Luke of Antioch

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Introduction

Luke of Antioch (Greek: Loukas ho Antiocheios) was born around AD 11 in the Roman province of Syria. The New Testament mentions him by name only three times, all in the writings of the apostle Paul. Luke served as a physician (Greek: iatros, G2395, from the verb iaoma, G2390, "to heal"), came from Antioch, and was most likely a Gentile Christian. Paul writes:

My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my co-workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. . . . Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings (Col. 4:10–11, 14).​

Paul mentions Luke twice more: (1) when he tells Timothy, "Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry" (2 Tim. 4:11), and (2) when he writes to Philemon: "Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers" (Philem. 1:23–24).

Even so, Luke wrote about 28 percent of the New Testament—more than any other author, including Paul. He wrote the Gospel of Luke and its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles. As an ethnic Syrian, Luke often reflects his Antiochian background in Acts. He mentions Antioch several times and reflects the prominent role of Antioch in his narrative (cf. Acts 6:5; 11:19–30; 13:1; 14:26–28; 15:22, 30–35; 18:22). He also points out that Jesus' followers were first called "Christians" in Antioch (cf. Acts 11:26).

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Luke the Evangelist

Luke was not an eyewitness (Greek: autoptēs, G845, "self-seeing") to Jesus' ministry, and he makes this clear at the start of his gospel:

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught (Luke 1:1–4).

Luke also dedicated his sequel to the same Theophilus:

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:1–3).

Luke traveled with Paul as one of his main companions, a role evident in the five "we" passages of Acts (16:10–17; 20:5–15; 21:1–18; 27:1–37; 28:1–16). He had direct access to the apostles and to other eyewitnesses of Jesus' life and teachings, especially Mark, the author of the earliest gospel. Before writing his own account, Luke carefully studied the reports written by others. He addressed each of his works to Theophilus, a name that may symbolically mean "lover of God" (Greek: Theos, G2316 / phileō, G5368). The title "most excellent" was a formal term used by Roman officials, so Theophilus was a leader seeking to learn more about Jesus.

Luke is often regarded as the first Christian historian, writing in the style of Greek historians. His major travel stories—Jesus' determined journey to Jerusalem and Paul's destined voyage to Rome (Luke 9:51; Acts 27)—echo well-known Greco-Roman tales such as The Odyssey. Luke's storytelling both follows these literary traditions and teaches essential spiritual truths. By describing the journeys of Jesus and Paul with such care, he shows God's purpose in their missions and the universal reach of their message.

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Luke the Physician

Luke pays more attention to Gentiles, women, and outcasts than the other gospel writers do, reflecting the compassion of a medical professional. He shows strong knowledge of history and geography, and he uses Greek medical terms that do not appear anywhere else in the Bible. For example, when he describes a man with dropsy, Luke uses the word hudropikos (G5203, "looking watery"), a term often found in ancient Greek medical writings, especially in the works of Hippocrates, the physician whose oath doctors still follow today.

Another example of Luke using a medical term not found elsewhere in the Bible appears in Acts 28:3. When Paul gathers brushwood and a viper bites him, Luke uses the verb kathēpsen (G2510, trans. "fastened" in NIV). Greek physicians used this technical word to describe how poison enters the body. Luke also uses the medical terms pimprasthai (G4092, "become inflamed") and katapiptein (G2667, "to fall") in Acts 28:6, and these words appear nowhere else in Scripture. We find them, however, in Greek medical writings from Hippocratic authors, Aretaeus of Cappadocia, and Galen of Pergamon.

Luke also uses the medical language of his day. For example, he writes: "His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. When this happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured (Acts 28:8–9). The Greek phrase puretois kai dusenteriō sunechomenon ("suffering from fevers and dysentery") appears in ancient medical texts. While Matthew and Mark use the singular puretos (G4446) for "fever," Luke consistently uses the plural forms puretoi and puretois ("fevers"), following medical vocabulary also found in Hippocratic writings.

