Luke 1

Luke 1 is the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. With 80 verses, it is one of the longest chapters in the New Testament. This chapter describes the birth of John the Baptist and the events leading up to the birth of Jesus. Two canticles, the canticle of Mary (the Magnificat) and the canticle of Zechariah (the Benedictus), are both contained within this chapter. The unnamed author of Luke names its recipient, Theophilus, who is most likely a real (but unknown) person, but the term could simply mean a fellow believer, since theo philus is Greek for God lover. Early Christian tradition uniformly affirms that Luke composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles, the companion volume to Luke, which is addressed to Theophilus in the same way. The title "The Gospel of Luke", found in many Bibles and some manuscripts, was added later with no indication that it was originally part of the text.

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 80 verses.

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

The evangelist, Luke, begins his "orderly account" with the following statement:

The Gospel of Luke is unique among the canonical gospels for declaring the purpose and method of his work in a prologue, trying to render the Christian message in a higher literary plane. The author both classifies himself as among the many who previously attempted to write narratives of Christ while using claims of careful investigation, orderly writing, and access to eyewitnesses to demonstrate his gospel’s superiority to its predecessors. The narrative is asserted to be an accurate history and intended to confirm the things that Theophilus has already been taught about Jesus, being written by a believer for the purpose of confirming belief, and endowing certainty.

The writer clearly states there are other accounts about Jesus circulating and he is aware of them. Protestant theologian Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer and Lutheran biblical commentator Johann Albrecht Bengel think that Mark is among those Luke has in mind, but Bengel suggests that Matthew and John were not. Luke also states he is not himself an eyewitness but belongs to another generation that received its information from "eyewitnesses" to these events in a previous generation. Some argue Luke refers to two groups: eyewitnesses and ministers, but most support descriptions for a singular group. According to Brown the author conveys that he searched things carefully and reordered them logically. Luke seeks to assure Theophilus in his theological instruction rather than reporting objectively, though his work is rooted in traditions from the eyewitnesses and ministers. Some sections of Acts, however, have the author relating events with the author and Paul together.

According to Franciscan theologian Robert J. Karris, "Luke alone of the evangelists introduces his work with ... finely crafted, periodic Greek." The first sentence gives the "since" clause, the main clause is given in the first part of the second sentence, and the purpose clause is given by "so that you may know...". Luke uses the word Greek: επειδηπερ, epeidēper, "inasmuch as", or "since indeed", to commence his account. This literary word does not appear elsewhere in the New Testament or in the Septuagint, the Greek text of the Hebrew Bible, although it was frequently used by other classical writers. Luke uses diēgēsis for "an account", which taken alone seems to mean a personal storytelling, but when compared to other usages at the time, such as with the works of Josephus, is to be taken as meaning a well planned account, although he might use it in the original meaning in Luke 8:39. He uses the word καθεξης (kathexēs) for orderly account, which would mean a logical, spatial, or chronological account. Karris argues that the use of the word as well in Acts indicated that Luke is composing in a logical sequence, with Luke building a logical argument for his view of God fulfilling his promises through Jesus. Many scholars have seen parallels between this style and the openings to the Greek histories of Herodotus and Thucydides as well as scientific manuals and treatises of the Hellenistic world. Meyer reads τὴν ἀσφάλειαν (tēn asphaleian) as an emphatic statement, "the unchangeable certainty, [whose] character [is] not to be shaken".

In the opening of the Acts of the Apostles, the writer refers back to this text as "the former account I made ... of all that Jesus began both to do and teach".