ond century and late antiquity, Acts in the suburbs of the apologists, Paul’s dream
at Troas, and Eutychus’s fall are among topics receiving attention here. Essayists
range from the distinguished, through the respected and the aspiring; they have
offered work that commands attention not simply because it is interesting in its
own right, but because it invites readers to attend to questions that SBL’s seminar
finds pressing.
These are thoroughly welcome explorations, contributing substantially to this
ever-developing scholarly area. One question, however, quickly poses itself to
this reader—what of the author’s Jewish dimensions? The ‘larger world of Early
Christianity’ still included the thought-world of Acts’ author, yet this volume’s
‘scripture’ index is illuminating: ‘Luke’ occupies three columns, ‘Acts’ takes eight
to nine, Apologists, Patristic and Graeco-Roman writers occupy ten columns, while
the ‘OT’ has fewer than two. There remains, of course, much to explore of Acts’
relation to a non-Jewish world, but Luke’s narrative structures, theological concerns
and scriptural subtext offer significant evidence for its dating and purposes.
This is a volume that every library serious about Luke–Acts should have. It is a
stimulating, readable contribution to discussion for which this reader, at least, must
thank the essayists and editor.
Peter Doble

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56 Journal for the Study of the New Testament 32.5 (2010)

Death and Resurrection: The Shape and Function of a Literary Motif in the Book
of Acts
Dennis J. Horton
Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2009, 978-1-60608-290-4, $17.00, xvi + 136 pb
A short dissertation for a change—and not a bad one! The introduction and con-
clusion of Horton’s doctoral research contribute to the study of the use of motifs
in the Bible by building on a 1971 essay by William Freedman. The other chapters
study the specific motif of the death and resurrection of Jesus in Acts, but not
‘the relationship of the motif to the entire plot of Acts’ (p. 11)—hence the book’s
brevity. Unlike his supervisor Mikeal Parsons, Horton keeps Luke and Acts
close together and he shows how author, narrator and main characters all speak
with one voice. He corrects the one-sided emphasis on theologia gloriae in Acts
and shows that the death and resurrection of Jesus are inseparable. Moreover,
the motif returns in the lives of major and minor characters. Horton argues that
imprisonment and release, for instance, happened in reality but should also be
read symbolically. In the end he sees every miracle and even some conversion
stories in Acts as reflecting the motif, leaving your reviewer wondering where to
draw the line. The final chapter first discusses contrast in general and then focuses
on the contrasting secondary motif of death and decay as found with respect to
David, Judas, Herod and others. These characters form a foil for Jesus as well as
his followers, Horton argues.
An index of words is missing; other indexes are there but Susan Praeder is
strangely missing from the author index. Several typos.
Pieter J. Lalleman

Early Narrative Christology: The Lord in the Gospel of Luke

C. Kavin Rowe
Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009 (de Gruyter, 2006), 978-0-8010-3591-3, $39.99, xi + 277 pb
This paperback republication of Rowe’s 2006 BZNW volume traces Luke’s use
of ku&rioj through the Gospel, finding in its trajectory a development that binds
Jesus’ identity to that of Israel’s God. An Introduction, five chapters and con-
cluding postscript are supported by three appendixes, extensive bibliography
and indexes. Rowe locates Luke the theologian near Paul and John, all three
viewing Jesus ku&rioj as ‘the human presence of the heavenly ku&rioj of Israel’
(p. 29), later clarified by ‘the work of the Father and the Son in heaven appears
from earth to be undifferentiated’ (p. 201). A narrative theologian, Luke presents
his case through his unfolding story and in relation to ku&rioj, whose frequency
makes it a Leitwort, an overarching, repeated narrative motif. Detailed, sustained
argument weaves a web that this reader admired, and from which he profited
with delight.
Delight, however, is not agreement, and there are questions to put to Rowe. Has
his focus on frequency produced a Leitwort that obscures the ‘Davidic Messiah’
thrust of Luke’s volumes? Does Rowe’s partial unpacking of Ps. 110 obscure both
Luke’s eschatological timetable and Christology? Is Jesus really introduced to a

