Contents
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Praise for Volume One
Praise for Volume Two
Abbreviations
PART 5: PAUL’S DIASPORA MISSIONS (12:25–19:41) (CONTINUED)
Ratifying the Gentile Mission (15:1–35)
1. Introduction
a. The Relevance of Galatians 2:1–10
i. Arguments Favoring Galatians 2:1–10 as the Famine Visit of Acts 11:30
ii. Against Arguments That Galatians 2:1–10 Is the Famine Visit
iii. Other Arguments for Galatians 2:1–10 as the Jerusalem Council
b. The Decrees of Acts 15:20, 28–29
i. No Decrees in Paul’s Letters
ii. Why Not in 1 Corinthians?
iii. Does Luke Conflate Two Events?
c. The Significance of Acts 15
i. Significance for Luke
ii. Did Luke Invent Consensus?
iii. Shifting Consensus?
2. Conflict over Circumcising Gentiles (15:1–5)
a. Conflict at Antioch (15:1–2)
i. Shifting Politics Affects the Church (15:1)
ii. Galatians and the Antioch Conflict
iii. Circumcision for Salvation? (15:1)
EXCURSUS: CIRCUMCISION
1. The Importance of Circumcision
2. Circumcision in a Missionary Setting
3. Biblical Concerns
iv. Seeking Resolution from Jerusalem (15:2)
b. Received by the Churches (15:3–4)
i. Reporting in Phoenicia and Samaria (15:3)
ii. Reporting in Jerusalem (15:4)
c. Insistence on Circumcision (15:5)
i. Pharisaic Believers
ii. Arguments and Power
3. Peter and the Missionaries Invoke God’s Acts (15:6–12)
a. Leaders’ Discussion (15:6–7a)
b. Peter Invokes God’s Example (15:7b–11)
i. Tradition?
ii. Recalling the Cornelius Incident (15:7–9)
iii. Testing God by Yoking Gentiles (15:10)
iv. Saved the Same Way (15:11)
c. Paul and Barnabas Recount Signs (15:12)
4. James’s Biblical Proposal (15:13–21)
a. The Speech and the Historical James
b. James’s Introduction (15:13–14)
c. Amos’s Prophecy (15:15–18)
i. James’s Words
ii. Use of the Septuagint
iii. The Sense in Amos
iv. James’s Interpretation
v. David’s Tent (15:16)
vi. Turning of Gentiles (15:17)
d. James’s Compromise Solution (15:19–21)
i. The Proposed Decree (15:19–20)
ii. Proposed Backgrounds of the Decree
(1) Moral Interpretation
(2) Avoiding Pagan Temples
(3) Laws for Sojourners
(4) Noahide Laws
iii. Content of the Decree
(1) Idol Food
(2) Sexual Immorality
(3) Avoid Blood (and Strangled Animals)
iv. Plausibility of the Decree
v. Law Observance Will Not Suffer (15:21)
5. The Consensus Decree (15:22–29)
a. Choosing Emissaries (15:22)
b. Greetings (15:23)
c. The Letter Body (15:24–29)
i. Dissociation from the Schismatics (15:24)
ii. The Importance of Harmony (15:25)
iii. The Council’s Consensus (15:25)
iv. Recommending Judas and Silas (15:26–27)
v. A Charismatic Decree (15:28–29)
6. Delivering the Message in Antioch (15:30–35)
a. Delivering the Letter (15:30–31)
b. Receiving Jerusalem’s Delegates (15:32–33)
c. Who Remains? (15:34–35)
Paul and Companions in Asia and Achaia (15:36–19:41)
1. New Colleagues, Old Areas (15:36–16:5)
a. Conflict with Barnabas over Mark (15:36–39)
i. Following Up on Converts (15:36)
ii. Barnabas’s Loyalty to Mark (15:37)
iii. Paul’s Concern with Mark (15:38)
iv. The Missionary Schism and History (15:39)
v. A Negative Portrayal (15:39)
b. Strengthening Churches in Syria and Cilicia (15:40–41)
c. Recruiting Half-Greek Timothy (16:1–3)
i. Travel to Derbe and Lystra (16:1)
ii. Jewish-Gentile Intermarriage (16:1)
iii. Timothy’s Ethnic Status (16:1)
iv. Timothy’s Reputation (16:2)
v. Timothy’s New Role (16:3)
vi. Timothy’s Circumcision (16:3)
d. Strengthening Churches in Phrygia (16:4–5)
2. God’s Leading to Macedonia (16:6–10)
a. The Spirit’s Prohibitions (16:6–7)
i. The Phrygian-Galatian Region (16:6)
ii. Not North Galatia (16:6)
iii. Mysia and Bithynia (16:7–8)
iv. Divine Guidance (16:6–7)
b. Divine Invitation to Macedonia (16:8–10)
i. Troas and Ancient Troy
(1) Alexandria Troas
(2) Evocative Connections with Ancient Troy?
ii. Asia’s New Gift to Europe
(1) The Troad, Europe, and Asia
(2) Between Asia and Europe?
