Paul Spends the Winter in Malta (28:1–10)

The suspense continues in this next section. No sooner has Paul made it safely to shore than he is bitten by a poisonous snake and expected to die. God continues to protect Paul, however, and not only does he survive a venomous snakebite, but he is able to engage in a significant and dramatic ministry on this island during the winter months.

MALTA

St. Paul’s Bay.

Malta (28:1). Malta, or Melitē as it is called in Greek, is a Mediterranean island lying fifty-eight miles south of the island of Sicily and 180 miles north of Libya. It measures about seventeen miles at its longest distance from southeast to northwest and about nine miles at its widest distance from east to west. The island became part of the Roman empire in 218 B.C. and was part of the Roman province of Sicily.

The islanders (28:2). The word translated “islanders” is the Greek word barbaros, which is often translated “barbarian.” This was the word Greek-speakers used to refer to people who did not know Greek as their native tongue. The term implies that the foreign language sounded like a meaningless set of syllables—such as “bar- bar- bar-”; thus the word was onomatopoetic. The ancestors of the islanders were Phoenician, and they continued to speak a Phoenician dialect. A number of Punic inscriptions have been found on Malta (Punic was a Phoenician dialect spoken in Carthage, North Africa).547 Luke’s characterization of the islanders as barbaroi may reflect some of the voyagers’ initial frustration in not being able to communicate with the people. Because of the island’s contact with Rome, some would have known Greek or Latin and were able to converse with those coming off the boat.

They built a fire (28:2). It is difficult to imagine what could feel better to 276 cold and wet people on this late October day than a blazing hot fire.

A viper (28:3). The Greek word echidna points to a poisonous snake and typically refers to a viper.548 Jesus uses the word metaphorically to speak of the danger posed by the Pharisees: “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matt. 23:33). Although there are no poisonous snakes on the island of Malta today, the population may have progressively rid the small island of this danger over the next two thousand years.

Justice has not allowed him to live (28:4). The islanders are referring to the goddess Dikē (“Justice”). Dikē, the daughter of Zeus, was believed to watch over human affairs and report all wrongdoings to Zeus so the guilty persons could pay for their crimes. In the first century, she was viewed as a goddess of punishment and revenge who would execute judgment from her place in the underworld. In this instance, the islanders interpret the snakebite to reflect the judgment of Dikē on Paul for a crime that has gone undetected or unpunished by human authorities.549

They changed their minds and said he was a god (28:6). The islanders have seen this type of snake bite people before and know what to expect. When Paul is unaffected by the bite, they assume he must be a god. Luke’s abbreviated account changes topics here, but we can assume that Paul once again takes advantage of the situation to deny that he is a god and to proclaim to them the living and true God (cf. what he did in Lystra, recorded in 14:8–20).

Publius, the chief official of the island (28:7). Although nothing else is known of Publius, archaeologists have discovered a Greek inscription on Miletus dating to the first century that refers to the chief official of the island with precisely the same expression that Luke uses here: “prōtos of the island.”550

He welcomed us to his home (28:7). It is difficult to imagine that his home is large enough to accommodate 276 people. Perhaps Luke means that he, Aristarchus, Paul, and Julius are invited to stay at this exquisite estate. This kind of preferential treatment is not surprising since the people of the island have just acclaimed Paul as a god.

After prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him (28:8). Jesus often laid his hands on people when he healed them, and the people sometimes expected him to put his hands on them as part of the process.551 This is the way Paul’s eyes were healed when Ananias ministered to him after he lost his sight on the Damascus road (9:12, 17).

The rest of the sick on the island came and were cured (28:9). God uses Paul in a mighty way on this island to bring healing to numerous people. Assuredly, Paul also shares the gospel with them and at least some people are saved, although Luke does not tell us this part of the story in his highly condensed account.

They honored us in many ways (28:10). The “honor” that Luke speaks of here is probably best understood in the sense of financial support and many gifts, which Luke elaborates in the remainder of the verse. “The grateful inhabitants of the island saw to it that the Christian travelers should not be in need during the rest of their journey.”552

Paul Arrives in Rome (28:11–31)

Paul arrives safely in Rome after a tranquil voyage from Malta. After fellowshiping with believers in the port city of Puteoli, Paul is met by Christians from Rome on his way to the capital city. Luke does not focus on Paul’s ministry to the believers in Rome for the concluding chapter of Acts, but rather describes the apostle’s efforts to evangelize the unbelieving Jewish community in Rome.

THE TWIN GODS

Columns of the temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome.

The book of Acts ends somewhat anticlimactically with no verdict from the Roman court and emperor. Yet, for Luke, the important part of his story has been told. Paul has reached Rome and is there proclaiming the kingdom of God. The full story still remains untold. The church continues to proclaim the gospel as it awaits the return of Christ.

After three months (28:11). All 276 remain on the island for the winter months, probably November and December of A.D. 59 and January of A.D. 60.

An Alexandrian ship (28:11). They are able to book passage on another Alexandrian grain vessel that made it safely into port before the severe Euraquilo storm hit. This vessel, its crew, and passengers have also spent the winter on the island with the boat safely docked at the principal port of the island, known as Valletta today. Although it is still early and risky to sail, the captain of the Alexandrian vessel thinks the conditions are favorable for making it the relatively short distance to Sicily and then to Italy.

With the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux (28:11). This Alexandrian freighter sails under the ensign of the Dioskouroi, the twin sons of Zeus and brothers of Helen.553 They are known by name as Castor and Polydeuces (Latinized as Pollux). The vessel has been dedicated to the appropriate deities, given the fact that the twins were revered as gods who rescue sailors in their distress. They were also worshiped as the third sign of the Zodiac—Gemini.554

Syracuse (28:12). The first port the boat reaches is on the southeast coast of the island of Sicily, about ninety miles north of Malta.555 Syracuse was the center of government for the Roman province (that included the island of Malta). The city was served by two ports, a large one on the mainland and another smaller one on a diminutive island (Ortygia) closely adjacent to the mainland. Still visible today are the remains of a sixth-century B.C. temple of Apollo (also dedicated to Artemis), a fifth-century Greek theater with a semi-circular auditorium hewn from the rock, and a large Roman amphitheater.

SYRACUSE

The remains of the theater.

Arrived at Rhegium (28:13). After the three-day stop in Syracuse, the boat sails another seventy miles to the southwest coast (at the “toe”) of Italy and the port at the city of Rhegium. Rhegium was a strategic Roman city that governed the Strait of Messina, a seven-mile-wide waterway separating Sicily and Italy. There were two navigational hazards fifteen miles to the north of Rhegium and identified with two sisters in Greek mythology—Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla was a large rocky cliff on the Italian side of the strait and Charybdis was a treacherous whirlpool in a narrow channel of the sea on the Sicilian side.556

We reached Puteoli (28:13). With the aid of a southerly wind, the large grain vessel makes the 180-mile trip to Puteoli in just two days.

Puteoli

Throughout the first half of the first century A.D., Puteoli was Rome’s principal shipping port. The bulk of the enormous shipments of grain from Alexandria and north Africa were unloaded at Puteoli.A-158 This was a likely destination, then, for the Alexandrian grain vessel, although the emperor Claudius had improved the port of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber for handling more cargo vessels and had created an additional port (Portus) two miles north of Ostia.

Puteoli, known also by its Greek name Dikearchia, was located in the Roman district of Campania on the north shore of what is today called the Gulf of Naples. The same gulf was also served by another port city, Neapolis (modern Naples), about seven and a half miles south of Puteoli. Campania had yet another port, Cumae, which was located about ten miles northwest of Neapolis. Of the three ports, Puteoli was by far the largest and of greatest significance for trade in the first century.

Puteoli’s harbor was greatly enhanced in the first century with the construction of a breakwater.A-159 This mole was nearly a quarter mile in length. It carried fifteen masonry piers with arches (with at least one triumphal arch), columns with statues, and a lighthouse. The total amount of shoreline for docking and warehouses (the emporium) extended about one and a quarter miles.

The city itself was large. Some have estimated a population of as much as a hundred thousand people in the first century. The beautiful location made it a popular place with the Roman élite who owned villas there. It was also home to many immigrants from the Eastern provinces of the empire, including Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. There is evidence of a sizeable Jewish population in the city.A-160

There we found some brothers (28:14). Paul, Luke, and Aristarchus discover a community of believers in this city. This is not surprising given the volume of travel from the East into Puteoli. The church most likely started from within the Jewish community. These Jews may have been reached by Christian Jews from Rome or just as easily by believers arriving from Ephesus, Alexandria, or elsewhere.

The City of Rome

Important Facts:

■ Population: about 1,000,000

■ Multi-Ethnic Cosmopolitan City: Italians from various districts as well as peoples from Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Judea, Persia, Egypt, North Africa, Spain, Gaul, Germany, Brittania, and elsewhere

■ Religion: the entire pantheon of Roman gods, numerous Greek deities, some Asian, Persian and Egyptian deities, the goddess Roma, and the ruler cult

■ Ports: Ostia, Portus, Puteoli

■ Position: Seat of the Roman Government for the empire and Residence of the Emperor

Invited us to spend a week with them (28:14). Since they are making the rest of the journey to Rome on foot, they do not need to stay in the city to wait for the unloading of the boat or to book passage on a different vessel. The Christians in the city graciously open up their homes and extend warm hospitality to the trio as well as to Paul’s guard, Julius. The offer of free lodging and meals by these kind people probably incline Julius to accept their hospitality. One certainly wonders what is in Julius’ mind after being with the apostle for nearly four months—seeing the miracles, hearing him in prayer and worship, listening to the apostle’s discussions with Luke and Aristarchus, and now experiencing Christian hospitality.

Rome

Rome was the political, economic, and military center of the enormous Roman empire.A-161 It was the wealthiest and most powerful city in the world in the first century.

The city was fifteen miles inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea and situated along the banks of the Tiber river. It was divided into fourteen different regions, the most well known being the Circus Maximus and the Forum Romanum. The perimeter of the city measured just over thirteen miles.

The forum was the hub of the political, religious, and economic life of Rome. Here the Senate building was located as well as the Mamertime prison, where prisoners were kept prior to their executions. The Colosseum had not yet been built (it was completed in A.D. 80). Throughout the city were numerous temples dedicated to many deities and to the deified Caesars. The palaces of the Caesars were located in the Circus Maximus and crowned the Palatine Hill.

Only a small percentage of people in Rome enjoyed its great wealth. Many slaves and poor people lived in Rome, dwelling in large blocks of apartment buildings (insulae) that ranged from three to five stories in size. Some scholars have estimated that as many as two hundred thousand people relied on a government welfare system that provided free grain to the unemployed masses of the city.

Four years after Paul’s arrival in the city, ten of the fourteen districts of Rome burned to the ground (A.D. 64). Nero found the Christians in the city an easy target for blame and began a horrible persecution of these believers, which Tacitus recounts.A-162

And so we came to Rome (28:14). Against all odds—a harrowing voyage lost at sea, shipwreck, and snakebite—Paul arrives at Rome. At this point, he is still on the outskirts, but now it is simply a five- or six-day 130-mile trip up the Via Appia to Rome.

ROME

Interior view of the Colosseum.

The Arch of Constantine, which he built to commemorate his military victory in A.D. 312.

The Church of St. Peter in Montorio, west of the Tiber, commemorating the area where he was said to have been crucified upside-down.

Outside view of the Colosseum.

The brothers there (28:15). Believers in the city of Rome—both Jews and Gentiles—have heard about Paul’s arrival at the port of Puteoli. Perhaps someone from the church at Puteoli has made a quick journey to Rome to inform the fellow Christians there. Paul had written to the believers in Rome several years earlier with his long letter, informing them of his desire to come to the city. The extensive greetings in Romans 16 demonstrate that Paul already knows many Christians in the city.