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 Booklist  7. Luke–Acts 57

reader as ‘Lord’ (via Elizabeth)—or as the ‘seed’ of Nathan’s oracle (via Mary)?
Nevertheless, here is a substantial, readable, engaging and subtle contribution to
Lukan theology. Rowe’s work elicits dialogue, and will remain a necessary tool in a
scholar’s kit. It should be in the Library of any institution that takes Lukan studies
seriously, and in the hands of students, teachers and preachers who want to under-
stand Luke–Acts better.
Peter Doble

L’Évangile selon Saint Luc 19,28–24,53

François Bovon
CNT 2.IIId; Geneva: Labor et Fides, 2009, 978-2-8309-1261-6, €58.00, 557 pb
Having spent decades researching Luke’s Gospel, Bovon has finally completed
his commentary on the text. Bovon devotes some time to analysing Luke’s use of
sources. Where Luke differs from Mark, Bovon is inclined to attribute this to use
of another source, and sees Luke alternating between this and Mark in his composi-
tion of the Gospel: he does not leave a great deal of room for Luke’s own creativity.
Then comes an exposition of the passage, which occasionally focuses on issues
facing the church today. Bovon concludes by looking at the reception history, up to
the period of the Reformation: here Bovon consciously tries to avoid replicating the
work that Luz has done on Matthew’s Gospel. The author regrets not having had the
time to include excurses providing a synthesis of the results of his research into dif-
ferent topics. Readers now have the benefit of indexes for all four volumes, which
cover references in Luke–Acts (but no other scriptures!), Luke’s Greek vocabulary
and a list of subjects.
Publication of this commentary in the EKK series spans 1989–2008, and the
first French volume was published in 1991. Alas, an English translation has been
all too slow in coming, with only the first volume currently available, following its
publication in the Hermeneia series in 2002. Since no revisions were incorporated
into this volume, it was somewhat dated as soon as it was published, and it would be
tragic if subsequent volumes suffered the same way: Bovon’s work is too important
to be neglected.
Timothy Carter

The Gentile Mission in Old Testament Citations in Acts: Texts, Hermeneutic, and
Purpose
James A. Meek
LNTS 385; London: T&T Clark, 2008, 978-0-567-03380-2, £65.00, viii + 179 hb
This volume is concerned with text, hermeneutic and purpose of the quotations
from the OT in the book of Acts, the author expressing disagreement with the
view that Jewish tradition is in force here. The point at issue is whether or not
the Gentile mission was a response to the rejection of the gospel by the Jews or
a fulfilment of the Isaianic prophecy that Israel or ‘the servant’ would be a ‘light
to the nations’. In discussing this, Meek focuses on four quotations from the OT:
Isa. 49.6, Amos 9.11-12, Joel 3.1-5 and Gen. 22.8, concluding that the use of

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58 Journal for the Study of the New Testament 32.5 (2010)

these quotations supports Luke’s view of the Gentile mission as the outworking
of OT prophecy.
This is a careful study with the original context of the quotations and the way in
which the author employs them being taken into account. Nevertheless one could
cavil at his assertion that the use of the LXX of Amos 9 in Acts 15 was ‘innovative’
but did not bring out any ‘meaning’ which was not in the Hebrew original (p. 131).
Similarly with the quotations from Joel and Genesis, the fact that Luke had Gentiles in
view does not entail that Peter did in either case. Although it is certainly true, as Meek
states, that the Gentiles would be assured of their ‘place in the promises, programme
and people of God’, the book of Acts does not pass over the very real social difficulties
of this incorporation, in particular for the Jewish believers residing in Judea.
Margaret Sim

Jesus, Patrons and Benefactors: Roman Palestine and the Gospel of Luke
Jonathan Marshall
WUNT 2.259; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009, 978-3-16-149901-2, €74.00, xiii + 383 pb
This study is the publication of the author’s dissertation at the Trinity Evangelical
Divinity School on concepts of reciprocity in Palestine and in the Gospel of Luke.
After an introduction, Marshall studies the literary and archaeological evidence
for the Greek system of benefaction and the Roman of patrocinium in first-century
Palestine. He finds little evidence for either practice in Galilee, but increasing evi-
dence for benefactions in Jerusalem, more in Caesarea and Samaria, and even
more in Tyre, which also offers the strongest evidence for patrocinium. The third
chapter examines the Herodian rulers and their relationship to benefactions, again
finding little evidence for patron–client relationships and much for Hellenistic
benefactions. The fourth chapter turns to the Gospel of Luke (e.g., Lk. 14.1-24),
finding Jewish concepts of reciprocity, some evidence for benefactions, none for
patrocinium. The picture is similar in chapter 5 on friendship and the table
(Lk. 14.1-24) and chapter 6 on the Last Supper (Lk. 22.14-23), where there is the
concept of benefactor but not of patron. The conclusion sums up the results and
argues that they conform to first-century Galilee as the setting of the Jesus narrative.
The book provides an excellent overview of the evidence for concepts of reci-
procity in first-century Palestine, but its study of Luke does not distinguish between
the perspective of the author of the Gospel, the plausibility of the narrative, and
evidence for the historical Jesus. Nevertheless the book is a valuable re-evaluation
of the issue of reciprocity.
Jutta Leonhardt-Balzer

