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

Luke portrays his task with which is interpreted as “to write an
orderly account for you.” The term which goes with means “it seemed good
to write an orderly account for you”, showing the nature of the accounts. To what then does
, “an orderly account,” refer? The suggestions with respect to this are as follows: The
order is 1) broadly chronological, 47 2) a literary systematic presentation, 48 3) bringing out
continuity, 49 4) a salvation-historical linkage, 50 5) narrative order, 51 6) coherence with
respect to the purpose of the narrative, 52 7) logical or idea-sequence, 53 8) the succession or
the linear progression, 54 or 8) persuasive order. 55
The term is a molded form of which means “one after another,” “in order,”
or “in a row.” Moreover, it is usually equated with the more common which has the
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following meanings: “in order,” “one after another,” “continuously” and “successively.”
The term does not appear elsewhere in Luke-Acts, except in Luke 1:3, 8:1, Acts 3:24,
11:4 and 18:23. In Luke 8:1 and Acts 3:24 its meaning is “following,” while in Acts 18:23 it
indicates “successively” or “one after another.” 57
Its use in Acts 11:4 with Peter’s speech is
all the more important for the context of verse 3. The adverb in Acts 11:4 may convey the
implications of a traditionally arranged and well ordered speech, with a suitable beginning
and end, since its narrative recounts a continuous sequence of events relevant to Peter’s
defense. If this is the case for the term in verse 3, it then can be interpreted as “following a
47. Plummer, Luke, 5; Godet, Luke, 1:65; Marshall, Luke, 43; Bock, “Understanding Luke’s Task: Carefully
Building on Precedent (Luke 1:1-4),” 197; Felix, “Literary Dependence and Luke’s Prologue,” 78.
48. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke, 299; M. Völkel, “Exegetische Erwägungen zum Verständnis des
Begriffs im lukanischen Prolog,” NTS 20 (1973-74), 289-99, here 294, claims that the term
presents the modality of a literary presentation which refers not to the events recorded by way of chronological
exactitude, but to that which constitutes the correct understanding of the events.
49. G.H. Whitaker, “The Philology of St. Luke’s Preface,” Exp 7 (1920), 262-72, 380-84.
50. G. Schneider, Das Evangelium nach Lukas (Ökumenischer Taschenbuch Kommentar zum Neuen Testament
3; 2 vols; Gerd Mohn: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 1977), 128-31.
51. Tannehill, The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts, vol. 2., 144-45; Stein, Luke, 65; idem, “Luke 1:1-4 and
Traditionsgeschichte,” JETS 26 (1983), 421-430, here 427; Moessner, “The Appeal and Power of Poetics,” 97-
112.
52. D. Lenz Tiede, Luke, 37.
53. Dillin, “Previewing Luke’s Project from His Prologue (Luke 1:1-4),” 219-223.
54. Alexander, The Preface to Luke’s Gospel: Literary Convention and Social Context in Luke 1:1-4 and Acts
1:1, 131-32, 136.
55. Green, Luke, 44. For more on this debate, see G.J. Lockwood, “The Reference to Order in Luke’s Preface,”
Concordia Theological Quarterly 59 (1995), 101-104; Fearghail, The Introduction to Luke-Acts: A Study of the
Role of Lk 1:1-4:44 in the the Composition of Luke’s Two-Volume Work, 102- 110.
56. H.G. Liddell, R. Scott, H.S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford, 1977), 594, 742.
57. Cadbury, Luke, 504-505; Marshall, Luke, 43.
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