ROME

It is reasonable to assume that the nucleus of this church had its start shortly after Pentecost when some Jewish pilgrims filled with the Spirit and embracing Jesus as Messiah returned from Jerusalem and shared their new beliefs and experience in the synagogues (cf. 2:10). If not at this earliest stage, then either Jewish Christians from Palestine or the Diaspora went to Rome and shared the gospel or Jewish pilgrims from Rome encountered the gospel on subsequent visits to Jerusalem.557 Since the early 30s, the church had presumably grown in numbers, especially with more and more Gentiles coming to faith in Christ. The church faced a major upheaval in A.D. 49 when Claudius ordered all Jews to leave the city (a proscription that would have included all Christian Jews as well; cf. comments on 18:2). According to Suetonius, there had been much consternation and debate in the synagogues about Christ leading up to this edict from the emperor.558 When Nero became emperor five years later (A.D. 54), it is safe to assume that many Jews (again, including Christian Jews) began trickling back into the city.

The Forum of Appius (28:15). The delegation of Christians from Rome come to meet Paul and his companions at a small market town in Latium about forty miles south of the city on the Appian Way. The forum was located at the juncture of where a canal came close to the main highway. Taking a boat pulled by a mule while the passengers slept made a night-time journey possible (Strabo, Geography 5.3.6). The famous Roman writer Horace complains about the boatmen and “stingy tavern-keepers” at the Forum of Appius, as well as the poor drinking water (which made him ill), the gnats, and the frogs.559

The Three Taverns (28:15). Another group of Christians came as far as Tres Tabernai to meet Paul—a distance of thirty miles south of Rome on the Appian Way. “Tavern” (tabernus in Latin) does not have the same connotation in English as it did in Latin. The tabernai were probably “a group of inns where travelers could rest, eat, and spend the night.”560

Paul thanked God and was encouraged (28:15). Three years earlier Paul wrote, “I have been longing for many years to see you…. Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed” (Rom. 15:23, 31–32). Although his circumstances in coming to Rome are significantly different than what he had anticipated, he has finally arrived and is grateful to God for the opportunity to be with these dear believers. Their prayers have been answered.

Paul was allowed to live by himself (28:16). When Paul enters Rome, the centurion Julius would have taken him to a prisoner reception facility most likely located at the military camp in the northeast part of the city (the Campus Cohortium Praetoriarum). There it is decided to grant Paul a lightened form of military custody. Rather than confining him to custody in a Roman prison, Paul is given the freedom to rent an apartment and live by himself.

[The centurion delivered the prisoners to the stratopedarch, and Paul was allowed to live by himself outside the barracks] (28:16). The manuscripts of the Western form of the text (which, in turn, influenced the Byzantine family of manuscripts and is thus present in the KJV) inserts this historical information. Most scholars, while denying that this insertion was written by Luke, nevertheless believe it contains some valuable historical traditions and regard it as an accurate commentary on the text. The stratopedarch is most likely to be identified as the chief administrator of the Praetorian Guard (the princeps castrorum or the princeps praetorii).561 The passage also suggests that Paul’s apartment would have been located near the Praetorian barracks near the Porta Viminalis in the northeast part of the city. Paul may have been required to reside close to the military camp, which may explain why he did not move into the home of a Roman Christian somewhere else in the city.

With a soldier to guard him (28:16). Paul is no longer assigned a centurion to guard him—only an ordinary soldier. In spite of his lightened form of military custody, he is still bound to this soldier by a chain attached to his wrist (see 28:20).562 Why Paul is granted this form of light custody may have to do with the fact that, upon reviewing the charges and speaking with Julius, the stratopedarch determines that Paul is neither a dangerous criminal nor a flight risk. It may also have to do with the weakness of the case against him—both Festus and Agrippa think that the charges against Paul should be dismissed.

He called together the leaders of the Jews (28:17). Apparently Paul is unable to travel to the synagogues to present his case for Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and hope of Israel. Thus he takes the bold step of inviting the Jewish leaders—presumably the rulers of the synagogues and the elders—to come and dialogue with him. There is no evidence of a centralized organizational structure to the Jewish community in Rome such as the Sanhedrin that functioned in Jerusalem or the gerousia in Alexandria. Rather, the Jewish community is structured as a loosely networked set of religious associations.563

Jews in Rome in the First Century

Life was not easy for Jews in Rome in the first century. There was a great deal of anti-Jewish sentiment, which reached boiling points when the emperor Tiberius expelled the Jews from the city in A.D. 19, and then Claudius carried out the same measure in A.D. 49. It is difficult to know if Claudius’s eviction extended to literally all Jews in the city, the majority, or a large number of perceived troublemakers. Claudius’s edict was issued just eight years before Paul wrote his letter to the Romans and eleven years before he arrived in the city. By the time Paul came to Rome in A.D. 60, there was clearly a substantial number of Jews living in the city again. Because of these vicissitudes, it is impossible to know precisely what the Jewish population in the city would have been at this time. A rough estimate would be twenty to thirty thousand (although some scholars have suggested more).A-163

Although there is evidence of a Jewish presence in Rome as early as the second century B.C., the Jewish population swelled significantly after Pompey conquered Judea and Jerusalem in 63 B.C. The general brought back with him thousands of Jewish prisoners, who were sold as slaves. Many of these people were manumitted during their lifetimes and granted Roman citizenship.A-164 Most of the Jews lived in a Jewish ghetto in the fourteenth district of Rome across the Tiber River—a section called the Trastevere.

Philo provides us with the most detailed information about this community:

He [the emperor Augustus] was aware that the great section of Rome on the other side of the Tiber is occupied and inhabited by Jews, most of whom were Roman citizens emancipated. For having been brought as captives to Italy they were liberated by their owners and were not forced to violate any of their native institutions. He knew therefore that they have houses of prayer (proseuchai = synagogues) and meet together in them, particularly on the sacred Sabbaths when they receive as a body a training in their ancestral philosophy. He knew too that they collect money for sacred purposes from their first-fruits and send them to Jerusalem by persons who would offer the sacrifices.A-165

Numerous Jewish inscriptions (mainly epitaphs) discovered in the city give evidence of at least ten different synagogues by name, although it is difficult to know how many of these date back to the first century.A-166 These inscriptions also point to the fact that some Jews had moved from the Trastevere district to other parts of the city, such as Subura, Porta Capena, and the Campus Martius.

When they had assembled, Paul said to them (28:17). Luke provides us with a concise summary of Paul’s address to them, which summarizes the events surrounding his arrest, trial, and appeal. Paul emphatically denies that he has done anything contrary to the core convictions of Judaism.

ARCH OF TITUS

Built by Domitian to celebrate his brother’s military victory over Jerusalem and Judea.

The Via Sacra from near the Colosseum with Titus’s Arch in the background.

It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain (28:20). Once again, Paul emphasizes that the central issue in his dispute with the Jerusalem authorities is over “the hope of Israel,” which, for Paul, is a belief that Jesus of Nazareth is the fulfillment of Israel’s messianic hope. Bound up closely with this is the belief that Jesus rose from the dead and that there will be a future resurrection (see 23:6; 24:15; 26:6).

We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you (28:21). It would be surprising if the Jerusalem authorities never made contact with the leaders of the Jewish community in Rome about Paul, especially given the effort they expended to do away with Paul while he was in Palestine. It was probably only a matter of time until they received a letter from Jerusalem. It is yet another question as to whether the Jewish leaders would want to go to the expense and trouble of prosecuting their case against Paul before the emperor in Rome, especially knowing the weakness of the case with respect to Roman law.

People everywhere are talking against this sect (28:22). The Roman Jewish community has already debated intensely over whether Jesus was “the Christ,” which led to violent confrontations and rioting—apparently the final straw leading to Claudius’s expulsion of the Jews from the city.564 Evidently, the Jewish community in Rome continued to hear reports from Jews scattered throughout the empire about how disruptive this messianic sect had been in their own communities.

They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day (28:23). In spite of their initial prejudice against Christianity (based on their own experience with Jewish Christians in Rome and the reports they have heard elsewhere), the Jewish leaders show an interest in hearing Paul and debating with him. They probably also have an innate curiosity about why this formerly prominent Pharisee would join such a sect and become an important leader of the movement.

Came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying (28:23). The meeting attracts far more people than Paul anticipates. If Paul’s rented lodging is near the Praetorium barracks, most of the Jews must travel from across the river on the opposite side of the city to get there. Assuming that Paul rents a room on the third- (fourth- or fifth-) story of a tenement house, the available space for such a meeting would have been rather limited.

From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God (28:23). The theme of the kingdom of God is larger and more expansive than a simple proclamation of the gospel (the kerygma). Paul explains the gospel in light of the whole of God’s unfolding plan. Not only would Paul have spent considerable time expounding the plan of God from the Hebrew Scriptures (perhaps by using the LXX), but he would have recited the teaching of Jesus about the kingdom.

Tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets (28:23). Specifically, Paul wants to convince these Jewish leaders that Jesus of Nazareth fulfills the meaning and the promises of the Law and the Prophets. Reciting the relevant passages from Genesis to Malachi, which Paul would have known by heart, he explains how they are uniquely fulfilled in Jesus. As one scholar speculates: “Paul on this occasion must have exerted all his powerful qualities of mind and heart as he endeavored to persuade the leading Jews of Rome of the truth of the gospel…. The debate must have been keen and impassioned.”565

Some were convinced … others would not believe (28:24). This response is typical of Paul’s proclamation of Christ in the Diaspora synagogues.566 The difference this time is that these Jewish leaders have already become exposed to the gospel and are already unfavorably inclined toward the message when they begin listening to Paul. The positive response of some is greatly encouraging to Paul and to the Christian community in Rome.

The Holy Spirit spoke (28:25). This introduction to the passage from Isaiah reveals Paul’s belief in the divine inspiration of the Scriptures.

You will be ever hearing but never understanding…. For this people’s heart has become calloused (28:26–27). When they begin to leave, Paul makes one final statement to the Jewish leaders who remain unconvinced that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. He recites a passage from Isaiah 6:9–10, which speaks of the unresponsiveness of God’s people to divine revelation because of the callousness of their hearts. One can only wonder about the emotion in Paul’s voice as he utters this. In applying this passage to the unresponsive hearers, Paul follows the example of Jesus, who also pronounced these words to Palestinian Jews hostile to his message.567 When Paul wrote to the Roman Christians a few years earlier, he attributed the unresponsiveness of many Jews to their hardened hearts (Rom. 11:7–8).

God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles (28:28). This does not imply a final rejection of the Jews in favor of the Gentiles. Paul anticipates a time when there will be a massive turning of Jews to Jesus the Messiah (see Rom. 11:25–32). This may represent a departure from his principle of “to the Jews first” and a statement that his priority from henceforth will be to reach Gentiles with the gospel. “Luke may well be presenting him as an example for the church generally to follow.”568

For two whole years (28:30). Arriving in Rome in early A.D. 60 (perhaps March), this means that Paul is in custody at least until early in A.D. 62. Probably during this time Luke writes his second volume. At the conclusion of his writing, Paul still has not faced his trial. Had Paul already been released, it is difficult to explain why Luke would not have recorded the outcome of the trial (unless he was planning to do so in a third volume—a work never completed). Paul has been in custody four years, and his readers await the anticipated acquittal by the emperor. It would have made a better ending to the Gospel and Acts to portray Paul as free from chains and proclaiming the gospel to Gentiles in regions beyond Rome.

ROMAN APARTMENT BUILDING

The remains of a multi-storied insula in Ostia, the port city of Rome.

One of the activities Paul engages in during this time is letter writing. From his Roman apartment chained to a soldier, he writes Philippians (if it was not written while he was in prison in Caesarea, or even earlier during his Ephesian ministry), Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians. Philippians may plausibly be explained as having been written just before Paul’s trial at the end of the two years since it reflects an approaching crisis that could end in life or death for the apostle (Phil. 1:19–26).569

In his own rented house (28:30). It is inappropriate for us to think a single story two-bedroom home on a nice suburban street. Paul rents space on an upper floor of a Roman insula—a block apartment in a densely populated urban area. Housing prices were extraordinarily expensive in ancient Rome. Paul’s apartment is probably modest—what we may even call a “slum dwelling.”

How he is able to afford this is a matter of speculation. It is doubtful that he is able to work at his tentmaking business since he is chained by the wrist to a soldier.570 It is possible that Paul may be drawing on an inheritance (this is highly speculative), but far more likely his source of income comes from contributions from fellow believers.

