Preface: This chapter from the book of Luke begins with an introduction to the book of Luke, followed by the birth announcements for John the baptizer and for Jesus. The angel Gabriel (who is not a theophany) tells Zacharias (Zechariah) that he and his wife (Elisabeth or Elizabeth) will give birth to a son whom they will name John. The same angel then speaks to Mary, and tells her that she will bear a child after being overshadowed by God the Holy Spirit (there will be no contribution from a man). There are two remarkable songs (psalms or dissertations) in this chapter. One will be spoken by Mary to Elisabeth and the other by Zacharias spoken to an unknown audience. Both of them primarily speak of the Messiah to be born.

John the baptizer will be born and circumcised in this chapter. This is an unusually long chapter of 80 verses.

Bible Summary: The angel Gabriel foretold the birth of John. He told Mary, "You will have a son named Jesus." Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord!".

This should be the most extensive examination of Luke 1 available, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text.

Outline of Chapter 1:

Preface

Introduction

         vv.     1–4           Dedication to Theophilus, the Original Recipient of the Manuscript of Luke

         vv.     5–25         The Angel Gabriel Announces the Future Birth of John the Herald to His Father

         vv.        5–7          Zechariah (Zacharias), the priest, and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth)

         vv.        8–12        An angel appears to Zechariah

         vv.       13–17        The angel tells Zechariah that he will have a son, that he will name John

         vv.       18–20        Zechariah expresses skepticism and is struck dumb by the angel

         vv.       21–22        Zechariah emerges from the Temple unable to speak

         vv.       23–25        Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, becomes pregnant

         vv.    26–38         The Angel Gabriel Announces the Birth of the Christ (the Messiah) to Mary

         vv.       26–33        Gabriel announces the birth of the Christ to Mary, who will bear the Lord

         vv.       34–38        Mary asks Gabriel a question

         vv.    39–56         Mary Goes to Visit Her Relative Elizabeth

         vv.       39–45        Mary travels to see Elizabeth

         vv.       46–56        The song (or Magnificat) of Mary

         vv.    57–66         The Birth, Circumcision and Naming of John the Herald

         vv.       57–58        John is born to Elizabeth

         vv.       59–63        John is circumcised and named

         vv.        64            Zechariah is able to speak

         vv.       65–66        Everyone in the Judæan hill country marvels over John’s birth

         vv.    67–79         Zechariah’s prophecy about the Messiah

         vv.     80           John’s Future

Chapter Summary

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction         Titles and/or Brief Descriptions of Luke 1 (by Various Commentators)

         Introduction         Brief, but insightful observations of Luke 1 (various commentators)

         Introduction         Fundamental Questions About Luke 1

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Prequel of Luke 1

         Introduction         The Principals of Luke 1

         Introduction         The Places of Luke 1

         Introduction         By the Numbers

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Luke 1

         Introduction         Outlines and Summaries of Luke 1 (Various Commentators)

         Introduction         Shmoop Summary of Luke 1

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Luke 1 from the Summarized Bible

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Big Picture (Luke 1–4)

         Introduction         Paragraph Divisions of Modern Translation for Luke 1

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Changes—additions and subtractions

         v. 

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         v.       3              A review of Luke 1:1–3

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         v.       4              Flavius Josephus and Luke

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         v.       5              The Herods of Scripture

         v.       5              Kingdoms of the Herods (a map)

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         v.       5              The Old Testament Priesthood

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         v.       9              Establishing the Canon of Scripture

         v.       9              Noncanonical books

         v.       9              Miscellaneous Principles Regarding the Canon of Scripture

         v.       9              Classification of the Early Writings (Geisler and Nix)

         v.       9              A brief review of Luke 1:5–9

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         v. 

         v.      11              Zechariah Sees the Angel in the Temple (a graphic)

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         v.      15              The Nazarite and the Nazarite Vows

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         v.      16              A short review of Luke 1:13–16

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         v.      23              Herod’s Temple (a graphic)

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         v.      25              Why Elizabeth Kept Her Pregnancy Hidden (various translators)

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         v.      26              The Galilee Region in Northern Israel (a map)

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         v.      31              A brief review of Luke 1:28–31

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         v.      34              Four Approaches to the Virgin Birth

         v.      34              Adam’s Original Sin and the Sin Nature Come to Us Through Adam

         v.      35              Passages Featuring all 3 Members of the Trinity

         v.      36              How Were Mary and Elizabeth Related? (Apologetics Press)

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         v.      38              The Birth of Jesus is Foretold in Matthew (Matt. 1:18–25)

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         v.      39              Galilee, Samaria, Judea and Idumæa (a map)

         v.      39              Galilee, Samaria and Judea (a relief map)

         v.      39              A review of Luke 1:30–39

         v.      40              Four Room House in Israel (a graphic)

         v. 

         v.      42              Mary and Elizabeth (a portrait by Carl Heinrich Bloch)

         v. 

         v.      43              Some Reasonably Literal Translations of Luke 1:43

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         v.      45              Reviewing the Inspired Speaking of Elizabeth (Luke 1:41–45)

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         v.      55              The Magnificat of Mary (Luke 1:46–55)

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         v.      57              The Birth of John the Baptist (a painting by Tintoretto circa 1554)

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         v.      59              Circumcision and Birth of John the Baptist with Annunciation to Zechariah, by Teramo Piaggio

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         v.      66              The Circumcision of John—a review (Luke 1:59–66):

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         v.      79              The Way of God and the Lord Jesus Christ

         v.      79              The Use of Peace in the Bible

         v.      79              Luke 1:67–79: Zechariah’s Testimony

         v. 

         v. 

         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            Why Luke 1 is in the Word of God

         Summary            What We Learn from Luke 1

         Summary            Jesus Christ in Luke 1

         Summary 

Summary

Summary

         Addendum          Mary’s Song (by Mark Perkins)

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Luke 1

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Luke 1

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Luke 1

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Luke 1

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An Introduction to Luke 1

I ntroduction: The book of Luke, although one of the 3 synoptic gospels, has a considerable amount of unique material in it. Virtually all of Luke 1 is unique to the gospels (and much of Luke 2). This chapter begins with a literary introduction, something not found in the other gospels. Now, one can see Matthew, Mark and John as beginning with introductory material, but not with any sort of an explanation as to why they are writing their books. The first 4 verses of Luke is very much what we would expect to read in the preface or introduction of any modern book.

The actual narrative begins with Luke 1:5, where the angel Gabriel appears to Zacharias while her is performing his priestly duties in the Temple. The angel tells Gabriel that he and his wife—who are both aged and childless—will have a son, and that they were to name this son John. When Zacharias expresses some skepticism, asking for some sort of sign from Gabriel, Gabriel will first tell him that, “I am an angel sent to you from the throne room of God!” and then Gabriel will strike John dumb (it is possible that he is deaf and dumb). Zacharias’s fellow priests determine that he has seen a vision of some sort when he comes out of the Temple, unable to speak, but looking very animated.

After fulfilling his priestly duties, Zacharias returns home to his wife, and she becomes pregnant by him. She keeps her pregnancy hidden for 5 months.

In the 6^th month, the angel Gabriel goes to a virgin named Mary (actually Miriam), who is promised to be married. He tells her that she will bear a son as a virgin. She is to name her son Jesus, and He would be known as the Son of the Most High. He would be the fulfillment of the covenant made to King David.

