The Gospel of Luke 1:1-4

Luke

1:1-4

The Prologue, 1:1-4

A literary preface

Synopsis

In accord with ancient writers of the time, Luke begins his work with a preface. Luke is aware of former written accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus, and also the tradition established by the apostles who witnessed the events, and he wants to write an orderly, accurate and truthful account for / in honour of Theophilus (a friend of God).

Teaching

This gospel is an orderly account of the apostolic tradition - "the things about which you have been instructed,"

Issues

i] Context: Luke-Acts is held together by a common theme:

God has raised up a mighty Saviour;
The day of salvation is upon us.

If we follow Ellis' proposed structure of Luke, then, after the preface, 1:1-4, we end up with three major divisions:

The first division, The mission of the Messiah, 1:5-9:50, is primarily focused on the person and works of the messiah. The sixfold division of this first unit of episodes presents as three prophecies and three visions. Of the six sections in the first division, the first covers the infancy narrative and serve as prophecies which attest to the messiahship of Jesus. The second section, 2:41-4:30, consists of witnesses to Jesus' messiahship. The next four sections primarily align with Markan material and set out to relate the realisation of the kingdom in signs, acts, words and children of the messiah: First, the signs of Messiah, 4:31-6:11; Second, the kingdom dawns in the acts of Messiah, 6:12-7:50; Third, the kingdom dawns in the words of Messiah, 8:1-56; Fourth, the kingdom dawns in the children of messiah, 9:51-10:42. Although geography is not of great concern to Luke, these acts form the bulk of Jesus' Galilean ministry. As noted in the introduction, it is difficult to imagine that Luke devised this six-layered structure for his gospel, but Ellis' approach does reveal something of Luke's ordered arrangement of gospel tradition.

Following the Acts of Messiah we have The Teachings of Messiah, 9:51-19:44. Again Ellis proposes six separate teaching units each of which is divided into six episodes: The kingdom and its message - meaning and acceptance of the Kingdom message, 9:51-10:42, The kingdom and power, 11:1-12:34; The kingdom and judgment, 12L:35-13:21; Who enters the kingdom? 13:22-16:13; The coming kingdom, 16:14-18:14; Discipleship and the rejected king, 18:15-19:44.

The third section of the gospel, The Culmination of Messiah's Mission, 19:45-24:53, divides into three units, with each again presenting as six episodes: The Messiah and the Temple, 19:45-21:38; The meaning of Messiah's death, 22:1-23:25; The glorification of the Messiah, 23:26-24:53.

ii] Structure: Prologue

Previous gospel accounts, v1-2;

Luke's contribution, v3-4.

iii] Interpretation:

Luke begins his gospel in line with contemporary Hellenistic literature of the day, establishing that his book is best classified as history; it is an account, a narrative of the recent events that have taken place in the Christian community / church. The events are of such import, that others have already put their hand to the task of recording these events. It is clear that the intended record of these events covers both Luke and Acts, although the preface probably only covers the gospel, given that Acts 1:1-2 introduces the second part of Luke's work.

The preface consists of one sentence in the Greek, made up of two dependent clauses. The first clause, v1-2, establishes that others have already attempted to document the oral tradition handed down by the apostles concerning the recent events "among us." The second clause, v3-4, establishes Luke's intention to also document these events. Given his careful investigation of them, he intends to document an orderly / logical account of the events, v3, and this for the purpose that his readers "may have certainty about the things you have been taught", ESV, ie., Luke's intent is to provide careful training, encouragement and strengthening in the faith. Given Luke's use of words, his intent is likely not to be apologetic or evangelistic.

The ascription to Theophilus is problematic, yet it seems very likely that Luke uses the name as a literary device. The name means "friend of God", and so Luke addresses his work to the friends of God, believers, those who need a full and certain knowledge for their Christian walk. So to this end, Luke sets out to add to the instruction that the reader has already received, namely, a logical account or Jesus' life and teachings. This sense still applies if the ascription is to a famous person in whom the reader may identify, even if he is the person who has financed the publication of Luke's work, Luke's patron, a person generally unknown. Some have suggested that he is a Roman governor and that Luke writes because he wants him to have "a full and reliable knowledge of the things about which [he] may well have been misinformed", Barclay, ie., Luke's work is apologetic (this seems unlikely). The general consensus is that "he is a real, but unknown, person", Marshall.

Text - 1:1

The preface, v1-4: i] Previous gospel accounts, v1-2. The importance of the life and teachings of Jesus have prompted others to document them.

kata + acc. "-" - according to [luke]. Here expressing reference / respect. The title is not part of the original text, and would have been added for library identification.

epeidhper "-" - since, inasmuch as [many men]. Conjunction, with the sense, "inasmuch as with reference to a fact already well known", BDF 4563.

anataxasqai (anatassomai) aor. inf. "to draw up" - [many attempted] to compile, draw up. The infinitive is complementary, completing the verb "to undertake, attempt." Possibly with the sense "draw up an orderly account in writing in contrast to oral tradition", Marshall. The verb "attempt" here expresses the difficulty of the task of writing Luke / Acts, so the NIV "undertaken" expresses the sense well. The "many", polloi, is an undefined number and probably used to make the point that "'These things' are so important that many have written about them", Stein - not necessarily referring to the other gospel writers. It is assumed that Luke did know of Mark, or a proto-Mark, and the document known as Q, a source which covered material common to both Luke and Matthew.

dihghsin (iV ewV) "an account" - an account, narrative, story. Accusative object of the infinitive "to draw up." A written narrative as opposed to an oral narrative.

peri + gen. "of" - about, concerning. Expressing reference / respect.

twn peplhroforhmenwn (plhroferew) perf. pas. part. "that have been fulfilled" - [things, deeds, actions, events] having been fulfilled, completed. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "things, events." The sense is "to complete, to bring to full measure"; "the things which have been accomplished in our midst", Cassirer.

en dat. "among" - in [us]. Local, expressing association, "among us", ie., "among the Christian community at large."

