Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-310) and indexes.

Introduction -- Stating the question : a middle-class bias against communal sharing? -- Economic sharing in Acts? a history of (mis)interpretation -- Naming the meal : agape, Eucharist, bread-breaking -- Meals on wheels for the widows? common meals versus poor relief -- From the top down : socio-economic structures of an agrarian society -- Jerusalem : productive city on a hill -- How the non-elite survived : social relations and community values -- Copycats? Essene communal life as model -- Never eat alone! food and meals as cultural symbols -- "A glutton and a drunkard" : Jesus and table fellowship -- "Upstairs, downstairs" : widows and other women in dining room and kitchen -- The intentional community : an exegesis of Acts 2:41-47 -- The widows' complaint : an exegesis of Acts 5:42-6:1-6 -- Daily commensality : a necessity then, impractical today?