the role of the lukan parables in terms of the purpose of luke's gospel

c) just as they were delivered to us by… (v. 2)
a’) it seemed good to us also… (v. 3a)
b’) to write an orderly account for you… (v. 3a)
c’) in order that you may know the truth (v. 4)
The structure of Luke’s prologue closely resembles that of many introductions used by
ancient writings. Above all, Luke’s preface parallels Hellenistic-Jewish writings. The author
of 2 Maccabees presents what his own goal is in writing a new summary work in verse 24,
and hopes to provide facts for the benefit of the reader in verse 25. In addition, he, as an
epitomator, who is likened to a house-decorator, compares his work to embellishing an
already constructed house in verse 28-29, in contrast with the builder who is responsible for
the fundamental structure of the new house. 3
According to the author of Ben Sira’s wisdom,
Jesus ben Sira who is the author’s grandson, added a Greek preface to the text to illustrate not
only his reasons for publishing the work, but also the difficulties encountered in translation.
The first sentence (1-14) begins with a laudation of the magnitude of the biblical wisdom
tradition and its usefulness for all. In the second sentence (15-26), he solicits his readers for
goodwill and attention, pleading for tolerance for failures and shortcomings in translating
from Hebrew to Greek. The author in a final sentence (27-35) explains his impetus for taking
up the work of translation, the purpose of the task, his recent condition, and so forth. Ben
Sira’s prologue in some respects is parallel to Luke 1:3, 4 in the sense that it has two
“decision” sentences in 12 and 30, and also each sentence involves the clause “so that you
may know” which gives us an enhanced understanding of the dedicatee of the book. Josephus,
in the Bellum Judaicum, which has a general preface (I 1-16), followed by summary of
contents (I 17-30), claims to qualify his writing in his own experience, and in a polemical
form this is also repeated in Antiquities I 4 (cf. I 1-26), in Contra Apionem I 53-6 (cf. I 1-5, II
1-7), and in Life 357-67. With respect to his predecessors, Josephus, in the Antiquities I 4,
mentions those who attempt to write histories in general statement. The sentence of the
author’s decision is found in the Bellum Judaicum in the writer’s statement that “since others
have written about the war of the Jews against the Romans, I decided () to tell
the tale ()…” (I 1-3), and likewise in Contra Apionem in the author’s claim that
3. 2 Macc. 2:19-31. For more on this, see L. Alexander, The Preface to Luke’s Gospel: Literary Convention and
Social Context in Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1, SNTSMS 78 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 147-
67, here 148-51. She mentions that the writer of 2 Maccabees, in contrast to Luke, does not conceal the religious
character of his work in verse 22, whereas Ben Sira’s preface openly extols the biblical wisdom traditions of
Israel especially in verse 1.
266