Mary goes to visit Elisabeth straightway, given the circumstances (the angel also tells her about Elisabeth giving birth). No doubt, she does this to confirm what the angel has told her and to compare notes. Elisabeth blesses her as the mother of the Lord, and then Mary speaks what is often called the Magnificat [pronounced mag-NIHF-i-kat], which is the hymn (or song or dissertation) of Mary. The focus of her song is upon God the Father and His fulfilling the promises which He made to Abraham.

Mary will leave the household of Zacharias and Elisabeth, and afterward (apparently), John would be born. When he is about to be circumcised and named on the 8^th day, those who are there (friends, relatives, and other priests) attempt to name the child Zacharias, but Elisabeth objects, saying that his name would be John (as the angel had told Zacharias). These people appeal to Zacharias, and he writes on a tablet, “His name will be John.”

Immediately, Zacharias is able to speak. Everyone in their vicinity is concern and even fearful of the events which have transpired. They wonder what sort of child John will be.

Zacharias then gives a prophetic dissertation about the Messiah to come; and speaks a little to the responsibility of John. The book finishes giving the arc of John’s life to the point where he appears publically before Israel.

The book of Luke begins somewhere between 6–4 b.c. Although the birth of Jesus properly divides history, there was a screw up with the calendars, so that His birth does not occur between 1 b.c. and a.d. 1. Today’s calculation of a.d. and b.c. falls on the shoulders of a 6^th century monk named Dennis the Short (more properly, Dionysius Exiguus).

His intention was to devise a calendar to begin with Jesus’ birth as a.d. 1. Using both the Gregorian and the adjusted Julian calendars, Dionysius calculated backwards to the birth of Jesus, placing His birth at a.d. 1 (there is no year 0). No one apparently seems to know how exactly he calculated his calendar, but he appears to have established the consulship of Probius Junior as a.d. 525. This particular dating method was later popularized by the Venerable Bede of Durham, England in the 8^th century. At some point in time, it became clear that Dionysus’ reasoning was defective (or, perhaps the fault is with the historical documents upon which he depended); but, by that time, the calendar had been accepted. Even though there are other calendars established in the world with different start dates, this calendar appears to be almost universally used (I would think that the influence of the Catholic church, followed by the increase and power of the British Empire probably had a lot to do with that).

The abbreviation b.c. stands for before Christ; and a.d. means anno Domini, which means in the year of the Lord. Apparently those abbreviations/designations can be attributed to Dionysus.

At the time that the book of Luke opens, the people of Israel are back in the land, but they are no longer an autonomous nation. At the time that the birth of Jesus, Rome is the sovereign power, and Herod the Great, an Iduemaean (Idumea is south of Judæa), is the governor/administrator/local ruler over Judæa. The people of Israel are quite upset that they no longer have sovereignty over themselves and the land (even though that had been the case for hundreds of years), and they often expressed their opposition to Herod and to Rome. Quite often, the Jews of that era were unreasonable in their opposition; and Rome and Herod could be unforgiving in their response to either.

Throughout the history of man, Scripture was being recorded. I believe that the book of Genesis was passed along orally—and with perfect accuracy—up to the time of Joseph or Moses. The people of Israel living in Egypt knew the book of Genesis and possibly the book of Job. However, their depth of knowledge is hard to ascertain. In any case, when someone in Exodus mentions the name of Abraham (or someone else whose history is found in Genesis), no one raises their hands and asks, “Now, this Abraham character, who is he again?” Now, in case you think, “Well, everyone knows their ancestors;” tell me again how many of your ancestors do you know from 400 years ago?

When Moses came on the scene, there were writing materials common and in use, and God required Moses to record their interactions and His words (as we read several times in the 4 books of Moses). From that point on, Scripture was recorded with whatever writing materials were available at the time; and the words of Scripture were thereafter preserved, generation after generation.

A class of people known as scribes came about. They were dedicated to the preservation of God’s words. One thing which occurred immediately is, manuscripts which were completed were not simply preserved, but copies made and those copies distributed. So, from the earliest time, the text for these manuscripts became fixed. That is, someone could not come along, 300 years later and decide, “I really don’t like Psalm 2, so I am going to make some changes in it so that it better reflects my philosophy.” The problem is, there are dozens—and perhaps hundreds—of manuscripts out there of Psalm 2, so even if someone believed that they needed to change to text in some way, there were too many witnesses available to the original text so that no one could make wholesale changes to existing manuscripts. The manuscripts were respected that much, as to keep multiple copies throughout the Jewish world.

There were other kinds of checks on the text of existing Scripture which we may discuss in the future.

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Dedication to Theophilus, the Original Recipient of the Manuscript of Luke

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I will use the Westcott-Hort Greek text as the basis for my English translation. I use that test primarily because e-sword has a nice module by Rob Wolfram which has the interlinear English text, Strong’s #’s, and the Greek morphology. The e-sword tab is IWH+P. I do not use their English text for my translation. Also, throughout, I take in consideration alternate readings.

As a young Christian, I was quite interested in the alternative readings. After many decades of study, I have found that, as with the Hebrew text, disputed readings rarely have any affect on the interpretation of a text (apart from perhaps a half-dozen fairly well-known alternate readings, like the end of the book of Mark).

I will compare the Greek text to English translations of the Latin and Syriac (= Aramaic) texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation and George Lamsa’s translation from the Syriac. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.).

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

The Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls are irrelevant, as they preceded the writing of the New Testament by over 200 years.

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Ancient texts:

Westcott-Hort Text (Greek)    Forasmuch as, many have attempted to put together a narration about the things accomplished by us, deeds; just as they have given over to us these [things] from a beginning, eyewitnesses and servants becoming of the word; [it] was considered by me, having followed from the first, all [things] diligently, in order, for you, to write most honorable Theophilus, so that you might fully know about Whom you were instructed of words the certainty.

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Jerusalem targum                  .

Targum (Onkelos)                  .

Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan)   .

Revised Douay-Rheims         .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a narration of the things that have been accomplished among us; According as they have delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word: It seemed good to me also, having diligently attained to all things from the beginning, to write to thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mayest know the verity of those words in which thou hast been instructed.

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        .

V. Alexander’s Aramaic T.     .

Original Aramaic New T.        Because many were willing to write an account of those events of which we are persuaded, Like the things which they delivered to us who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of The Word*, He appeared *also to me because I had approached all things carefully, that I would write everything in order to you, excellent Theophilo. That you may know the truth of the words of which you have been instructed by such.

James Murdock’s Syriac NT .

Original Aramaic New T.        .

Lamsa Peshitta (Syriac)         SINCE many have desired to have in writing the story of those works, with which we are familiar, According to what was handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of that very word, And since these were seen by me also because I was near and considered them all very carefully, I will therefore write to you everything in its order, most honorable Theophilus, So that you may know the truth of the words, by which you were made a convert.

Updated Brenton (Greek)       .

Significant differences: 

English Translations:          I have included translations which I disagree with and footnotes that I do not necessarily agree with. If I believe that the author is too far from the truth, I may even address that at the footnote. However, nearly all of the correct commentary will be found following the Greek text box and the translation of each phrase.

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             As a number of attempts have been made to put together in order an account of those events which took place among us, As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word, It seemed good to me, having made observation, with great care, of the direction of events in their order, to put the facts in writing for you, most noble Theophilus; So that you might have certain knowledge of those things about which you were given teaching.

Bible in Worldwide English     Many people have tried already to write down the things that have happened among us. These things were told us by men who saw them happen from the time they began to happen. And these men helped tell the good news. I have tried to find out all that has happened from the beginning. And so, Theophilus, great ruler, I myself will write you the whole story. Then you will know that the things people have told you are true.

