John Gill Commentary Luke 1

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand
From hence, to the end of (Luke 1:4) is a preface of the evangelist to his Gospel, setting forth the reasons of his writing it; and which he wrote and sent to the excellent Theophilus, for the further confirmation of him in the faith of Christ. It seems that many had took in hand, or attempted

to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most
surely believed among us ;
that is, they undertook to write and publish a very particular and exact narrative of the birth, life, actions, doctrines, miracles, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ; things which Luke, and other Christians, had the fullest and strongest evidence, and were confidently assured of, and most firmly believed, even with a full assurance of faith.

By these many, he cannot mean the authentic historians of evangelical facts, as Matthew and Mark; for they two cannot, with any propriety, be called many; and besides, it is not so very clear and certain a point, that they had, as yet, wrote their Gospels; nor would this evangelist suggest any deficiency, weakness, and inaccuracy in them, as he seems to do: nor does he intend such spurious writers as the authors of the Gospels according to the Nazarenes, Hebrews, and Egyptians; of Nicodemus, Thomas, Matthias, and of the twelve apostles; and still less, the Gospels of Cerinthus, Basilides, and other heretics; since these would not have passed without a censure from him, for the falsehood, fabulous, and trifling stuff in them, as well as for the wicked and heretical opinions propagated by them; and besides, these pieces were not extant when this Gospel was written:

but he seems to design some honest and well meaning Christians, who undertook to write, and did write an account of the above things, which were firmly believed by all; and which they took from the apostles, and first ministers of the Gospel, from their sermons and discourses, and from conversation with them; and which they committed to writing, partly to help their own memories, and partly for the benefit of others; in which, no doubt, they acted an upright part, though attended with weakness:

wherefore, the evangelist does not censure them as false, wicked, and heretical, nor approve of them as divine and perfect for though they honestly meant, and designed well, yet there might be many things collected by them, which were impertinent, and not proper to be transmitted to posterity; and what might be wrote with great inaccuracy and deficiency, and in a style the Holy Ghost thought improper things of this kind should be delivered in: and therefore the evangelist, moved and inspired by the Spirit of God, set about the following work, and under the same influence completed it. The phrase, (anataxasyai dihghsin) , "to set forth in order a declaration", is as Dr. Lightfoot observes, out of the Talmud ^F8 , agreeably to the Jewish way of speaking.

``R. Chasdai said to one of the Rabbins, who was (atdga rdom) , "setting in order a declaration" before him. &c. or relating in order a story before him.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: T. Bab. Succa, fol. 53. 1.

Even as they delivered them unto us
By whom the evangelist means, as appears from the after description of them, the twelve apostles, and seventydisciples; who handed down to others the accounts of the birth, life, and death of Christ; and according towhich the above Christians proposed to write:

which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the
word ;
either of the Gospel, or rather of Christ himself, the eternal Word of God; for from the beginning ofChrist's preaching the Gospel, or as soon as he entered upon his public ministry, he called his apostles, asSimon, Andrew, James, John and afterwards seventy disciples; who were eyewitnesses of him, of the truth ofhis incarnation, and of his ministry and miracles; saw, and conversed with him after his resurrection fromthe dead and beheld his ascension to heaven; and were ministers that were called, qualified, and sent out byhim and waited on him, and served him. This shows, as is by some rightly observed, that Luke was not one ofthe seventy disciples, as some ^F9 have thought, and as the title of this Gospel, to the Arabicversion of it, expresses; for then he would have been an eyewitness himself: nor did he take his account fromthe Apostle Paul; for he was not a minister of the word from the beginning, but was as one born out of duetime.

FOOTNOTES:

• F9: Epiphan. contra Haeres. l. 2. Haeres. 51. Theophylact. in Argument in Luc.

It seemed good to me also
Being moved to it by the Holy Ghost; for he did not undertake this work of himself, merely by the motion of his own will, but was influenced, and directed to it by the Spirit of God, as well as by him assisted in it:

having had perfect understanding of all things ;
relating to the subject of this Gospel, concerning the conception, birth, ministry, baptism, and death of John the Baptist; concerning the conception, birth, private and public life of Christ, together with his sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension. The Syriac and Persic versions refer the word "all" to persons, to the eyewitnesses and ministers of the word; rendering the clause thus, "who have been studiously near to them all": and both senses may be taken in, and the meaning be, that Luke had diligently sought after, and had attained unto a perfect knowledge of all the affairs of Christ; having studiously got into the company of, and intimately conversed with all, or as many as he could, who had seen Christ in the flesh; and were, from the very first of his ministry, attendants on him, that he might have the most certain and exquisite account of things, that could be come at:

from the very first ;
and to the last; from the conception of John, the forerunner of the Messiah, which is higher than any other evangelist goes, to the ascension of Christ; though some choose to render the word here used, "from above", as it may be, and sometimes is; and may signify, that the evangelist had his perfect knowledge of things by a revelation from above, by divine inspiration; and this moved him to write, and which he mentions, that Theophilus, to whom he writes, and every other reader, may depend, with certainty, on what is said in it. This clause is omitted in the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions, but is in all copies, and by all means to be retained: this being the case, these reasons prevailed upon him, as he says,

to write to you, in order, most excellent Theophilus ;
which regards not so much the order of time, which he does not always strictly observe, as the particulars of things, related in order, and with great exactness: who this Theophilus was, to whom he writes his Gospel, cannot be said; by his title, which is such as was given to governors of provinces, as to Felix and Festus, (Acts 23:26) (26:25) , he seems to be, or to have been, a civil magistrate in some high office; for though not many rich, and mighty, yet some have been, and are, called by grace.

