the Fourth Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Commentaries
Abbott's Illustrated New Testament Abbott's NT
- Acts
by John & Jacob Abbott
INTRODUCTION
ALTHOUGH there is not attached to this book any designation of the author, yet very early and unanimous tradition attributes it to Luke, the companion of Paul in his later travels, and the writer of the Gospel which bears his name. The allusion to a former treatise, and to Theophilus, contained in the Acts 1:1, and the use of the first person in the narrative of the travels of Paul, towards the close of the history, abundantly confirm the supposition.
The book could not have been written until after Paul's imprisonment at Rome, since it brings down the history to that event; and it is supposed that it must have been written soon after the expiration of the two years, commencing at that period, which are mentioned at the conclusion of the last chapter, or it would have carried the history farther. Where, and under what circumstances, Luke wrote the book, there are no means of ascertaining.
