Interrupted Speech in Luke-Acts

Although past scholarly attention has centered on the interruptions of Acts, the Gospel of Luke and Acts each include several instances of interrupted speech. While some interruptions by external events function simply to increase the drama of a scene (e.g., Luke 9:34; 22:47, 60; 24:36; Acts 10:44), I argue that Luke also deploys interruption as a powerful literary and rhetorical device. By setting Luke’s use of interruption alongside the use of interruption in other ancient Greek narratives, I demonstrate the unique form of Lukan interruption, which focuses on the effect of a speaker’s message on the hearers. From Jesus’s interruption by his hearers in the Nazareth synagogue in Luke 4 to Paul’s interruption by Festus in Acts 26, Luke portrays Jesus and his followers as being interrupted frequently by emotional audiences (Luke 4:28; 11:27; Acts 4:1; 7:54, 57; 13:48; 22:22; 24:25; and 26:24). The emotional and often violent character of these interruptions serves to underscore the powerful impact of early Christian preaching about the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus and about the subsequent availability of salvation to all nations.