Easy English                          Great things have happened in our country. Many people have tried to write about them. Some people were present when these things started to happen. They saw everything that happened. They told us what they had seen. And they told us what they had heard. They are the people who told the Good News. Most important Theophilus, I have checked all these facts. Now I also know about all the things that happened from the beginning. I am writing to tell them to you. It is good for you also to know all these facts. This is the reason for this letter. You have already heard about all these things. Now you can be sure that they are true.

Easy-to-Read Version–2001  Dear Theophilus, Many people have tried to give a history of the things that happened among us. They have written the same things that we learned from some other people--the people that saw those things from the beginning and served God by telling people his message. I myself studied everything carefully from the beginning, your Excellency. Then I thought I should write it for you. So I put it in order in a book. I write these things so that you can know that what you have been taught is true.

Easy-to-Read Version–2006  Luke Writes About the Life of Jesus

Most Honorable Theophilus:

Many others have tried to give a report of the things that happened among us to complete God’s plan. What they have written agrees with what we learned from the people who saw those events from the beginning. They also served God by telling people his message. I studied it all carefully from the beginning. Then I decided to write it down for you in an organized way. I did this so that you can be sure that what you have been taught is true.

God’s Word™                         Luke Writes to Theophilus

Many have attempted to write about what had taken place among us. They received their information from those who had been eyewitnesses and servants of God’s word from the beginning, and they passed it on to us. I, too, have followed everything closely from the beginning. So I thought it would be a good idea to write an orderly account for Your Excellency, Theophilus. In this way you will know that what you’ve been told is true.

Good News Bible (TEV)         Introduction

Dear Theophilus:

Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us. They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message. And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you. I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.

The Message                         So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story’s beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught.

Names of God Bible               .

NIRV                                      Luke Writes an Orderly Report

Many people have attempted to write about the things that have taken place among us. Reports of these things were handed down to us. There were people who saw these things for themselves from the beginning. They saw them and then passed the word on. With this in mind, I myself have carefully looked into everything from the beginning. So I also decided to write down an orderly report of exactly what happened. I am doing this for you, most excellent Theophilus. I want you to know that the things you have been taught are true.

New Simplified Bible              Many have attempted to write an orderly narrative about the things that have taken place. They received testimony from those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning. Ministers of God’s word delivered it to us. Most excellent Theophilus (Greek: Theo philos: friend of God): I have accurately traced the course of all things from the beginning. Now it seems good to me to write this report to you. In this way you will know with certainty the truth that you were taught.

The Spoken English NT         LUKE'S ACCOUNT
Introduction
Most honored Theophilus:^a
Lots of people have already worked at putting together an account of the events that have happened^b among us- just as the original eyewitnesses and caretakers of the message have handed it down to us. And it seemed like a good idea to me too. I’ve followed everything from the beginning, and I’ve written things in an accurate and orderly way for you. That way, you’ll know the solid truth about the things you’ve been taught.^c

                                               ^a.      Luke appears to be dedicating his gospel to a Roman noble or official who is a Christian. See also Act_1:1. Theophilus (prn. thiyy-off-e-las) may be a name the person took at baptism, because it means “lover of God.”

^b.Or “been fulfilled.”

^c.This paragraph is one long, elegant sentence.

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

College Press Bible Study     The Precise Record (Luke1:1-4)

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.

Contemporary English V.       Many people have tried to tell the story of what God has done among us. They wrote what we had been told by the ones who were there in the beginning and saw what happened. So I made a careful study of everything and then decided to write and tell you exactly what took place. Honorable Theophilus, I have done this to let you know the truth about what you have heard.

The Living Bible                     Dear friend who loves God: [From v. 3. Literally, “Most excellent Theophilus.” The name means “one who loves God.”]

Several biographies of Christ have already been written using as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses. However, it occurred to me that it would be well to recheck all these accounts from first to last and after thorough investigation to pass this summary on to you, [literally, “an account of the things accomplished among us.”] to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.

New Berkeley Version           .

New Century Version             Luke Writes About Jesus’ Life

Many have tried to report on the things that happened among us. They have written the same things that we learned from others—the people who saw those things from the beginning and served God by telling people his message. Since I myself have studied everything carefully from the beginning, most excellent [This word was used to show respect to an important person like a king or ruler.] Theophilus, it seemed good for me to write it out for you. I arranged it in order, to help you know that what you have been taught is true.

New Life Version                    Luke Writes to Theophilus

Many people have written about the things that have happened among us. Those who saw everything from the first and helped teach the Good News have passed these things on to us. Dear Theophilus, I have looked with care into these things from the beginning. I have decided it would be good to write them to you one after the other the way they happened. Then you can be sure you know the truth about the things you have been taught. This could be placed with the limited vocabulary translations.

New Living Translation           Introduction

Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. [Greek from those who from the beginning were servants of the word] Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.

The Passion Translation        .

Unlocked Dynamic Bible        Dear Theophilus, Many people have written reports about the amazing events that have happened among us. We heard about these things from people who saw them happen, from the time everything first started happening. These people taught others about Yahweh’s message. I myself have carefully studied everything that these people wrote and taught. So I decided that it would also be good for me to write for you, noble Theophilus, an accurate account of these matters. I am doing this so that you may know that what you have been taught about these things is true.

William's New Testament       Since many writers have undertaken to compose narratives about the facts established among us, just as the original eyewitnesses who became ministers of the message have handed them down to us, I too, most excellent Theophilus, because I have carefully investigated them all from the start, have felt impressed to write them out in order for you that you may better know the certainty of those things that you have been taught.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          A letter that was written in Greek to a man named Theophilus by Paul’s traveling companion Luke the Physician about 62-CE, which is partially based on the Gospel of Matthew.

Note: Much of Luke’s Gospel was written as poetry, for this is apparently how Jesus spoke many of his parables, and Luke in particular told of these parables. As the result, we have attempted to restore the rhythm of his words as closely as possible to the original poetic style, while attempting to maintain their exact meanings. And to those who would object, claiming that exact words are more important than style, we ask: Then why did Jesus put so much effort into style? The answer is obvious; He wanted at least some of his words to be remembered and quoted as parables or proverbs. Also, this unique teaching style tends to indicate that Jesus was the Lord who spoke the words of God (Jehovah) to many of the ancient Prophets, since most of those messages were also originally transmitted in poetry.

Since many others have already taken on the job of putting together a statement of the facts regarding the things we believe as they were given to us by those who were eyewitnesses from the earliest [times] and by caretakers of the message; it seemed good for me to trace everything accurately from the start, then write it down for you in the order that it happened, O mighty TheoPhilus, so that you can have confidence in the things you’ve been taught by word of mouth.

Beck’s American Translation .

Common English Bible           Luke’s purpose

Many people have already applied themselves to the task of compiling an account of the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used what the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed down to us. Now, after having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, I have also decided to write a carefully ordered account for you, most honorable Theophilus. I want you to have confidence in the soundness of the instruction you have received..

International Standard V        Luke’s Dedication to Theophilus

Since many people have attempted to write an orderly account of the events that have transpired among us, just as they were passed down to us by those who had been eyewitnesses and servants of the word from the beginning, I, too, have carefully investigated everything from the beginning and have decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Len Gane Paraphrase           Seeing that many have undertaken to make an orderly account of those things which are fully confirmed among us. Just as those who were from the very first were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word passed them down to us. It seemed good to me also to write to you in the proper order, honorable Theophilus, since I have an accurate understanding of everything from the very first. [This is] so that you might know for certain those things in which you have been taught.

