Reading Acts in the second century in conjunction with Plutarch can offer scholars a glimpse into how social identities may be negotiated in the formative period of Christian development. Plutarch's Parallel Lives and Acts' use of comparisons, parallels, and pairs bear witness to the complex social contexts in which they were involved. There is a social edge to comparison in these texts, and reading them in the second century shapes the way we understand how their respective paralleling takes place. During the second century, the Greeks in the East were more fully aware of their being under Rome, and they began to negotiate that “mixed” identity. Paralleling and pairing seem to be a useful tool in this identity process. Plutarch is concerned about the Rome/Greek parallels, situated in an ideal male discourse. To some extent, Acts deals with a Greek/Jewish contrast, but not necessarily in hierarchical opposition. Interpreters of Luke-Acts have suggested several pairs, couples, and contrasting figures by use of a variety of notions of sameness and difference. In this essay I will employ the concept of intersectionality as a herme-neutical lens through which to discuss the complexity of pairing; in so doing, I aim to highlight comparison and pairing as strategies in ancient texts, as well as to situate pairing as a critical and creative hermeneutical procedure among contemporary interpreters of the New Testament.