LUKE 1:2 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT just as the ones having been from the beginning eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us,

UST They have been recording what the people who saw these things happen told us about them. Those people were there from the time when everything first started happening, and they have been sharing the story ever since.

BSB just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

BLB just as those from the beginning having been eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us,

AICNT just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word,

OEB just as they were reported to us by those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and afterwards became bearers of the message.

WEBBE even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET like the accounts passed on to us by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word from the beginning.

LSV as they delivered to us, who from the beginning became eyewitnesses, and officers of the word,

FBV They based their accounts on evidence from the earliest eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word,

TCNT just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us,

T4T 1-2 My noble friend Theophilus, many people saw the things that Jesus did while he was with us, from the time when he started [MTY] his ministry. They served God by teaching people the message about the Lord Jesus. Many of those who heard what they taught wrote down for us accounts of the things that Jesus did from the time when he began his ministry.

LEB just as those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word from the beginning passed on to us,

BBE As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word,

Moff exactly as these have been handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses who were in the service of the Gospel Message,

Wymth on the authority of those who were from the beginning eye-witnesses and were devoted to the service of the divine Message,

ASV even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,

DRA According as they have delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word:

YLT as they did deliver to us, who from the beginning became eye-witnesses, and officers of the Word, —

Drby as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word have delivered them to us,

RV even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,

SLT As they delivered to us, who from the beginning being eyewitnesses, and servants of the word;

Wbstr Even as they delivered them to us, who from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and ministers of the word;

KJB-1769 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;

KJB-1611 Euen as they deliuered them vnto vs, which from the beginning were eye-witnesses, & ministers of the word:
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps Euen as they deliuered them vnto vs, which from the begynnyng sawe them them selues with their eyes, and were ministers of the worde:
(Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning saw them themselves with their eyes, and were ministers of the word:)

Gnva As they haue deliuered them vnto vs, which from the beginning saw them their selues, and were ministers of ye word,
(As they have delivered them unto us, which from the beginning saw them their selves, and were ministers of ye/you_all word, )

Cvdl like as they delyuered the vnto vs, which from the begynnynge sawe them their selues, and were mynisters of the worde,
(like as they delivered the unto us, which from the beginning saw them their selves, and were ministers of the word,)

TNT even as they declared them vnto vs which from the beginnynge sawe them their selves and were ministers at the doyng:
(even as they declared them unto us which from the beginning saw them their selves and were ministers at the doing: )

Wycl as thei that seyn atte the bigynnyng, and weren ministris of the word,
(as they that seen atte the beginning, and were ministris of the word,)

Luth wie uns das gegeben haben, die es von Anfang selbst gesehen und Diener des Worts gewesen sind:
(as/like us/to_us/ourselves the given have, the it from beginning himself/itself seen and servant the word been are:)

ClVg sicut tradiderunt nobis, qui ab initio ipsi viderunt, et ministri fuerunt sermonis:
(like tradiderunt us, who/which away at_first/in_the_beginning themselves they_saw, and ministers they_were speech: )

UGNT καθὼς παρέδοσαν ἡμῖν οἱ ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς, αὐτόπται καὶ ὑπηρέται γενόμενοι τοῦ λόγου,
(kathōs paredosan haʸmin hoi ap’ arⱪaʸs, autoptai kai hupaʸretai genomenoi tou logou,)

SBL-GNT καθὼς παρέδοσαν ἡμῖν οἱ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς αὐτόπται καὶ ὑπηρέται γενόμενοι τοῦ λόγου,
(kathōs paredosan haʸmin hoi apʼ arⱪaʸs autoptai kai hupaʸretai genomenoi tou logou,)

RP-GNT καθὼς παρέδοσαν ἡμῖν οἱ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς αὐτόπται καὶ ὑπηρέται γενόμενοι τοῦ λόγου,
(kathōs paredosan haʸmin hoi ap' arⱪaʸs autoptai kai hupaʸretai genomenoi tou logou,)

TC-GNT καθὼς παρέδοσαν ἡμῖν οἱ ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς αὐτόπται καὶ ὑπηρέται γενόμενοι τοῦ λόγου,
(kathōs paredosan haʸmin hoi ap arⱪaʸs autoptai kai hupaʸretai genomenoi tou logou, )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

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

Luke addressed this book to Theophilus

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 GNT 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:

Many people attempted to compile an account of what happened among them (that is, of Jesus’ life) (1:1a–b).
They wrote what eyewitnesses told them (1:2a–c).
Luke also investigated all those things carefully (1:3a).
Luke thought that he also should write those things in an orderly way for Theophilus (1:3b).
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 RSV, NASB, NJB, KJV for similar examples.)