A. Campbell's Living Oracles Forasmuch as many have undertaken to compose a narrative of those things, which have been accomplished amongst us, as they, who were from the beginning, eye-witnesses, and afterwards ministers of the word, delivered them to us; I have also determined, having exactly traced everything from the first, to write a particular account for you, most excellent Theophilus; that you might know the certainty of those matters wherein you have been instructed.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Many have been at pains to set forth the history of what time has brought to fulfilment among us, following the tradition of those first eye-witnesses who gave themselves up to the service of the word.^[1] And I too, most noble Theophilus, have resolved to put the story in writing for thee as it befell, having first traced it carefully from its beginnings, that thou mayst understand the instruction thou hast already received, in all its certainty.

^[1] ‘To the service of the word’; many of the early Fathers understood this to mean that they were servants of the Word, that is of Christ. Such a rendering gives a better sense to the Greek; but it is not certain that this title was applied to our Lord by any writer earlier than St John.

Knox Bible (‘you’ version)     .

Translation for Translators     Luke told Theophilus why he was writing about all that Jesus did.

My noble friend Theophilus, many people saw the things that Jesus did while he was with us, from the time when he started [MTY] his ministry. They served God by teaching people the message about the Lord Jesus. Many of those who heard what they taught wrote down for us accounts of the things that Jesus did from the time when he began his ministry. I myself have studied carefully these accounts. So I decided that it would be good for me also to write for you (sg) an accurate account of these matters. I want you to know the truth about what you have been taught {what others have taught you}.

20^th Century New Testament [To his Excellency, Theophilus. Many attempts have been already made to draw up an account of those events which have reached their conclusion among us, Just as they were reported to us by those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and afterwards became bearers of the Message. And, therefore, I also, since I have investigated all these events with great care from their very beginning, have resolved to write a connected history of them for you, In order that you may be able to satisfy yourself of the accuracy of the story which you have heard from the lips of others.]

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Alpha & Omega Bible            .

Awful Scroll Bible                   If-for-but-wholly-then many take into- their -hand, to be arranged-over a thorough-account, concerning the acts having occurred to be fully-borne from-among us, accordingly-as-to they extended-to us, they from the beginning being came to be themselves-seeing, and the ~assistants of the Word, it reputed even-me, having accurately followed- everything -closely from the top, to be written to you adjoining- it -along-down, mightiest Theophilus. In order that you may be came knowledgeable-upon without-fail, over the considerations which are being came about reported-along-down:

Christian Standard Bible        .

Conservapedia Translation    Though many have endeavored to write accounts of our most cherished beliefs, and have given these accounts to us, of eyewitnesses and chosen ministers of Christ, it seems fitting that I should write an account as well, to you, Theophilus, for I have had a perfect understanding of all these things from the beginning so that you will know the certainty of all these things you have been told of..

The Disciple's Bible                .

Evangelical Heritage V.          Introduction

^[a]Many have undertaken to compile an account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, an account exactly like those handed down to us by those who were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word from the beginning. For this reason, it seemed good to me also, since I followed everything closely from the beginning, to write an orderly account to you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you were taught.

^[a] The inspired writer of the Gospel according to Luke was a physician by the name of Luke. Read Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24; and 2 Timothy 4:11 to learn about Luke. The approximate date of writing may have been 60 ad.

Ferrar-Fenton Bible                The Dedication to Theophilus

Since several have taken in hand to arrange a narrative concerning the events which have occurred among us, exactly as those who were eye-witnesses and assistants of the Message from the first have delivered them to us; I myself also decided, having critically examined all the above, to write it in regular order for you, most noble Theophilus, so that you might ascertain the certainty com tained in the doctrines about which you have been instructed.

Free Bible Version                 As you know, many others have attempted to put down in writing the things that have been fulfilled* that involve us. They based their accounts on evidence from the earliest eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, and so I also decided that since I have followed these things very carefully from the beginning, it would be a good idea to write out an accurate account of all that happened. I have done this dear Theophilus* so you can be certain that what you were taught is completely reliable.

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           .

HCSB                                     .

Jubilee Bible 2000                  Forasmuch as many have attempted to set forth in order the history of those things which among us have been most certain, even as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning taught us and thus were ministers of the word, it seemed good also to me, after having understood all the things from the beginning with great diligence, to write them unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the security of those things in which thou hast been instructed.

Montgomery NT                     Seeing that many have taken it in hand to draw up an account of those matters which have been fully established among us, just as they reported them to us, who were from beginning eye-witnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also accurately, from the very beginning, to write them to you in order, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the story which you have been taught by the word of mouth.

NIV, ©2011                             .

NT for Everyone                     Prologue

Many people have undertaken to draw up an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled in our midst. It has been handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses and stewards of the word. So, most excellent Theophilus, since I had traced the course of all of it scrupulously from the start, I thought it a good idea to write an orderly account for you, so that you may have secure knowledge about the matters in which you have been instructed.

Peter Pett’s translation          .

Riverside New Testament      INASMUCH as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative of those facts which are firmly believed among us, just as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and who became bearers of the message handed them down to us; it has seemed good to me also — since I have followed everything from the beginning accurately — to write a consecutive account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the exact truth in regard to the matters which you have been taught by word of mouth.

Leicester A. Sawyer’s NT      SINCE many have undertaken to arrange a complete digest of the things fully believed among us, as they delivered them to us who, from the beginning, were eye witnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having traced all things accurately from the first, to write in order to you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of the words concerning which you have been taught.

Tree of Life Version                A Doctor Charts the Facts

Now many have undertaken to organize an account of the events fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us from the start by the eyewitnesses and reporters of the word. Therefore it seemed best to me also, because I have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, to write for you an orderly record, most excellent Theophilus, so you may know for sure the truth of the words you have been taught.

Unlocked Literal Bible            Many have tried to set in order a narrative about those matters that have been fulfilled among us, just as they handed them to us, who from the beginning have been eyewitnesses and servants of the message. So to me also it seemed good—having accurately investigated the course of all these things from the beginning—to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus. This is so that you might know the truth about the things that you were taught.

Urim-Thummim Version         Seeing that many have taken in hand to set forth in order a narrative of those things that have been fully assured among us, even as they delivered them to us, that from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus, so that you might know the certainty of those things which you have been informed of.

Weymouth New Testament    Seeing that many have attempted to draw up a narrative of the facts which are received with full assurance among us on the authority of those who were from the beginning eye-witnesses and were devoted to the service of the divine Message, it has seemed right to me also, after careful investigation of the facts from their commencement, to write for you, most noble Theophilus, a connected account, that you may fully know the truth of the things which you have been taught by word of mouth.

Whiston’s Primitive NT          Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things of which we have the fullest evidence. Even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eye witnesses, and ministers of the word: It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightst know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been catechised.

Wilbur Pickering’s New T.     Dedicatory
Given that many have undertaken to set in order a narrative concerning those things that really did take place among us, just as those who became eyewitnesses, from the beginning, and ministers of the Word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, most excellent Theophilus, having taken careful note of everything from Above, to write to you with precision and in sequence,so that you may know the certainty of the things in which you were instructed.

Wikipedia Bible Project          Seeing that many take in hand to set up a narrative about the deeds that have accomplished in us, In the same way that they gave their eyewitness accounts as they proclaimed the Word, I also thought it would be good to write out a factual and clear account of all that happened from the very beginning. This is written to you, most mighty Theophilos, so you can know definitely that what you were taught is sure and certain.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)  Several people have set themselves to relate the events that have taken place among us, as they were told by the first witnesses who later became ministers of the Word. After I myself had carefully gone over the whole story from the beginning, it seemed right for me to give you, Theophilus, an orderly account, so that your Excellency may know the truth of all you have been taught.