(3) A Mission toward Rome
iii. The Dream-Vision (16:9–10)
(1) The Macedonian Man (16:9)
(2) Paul’s Dream (16:9)
EXCURSUS: DREAMS
(3) The Interpretation (16:10)
iv. “We” Passages (16:10)
(1) A Fictitious Literary Device
(2) Sea-Voyage Category of Fictitious Narratives?
(3) Travel Journal
(4) Luke as Paul’s Traveling Companion
EXCURSUS: ACTS AND FIRST-PERSON USAGE IN SOME ANCIENT HISTORIANS
1. Historians’ Use of Third and First Person
a. Third Person
b. First Person
2. “We” as a First-Person Historical Claim?
a. Questioning “We” as a Historical Claim
b. Acts’ Anonymity?
c. What Historians Meant by “We”
3. Use of “We” instead of Author’s Name
a. Other Meanings of the First Person Plural?
b. Usage Varied
c. Keeping the Focus on Paul
4. Conclusion
3. Ministry and Opposition in Philippi (16:11–40)
a. Lydia and Her House Church (16:11–15)
i. From Troas to Neapolis (16:11)
(1) Voyage to Macedonia
(2) Samothrace
(3) Neapolis
ii. Philippi (16:12)
(1) Philippi’s Prosperity and Past
(2) Philippi and Rome
(3) A “First” City
iii. Finding the Sabbath Meeting (16:13)
(1) Locating the Gathering
(2) Which River?
iv. Speaking to Women (16:13)
(1) Women’s Status in Religion
(2) Women and Judaism
(3) Focusing on Women
v. Lydia’s Response (16:14)
(1) Lydia’s Conversion
(2) Lydia’s Freed Status?
(3) Lydia’s City
(4) Lydia’s Occupation
(5) Lydia’s Economic and Social Status
EXCURSUS: PURPLE
1. Tyrian Purple
2. Status Symbol
vi. Lydia’s Hospitality (16:15)
(1) A Property Owner
(2) Scandalous Hospitality?
EXCURSUS: PATRONS, CLIENTS, AND RECIPROCITY
1. Benefactors and Patrons
2. Reciprocity in and beyond Patronage
3. Problems in Patronage
EXCURSUS: HOSPITALITY
1. Inns
2. Greeks and Hospitality
3. Hospitality Connections and Obligations
4. Hospitality in Judaism
5. Accepting Hospitality
b. Exorcism of a Powerful Spirit (16:16–18)
i. The Slave and Her Exploiters (16:16)
EXCURSUS: PYTHONESS SPIRITS
1. Pythian Apollo
2. The Delphic Pythia
3. Apollo’s Oracles beyond Delphi
4. Apollo’s Prophecies
5. Hostility toward the Oracle
EXCURSUS: DEMONS AND SPIRIT POSSESSION
1. Daimones
2. Jewish Demonology
3. Possession
4. Prophylaxis against Demons
5. Exorcism
6. Cross-Cultural Character of Such Experiences
7. Possession Behavior
8. Interpreting Spirit Possession
9. Exorcism in More Recent Times
ii. A Spirit Exposes the Mission (16:17)
(1) A Spirit’s Testimony
(2) A Positive Testimony?
(3) A Suppressed Female Voice?
(4) “Most High God”
iii. Jesus’s Name Expels the Spirit (16:18)
c. Paul and Silas Beaten, Imprisoned (16:19–24)
i. Aftermath of the Exorcism (16:19)
(1) The Slave Girl’s Liberation (16:19)
(2) Dragged to the Forum (16:19)
ii. Xenophobic Charges (16:20–21)
(1) The Officials (16:20)
(2) Legal Accusations (16:20–21)
(3) The Charges (16:20–21)
EXCURSUS: ANCIENT ANTI-JUDAISM
1. Roman Xenophobia
2. Grounds for Anti-Judaism
3. Alexandrian Anti-Judaism
iii. Abuse by Mob and Magistrates (16:22)
(1) Lictors’ Rods
(2) Scourging
(3) Lack of Protest
(4) Historical Likelihood?
(5) Public Humiliation
iv. Imprisoned (16:23)
(1) Imprisonment
(2) A Veteran?
