Commentary on

the Gospel of Luke

the english text with introduction

exposition and notes

by

Norval Geldenhuys

B.A., B.D., Th.M.

Former Elsie Ballot Scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary and at Cambridge University

Foreword by F. F. Bruce

WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

grand rapids michigan

wm. b. eerdmans publishing company

grand rapids, michigan, u.s.a.

all rights reserved

Tenth printing, April 1977

ISBN-08028-2184-7

Dedicated to my Father and Mother who were the first to lead me to love the Gospel Story; and to Professor Dr. E. P. Groenewald of the theological faculty of Pretoria University, South Africa, whose inspiring lectures and guidance made the study of the New Testament an ever greater joy to me.

General Foreword

With the publication of this Commentary on the Gospel According to Luke the New International Commentary on the New Testament, which was announced in 1946 as a seventeen-volume project, begins to pass from promise to reality. Other volumes are in preparation and there is good hope that they will appear with some regularity.

The Commentary has been undertaken to provide earnest students of the New Testament with an exposition that is thorough and abreast of modern scholarship and at the same time loyal to the Scriptures as the infallible Word of God. The urgent need for such a series has been widely recognized and expressed in recent years by ministers and other leaders who are occupied with the study of the Bible and are concerned to foster a deeper understanding of its message among Christians today.

The plan is being realized through the cooperation of scholars in Europe, South Africa and America whose Christian convictions are of a distinctly Reformed expression. While we recognize our Christian unity with brethren in other streams of Christendom, and freely acknowledge our indebtedness to them, we believe that we can contribute to the need of the Christian Church most significantly if the Commentary possesses the specific character and integration provided by the Reformed Faith.

Although, then, the volumes will necessarily reflect the Reformed viewpoint of the contributors, it is our judgment that the result need not be a mere repetition of a tradition, and still less a subjection of Scripture to a preconceived dogmatic system of thought. Since the Bible is acknowledged as being the Word of God, that Word must have the right of way at all times. The goal is to set forth the message of the New Testament, not a modernization of it. On this basis there may be the fervent hope and prayer that these commentaries, rather than being obscurantist in their thrust, will make for some definite progress in the march of the truth of God.

With a view to meeting the needs of Christians generally the expositions proper as well as the Introductions to the several volumes are written exclusively in English. Since, moreover, the expositions will be free of Greek and Hebrew terms and of the more technical aspects of interpretation, the ...