The Heritage Bible                 Since many took in hand to arrange a full narration about those matters having been fully borne out among us, Just as they gave them over to us, those being eyewitnesses from the beginning and subordinate officers of the word, It was thought good to me also, having thoroughly followed most exactly all things from above, to write to you consecutively, most honorable Theophilus, That you might recognize the certainty of those words into which you were catechized.

New American Bible (2002)   .

New American Bible (2011)   I. The Prologue*

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, [Acts 1:1; 1 Cor 15:3.] just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, [24:48; Jn 15:27; Acts 1:21–22.] I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.

*[1:1–4] The Gospel according to Luke is the only one of the synoptic gospels to begin with a literary prologue. Making use of a formal, literary construction and vocabulary, the author writes the prologue in imitation of Hellenistic Greek writers and, in so doing, relates his story about Jesus to contemporaneous Greek and Roman literature. Luke is not only interested in the words and deeds of Jesus, but also in the larger context of the birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises of God in the Old Testament. As a second- or third-generation Christian, Luke acknowledges his debt to earlier eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, but claims that his contribution to this developing tradition is a complete and accurate account, told in an orderly manner, and intended to provide Theophilus (“friend of God,” literally) and other readers with certainty about earlier teachings they have received.

New English Bible–1970        Dedication to Theophilus

THE AUTHOR TO THEOPHILUS: Many writers have undertaken to draw up an account of the events that have happened among us, following the traditions handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses and servants of the Gospel. And so I in my turn, your Excellency, as one who has gone over the whole course of these events in detail, have decided to write a connected narrative for you, so as to give you authentic knowledge about the matters of which you have been informed.

New Jerusalem Bible             Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events that have reached their fulfilment among us, as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus, so that your Excellency may learn how well founded the teaching is that you have received.

New RSV                               Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first [Or for a long time], to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.

Revised English Bible–1989   TO THEOPHILUS: Many writers have undertaken to draw up an account of the events that have taken place among us,

following the traditions handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses and servants of the gospel.

So I in my turn, as one who has investigated the whole course of these events in detail, have decided to write an orderly narrative for you, your excellency,

so as to give you authentic knowledge about the matters of which you have been informed.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           Dear Theophilos:

Concerning the matters that have taken place among us, many people have undertaken to draw up accounts based on what was handed down to us by those who from the start were eyewitnesses and proclaimers of the message. Therefore, Your Excellency, since I have carefully investigated all these things from the beginning, it seemed good to me that I too should write you an accurate and ordered narrative, so that you might know how well-founded are the things about which you have been taught.

The Complete Tanach           .

exeGeses companion Bible   INTRODUCTION

Since indeed

many took in hand to set forth in order

a declaration about those matters

which are fully borne among us

- even as they delivered to us;

who from the beginning saw for ourselves

and became attendants of the word;

I thought also,

having precisely followed all from above,

to scribe to you in sequence,

most powerful Theo Philus,

that you know the certainty of those words

about which you have been catechized.

Hebraic Roots Bible               .

Israeli Authorized Version      .

The Israel Bible (beta)            .

Orthodox Jewish Bible           Vi-bahlt (since) many Messianic Sofrim have attempted to compile a sefer, a historical narrative, about the momentous events that have been fulfilled among us,

Just as these [masoret haShluchim] have been handed down to us by those who from HaReshit [of the Besuras HaGeulah] were edei reiyah (eyewitnesses) and mesharetim [ministers] of the Dvar Hashem,

I thought it expedient also, having done an iyun (investigative research), accurately and carefully being meayen (engaged in research) in every source and making a medakdeke (pain-stakingly thorough) investigation of every aspect from HaReshit (the Beginning), to write for you and to mesader (arrange, place in succession) an orderly account, most noble Theophilus,

That you may have daas of HaEmes regarding the Divrei Moshiach about which you took shiurim (lessons).

The Scriptures 1998              Since many have indeed taken in hand to set in order an account of the matters completely confirmed among us, as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me as well, having followed up all these matters exactly from the beginning, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilos, that you might know the certainty of the words which you were taught.

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                Introduction

Since [as is well known] many have undertaken to compile an orderly account of the things which have been fulfilled among us [by God], exactly as they were handed down to us by those [with personal experience] who from the beginning [of Christ’s ministry] were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word [that is, of the teaching concerning salvation through faith in Christ], it seemed fitting for [a]me as well, [and so I have decided] after having carefully searched out and investigated all the events accurately, from the very beginning, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been [b]taught [that is, the history and doctrine of the faith].

^[a] Luke may have been a Gentile. If so, he is the only Gentile author whose work is included in the NT. In addition to The Gospel of Luke, he wrote The Acts of the Apostles, and is thought by some scholars to have been the author of The Letter to the Hebrews.

An Understandable Version   Your Excellency Theophilus: Since so many people have undertaken the task of compiling a narrative of events that have happened among us, [that is, people] who were ministers of the word and original eyewitnesses [of these events], and who passed them on to us; [and since] I have thoroughly investigated the entire series of events [myself], I felt it would be good for me also to write you an orderly account of them. Then you could know how reliable the information is that you have been told.

The Expanded Bible              Luke Writes About Jesus’ Life

Many have ·tried to report on [set out to compile an account/narrative of] the things that ·happened [have been fulfilled/accomplished] among us [John 20:31; Acts 1:1–3; 2 Pet. 1:16–19]. They have written the same things that ·we learned from [^L were handed down by] others—the ·people who saw those things [^L eyewitnesses] from the beginning and ·served God by telling people his message [^L were servants of the word; Acts 10:39–41; 1 John 1:1–3]. Since I myself have ·studied [investigated; followed closely] everything carefully from the beginning, most excellent [^C a designation for someone with high social or political status] Theophilus, it seemed ·good [fitting] for me to write it out for you. I arranged it ·in order [or in an orderly manner], to help you know that what you have been taught is ·true [certain; reliable; John 20:31].

Kretzmann’s Commentary    Verses 1-4

The Preface to the Gospel. Luke 1:1-4

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,

even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word,

it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus,

that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed.