(3) The Jailer’s Anonymity
v. Securing the Prisoners (16:24)
d. Deliverance and Jailer’s Conversion (16:25–34)
i. Worship at Midnight (16:25)
(1) The Inner Cell
(2) Sleepless Nights
(3) Midnight Worship
ii. The Earthquake (16:26)
iii. The Jailer Intends Suicide (16:27)
EXCURSUS: SUICIDE IN ANTIQUITY
1. Reasons for Suicide
2. Views of Suicide
3. Philosophers’ Views of Suicide
4. Jewish Views of Suicide
iv. The Message of Salvation (16:28–32)
(1) Paul’s Intervention (16:28)
(2) How Can I Be Saved? (16:29–30)
(3) Salvation through Faith (16:31–32)
v. Receiving God’s Agents (16:33–34)
(1) Mutual Washing (16:33)
(2) Risky Hospitality (16:34)
e. Paul and Silas Vindicated (16:35–40)
i. Attempted Release (16:35–36)
ii. Criminal Abuse of Roman Citizens (16:37)
(1) Objections to Paul’s Roman Citizenship
(2) Arguments Supporting Paul’s Citizenship
iii. The Officials’ Reversal (16:38–39)
(1) The Officials’ Danger (16:38)
(2) Begging Them to Leave (16:39)
iv. Leaving Philippi (16:40)
4. Ministry in Thessalonica and Beroea (17:1–14)
a. Ministry in Thessalonica (17:1–9)
i. Comparing the Thessalonian Correspondence
ii. Relocating to Thessalonica (17:1)
(1) Amphipolis
(2) Apollonia
(3) Thessalonica
iii. Ministry in the Synagogue (17:2–4)
(1) Three Sabbaths of Ministry (17:2)
(2) Dialogue in the Synagogue (17:3)
(3) Jewish and Gentile Converts (17:4)
(4) The Leading Women (17:4)
iv. Jewish and Gentile Opposition (17:5)
(1) Extrinsic Historical Evidence
(2) Luke’s Narrative Purposes
(3) Stirring a Mob (17:5)
(4) Attempted Prosecution (17:5–6)
(5) Jason (17:5–9)
v. Denunciations in Court (17:6–9)
(1) The Authorities (17:6)
(2) The Charge of Sedition (17:6)
(3) The Charge of maiestas (17:7)
(4) Caesar’s “Decrees” (17:7)
(5) Released with a Pledge (17:9)
b. Ministry in Beroea (17:10–14)
i. Night Flight from Thessalonica (17:10)
ii. Shifting Southward to Beroea (17:10)
iii. Received Favorably in the Synagogue (17:11–12)
iv. Enemies Arrive (17:13–14)
5. Ministry in Athens (17:15–34)
a. Introduction
i. Athens
ii. The Narrative’s Plausibility
iii. The Narrative’s Function
b. Reasoning with Jews and Philosophers (17:15–21)
i. Paul’s Setting in Athens (17:15–16)
(1) Flight to Athens (17:15)
(2) Paul’s Arrival in Athens (17:15–16)
(3) Disturbed by Idols (17:16)
(4) The First Idols Encountered
(5) Acropolis Idolatry
(6) Agora Idolatry
(7) Other Idols
(8) Further Cults
ii. In Synagogue and Agora (17:17)
iii. Responses of Stoics and Epicureans (17:18)
(1) Dialoguing with Philosophers
(2) Conflict with Philosophers
EXCURSUS: EPICUREANS
1. Epicureans and Pleasure
2. Epicureanism and Religion
3. Epicureanism and Afterlife
4. Pagan and Jewish Critiques of Epicureanism
EXCURSUS: STOICISM
(3) The Cocksparrow
(4) Preaching Foreign Deities?
iv. Led to the Areopagus for Questioning (17:19–20)
(1) The Areopagus Council
(2) Licensed to Teach in Athens?
(3) The New Socrates
(4) Luke’s Point Here
(5) Early Judaism as Philosophy
(6) Christianity as a Philosophic School
(7) Going Further for Evangelism
v. Craving New Ideas (17:21)
c. Paul’s Philosophic Discourse (17:22–31)
i. Introduction
(1) Philosophic Elements in the Speech
(2) Paul’s Exposure to Philosophy
(3) Rhetoric of the Speech
(4) Authenticity
(5) Function of the Speech in Acts
ii. Setting, exordium, and narratio (17:22–23)
(1) Religious Athenians (17:22)
(2) Observations about Athens (17:23)
(3) Altars of Unknown Deities (17:23)
(4) Jewish Approaches to Pagan Deities
(5) Ignorance of This God (17:23)
iii. The Nature of the Deity (17:24–29)
(1) The Creator Needs No Temples (17:24)
(2) God Needs Nothing (17:25)
(3) God’s Sovereignty over Humanity (17:26)
(4) Groping for God (17:27)
(5) God’s Offspring (17:28)
(6) Idols Are Unlike God (17:29)
iv. Repent before the Risen Judge (17:30–31)
(1) Repenting from Ignorance about God (17:30)
(2) The Coming Judge (17:31)
(3) Preaching the Resurrection (17:31)
d. Response to Paul’s Speech (17:32–34)
i. Mixed Reactions (17:32–33)
ii. Paul’s Success (17:33–34)
iii. The Conversion of Damaris (17:34)
6. Ministry in Corinth (18:1–17)
a. Historical Accuracy?
