“THE BELOVED PHYSICIAN” (COLOSSIANS 4:14)

Luke. Named three times, by Paul; by early tradition the writer of the Gospel and Acts.

ALSO CALLED

Lucas

FROM

Scripture does not say

TRADE

A physician: “Luke, the beloved physician”.

FAMILY

Paul lists Aristarchus, Marcus and Jesus called Justus as those “of the circumcision”, then names Epaphras, Luke and Demas separately.

WRITINGS

The Gospel according to Luke (its traditional title) · The Acts of the Apostles (by the same tradition)

BACKGROUND

Home, trade and family

TRADE

FAMILY

  • From the textPaul lists Aristarchus, Marcus and Jesus called Justus as those “of the circumcision”, then names Epaphras, Luke and Demas separately. Colossians 4:10–14
  • Scholars' viewFrom that list Smith (1884), Schaff (1890) and Robertson (ISBE, 1915) conclude that Luke was a Gentile. Colossians 4:11 Colossians 4:14 [20][18][25]

WHERE HE WENT

Acts and after

Dashed pins are places known only from later tradition, not from Scripture.

  • Rome · With Paul in his last imprisonment (2 Timothy). 2 Timothy 1:17 2 Timothy 4:11
  • Antioch in Syria · tradition · His family's city or birthplace in Eusebius (about 325) and Jerome (about 392) (tradition).
  • Troas · tradition · Where “we” begins. Luke is placed here only if he is the “we” of Acts (as Irenaeus, about 180, says he was). Acts 16:8–11 Acts 20:6
  • Philippi · tradition · Where “we” stops and starts again; Robertson (ISBE) takes it as his home. Luke is placed here only if he is the “we” of Acts (as Irenaeus, about 180, says he was). Acts 16:12–17 Acts 20:6
  • Miletus · tradition · Luke is placed here only if he is the “we” of Acts (as Irenaeus, about 180, says he was). Acts 20:15
  • Tyre · tradition · Luke is placed here only if he is the “we” of Acts (as Irenaeus, about 180, says he was). Acts 21:3–6
  • Caesarea · tradition · Luke is placed here only if he is the “we” of Acts (as Irenaeus, about 180, says he was). Acts 21:8
  • Jerusalem · tradition · Luke is placed here only if he is the “we” of Acts (as Irenaeus, about 180, says he was). Acts 21:17–18
  • Malta (Melita) · tradition · Luke is placed here only if he is the “we” of Acts (as Irenaeus, about 180, says he was). Acts 28:1
  • Puteoli · tradition · Luke is placed here only if he is the “we” of Acts (as Irenaeus, about 180, says he was). Acts 28:13–14
  • Constantinople · tradition · no map pin · Where his bones were laid, says Jerome, about 392 (tradition).

IN ACTS AND THE LETTERS

  • Paul sends greetings from “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas”. Colossians 4:14
  • To Philemon Paul names “Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers”. Philemon 1:24
  • In 2 Timothy, a prisoner in Rome, Paul writes that Demas has forsaken him, Crescens and Titus have gone, and “Only Luke is with me”. 2 Timothy 1:17 2 Timothy 4:10–11
  • From the textThe narrative of Acts turns to “we” at Troas (Acts 16:10) and leaves it after Philippi (16:17); “we” returns at 20:5 and runs to Jerusalem (21:18), and again from 27:1 to Rome (28:16). The narrator is not named. Acts 16:10–17 Acts 20:5–21:18 Acts 27:1–28:16
  • From the textIn those passages the narrator sails from Troas to Philippi and speaks to the women by the river there; sails from Philippi to Troas, Miletus, Tyre and Caesarea; goes up to Jerusalem and in “unto James”; and takes the voyage with Paul, the shipwreck at Melita and the road to Rome. Acts 16:11–13 Acts 20:5–6 Acts 20:15 Acts 21:3 Acts 21:8 Acts 21:17–18 +3 more

COMPANIONS

Who was with him

Each line joins him to someone Scripture places beside him.

  • Paul Calls him “the beloved physician” and a fellowlabourer; “Only Luke is with me”. Colossians 4:14 Philemon 1:24 2 Timothy 4:11
  • Demas Named beside him twice; later “hath forsaken me”. Colossians 4:14 Philemon 1:24 2 Timothy 4:10
  • Mark Sends greetings with him; Paul asks Timothy to bring Mark when “Only Luke is with me”. Colossians 4:10 Philemon 1:24 2 Timothy 4:11
  • Aristarchus A fellowlabourer named with him. Colossians 4:10 Philemon 1:24
  • Epaphras Named beside him among Paul's greeters. Colossians 4:12 Philemon 1:23
  • Theophilus From the textThe Gospel and Acts are addressed to him; he is Luke's companion only if Luke wrote them. Luke 1:3 Acts 1:1