Inasmuch as, since, seeing as is well known: the strong particle implies that the fact which the evangelist is about to state is well known, that it is important, and that it introduces the reason why Luke enters upon his great undertaking. Many persons had taken into their own hand to set forth in a connected narrative the great things that had been fulfilled, brought to their full consummation in their midst in the fullness of time. The Gospel-account had been transmitted in the form of episodes and individual stories, not in a long connected narrative. And there were many that wished a connected story concerning the events which now lay before the Christians as a complete whole. But many of these went ahead on their own initiative, and the word used by Luke implies a slight censure. They acted without authority of the great teachers of the Church, using their own judgment as to the authenticity of the stories that were circulating. Their efforts were on a par with those of the later apocryphal writers, a mixture of truth and falsehood. But the things that form the subject of Christian belief should not be left to scribes that wrote and edited without authority, without the certainty of full and divine truth. The disciples had been the witnesses of Christ's ministry, they had seen and heard the miracles and the sermons from the beginning, they had been ministers with Christ, assisting Him in His great work. They had been servants of the Word. The Gospel-story and its application engrossed their attention, that word summed up and characterized their labors. What they had taught had been the divine truth, since the Holy Spirit had led them into all truth. Their actual report of the Gospel-story and of the Gospel-preaching should be the only one to have validity among Christians. That is the notion which Luke had concerning the matter. Therefore he had made careful inquiries, he had very diligently followed up the matter from the very beginning, he had informed himself in all things with the aid of the responsible, authoritative teachers. He was therefore ready, on the basis of such investigations and studies, to write a continuous story, a connected narrative, of the entire Gospel-history, not only from the beginning of Christ's ministry, but from the beginning of His life. Luke then politely addresses the man for whom his summarized investigations were primarily intended, namely, one Theophilus, probably a Roman, whom he calls honorable, and who may therefore have occupied a high official position. This man had already received catechetical instruction (the first case in which such instruction is implied), but he had not made great advances in religious knowledge outside of the fundamentals, probably for lack of an authoritative textbook. but Luke wants him to know well, to understand exactly and fully, the certainty of the truth which he has learned up to the present time; he should be established in knowledge. It was for that reason that the writing or editing of a chronological and logical history of the life and ministry of Jesus was so desirable. Note: The explanation which Luke here gives does not in any way weaken verbal inspiration. "Though God gives His Holy Spirit to all them who ask Him, yet this gift was never designed to set aside the use of those faculties with which He has already endued the soul, and which are as truly His gifts as the Holy Spirit itself is. The nature of inspiration, in the case of St. Luke, we at once discover: he set himself, by impartial inquiry and diligent investigation, to find the whole truth, and to relate nothing but the truth; and the Spirit of God presided over and directed his inquiries, so that he discovered the whole truth, and was preserved from every particle of error. " Mark also: "This preface gives a lively picture of the intense, universal interest felt by the early Church in the story of the Lord Jesus: Apostles constantly telling what they had seen and heard; many of their hearers taking notes of what they said for the benefit of themselves and others; through these gospelets acquaintance with the evangelic history circulating among believers, creating a thirst for more and yet more; imposing on such a man as Luke the task of preparing a gospel as full, correct, and well-arranged as possible through the use of all available means—previous writing or oral testimony of surviving eyewitnesses. " It may be remarked, finally, that this preface of Luke's gospel is not only a splendid example of Greek writing, but also breathes the spirit of true meekness, such as should characterize not only the minister of the Gospel, but every Christian.

NET Bible®                             Explanatory Preface

Now¹ many have undertaken to compile an account² of the things³ that have been fulfilled⁴ among us, like the accounts⁵ passed on⁶ to us by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word⁷ from the beginning.⁸ So⁹ it seemed good to me as well,¹⁰ because I have followed¹¹ all things carefully from the beginning, to write an orderly account¹² for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know for certain¹³ the things you were taught.¹⁴

^1tn Grk “Since” or “Because.” This begins a long sentence that extends through v. 4. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, the Greek sentence has been divided up into shorter English sentences in the translation.

^2tn This is sometimes translated “narrative,” but the term itself can refer to an oral or written account. It is the verb “undertaken” which suggests a written account, since it literally is “to set one’s hand” to something (BDAG 386 s.v. ἐπιχειρέω). “Narrative” is too specific, denoting a particular genre of work for the accounts that existed in the earlier tradition. Not all of that material would have been narrative.

^3tn Or “events.”

^4tn Or “have been accomplished.” Given Luke’s emphasis on divine design (e.g., Luke 24:43-47) a stronger sense (“fulfilled”) is better than a mere reference to something having taken place (“accomplished”).

^5tn Grk “even as”; this compares the recorded tradition of 1:1 with the original eyewitness tradition of 1:2.

^6tn Or “delivered.”

^7sn The phrase eyewitnesses and servants of the word refers to a single group of people who faithfully passed on the accounts about Jesus. The language about delivery (passed on) points to accounts faithfully passed on to the early church.

^8tn Grk “like the accounts those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word passed on to us.” The location of “in the beginning” in the Greek shows that the tradition is rooted in those who were with Jesus from the start.

^9tn The conjunction “so” is supplied here to bring out the force of the latter part of this Greek sentence, which the translation divides up because of English style. Luke, in compiling his account, is joining a tradition with good precedent.

^10sn When Luke says it seemed good to me as well he is not being critical of the earlier accounts, but sees himself stepping into a tradition of reporting about Jesus to which he will add uniquely a second volume on the early church when he writes the Book of Acts.

^11tn Grk “having followed”; the participle παρηκολουθηκότι (parhkolouqhkoti) has been translated causally.

^12sn An orderly account does not necessarily mean that all events are recorded in the exact chronological sequence in which they occurred, but that the account produced is an orderly one. This could include, for example, thematic or topical order rather than strict chronological order.

^13tn Or “know the truth about”; or “know the certainty of.” The issue of the context is psychological confidence; Luke’s work is trying to encourage Theophilus. So in English this is better translated as “know for certain” than “know certainty” or “know the truth,” which sounds too cognitive. “Certain” assumes the truth of the report. On this term, see Acts 2:36; 21:34; 22:30; and 25:26. The meaning “have assurance concerning” is also possible here.

^14tn Or “you heard about.” This term can refer merely to a report of information (Acts 21:24) or to instruction (Acts 18:25). The scope of Luke’s Gospel as a whole, which calls for perseverance in the faith and which assumes much knowledge of the OT, suggests Theophilus had received some instruction and was probably a believer.

The Pulpit Commentary         .

P. Kretzmann Commentary    .

Syndein/Thieme                     The gospels were written by 4 men discussing the same topic (the incarnation of Christ), but from 4 different points of view and they emphasize different areas. Matthew presents Jesus Christ as Messiah the King - events are presented in chronological order. Luke presents Jesus Christ as the 'Son of Man' - the ideal Man and is presented in logical order. Mark presents Jesus as the Servant of the Father. And, John presents Jesus Christ as the Eternal Son of God - emphasizing the deity of Christ.

The Recipients of the 'good news' (gospel) were also different. Matthew was written to the Jews and was written in Aramaic or the Hebrew of the time. Mark was written to the Romans. Luke was written to the Gentiles. And, John was written to everyone.

The divine author is God the Holy Spirit. The human author was Doctor Luke who also wrote the book of Acts.

{Explanatory Preface}

Foreasmuch as it is well known and a fact of importance that many have undertaken to draw up in its historical sequence a narrative of events concerning which there has been a wide diffusion of knowledge among us, even as they delivered them to us for safekeeping, those who from the beginning were personal witnesses of and ministered the Word, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things from the beginning in the minutest detail, to write to you in a consecutive order, Your Excellency, Theophilas, in order that you may come to have a 'full and accurate experiential knowledge' {epiginosko} concerning the undoubted truth of the matters/Words {logos} in which you were instructed.

For those who love God, several other people have already written accounts of what God has been bringing to completion among us, using the reports of the original eyewitnesses, those who were there from the start to witness the fulfillment of prophecy. Like those other servants who have recorded the messages, I present to you my carefully researched, orderly account of these new teachings. 4 I want you to know that you can fully rely on the things you have been taught about Jesus, God’s Anointed One.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Accurate New Testament       .

American Standard Revised            .

Analytical-Literal Translation  Since many undertook to arrange in proper order an account about the events having been accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by the ones having became eye-witnesses and attendants of the Word from the beginning, it seemed good also to me, having closely followed [or, having investigated] every[thing] carefully from the beginning, to write [it out] to you in consecutive order [or, in an orderly fashion], most excellent Theophilus, so that you shall know the certainty [or, exact truth] about which you were instructed.

Breakthrough Version            Since it is definitely true that many attempted to arrange a description concerning the things that have been well-established among us, just as the people turned it over to us who from the beginning became eyewitnesses and rowers of the message, it also seemed good to me, who has closely followed everything from the top, to accurately write to you in order, most powerful Theophilus, so that you might correctly understand about the certainty of the messages that echoed down to you.