b. Settling in Corinth (18:1–3)
i. Corinth
(1) Corinth’s Political Prominence
(2) Corinth’s Economic Prominence
(3) Corinth’s Moral Reputation
(4) Corinth and Rome
(5) How Roman Was Corinth?
(6) Greek Elements in Roman Corinth
(7) Corinth’s Jewish Community
(8) The Stop after Athens
(9) Corinth’s Religion
ii. Claudius’s Expulsion of Jews from Rome (18:2)
(1) Other Expulsions
(2) The Nature of Expulsions
(3) The Expulsion’s Political Context
iii. Expelled or Restricted? Suetonius versus Dio Cassius (18:2)
(1) Who Was Expelled?
(2) Probably Some More than Ringleaders
iv. Date of the Expulsion (18:2)
(1) Dio Cassius and 41 C.E.
(2) An Expulsion in 49 C.E.
v. Suetonius’s “Chrestus”
(1) A Different Messiah?
(2) The “Chrestus” of the Chrestians
vi. Aquila and Priscilla
(1) Aquila and Rome?
(2) The Couple’s Travel
(3) Priscilla and Women Artisans
vii. Economic Status and Housing
(1) Successful among “Poor” Artisans
(2) Shops
(3) Insulae
(4) Corinth’s Markets
viii. What Connected Paul with This Couple?
(1) Shared Faith?
(2) Trade Ties
(3) Paul’s Mission
ix. Working a “Menial” Job (18:3)
(1) The Reproach of Manual Labor
(2) Philosophic Discussions
(3) A Jewish Model?
(4) Views of Work in Corinth
(5) Laborers’ Self-Identity
(6) Status and Luke’s Report
x. Learning a Trade (18:3)
(1) Various Possibilities
(2) Apprenticeship
(3) Rabbis and Training in Manual Labor
xi. The Nature of Paul’s Work (18:3)
(1) Fabric Worker?
(2) Leatherwork?
(3) The Nature of Leatherworking
(4) Activity and Discussion in Shops
c. Ministry in and out of the Synagogue (18:4–8)
i. Reasoning in the Synagogue (18:4)
ii. Reinforcements Arrive (18:5)
iii. Turning to the Gentiles (18:6)
iv. Titius Justus’s House (18:7)
v. Crispus’s Faith and Baptism (18:8)
(1) Crispus and Corinthian Christians
(2) Water Sources in Corinth
EXCURSUS: BATHS IN GRECO-ROMAN ANTIQUITY
d. Jesus’s Promise of Protection (18:9–11)
i. Assurance (18:9–10)
ii. Paul’s Lengthy Stay (18:11)
e. Gallio Refuses Paul’s Case (18:12–17)
i. Historicity of the Appearance before Gallio
ii. Date
iii. Hauled before Gallio’s Tribunal (18:12–13)
(1) Gallio (18:12)
(2) The Governor’s Tribunal (18:12)
(3) The Immediate Conflict
(4) The Plaintiffs
(5) Language of the Trial
(6) The Charge (18:13)
iv. Gallio Rejects the Case (18:14–15)
(1) Gallio’s Impatience (18:14)
(2) Gallio’s Speech (18:14)
(3) Rejecting the Charge (18:15)
(4) Refusing Jurisdiction (18:15)
(5) A Favorable Precedent
v. Abuse of the Plaintiffs (18:16–17)
(1) Driving Away the Plaintiffs (18:16)
(2) Who Did the Beating?
