If you’re looking for a good mixture of being pastor friendly and economical, you should look up this volume in the highly-regarded New American Commentary (NAC) series. John Polhill is comfortable in this territory as he has also given us the helpful “Paul and his Letters” with the same publisher. He’s had two decades of teaching and preaching on Acts and it shows in this book. In the first paragraph of his preface, he tells us that he aims this commentary at pastors first. He has succeeded in his objective.

After reading how he aimed first at pastors, I was surprised at the depth in the Introduction. I’ve reviewed a few major exegetical commentaries on Acts, and Polhill addressed every issue they did. He covered it well too.

He begins by showing where Acts can be found in early tradition. He surveyed all the information about authorship and date and reaches conservative conclusions. He covers sources and genre. He explains the importance of speeches in Acts. He discusses Luke as both a historian and a theologian. He provides some maps of Paul’s journeys and has a detailed outline. All told, the Introduction runs through page 76.

The commentary is truly helpful. I suspect that pastors will agree that’s its value is good. That’s my opinion for sure.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.