Section 11
34 Or: Inasmuch as; or: since by now.
35 Or: servants.
36 Or: most noble.
37 Or: may come to know.
38 Or: the certainty.
39 Verses 1–4 are one sentence also in A.V., A.R.V., R.S.V., Moffatt, Weymouth, Riverside, Berkeley, N.A.S., Williams, Jerusalem Bible, Dutch (both Statenvertaling and Nieuwe Vertaling), and the French, Frisian, German, South African, Spanish, and Swedish translations in my possession.
40 For more on such introductory sentences—Luke 1:1–4, etc.—see H. J. Cadbury, The Beginnings of Christianity (5 volumes, edited by F. J. Foakes Jackson and K. Lake, London, 1920–1933), Vol. II, p. 490 f.; H. Mulder, De Eerste Hoofdstukken van het Evangelie naar Lukas in hun Structurele Samenhang, doctoral dissertation, Amsterdam-Delft, 1948, pp. 105, 106; N. B. Stonehouse, The Witness of Luke to Christ, Grand Rapids, 1951, pp. 24, 25; and J. Sneen, “An Exegesis of Luke 1:1–4 with Special Regard to Luke’s Purpose as a Historian,” ET Vol. 83, No. 2 (Nov. 1971), pp. 40–43.
42
This is a widely held opinion. See F. Godet, A Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, Edinburgh, 1890, Vol. I, p. 31; W. J. Harrington, op. cit., p. 33; E. E. Ellis, op. cit., p. 64, to mention only a few.
General agreement, however, is lacking. H. Mulder, in his doctoral dissertation, De Eerste Hoofdstukken, rejects this theory, deeming it to be in conflict with Luke’s purpose stated in 1:4.
43 This is H. Mulder’s own theory, as described in several of his books, including Hoofdlijnen van Lucas 2, The Hague, 1959, pp. 9–12.
47 See C. F. Keil, Commentar über die Evangelien des Markus und Lucas, Leipzig, 1879, p. 184; and H. Mulder, Hoofdlijnen, p. 10.
48 Notes on Greek words, phrases, and constructions in 1:1–4 begin on page 61.
EQ Evangelical Quarterly
Th.D.N.T. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, and translated from the German by G. W. Bromiley
49 Or: king of the country of the Jews.
50 Or: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron.
51 Literally: and fear fell upon him.
52 Or: Stop being afraid.
53 Or: and exuberant gladness.
54 .6 per verse in Matthew; .51 in Luke; .49 in John; and .42 in Mark.
A.V. Authorized Version (King James)
55 According to W. H. Gispen, Het Boek Leviticus, Kampen, 1950, p. 303, this happened frequently. See also S.BK., II, pp. 55–71.
56 For example, A. Fahling, The Life of Christ, St. Louis, 1936, p. 67. Very interesting is S.BK., II, p. 75.
57 For example, Greijdanus and Lenski in their respective commentaries on this passage.
60 W. M. Christie, art. “Nazirite,” I.S.B.E., Vol. IV, p. 2125; A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures, Vol. II, p. 10; A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 14. And cf. S.BK., II, p. 80 f.
61 Those who favor theory (a) also at times appeal to Isa. 29:22 f. This is a difficult passage, of which there are various, sometimes widely different, translations and interpretations. For that very reason an appeal to it hardly seems justified.
63 All three theories are discussed by A. Kuyper in his book De Engelen Gods, Kampen, 1923, pp. 176–179. He rejects (a) but accepts (b) and (c). See also S.BK., II, p. 90 f., and p. 97 f.
64
On the general subject angel, angels, see also the following passages and the N.T.C. on them, as far as published:
Summary of scriptural doctrine with respect to angels; see on Matt. 18:10.
Angels in relation to God’s law (Gal. 3:19).
As objects of worship (Col. 2:18).
Archangels (I Thess. 4:16).
Guardian angels? (Matt. 18:10).
Angels and marriage (Mark 12:25).
Luke on angels (in addition to 1:11, 13, 18, 19 see also: 26–38; 2:9–21; 4:10; 9:26; 12:8, 9; 15:10; 16:22; 20:36; 24:23).
Function of angels in connection with Christ’s return (Matt. 13:39; 25:31; Mark 8:38; 13:27; II Thess. 1:7).
65 Notes on Greek words, phrases, and constructions in 1:5–25 begin on page 79.
66 Or: betrothed to.
67 On the whole Lenski has given us an excellent explanation of Luke 1:30–33. However, on p. 45 he states that time conceived as “succession of moments” will end. One meets this thought frequently in Lenski’s commentaries. Those who accept this view base it on Rev. 10:6. But this interpretation of that passage is erroneous, as I have shown in my book The Bible on the Life Hereafter, pp. 72–74.
