Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators either select the inclusive form (including Theophilus) (according to Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.) or the exclusive form (according to SIL International Translation Department (1999)).
M. John (in The Bible Translator 1976, p. 237ff. ) explains the difficulty of the choice this way: “Here the translator working in a language with the two forms of we has to make his choice, at least in part on the basis of the answer to the question whether Theophilus was, at the time of Luke’s writing, a Christian. The choice of the form of we and the translation of the last part of the paragraph (Luke 1:4) are interconnected.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:1:
Noongar: “My good friend, Theophilus, Many people did well. They wrote true words on paper, all the things happening among us.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “Honored Teofilus: Many people have tried to write an account of the life of Yesus, like what happened several years ago in our midst.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Many have already written about the things that have happened among us (excl.), about Almasi.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Dear Theophilus: Many have tried to write about all that was done here in our place about the works of Jesus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “My-esteemed Sir Teofilus. Many (appreciation particle) are those who have tried to write concerning all that has been-fulfilled in our place.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Respected Teofilo,Admittedly many have already persevered in writing each-his-own testimony of the things which happened here among us (incl.), which were the fulfillment of the things determined by God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
epeidēper ‘inasmuch as,’ ‘since,’ implying a reference to something which is already known to the reader, in this case to Theophilus. There is no reason to treat it as a solemn or stately conjunction.
polloi ‘many’ refers to unknown members of the Christian community who have been engaged in writing a Gospel account; that the reference is to writers follows from v. 3.
epecheirēsan ‘have attempted.’
epicheireō ‘to set one’s hand to,’ ‘to attempt.’ The question whether the use of this verb with regard to the work of his predecessors implies a criticism of their work, is much debated. But it should be pointed out (1) that the verb as such is neutral in this respect, and (2) that it was in accordance with Greek literary usage for a writer to refer to work of predecessors in the preface of his own work.
anataxasthai ‘to reproduce,’ or ‘to compile.’
anatassomai either ‘to repeat from memory,’ hence ‘to reproduce’ (Zahn, Moulton-Milligan) or ‘to draw up,’ ‘to compile’ (modern translations). Because of what follows the latter is preferable.
diēgēsin peri tōn peplērophorēmenōn en hēmin pragmatōn ‘an account concerning the things which have been accomplished among us.’
diēgēsis ‘narrative,’ ‘account.’ The use of the preposition peri ‘concerning’ instead of a simple genitive is either due to the literary character of the passage or intentionally somewhat vague because Luke does not want to commit himself as to the completeness of the accounts of his predecessors.
plērophoreō ‘to fill,’ ‘to fulfil,’ or ‘to convince fully.’ Here the participle peplērophorēmenōn admits of two explanations, i.e.: (1) ‘fulfilled,’ i.e. ‘accomplished,’ which means that the events in question “lie now before us a complete whole” (Bruce). Several versions give a rendering which is more general, as e.g. “that have happened” (New English Bible, Phillips), or, “which have taken place” (Williams). The force of the past participle should however be brought out: the “things that have happened” are not described as belonging to the past (which would have been expressed by the aorist) but as something the influence of which is still felt; hence also en hēmin ‘among us’ (see below); (2) ‘fully convinced,’ i.e. “on which there is full conviction among us” (Rengstorf; the most recent edition has “which have been fulfilled”, which belongs to (1)); cf. also Schonfield, “held by us to be fact”. Moffatt‘s “the established facts of our religion” seems to combine both interpretations; An American Translation‘s “the movement which has developed among us” may imply that the preface of the Gospel was intended for both the Gospel and Acts.
en hēmin ‘among us’ but used in a rather broad sense, ‘in our circles,’ ‘in our group as Christians,’ and not denoting the writer and his contemporaries but rather the writer and his fellow Christians.
pragma ‘thing,’ ‘event.’
Translation:
Inasmuch, or ‘because…, as you know,’ or ‘because…, indeed.’ When the casual connection is not expressed here but in v. 3 (see remarks on vv. 1-4), v. 1 should still contain some expression conveying the other idea, e.g. ‘indeed (or ‘as you know’) many people have already tried…’ (Balinese, Kituba).
