Passage

Luke 1.4

Book: Luke · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

2. even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, 3. it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus;

4. that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed.

There was in the days of Herod, king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. (Luke 1:2-6, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

2. even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, 3. it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus;

4. that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6. They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. (Luke 1:2-6, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

2. Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3. It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

4. That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. (Luke 1:2-6, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

2. as they did deliver to us, who from the beginning became eye-witnesses, and officers of the Word, 3. it seemed good also to me, having followed from the first after all things exactly, to write to thee in order, most noble Theophilus,

4. that thou mayest know the certainty of the things wherein thou wast instructed.

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the course of Abijah, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elisabeth; 6. and they were both righteous before God, going on in all the commands and righteousnesses of the Lord blameless, (Luke 1:2-6, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Atheism, via Luke 1.1-4
Criticcom Bible Software, A Response
Faith and Reason, via Luke 1.1-4
Faith is Belief Without Evidence Objection, via Luke 1.1-4
NT Authorship and Eyewitness Apologetics, via Luke 1.1-4
Quick Objection Responses, via Luke 1.1-4
Synoptic Problem, via Luke 1.1-4
Virgin Birth, via Luke 1.1-4

People:

Luke the Evangelist, via Luke 1.1-4

Sources:

Are There Geographical Errors in the New Testament, via Luke 1.1-4

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.