Church History 3.4.6

Summary: Luke of Antioch, a physician and Paul's companion, wrote the Gospel from eyewitness tradition and Acts from his own observation.

Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.

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Greek text · Dindorf 4:86

Λουκᾶς δὲ τὸ μὲν γένος ὢν τῶν ἀπʼ Ἀντιοχείας, τὴν ἐπιστήμην δὲ ἰατρὸς, τὰ πλεῖστα συγγεγονὼς τῷ Παύλῳ, καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς δὲ οὐ παρέργως τῶν ἀποστόλων ὡμιληκὼς, ἦς ἀπὸ τούτων προσεκτήσατο ψυχῶν θεραπευτικῆς ἐν δυʼ ἡμῖν ὑποδείγματα θεοπνεύστοις καταλέλοιπε βιβλίοι τῷ τε εὐαγγελίῳ, ὃ καὶ χαράξαι μαρτυρεῖται, κα παρέδοντο αὐτῷ οἷ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς αὐτόαται καὶ ὑπηρέτ γενόμενοι τοῦ λόγου, οἷς καί φησιν ἐπάνωθεν ἄπʼ παρηκολουθηκέναι, καὶ ταῖς τῶν ἀποστόλων πράξ σιν, ἅς οὐκέτι διʼ ἀκοῆς, ὀφθαλμοῖς δὲ αὐτοῖς παρʼ λαβὼν συνετάξατο.

English · Claude translation

Luke, who was by birth one of those from Antioch and by profession a physician, having been with Paul most of the time and having associated closely with the rest of the apostles too, has left us examples of the healing of souls which he acquired from them in two divinely inspired books: the Gospel, which he testifies he wrote according to what was handed down to him by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, all of whom, he says, he had followed from the first; and the Acts of the Apostles, which he composed having received it no longer by hearing but with his own eyes.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:86 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
Topics
Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • Allusions to Col 4:14 and Luke 1:2–3. The digital text is damaged in several words at the line ends; the sense is clear.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.4.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/4/6/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.4.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/4/6/).

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