HOW THE STORY ENDS

Scripture says, tradition says

SCRIPTURE SAYS

  • The last we read of him: “Only Luke is with me” (2 Timothy 4:11). Scripture does not record his later life or his death. 2 Timothy 4:11

TRADITION SAYS

  • Eusebius writes that Luke was “of Antiochian parentage and a physician by profession”, “especially intimate with Paul”, and that he wrote the Gospel and Acts.[1] Who says so: Eusebius, Church History 3.4.7, about AD 325
  • Jerome calls him “a physician of Antioch” and “companion of all his journeying”, and says he “was buried at Constantinople to which city, in the twentieth year of Constantius, his bones together with the remains of Andrew the apostle were transferred”.[8] Who says so: Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men 7, about AD 392
  • A list of “the Seventy” ascribed to Hippolytus makes Luke one of the Seventy, won back by Paul, and says he was “crucified on an olive tree”.[6] Who says so: On the Seventy Apostles, ascribed to Hippolytus, date unknown; its editor calls it “Probably spurious, but yet antique”
  • Gregory of Nazianzus calls him a martyr and has him work in Achaia; Epiphanius makes him one of the Seventy and has him work in Dalmatia, Gaul, Italy and Macedonia (both as reported by McGiffert, who gives the second “about as much worth as most such traditions”).[2] Who says so: Gregory of Nazianzus and Epiphanius, as reported by McGiffert, 4th century (their dates not checked in a source here)
  • That Luke was a painter rests, McGiffert writes, on “late tradition, of which the earlier Fathers know nothing”, found in Nicephorus and later writers.[2] Who says so: Nicephorus Callistus, Church History 2.43 (as reported by McGiffert), Byzantine (date not checked here)

WRITINGS

Writings tied to him

READ

The Gospel according to Luke (its traditional title)

READ

The Acts of the Apostles (by the same tradition)

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

Luke, Paul's companion, wrote the “we” passages and the whole of Acts

Irenaeus (about 180); the Muratorian fragment; Ramsay (1895); Schaff (1890); Harnack (1907), as reported in the ISBE (1915)

Ramsay: “It is almost universally recognised that the use of the first person … is intentional”. Harnack (Luke the Physician, 1907, as reported in the ISBE) set out the case that the “we” passages share the vocabulary and style of the rest of Luke and Acts. Acts 16:10 Acts 1:1 [16][18][26]

The “we” passages are the work of Timothy

Schleiermacher (1845); Sorof (1890), who gives one source to Luke and one to Timothy; both as reported in the ISBE (1915)

On this view the first-person travel account came from Timothy, who was with Paul on those journeys. Acts 16:1–3 Acts 20:4–5 [26]

A companion's travel account, taken over by a later compiler who was not Paul's companion

“the opposite school” described by McGiffert (1890), who points to Weizsäcker; Holtzmann, who gives Luke the “we” sections only; Schmiedel; both as reported in the ISBE (1915)

McGiffert describes this school as “considering the ‘we’ sections authentic historical accounts from the pen of a companion of Paul, which were afterward incorporated into a larger work by one who was not a pupil of Paul”.[2][26]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 10

Luke 1 Acts 1 Acts 16 Acts 20 Acts 21 Acts 27 Acts 28 Colossians 4 Philemon 1 2 Timothy 4

PASSAGES · 8

Luke 1:1–4 Acts 1:1–2 Acts 16:10–17 Acts 20:5–21:18 Acts 27:1–28:16 Colossians 4:10–14 Philemon 1:23–24 2 Timothy 4:9–11

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture never names the writer of the Gospel of Luke or of Acts.
  • Scripture does not say where Luke was born or how he came to believe.
  • Scripture does not say that Luke met Jesus; the Gospel's opening says its writer relied on eyewitnesses (Luke 1:2).
  • Scripture does not record Luke's death.