(3) Court Settings
(4) Luke’s Perspective
(5) Sosthenes
7. Ministry in Ephesus (18:18–19:41)
a. Beginning the Work (18:18–19:7)
i. Paul Begins Work in Ephesus and Leaves for Syria (18:18–23)
(1) En Route from Corinth (18:18)
(2) Beginning Ministry in Ephesus (18:19–21)
(3) Revisiting Judea, Antioch, and Phrygia (18:22–23)
ii. Priscilla and Aquila Help Apollos (18:24–28)
(1) Introduction
(2) Apollos from Alexandria (18:24)
(3) Apollos’s Incomplete Knowledge (18:25)
(4) Paul’s Colleagues Instruct Apollos (18:26)
(5) Apollos’s Corinthian Ministry (18:27–28)
iii. Paul Helps Twelve of John’s Disciples (19:1–7)
(1) John’s Disciples and Apollos
(2) John’s Preparatory Baptism (19:1–4)
(3) Baptized in Water and the Spirit (19:5–7)
b. All Asia Hears the Message (19:8–22)
i. Paul in the Synagogue and a School (19:8–10)
(1) Teaching in the Synagogue (19:8)
(2) Conflict in the Synagogue (19:9)
(3) Paul’s School (19:9)
ii. Paul’s Signs (19:11–12)
(1) Extraordinary Miracles (19:11–12)
(2) Use of Cloths (19:12)
(3) Exorcisms in Ephesus (19:12)
iii. Magic Inferior to Paul’s Signs (19:13–20)
(1) Exorcists versus Jesus’s Name (19:13–16)
(2) Jesus’s Triumph over Magic (19:17–20)
(3) Plans for Jerusalem and Rome (19:21–22)
c. Hostility in Ephesus (19:23–41)
i. Luke’s Report and Historical Conflict in Ephesus
(1) The Riot and Luke’s Apologetic
(2) Paul’s Own Letters
(3) An Ephesian Imprisonment?
(4) Local Color
(5) Questions and Objections
ii. The Artemis Cult in Ephesus
(1) The Emperor and Ephesus
(2) Ephesus and Artemis
(3) An Anatolian Fertility Deity?
(4) Artemis’s Cult and Women?
iii. Demetrius’s Charge (19:23–27)
(1) The Setting: Stirring Silver Workers (19:23–25a)
(2) Speech Defending Artemis (19:25b–27)
iv. A Riot for Artemis (19:28–34)
(1) Acclaiming Artemis (19:28)
(2) The Mob in the Theater (19:29)
(3) Restrained from Entering the Theater (19:30–31)
(4) The Confused Assembly (19:32)
(5) Anti-Jewish Outcry (19:33–34)
v. An Official Defends the Disciples (19:35–41)
(1) Introduction
(2) No Doubt about Artemis (19:35–36)
(3) Empty Charges (19:37)
(4) Lawful Venues (19:38–39)
(5) Answering to Rome (19:40–41)
PART 6: TO ROME VIA JERUSALEM (20:1–28:31)
Journey to Jerusalem (20:1–21:16)
1. Macedonia, Achaia, and Macedonia (20:1–5)
a. Ephesian Interest (20:1)
b. Ministry in Macedonia (20:1–2a)
c. Ministry in Achaia (20:2b–3)
d. Paul’s Colleagues (20:4)
e. Geographic Diversity (20:4)
f. Luke’s Group in Macedonia (20:5)
2. Resuscitation in Troas (20:6–12)
a. Philippi to Troas (20:6)
i. Observing Festivals
ii. A Chronology of the Journey
iii. The Chronological Goal
iv. Troas and Its People
b. Breaking Bread on the First Day (20:7)
i. The Meeting
ii. The First Day of the Week
iii. Sunday Morning or Evening?
c. Lamps in the Upper Room (20:8)
i. The Upper Room
ii. Lamps
d. A Deadly Fall (20:9)
i. Sitting in a Window
ii. Size and Location of Windows
iii. Multistory Buildings
iv. Eutychus’s Sleep
e. Paul Resuscitates Eutychus (20:10)
f. Finishing the Message (20:11–12)
3. Further Travel, Avoiding Ephesus (20:13–16)
a. Assos (20:13)
b. Mitylene (20:14)
c. Chios (20:15)
d. Samos (20:15)
e. Miletus (20:15)
f. Avoiding Ephesus (20:16)
g. Paul’s Haste as a Factor (20:16)
4. Farewell to the Ephesian Church (20:17–38)
a. Introduction
i. Genre and Its Consequences
(1) Testaments and Farewell Discourses
(2) Deliberative and Epideictic Aspects
(3) Commissioning Speech
(4) Literary Connections with the Mission
ii. Authenticity
(1) Pauline Style
(2) Particular Parallels
iii. Structure
b. Setting of Speech (20:17–18a)
c. Paul’s ēthos and (Implicitly) His Example (20:18b–21)
i. Introduction
ii. Paul’s Sacrificial Service (20:18–19)
(1) Appeal to Their Knowledge (20:18)
(2) Serving Sacrificially (20:19)
(3) Pathos (20:19)
iii. Proclaiming Openly (20:20–21)
(1) Withholding Nothing (20:20)
(2) Public and Private Teaching (20:20)
(3) Repentance and Faith (20:21)
d. Paul Expects Danger in Jerusalem (20:22–25)
i. Risking Danger in Jerusalem (20:22–23)
(1) Bound by the Spirit (20:22–23)
(2) Paul’s Passion Predictions (20:22–23)
(3) Timing of Death Unknown (20:22)
ii. Fulfilling the Calling regardless of Cost (20:24)
(1) Motif of Bravery
(2) Sacrificial Devotion
(3) Fulfilling His Ministry
iii. Sad Parting (20:25)
EXCURSUS: ACTS AND THE PASTORALS
e. Innocent of Ephesian Blood (20:26–27)
i. Protesting Innocence
ii. Ezekiel’s Watchman
f. Paul Warns Leaders to Guard the Believers (20:28–32)
i. Guard God’s Flock (20:28)
(1) Taking Heed to Themselves and the Flock
(2) Overseers
(3) Shepherds
(4) The Great Cost of God’s Church
ii. Dangerous Wolves (20:29–30)
(1) Paul’s Departure (20:29)
(2) Shepherds versus Predators
(3) Figurative Wolves
(4) Who Are the False Teachers Here?