Charles Thomson NT             .

Concordant Literal Version    .

Context Group Version          .

Darby Translation                  .

Disciples Literal New T.         In-as-much-as many undertook[a] to compile a narrative about the things having been fulfilled[b] among us, just as the eyewitnesses from the first[c] and ones having become servants of the word handed-down to us, it seemed good to me also, having closely-followed[d] everything carefully from-the-beginning[e], to write it for you in-order, most-excellent Theophilus, in order that you may fully-know the certainty of the things about which you were instructed.

[a] Or, set-their-hand.

[b] Or, accomplished.

[c] That is, the beginning of Christ’s ministry.

[d] Or, accurately-traced.

[e] That is, from before John’s birth.

Emphasized Bible                  .

English Standard Version      .

Far Above All Translation       Seeing that many have undertaken to draw up an account concerning the proceedings fully carried through among us, just as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses to, and had become servants of the word – just as they handed those things down to us, so it seemed right to me too, who has followed everything accurately from the beginning, to write to you in an orderly way, Your Excellency Theophilus, in order that you might come to know the certainty of the matters about which you have been taught by word of mouth.

Greek NT Interlinear              .

Green’s Literal Translation    .

Jonathan Mitchell NT             Scroll 25 Gospel of Luke.
[Prologue].
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which have been accomplished among us, even as they delivered them to us, who from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and ministers of the Word; determined also, having traced out diligently all things from the beginning, to write to Thee in order, most excellent Theophilus. That Thou may know the certainty of those things in which Thou have been instructed.

Interlinear Greek New T.        .

Literal New Testament           .

Modern English Version         The Prologue

Whereas many have undertaken to write a narrative of those things which are most surely believed among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having accurately investigated all things from the very beginning, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you might know the certainty of the things which you have been told.

Modern Literal Version           {Lk 1:1-4 Introduction; no parallel.}
Since many have undertaken the task to compile a narrative concerning the matters which have been fully assured among us, just-as they gave them to us, who from the beginning became eyewitnesses and attendants of the word, it also seemed good to me, having followed accurately in all things from the start, to write to you afterwards, most-excellent Theophilus; that* you might fully know the certainty concerning the words in which you were instructed.

Modern KJV                           .

New American Standard B.    Introduction

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things [a]accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning [b]were eyewitnesses and [c]servants of the [d]word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having [e]investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been [f]taught.

[a] Or on which there is full conviction

[b] Lit became

[c] Or ministers

[d] I.e. gospel

[e] Or followed

New European Version          Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as they delivered them to us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

New King James Version       Dedication to Theophilus

Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which [a]have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having [b]had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

[a] Or are most surely believed

[b] Lit. accurately followed

Revised Young's Lit. Trans.   Seeing that many did take in hand to set in order a narration of the matters that have been fully assured among us, as they did deliver to us, who from the beginning became eye-witnesses, and officers of the Word, -- it seemed good also to me, having followed from the first after all things exactly, to write to you in order, most noble Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of the things wherein you were instructed.

Third Millennium Bible            .

Thomas Haweis Trans.          SINCE many have attempted to compose a narrative of facts, confirmed to us by the fullest evidence: exactly as they delivered them to us, who were eve witnesses from the first, and ministers of the word; it seemed right to me also, having obtained accurate knowledge of all things from above, to write to thee in regular order, most excellent Theophilus, to the intent that thou mayest clearly know the certainty of those matters, concerning which thou hast been instructed.

A Voice in the Wilderness      .

World English Bible                .

Young’s Updated LT             .

The gist of this passage: 

We begin with Luke 1:1. Throughout this study, I will be using, primarily, one of my original 3 translations.. I will also make liberal use of the ESV; capitalized (which is simply the ESV where I have capitalized the pronominal references to God). Sometimes I will insert explanatory information into these verses, placed in brackets.

Luke wrote long complex sentences which often continued for many verses (many translators present vv. 1–4 as a single sentence). He is a man with long, complex thoughts. There are times in this study when I thought, maybe I should have started with John, whose Greek is much easier to translate. However, whenever I am having difficulties with the translation, I have about 100 other translations to draw from for guidance.

Translation: Seeing that many have [already] attempted to arrange in order a [an historic] narrative concerning the deeds we have accomplished;...

I found those final 5 or 6 words difficult to translate, so let’s see what others have done:

Analytical-Literal Translation  Since many undertook to arrange in proper order an account about the events having been accomplished among us,...

Breakthrough Version            Since it is definitely true that many attempted to arrange a description concerning the things that have been well-established among us,...

Disciples Literal New T.         In-as-much-as many undertook to compile a narrative about the things having been fulfilled among us,...

Far Above All Translation       Seeing that many have undertaken to draw up an account concerning the proceedings fully carried through among us,...

Jonathan Mitchell NT             Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which have been accomplished among us,...

Revised Young's Lit. Trans.   Seeing that many did take in hand to set in order a narration of the matters that have been fully assured among us,...

So, we are speaking of events, matters, things; which I would suggest to you are historical events; and of these events, Luke and other disciples were fully assured of them; they were well-established among them; these events were fulfilled or accomplished among Luke that the disciples which he hung with.

Meanings of the participle includes being fulfilled, being fully persuaded [or assured], being accomplished. Many of the events of the Lord’s life were a fulfillment of prophecy. The disciples were fully persuaded that certain things happened, based upon a number of witnesses. These events were real; they occurred; they had happened or were accomplished.

Luke 1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile [= to arrange in order] a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,...

In the first verse, we find that Luke is an intellectual with a writing style that is the polar opposite of John’s (whose Greek is deceptively simple). For instance, in the Book of John it takes 3 verses until you come upon a 3-syllable word. The first word in Luke 1:1 is a 4 syllable word, and in this first verse, there are 2 5-syllable words and 1 7-syllable word. So we know that we are dealing with an accomplished intellect here.

Whereas, the first 4 verses of Luke make up a single sentence; each verse in John is a single sentence.

The second verb in this verse is the aorist middle (deponent) infinitive of anatassomai (ἀνατάσσομαι) [pronounced an-at-AS-som-ahee], which means, to put together, to arrange [in order], to compose. Strong’s #392. The aorist tense can refer to a point in time or to several points of time put together. The infinitive is often used to refer to purpose. A deponent middle voice is middle in form but it might be active in meaning. Luke took information from a variety of sources and attempted to weave all of that into a coherent, cohesive narrative which is arranged in order. He did this over a period of time in successive intervals.

Twice in this passage, Luke will make a reference to order; and I believe that he is referring to chronological order. Luke is a Greek, and I believe that the Greek culture emphasizes order and chronology more than the Hebrew culture did (the other writers of the New Testament are all Hebrew men). I am not saying that the Hebrew writers of Scripture ignored chronology, but there are many sections in the first third of Exodus where the organization is not always chronological. In fact, I can think of two instances off the top of my head where Moses goes back and writes more about an incident already recorded, providing additional information on that incident along with a different perspective.

In this first verse, Luke says that many have already attempted to record an historic narrative. It is my thought that Luke had copies of Matthew and Mark, and that he drew upon those historical narratives when compiling his own. However, he says that many have attempted to write such a biography already. So, my guess is, he has some additional written material from others—perhaps incomplete or poorly written. No one could really put together a good narrative on his own unless he was a disciple with Jesus from the beginning; so, this would seem to limit the number of eyewitness biographers to 11 men. Jesus had other followers besides the 12 disciples, but we do not know how many of those were with Jesus for most of His public ministry. The term disciple means student, follower.

