just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us,
Parallel translations
- WEB even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us,
- KJV Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
- BSB just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word.
- 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 15:27You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
- Acts 26:16But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to you;
- Heb 2:3how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation — which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard;
- 2 Pet 1:16For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
- 1 Jn 1:1–3That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life
- Acts 1:21–22“Of the men therefore who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
- Acts 1:3To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking about God’s Kingdom.
- Acts 10:39–41We are witnesses of everything he did both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they also killed, hanging him on a tree.
- Mark 1:1The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
- Col 1:23–25if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant.
- 1 Pet 5:1Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed.
- Luke 24:48You are witnesses of these things.
- 1 Cor 4:1So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants, and stewards of God’s mysteries.
- Acts 1:8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
- Acts 4:20for we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.”
- Eph 4:11–12He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;
- Mark 4:14The farmer sows the word.
- Eph 3:7–8of which I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power.
- Rom 15:16that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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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