The verse is not easily translated, so prompting debate as to whether Luke is referring to one or two groups. Given the single article oiJ, one group is likely, so Fitzmyer, Nolland, .... Lit. "Inasmuch as many have attempted to compile an account ............. like the tradition the ones, from the beginning, having become eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, delivered over to us" = "aligned with the tradition those who, from the beginning, were eyewitness and ministers of the word of God, delivered over to us" = "just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word", NRSV.

kaqwV "just as" - as, like. Comparative; what was written down may be compared with the tradition that was handed down; "following the traditions handed down to us", NEB.

oiJ .... genomenoi (ginomai) aor. mid. part. "by those who" - the ones = those who [from the beginning] having become [eyewitnesses and servants, ministers]. The articular participle serves as a substantive, nominative subject of the verb "to deliver over." The prepositional phrase "from the beginning", is adverbial, temporal, modifying the participle. Presumably Luke has in mind the apostles, the witnesses to the words and works of Jesus. They are the source of the tradition "handed over to us" and from which the "many have undertaken to compile a narrative" and from which Luke will "write an orderly account." "Seeing that many have undertaken to arrange in narrative form such accounts of the momentous happenings in our midst as have been handed down to us by the original eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word", Rieu.

tou legou (oV) gen. "of the word" - of the word [delivered to us]. The genitive is adjectival, verbal, objective. The apostles were eyewitnesses and ministers to the word of God - the words and works of Jesus. Note that the para prefix verb "to deliver over" takes a dative of direct object, although here the direct object is unstated, probably something like "the tradition", and so hJmin, "to us", is a dative of indirect object.

kamoi dat. pro. "I myself" - [it seemed] to me. The dative is adverbial, reference / respect, "It seemed, with respect to me."

parhkalouqhkoti (parakolouqew) perf. part. "have [carefully] investigated" - having followed closely, investigated [from the beginning, everything carefully, accurately]. The participle is often treated adverbially, although in agreeing with the pronoun "to me", it either serves as an attributive adjective, or a substantive standing in apposition to "to me"; "So I in my turn, as one who has investigated the whole course of these events in detail", REB. The participle is modified by two adverbs, anwqen, "from", here temporal, so "from the beginning / for some time past", and akribwV, "carefully, closely, accurately, precisely." Presumably, Luke is making the point that he has researched the apostolic oral tradition. If he writes around AD 60, then his research will include verifying that tradition with eyewitnesses.

grayai (grafw) aor. inf. "to write" - to write. There is some debate over the classification of an infinitive with an impersonal verb. Traditionally, the infinitive / infinitival phrase was classified as a substantive, subject of an impersonal verb. In the Baylor HGT series, this traditional classification is relegated. Culy and company hold the view that if the verb is impersonal, then the infinitive is properly complementary. Only if the verb is not impersonal can the infinitive function as its subject. In this commentary, verbs like existin, "it is permissible", or dei, "it is necessary", are treated as impersonal, and a related infinitive as their subject. So here, with the verb "to seem, suppose", and taking the infinitive as its subject, we have "having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write in an orderly way to you most noble Theophilus seemed good to me."

kaqexhV adv. "an orderly account" - orderly. A sequential adverb. The sense is probably "systematically", ie., a logical sequence, rather than a chronological sequence. The word is somewhat technical, given its use in rhetoric of the time. As Stein notes, it "was used throughout Greek literature by writers who sought to convince their hearers of the meticulous research and careful organisation of their material." "To write and tell you exactly what took place", CEV.

soi dat. pro. "for you" - to you [most noble theophilus]. Dative of direct object / interest advantage, as NIV / dative of recipient, Cully.

This clause is problematic. Luke has sought to emphasise the noun asqaleian, "certainty" (accusative direct object of the verb "to know"), by placing it in the emphatic position at the end of the sentence. This has left the genitive antecedent, logwn, "words", of the genitive relative clause "which you were taught", grammatically exposed. This has then prompted numerous translations. So, the likely sense is, "in order that you may know certainty about the words which you were taught" = "my purpose being that you should obtain full and certain knowledge concerning matters in which you have already received instruction", Cassirer.

iJna + subj. "so that" - that [you may know certainty]. Here introducing a final clause expressing purpose, "in order that you may know certainty"; "that you may have certainty", ESV.

peri + gen. "-" - about, concerning. Here expressing reference / respect.

legwn (oV) gen. "of the things" - the words, matters, things, account, story. "Reliable information"

w|n gen. pro. "-" - which [you were taught]. Introducing a relative clause, genitive in agreement with "words". Possibly in a general sense, "what you have heard", CEV, although given that Luke is addressing "a friend of God", a believer, then "instruction" seems best; "so that you may have reliable information about the matters in which you have already had instruction", Phillips.

Luke Introduction

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Exegetical Commentaries

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