IDENTIFICATIONS THIS PAGE RELIES ON

  • From the textScripture names Luke three times, all in Paul's letters: Colossians 4:14, Philemon 24 (“Lucas”) and 2 Timothy 4:11. The Gospel and Acts never name their writer; both are addressed to Theophilus, and Acts begins by recalling “the former treatise”. Colossians 4:14 Philemon 1:24 2 Timothy 4:11 Luke 1:3 Acts 1:1
  • Early church · Irenaeus (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1), 1885Irenaeus is one of the first two witnesses, with the Muratorian fragment, to name this Luke as the writer (McGiffert, 1890): “Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him”, and he argues from the “we” passages that Luke “was inseparable from Paul”. Acts 16:10 [3][2]
  • Early church · Unknown (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5), 1886The Muratorian fragment says “the well-known physician Luke” wrote the third Gospel “when Paul had associated him with himself”, and that “the Acts of all the Apostles are comprised by Luke in one book”.[5]
  • Early church · Tertullian (trans. Peter Holmes, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3), 1885Tertullian calls Luke “not an apostle, but only an apostolic man”, a disciple of Paul.[4]
  • Scholars' viewSmith (1884) and Robertson (ISBE, 1915) hold that Luke is not the Lucius of Acts 13:1 or Romans 16:21. Acts 13:1 Romans 16:21 [20][25]
  • Scholars' viewSchaff (1890) rejects the later stories that Luke was one of the Seventy or the companion of Cleopas on the road to Emmaus, because the Gospel's opening shows he was not an eyewitness; McGiffert (1890) rejects the Seventy on the same ground and calls the Emmaus idea an “ingenious but unfounded guess”. Luke 1:2 [2][18]

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • Eusebius (trans. A. C. McGiffert, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1), Church History (1890), 3.4.6-7; 6.25.6.
  • A. C. McGiffert, Notes to Eusebius, Church History (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1) (1890), book 3, chapter 4, notes 607-611 and 614-615; book 6, chapter 25, note 1981.
  • Irenaeus (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1), Against Heresies (1885), 3.1.1; 3.13.3 with note 3538; 3.14.1.
  • Tertullian (trans. Peter Holmes, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3), Against Marcion (1885), book 4, chapter 2; book 5, chapter 3.
  • Unknown (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5), The Muratorian Fragment (Canon Muratorianus) (1886), sections 1-2.
  • Ascribed to Hippolytus (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5), On the Seventy Apostles (1886), list nos. 15-17 and 50, with note 2027 ("Probably spurious, but yet antique").
  • Unknown (ed. James Donaldson; notes by M. B. Riddle; Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7), Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (1886), book 7, chapter 46; Riddle's introductory notice ("not later than the fourth century").
  • Jerome (trans. E. C. Richardson, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 3), Lives of Illustrious Men (1892), chapter 7 (Luke); chapter 135 (written "the fourteenth of the Emperor Theodosius").
  • Clement of Rome (trans. J. B. Lightfoot), 1 Clement (1891), chapter 47 (checked against the 1891 printing, archive.org apostolicfathers00ligh).
  • Suetonius (trans. J. C. Rolfe, Loeb Classical Library), The Lives of the Caesars: The Deified Claudius (1914), 25.4.
  • J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (10th ed.; scan of a later reprint) (1890), pp. 96-98 ("The name and office of an Apostle", with notes); pp. 104-105 (on 2:3-5); pp. 121-123.
  • F. W. Farrar, The Life and Work of St. Paul (1898 printing) (1879), pp. 234-236 ("Was he circumcised?").
  • Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews: The Greek Text with Notes and Essays (2nd ed.) (1892), Introduction, "History and Authorship", pp. lxxiv-lxxix.
  • Marcus Dods, "The Epistle to the Hebrews", in The Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. IV (1897 (1910 printing)), Introduction: authorship, pp. 228-229.
  • Charles Bigg, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude (2nd ed. 1902) (1901), Introduction to 1 Peter, p. 5.
  • W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen (1895), ch. III (Titus and the famine visit); ch. IX section 3 ("The coming of Luke"); ch. X; ch. XI (Aquila and the edict); ch. XII sections 1-2 (Cenchreae; Apollos, Priscilla and Aquila); ch. XIII (Titus); ch. XVII (Luke and Antioch).
  • W. J. Conybeare and J. S. Howson, The Life and Epistles of St. Paul, new edition (first published 1852) (1891), ch. XI, pp. 300-301 (Aquila and Priscilla); ch. XII, pp. 330-331 and note (the vow at Cenchreae).
  • Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 1: Apostolic Christianity (revised ed.) (1890), section 82 (Luke), with notes 991-994; section 85 (Acts), with note 1098.
  • M. G. Easton, Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), entries Silas; Timothy; Titus; Luke; Apollos; Aquila; Priscilla.
  • William Smith, Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884), entries Silas; Timothy; Titus; Titus Justus; Luke; Apollos; Aquila.
  • C. M. Kerr, Silas (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • C. M. Kerr, Apollos (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • John Rutherfurd, Timothy (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • John Rutherfurd, Titus (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • A. T. Robertson, Luke, the Evangelist (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (article unsigned in the online text), Acts of the Apostles, part 1 (III. Unity of the Book; IV. The Author) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • Jacob W. Kapp, Aquila (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.
  • William G. Moorehead, Peter, the First Epistle of (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) (1915), section on Silvanus; read online at internationalstandardbible.com; to be checked against a scan of the printed 1915 edition.

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