Have undertaken, or, ‘have lifted the (writing-) brush’ (Chinese Union Version), ‘have-exerted-themselves,’ or, more generically, ‘have begun.’
Compile a narrative of. In languages that have no detailed terminology for stages and genres of literary activity one may say, ‘to gather and (or, in order to) write down,’ or, ‘to write down the full story about.’
Things which have been accomplished among us. The verb may be rendered, ‘have become complete,’ ‘have run their full course’ (Nieuwe Vertaling). The aspect of continuing effect (see Exegesis), if not sufficiently expressed by the form of the verb, or implied in the phrase ‘among us,’ ‘in our midst,’ may have to be indicated by other means, e.g. by adding, ‘and still affect (or, are important for) us,’ hence, ‘the important things that became complete (or, that happened) among us,’ cf. “the momentous happenings in our midst” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation). The other possible interpretation, ‘on which there is full conviction among us,’ results in a clause structure that often has to be simplified, e.g. ‘which have-certainty among us’ (Malay), or recast, e.g. ‘the reality of which is believed among us’ (Balinese); when active forms must be used, it may become, ‘which we know really/truly to have happened,’ taking ‘among us’ as referring to the agents. — Us is usually rendered as exclusive, cf. Exegesis on v. 3. It should be kept in mind, however, that the choice between inclusive and exclusive pronouns is not always dependent only on the question whether the audience is included or not; it may be influenced also by intersecting trends and considerations. Thus in Santali the inclusive pronoun expresses friendly respect (compare the “epistolary we”); similarly in Tae’ common knowledge and interest may induce a speaker to use the inclusive ‘we’ although the person addressed is not in actual fact a member of his group. On the other hand, in languages using honorifics it may be felt impolite to include the speaker and the person addressed in the same group, when the latter’s status is higher than the former’s, as is the case here; this would lead to the use of the exclusive ‘we,’ even if Theophilus is supposed to have been a Christian or catechumen, i.e. a member of the speaker’s group.
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
Luke 1:1–4 is the introduction to the Gospel of Luke. In Greek, the style of this introduction is different from the style of the rest of the Gospel. The introduction is written in a formal, literary style with long words and clauses. Luke was addressing an important person in language that sounds impressive. In some languages, it may be possible to use a special style to show this. However, make sure that the wording is still simple enough for people to understand easily.
In this introduction, Luke addressed a man named Theophilus directly. Theophilus was probably an important and wealthy Roman man. Luke told Theophilus the reason why he had written this book. Luke knew that other people had written about some of the things that Jesus taught and did. He also knew that people had taught Theophilus some things about the life of Jesus. But there were many things that Theophilus did not yet know. Luke wanted Theophilus to know the complete truth about the good news. That is the reason why Luke wanted to write a more complete story and tell other important things about Jesus.
Section 1:1–4
Luke wrote this book about Jesus for Theophilus
In these Notes, Luke 1:1–4 is both a division and a section of the book of Luke. You may want to include a section heading here. It is good to read the verses before you decide on a heading for the section.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
Luke writes to Theophilus about Jesus -or-
Luke addressed this book to Theophilus -or-
Luke’s purpose in writing this book
Paragraph 1:1–4
Paragraph 1:1–4 in the Greek text is one long sentence. In some languages, it may be natural to use more than one sentence for this paragraph. For example, the Good News Translation uses four sentences.
The Greek sentence in 1:1–4 talks about several events and ideas. It mentions them in an order that may not be natural in some languages. Here are the main ideas:
(a) Many people attempted to compile an account of what happened among them (that is, of Jesus’ life) (1:1a–b).
(b) They wrote what eyewitnesses told them (1:2a–c).
(c) Luke also investigated all those things carefully (1:3a).
(d) Luke thought that he also should write those things in an orderly way for Theophilus (1:3b).
(e) Luke did this so that Theophilus could know that what he was taught was accurate (1:4).
You should present these ideas in an order that is natural in your language. See the General Comments on 1:2a–c and 1:1–2 at the end of the notes on 1:2b–c for specific suggestions.
You also need to think about how to connect the clauses. For example, in English there are different ways to connect the reasons in (a)-(c) with the result in (d):
1a Since many others have written a report on the things that have happened…
3bit seemed good for me to also write a report…. (See 1:1–4 in the Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, King James Version for similar examples.) -or-
1aMany others have written a report on the things that have happened….