Theophylact^F11 says, he was of the order of the senators, and perhaps a nobleman, or prince: however, this name was not a general name, for every "lover of God", as the word signifies, as Salvian ^F12 thought; but the name of a particular man, who believed in Christ, and was an acquaintance of Luke's; though Epiphanius ^F13 makes a doubt of it which it is.

FOOTNOTES:

• F11: Ut supra. (Epiphan. contra Haeres. l. 2. Haeres. 51. Theophylact. in Argument in Luc.)
• F12: Salonio Epiat. p. 237.
• F13: Ut supra. (^F13)

That you might know the certainty
The end the evangelist had in writing this Gospel, and sending it to Theophilus, was, that he might be more strongly assured of and more firmly established in the truths of the Gospel. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions render it, "that you might know the truth"; that is, the certain truth of things: the truth he did in some measure know before, but Luke's view was, that he might have a more certain knowledge of it; both truth, and the certainty of it may be intended: so the Hebrew word, (hnwma) , signifies both truth and firmness; and the word here used signifies such a certain evidence of things, as may be safely depended on; even

of those things, in which you have been instructed ;
or catechised, signifying, that he had been hitherto taught, as a catechumen, the rudiments, and first principles of the Christian religion, by word of mouth; and he had taken them in upon the evidence they came with, and the authority of those that instructed him in them; and now he sent him in writing this account, to increase his knowledge, strengthen his faith, and to give him such a sure proof of things, as might preserve him safe in the belief of them, from all doubting and defection. Having finished his preface, he proceeds to the narrative itself, which begins as follows.

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea This was Herod, the son of Antipater, sometimes called Herod the Great, and is rightly here said to be the king of Judea; for, by deputation from the Roman emperor, he had the government of all Judea, which upon his death was divided among his sons. The phrase, "in the days of", is an eastern way, of speaking; see (Genesis 14:1) (Ruth 1:1) (1 Samuel 17:12); and intends the time of his reign; in which there was

a certain priest named Zacharias: a name famous among the Jews, for an high priest, who was slain by them the court of the temple, (2 Chronicles 24:20 2 Chronicles 24:21), and for one of the later prophets, (Zechariah 1:1), who were of this name. This man, the father of John the Baptist, was not an high priest, as this character of him, and the work afterwards ascribed to him, show; though he has been thought to be so by some; and John himself is so called by the Jews ^F14: he was

of the course of Abia. The Ethiopic version reads, "in the days of Abia": and it has been the opinion of some, that Zacharias and Abia were two priests, who performed their ministry in succession, one after another; one ministered one time, and another at another time; but such betray their ignorance both of Scripture, and of Jewish affairs. In David's time, there was a division of the sons of Aaron into "twenty four" orders, or courses; and this of Abia was one, and the "eighth" of them; see (1 Chronicles 24:1 1 Chronicles 24:4 1 Chronicles 24:10).

The account the Jews ^F15 give of this matter, and in which they are not agreed, is this: ``says Rab Chama bar Guria, says Rab, Moses ordered for the Israelites eight courses, four from Eleazar, and four from Ithamar; Samuel came and made them "sixteen"; David came and made them twenty four.--It is a tradition, that Moses ordered for the Israelites sixteen courses, eight from Eleazar, and eight from Ithamar; and when the children of Eleazar increased above the children of Ithamar, they divided them, and appointed them twenty four.'' The account, as given by Maimonides <sup>F16</sup>, is as follows: ``Moses, our master, divided the priests into eight courses, four from Eleazar, and four from Ithamar, and so they were until Samuel the prophet; and in the days of Samuel, he and David, the king, divided them into twenty four courses; and over every course one head was appointed, and they went up to Jerusalem to the service of the course every week; and from sabbath to sabbath they changed; one course went out, and another came in, till they finished, and returned again.''

Now of these there were but four courses returned from the Babylonish captivity, as appears from (Ezra 2:36–39) and with this the Jewish accounts agree ^F17. ``The Rabbins teach, that four courses came up from the captivity, Jedaiah, Harim, Pashur, and Immer; the prophets that were among them stood up, and divided them, and appointed four and twenty lots, and put them into a box: Jedaiah came and took his lot, and the lot of his companions, six; Harim came and took his lot, and the lot of his companions, six; and so Pashur and Immer: and so the prophets that were among them taught, that if Jehoiarib, the first course, came up from captivity, he should not drive away Jedaiah out of his place; but Jedaiah should be the principal, and Jehoiarib an appendix to him.''

