The Acts of the Apostles

A Newly Discovered Commentary

J. B. Lightfoot, Ben Witherington III, Todd D. Still, Jeanette M. Hagen, Jeanette M. Pifer

• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9780830829446
• eBook ISBN:
  9780830896738
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: 19th Century History

Preaching's Survey of Bibles and Bible Reference

Biblical Foundations Award Winner

InterVarsity Press is proud to present The Lightfoot Legacy, a three-volume set of previously unpublished material from J. B. Lightfoot, one of the great biblical scholars of the modern era.

In the spring of 2013, Ben Witherington III discovered hundreds of pages of biblical commentary by Lightfoot in the Durham Cathedral Library. While incomplete, these commentaries represent a goldmine for historians and biblical scholars, as well as for the many people who have found Lightfoot's work both informative and edifying, deeply learned and pastorally sensitive.

Among those many pages were two sets of lecture notes on the Acts of the Apostles. Together they amount to a richly detailed, albeit unfinished, commentary on Acts 1-21. The project of writing a commentary on Acts had long been on Lightfoot's mind, and in the 1880s he wrote an article about the book for the second British edition of William Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. Thankfully, that is not all he left behind.

Now on display for all to see, these commentary notes reveal a scholar well ahead of his time, one of the great minds of his or any generation. Well over a century later, The Acts of the Apostles remains a relevant and significant resource for the church today.

Figure 1. J. B. Lightfoot

Quotations Regarding J. B. Lightfoot and His Work (On Acts)

“Lightfoot had looked forward to writing a commentary on the Acts.”1

F. J. A. Hort

“His editions and commentaries . . . as well as his critical dissertations have an imperishable value, and even where it is impossible to agree with his results, his grounds are never to be neglected. The respect for his opponent which distinguished him . . . has brought him the highest respect of all parties. . . . There never has been an apologist who was less of an advocate than Lightfoot. . . . He [was] an independent, free scholar . . . in the absolute sense of the words. He has never defended a tradition for the tradition’s sake. But how many times, when the tradition was previously defended inadequtely and so threatened to lose its reputation, has he saved the tradition with sweeping reasons!”2

Adolf von Harnack

“In the great bulk of his literary work Bishop Lightfoot depended entirely on his own labours. He never employed an amanuensis; he rarely allowed anyone else even to verify his references. The only relief which he would accept was the almost mechanical correction of the proof/sheets of the new editions, as they were called for, of his Epistles of St Paul.”3

H. E. Savage

“His lectures on the Greek New Testament were distinguished not only by their ability but also by their spiritual power. A pupil who attended one of the earliest courses remarks: ‘I remember well how much the class was impressed, when, after giving us the usual introductory matter, Lightfoot closed the book and said, “After all is said and done, the only way to know the Greek Testament properly is by prayer” and dwelt further on this thought.’”4

The Cambridge Review

“We are glad to be able to hope, from hints which have from time to time reached the public ear, that a large portion of the whole field was covered by Dr. Lightfoot’s labours, and that some of the MSS. which are in the care of his literary executors will in due course be published; for even if they are only posthumous fragments, the student . . . will thankfully welcome them.”

Anonymous obituary to Lightfoot in the Contemporary Review, 1890

To the two most recent Lightfoot Professors of Divinity at Durham University, J. D. G. Dunn and John M. G. Barclay, as well as to C. K. Barrett, another University of Durham professor of divinity of blessed memory.

Contents

Abbreviations

Foreword

Editors’ Introduction: J. B. Lightfoot as Biblical Commentator

Part One: Introduction to Commenting in General

Part Two: Introduction to Acts­—Preliminary Matters

Part Three: The Commentary on Acts

The Superscript

The Preface

Ascension, Judas’ Demise, the Filling Up of the Twelve (Acts 1)

Excursus—On the Historical Problem of the Varying Accounts of Judas’ Demise

Pentecost and Its Aftermath (Acts 2)

The Beginnings and Trials of the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 3–6)

Excursus: The Sanhedrin and the High Priests

Excursus: The Primacy of Peter

Excursus: The Diaconate

The First Martyr for Christ (Acts 7)

Excursus: The Tabernacle

Excursus: The Authenticity of the Speech of St. Stephen

Simon, the Samaritans, and Philip (Acts 8)

Excursus: Simon Magus

Excursus: Conversion of the Ethiopian

The Conversion of Saul (Acts 9)

The Surprising Story of Cornelius (Acts 10)

Trouble in Zion—Peter Explains (Acts 11)

The Persecuted Church and the Dawn of the Mission of the Persecutor (Acts 12)

The First Missionary Journey (Acts 13–14)

Excursus: St. Paul’s Apostolic Journeys

The Apostolic Council and Its Aftermath (Acts 15)

The Second Missionary Journey (Acts 16)

Macedonia and On to Athens (Acts 17)

Excursus: The History of St. Paul’s Days at Thessalonike

And So to Corinth (Acts 18)

Finally at Ephesus (Acts 19)

The Third Missionary Journey (Acts 19:21–21:39)

Excursus: Timothy and Erastus

Excursus: The Speech of St. Paul at Miletus

Conclusions on the Rest of Acts

Appendix A: Lightfoot’s Article on Acts for Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible

Appendix B: ‘Illustrations of the Acts from Recent Discoveries’

Appendix C: St. Paul’s History After the Close of the Acts

Appendix D: The Obituary/Homage to Lightfoot

Author Index

Scripture Index

Notes

Praise for Acts of the Apostles

About the Author

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Figure 1
• Quotations
• Contents
• Abbreviations
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Images
• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Appendix A
• Appendix B
• Appendix C
• Appendix D
• Author Index
• Scripture Index
• Notes
• Praise for Acts of the Apostles
• About the Author
• More Titles from InterVarsity Press