Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Luke: Chapter 1].
\pl•rophore•\ and that from \pl•r•s\ (full) and \pher•\ (to
bring). Hence to bring or make full. The verb is rare outside of
the LXX and the N.T. Papyri examples occur for finishing off a
legal matter or a financial matter in full. Deissmann (_Light
from the Ancient East_, pp. 86f.) gives examples from the papyri
and inscriptions for completing a task or being convinced or
satisfied in mind. The same ambiguity occurs here. When used of
persons in the N.T. the meaning is to be convinced, or fully
persuaded (Ro 4:21; 14:5; Heb 6:11; 10:22). When used of things
it has the notion of completing or finishing (2Ti 4:5,17). Luke
is here speaking of "matters" (\pragmat•n\). Luke may refer to
the matters connected with Christ's life which have been brought
to a close among us or accomplished. Bruce argues plausibly that
he means fulness of knowledge "concerning the things which have
become widely known among us Christians." In Col 2:2 we have
"fulness of understanding" (\t•s pl•rophorias t•s sunese•s\). In
modern Greek the verb means to inform. The careful language of
Luke here really pays a tribute to those who had preceded him in
their narratives concerning Christ.
1:2 {Even as} (\kath•s\). This particle was condemned by the
Atticists though occurring occasionally from Aristotle on. It is
in the papyri. Luke asserts that the previous narratives had
their sound basis. {Delivered unto us} (\pared•san h•min\).
Second aorist active indicative of \paradid•mi\. Luke received
this tradition along with those who are mentioned above (the
many). That is he was not one of the "eyewitnesses." He was a
secondary, not a primary, witness of the events. Tradition has
come to have a meaning of unreliability with us, but that is not
the idea here. Luke means to say that the handing down was
dependable, not mere wives' fables. Those who drew up the
narratives had as sources of knowledge those who handed down the
data. Here we have both written and oral sources. Luke had access
to both kinds. {Which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and
ministers of the word} (\hoi ap' arch•s autoptai kai hup•retai
genomenoi tou logou\). "Who" is better than "which" for the
article here. The word for {eyewitnesses} (\autoptai\) is an old
Greek word and appears in the papyri also. It means seeing with
one's own eyes. It occurs here only in the N.T. We have the very
word in the medical term _autopsy_. Greek medical writers often
had the word. It is a different word from \epoptai\ (eyewitness)
in 2Pe 1:16, a word used of those who beheld heavenly
mysteries. The word for "ministers" (\hup•retai\), under rowers
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