The Message of Acts in Codex Bezae. IV. A Comparison with the Alexandrian
Tradition: Acts 18.24–28.31: Rome via Ephesus and Jerusalem
Josep Rius-Camps & Jenny Read-Heimerdinger
LNTS 415; London: T&T Clark, 2009, 978-0-567-04899-8, £70.00, xiii + 418 hb
This fourth, concluding volume of the authors’ distinctive series examining Codex
Bezae carries its message to Rome (13.1–14.27; 16.1–18.23), journeying through

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 Booklist  7. Luke–Acts 59

Ephesus and Jerusalem (14.28–15.41). Again focused on a Paul all too slowly learn-
ing to obey Jesus’ instructions, this account of D05’s distinctive message continues
the previous volumes’ layout (Overview, Translation, Apparatus, Commentary) and
methods, and is enriched by nine Excurses. Readers are invited to listen carefully to
Luke, a narrator whose negative evaluations of Paul’s speeches and actions are sig-
nalled by technical terms and narrative devices; the Bezan perspective on ‘events’
it shares with the AT makes for its distinctive spiritual assessment of the progress
made by its principal characters. Because D05 ends at 22.29a, pp. 269-410 of this
volume follow a ‘Western’ text which RC-RH treat as indicative of where the Bezan
narrative probably went. This, naturally, makes their case concerning Paul’s charac-
ter less certain, though they clearly take it as likely.
Their final volume consolidates the authors’ stature for Lukan studies: detailed
textual study of one manuscript, careful attention to its narrative’s Jewish context,
deployment of insights from discourse analysis, allied with a sense of this text’s
narrative development make theirs a landmark contribution to work on Luke–Acts.
Reading with RC-RH through Acts, readers encounter a wealth of technical detail
enriched by informed insight that readers may well envy. Whether D05 is as early
as RC-RH believe, whether their reading of it evokes assent, or whether their com-
parative account of Vaticanus is convincing, they have greatly enriched the study of
Acts–for which at least one reader is grateful. Their series is an essential companion
for students of Luke–Acts.
Peter Doble

Miracles and Imagery in Luke and John: Festschrift Ulrich Busse

J. Verheyden, G. van Belle & J.G. van der Watt, eds.
BETL 218; Leuven: Peeters, 2008, 978-90-429-2115-3, €78.00, xviii + 287 pb
After a brief appreciation (with bibliography) of Busse’s achievements, 14 authors
from Europe and South Africa combine to offer 12 essays in his honour. Four are
in German, one in French, the rest in English. They range in length from 11 to
34 pages. Their subjects reflect Busse’s interests in both Luke and John, though
only a few relate the two Gospels to one another (e.g., Koet and North on Martha
and Mary; Niklas on the healing of the official’s son). One (Menken) is on Cain
in 1 John; Denaux and Van Wiele devote over 22 pages to an eight-word ‘double
expression of time’ in Lk. 24.29.
The essays vary in both quality and approach. Some authors (e.g., Hoffmann) are
interested in source criticism/Q scholarship; others are more literary in the modern
sense, including sensitive discussions (Hoppe) of Luke’s fish miracle (Lk. 5.1-11)
and (Tolmie) of Judas and the ‘morsel’ (Jn 13.21-30). Du Rand rather unconvinc-
ingly combines sociological method with narratological/actantial analysis,
placing John’s first Supper Discourse in Mary Douglas’s ‘quadrant C’. Van der Watt
offers a refreshing discussion of South African ‘contextual’ approaches, though his
hermeneutical critique could have been further developed and illustrated. I espe-
cially appreciated van Cangh on Greek, rabbinic and Gospel miracles, with interest-
ing material on Asclepian miracles at Epidaurus, and Theobald on Augustine’s