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Patristic Prologue of Luke

An early Christian writer composed this "anti-Marcionite" prologue for the Gospel of Luke:

Indeed, Luke was an Antiochene Syrian, a doctor by profession, and a disciple of the apostles; later, however, he followed Paul until his martyrdom, serving the Lord blamelessly. He never had a wife, he never fathered children, and he died at the age of eighty-four, full of the Holy Spirit, in Boetia. Therefore—although gospels had already been written—indeed by Matthew in Judaea by Mark in Italy—moved by the Holy Spirit, he wrote down this gospel in the parts of Achaia, signifying in the preface that the others were written before his, but also that it was of the most significant importance for him to expound with the greatest diligence the whole series of events in his narration for the Greek believers so that they would not be led astray by the lure of Jewish fables, or, seduced by the fables of the heretics and stupid solicitations, fall away from the truth. So at once at the start, he took up the essential [story] from the birth of John, who is the beginning of the gospel, the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ, and was a companion in the perfecting of the people, likewise in the introducing of baptism, and a companion in martyrdom. The prophet Malachi, one of the twelve, indeed mentions this disposition. Indeed, afterward, the same Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles. Later, the apostle John wrote the Apocalypse on the island of Patmos and then the gospel in Asia (Anti-Marcionite Prol. Luke).

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Bibliography

​Primary Sources

Anonymous. The "Anti-Marcionite" Prologues to the Gospels.↗ Translated by Roger Pearse from the text of Donatien De Bruyne. 2006.

Commentaries

Keener, Craig S. Acts: An Exegetical Commentary. Vol. 1 of Introduction and 1:1–2:47. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012.

Monographs

Abbott-Smith, G. A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. New York: T&T Clark, 1999.

Bettmann, Otto L. A Pictorial History of Medicine. 5th ed. Springfield, IL: Thomas, 1956.

Boring, M. Eugene. An Introduction to the New Testament: History, Literature, Theology. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2012.

Cadbury, Henry J. The Style and Literary Method of Luke. Harvard Theological Studies 6. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1920.

Harnack, Adolf von. Luke the Physician: The Author of the Third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Translated by J. R. Wilkinson. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger, 2007.

Hobart, William Kirk. The Medical Language of St. Luke. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2004.

Kuhn, Karl Allen. Paul's Social Network—Luke: The Elite Evangelist. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2010.

Ramsay, William M. Luke the Physician and Other Studies in the History of Religion. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979.

Strauss, Mark L. Four Portraits, One Jesus: A Survey of Jesus and the Gospels. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2020.

Wright, N. T., and Michael F. Bird. The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019.

Reference Works

Dobson, Kent. NIV First-Century Study Bible: Explore Scripture in Its Jewish and Early Christian Context. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.

Freedman, David Noel, ed. "Anti-Marcionite (Gospel) Prologues." Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.

Keener, Craig S., and John H. Walton, eds. NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016.

Tenney, Merrill C., and Moisés Silva, eds. "Anti-Marcionite Prologues." The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010.

Journal Articles

Buckwalter, H. Douglas. "The Hike of Hikes—Luke's Travel Narrative (Luke 9:51–19:27)."↗ Evangelical Journal 33, no. 2 (2015): 68–81.

De Bruyne, Donatien. "Les plus anciens prologues latins des Évangiles."↗ Revue Bénédictine 40 (1928): 193–214.

Hubbard, Reuben A. "Medical Terminology in Luke."↗ Ministry 50, no. 5 (1977): 26–28.

Knowling, R. J. "The Medical Language of St. Luke."↗ The Biblical World 20, no. 4 (1902): 260–71.

Troftgruben, Troy M. "The Time It Takes: Prolonged Pace in Luke's Travel Narrative (9:51–19:44)." Journal of Biblical Literature 144, no. 1 (2025): 147–66.

Online Resources

Franz, Gordon. "Luke the Physician: With 'Medicine for the Souls.'"↗ Associates for Biblical Research. January 23, 2014.

Nelson, Ryan. "Who Was Saint Luke? The Beginner's Guide."↗ OverviewBible. March 29, 2019.