Boldly and without hindrance he preached (28:31). When Paul writes to the Ephesians (probably during this imprisonment), he asks these believers to pray that he will be enabled to proclaim the gospel boldly while he is “in chains” (Eph. 6:19–20). Perhaps he faces the threat of discouragement or intimidation from a variety of quarters. Luke, however, represents Paul as proclaiming the kingdom with great boldness.

REFLECTIONS

Paul was not in ideal circumstances for sharing the gospel. He was confined to his apartment, chained to a Roman soldier, and suffered from some physical limitation (his “thorn in the flesh”). Nevertheless, God strengthened and enabled him to shine brightly in Rome. Do you suffer a physical handicap? Do you feel limited by your circumstances? God delights in empowering the weak to be his witnesses!

The Roman authorities and the soldier chained to Paul could have used a variety of means to silence his proclamation of the gospel. Luke claims that the Roman authorities are tolerant of Paul’s ministry and message during this period of time.

Annotated Bibliography

Commentaries

Bruce, F. F. The Book of the Acts (revised). NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988.

This has been a longstanding classic on the book of Acts. F. F. Bruce had an eye for bringing out helpful historical background information to illuminate the text.

Larkin, William J. Acts. IVPNTC. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1995.

This is an exceptional commentary that properly highlights the strong emphasis on mission throughout Acts. The reader will find valuable insights (especially on cultural issues) and helpful explanations of the text, combined with discussion of practical and contemporary significance.

Marshall, I. Howard. The Acts of the Apostles. TNTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980.

This is an outstanding paperback commentary that provides background information, but gives a greater amount of attention to the theological issues and themes. Marshall has long been appreciated for his lucid writing style.

Williams, David J. Acts. NIBC. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1985.

This is well written and contains many excellent historical and theological insights.

Witherington, Ben, III. The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.

This 874-page volume is perhaps now the best all-around commentary on the book of Acts. It is well written and gives extensive insight into the social and cultural background of each of the passages. Witherington is conversant with the recent scholarship on Acts and makes good use of it for illuminating the meaning of the text.

Special Studies

The Book of Acts in Its First Century Setting. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993–1996.

The Tyndale Fellowship in Cambridge, England, has sponsored the publication of a massive historical study of the book of Acts that has appeared in five volumes. These are indispensible for anyone wanting to gain a firm and up-to-date treatment of the historical background of Acts. The series consists of the following titles:

1. Bruce D. Winter and Andrew D. Clark, eds. The Book of Acts in its Ancient Literary Setting (1993).

2. David W. J. Gill and Conrad Gempf, eds. The Book of Acts in its Graeco-Roman Setting (1994).

3. Brian Rapske. The Book of Acts and Paul in Roman Custody (1994).

4. Richard Bauckham, ed. The Book of Acts in its Palestinian Setting (1995).

5. Irina Levinskaya. The Book of Acts in its Diaspora Setting (1996).

Hengel, Martin, and Anna Maria Schwemer. Paul: Between Damascus and Antioch. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 1997.

This is a landmark historical study of Acts 6–15, covering the years A.D. 33–49.

Riesner, Rainer. Paul’s Early Period: Chronology, Mission Strategy, Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.

This is an invaluable historical study of the historical events and chronology of the events surrounding Paul’s life from his conversion to the writing of 1 Thessalonians.

Chapter Notes

Main Text Notes

1. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.1.1.

2. Ibid., 3.14.1.

3. This is also known as an “Anti-Marcionite prologue.” Cited from J. A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke (New York: Doubleday, 1981), 1:38.

4. Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.4; Jerome, De Viris Illustribus 7.

5. Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:11; Philem. 24.

6. F. G. B. Millar and G. P. Burton, “Equites,” OCD³, 551.

7. R. F. O’Toole, “Theophilus,” ABD, 6.511.

8. C. J. Hemer, The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History (WUNT 49; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1989; rpt. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1990), 362.

9. I. H. Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles (TNTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), 21. This conclusion is reaffirmed by D. Peterson, “Luke’s Theological Enterprise,” in Witness to the Gospel: The Theology of Acts, eds. I. H. Marshall and D. Peterson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 534.

10. J. T. Squires, “The Plan of God,” in Witness to the Gospel, 19–39, esp. 37–39.

11. D. Peterson, “The Motif of Fulfillment,” in Witness to the Gospel, 100–101.

12. J. T. Squires, The Plan of God in Luke-Acts (SNTSMS 76; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 192–94; Peterson, “Luke’s Theological Enterprise,” 540.

13. Peterson, “Luke’s Theological Enterprise,” 540–44.

14. So also Hemer, Book of Acts, 365–410, 414.

15. For further discussion and references, see H. J. Cadbury, “Appendix C: Commentary on the Preface of Luke,” in The Beginnings of Christianity. Part I: The Acts of the Apostles, eds. F. J. Foakes-Jackson and K. Lake (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979; orig. 1932), 4:491.

16. Josephus, Ag. Ap. 2.1 §1

17. See, for example, Pss. Sol. 8:15.

18. See N. Avigad, The Herodian Quarter in Jerusalem (Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, n.d.); B. Blue, “Acts and the House Church,” in The Book of Acts in Its Graeco-Roman Setting, eds. D. W. J. Gill and C. Gempf (BAFCS 2; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 130–38, 140–44.

19. m. Sanh. 1:6.

20. See Marshall, Acts, 64–65; D. J. Williams, “Judas Iscariot,” DJG, 408.

21. L. & K. Ritmeyer, “Akeldama: Potter’s Field or High Priest’s Tomb?” BAR 20.6 (Nov./Dec. 1994): 22–35, 76. Their conclusions are also supported by G. Avni and Z. Greenhut, “Akeldama: Resting Place of the Rich and Famous,” BAR 20.6 (November/December 1994): 36–46.

22. See Luke 10:1; Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 1.12.

23. Lake and Cadbury, Beginnings of Christianity, 4:15.

24. W. Reinhardt, “The Population Size of Jerusalem and the Numerical Growth of the City,” in Acts in its Palestinian Setting, 262–63.

25. J. Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969), 61.

26. Josephus, Ant. 7.15.3 §393.

27. Ibid., 16.7.1 §§179–82.

28. See D. Tarler and J. M. Cahill, “David, City Of,” ABD, 2.64.

29. See H. Shanks, “Is This King David’s Tomb?” BAR 21.1 (Jan./Feb. 1995): 62–67.

30. See BAGD, s.v.

31. M. Broshi, “The Archaeology of Palestine 63 B.C.E.—CE 70,” in CHJ³, 10.

32. 1QS 6:13–25.

33. See Blue, “Acts and the House Church,” Graeco-Roman Setting, 140–44.

34. Josephus, Ant. 14.4.3 §65.

35. m. Tamid 7:3.

36. Jeremias, Jerusalem, 116–17.

37. Josephus, J.W. Trans. G. A. Williamson (New York: Viking Penguin, 1970), 5.5.3 §201.

38. Ibid., 5.5.2 §§190–92.

39. See, for example, Pss. 22, 69; Jer. 11:19; Dan. 9:26; Zech. 13:7.

40. m. Soṭah 7:7–8; m. Tamid 7:3.

41. Josephus, J.W. 2.20.4 §566.

42. Ibid., 2.8.14 §165.

43. Josephus, Ant. 18.1.4 §16. On the Sadducees, see Schürer, HJP², 2:391.

44. G. Bornkamm, “πρέσβυς,” TDNT, 6:659.

45. Ibid., 18.4.3 §95.

46. As cited in P. W. van der Horst, Ancient Jewish Epitaphs: An Introductory Survey of a Millennium of Jewish Funerary Epigraphy (300 B.C.E.–700 C.E.) (Kampen: Kok Pharos Publishing House, 1991), 141.

47. Str-B, 1:876.

48. J. Fitzmyer, The Acts of the Apostles (AB 31; New York: Doubleday, 1998), 301.

49. T. Sol. 22:7.

50. Plato, Apology of Socrates 29D.

51. E.g. Josh. 10:24; 1 Kings 5:3; Ps. 8:6; 110:1.

52. Matt. 22:44; 1 Cor. 15:25–26; Eph. 1:22; Heb. 2:8.

53. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 2.20.112.

54. C. K. Barrett, The Acts of the Apostles, 2 vols., (ICC; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1993–98), 1:259; B. Witherington III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 209.

55. This is the view of J. Duncan M. Derrett, “Ananias, Sapphira, and the Right of Property,” in Studies in the New Testament, vol. 1 (Leiden: Brill, 1977), 197–98.

56. Derrett, “Ananias, Sapphira,” 198.

57. See Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, 2d ed. (New York: United Bible Societies, 1989) §11.32, 78.

58. See also Deut. 4:10; 23:2, 3, 4, 9; Judg. 20:2; 1 Kings 8:14; Ps. 22:22; et al.

59. Marshall, Acts, 115.

60. Cicero, Tusc. 3:12, 26. See P. W. van der Horst, “Shadow,” ABD, 5.1148–50.

61. Ps.-Aristotle, De mirabilibus auscultationibus 145 (157) as reported in P. W. van der Horst, “Peter’s Shadow: The Religio-Historical Background of Acts v.15,” NTS 23 (1976–77): 208.

62. m. ʿAbod. Zar. 3:8.

63. m. ʾOhal. 2:1–2.

64. Tobit 6:7.

65. T. Benj. 5:2.

66. See Luke 4:33, 36; 6:18; 8:29; 9:42; 11:24.

67. K. Lake, “Localities In and Near Jerusalem Mentioned in Acts,” in Beginnings, 5:478.

68. Gen. 22:11; Judg. 6:11, 12, 21; 1 Kings 19:7; 2 Kings 19:35; Isa. 37:6.

69. See, for instance, Duane Garrett, Angels and the New Spirituality (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1995), 19–23.

70. Barrett, Acts, 1:284.

71. Ibid., 1:289.

72. Deut. 26:7; 1 Chron. 29:18; 2 Chron. 20:6; Ezra 7:27.

73. Josephus, Ant. 13.10.6 §297.

74. Hemer, Book of Acts, 162, suggests that Josephus rather than Luke may be wrong on the dating of Theudas.

75. Josephus, J.W. 2.8.1 §118.

76. Josephus, Ant. 18.1.1, 6 §§1–10, 23–25.

77. m. ʾAbot 4:11.

78. Josephus, Ant. 4.8.21 §238.

79. See M. Wilkins, “Disciples,” DJG, 176–82.

80. See, for example, Plato, Meno 82b; Aeschines, Or. 3.172. For additional texts, see Barrett, Acts, 1:308.

81. Chrysostom, Hom. Act. 21.1; Migne, PG, 60:164 (as reported in Hengel, “Between Jesus and Paul,” 6).

82. See M. O. Wise, “Languages of Palestine,” DJG, 434–44.

83. See Witherington, “A Closer Look—The Hellenists,” Acts, 240–47.

84. J. J. Scott, “The Church’s Progress to the Council of Jerusalem According to the Book of Acts,” BBR 7 (1997): 209–11.

85. See the evidence in M. Hengel, “Between Jesus and Paul,” in Between Jesus and Paul: Studies in the Earliest History of Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983), 16 and n. 109 on p. 147.

86. Jeremias, Jerusalem, 131. He cites m. Peʾah 8:7 and a variety of texts from the Talmuds.

87. Such a suggestion occurs as early as Irenaeus (Haer. 1.26.3; 3.12.10; 4.15.1).

88. Barrett, Acts, 1:304.

89. Josephus, J.W. 2.20.5 §571.

90. Josephus, Ant. 4.8.14 §214.

91. For references, see Barrett, Acts, 1:312 and Str-B, 2:641.

92. Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 1.26.3 and Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.29.1–3.

93. Ex. 29:10, 15, 19; Lev. 1:4; 3:2, 8, 13; 4:15.

94. For the texts, see Str-B, 2:647–61.

95. Jeremias, Jerusalem, 204.

96. See R. Riesner, “Excursus I: An Essene Quarter in Jerusalem?,” in Acts in its Palestinian Setting, 190–92.

97. Philo, Embassy 155.

98. Tacitus, Ann. 2.85.

99. M. Hengel, The “Hellenization” of Judea in the First Century after Christ (Philadelphia: Trinity Press, 1989), 13.

100. W. Schrage, “συναγωγή,” TDNT, 7:837

101. t. Meg. 3.6; cf. also y. Meg. 73d.