^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 BSB, NIV, GNT, NET, CEV, GW, and JBP 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.

1:2

just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word: The verb that the BSB translates with the passive form were handed down is an active form in Greek. A more literal translation of the clause is:

just as the ones who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered (them) to us

Some ways to translate the clause are:

Use a passive verb. For example:
just as they were told/delivered to us by those who were originally eyewitness and servants of the word
Use an active verb. For example:
just as those who were originally eyewitnesses and servants of the word told us

This clause is long and complex. In some languages it may be more natural to translate it with more than one sentence. For example:

Some people were eyewitnesses of these things from the first. They were servants of the word. These people handed down the reports of these things to us.

See the General Comment on 1:2a–c at the end of the notes on 1:2b–c for another way to reorder 1:2a–c and translate it in an active way.

1:2a

just as they were handed down to us

These people wrote down the events just as they were passed on to us^(excl)
They wrote exactly/precisely that which people who saw those things had told us.^(excl)
They did not change/alter that which we^(excl) had learned

just as: The Greek word that the BSB translates as just as indicates that the others who had undertaken to “compose an account” about Jesus faithfully reported what they heard from the people who were eyewitnesses. They did not invent or change the story. Another way to translate this is:

exactly as

they were handed down to us: The pronoun they here refers to the “things” of 1:1b. These “things” were the events of Jesus’ life and death. Luke and the other believers had heard about these events from other people.

In some languages, it may be necessary to make it clear that it was the information about these events that was handed down. For example:

these accounts/reports were handed down to us

were handed down: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as were handed down means “delivered.” This word often describes the way people tell their children and grandchildren about important things that happened before their children were born. In this context people who saw the events in Jesus’ life told people who were born later about them. That generation also told the believers of the next generation. People told these things orally or wrote them down.

to us: The pronoun us refers here to Luke and the other Christians of his generation. It includes the others who had written accounts of the life and death of Jesus. Concerning whether it includes Theophilus, see the note on “among us” at 1:1b.

1:2b

by the initial eyewitnesses

by those people who from the beginning saw these things with their own eyes
These witnesses had watched those things from the time when they first started to happen.
from the people who had watched Jesus from the beginning of his life on earth,

1:2c

and servants of the word.

and then served God by teaching us^(excl) his word/message.
They became God’s servants to declare to us the message about Jesus.
and devoted themselves to teaching God’s word/message about him.

1:2b–c

the initial: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as the initial is literally “from the beginning.” It refers to the time when the events of Jesus’ life and ministry began. It may refer mainly to the time when he was baptized and began his ministry, but there were also eyewitnesses to his birth.

eyewitnesses and servants of the word: The words eyewitnesses and servants refer to one group of people. Luke described them here in two different ways. The same people who actually saw the events were the ones who served by telling the message about them.

eyewitnesses: The Greek word that the BSB translates as eyewitnesses refers to people who had personally seen or heard something. Luke and the other writers based their writings on what they learned from people who had seen and heard Jesus themselves.

servants of the word: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as servants of the word refers to people who served God by announcing his word (message) to others. In this context, the word refers to the message about Jesus. Another way to translate this is:

the people who…served God by telling people his message (NCV)

General Comment on 1:2a–c

In some languages, it may be clearer to combine or reorder parts of 1:2a–c. For example:

^2a They wrote down the events just as ^2bthe people who were eyewitnesses from the beginning had reported them. ^2cThese eyewitnesses were servants of the message about these events ^2aand handed it down to us.

General Comment on 1:1–2

In some languages, it may be clearer to put some of the parts of 1:1–2 into the order in which the events happened. For example:

^2bFrom the beginning of Jesus’ time on earth, certain people were eyewitnesses ^1bof the things/events of Jesus’ life and death that have been fulfilled among us. ^2cThey served God by telling people what Jesus did and what he taught ^2aand so the knowledge of these things was passed/delivered to us. ^1aLater, many others undertook to put these events in order as a story/history and to write it down.

Parallel LUKE 1:2