(5) From among Yourselves (20:30)
iii. Continual Vigilance (20:31)
(1) Hortatory Language
(2) Continuous Activity
(3) Emotional Intensity
iv. Committing the Elders to God (20:32)
g. Paul’s Example of Sacrifice (20:33–35)
i. Introduction
(1) Leaders and Greed
(2) Austerity
(3) Relevance for Ephesus
ii. Paul’s Example of Generosity (20:33–35a)
(1) Avoiding Covetousness (20:33)
(2) Providing for Others (20:34)
(3) An Example of Serving the Weak (20:35a)
iii. Jesus’s Teaching on Generosity (20:35)
(1) Climactic Maxims
(2) Jesus’s Teaching?
(3) Benefaction Ideology
h. Tearful Parting (20:36–38)
i. Establishing Paul’s ēthos
ii. Parting Prayer (20:36)
iii. Weeping and Displaying Emotion (20:37)
iv. Kissing (20:37)
v. The Final Parting (20:38)
5. Voyage and Warnings in Tyre (21:1–7)
a. En Route to Tyre (21:1–3)
i. Cos (21:1)
ii. Rhodes (21:1)
iii. Patara (21:1)
iv. Passing Cyprus (21:2–3)
b. Visiting Tyre (21:4–6)
i. Staying in Tyre (21:3–4)
ii. Ambiguous Prophecies (21:4)
iii. The Prophecies Here (21:4)
iv. Farewells (21:5–6)
c. Visiting Ptolemais (21:7)
6. Warnings in Philip’s Home in Caesarea (21:8–14)
a. Visiting Philip in Caesarea (21:8)
b. Philip’s Virgin, Prophetess Daughters (21:9)
EXCURSUS: PROPHETESSES
EXCURSUS: WHY MENTION THEIR VIRGINITY?
1. Consecrated Virgins
2. “Prophetic” Virginity
3. Views on Marriage and Celibacy in Antiquity
4. Luke’s Point
5. Conclusion
c. Response to Agabus’s Warning (21:10–14)
i. Remaining in Caesarea (21:10)
ii. Agabus’s Coming and Symbolism (21:11)
iii. Agabus’s Prophecy (21:11)
iv. Pleas Not to Go to Jerusalem (21:12)
v. Ready to Die for Jesus (21:13)
vi. Acknowledging God’s Will (21:14)
7. Final Journey to Jerusalem (21:15–16)
a. Starting to Jerusalem (21:15)
b. Lodging with Mnason (21:16)
Dangers in Jerusalem (21:17–23:35)
1. Concerns of the Jerusalem Church (21:17–26)
a. Introduction
i. The Jerusalem Church’s Hostility?
ii. Rejecting the Collection?
b. Meeting the Jerusalem Church’s Leaders (21:17–19)
i. Welcomed in Jerusalem (21:17)
ii. Meeting the Leaders (21:18)
iii. Recounting God’s Attestation (21:19)
c. Zealous Myriads (21:20)
i. Praising God for His Work among Gentiles
ii. Myriads of Believers
iii. Zeal for the Law
d. Rumors of Apostasy (21:21)
i. The Practice of Slander
ii. Slandering Paul
iii. Apostasy?
iv. Reasons for Their Malice
e. Strategy for Proving Piety (21:22–24)
i. Noting the Need for a Plan (21:22)
ii. The Reason for a Plan (21:22–24)
iii. A Trap?
iv. Sponsoring Four under a Vow (21:23–24)
v. James’s Own Fate
f. Allowance for the Gentiles (21:25)
g. Paul Accommodates Concerns (21:26)
i. Would Paul Have Accommodated Concerns?
ii. Luke’s Approach
2. Ephesian Jews Stir Riot against Paul (21:27–30)
a. The Accusation (21:27–29)
i. Paul’s Accusers (21:27)
ii. Their Charges (21:28)
iii. Past the Boundary (21:28)
iv. Desecrations Punished
EXCURSUS: HOSTILITY TO PAUL’S TEMPLE THEOLOGY?