102. See Str-B, 2.661–65; Schürer, HJP², 2:76, 445; b. Meg. 26b.

103. N. Avigad, “A Depository of Inscribed Ossuaries in the Kidron Valley,” IEJ 12 (1962): 1–12 (cited in Fitzmyer, Acts, 358).

104. Gos. Thom. 71.

105. Witherington, Acts, 260.

106. See W. A. van Gemeren, “Shekinah,” ISBE, 4.466–68.

107. Josephus, Ant. 12.3.3 §136.

108. On “glory,” see C. C. Newman, “Glory,” DLNT, 394–400.

109. Josephus, Ant. 2.8.2 §199.

110. Ibid., 2.9.7 §236.

111. J. Jeremias, “Μωϋσῆς,” TDNT, 4:851.

112. Marshall, Acts, 141.

113. m. ʾAbot 2:7.

114. See M. Stohl, “Sakkuth,” DDD², 722–23; idem, “Kaiwan,” DDD², 478.

115. G. C. Heider, “Molech,” DDD², 585.

116. 2 Kings 21:62; 2 Chron. 28:3.

117. See R. K. Harrison, “Molech,” ISBE, 3:401–2; 2 Kings 17:17; 21:6; Ps. 106:38; Ezek. 16:21.

118. Fitzmyer, Acts, 383; Bruce, Acts, 147 (note 78).

119. Fitzmyer, Acts, 384.

120. Witherington, Acts, 273.

121. 2 Chron. 24:20–21; Neh. 9:26; Jer. 2:30; 26:20–24.

122. Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho 120.5; Tertullian, De patientia 14; Scorpiace 8.

123. See also Ps. 68:17; Josephus, Ant. 15.5.3 §136.

124. For the texts, see Str-B, 3:554–56.

125. See R. Riesner, Paul’s Early Period: Chronology, Mission Strategy, Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 59–63.

126. Ps. 37:12; see also Lam. 2:16; Ps. 112:10.

127. See also Eph. 1:20; 1 Peter 3:22.

128. See Dan. 7:13; 1 En. 46–53.

129. Acts 13:21; Rom. 11:1; Phil. 3:5.

130. Based on the use of the word in Philo, Cherubim 32 (§114) and Diogenes Laertius 8.10.

131. See Fitzmyer, Acts, 394.

132. m. Sanh. 6.6.

133. For the references, see Lake and Cadbury, Beginnings, 4.88.

134. See F. S. Spencer, “Philip the Evangelist,” DLNT, 929–31.

135. Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.39.9–10.

136. Hengel, “Luke the Historian,” 115.

137. Josephus, Ant. 13.10.2–3 §§275–83; J.W. 1.2.7 §§64–65.

138. Josephus, Ant. 14.5.3 §88; J.W. 1.8.4 §166. On Herod renaming the restored city, see Ant. 15.8.5 §392; J.W. 1.21.2 §403.

139. See Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.23.1–4; Origen, Cont. Cel. 6.11; Tertullian, de Anima 34; Against All Heresies 1; Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.13–14.

140. See E. M. Yamauchi, “Gnosis, Gnosticism,” DPL 350–54.

141. See C. E. Arnold, “Magical Papyri,” DNTB, 666–70.

142. E. Lane, Corpus Monumentorum Religionis Dei Menis, part 1 (EPRO 19; Leiden: Brill, 1971), 45–46 (no. 69).

143. So also Witherington, Acts, 289; Bruce, Acts, 170.

144. Barrett, Acts, 1:413.

145. Ibid., 1:416–17.

146. Homer, Odyssey 1.22–23.

147. See also Strabo, Geog 1.1.6; Philostratus, Vit. Apoll. 6.1; Herodotus, Hist. 3.114.

148. Josephus, Ant. 14.5.3 §§86–88.

149. F. L. Horton and J. A. Blakely, “ ‘Behold, Water!’ Tell el-Hesi and the Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26–40),” RB 107 (2000): 56–71.

150. On Ethiopia, see R. G. Morkot, “Ethiopia,” OCD³, 558; “Nubia,” OCD³, 1052; R. H. Smith, “Ethiopia,” ABD, 2:665.

151. BAGD, s.v.

152. Schürer, HJP², 3.1.57–59.

153. CPJ, II.432.57–61 (AD 113).

154. A. Segal, Rebecca’s Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1986), 93.

155. Spencer, Portrait of Philip, 178–80; Barrett, Acts, 1:431.

156. See also Barrett, Acts, 1:434.

157. Irenaeus, Haer. 3.12.8; see also Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.1.13.

158. On Azotus, see M. Dothan, “Ashdod,” ABD, 1:477–82; idem, “Ashdod,” NEAE, 1:93–102.

159. Hengel & Schwemer, Paul, 131; Riesner, Paul’s Early Period, 87.

160. See McRay, Archaeology, 233–34; idem, “Damascus (The Greco-Roman Period),” ABD, 2:8.

161. 2 Sam. 7:14; see also Ps. 89:26–27; Ps. 2:7.

162. See Hengel & Schwemer, Paul,106–26.

163. Ibid., Paul, 132.

164. See Acts 9:11; 21:39; 22:3.

165. Hengel & Schwemer, Paul, 174.

166. See Ezra 2:33; Neh. 7:37; 11:35.

167. Josephus, J.W. 32.3.5 §§54–58.

168. Ibid., 2.19.1 §513.

169. See J. Kaplan, “Lod,” NEAE, 3:917; W. Ewing & R. K. Harrison, “Lod,” ISBE, 3:150–51.

170. On Joppa, see J. Kaplan & H. Ritter-Kaplan, “Jaffa,” NEAE, 2:655–59; idem, “Joppa,” ABD, 3:946–49.

171. Josephus, J.W. 3.9.3 §§419–27.

172. Schürer, HJP², 2:110–14.

173. m. Šabb. 23.5.

174. b. Pesaḥ 65a.

175. See Jeremias, Jerusalem, 309–10.

176. On Caesarea, see R. L. Hohlfelder, “Caesarea,” ABD, 1:798–803; K. G. Holum, A. Raban, A. Negev, A. Frova, M. Avi-Yonah, L. I. Levine, and E. Netzer, “Caesarea,” NEAE, 1:271–91; K. G. Holum, R. L. Hohlfelder, R.J. Bull, and A. Raban, King Herod’s Dream: Caesarea on the Sea (New York: Norton, 1988).

177. Josephus, J.W. 1.21.7 §414, ed. Williamson.

178. Ibid., 2.18.1 §457.

179. Appian, Civil War 1.100.

180. H. M. D. Parker and G. R. Watson, “Centurio,” OCD³, 310.

181. D. Kennedy, “Roman Army,” ABD, 5:791.

182. Polybius, Histories 6.24.9 (as cited in W. J. Larkin, Acts [IVPNTC; Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1995], 153).

183. M. J. Olson, “Italian Cohort,” ABD, 3:578–79; T. R. S. Broughton, “The Roman Army,” in Beginnings, 5:441–43.

184. Broughton, “Roman Army,” 442.

185. See Acts 5:19; 8:26; 12:7; 27:23.

186. BAGD, s.v.

187. W. Hauck, “κοινός,” TDNT, 3:790.

188. Midrash on Psalm 146 as cited in Barrett, Acts, 1:509.

189. Fitzmyer, Acts, 457.

190. m. ʾOhal. 18:7.

191. BAGD, s.v.

192. See the discussion in Schürer, HJP², 2:81–83.

193. J. J. Scott, “The Cornelius Incident in the Light of its Jewish Setting,” JETS 34 (1991): 482.

194. Witherington, Acts, 356.

195. C. W. Stenschke, Luke’s Portrait of Gentiles Prior to Their Coming to Faith (WUNT 2/108; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1999), 153.

196. See R. F. Youngblood, “Peace,” ISBE, 3:731–33.

197. Barrett, Acts, 1:527.

198. On the Roman familia, see F. Dupont, Daily Life in Ancient Rome (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992), 103–6.

199. Schürer, HJP², 3:1:15.

200. Philo, Embassy 36 (281–82).

201. BAGD, s.v.

202. Hengel & Schwemer, Paul, 205–24.

203. Didache 11:7–12; Hermas, Mandate 11:1–21.

204. Hermas, Mandate 11:3, 17.

205. The best discussion of these famines and the impact they had on Judea is in Riesner, Paul’s Early Period, 125–36.

206. Winter, “Acts and Food Shortages,” in Graeco-Roman Setting, 61–62.

207. Dio Cassius, Hist. 59.17.2, 60.11.1–4; Suetonius, Gaius 39.1; P. Michigan 123, 127; see Riesner, Paul’s Early Period, 129.

208. Orosius, Adv. Pag. 7.6.12.

209. Josephus, Ant. 12.8.3, 4, 6 §§272, 274, 284.

210. Suetonius, Claud. 2.

211. 1 Cor. 6:1–4; 2 Cor. 8–9.

212. For further support of the view that the visit of Acts 11:30 and 12:25 = the visit of Gal. 2:1–10, see: Witherington, Acts, 375 and Appendix 1, 817–20; Bruce, Acts, 231; Hemer, Book of Acts, chaps. 6–7.

213. On Herod Agrippa I, see Josephus, Ant. 18–19. See also D. R. Schwartz, Agrippa I: The Last King of Judaea (TSAJ 23; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1990); Schürer, HJP², 1:442–54; D. C. Braund, “Agrippa,” ABD, 1:98–100; H. W. Hoehner, “Herod,” ISBE, 2:696–97.

214. Josephus, Ant. 19.7.3 §331.

215. See Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.1, 20, 23–24.

216. Ibid., 2.1, 9; 3.5.

217. See m. Sanhedrin 7:3, 9:3.

218. Riesner, Paul’s Early Period, 119.

219. On the feast of Unleavened Bread, see: B. M. Bokser, “Unleavened Bread and Passover, Feasts Of,” ABD, 6:755–65; M. O. Wise, “Feasts,” DJG, 234–41.

220. As cited in H. Conzelmann, Acts of the Apostles (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987), 93; Vegetius, On Military Affairs 3.8.

221. See B. Rapske, Paul in Roman Custody (BAFCS 3; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 206–207; Lucian, Tox. 29.

222. Barrett, Acts, 1:583.

223. See Blue, “Acts and the House Church,” 135–36.

224. Hemer, Book of Acts, 227.

225. See also Barrett, Acts, 1:584.

226. See M. Noll, Angels of Light, Powers of Darkness (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 170–72.

227. Acts 15:13; Gal. 1:19; 2:9, 12.

228. Josephus, Ant. 20.9.1 §200.

229. R. Bauckham, “James and the Jerusalem Church,” in Palestinian Setting, 434–35.

230. Code of Justinian 9.4.4.

231. Ibid., 19.8.2 §351.

232. J. D. G. Dunn, The Acts of the Apostles (NC; Philadelphia: Trinity Press, 1996), 173.

233. On Seleucia, see A. H. M. Jones, H. Seyrig, & S. Sherwin-White, “Seleucia in Pieria,” OCD³, 1380; L. J. Hoppe, “Seleucia,” ABD, 5:1075–76; W. S. LaSor, “Seleucia,” ISBE, 4:384–85.

234. H. W. Catling, “Salamis,” OCD³, 1347; E. Meyer, “Salamis,” Der Kleine Pauly, 4:1505–1506; C. Gempf, “Salamis,” ABD, 5:904–905.

235. Barrett, Acts, 1:612.

236. See Gill, “Cyprus,” 220–23, for a discussion of Paul’s likely route.

237. H. W. Catling, “Paphos,” OCD³, 1108; E. Meyer, “Paphos,” Der Kleine Pauly, 4:484–87.

238. H. J. Klauck, Magie und Heidentum in der Apostelgeschichte des Lukas (SBS 167; Stuttgart: Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1996), 61.

239. See C. E. Arnold, Powers of Darkness: Principalities and Powers in Paul’s Letters (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 71–74; Klauck, Magie und Heidentum, 62.

240. Josephus, Ant. 20.7.2 §142.

241. Suetonius, Aug. 94–98.

242. See G. J. Toomer, “Claudius Thrasyllus,” OCD³, 343. See also A. D. Nock, “Paul and the Magus,” in Beginnings, 5:183–84; Suetonius, Tiberius 14, 62; Gaius 19.

