The Use of Lukan Hyperbole in the Acts of the Apostles

Abstract

Luke constructs the world through a geographic description and invites his audience into a spatial image through the textual world. Here hyperbole plays an important role as an impressionistic way of projecting such an image of the world in the minds of his audience. Through hyperbole, Luke conveys his own image of the world, that is, a mental picture of the world as he wants it to be—a world reigned over by God. In this way, Lukan hyperbole functions as an important literary device through which we can discover his theological preoccupations and emphases.