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60 Journal for the Study of the New Testament 32.5 (2010)

interpretation of the fish miracle, rightly raising methodological questions about

some ‘canonical’ exegesis. Overall a useful presentation, even if it does not quite
live up to the promise of its title.
Ruth B. Edwards

One Lord, One People: The Unity of the Church in Acts in its Literary Setting
Alan J. Thompson
LNTS 359; London: T&T Clark, 2008, 978-0-567-04559-1, £65.00, xiv + 218 hb
Originally a doctoral thesis from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, this study of
unity in Acts looks less at the obvious things such as the Jerusalem Council and more
at other narrative references and at how Acts may be seen to reflect themes found
in contemporary Graeco-Roman and Jewish literature. The author looks first at how
good kings and rulers were associated with harmony in society, then at how good
laws and government were also appreciated for that reason. He then finds parallels
in Acts with Jesus as the Davidic lord who brings unity and with the Sinai covenant
being fulfilled through the Spirit in the Christian community. He goes on to argue that
disunity was seen as a recipe for defeat and unity as a key to success, and finds that
Acts too sees the word of the gospel as bringing unity and conquering, whereas unbe-
lief and disunity bring trouble to various places and contexts that oppose the gospel.
The author accepts the traditional authorship of Acts and an early date, though
his conclusions do not depend on those premises. Given his starting-point, he gives
surprisingly little attention to the Pauline letters, and, incidentally, rather little to
the Gospels. I wondered whether the interesting extra-biblical background that he
adduces is as important for an understanding of Acts as, for example, the Pauline
teaching on unity or Jesus’ teaching about rich and poor in Luke’s Gospel.
David Wenham

The Relationship of Jesus and the Kingdom of God according to Luke–Acts

Costantino Antonio Ziccardi
TG 165; Rome: EPUG, 2008, 978-88-7839-126-0, np, 580 pb
This doctoral thesis of the Pontifical Gregorian University is a response to those
who argue for a kingdom-centred theology rather than an exclusively Christ-
centred theology, thus enabling us to move ‘beyond exclusivism to inclusivism in
our understanding of salvation’ and to understand the Christian mission more in
socio-political than religious terms (pp. 12, 13). The author argues that this does not
work in Luke–Acts at least. He does so through a careful exegetical study of key
passages, arguing that the intimate connection between kingdom and Christology is
sometimes grammatically clear (e.g. Acts 28.31), and at other times clear through
the conjunction of ideas in a particular passage. He explains his case particularly
through an extensive examination of Luke chs. 1–4. His conclusions are twofold:
first, that Jesus and the kingdom cannot be separated, and, second, that Jesus relates
to the kingdom both as Messiah who ‘realizes God’s kingdom for the Jews’, but
also as divine Son of God, who relates to the kingdom in a higher sense that is ‘truly
universal and transcendent’ (p. 502).

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 Booklist  7. Luke–Acts 61

The book is a well-written and rewarding study, making out a strong case so far
as Luke is concerned. His claim that Son of God is more than Messianic, with Jesus
being the divine one in whom Yahweh comes to his people of Jesus, would be dis-
puted by some; it would have been interesting to see interaction with N.T. Wright’s
particular understanding of NT Messianism.
David Wenham

Saint Luke, 2nd edn

C.F. Evans
London: SCM, 2008 (1990), 978-0-334-04209-9, £50.00, xxxi + 933 pb
Christopher Evans, now in his hundredth year, must surely qualify as the doyen
of British NT scholars. It is entirely fitting that one of his works of enduring value
should be re-published to mark his centenary.
Reprinted with a Preface by Robert Morgan and Michael Wolter, this commen-
tary is a testament to thorough exegetical scholarship, alert to the theological ques-
tions but not determined by them. Greek words are transliterated, and accompanied
by sufficient explanation to enable readers without the linguistic background to fol-
low the argument. The commentary is accordingly accessible to lay readers willing
to invest some effort in it, while also containing much of value to scholars. This new
edition is to be warmly welcomed.
Nicholas H. Taylor