243. Suetonius, Nero 36, 40.

244. Pliny, Nat. Hist. 30.17; Suetonius, Nero 56.

245. CIL, 6.31543.

246. On this inscription, now see Nobbs, “Cyprus,” in Graeco-Roman Setting, 279–89 and Mitchell, Anatolia, 2:6–7.

247. W. Ramsay, The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1953 [rep. of 1915 ed.]), 151.

248. Mitchell, Anatolia, 2:6.

249. Ibid., 2:6; Nobbs, “Cyprus,” 287; S. Mitchell and M. Waelkens, Pisidian Antioch: The Site and its Monuments (London: Duckworth, 1998), 12.

250. See Hemer, Book of Acts, 227–28.

251. LSJ, s.v.

252. F. F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 37–40; idem, New Testament History (New York: Doubleday, 1972), 234–35.

253. Riesner, Paul’s Early Period, 151–54.

254. On Perga, see E. A. Judge, “Perga,” ISBE, 3:767–68; W. W. Gasque, “Perga,” ABD, 5:228; G. E. Bean & S. Mitchell, “Perge,” OCD³, 1139.

255. On Pisidia, see W. H. C. Frend, “Pisidia,” ISBE 3.873–74; S. Mitchell, “Pisidia,” OCD³, 1186; W. W. Gasque, “Pisidia,” ABD, 5:374–75.

256. Mitchell, Anatolia, 2.4.

257. Schürer, HJP², 2:441–43.

258. Ibid., 2:447–48.

259. See Schürer, HJP², 2:456–59; Num. 15:37–41; Deut. 6:4–9; 11:13–21; m. Meg. 4:3.

260. Philo, Spec. Laws 2.62 (Yonge trans.).

261. Witherington, Acts, 406–407.

262. b. Ketub. 96a.

263. Barrett, Acts, 1:658.

264. See also Ps. 69:28; Rev. 13:8; 17:8; 20:12–15; 21:27.

265. Mitchell, “Antioch of Pisidia,” 265; Mitchell and Waelkens, Pisidian Antioch, 12.

266. Str-B, 1:571.

267. See C. Kruse, “Apostle, Apostleship,” DLNTD, 76–82.

268. A. H. M. Jones and S. Mitchell, “Lycaonia,” OCD³, 894; F. F. Bruce, “Lycaonia,” ABD, 4:420–22.

269. C. Breytenbach, “Zeus und der lebendige Gott: Anmerkungen zu Apostelgeschichte 14.11–17,” NTS 39 (1993): 399; Mitchell, Anatolia, 1:173.

270. Mitchell, Anatolia, 1:173.

271. Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.618–724.

272. See Mitchell, Anatolia, 1:24.

273. Iamblichus, De misteriis 1.1.

274. See Hemer, Book of Acts, 195–96.

275. See L. H. Martin, “Hermes,” DDD², 409; F. Graf, “Zeus,” DDD², 939.

276. See Herodotus, Hist. 7.197.2.

277. See “Grief,” DBI, 351–52.

278. Num. 14:6; 2 Kings 18:37; 19:1; 22:11; Ezra 4:1.

279. m. Sanhedrin 7:5.

280. Bar. 6:17 (LXX = v. 15), see the extended polemic in vv. 3–72; see also Deut. 4:28; Ps. 115:4–8; Isa. 44:9–20; Wis. 15:15–19.

281. Letter of Aristeas 135.

282. See also 1 Sam. 17:36; 2 Kings 19:4, 16; Ps. 42:2; 84:2.

283. Bel and the Dragon 4–5.

284. See Ps. 146:6; 4Q521 5.ii.2.

285. m. Ber. 9:2.

286. Breytenbach, “Zeus und der lebendige Gott,” 399–400.

287. Foakes-Jackson and Lake, Beginnings, 4:162.

288. Barrett, Acts, 1:688.

289. Ex. 29:36; 30:10; Lev. 16:30; Isa. 53:10.

290. See Ex. 15:22–27; Num. 14:22.

291. m. ʾAbot 3.5.

292. Barrett, Acts, 2:721.

293. CD 7:16; 4QFlor 1:12–13.

294. See, for example, Isa. 45:20–23; Jer. 12:15–16; Zech. 8:22.

295. Vita Greg. Thaumaturg. 46:944, as cited in Witherington, Acts, 462.

296. See, for example, Sir. 23:23; T. Reu. 3:3; 4:6; 5:3.

297. See 1 Cor. 6:18; 7:2; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3; Heb. 13:4.

298. Wis. 14:23–27; see also 1 Cor. 10:7–8; Rev. 2:14, 20.

299. See A. J. M. Wedderburn, “The ‘Apostolic Decree’: Tradition and Redaction,” NovT 35 (1993): 384–89.

300. Origen, Against Celsus 8.30.

301. Comm. on Isaiah 236 on 10:11 as cited in Wedderburn, “Apostolic Decree,” 385.

302. For a full presentation of this view, see Wedderburn, “Apostolic Decree,” 362–89.

303. Philo, Spec. Laws 2.15 (§ 62).

304. 2 Cor. 1:19; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1.

305. For example, Witherington, Acts, 468; Barrett, Acts, 2.741.

306. Deut. 29:28; Jer. 32:37.

307. Str-B, 2:741.

308. See m. Qidd. 3:12.

309. C. J. Hemer, “The Adjective Phrygia,” JTS 27 (1976): 122–26; idem, “Phrygia: A Further Note,” JTS 28 (1977): 99–101.

310. Mitchell, Anatolia, 2:3.

311. See, for example, Fitzmyer, Acts, 578.

312. Mitchell, Anatolia, 2:3.

313. On Bithynia, see T. R. S. Broughton & S. Mitchell, “Bithynia,” OCD³, 244–45; and A. Sheppard, “Bithynia,” ABD, 1:750–53.

314. Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.4.

315. Witherington, Acts, 485.

316. C. Gempf, “Neapolis,” ABD, 4:1052.

317. On Roman colonization, see A. N. Sherwin-White and B. M. Levick, “Colonization, Roman,” OCD³, 364.

318. C. Koukouli-Chrysantaki, “Colonia Iulia Augusta Philippensis,” in Bakirtzis and Koester, Philippi, 21.

319. See Schürer, HJP², 2:439–41; 3:1:65; Str-B, 2:742; W. Schrage, “συναγωγή,” TDNT, 7:814; H. Greeven, “προσευχή,” TDNT, 2:808. For further arguments for this conclusion, see D. L. Matson, Household Conversion Narratives in Acts (JSNTSup 123; Sheffield: University Press, 1996), 145–46.

320. Koukouli-Chrysantaki, “Philippensis,” 28–35.

321. m. Meg. 1:4; 4:3.

322. Hemer, Book of Acts, 114.

323. Homer, Iliad 4.141–42.

324. Pliny, Nat. Hist. 7.56.195.

325. For references, see C. J. Hemer, “Lydia and the Purple Trade,” in New Documents, 3:54.

326. IG 10:2:1:291.

327. Koukouli-Chrysantaki, “Philippensis,” 26.

328. Van der Horst, Ancient Jewish Epitaphs, 136.

329. See L. Maurizio, “Anthropology and Spirit Possession: A Consideration of the Pythia’s Role at Delphi,” JHS 115 (1995): 69–86, esp. 83–86.

330. On the Python, see J. W. van Henten, “Python,” DDD², 669–71. See also C. Arnold, Powers of Darkness, 32–33; Plutarch, De Defectu Oraculorum 9 (414e).

331. See 2 Kings 22:14; Ps. 54(57):3; 77(78):35, 56.

332. See C. Breytenbach, “Hypsistos,” DDD², 439–43; Trebilco, “Paul and Silas—‘Servants of the Most High God’ (Acts 16:16–18),” JSNT 36 (1989): 51–73.

333. m. Sanh. 7:7.

334. Origen, De Principiis 3.4.5.

335. Clementine Homilies 9.16.

336. H. Koester, “Paul and Philippi: The Evidence from Early Christian Literature,” in Philippi, 52.

337. For the many references, see Schürer, HJP², 3.1.150–56.

338. Tacitus, Histories 5.5.

339. As cited in Fitzmyer, Acts, 587; Cicero, De legibus 2.8.19.

340. Rapske, Roman Custody, 126.

341. Ibid., 127.

342. Acts 13:52; Gal. 5:22.

343. Barrett, Acts, 2:800.

344. As cited in Rapske, Roman Custody, 49; Livy 10.9.4; see also, Cicero, De Republica 2.31.

345. Ulpian in Digesta 48.6.7.

346. Strabo, Geog. 7.7.4; 7. Frag. 24.

347. For more information about Thessalonica, see Gill, “Macedonia,” 414–15; H. L. Hendrix, “Thessalonica,” ABD, 6:523–27.

348. I. Levinskaya, The Book of Acts in Its Diaspora Setting (BAFCS 5; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 155.

349. See F. M. Gillman, “Jason,” ABD, 3:649.

350. Dio Cassius, Roman History 56.25.5–6.

351. E. A. Judge, “The Decrees of Caesar at Thessalonica,” RTR 30 (1971): 3–4; Dio Cassius, Roman History 57.15.8.

352. Judge, “Decrees of Caesar,” 6.

353. See McRay, Archaeology, 295–97.

354. See Gill, “Macedonia,” 415–17.

355. See Levinskaya, Diaspora Setting, 158–62.

356. See McRay, Archaeology, 302–8.

357. For a good description of the characteristics and beliefs of these two philosophical schools, see E. Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 333–56; T. Schmeller, “Stoics, Stoicism,” ABD, 6:210–14; E. Asmis, “Epicureanism,” ABD, 2:559–61.

358. Cited in W. Meeks, The Moral World of the First Christians (LEC; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1986), 59; Epistle to Menoeceus = Diogenes Laertius 10.13f.

359. See Hemer, Book of Acts, 117.

360. On the Areopagus, see H. M. Martin, “Areopagus,” ABD, 1.370–72; T. J. Cadoux, “Areopagus,” OCD², 102–103.

361. C. Hemer, “Paul at Athens: A Topographical Note,” NTS 20 (1974): 341–50, contends that Paul appeared before a formal session of the court in the agora in the immediate neighborhood of the Stoa Basileios.

362. Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.38.5 (as cited by Bruce, Acts, 332).

363. For an outstanding concise treatment of this speech, see C. Gempf, “Athens, Paul at,” DPL, 51–54.

364. Williams, Acts, 297.

365. Description of Greece 1:1:14.

366. Life of Apollonius of Tyana 6:3:5.

367. Lives of Philosophers 1:110.

368. Quoted in Bruce, Acts, 339.

369. Ibid.

370. Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 4.23.3.

371. On the city of Corinth, see J. Murphy-O’Connor, “Corinth,” ABD, 1:1134–39; idem, St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and Archaeology (GNS 6; Wilmington, Del.: Liturgical Press, 1983); idem, “The Corinth That Paul Saw,” BA 47 (1984): 147–59; J. Wiseman, “Corinth and Rome I: 228 B.C.–A.D. 267,” ANRW, II.7.1 (1979), 438–548; V. P. Furnish, “Corinth in Paul’s Time: What Can Archaeology Tell Us?” BAR 14 (1988): 14–27.

372. Strabo, Geog. 8.6.20.

373. McRay, Archaeology, 315–17, has made a good case supporting the credibility of Strabo’s account and the extensive sexual immorality in the city.

374. Bruce, Acts, 346 n. 4.

375. See P. Lampe, “Prisca,” ABD, 5:467–68; idem, “Aquila,” ABD, 1:319–20.

376. Philo, Embassy 159–61; Suetonius, Tib. 36.

377. Dio Cassius, Roman History 60:6 (as cited in Bruce, History, 295).

378. Suetonius, Claud. 25.4.

379. See P. W. Barnett, “Tentmaking,” DPL, 925–27.

380. P. Lampe, “Paulus—Zeltmacher,” BZ 31 (1987): 256–61.

381. Murphy-O’Connor, “Corinth,” 149.

382. Pirqe ʾAbot 2.12 (as cited in Barnett, “Tentmaking,” DPL, 927).

383. See Levinskaya, Diaspora Setting, 162–66.

384. On Gallio, see K. Haacker, “Gallio,” ABD, 2:901–903; see also B. W. Winter, “Gallio’s Ruling on the Legal Status of Early Christianity (Acts 18:14–15),” TynBul 50 (1999): 213–24.

