New Testament Commentaries: Acts

"In a departure from customary readings of the Acts of the Apostles as the story of the growth of the church, Gaventa argues that Luke's second volume has to do with nothing less than the activity of God. From the beginning of the story at Jesus' Ascension and extending until well past the final report of Paul's activity in Rome, Luke narrates a relentlessly theological story, in which matters of institutional history or biography play only an incidental role. Gaventa pays careful attention to Luke's story of God, as well as to the numerous characters who set themselves in opposition to God's plan." - Abingdon Press

This is volume 1 of a 4 volume set. Volume 2 can be found HERE, volume 3 can be found HERE, and volume 4 can be found HERE
"Highly respected New Testament scholar Craig Keener is known for his meticulous and comprehensive research. This commentary on Acts, his magnum opus, may be the largest and most thoroughly documented Acts commentary available. Useful not only for the study of Acts but also early Christianity, this work sets Acts in its first-century context. In this volume, the first of four, Keener introduces the book of Acts, particularly historical questions related to it, and provides detailed exegesis of its opening chapters. He utilizes an unparalleled range of ancient sources and offers a wealth of fresh insights. This magisterial commentary will be a valuable resource for New Testament professors and students, pastors, Acts scholars, and libraries." - Baker

"Authored by one of the world's leading New Testament scholars, this commentary on the Acts of the Apostles was originally published in 1996. James Dunn first takes the reader through questions of authorship, audience, date, purpose, and literary structure. He then considers the kind of history writing that we find in the narrative of Acts, delineates the book's theological teaching, and offers bibliographic comments on sources and selected studies, including work published between 1996 and 2016. This commentary as a whole provides the information and perspective necessary for reading to best effect what Dunn believes is the most exciting book in the New Testament." - Eerdmans

Respected New Testament scholar Darrell L. Bock provides a substantive yet highly accessible commentary on Acts in this latest addition to the acclaimed BECNT series. With extensive research and thoughtful chapter-by-chapter exegesis, Bock leads readers through all aspects of the book of Acts--sociological, historical, and theological. His work blends academic depth with readability, making it a useful tool for students, teachers, scholars, and pastors alike. A user-friendly design with shaded text and translations of the Greek text make this commentary engaging and easy to use.

"In this new commentary for the Belief series, award-winning author and theologian Willie James Jennings explores the relevance of the book of Acts for the struggles of today. While some see Acts as the story of the founding of the Christian church, Jennings argues that it is so much more, depicting revolution—life in the disrupting presence of the Spirit of God. According to Jennings, Acts is like Genesis, revealing a God who is moving over the land,'putting into place a holy repetition that speaks of the willingness of God to invade our every day and our every moment.'He reminds us that Acts took place in a time of Empire, when the people were caught between diaspora Israel and the Empire of Rome. The spirit of God intervened, offering new life to both. Jennings shows that Acts teaches how people of faith can yield to the Spirit to overcome the divisions of our present world." - WJK Press

"The Book of Acts in Its Ancient Literary Setting includes fourteen chapters devoted to the literary framework that undergirds the Book of Acts. Topics include the text as historical monograph, ancient rhetoric and speeches, the Pauline corpus, biblical history, subsequent ecclesiastical histories, and modern literary method. All of these chapters arise out of a consultation by the project's scholars at Cambridge in March 1993." - Eerdmans

"New Testament scholar William Kurz offers a close reading and explanation of the entire narrative of Acts, grounded in the original Greek but keyed to the NABRE for liturgical use. This volume, like each in the series, relates Scripture to life, is faithfully Catholic, and is supplemented by features designed to help readers understand the Bible more deeply and use it more effectively." - Baker

"With attention to issues that continue to surface in today's church, the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series offers pastors, students, and teachers a focused resource for reading, teaching, and preaching the Book of Acts. Acts highlights (1) the work of God through the exalted Jesus who grants the presence of the Holy Spirit; (2) the significance of Jesus who is Israel's Messiah and the Savior of the world and who directs the expansion of the church; (3) the work of the Holy Spirit as transforming power present in the lives of the followers of Jesus and their communities; (4) the identity of the church as the community of God, comprised of Jews and Gentiles who are followers of Jesus; (5) the mission of the church whose leaders take the gospel to cities and regions of the Roman Empire in which Jesus has not yet been proclaimed as Messiah and Savior; (6) the historical events and the persons who played a role in the expansion of earliest Christianity." - Zondervan

"Readings from Acts are offered only during Easter, so how can preachers make this important book come alive throughout the church year? Acts of the Apostles helps the preacher identify possibilities for sermons based on texts and themes in the book of Acts. While offering a basic exegetical framework for interpreting passages in Acts in their historical, literary, rhetorical, and theological contexts, this volume also suggests ways in which the preacher can relate passages and motifs from Acts to the congregation and world today." - Fortress

"The Acts of the Apostles joins the Gospel of Luke with the ministry of Paul. Renowned New Testament scholar Richard I. Pervo shows how this masterful storyteller worked his magic, drawing on first-century literary techniques of narration and characterization. Luke's literary skills did not prevent scribes from re-writing
his masterwork, however, the textual tradition of Acts is among the most intriguing of the documents of the
New Testament, and is a focus here. Elegantly written, Pervo's commentary provides a compelling interpretation of Acts in the context of Hellenistic
literature and the emerging Christian movement, Readers will rediscover the "profit with delight " that was the ideal
of ancient story-tellers." Fortress Press

This is the English translation of Conzelmann's 1972 German commentary. This work has since been replaced in the Hermeneia series by Pervo's work, however, it is an important work in the history of scholarship as many commentator's on Acts will often refer to Conzelmann's arguments and either defend them, debunk them, or update them.

