by Ben Witherington III
|
| List Price: | $55.00 |
| Amazon Price: | $34.65 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
| You Save: | $20.35 (37%) |
| Average Rating: |  |
| Lowest New Price: | $34.65 |
| Availablitiy: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
 |
|
Product Description
This groundbreaking commentary is the first to provide a detailed social and rhetorical analysis of the book of Acts. At the same time it gives detailed attention to major theological and historical issues.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Best Work on Acts, 2008-08-20
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.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A great commentary, 2008-07-16
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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Big, Thorough, Great Commentary, 2008-04-23
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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent Reading and Background Source. Buy It., 2008-04-17
`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'.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Very Readable , 2007-12-11
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.
Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.
|
Store Categories
|