Acts is addressed to a person named Theophilus, the same addressee as Luke’s earlier account (Acts 1:1). In Acts, no further details are given about him beyond his name in the opening line (Acts 1:1).
Acts opens by linking back to an earlier book addressed to Theophilus, which narrated what Jesus began doing and teaching up to his being taken up. These verses function as the opening connection between two volumes: the “first book” and the new account now beginning. The writer reminds Theophilus of the earlier narrative’s scope and then quickly sets up the starting point for Acts: what happened after Jesus’ suffering and before the public events that follow.
Acts starts by explicitly linking itself to an earlier written account for the same addressee, Theophilus. The writer frames that earlier book as covering what Jesus began to do and teach, up to Jesus being “received up,” after giving instructions to the chosen apostles.
A common mistake is to treat this as trivia. Names, places, numbers, and sequence details often carry memory, covenant identity, or narrative movement in the biblical story.
Start with Acts 1:1, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
1The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach,