Luke 1:3

F. B. Hole's Old and New Testament Commentary - Luke 1:1-99

Luke 1 IN THE OPENING verses Luke avows the object before him in writing his Gospel; he wished to bring certainty to the mind of a certain Gentile convert. God had given him a perfect understanding of all things from the outset, so now he wrote them “in order,” or “with method;” and we shall see as we proceed that he sometimes ignores historical order to present things in a method that is moral and spiritual. The understanding of that moral and spiritual order, together with having the facts... read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - Luke 1:1-4

The Preface to the Gospel. Luke 1:1-Numbers : v. 1. Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, v. 2. even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, v. 3. 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, v. 4. that thou mightest know the... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - Luke 1:1-4

THE HISTORIOGRAPHICAL PREFACELuke 1:1-41Forasmuch1 as many have taken in hand2 to set forth in order [to draw up] a declaration [narration]3 of those things which are most surely believed [concerning the things2[fulfilled]4 among us, Even5 as they [those] delivered them [handed them down, παρέδωσαν] unto us, which [who] from the beginning were eye-witnesses [οἱ ̓ ἀρχῆςαὐτόπται],and ministers of the word; 3It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very... read more

Frederick Brotherton Meyer

F.B. Meyer's 'Through the Bible' Commentary - Luke 1:1-12

the Beginning of the Good News Luke 1:1-12 The opening verses are very explicit. They are answer enough to those who question the story of our Lord’s supernatural birth and early years. Luke did not catch up the first legend that floated past him. He made searching inquiry. Doctor Weymouth renders the words in Luke 1:3 , “having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,” as, “After careful examination of the facts from the commencement.” That our Lord should come into our... read more

Robert Neighbour

Wells of Living Water Commentary - Luke 1:1-80

The Seven Magnificats Selections from Luke 1:1-80 and Luke 2:1-52 INTRODUCTORY WORDS By way of introduction to the seven Magnificats, we will study the annunciation of the birth of Christ, as it was given by the angel unto Mary. Our study will follow Luke 1:27-38 . 1. The virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph. We emphasize that Mary was a virgin. This was plainly set forth in the prophetic Scriptures, when the Holy Ghost wrote, "A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 1:1-4

Introduction (1:1-4). In approaching this introduction we should recognise that it conforms with literary practise in the world of Luke’s day. Josephus in ‘Against Appion’ opens his writings similarly. In his opening to book 1 he says, “In my history of our Antiquities, most excellent Epaphroditus, I have, I think, made sufficiently clear to any who may peruse that work the extreme antiquity of our Jewish race, the purity of the original stock and the manner in which it established itself in... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 1:3-4

‘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 might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.’ So Luke tells us that, unsatisfied with other writings, he went back to basics. As a genuine historian he ‘traced all things accurately from the first’, so that Theophilus and his readers may be able to be sure that what he tells them are facts, and might ‘know the... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 1:1-4

Luke 1:1-Numbers : . Preface.— The writer, influenced by the attempts of others to record the primitive tradition of Christianity as it was handed down by the first generation of disciples, essays the same task, and having taken pains to collect, examine, sift, and arrange the contents of the written and oral tradition, presents the result to Theophilus, a Roman official of some standing, who needed fuller acquaintance with the historic basis of the oral teaching about Christianity which he... read more

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Luke 1:1-4

Luke's evangelical history hath this peculiar to itself, that whereas the histories of the other evangelists are written to the whole world, having no particular inscription, or dedication, Luke dedicates his to a particular person, named Theophilus; for though that name signifieth one that loveth God, yet I cannot think it is to be taken here appellatively, it being commonly used as a proper name; parents in former ages giving children names generally either expressive of their children's duty... read more

Joseph Exell

Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary - Luke 1:1-4

CRITICAL NOTESLuke 1:1. Many.—St. Luke cannot here refer exclusively to the works of the other evangelists. He alludes to narratives drawn up by writers who derived their information from the testimony of “eye-witnesses and ministers of the word.” The first and fourth Gospels, written by “eye-witnesses and ministers of the word,” are necessarily excluded from this category. This would only leave one Gospel, St. Mark’s, as a representative of the “many” incomplete narratives. Neither can St.... read more