But, instead of being a follower of the Lord, Luke probably never met Him. Nevertheless, Luke was motivated to write a biography of Jesus. Now, Luke does not present himself as an eyewitness to these events (not in his gospel, anyways). Being a Greek, he may have knowledge of our Lord’s ministry, but it is likely that he never actually saw Jesus Christ. Luke probably believed in Him after His death, resurrection and ascension.

Luke only mentions himself a few times in the book of Acts, and does not make himself the focal point of any of the recorded history.

Luke, because of his relationship with Paul and with the early disciples of Jesus, was able to pick the brains of those who were eyewitnesses or men who knew eyewitnesses of the life of Christ.

Luke 1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile [= to arrange in order] a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,...

I believe by these words that Luke is acknowledging that a number of people have put together narratives already—complete and partial—of the life of Christ. We have access to 4 such narratives, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Luke had the biographies written by Matthew and Mark; but John wrote his gospel many years later—possibly after a.d. 90. It is my guess, based upon these introductory words that Luke had other manuscripts as well.

What people observed at the feet of our Lord was no doubt amazing; and some must have realized just how incredible His short ministry was. As a result, I think that there may have been several other biographies, or partial biographies, that were begun, but never completed.

The word many implies that Luke has access to more written material than Matthew and Mark’s gospels. What these many people have done is the aorist active indicative of epicheireô (ἐπιχειρέω) [pronounced ehp-ee-khi-REH-oh], which means, to put the hand to; to take in hand, undertake, attempt; to go about. Strong’s #2021. The aorist tense can refer to a point in time or to several points in time. Someone reflects upon their interaction with Jesus, or something that they saw Him do, and they write about it—they know that it is important and that nothing like this has ever happened before. However, they just are not writers; they do not do research. They write 12 pages over a week’s time, and then are never able to pick it up again.

Then one day, this Gentile Luke, who is traveling with Paul, is interviewing people who knew Jesus. So, these unfinished accounts written during this period of time, are also handed to him. This is most likely the way that we should understand many have attempted to compose a narrative of...

The concept of research in order to compile a historical narrative of anything was not a brand new concept. Titus Flavius Josephus (a.d. 37–100) was an historian of this same era, and the history which he wrote was also researched and compiled (however, he copied a great deal of the Jewish history right out of the Old Testament Bible).

Is Luke the first person to write an historical narrative by gathering information from eyewitnesses? I doubt it; but the best history is written by an historian who makes every effort to secure the testimony of those who were there. This is what Luke did.

We are just completing Luke 1:1; there are a few more things to be said about this verse:

Luke 1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile [= to arrange in order] a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,...

We are told that many have undertaken to arrange in order a narrative of the life of Jesus (interestingly enough, that Luke does not use the Lord’s name until v. 31). In fact, the first 4 verses are the preface of Luke’s book.

Luke refers to us, which would be the people with whom he is associated at the time of this writing. I would suggest that this is Luke and Paul but also people who actually were closely associated with Jesus (I would include in this group both Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene).

The final verb in v. 1 is plêrophoreô (πληροφορέω) [pronounced play-rof-or-EH-oh], which means 1) to bear or bring full, to make full; 1a) to cause a thing to be shown to the full; 1a1) to fulfil the ministry in every part; 1b) to carry through to the end, accomplish; 1b1) things that have been accomplished; 1c) to fill one with any thought, conviction, or inclination; 1c1) to make one certain, to persuade, convince one; 1c2) to be persuaded, persuaded, fully convinced or assured; 1c3) to render inclined or bent on. Strong’s #4135.

This verb is a perfect passive participle. Unlike the Hebrew, where there are essentially two verb tenses (perfect and imperfect), the Greek has more than a half dozen tenses. The perfect tense in the Greek is something which has occurred in the past, but with results which continue on forever (this is not the same as the perfect tense in Hebrew). The passive voice means that God worked our His divine good from within His people.

We have three primary meanings for this verb which are applicable here: to have been accomplished, to have been fulfilled and to have been fully persuaded. It appears to be just about impossible to find an English word which conveys all that is being said here. Luke is recording the things which were accomplished [by God] amongst his group (the other apostles); but these are things wherein Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law and the prophecies about Him (which was observed by many eyewitnesses); and these are things of which Luke and his associates have been fully convinced, fully persuaded. That is, he and his associates are certain that these events took place just as described. They have no doubts about that.

So that you are fully convinced of this understanding of the verb, let me give you 3 translations of this verse, bolding the translation of this particular verb:

Luke 1:1 (Concordant Literal Version): Since, in fact, even many take in hand to compose a narrative concerning the matters of which we are fully assured among ourselves,...

Luke and the other disciples (= students) and Apostles (= ultimate leaders in the first century) were certain of all the events which took place; and the accuracy of the historical narrative and the teaching of Jesus are both found in this book.

Luke 1:1 (A Voice in the Wilderness) Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us,...

Jesus was more than a teacher. The Old Testament was filled with things predicted about the Messiah to come, and He fulfilled these Old Testament prophecies (most, but not all of them; the Lord fulfilled 1^st Advent prophecies but not 2^nd Advent prophecies).

Luke 1:1 (English Majority Text Version) Since many have attempted to arrange a narrative about the matters which have taken place among us,...

The information recorded in the book of Luke were things which actually took place, and Luke has spoken to many eyewitnesses who have assured him of the accuracy of this biography. Luke is assuring his reader that all of this really happened.

For all we know, Luke may have used this verb purposely, as it laid out 3 things which he wanted to say; and he only needed one verb to say these 3 things. If this is the case, we know that we are dealing with a wonderful intellect here.

So Luke is endeavoring here to compose in chronological order an historical narrative. Of the 4 gospels, his is the book to look to if you want to know what happened when (at least for the first and final thirds of the book). In the other 3 gospels, although the general order is there (our Lord’s life, public ministry, death, burial, resurrection and ascension); when it comes to His public ministry, we cannot assume the events of, say, John 4 immediately follows John 3, and immediately precedes John 5 (nor do any of the other gospels make this claim).

On the other hand, there are clear deviations from a precise chronology in Luke’s gospel (gospel means good news, by the way). The account of John the baptizer in Luke 2 is not entirely in chronological order with regards to Luke 3. We end this narrative about John; Luke looks ahead to what happens to John in the future (beyond the time of Luke 3), before we begin following Jesus. So, the narrative about John the baptizer is in order, chronologically; but only with regards to itself. Luke, when writing, simply wanted to take the events in John’s life out to a certain point (that point being, when John was arrested).

Also, the middle of the book of Luke emphasizes teaching far more than it emphasizes a series of chronological events. Placing the Lord’s teaching into some sort of chronological order would be quite difficult, as He appears to have taught the same concepts on different occasions (compare Matthew’s sermon on the mount with Luke’s sermon on the plain).

Bearing these things in mind, the book of Luke breaks down into three parts: the first third of Luke will begin in the days of Herod before the birth of Christ, and follow a series of chronological events, from before the Lord’s birth into His public ministry; the middle third will be the Lord’s teachings, almost separated from time; and the final third of Luke’s book will resume a chronological approach to the end of the Lord’s public ministry. The Lord’s teachings in the first and third portions of Luke seem to be more tied to specific events.

So far, we have covered the first verse of Luke:

Luke 1:1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile [= to arrange in order] a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,...

Others in the past have attempted to develop narratives of what has taken place in the lives of Luke and the people with whom he is associated. These accomplishments are all related to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the subject of this book (one might argue that Jesus is the subject of every book of the Bible).