Abstract
Acts 17:11 commends the Bereans as those who ‘accepted the message enthusiastically, closely investigating the Scriptures every day to see whether these things might be so.’ Carl Holladay’s translation and commentary on Acts is a treat for those who want to follow in the Bereans’ steps.
Indeed, Holladay’s treatment of this pericope (17:10–15) is illustrative of his commentary as a whole. First, Berea is located within the ancient world, and its lack of archaeological evidence for a first-century synagogue is discussed and addressed in a precise fashion. A concise word-study on eugenesteroi (‘more open-minded’ is Holladay’s translation) follows, which manages in short span both to compare differing English translations and, also, to reflect upon its application. ‘Those who display such intellectual and spiritual curiosity are more apt to see and be convinced by the numerous creative interpretations of Scripture scattered throughout Luke-Acts’, comments Holladay (p. 336). With a nimble hand, Holladay goes on to thread the incident within the narrative flow, always with an eye to the ancient world in which Acts arose and which it recounts to us.
Commentaries are years in the making; Holladay’s comes relatively soon after Craig Keener’s mammoth four volumes on Acts but is not eclipsed by it. Holladay provides an excellent (and relatively slim but still substantive) dialogue partner, not least given their shared interest in history. Both see literary style employed by Luke to convey theological purpose, with Holladay more cautious about ‘simply historicizing the Acts account’ (p. 13). That said, Holladay seeks out literary features and theological themes, reads the speeches within their narrative contexts and as aligned with their speaker’s character, and locates the text firmly within its original setting. Seeing the author as ‘possibly, but not certainly, Luke the physician’ (p. 4), Holladay views the 80s or 90s as the ‘most plausible’ period for its composition (p. 7). He is also open to narrative unity with Luke’s Gospel: authorially, this is ‘not an afterthought’ (p. 67). A lengthy discussion of the textual traditions concludes that neither the short nor the long text is ‘directly traceable to Luke’ (p. 30) but, of the two, the former is earlier. Within the commentary, all Greek is transcribed, which will help widen its readership.
Paradoxically, Holladay’s refreshingly limited engagement with other commentators will make me turn to him over and over again. In an age when too many commentators engage with too many commentators, Holladay prioritises the text and its world, and we are the beneficiaries of his labours.