This is volume 1 of a 2 volume work. Volume 2 can be found HERE.

“Barrett’s commentary on the Greek texts of Acts is thorough and lucid, addressing the literary, historical and theological dimensions of the text. This two-volume work will remain a classic source on Acts for serious students of the New Testament.” —Donald Senior

"Dennis Hamm stresses the unity between the Acts of Apostles and the Gospel of Luke. His section-by-section commentary (along with New American Bible translation), based on the best of recent scholarship, will appeal to teachers, preachers and Bible study groups with its non-technical, yet scholarly style. Hamm helps visualize Christianity's growth from Jewish roots and the Church as continuation of God's covenant with Israel. Paying close attention to the use of the Old Testament. Hamm demonstrates how the Acts of the Apostles--first addressed to the early Christian community--speaks to our generation today." - Liturgical Press

"This detailed linguistic, textual, and historical commentary on the Greek text of Acts constitutes a welcome addition to contemporary evangelical scholarship. In making this pervasive revision of his major work on the Greek text of Acts, first published in 1951, F. F. Bruce has taken into account the tremendous volume of scholarly work and the advances in linguistic and historical knowledge during the last four decades. The comprehensive introduction to this considerably enlarged edition includes a completely new section on the theology of Acts as well as the most recent research on such matters as the authorship, date, sources, and style of Acts. The book itself prints the Greek text of Acts paragraph by paragraph, and each paragraph is followed by a verse-by- verse commentary that pays special attention to matters of vocabulary, grammatical structure, and historical importance." - Eerdmans

"Highly respected scholar Carl R. Holladay offers an in-depth critical commentary on the book of Acts in this new work from the acclaimed New Testament Library series. Holladay offers a theological, contextual, and literary interpretation, paying attention to Acts as a rich narrative that accounts for the development of the early Christian church. He sees Lukes literary style as an expression of its theological purpose. Holladay writes, ""Convinced that Jesus life and death and the emergence of the early Christian movement occurred under divine guidance and continued the biblical story by fulfilling Gods ancient promises, Luke decided to incorporate them into a grandly conceived narrative told in a dignified yet dramatic style. Acts reflects the close relationship between medium and message, yet it also illustrates how the medium is the message."" Holladay's commentary is theologically rich and steeped in narrative analysis that understands the high level of literary style as an expression of the theological content and the telling of the Christian origin." - WJK Press

"The Reformation was a call to return with renewed vigor to the biblical roots of Christian faith and practice. Still, for the Reformers, the truth of the Bible could never be separated from the true community of God's people gathered by his Word. In the book of Acts, they found God's blueprint for how the church should participate with the Holy Spirit in accomplishing his purposes in the world.In the latest Reformation Commentary on Scripture, we watch as the diverse streams of the Protestant movement converge on the book of Acts. As we return with the Reformers to this vision of Spirit-filled community, we are given a lesson in the nature of biblical reform from those who bore it out for the first time. Authors Esther Chung-Kim and Todd R. Hains present a vivid portrait of the Reformers' views on the contemporary church's faithfulness to its God-given identity and calling.The Reformers approached the narrative account of the early church in the book of Acts from diverse viewpoints." - InterVarsity Press

"Chance’s solid scholarship provides insightful observations upon the historical and narrative world of the Acts of the Apostles. His interpretations, clear writing style, and ability to find analogies present a fresh reading of this often neglected New Testament work. Chance excels in uniting the biblical world of our ancestors in faith with the world of contemporary Christians. This commentary reflects an author who has thoroughly engaged Acts on both a critical and personal level. Chance is to be commended for an outstanding addition to the Smyth and Helwys commentary series." - David M. May

"This volume on Luke-Acts as with all titles in the Texts@Contexts Series highlights readings that make explicit the diverse contemporary contexts of biblical interpreters. The global spread of contributors includes scholarly voices from South Africa, South America and Hong Kong, as well as from the United States. The chapters are organized around four themes. The first examines interpretations of Jesus, looking at his childhood, contemporary context, and his teaching – including whether Jesus’ sympathetic response to disease and pain might be used to advocate euthanasia. The second examines social categories: gender, race, and class, including a political and racialized reading of the history of diasporic Black America as a model for reading Acts as a diasporic history. The third examines issues of empire and resistance. The final part looks at society and spirituality, with a focus on modern contemporary contexts."