The Book of Acts (Rev. ed.)

In spite of its age, this is still my stand by for Acts. It's a bit too brief on contextual background stuff. But Bruce is a trustworthy exegete, and so I have full confidence going to him on most things.

I found this book slightly disappointing in terms of what i was looking for in a commentary on Acts and that was something dealing more with the theology side rather than the history side. F.F. Bruce has written Acts with a strong focus on the Historic side, which was of great importance in his day, but i think slightly out dated in 2010. Nevertheless Bruce's commentary is of great value and worth owning. Like all of Bruce's work well written and a master piece of his day.

What I found most helpful about this commentary was the historical background and reconstruction. Bruce is amazing at cross-referencing and bringing together all of the data to paint a clear picture of what was happening. This includes geographical data (e.g. if you want to know what Ephesus or Antioch was like), as well as biographical (e.g. where was Paul when he wrote each of his letters, and what does Acts tell us about what was on his mind at the time). I found Bruce's weakness to be in literary analysis. He is not very sensitive to literary structure or devices. Thus he was often also weak on interpretation and application. I've read a few of Bruce's commentaries now, though, and this is the one I would recommend as most helpful. As Bruce is an expert historian, it is not surprising that he'd be at his best commenting on the book that outlines the early history of the church.

Excellent, lives up to its reputation. Downside is that its brief, but better than repeating someone elses thoughts. Nice starting point.

This commentary is well-tagged as a cross between technical and pastoral. Bruce does a great job of handling the technical aspect while mining practical nuggets for use by preachers.

I begin with FF Bruce because he was the first one I read [Full Review]

A classic. Strong on history and more accessible than his Greek commentary [1990, IVP].

First published in 1954, F.F. Bruce's commentary on Acts in the NICNT series soon became a standard conservative evangelical commentary. In 1988, his commentary was revised and updated. It still remains on of the best commentaries on this book of Scripture. [Full Review]

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