Social-Science Commentary on the Book of Acts

Bruce J. Malina & John J. Pilch
Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008, 978-0-8006-3845-0, $29.00, £19.99, vii + 245 pb
This volume offers a ‘complementary commentary’ to secure writers on Luke–Acts
against the perils of anachronism (p. 1). Its authors offer Translation and Notes (pp.
19-180); an Appendix—Recurring Scenes in Luke and Acts (pp. 181-84); Reading
Scenarios (pp. 185-237), and a Bibliography (pp. 239-43).
Expert perspectives on a text are ever welcome, but is a ‘commentary’ the right
vehicle for clearing a landscape of debris created by ‘the sloppy work of modern
historians who have allowed anachronism to reign supreme in their explanation
of these documents’ (p. 1)? Yet this commentary’s own first sentence reads: ‘The
name of the anonymous work entitled the “Acts of the Apostles” comes from a
transliteration of the Latin: Acta Apostolorum (Greek: pragmata apostolōn)’; this
does not inspire confidence. Their helpful Reading Scenarios, however, crystallize
acknowledged expertise concerning the NT’s social contexts, and they dominate
this reading—though not much encumbering readers with evidence.
Here, context tends to overwhelm Luke’s narrative, sometimes with odd effects, as
in the important ‘Cornelius episode’, where ‘Godfearer’ used of Cornelius makes ‘him
not very different from the totally assimilated Hellenistic Israelites’ (p. 75)—at 13.16
the word refers to Israelites exclusively (p. 93)—but those who join ‘the Jesus group
in Judea’ and are the focus of ch. 10 (p. 80, cf., 7) are non-Israelites. Luke’s narrative
highlights a crisis: I am not sure that the perils of Nineteenth Century Romanticism

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62 Journal for the Study of the New Testament 32.5 (2010)

(p. 3) make Luke’s work any less a narrative with its own structures, development,
characters. In a commentary, Luke’s text should have primacy, and context elucidates it.
Perhaps the authors’ most welcome contributions might more helpfully be made
through a contextual profile of an Ephesian first-century church (p. 1), allowing
commentators on Luke–Acts to read its narrative in that space.
Peter Doble

The Speeches of Outsiders in Acts: Poetics, Theology and Historiography

Osvaldo Padilla
SNTSMS 144; Cambridge: CUP, 2008, 978-0-521-89981-9, £55.00, xv + 266 hb
During the modern era, scholars have tended to neglect the seven speeches of out-
siders in Acts, focusing on their historical reliability, and ‘Luke’s’ invention or
manipulation of them, rather than upon their own rhetorical contribution. After
reviewing previous work, and comparing outsider speeches in the Second Temple
period, Padilla employs narrative criticism, rhetorical criticism, and dramatic irony,
to redress the balance. He concludes that the speeches provide a topos in which
Luke uses outsiders to further his own agenda, proposed to be ‘reassurance about
[the community’s] status as the people of God’ (p. 236). Many scholars make an
‘illegitimate leap’ (p. 237) from topos to genre, confusing the historiography of Acts
in the process. Only Festus’s speech does not display dramatic irony (following
Muecke [1969] and without distinguishing situational from dramatic irony).
Padilla has successfully opened up a neglected topic, which will hopefully pro-
voke further studies. To do this effectively will require reconsidering historiographic
concerns, challenging his hypothesis about Luke’s interests in outsiders, and re-eval-
uating how situations can be characterized as ironic, and how authors invest irony
in events and words within their unfolding drama. [Dramatic irony appears to be a
sub-set of situational irony, picking out situations which the communicator wishes to
portray as ironic—as distinct both from a speaker’s deliberate verbal irony and from
situations which readers find to be ironic for reasons of their own].
Ronnie Sim

Der Sühnetod des Gottesknechts: Jesaja 53 im Lukasevangelium

Ulrike Mittman-Richert
WUNT 220; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008, 978-3-16-148792-7, €119.00, xii + 427 hb
Mittman-Richert reacts strongly to what she perceives to be the relegation of the
evangelist Luke to an inferior status as a NT theologian, and especially with respect
to soteriology. Indeed, he appears to have been treated as ‘a blind passenger’ on
the ship bearing NT theologians. Under this title she offers in her opening chapter
a critical review of the last 50 years of Lukan scholarship, with its tendency to
present Luke’s position in terms of a theologia gloriae on the basis of his giving
more prominence to Jesus’ ascension and exaltation at the expense of the cross.
She then focuses her attention on what she perceives to be the key role of Isa. 53
in the formation of Lukan soteriology—a role which is not limited by there being
only two citations from the chapter in Luke–Acts. Drawing on the current emphasis

