Moore Perspective: The Original Structure of the Book of Acts

Wednesday, 6 September 2023

The Original Structure of the Book of Acts

The original version of the fifth book of the New Testament was not neatly divided into chapters and verses as in our contemporary English Bibles.¹When Luke first penned this document, it appears to have been structured according to six general time periods,² each of which ends with a summary statement of the gospel’s progress:

· “The word of God kept spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith” (6:7).³

· “So the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, as it was being built up; and as it continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it kept increasing” (9:31).

· “But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied” (12:24).⁴

· “So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily” (16:5).

· “So the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily” (19:20).

· “Now Paul stayed two full years in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching things about the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered” (28:30-31).

Accordingly, the historical record of the book of Acts is arranged in these six general blocks of time:

Period Reference Dates AD⁵

Period I 1:1 – 6:7 30-33

Period II 6:8 – 9:31 33-36

Period III 9:32 – 12:24 36-44

Period IV 13:1 – 16:5 44-50

Period V 16:6 – 19:20 50-56

Period VI 19:21 – 28:31 56-62

Since the number seven symbolizes completeness,⁶ and the historical record of Acts covers only six general time periods, if this has any symbolic relevance, the book of Acts ends with the gospel story not yet completed. In other words, the narrative (of which we are a part) continues, even until the end of the age (Matt. 28:18-20).

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

¹ Stephen Langton (ca. 1150-1228), Roman Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury, is credited with having arranged the Latin Bible into the chapter divisions that are still used today, albeit poorly placed in a number of locations. The first printed Bible to use these chapter divisions was the 1382 English Bible of John Wycliffe. Following the lead of 15th-century Jewish copyists, French printer Robert Estienne, a.k.a. Robertus Stephanus (1503-1559), was the first to add verse divisions to both the Old and New Testaments, originally published in the 1560 Geneva Bible.

² See C. H. Turner, “The Chronology of the New Testament,” in A Dictionary of the Bible, ed. James Hastings (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1898-1904) 1:421; also F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988) 123 n. 20; D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo, and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992) 181-82.

³ Unless noted otherwise, scripture quotations are from the NASB 2020.

⁴ The last verse of chapter 12 opens the discussion of chapter 13 and therefore does not directly belong to the section that immediately precedes it.

⁵ These dates are approximations, and one will find slight chronological variations among NT scholars. For further notes on these particular dates, see K. L. Moore, Getting to Know the Bible (New Plymouth NZ: World Literature Publications, 2002): 90-99.

⁶ See K. L. Moore, “Daniel’s Prophecy of ‘70 Weeks,’” Moore Perspective (10 March 2021), <Link>; and “The Number 666,” Moore Perspective (27 Jan. 2021), <Link>.