3b Therefore it seemed good for me to also write a report. (See 1:1–4 in the Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, NET Bible, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, and Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English for similar examples.)
You should connect the clauses in the most natural way in your language.
Luke did not address Theophilus by name until near the end of his introduction. In some languages, it may be more appropriate to begin the introduction with Theophilus’ name. See the Display for 1:1a for an example.
1:1a
In Greek this sentence begins with a word that means “since.” See the notes above about connecting clauses and decide the best way to connect the clauses of Luke 1:1–4 in your language. (The Berean Standard Bible uses the word “Therefore” in 1:3 to connect the clauses, and so it does not begin with “Since” here.).
Many: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible has translated literally as Many here means “Many people.” In this context it may also be possible to translate this as “Many authors/writers.” In the Jewish culture of New Testament times, usually only men were able to write. So it is also possible to translate this as “Many men.”
Luke himself planned to write an account of the life of Jesus as these Many people had done. So, in some languages it may be necessary to say:
Many ⌊others⌋
undertaken: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as undertaken means “attempted” or “tried.” Luke implied here that others had worked hard to write the story of Jesus’ life. He also implied that it was difficult to gather all the facts and write them down accurately and completely. However, he was not criticizing the others’ writings. He did not imply that they had failed in their attempts. Other ways to say this are:
worked hard -or-
done their best (Good News Translation)
to compose an account: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to compose an account means to gather reports of different events and put them together to make one longer story. In this context the writers told about many of Jesus’ actions and teachings as they told the story of his life.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
to compose/write the story -or-
to organize a history/narrative -or-
to write a report (Good News Translation) -or-
to write about what had taken place (God’s Word)
1:1b
the things that have been fulfilled: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the things that have been fulfilled refers to the events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. There are several ways to interpret the verb have been fulfilled in this context:
(1) It means that the events have been fulfilled. This implies that the events had been planned and predicted before they happened, and the events happened just as predicted. For example:
the events that have been fulfilled (New Revised Standard Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004), New Jerusalem Bible)
(2) It means simply that the events have happened. For example:
the things that happened (New Century Version)
(New Century Version, Good News Translation, God’s Word, Revised English Bible, New Living Translation (1996), Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
(3) It means that the events have been accomplished/completed. The events were like tasks that were completed. For example:
things which have been accomplished (Revised Standard Version)
(Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This interpretation includes (2) and (3) as well. The events happened (2), and they were completed (3). However, interpretation (1) expresses the important idea that these events fulfilled what had been predicted. That is, God said that they would happen, and they did happen, just as he said. The fulfillment of prophecy is a theme in Luke. (See Luke 18:31.)
things that have been fulfilled: The phrase things that have been fulfilled is passive. In some languages it may be necessary to translate it as active and indicate who fulfilled the things. If that is true in your language, you should indicate that God fulfilled them. He fulfilled them by causing the events to happen just as he had said they would. He fulfilled many of these events through Jesus. He caused Jesus to be born and to die for people’s sins, and he raised Jesus from the dead.
Some other ways to translate things that have been fulfilled are:
things that happened just as God said they would -or-
what God has done in fulfillment of his promises (New Living Translation (1996) in 1:2) -or-
things that God did ⌊through/concerning Jesus⌋, just as he said he would do
among us: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as among us probably means “among us ⌊believers⌋,” that is, “among us ⌊who believe in Jesus⌋.” When Luke used this phrase, he probably included Christians who were born after Jesus’ lifetime. The form of the verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as fulfilled indicates that the events continued to affect people at the time when Luke wrote. Christians of later generations were not present to see the events of Jesus’ life, but those events continued to affect them.
us: In some languages it is necessary to decide whether Luke meant to include Theophilus when he said us. It is not clear whether Theophilus was a believer at the time when Luke was writing to him. However, he was probably interested in becoming a believer (1:4).
Use a natural form in your language for a speaker to use toward someone who supports his group but perhaps is not yet a member. Remember also that Theophilus was a person of high status. Avoid using a form that would imply rejection or rudeness.
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