1. Spiritual Sacrifices
2. Critiques of the Temple
3. Luke, Paul, and the Spiritual Temple
v. In the Context of Luke-Acts
vi. Paul’s Custody
b. Attack on Paul (21:30)
i. A Festival Crowd?
ii. Dragged from the Temple
iii. Closing the Doors
3. Paul Enters Roman Custody (21:31–40)
a. Luke’s Apologetic Interest
b. Roman Intervention (21:31–32)
i. Trying to Kill Paul (21:31)
ii. Word Coming “Up” to the Antonia (21:31)
iii. The Commander and Cohort (21:31)
iv. Stopping the Aggression (21:32)
c. Uncertain Charges (21:33–34)
i. The Tribune Chains Paul (21:33)
ii. The Crowd’s Confusion (21:34)
d. Romans Rescue Paul (21:35–36)
i. Carried up the Stairs (21:35)
ii. “Away with Him” (21:36)
e. Paul’s Surprising Use of Greek (21:37)
i. The Quality of Paul’s Greek
ii. Expecting Egyptian Greek?
iii. Nature of Paul’s Eloquence
f. Not the Egyptian or an Assassin (21:38)
i. The Tribune’s Assumptions
ii. The Egyptian “Prophet”
iii. The Sicarii
iv. The Wilderness
g. Citizen of Tarsus (21:39)
i. Denial of Low Status?
ii. Civic Pride
iii. Could Paul Have Been a Tarsian Citizen?
iv. Why Not Roman Citizenship Here?
h. Addressing the Crowd in Aramaic (21:40)
i. Plausibility
ii. Paul’s Linguistic Versatility
iii. Hebrew or Aramaic?
iv. Aramaic Use
EXCURSUS: THE DEFENSE SPEECHES OF ACTS 22–26, ESPECIALLY 22:2–21
1. Plausibility
2. Apologetic Interests
3. Rhetorical Approaches
4. Paul’s Defense in the Temple (22:1–21)
a. Introduction
i. Source and Plausibility
ii. Paul’s Prophetic Pentecost Speech
b. Addressing the Crowd (22:1–2)
i. Paul’s exordium (22:1)
ii. Deepened Hush (22:2)
c. Paul’s Zealous and Orthodox Background (22:3–5)
i. Educated in Jerusalem (22:3)
(1) Not Raised in Jerusalem?
(2) Nurtured and Educated in Jerusalem
(3) Stages of Education
(4) Greek Education Even in Jerusalem
(5) Rhetoric but Especially Law
ii. Student of Gamaliel I? (22:3)
(1) Historical Objections
(2) Arguments Supporting Luke’s Claim
(3) Selecting a Teacher
iii. Sitting at a Teacher’s Feet (22:3)
iv. Paul’s Zeal for God (22:3)
(1) The Epistolary Paul’s Zeal
(2) Jewish Appreciation for Zeal
v. Paul the Persecutor (22:4–5)
(1) Paul Persecuted the Way (22:4)
(2) His Former Superiors Can Testify (22:5)
d. Paul’s Encounter with Jesus (22:6–11)
i. Narrative and Retellings
(1) Variation in Retellings
(2) Telling One’s Own Story
(3) Rhetorical Observations
ii. Paul’s Damascus Road Encounter
(1) On the Road at Noon (22:6)
(2) Saul Persecutes Jesus (22:7–8)
(3) Partial Revelation to Companions (22:9)
(4) Entering Damascus (22:10–11)
e. An Orthodox Prophet’s Message (22:12–16)
i. The Devout Prophet (22:12–13)
ii. God’s Prophetic Calling for Saul (22:14)
iii. A Witness of His Experience (22:15)
iv. Washing Away Sins (22:16)
f. Paul’s Call to the Gentiles (22:17–21)
i. Paul’s Trance in the Temple (22:17)
ii. Warning to Flee Jerusalem (22:18)
iii. Paul’s Objection (22:19–20)
iv. Sent to the Gentiles (22:21)
5. Discovering Paul’s Citizenship (22:22–29)
a. The Crowd’s Outcry (22:22)
i. Interruption
ii. Connections with Other Lukan Riot Scenes
iii. Rejected Prophet and Impending Judgment
b. Cloaks and Dust (22:23)
i. Throwing Off Cloaks
ii. Hurling Dust
c. Interrogation by Flogging (22:24)
d. Revealing His Citizenship (22:25)
i. Interrogation Procedures
ii. Why Did Paul Wait So Long?