68 Among those who have avoided it are: A.V., A.R.V., R.S.V., Jerusalem Bible, Robertson, Amplified, Norlie, Riverside—all in favor of “handmaid” (sometimes “handmaiden”); Weymouth, in favor of “maidservant”; Berkeley, in favor of “servant girl”; Beck, N.E.B., N.I.V., in favor of “servant”; Dutch (both Statenvertaling and Nieuwe Vertaling), in favor of “dienstmaagd” = servant girl, handmaid, maidservant.
69 Notes on Greek words, phrases, and constructions in 1:26–38 begin on page 91.
70 Or: … she who believed that there will be, etc.
71 Just why it was that Luke writes “country of Judah” instead of simply “Judea” is not stated. Can it be that even this early in his account he wishes to direct the attention of the reader to the fact that Jesus, whose forerunner was John, was a descendant of Judah; in other words, that the evangelist is anticipating the idea more clearly expressed in 2:4 and 3:33? Improbable is the suggestion that the present “Judah” is really “Juttah,” south of Hebron (Josh. 15:55; 21:16). That Luke’s “Judah” here in 1:39 has the same meaning as it does in 3:33, where it clearly refers to a son of Jacob, must be regarded as probable.
72 See J. H. van Halsema, “De Groet van de engel en van Maria in Lukas I,” NedTT, 25 (April, 1971), pp. 186, 187.
73 Het Evangelie naar Lucas (Korte Verklaring der Heilige Schrift), Kampen, 1941, Vol. I, p. 40. From here on whenever this book is indicated, its title will be abbreviated to Korte Verklaring.
74 Het Heilig Evangelie naar de Beschrijving van Lucas (Kommentaar op het Nieuwe Testament), Amsterdam, 1940, p. 61. From here on whenever this book is indicated, its title will be abbreviated to Kommentaar.
75 Is not the interpreter who ascribes propositional religious knowledge to a fetus also in danger of erring in his conception of “innate ideas”? On this difficult subject see the comprehensive treatment by H. Bavinck, Gereformeerde Dogmatiek, third edition, Kampen, 1918, Vol. II, pp. 29–49; or, for those who cannot read Dutch, see my translation: H. Bavinck, The Doctrine of God, Grand Rapids, 1955, pp. 41–59.
76 Notes on Greek words, phrases, and constructions in 1:39–45 begin on page 99.
A.V. Authorized Version (King James)
A.R.V. American Standard Revised Version
R.S.V. Revised Standard Version
N.E.B. New English Bible
N.I.V. New International Version of The New Testament
77 Or: said to.
80 The fact that the Hebrew adjective, in a derived sense, in certain contexts indicates set apart from sin, sinless and filled with virtue, is not denied. We should begin, however, with what is basic, especially when the term applies to God. See also Brown, Driver, Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Boston and New York, 1906, p. 872.
81 Articles listed under the heading Anthropomorphism include the following: R. L. Dabney, Systematic and Polemic Theology, Richmond, 1927, pp. 34, 35; C. A. Beckwith, S.H.E.R.K., Vol. I, pp. 193, 194; J. Lindsay, I.S.B.E., Vol. I, pp. 152–154; and R. E. D. Clark, The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, Grand Rapids, 1974, p. 46.
82 Notes on Greek words, phrases, and constructions in 1:46–56 begin on page 111.
83 Literally: that the Lord had magnified his mercy toward her.
84 Or: and they tried to call him.
85 Literally: all these things continued to be talked back and forth.
86 All three languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—were in use in Palestine, including even Judea, during the first and well into the second century a.d. See C. H. H. Scobie, John the Baptist, Philadelphia, 1964, pp. 51, 52; J. M. Grintz, “Hebrew as the Spoken and Written Language in the Last Days of the Second Temple,” JBL, 79 (1960), pp. 32–47. See also the highly documented argument (in support of the theory that all three languages were used by Jews in first century Palestine) by R. H. Gundry, in his dissertation, The Use of the Old Testament in St. Matthew’s Gospel, Leiden, 1967, pp. 174–177.
87 For the religious significance of circumcision see N.T.C. on Colossians, p. 116, footnote 85.
88 See S.BK., Vol. II, p. 107.
91 Notes on Greek words, phrases, and constructions in 1:57–66 begin on page 119.
Gram. N.T. (Bl.-Debr.) F. Blass and A. DeBrunner, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature
92 Notes on Greek words, phrases, and constructions in 1:67–80 begin on page 131.