Now, though the course of Abia did not return from captivity, yet its order and name were retained as the rest of the courses, being divided between these four by whom they were supplied; and therefore Zacharias is not said to be of the posterity of Abia, but of his course. To these courses there were added as many stations; and what they were, and their use, may be learnt from what follows ^F18. ``The former prophets offered four and twenty courses; and to every course there was a station at Jerusalem; consisting of priests, Levites, and Israelites: and when the time came for the course to go up, the priests and Levites went up to Jerusalem, but the Israelites, which were in that course, gathered themselves to their cities, and read in the history of the creation; and the men of the station fasted four days in the week, from the second day, to the fifth.''

The sense of which, according to their commentators ^F19, is, that these stations were substituted in the room of, and represented all Israel; and their business was to give themselves up to divine worship, prayer, and sacrifices; and such of them as were near Jerusalem, when the time of their course came, assisted at the sacrifices; and such as were afar off, betook themselves to the synagogues in their cities, and there fasted, prayed, and read. And so another of their authors ^F20 says, ``there were twenty and four courses of the priests, and so twenty and four courses of the Levites; and every week the course of the priests and Levites goes to Jerusalem; and the twenty and four stationary men, half of them go thither, and half are left in their houses, and pray over the offerings:'' for they had their stationary cities, where these men dwelt ^F21.

Jericho was one: they say ^F23, ``Jericho was able to produce a complete station itself; but because of dividing the glory to Jerusalem, it furnished out but half an one:'' hence you need not wonder to hear of a priest and Levite on the road to Jericho from Jerusalem, as in (Luke 10:31Luke 10:32) for they say, in the same place, that twenty four thousand, a station consisted of at Jerusalem, and there was half a station at Jericho:

as for the heads of the courses of the houses of their fathers, ``there were in a course five, six, seven, eight, nine of them; a course which had five (heads) in it, three offered three days, and two offered four days; a course in which were six, five offered five days, and one offered two days: a course in which were seven, every one offered on his day; a course in which were eight, six offered six days, and two offered one day; a course in which were nine, live offered five days, and four offered two days: and there were some that fixed themselves for ever; and a course that was (or began) on a sabbath day, was always on a sabbath; and that which was at the going out of the sabbath, was always at the going out of the sabbath: and there were some of them that offered at every course: and there were some that cast lots at every course ^F24.''

But to say no more of these courses and stations, I conclude with what Maimonides ^F25 says of them: ``it is not possible, that a man's offering should be offered up, and he not stand by it; but the offerings of the congregation are the offerings of all Israel; and it is not possible that all Israel should stand, in the court at the time of sacrifice: wherefore the former prophets ordered, that they should chose out of Israel men that were fit, and feared to sin, that they may be the messengers of all Israel to stand by the offerings, and these are called the men of the station; and they divided them into twenty and four stations, according to the number of the courses of the priests and Levites; and at every station one of them was appointed over them all, and he called the head of the station; and every week the men of the station of that week gather together; and such of them as are in Jerusalem, or near to it, go into the temple, with the course of the priests and Levites of that week; and they who are in that station, that are at a distance, when their station comes, they gather together to the synagogue, which is in their place.'' Then he goes on to give an account, as before, how often they fast in that week, how many prayers they say, and what they read.

And his wife was of the daughters of Aaron. It is a saying of R. Jochanan ^F26; ``he that would be rich, let him join himself to the seed of Aaron; so it is, that the law and the priesthood make rich.--R. Idi bar Abin married a priestess, and from him proceeded that were made doctors, R. Shesheth, the son of R. Idi, and R. Joshua, the son of R. Idi.'' This is not so much said in commendation of Zacharias, that he took a wife of the same tribe, and of the priestly line: for it was lawful for the tribe of Levi to take a wife of any other, because it did not make any alteration in the inheritances of tribes; and it a rule with the Jews ^F1, that priests, Levites, and Israelites, might marry with one another; as Mary, who was of the tribe of Judah, was akin to Elizabeth: but to point the original of John, and show of what extraction he was, his father and mother being both of the family of Aaron.

And her name was Elizabeth; the same name with (אלישבע) . "Elisheba", the wife of Aaron, (Exodus 6:23), and whom the Septuagint interpreters there call, as here, Elisabeth: and this being the name of Aaron's wife, it is very probable it might be a common name among the daughters of Aaron, in succeeding generations.

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: Ganz. Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 25. 2.
• F15: T Bab. Taanith, fol. 27. 1.
• F16: Hilch. Cele Hamikdash, c. 4. sect. 3.
• F17: T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 27. 1, 2. Eracin, fol. 12. 9. & 13. 1. T. Hieros. Taanioth, fol. 68. 1.
• F18: Misn. Taanith, c. 4. sect. 2. 3.
• F19: Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
• F20: Piske Toseph. Moed Katon, art. 62.
• F21: Misn, Biccurim, c. 3. sect. 2. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
• F23: T. Hieros. Taaniot, fol. 67. 4.
• F24: Ib fol. 68. 1.
• F25: Hilch. Cele Hamikdash, c. 6. sect. 1, 2.
• F26: T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 49. 1.
• F1: Misn. Kiddushin, c. 4. sect. 1.