e. The Tribune’s Discovery (22:26–27)
i. The Centurion’s Role (22:26)
ii. The Tribune’s Difficult Situation (22:27)
iii. Testing Paul’s Claim
f. Citizenship by Birth, Not Purchase (22:28)
i. The Tribune’s Rank
ii. Means of Achieving Citizenship
iii. The Source of Paul’s Citizenship
g. The Tribune’s Fear (22:29)
6. The Divided Sanhedrin (22:30–23:10)
a. Introduction
i. Comparing Previous Sanhedrin Hearings
ii. Plausibility
b. Bringing Paul before the Sanhedrin (22:30)
i. Plausibility?
ii. Ordering the Sanhedrin’s Appraisal
iii. Stationing Paul among Them
c. Conflict with the High Priest (23:1–5)
i. Paul’s Claim of Good Conscience (23:1)
(1) Honorable Self-Claims
(2) Good Conscience
ii. Ananias Orders Paul Struck (23:2)
(1) Ananias
(2) Corruption among the Aristocratic Priests
(3) Blows to the Cheek
iii. Paul’s Rebuke (23:3)
(1) Paul’s Demand for Justice
(2) Appeal to the Torah
(3) Insult, Curse, or Prophecy?
(4) Answering One’s Abuser
iv. God’s High Priest (23:4–5)?
(1) Citing the Law (23:5)
(2) Failing to Recognize the High Priest
(3) Ironic Lack of Recognition?
d. Dividing the Council (23:6–9)
i. A Pharisee (versus Sadducees) (23:6–7)
(1) Paul’s Partisan Politics
(2) Plausibility
(3) Pharisaic Commitment to the Resurrection
(4) Son of Pharisees (23:6)
(5) Paul’s Pharisaism Claim (23:6)
ii. Angels and Spirits (23:8–9)
(1) Sadducean Skepticism (23:8)
(2) Pharisaic Tolerance for Apparitions (23:9)
e. Danger and Intervention (23:10)
i. Violence in August Assemblies
ii. Tearing Apart
iii. Calling for Soldiers
7. Paul Escapes Jerusalem in Roman Custody (23:11–35)
a. Jesus’s Assurance and Direction (23:11)
b. The Plot to Assassinate Paul (23:12–15)
i. The Conspiracy (23:12–13)
(1) “The Jews’ ” Conspiracy (23:12)
(2) The Oath (23:12)
(3) The Plot’s Participants (23:13)
ii. Aristocratic Complicity (23:14–15)
(1) Chief Priests and Assassins (23:14)
(2) Further Interrogation (23:15)
c. Paul’s Nephew Leaks Word of the Plot (23:16–22)
i. Leaking Word of the Plot to Paul (23:16)
(1) Paul’s Nephew
(2) The Leak
(3) Access to Paul
ii. Sending the Informant to Lysias (23:17–18)
(1) Trusting the Tribune
(2) The Need for Discretion
(3) The Centurion’s Compliance
iii. The Tribune’s Gentle Inquiry (23:19)
iv. The Nephew’s Warning (23:20–22)
d. Lysias Sends Paul to Felix (23:23–30)
i. A Sufficient Protective Force (23:23–24)
(1) Lysias’s Rationale
(2) Debating the Force’s Size
(3) Did Luke Estimate High? (23:23)
(4) Could Lysias Afford the Troop Reduction?
(5) The Danger
(6) Would Paul Seem Worth It?
(7) Caesarea (23:23)
(8) Paul’s Mounts (23:24)
ii. Felix the Governor (23:24)
(1) Felix’s Powerful Brother
(2) Felix’s Name
(3) Felix’s Date
iii. Lysias’s Letter (23:25–30)
(1) Luke’s Use of the Letter (23:25)
(2) Conventional Greetings (23:26)
(3) Lysias’s “Rescue” and Investigation (23:27–29)
(4) Reasons for Referring Paul (23:30)
e. Roman Soldiers Bring Paul to Felix (23:31–35)
i. By Night to Antipatris (23:31)
(1) Night Marches
(2) Plausibility
(3) The Route and Antipatris
ii. Daylight Travel (23:32–33)
iii. Felix’s Initial Decision (23:34–35)
(1) Learning Paul’s Province (23:34)
(2) Detained in the Praetorium (23:35)
Works Cited
Index of Select Subjects
Index of Authors and Select Names
Index of Scripture
Index of Other Ancient Sources
Old Testament Apocrypha
Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Texts
Josephus
Philo of Alexandria
Targumic Texts
Mishnah, Talmud, and Related Literature
Other Rabbinic Works
Apostolic Fathers
Patristic and Other Early Christian Sources
Nag Hammadi Texts
New Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Other Greek and Latin Works and Authors
Other Ancient and Medieval Sources
Papyri, Inscriptions, and Fragment Collections
Notes
Back Cover