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Lexham Geographic Commentary on Acts Through Revelation
2019 Biblical Foundations Book Award Finalist in Biblical Theology Walking in the footsteps of the Apostles.
The Lexham Geographic Commentary on Acts through Revelation puts readers in the sandals of the Apostles as they travel throughout the Mediterranean, explaining the geographical setting for the spread of Christianity in the first century. Geography is a central concern throughout the writings of Paul and the Apostles, but the full significance of its geographical context is easily overlooked without a familiarity with the places, the types of transportation, the relative distances, and the travel conditions around the ancient Mediterranean. Luke's account mentions places from all over the known world, and Paul's missionary travels covered an estimated 15,000 miles by land and sea. The Lexham Geographic Commentary gives you insight into the importance of all of these locations--both culturally and spatially--and provides a deeper understanding of the spread of early Christianity.
The Lexham Geographic Commentary on Acts through Revelation puts readers in the sandals of the Apostles as they travel throughout the Mediterranean, explaining the geographical setting for the spread of Christianity in the first century. Geography is a central concern throughout the writings of Paul and the Apostles, but the full significance of its geographical context is easily overlooked without a familiarity with the places, the types of transportation, the relative distances, and the travel conditions around the ancient Mediterranean. Luke's account mentions places from all over the known world, and Paul's missionary travels covered an estimated 15,000 miles by land and sea. The Lexham Geographic Commentary gives you insight into the importance of all of these locations--both culturally and spatially--and provides a deeper understanding of the spread of early Christianity.
792 pages, Hardcover
Published November 20, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 31, 2020
If you happened to have the Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, You will be glad to see this wonderful volume that finishes the New Testament from Acts through Revelation. The quality and depth of geographic information and how it plays into the story on the page remains just as high. Maybe you are like me and you are not as up to speed on the geography outside of Israel as you are that of Israel itself. If that be true for you as it is for me, then perhaps this volume will be even more important than the first one.
The quality of writing by a group of top-notch scholars, the appropriateness of pictures and illustrations, and the usefulness of maps make this an incredible resource. Mark this down as one of the greatest Bible study needs you have that you weren’t even aware of. My only small complaint is that the size of the font and particularly of maps is smaller than ideal. My guess is that the smaller font became necessary because of the incredible amount of information they are giving us. It would have been much more expensive but I wonder if this might have been better as two volumes than one. In any event, it is an extraordinary resource that could be a blessing to anyone at any level from Bible student to scholar. I give this attractive hardback volume the highest possible recommendation.
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.
The quality of writing by a group of top-notch scholars, the appropriateness of pictures and illustrations, and the usefulness of maps make this an incredible resource. Mark this down as one of the greatest Bible study needs you have that you weren’t even aware of. My only small complaint is that the size of the font and particularly of maps is smaller than ideal. My guess is that the smaller font became necessary because of the incredible amount of information they are giving us. It would have been much more expensive but I wonder if this might have been better as two volumes than one. In any event, it is an extraordinary resource that could be a blessing to anyone at any level from Bible student to scholar. I give this attractive hardback volume the highest possible recommendation.
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.
February 7, 2024
This was only a surface level survey of the book. Since I'll be teaching a Bible study on Acts for the foreseeable future, I wanted a glimpse of what the book had to offer.
Each chapter is an essay written by a different author, focused on helping the reader gain a better understanding of the physical places the events of Acts take place in, or where the recipients of the epistles lived. There are maps a-plenty, and diagrams, and speculation on where the Upper Room was located or how far a Sabbath day's journey might be. It features essays on the geopolitical state of the Near East and Roman roads and how famines occur.
The quality of the essays varies. I found the essay on Roman roads to be filled with interesting tidbits, for example. The low point, as far as I'm concerned, is Michael J. Thate's essay on Philippians, which mentions Portuguese painters and black holes and the Parisian library and cafe where Thate wrote the essay and contains the sentence "Paul's imprisonment lends a dynamism to the concerns and movements of the letter(s) if we loosen fixed points of author location", but doesn't have much in the way of interesting commentary on the epistle itself. It may actually be the worst thing I've read since Tietjen's The Gospel According to Jesus.
Despite that, I think the book will remain within reach for the time being.
Each chapter is an essay written by a different author, focused on helping the reader gain a better understanding of the physical places the events of Acts take place in, or where the recipients of the epistles lived. There are maps a-plenty, and diagrams, and speculation on where the Upper Room was located or how far a Sabbath day's journey might be. It features essays on the geopolitical state of the Near East and Roman roads and how famines occur.
The quality of the essays varies. I found the essay on Roman roads to be filled with interesting tidbits, for example. The low point, as far as I'm concerned, is Michael J. Thate's essay on Philippians, which mentions Portuguese painters and black holes and the Parisian library and cafe where Thate wrote the essay and contains the sentence "Paul's imprisonment lends a dynamism to the concerns and movements of the letter(s) if we loosen fixed points of author location", but doesn't have much in the way of interesting commentary on the epistle itself. It may actually be the worst thing I've read since Tietjen's The Gospel According to Jesus.
Despite that, I think the book will remain within reach for the time being.
March 30, 2026
I've been frustrated by a few of these volumes recently, but the current work is better. These books of the Bible are obviously focused on the Roman Mediterranean world, and the scholarship to draw from is of course vast. Probably the best articles are those focused on individual cities, such as Ephesus, Corinth, or those of Revelation. The article on Collossae was especially well done.
Some of the contributors were excessively sure of their own reconstructions of Paul's ministry (here's looking at you, Eckhard Schnabel), but by and large the volume was helpful. I'd recommend it as an on-the-shelf resource for any reader of the New Testament--which should be all of us.
Some of the contributors were excessively sure of their own reconstructions of Paul's ministry (here's looking at you, Eckhard Schnabel), but by and large the volume was helpful. I'd recommend it as an on-the-shelf resource for any reader of the New Testament--which should be all of us.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews