BSN: Luke

Luke was an assistant to the apostle Paul. Luke wrote the Gospel that bears his name and the Acts of the Apostles. In the latter, Luke is present during some of the action (see below), and Paul mentions him in Col 4:14; 2 Tim 4:11; Phile 1:24.
- LUKE AND THE “WE” SECTIONS OF ACTS indicates those portions of the Acts of the Apostles for which Luke was present and therefore an eyewitness to whatever took place.
- Paul’s reference to Luke in Colossians, taken in context (Col 4:7-17, which is a series of references to co-workers), suggests that Luke was either a Hellenistic (i.e. a Greek) Jew (i.e. a Jew who lived among the Gentiles, as Paul himself was) or else a Gentile. If the latter, Luke would have been the only Gentile to write a book of the Bible.
Luke and Herod: In the preamble to his Gospel (Lk 1:1-4), Luke states that he has engaged eyewitnesses of the accounts he has compiled and organized. At various places in his Gospel, he mentions facts related Herod that seem to go beyond what the other synoptic authors have reported. In Lk 8:3, he mentions “Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward” as one of the women who traveled with Jesus and the twelve in their ministry. It is possible that she and/or her husband were the sources of the additional specific information that Luke had about Herod. For example, consider Luke’s account of how Herod and Pilate went from enemies to friends on the day Jesus was crucified, as described in the BSN note on Lk 23:6-17.