Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
Parallel translations
- WEB even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us,
- BSB just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word.
- NKJV just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us,
- NASB just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word,
- NLT They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The accounts rested on eyewitnesses and ministers of the word who passed down what they saw and heard. The gospel is grounded in firsthand testimony.
Overview
Luke distinguishes himself from the original eyewitnesses, relying on those who from the beginning saw Jesus and served the message about him. This stresses reliable transmission of the apostolic witness. The 'word' here points to the saving message centered on Christ, faithfully handed down to the church.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- John 15:27And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
- Acts 26:16But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
- Heb 2:3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
- 2 Pet 1:16For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
- 1 Jn 1:1–3That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
- Acts 1:21–22Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
- Acts 1:3To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
- Acts 10:39–41And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
- Mark 1:1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
- Col 1:23–25If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
- 1 Pet 5:1The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
- Luke 24:48And ye are witnesses of these things.
- 1 Cor 4:1Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
- Acts 1:8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
- Acts 4:20For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
- Eph 4:11–12And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
- Mark 4:14The sower soweth the word.
- Eph 3:7–8Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
- Rom 15:16That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 1:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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