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 Booklist  7. Luke–Acts 63

on intertextuality within the book of Isaiah and also relating themes in the book to
other major ones elsewhere in the OT, she argues that Luke is more deeply rooted
in that thought-world than is usually believed.
She begins her detailed exegesis of the passages relevant to her thesis with
Luke’s account of the crucifixion. It is here that he explicates the ransom-saying
(Mk 10.45) omitted by him. There follows a very full exposition of the Last Supper
narrative in which Luke’s dependence on Isa. 53 draws out the importance of Jesus’
death ‘for us’. Incorporated in this section is an excursus on the kingdom of God
in Luke. The author tabulates what she discerns as a concentration in Lk. 22–23 of
echoes of Isa. 53, together with other Isaianic allusions, in support of her conten-
tion that the servanthood of Jesus is the basic motif of the Lukan passion narrative.
The second part of the work deals with the exaltation and glorification of the
servant following his suffering, and, of course, abasement and exaltation are essen-
tial and complementary ingredients of the fourth servant song. The detailed dis-
cussion of the Emmaus road incident incorporates an excursus on ‘Resurrection
and Exaltation in Glory’. As the portrait of Jesus as the suffering servant perme-
ates the whole Gospel, special attention is paid in the third section of the work to
the Nazareth incident where the servant, on the basis of Isa. 61.1-3 which is so
clearly linked to the first song of Isa. 42.1-4, is said to be revealed to the world. The
theme of his rejection here is considered further in an excursus on ‘The Hardening
of Israel’ in relation to presentations of salvation history. Finally, attention is paid
to the infancy narratives; here work previously published by this author is drawn
upon. These narratives mark the beginning of the servant’s road towards death.
This work poses a weighty challenge to views long held about Luke’s position on
soteriology. He is portrayed throughout this major contribution to Lukan studies as a
theologian for whom Christ’s work of atonement is central to his thinking. Far from
being ‘a blind passenger’ among NT authors, Luke is found to be a theologian of the first
rank; indeed, of the four Gospels his is nominated as ‘the Pauline Gospel’. Moreover,
Mittman-Richert promises a further volume to treat the parallel material in Acts.
John Tudno Williams

World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age

C. Kavin Rowe
Oxford: OUP, 2009, 978-0-19-537787-3, £65.00, x + 300 hb
In World Upside Down, Kavin Rowe challenges the general view that Acts is con-
cerned to defend Christianity against the charge of being a threat to Roman peace.
For Rowe, the opposite is true: Luke writes with the intention of demonstrating
that the encounter between Christianity and Roman or Mediterranean culture has
(and must have) a disruptive effect that is nothing less than seismic—hence the
book’s title. At the heart of this disruption lies the uniqueness of the divine iden-
tity and the church’s call to live as a transformed community in relation to that
identity. After an introductory chapter that examines the accepted view of Acts,
Rowe explores his counter-thesis in four further chapters: ‘Collision: Explicating
Divine Identity’, ‘Dikaios: Rejecting Statecraft’, ‘World Upside Down: Practicing

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64 Journal for the Study of the New Testament 32.5 (2010)

Theological Knowledge’ and ‘The Apocalypse of Acts and the Life of Truth’. These
chapter titles give a clear sense of how the argument unfolds: the church, living in
the light of divine presence, is a counter-culture grounded in the revealed truth of
God and cannot expect to simply live comfortably with the Empire.
If there is a significant criticism of World Upside Down, it is that it may have
benefited from a more sustained examination of the Jerusalem council. Nevertheless,
Rowe’s book is a remarkable blend of biblical and historical scholarship, theologi-
cal erudition and ethical reflection. The case for a Christian counter-culture is main-
tained through a thorough engagement with primary and secondary literature (much
of this engagement taking place in 90 pages of notes, allowing the main text to
remain clear and uncluttered) and is ultimately related to the challenges facing the
church of today in a theologically careful way.
Grant Macaskill

Christ and Caesar: The Gospel and the Roman Empire in the
Writings of Paul and Luke, Kim 10
An Introduction to the Gospels and Acts, Puskas & Crump 41
Translating the New Testament: Text, Translation, Theology, Porter & Boda, eds. 147

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