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3. παρηκολουθηκότι. ‘Having accurately traced out or followed up.’ See the same word in 1Ti 4:6; 2Ti 3:10. St Luke modestly puts himself exactly on the same footing as other narrators in not having the primary apostolic qualification, but he claims continuous and complete knowledge and careful research. This phrase closely resembles that used by Thucydides (I. 22), ὄσον δυνατὸν ἀκριβείᾳ περὶ ἑκάστου ἐπεξελθών. It need hardly be added that the “et spiritui sancto” added after mihi in some MSS. of the Itala is an unauthorized gloss from Act 15:28.
ἄνωθεν. The word occurs in the same sense in Act 26:5; Gal 4:9. St John uses it in the sense “from above,” Joh 3:3; Joh 19:11. The original Apostles had mainly to testify to what they had seen. Joh 15:27; Act 1:21-22. Vulg[23] assecuto omnia a principio.
[23] Vulg. Vulgate.
St Luke’s Gospel differed from these narratives in beginning from the birth of John the Baptist and the Annunciation, whereas they began at the Manhood and Public Ministry of Christ, as do St Mark and St John. See Act 1:22; Luk 16:16, “the Law and the Prophets were until John: since that time the Kingdom of God is preached.”
ἀκριβῶς. Not ‘diligently,’ as in A. V[24], but as in R. V[25], ‘accurately.’ Comp. Mat 2:7.
[24] A. V. Authorised Version.
[25] R. V. Revised Version.
καθεξῆς. A favourite word of St Luke only; Luk 8:1; Act 11:4; Act 3:24; Act 18:23. The older and more classical form is ἐφεξῆς. St Luke’s order is mainly objective, i.e. chronological; St Matthew’s, on the other hand, is much guided by subjective considerations, i.e. by moral sequence and unity of topics. St Luke’s method is therefore wholly unlike that oral teaching of St Peter which probably formed the basis of St Mark’s Gospel. For Papias tells us that St Peter πρὸς τὰς χρείας ἐποιεῖτο τὰς διδασκαλίας “adapted his teachings to the immediate needs of his auditors.” In Act 10:37-48 St Peter begins from the baptism of John.
κράτιστε. This is the title of official personages of high position, e.g. Felix, Act 23:26, and Festus, Act 26:25. Whether it is here used in this technical, or in a more general sense, like the Latin ‘optime,’ it is impossible to say. The title is omitted in Act 1:1.
Θεόφιλε. A very common name. It means ‘Dear to God,’ but it is unlikely that it is here an imaginary name. Absolutely nothing is known of him. Some from the title “most excellent” have conjectured that Sergius Paulus (Act 13:7-12) is meant, to whom they think that the Acts might have naturally been dedicated. But the name seems to shew that a Greek is intended, and St Luke is writing mainly for Greeks (see Introduction, p. 16). A Theophilus, who held some high distinction at Antioch, is mentioned in the Clementine Recognitions; and as St Luke was, not improbably, a proselyte of Antioch, this may be the person for whom he wrote. ‘Physicians’ in ancient days were often merely slaves who had received a medical education. Theophilus may have been St Luke’s original master, and after conversion to Christianity may have defrayed the expenses of his Gospel as a “patronus libri;” but this of course is mere conjecture. Others identify him with a bishop of Caesarea Philippi.