385. The entire Greek text is given in Foakes-Jackson and Lake, Beginnings, 5:460–64. An English translation of the text can be found in C. K. Barrett, The New Testament Background: Selected Documents, rev. and exp. ed. (San Francisco: Harper, 1989), 51–52.

386. The translation is from Barrett, Background, 51–52. The brackets indicate places where the text has been restored. In the original, the text is broken away at these points.

387. Winter, “Gallio’s Ruling,” 222.

388. Ibid., 221.

389. Jewish traditions about the Nazirite vow are contained in the tractate “Nazir” in the Mishnah (see the English translation by H. Danby, The Mishnah [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933], 280–93).

390. On Apollos, see B. B. Blue, “Apollos,” DPL, 37–39 and L. D. Hurst, “Apollos,” ABD, 1:301.

391. For more information about Ephesus, see Trebilco, “Asia,” 302–57; R. Oster, “Ephesus,” ABD, 2:542–49; and C. E. Arnold, “Ephesus,” DPL, 249–53. Serious students will also want to consult, Helmut Koester, ed., Ephesus: Metropolis of Asia (HTS 41; Valley Forge, Penn.: Trinity Press, 1995).

392. Strabo, Geog. 14.1.24.

393. Aelius Aristides, Orat. 23.24.

394. Marshall, Acts, 306; Witherington, Acts, 570.

395. S. M. Baugh, “Paul and Ephesus: The Apostle Among His Contemporaries,” Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation (Irvine, Calif.: University of California Press, 1990): 81–82.

396. Levinskaya, Diaspora Setting, 146; Inschriften von Ephesos 1251.

397. This was granted by Antiochus II Theos (287–246 B.C.); Josephus, Ant. 12.4.10 §225.

398. For a discussion of Jews in Ephesus, see Levinskaya, Diaspora Setting, 143–48.

399. Inschriften von Ephesos 1676, 1677; D. Knibbe and B. Iplikcioglu, “Neue Inschriften aus Ephesos IX,” JOAIW 55, Hauptblatt 107 no. 4101 (1984). See the discussion in Baugh, “Paul and Ephesus,” 82–86.

400. Baugh, “Paul in Ephesus,” 99.

401. Trebilco, “Asia,” 312–14.

402. This translation is from: H. D. Betz, ed., The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), 96; Papyrus Graecae Magicae 4:3007–3025.

403. See Acts 24:17; Rom. 15:25–31; 1 Cor. 16:1–4; 2 Cor. 8–9.

404. The key study on this theme has been written by R. Oster, “The Ephesian Artemis as an Opponent of Early Christianity,” JAC 19 (1976): 24–44.

405. See R. A. Kearsley, “Asiarch,” in ABD, 1:495–97; Baugh, “Paul in Ephesus,” 132–64.

406. Cited in Trebilco, “Asia,” 347; Dio Chrysostom, Orationes 34.33.

407. Bruce, Acts, 381.

408. See Riesner, Paul’s Early Period, 316.

409. See N. Purcell, “Houses, Italian,” OCD³, 731–32.

410. Bruce, Acts, 387.

411. See the chart in Witherington, Acts, 610.

412. See Witherington, Acts, 616; Mark 10:41–45; Rom. 12:16; 2 Cor. 10:1; Phil. 2:3.

413. Ezek. 33:2–5; see also Ezek. 3:18–21.

414. Homer, Odyssey 8163.

415. H. Beyer, “ἐπίσκοπος,” TDNT, 2:610; Plato, Leges 8.849a.

416. G. A. Deissmann, Bible Studies (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1923), 230–31; MM, 244–45.

417. Philo, Heir 30.

418. 1 Tim. 1:19–20; 4:1–3; 2 Tim. 2:17–18; 3:1–9.

419. 1 Cor. 9:12–15; 2 Cor. 11:7–11; 1 Thess. 2:9.

420. For references, see Barrett, Acts, 2:983.

421. Witheringon, Acts, 626.

422. On Cos, see W. A. Laidlay and S. Sherwin-White, “Cos,” OCD³, 403–4.

423. Hemer, Book of Acts, 125.

424. Barrett, Acts, 2:990–91, reaches a similar conclusion.

425. On Ptolemais, see M. Dothan & Z. Goldmann, “Acco,” NEAE, 1:16–17; M. Dothan, “Acco,” ABD, 1:50–53; Schürer, HJP², 2:121–25.

426. Josephus, J.W. 3.3.1 §35.

427. Ibid., 2.18.5 §477.

428. Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.31; 5.24; see also 3.39.

429. Isa. 20:2–4; see also 1 Kings 11:29–39; Jer. 27:1–22; Ezek. 4–5.

430. Lake and Cadbury, Beginnings, 4:269.

431. Xenophon, Hellenica 5.3.1.

432. On Mnason, see J. Paulien, “Mnason,” ABD, 4:881–82.

433. Barrett, Acts, 2:1003.

434. For example, Bruce, Acts, 404–405.

435. See Acts 24:17; Rom. 15:25–27, 31; Gal. 2:10; 1 Cor. 16:1–4; 2 Cor. 8:1–7; 9:1–5.

436. Josephus, Ant. 19.6.1 §§293–294.

437. Fitzmyer, Acts, 694; m. ʾOhal. 2.3.

438. Jeremias, Jerusalem, 210.

439. Josephus, J.W. 5.5.8 §244.

440. Ibid., 5.5.8 §243.

441. Rapske, Roman Custody, 140.

442. See Rapske, Roman Custody, 141–42.

443. Philostratus, Life of Apollonius 6.34.

444. G. H. R. Horsley, “The Fiction of ‘Jewish Greek,’ ” in New Documents, 5:23.

445. This is the conclusion of W. C. van Unnik, Tarsus or Jerusalem: The City of Paul’s Youth (London: Epworth Press, 1962), 52.

446. See Hengel, Pre-Christian Paul, 18–39.

447. H. W. Tajra, The Trial of St. Paul (WUNT 2/35; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1989), 86.

448. Barclay, Diaspora, 383.

449. Marshall, Acts, 355.

450. Rapske, Roman Custody, 139.

451. Suetonius, Claudius 25; Epictetus, Disc. 3.24.41.

452. Sherwin-White, Roman Law, 154–55.

453. Dio Cassius 60.17.5–7.

454. Tajra, Trial, 75.

455. W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1896), 30–32; Bruce, Paul, 37–40; idem, New Testament History, 234–35; C. J. Hemer, “The Name of Paul,” TynBul 36 (1986): 183; Tajra, Trial, 83.

456. Hengel, Pre-Christian Paul, 11–14.

457. Ibid., 2.8.14 §165.

458. E.g. Ps. 49:15; Isa. 26:19; Hos. 6:1–3; 13:14.

459. See 2 Macc. 7:9, 11, 14, 22–23, 29; see also 2 Macc. 12:43–44; 14:46.

460. m. Sanh. 10.1.

461. Dunn, Acts, 304, takes a similar position.

462. Johnson, Acts, 399.

463. See Schürer, HJP², 2:223–25; A. J. Saldarini, “Sanhedrin,” ABD, 5:977–78.

464. E. A. Judge in New Documents, 1:78.

465. LSJ, s.v.

466. On Antipatris, see Murphy-O’Connor, Holy Land, 161–63; Schürer, HJP², 2:167–68; M. Kochavi, “Antipatris,” ABD, 1:273–74.

467. Josephus, Ant. 1.21.9 §417.

468. Rapske, Roman Custody, 155.

469. Josephus, J.W. 1.21.5 §408.

470. See Tajra, Trial, 120. See also B. Winter, “The Importance of the captatio benevolentiae in the Speeches of Tertullus and Paul in Acts 24:1–21,” JTS 42 (1991): 505–31.

471. Cited in Sherwin-White, Roman Law, 51.

472. E.g. Prov. 19:25; 21:24; 22:10.

473. Josephus, J.W. 13.5.9 §171.

474. Tajra, Trial, 122; Fitzmyer, Acts, 734.

475. Tajra, Trial, 124.

476. B. Winter, “Official Proceedings and the Forensic Speeches in Acts 24–26,” in The Book of Acts in Its Ancient Literary Setting (BAFCS 1; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 334.

477. E. Haenchen, The Acts of the Apostles (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1971), 654, n. 2 (based on an explanation by Adolf Schlatter). See now also Witherington, Acts, 654; Hemer, Book of Acts, 192.

478. For a discussion of the many Jewish texts that teach a general resurrection, see Str-B, 4:2:1166–98.

479. Sherwin-White, Roman Law, 52.

480. Rapske, Roman Custody, 172.

481. Josephus, Ant. 19.9.1 §354; Schürer, HJP², 1:461.

482. Ibid., 20.7.2 §142.

483. Ibid., 20.7.1 §§139–43.

484. Plato, Republic 390b; 430c.

485. For the many references, see W. Grundmann, “ἐγκράτεια,” TDNT, 2:340–41.

486. Josephus, Ant. 20.8.9 §182 [Loeb edition].

487. See Tajra, Trial, 134.

488. Josephus, Ant. 20.8.8 §179.

489. Tajra, Trial, 135.

490. Ibid.,140.

491. Rapske, Roman Custody, 186–89; Tajra, Trial, 145–46.

492. Rapske, Roman Custody, 188.

493. Tajra, Trial, 148.

494. On Bernice, see D. C. Braund, “Bernice,” ABD, 1:677–78; Schürer, HJP², 1:474–79.

495. Josephus, Ant. 20.7.3 §145.

496. This is the view of Larkin, Acts, 349.

497. Hemer, Book of Acts, 348–49.

498. As cited in Fitzmyer, Acts, 750; Ulpian, Digest 48.17.1.

499. As cited in Bruce, Acts, 457, n. 28; Appian, Civil War 3.54.

500. LSJ, 1915–16.

501. Josephus, Ant. 19.9.2 §365.

502. Fitzmyer, Acts, 752.

503. Ulpian, Digest 49.6.1.

504. Bruce, Acts, 464.

505. Williams, Acts, 417.

506. Euripides, Bacchae 795.

507. For a discussion and numerous references in Greek literature, see U. Luck, “σώφρων κτλ.,” TDNT, 7:1098–1100.

508. Epictetus, Discourses 2.12.17; Plato, Gorgias 485D; Plutarch, Moralia 777B.

509. Sherwin-White, Roman Law, 65.

510. C. J. Thornton, Der Zeuge des Zeugens: Lukas als Historiker der Paulusreisen (WUNT 56; Tübingen: Mohr Seibeck, 1991), 366.

511. ILS 2683 (= CIL 3.6687) and IGRR 3.1136 (=OGIS 421). For a discussion of these texts, see Broughton, “Roman Army,” 443–44; Hemer, Book of Acts, 132–33, n. 96.

512. See the references in Barrett, Acts, 2:1183; Johnson, Acts, 445.

513. Witherington, Acts, 761.

514. On Myra, see S. Mitchell, “Myra,” OCD³, 1016; E. M. Yamauchi, “Myra,” ABD, 4:939–40.

515. Strabo, Geog. 14.2.15.

516. Hemer, Book of Acts, 135, note 102 (summarizing the study of L. Casson).

517. Ibid., 135–36.

518. Rapske, “Acts, Travel and Shipwreck,” 22; Vegetius, De re militari 4:39; Pliny, Nat. Hist. 2.47.122.

519. Suetonius, Claudius 18.

520. See also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.4 §165; Philo, Moses 2.23; Spec. Laws 1:186; 2:193; m. Yoma 8:1.

521. Rapske, “Acts, Travel and Shipwreck,” 23–24; Hemer, Book of Acts, 137–38.

522. Riesner, Paul’s Early Period, 224–24; Hemer, Book of Acts, 137–38.

523. Barrett, Acts, 2:1190.

524. Rapske, “Acts, Travel, and Shipwreck,” 28.

525. CIL 8.26652.

526. See Hemer, Book of Acts, 141–42; idem, “Euraquilo and Melita,” JTS 26 (1975): 100–11.

527. “Gregale,” Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?idxref=386818 [Accessed 1 January 2001].

