Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Luke: Chapter 6]
dianuktereu•n\). Periphrastic imperfect active. Here alone in the
N.T., but common in the LXX and in late Greek writers. Medical
writers used it of whole night vigils. {In prayer to God} (\en
t•i proseuch•i tou theou\). Objective genitive \tou theou\. This
phrase occurs nowhere else. \Proseuch•\ does not mean "place of
prayer" or synagogue as in Ac 16:13, but the actual prayer of
Jesus to the Father all night long. He needed the Father's
guidance now in the choice of the Apostles in the morning.
6:13 {When it was day} (\hote egeneto h•mera\). When day came,
after the long night of prayer. {He chose from them twelve}
(\eklexamenos ap' aut•n d•deka\). The same root (\leg\) was used
for picking out, selecting and then for saying. There was a large
group of "disciples" or "learners" whom he "called" to him
(\proseph•n•sen\), and from among whom he chose (of himself, and
for himself, indirect middle voice (\eklexamenos\). It was a
crisis in the work of Christ. Jesus assumed full responsibility
even for the choice of Judas who was not forced upon Jesus by the
rest of the Twelve. "You did not choose me, but I chose you,"
(Joh 15:16) where Jesus uses \exelexasthe\ and \exelexam•n\ as
here by Luke. {Whom also he named apostles} (\hous kai apostolous
•nomasen\). So then Jesus gave the twelve chosen disciples this
appellation. Aleph and B have these same words in Mr 3:14
besides the support of a few of the best cursives, the Bohairic
Coptic Version and the Greek margin of the Harclean Syriac.
Westcott and Hort print them in their text in Mr 3:14, but it
remains doubtful whether they were not brought into Mark from Lu
6:13 where they are undoubtedly genuine. See Mt 10:2 where the
connection with sending them out by twos in the third tour of
Galilee. The word is derived from \apostell•\, to send (Latin,
_mitto_) and apostle is missionary, one sent. Jesus applies the
term to himself (\apesteilas\, Joh 17:3) as does Heb 3:1. The
word is applied to others, like Barnabas, besides these twelve
including the Apostle Paul who is on a par with them in rank and
authority, and even to mere messengers of the churches (2Co
8:23). But these twelve apostles stand apart from all others in
that they were all chosen at once by Jesus himself "that they
might be with him" (Mr 3:14), to be trained by Jesus himself
and to interpret him and his message to the world. In the nature
of the case they could have no successors as they had to be
personal witnesses to the life and resurrection of Jesus (Ac
1:22). The selection of Matthias to succeed Judas cannot be
called a mistake, but it automatically ceased. For discussion of
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