The Gospel according to Luke: Volume 2 (Luke 9:51–24)

Abstract

Wolters is Professor of New Testament at the University of Bonn and Honorary Professor at the University of Pretoria. The present volume is the fifth in the Baylor–Mohr Siebeck Studies in Early Christianity. This important collaboration between the two publishers selects and translates major works by senior German scholars, making the highest level of German scholarship in accessible in English.The second volume contains the table of contents and proceeds into 39 pages of introductory material, replicated from the first volume. As I discussed this material in my review of volume 1 (BBR 28, 130–32), it will not be replicated here. As with the first volume, Wolter follows standard historical-critical methodology.The commentary proper follows a standard format. Wolter begins with his own translation of Luke, pericope by pericope, after which follows a summary section on the pericope that focuses on the pericope’s form and function within the narrative. After this is a section in smaller type focused on Luke’s utilization of his sources and Gospel parallels, with his source-critical discussions following the two-source hypothesis (argued for in §3 of his introduction). After this section, Wolter then proceeds verse by verse through the Gospel. The commentary breaks down into four main sections: “The Journey to Jerusalem” (9:51–18:34), “The End of the Peregrination” (18:35–19:46), “And He Was Teaching Daily in the Temple” (19:47–21:38), and “Passion and Easter” (22:1–24:52[53]). Readers will be struck by Wolter’s constant interaction with early Greco-Roman sources and early Jewish sources as he discusses each pericope, noting similar allusions and themes and semantic and lexical parallels. In each verse-by-verse section, Wolter weaves the discussion on grammar, translation, textual history, background information, and interpretation in impressive fashion. Due to his interaction with the primary and secondary sources, the paragraphs at times are bulky because of the in-text citation method used. Punctuating the commentary every few pages are sections of further detailed discussion in a reduced font size. The topics of these even more detailed portions run the gamut: geographic and political details, source-critical and synoptic discussions, form criticism, additional insights from background literature, and wrestling over word meanings are all found in these sections. There were times while reviewing the volume that I struggled to understand the rationale for some discussion being in the smaller type, as the topics are also found in the main commentary sections throughout. This is a minor typographic quibble and does not detract from the content of the volume. Like volume 1, volume 2 concludes with an 85-page bibliography. The volume unfortunately contains no indexes. With a volume so immersed in the primary sources, a primary literature index would have been a valuable, albeit lengthy, addition.Wolter makes no radical claims concerning Luke but rather exemplifies excellent scholarship that is fully immersed in the primary sources. The author’s extensive interaction with German scholarship is a gift to the academy, providing English readers a window into the wider discussions taking place in German scholarship. This joint work by Baylor and Mohr Siebeck, along with the work of the series editors and especially the translators, is a great service to English scholarship and will serve as a reliable and authoritative reference for many years.