Luke 1:2

1:2 like the accounts ¹  passed on ²  to us by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word ³  from the beginning. ⁴ 

Luke 3:2

3:2 during the high priesthood ⁵  of Annas and Caiaphas, the word ⁶  of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ⁷ 

Luke 8:21

8:21 But he replied ⁸  to them, “My mother and my brothers are those ⁹  who hear the word of God and do it.” ¹⁰ 

[1:2]  ¹ tn Grk “even as”; this compares the recorded tradition of 1:1 with the original eyewitness tradition of 1:2.

[1:2]  ² tn Or “delivered.”

[1:2]  ³ sn The phrase eyewitnesses and servants of the word refers to a single group of people who faithfully passed on the accounts about Jesus. The language about delivery (passed on) points to accounts faithfully passed on to the early church.

[1:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “like the accounts those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word passed on to us.” The location of “in the beginning” in the Greek shows that the tradition is rooted in those who were with Jesus from the start.

[3:2]  ⁵ sn Use of the singular high priesthood to mention two figures is unusual but accurate, since Annas was the key priest from a.d. 6-15 and then his relatives were chosen for many of the next several years. After two brief tenures by others, his son-in-law Caiaphas came to power and stayed there until a.d. 36.

[3:2]  ⁶ tn The term translated “word” here is not λόγος (logos) but ῥῆμα (rJhma), and thus could refer to the call of the Lord to John to begin ministry.

[3:2]  ⁷ tn Or “desert.”

[8:21]  ⁹ tn Grk “answering, he said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “he replied.”

[8:21]  ¹⁰ tn There is some discussion about the grammar of this verse in Greek. If “these” is the subject, then it reads, “These are my mother and brothers, those who.” If “these” is a nominative absolute, which is slightly more likely, then the verse more literally reads, “So my mother and brothers, they are those who.” The sense in either case is the same.

[8:21]  ¹¹ sn Hearing and doing the word of God is another important NT theme: Luke 6:47-49; Jas 1:22-25.