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Luk 1:1. Ἐπειδήπερ, Forasmuch as) A brief dedication applying to both the works of Luke:[1] it may be also termed the Preface or Introduction, and from it there shine forth pre-eminently gravity, simplicity, and candour.-πολλοὶ ἐπεχείρησαν many have taken in hand) Luke does not hereby denote Matthew and John, who had been among the very eye-witnesses of the facts and ministers of the word; not to say that Luke both wrote before John, and does not seem to have seen the Gospel of Matthew. There remains the one evangelist Mark alone; but Luke speaks of many, and employs the word ἐπεχείρησαν, have taken in hand, in a middle sense [i.e. neither expressing disparagement nor praise]; and consonant with this is the particle καθὼς, even as, which implies a consonance with the relation [report] of the eye-witnesses and ministers either sought after or attained by the writers alluded to: also the expression κἀμοὶ, to me also, agrees with the same view; for by it Luke does not so much oppose himself to those many writers, but rather adds himself to their number, as one of the same class, in such a manner, however, as that he may contribute somewhat even still to the ἀσφάλεια and firm assurance of Theophilus. He therefore intimates, if only he has had reference [not merely to others, but] also to Mark [which indeed, if you compare together the forms of expression and the order of narratives in each, is not very unlikely.-Harm., p. 36], that several particulars, not mentioned in Mark, are read to his hand for recording; but that the other writers, as, for instance, he who wrote the Gospel according to the Egyptians, are less calculated to serve towards producing ἀσφάλεια and firm assurance.-ἀνατάξασθαι, to set forth in order) in writing or instructive [catechetico, referring to κατηχήθης, Luk 1:4] words. Hesychius says, ἀνατάξασθαι, εὐτρεπίσασθαι.-τῶν πεπληροφορημένων) πληροφορία, when it is attributed to a man, denotes the fulness of knowledge in the understanding, or of eager desire in the will: 2Ti 4:17; Heb 6:11, note. Such vigour characterized τὰ πράγματα, the Christian facts, which Luke describes in both his works, whilst they were occurring [were being accomplished]: and these alone had this characteristic; for which reason this periphrasis whereby he designates the same facts is quite sufficient. It was in the sight of the world that the Gospel facts occurred: Act 26:26.-ἐν ἡμῖν, among us) in the Church, but especially among the teachers, and these veterans.
[1] The names Lucius and Lucas are the same; except that the former, being a diminutive of the latter, has somewhat of a more familiar sound. Mention is made as early as in Act 13:1 of a Lucius of Cyrene among the prophets and teachers of the Church, which at that time flourished at Antioch; and therefore it must have been but a short time after the death which befel Herod (ch. Luk 12:23), A. Dion. Era, 44. It is owing to this, I am inclined to think, that Eusebius and others have considered Antioch as the native place of Luke. Furthermore, Paul makes mention of a certain Lucius among his ‘kinsmen,’ Rom 16:21, and calls Luke [Lucas] his fellow-workman and the beloved Physician, Phm 1:24; Col 4:14. Now, whether he be only Luke [Lucas], or also Lucius, he is the very person who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, having accompanied Paul himself from the Troad, first to Philippi (Act 16:10), next from Philippi to Troas, nay, even as far as to Rome (ch Act 20:6, Act 28:16; 2Ti 4:11): and it is owing to this that he most frequently uses the first person plural in his narrative. Moreover the lively [vigorous] style of Luke, which is particularly appropriate to the very joyful subject of the Acts, comprising, as they do, in their history the completion [carrying into effect] of the New Testament, seems to have derived some of its characteristics from the association of many years, which Luke maintained [enjoyed] with Paul.-Harm., pp. 35, 36. Lucas seems to me to be the contraction of Lucanus, as Silas from Silvanus, and to be altogether a distinct name from Lucius.-ED. and TRANSL.