528. Lake and Cadbury, Beginnings, 4:332.

529. For a description of the various views, see H. J. Cadbury, “Note XXVIII. ‘Υποζώματα,” in Beginnings, 5:345–54. Taking the view presented here is Hemer, Book of Acts, 143, n. 120.

530. N. Purcell, “Syrtes,” OCD³, 1466.

531. Dio Chrysostom, Orationes 5.8–9.

532. This is the view of Barrett, Acts, 2:1197.

533. Hemer, Book of Acts, 143.

534. J. Smith, The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul, 4th ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978), 126–28. His calculations are accepted by most commentators.

535. M. Cary and W. M. Murray, “Adriatic Sea,” OCD³, 14; Hemer, Book of Acts, 145–46.

536. Hemer, Book of Acts, 147 (in reliance on a study by L. Casson).

537. Herodotus, History 2.5.

538. On the various anchors used on Greek and Roman vessels, see D. Haldane, “Anchors of Antiquity,” BA 53.1 (1990): 19–24.

539. 1 Sam. 14:45; see also 2 Sam. 14:11; 1 Kings 1:52.

540. Josephus, Vita 3 §15.

541. Hirschfeld, “Ship,” 28.

542. Smith, Voyage, 141, n. 2.

543. Bruce, Acts, 494; Hemer, Book of Acts, 150; Smith, Voyage, 143.

544. E. A. Yamauchi, “On the Road With Paul: The Ease—and Dangers—of Travel in the Ancient World,” CH 14.3 (1995): 19.

545. J. M. Gilchrist, “The Historicity of Paul’s Shipwreck,” JSNT 61 (1996): 29.

546. Code of Justinian 9.4.4.

547. Hemer, Book of Acts, 152; Bruce, Acts, 497.

548. BAGD, s.v.

549. P. W. van der Horst, “Dike,” DDD², 251–52.

550. IGRR 1.512 = IG 14.601; see C. J. Hemer, “First Person Narrative in Acts 27–28,” TynBul 36 (1985): 100.

551. Mark 6:5; 8:23, 25; Luke 4:40; 13:13; Mark 5:23.

552. Barrett, Acts, 2:1226.

553. On these gods, see K. Dowden, “Dioskouroi,” DDD², 258–59; R. C. T. Parker, “Dioscuri,” OCD³, 484.

554. See G. J. Toomer, “Constellations and Named Stars,” OCD³, 382.

555. On Syracuse, see A. Betz, “Syracuse,” ABD, 6:270–71.

556. Homer, Odyssey 12.101–102; Horace, Carmina 1.27.19.

557. R. Brändle and E. W. Stegemann, “Die Entstehung der Ersten ‘Christliche Gemeinde’ Roms im Kontext der Jüdischen Gemeinden,” NTS 42 (1996): 10–11.

558. Suetonius, Claud. 25.

559. Horace, Satirae 1.5.3–6.

560. J. D. Wineland, “Three Taverns,” ABD, 6:544.

561. Sherwin-White, Roman Society, 110; Rapske, Roman Custody, 176–77; Tajra, Trial, 179.

562. Rapske, Roman Custody, 181.

563. Schürer, HJP², 3:1:95–96.

564. Suetonius, Claud. 25; see comments on Acts 18:2.

565. Bruce, Acts, 507.

566. See Acts 13:43; 14:1–2; 17:4–5, 12.

567. See Matt. 13:13; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:39–40.

568. Marshall, Acts, 425.

569. So also Hemer, Book of Acts, 190.

570. Rapske, Roman Custody, 325–26.

Sidebar and Chart Notes

A-1. See J. Murphy-O’Connor, “The Cenacle—Topographical Setting for Acts 2:44–45,” in The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting, ed. R. Bauckham (BAFCS 4; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 303–21.

A-2. Epiphanius, De mensuris et ponderibus 14 (as cited in J. Murphy-O’Connor, “The Cenacle,” 307).

A-3. See M. Broshi, “Excavations in the House of Caiaphas, Mount Zion,” in Jerusalem Revealed: Archaeology in the Holy City 1968–1974 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1976), 57–60.

A-4. For additional information about the “Cenacle,” see “Cenaculum,” ODCC³, 313, and J. Finegan, The Archaeology of the New Testament: The Life of Jesus and the Beginning of the Early Church (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969), 147–52; J. Murphy-O’Connor, The Holy Land, 4th ed. Rev. and expanded, OAG (Oxford: University Press, 1998), 105–6.

A-5. See J. Huehnergard, “Languages (Introductory),” ABD, 4.155-70.

A-6. See the discussion of evidence for Jewish presence in most of these countries in Schürer, HJP², 3.1-86; Jeremias, Jerusalem, 58–73.

A-7. On the languages of Asia Minor, see S. Mitchell, Anatolia. Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), 1.173-76.

A-8. Philo, Embassy 282.

A-9. F. Millar, The Roman Near East: 31 B.C.–A.D. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993), 401–2.

A-10. Schürer, HJP², 3:16–17; Millar, Roman Near East, 404–5; M. Hengel & A. M. Schwemer, Paul: Between Damascus and Antioch. The Unknown Years (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), 110–26.

A-11. Josephus, Ant. 18.2.33–35 §37.

A-12. Josephus, J.W. 5.4.2 §144.

A-13. b. Yoma 25a (as cited in Schürer, HJP³, 2:224).

A-14. Finegan, Archaeology, 132.

A-15. Str-B, 2:637.

A-16. m. Soṭah 9:15.

A-17. Josephus, Ant. 20.5.1 §97–99.

A-18. m. Mak. 3:12–14.

A-19. For discussion, see R. Riesner, “Synagogues in Jerusalem,” The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting (BAFCS 4; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 192–200; P. W. van der Horst, “Was the Synagogue a Place of Sabbath Worship Before 70 CE?” in Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue: Cultural Interaction During the Graeco-Roman Period, ed. S. Fine (BSHJ; New York: Routledge, 1999), 18–43; Hengel, “Between Jesus and Paul,” 17–18.

A-20. Corpus Inscription Judaicarum, 2:333 (no. 1404). Translation from Riesner, “Synagogues,” 193.

A-21. Riesner, “Synagogues,” 197–98.

A-22. M. Hengel, The Pre-Christian Paul (Philadelphia: Trinity Press, 1991), 68–69; Riesner, “Synagogues,” 205; Hemer, Book of Acts, 176.

A-23. F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts, rev. ed. (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), 134.

A-24. Philo, Moses 1.5 (§20–24) (de Jonge edition).

A-25. On the Samaritans, see Schürer, HJP², 2.15–20; Jeremias, Jerusalem, 352–58; R. T. Anderson, “Samaritans,” ABD, 5.940–47; H. G. M. Williamson, “Samaritans,” DJG, 724–28; K. Haacker, “Samaritan,” NIDNTT, 3.449–67.

A-26. See also Josephus, Ant. 9.14.3 §288.

A-27. Josephus, Ant. 12.5.5 §§258–61.

A-28. Sir. 50:25–26.

A-29. Jeremias, Jerusalem, 354; Pirqe R. Eliezer 38.

A-30. Justin, First Apology 26.

A-31. See J. Scheid, “Semo Sancus Dius Fidius,” OCD³, 1383.

A-32. P. Lond 121.560–71 (= PGM, VII.560–71).

A-33. On eunuchs, see the excellent discussion in F. S. Spencer, The Portrait of Philip in Acts: A Study of Roles and Relations (JSNTSup 67; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992), 166–72.

A-34. Herodotus, Hist. 8.104–106; Lucian, The Eunuch 6.

A-35. Josephus, Ant. 4.8.40 §§290–91.

A-36. This is adapted from Ajith Fernando, Acts (NIVAC; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), 287–91.

A-37. On Damascus, see Hengel, Paul, 55–61; J. McRay, Archaeology & the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991), 232–34.

A-38. Schürer, HJP², 2.36.

A-39. Josephus, J.W. 2.20.2 §561; 7.6.7 §368.

A-40. On Tarsus, see W. W. Gasque, “Tarsus,” ABD, 6.333–34; Hengel & Schwemer, Paul, 151–77; Hengel, Pre-Christian Paul, 1–6; Hemer, “Tarsus,” ISBE, 4:734–36.

A-41. Strabo, Geog. 14.5.13.

A-42. McRay, Archaeology, 235.

A-43. S. Mitchell, “Archaeology in Asia Minor 1990–1998,” AR 45 (1999): 190.

A-44. See Holum, et al., “Caesarea,” NEAE, 1:271–91.

A-45. R. L. Hohlfelder, “Herod the Great’s City on the Sea,” National Geographic 171/72 (1987): 260–79. The video was featured on National Geographic’s “Explorer,” but, unfortunately, is not available for purchase from the society.

A-46. See http://digcaesarea.org/ [Accessed 1 January 2001].

A-47. Josephus, J.W. 1.21.5–8 §§408–15.

A-48. On Antioch of Syria, see: F. W. Norris, “Antioch,” ABD, 1:269; J. M. McRay, “Antioch on the Orontes,” DPL, 23–25; R. E. Brown and J. P. Meier, Antioch and Rome (New York: Paulist Press, 1983); G. Downey, A History of Antioch in Syria from Seleucus to the Arab Conquest (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1961); W. A. Meeks and R. L. Wilken, Jews and Christians in Antioch in the First Four Centuries of the Common Era (SBS 13; Missoula, Mont.: Scholar’s Press, 1978).

A-49. Strabo, Geog. 16, 2:5; cf. Diodorus Siculus 17:52 and Pliny Nat. Hist. 6:122. See Hengel & Schwemer, Paul, 186.

A-50. Hengel & Schwemer, Paul, 196.

A-51. Ibid.,184; Riesner, Paul’s Early Period, 113–14 (the ancient account is in the Chronicle of Malalas).

A-52. Hengel & Schwemer, Paul, 205, argue for a much longer period of ministry in Antioch and Syria. Witherington, Acts, 83 and F. F. Bruce, “Paul the Apostle,” ISBE, 3:709, suggest a much longer time in Tarsus and a shorter time in Antioch and Syria.

A-53. For the entire account, see Philo, Flaccus; see also Schürer, HJP², 1:389–98.

A-54. See Josephus, Ant. 18.8.1–9 §§257–309.

A-55. This account of hostilities in Antioch is only recorded in the Chronicle of Malalas (10:315). See the discussion in Hengel & Schwemer, Paul, 184–86.

A-56. Suetonius, Claud. 18.

A-57. Josephus, Ant. 20.2.5 §§51–53.

A-58. Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 6.14.

A-59. Ibid., 3.39.

A-60. Ibid., 2.16.

A-61. On Mark and Egyptian Christianity, see B. Pearson, “Christianity in Egypt,” ABD, 1:954–60.

A-62. See also Hemer, Book of Acts, 359–62.

A-63. Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.25.

A-64. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 §§343–50.

A-65. On Cyprus, see J. McRay, “Cyprus,” ABD, 1:1228–30; H. W. Catling, “Cyprus,” OCD³, 419–20; A. Nobbs, “Cyprus,” in Graeco-Roman Setting, 279–89; D. W. J. Gill, “Paul’s Travels Through Cyprus (Acts 13:4–12),” TB 46 (1995): 219–28.

A-66. See 1 Macc. 15:23; 2 Macc. 12:2; Philo, Embassy 282.

A-67. Schürer, HJP², 2:68–69; Dio Cassius 68.32.1–3.

A-68. PGM, IV:930–55.

A-69. On Roman names, see H. Solin, “Names, Personal, Roman,” OCD³, 1024–26.

A-70. On Antioch near Pisidia, see Mitchell and Waelkens, Pisidian Antioch; S. Mitchell, “Antioch of Pisidia,” ABD, 1:264–65; idem, “Antioch,” OCD³, 107; idem, Anatolia, 2:7–8; B. van Elderen, “Antioch (Pisidian),” ISBE, 1:142.

A-71. A. N. Sherwin-White and B. M. Levick, “Colonization, Roman,” OCD³, 364.

A-72. Mitchell, “Antioch of Pisidia,” 264.

