melodies of Hebrew psalmody and Christian hymnody. The Salute of Elizabeth ("Ave Maria"), the
"Magnificat" of Mary, the "Benedictus" of Zacharias, the "Gloria in Excelsis" of the Angels, the
"Nunc Dimittis" of Simeon, sound from generation to generation in every tongue, and are a perpetual
inspiration for new hymns of praise to the glory of Christ.
No wonder that the third Gospel has been pronounced, from a purely literary and
humanitarian standpoint, to be the most beautiful book ever written.^1009
The Style.
Luke is the best Greek writer among the Evangelists.^1010 His style shows his general culture.
It is free from solecisms, rich in vocabulary, rhythmical in construction. But as a careful and
conscientious historian he varies considerably with the subject and according to the nature of his
documents.
Matthew begins characteristically with "Book of generation" or "Genealogy" (βίβλος
γενέσεως), which looks back to the Hebrew Sepher toledoth (comp. Gen. 5:1; 2:4); Mark with
"Beginning of the gospel" (ἀρχη τοῦ εὐαγγελίου), which introduces the reader at once to the scene
of present action; Luke with a historiographic prologue of classical ring, and unsurpassed for brevity,
modesty, and dignity. But when he enters upon the history of the infancy, which he derived no
doubt from Aramaic traditions or documents, his language has a stronger Hebrew coloring than
any other portion of the New Testament. The songs of Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, and Simeon,
and the anthem of the angelic host, are the last of Hebrew psalms as well as the first of Christian
hymns. They can be literally translated back into the Hebrew, without losing their beauty.^1011 The
same variation in style characterizes the Acts; the first part is Hebrew Greek, the second genuine
Greek.
His vocabulary considerably exceeds that of the other Evangelists: he has about 180 terms
which occur in his Gospel alone and nowhere else in the New Testament; while Matthew has only
about 70, Mark 44, and John 50 peculiar words. Luke’s Gospel has 55, the Acts 135ἅπαξ λεγόμενα,
and among them many verbal compounds and rare technical terms.
The medical training and practice of Luke, "the beloved physician," familiarized him with
medical terms, which appear quite naturally, without any ostentation of professional knowledge,
in his descriptions of diseases and miracles of healing, and they agree with the vocabulary of ancient
medical writers. Thus he speaks of the "great fever" of Peter’s mother-in-law, with reference to
the distinction made between great and small fevers (according to Galen);^1012 and of "fevers and(^1009) This is the judgment of Renan, which is worth preserving in full. "L’Evangile de Luc," he says (in Les Evangiles, p. 282
and 283), "est le plus littéraire des évangiles. Tout y révèle un esprit large et doux, sage, modéré, sobre et raisonnable dans
l’irrationnel. Ses exagérations, ses invraisemblances, ses inconséquences tiennent à la nature même de la parabole et en font
le charme. Matthieu arrondit les contours un peu secs de Marc. Luc fait bien plus;il écrit, il montre une vraie entente de la
composition. Son livre est un beau récit bien suivi, à la fois hébraîque et hellénique, joignant l’émotion du drama à la sérènité
de l’idylle. Tout y rit, tout y pleure, tout y chante; partout des larmes et des cantiques; c’est l’hymne du peuple nouveau, L’hosanna
des petits et des humbles introduits dans le royaume de Dieu. Un esprit de sainte enfance, de joie, de ferveur, le sentiment
évangélique dans son originalité première répandent sur toute la légende une teinte d’une incomparable douceur. On ne fut
jamais moins sectaire. Pas un reproche, pas un mot dur pour le vieux peuple exclu; son exclusion ne le punit-elle pas assez?
C’est le plus beau livre qu’il y ait. Le plaisir que l’auteur dut avoir à l’écrire ne sera jamais suffisamment compris."
(^1010) Jerome, who had a great genius for language, says, Epist. ad Dam., 20 (145): "Lucas qui inter omnes evangelistas Graeci
sermonis eruditissimus fuit, quippe et medicus, et qui Evangelium Graecis scripserit." in another passage he says that Luke’s
"sermo saecularem redolet eloqueiatiam."
(^1011) See the Version of Delitzsch in his Hebrew New Testament, published by the Brit. and For. Bible Society.
(^1012) Luke 4:38: ἧν συνεχομένη πυρετῷ μεγάλῳ. συνεχομένηis likewise a medical term.
A.D. 1-100.