A-73. Josephus, Ant. 12.3.4 §§145–53.

A-74. Mitchell, Anatolia, 2:10.

A-75. Mitchell & Waelkens, Pisidian Antioch, 32–33.

A-76. Schürer, HJP², 2:433–37; 3:92–103; New Documents, 4:213–20 (§113).

A-77. On Iconium, see W. W. Gasque, “Iconium,” ABD, 3:357–58; D. A. Hagner, “Iconium,” ISBE, 2:792–93.

A-78. Bruce, Acts, 272.

A-79. D. H. French, “Acts and the Roman Roads of Asia Minor,” Graeco-Roman Setting, 52, 55.

A-80. C. Breytenbach, Paulus und Barnabas in der Provinz Galatien. Studien zu Apostelgeschichte 13f.; 16,6; 18,23 und den Adressaten des Galaterbriefes (AGJU 38; Leiden: Brill, 1996), 162–63.

A-81. Breytenbach, Provinz Galatien, 163–64.

A-82. On Lystra, see D. S. Potter, “Lystra,” ABD, 4:426–27; D. A. Hagner, “Lystra,” ISBE, 3:192–93.

A-83. Breytenbach, Provinz Galatien, 165.

A-84. See B. van Elderen, “Some Archaeological Observations on Paul’s First Missionary Journey,” in Apostolic History and the Gospel: Biblical and Historical Essays Presented to F. F. Bruce on his 60th Birthday, eds. W. W. Gasque and R. P. Martin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 156–61.

A-85. Jubilees 15:26.

A-86. Josephus, Ant. 13.9.1 §254.

A-87. Judith 14:10; see also Est. 8:17 in the LXX version.

A-88. R. G. Hall, “Circumcision,” ABD, 1:1027; Martial, Epigrams 7.35, 82.

A-89. 1 Macc. 1:48, 60–61; 2 Macc. 6:10; 4 Macc. 4:25.

A-90. See the discussion in J. M. G. Barclay, Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan, 323 BCE–117 CE (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1996), 438–39; Philo, Spec. Laws 1.2.

A-91. Barclay, Jews, 1027.

A-92. For more extensive discussion, see the following sources: Advocates of the view that Acts 15 = Gal. 2:1–10 (the “North Galatia” view): Barrett, Acts, 2:xxxvi-xli; Fitzmyer, Acts, 538–39; Dunn, Acts, 195–97; D. J. Williams, Acts (GNC; San Francisco: Harper, 1985), 246–50. Advocates of the view that Acts 11:27–30 and 12:25 = Gal. 2:1–10 (the “South Galatia” view): Mitchell, Anatolia, 2:5; Witherington, Acts, 440–45; Bruce, Acts, 283–85; Hemer, Book of Acts, 277–307; Riesner, Paul’s Early Period, 286–91; Marshall, Acts, 244–47.

A-93. On Troas, see C. J. Hemer, “Alexandria Troas,” TynBul 26 (1975): 79–112; E. M. Yamauchi, “Troas,” ABD, 6:666–667; Trebilco, “Asia,” in Graeco-Roman Setting, 357–59.

A-94. Strabo, Geog. 13.1.26.

A-95. Mitchell, “Archaeology in Asia Minor,” 138–39.

A-96. On Macedonia, see D. W. J. Gill, “Macedonia,” in Graeco-Roman Setting, 397–417; F. Papazoglou, “Macedonia Under the Romans,” in Macedonia: 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization, ed. M. M. Sakellariou (Athens: Ekdotike Athenon S. A., 1983), 192–221.

A-97. Papazoglou, “Macedonia Under the Romans,” 204–7.

A-98. On Philippi, see H. L. Hendrix, “Philippi,” ABD, 5:313–17; McRay, Archaeology, 283–88; and, especially, C. Bakirtzis and H. Koester, eds., Philippi at the Time of Paul and After His Death (Harrisburg, Penn.: Trinity Press International, 1998).

A-99. As cited in Rapske, Roman Custody, 125 n. 55; Cicero, In Verrem 2.5.142.

A-100. An outstanding article has been written on this topic: see K. P. Donfried, “The Cults of Thessalonica and the Thessalonian Correspondence,” NTS 31 (1985): 336–56.

A-101. On this term, see G. H. R. Horsley, “The Politarchs,” in Graeco-Roman Setting, 419–31; idem, “Politarchs,” ABD, 5:384–89.

A-102. O. Broneer, “Athens: ‘City of Idol Worship’,” BA 21 (1958): 1–28.

A-103. Seneca, Ad Marciam 26.6 (as cited in N. C. Croy, “Hellenistic Philosophies and the Preaching of the Resurrection [Acts 17:18, 32],” NovT 39 [1997]: 34).

A-104. Lucretius, De rerum Natura 3.624–33 (as cited in Croy, “Hellenistic Philosophies,” 30).

A-105. Epicurus in the Sovereign Maxims (in Diogenes Laertius, 10.139) as cited in Croy, “Hellenistic Philosophies,” 30.

A-106. D. W. J. Gill, “In Search of the Social Élite in the Corinthian Church,” TynBul 44 (1993): 333–34.

A-107. Wiseman, “Corinth and Rome,” 516.

A-108. Described in a presentation made by Dr. James Wiseman on Nov. 21, 1999 in Boston, Mass. at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature.

A-109. On Alexandria, see A. K. Bowman, “Egypt,” in The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 10: The Augustan Empire, 43 B.C.–A.D. 69, 2d ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 699–701; B. A. Pearson, “Alexandria,” ABD 1.152–57 and D. W. Rathbone, “Alexandria,” OCD³, 61–62.

A-110. The entire account is written up by Philo in his Flaccus.

A-111. The journal is Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts in Wien.

A-112. H. Engelmann, D. Knibbe, and R. Merkelbach, eds., Die Inschriften von Ephesos, Inschriften Griechischer Städte aus Kleinasien (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, 1980–84).

A-113. There is an extensive bibliography on Jewish magic in antiquity. See especially, P. S. Alexander, “Incantations and Books of Magic,” in Schürer, HJP², 3:1:342–79; idem, “Jewish Elements in Gnosticism and Magic c. CE 70–CE 270,” CHJ³, 1052–78; M. Simon, Verus Israel (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986).

A-114. Josephus, Ant. 8.2.5 §§41–49.

A-115. For an English translation of the Testament of Solomon, see D. C. Duling, “Testament of Solomon,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983), 935–87.

A-116. For additional discussion, see C. E. Arnold, Power and Magic (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997), 14–20.

A-117. Plutarch, Quaestiones Convivales 7.5.

A-118. M. Meyer and R. Smith, Ancient Christian Magic (San Francisco: Harper, 1994).

A-119. Pausanias, Description of Greece 4.31.8.

A-120. Numerous pictures of the extant cultic images of the Ephesian Artemis have been collected and published by R. Fleischer in two publications: Artemis von Ephesus und verwandte Kultstatuen aus Anatolien und Syrien (Leiden: Brill, 1973) and in “Artemis Ephesia,” in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, vol. 2, Parts 1 & 2 (Zürich & München: Artemis, 1984).

A-121. For an extended discussion of this inscription, see New Documents 4:7–11; Inschriften von Ephesos, 6:2212.

A-122. Inschriften von Ephesos, 2:547.

A-123. As cited in Baugh, “Paul in Ephesus,” 114; Inschriften von Ephesos, 2:585.

A-124. On Miletus, see E. Yamauchi, The Archaeology of New Testament Cities in Western Asia Minor (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980), 115–27; Trebilco, “Asia,” 360–62.

A-125. Josephus, Ant. 14.10.21 §§ 244–46.

A-126. Trebilco, Jewish Communities, 159–62.

A-127. Josephus, J.W. 2.12.2 §§229–30.

A-128. Josephus, J.W. 5.5.2 §§193–94.

A-129. An English translation is given and discussed in Barrett, Background, 53 (no. 50). See also the discussions in D. R. Edwards, “Gentiles, Court of the,” ABD, 2:963; Schürer, HJP², 2:222.

A-130. Josephus, J.W. 2.13.5 §§261–63; see also Ant. 20.8.6 §171.

A-131. Fitzmyer, Acts, 700.

A-132. On the Sicarii, see Schürer, HJP², 1:463–64.

A-133. Josephus, J.W. 2.13.3 §§254–57.

A-134. On Roman citizenship, see A. N. Sherwin-White, The Roman Citizenship, 2d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974); idem, Roman Law and Roman Society (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992), 144–62; Hengel, Pre-Christian Paul, 6–15; Rapske, Roman Custody, 83–90.

A-135. Sherwin-White, Roman Law, 147; Tajra, Trial, 83.

A-136. Philo, Embassy 155–57.

A-137. Josephus, Ant. 20.5.2 §103.

A-138. Ibid., 20.9.2 §§206–207.

A-139. Josephus, J.W. 2.17.9 §441.

A-140. On Felix, see Schürer, HJP², 1:460–66.

A-141. As cited in Schürer, HJP², 1:461; Tacitus, Historiae 5.9.

A-142. Tacitus, Ann. 12.54.

A-143. Josephus, Ant. 20.8.5 §160–65.

A-144. Josephus, J.W. 2.13.7 §270.

A-145. See B. Burrell, K. Gleason, and E. Netzer, “Uncovering Herod’s Seaside Palace,” BAR 19.3 (May/June 1993): 50–57, 96; L. I. Levine and E. Netzer, “Caesarea (Excavations West of the Theater: The Promontory Palace),” NEAE, 1:280–82.

A-146. Josephus, Ant. 20.8.9–11 §§182–96; J.W. 2.14.1 §271; on Festus, see Schürer, HJP², 1:467–68; J. B. Green, “Festus, Porcius,” ABD, 2:794–95.

A-147. Josephus, J.W. 2.14.1 §272.

A-148. On Agrippa II, see Schürer, HJP², 1:471–83; D. C. Braund, “Agrippa,” ABD, 1:99–100.

A-149. Josephus, Ant. 20.5.2 §104.

A-150. See Schürer, HJP², 1:475, for references.

A-151. Josephus, Ant. 20.9.7 §§219–22.

A-152. Josephus, Life 65 §§362–67.

A-153. See “Nicholas, St.,” ODCC³, 1148.

A-154. On Crete, see W. A. Laidlaw, L. F. Nixon, & S. R. F. Price, “Crete, Greek and Roman,” OCD³, 408–9 and F.W. Bush, “Crete,” ISBE, 1:813–15.

A-155. Lucian, Navigium (The Ship or the Wishes) 5; I have altered the translation of K. Kilburn (Lucian [LCL 6; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1968], 435–36) slightly by changing cubits (which I reckoned as 18 inches) to feet.

A-156. See N. Hirschfeld, “The Ship of Saint Paul: Historical Background (Part I),” BA 53.1 (March, 1990): 27–28. See also M. Fitzgerald, “The Ship of Saint Paul: Comparative Archaeology,” BA 53.1 (March, 1990): 31–39.

A-157. Fitzgerald, “Ship,” 36; idem, “The Ship,” in The Harbours of Caesarea Maritima: Results of the Caesarea Ancient Excavation Project, 1980–1985, ed J. P. Oleson (BAR International Series 491, 594; Center for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, 3, 5; Oxford: Tempus Reparatum, 1989).

A-158. On Puteoli, see H. K. Lomas, “Puteoli,” OCD³, 1280–81; S. T. Carroll, “Puteoli,” ABD, 5:560–61; G. H. Allen and A. F. Harris, “Puteoli,” ISBE, 3:1059–60; see Seneca, Epistulae 77.1–2.

A-159. Strabo, Geog. 5.4.6.

A-160. Josephus, Ant. 17.12.1 §§23–25; J.W. 2.7.1 §§101–105.

A-161. On Rome, see J. F. Hall, “Rome,” ABD, 5:830–34; M. Reasoner, “Rome and Roman Christianity,” DPL, 850–55; H. F. Vos, “Rome,” ISBE, 4:228–36.

A-162. Tacitus, Ann. 15.44.

A-163. Brändle and Stegemann, “Die Christliche Gemeinde in Rom,” 4.

A-164. Schürer, HJP², 3:1:73–75.

A-165. Philo, Embassy 23 §155–56.

A-166. Ibid., 3:1:95–98.