The unnamed author of Luke names its recipient, Theophilus, who is most likely a real (but unknown) person,[2] but the term could simply mean a fellow believer, since theo philus is Greek for God lover.

[5] The title "The Gospel of Luke", found in many Bibles and some manuscripts, was added later with no indication that it was originally part of the text.

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: The evangelist, Luke, begins his "orderly account" with the following statement: The narratives are claimed to be an accurate history and meant to confirm the things that Theophilus has already been taught about Jesus, being written by a believer for the purpose of confirming belief.

[14] According to Franciscan theologian Robert J. Karris,[15] "Luke alone of the evangelists introduces his work with ... finely crafted, periodic Greek.

This literary word which does not appear elsewhere in the New Testament or in the Septuagint, the Greek text of the Hebrew Bible, although it was frequently used by other classical writers.

[16] Many scholars have seen parallels between this style and the openings to the Greek histories of Herodotus and Thucydides as well as scientific manuals and treatises of the Hellenistic world.

see this as Luke imitating the style of the Septuagint in order to make his book sound like the Jewish scriptures.

[18] The Angel Gabriel appears to him and tells him he will soon have a son, to name him John, and to not allow him any alcoholic drinks, and that "he will be great in the sight of Jehovah" (verse 15).

[22] Zechariah, being unable to speak and so complete his liturgy, may be contrasted with the "good news" brought by Jesus.

[23] There is much debate on the historicity of this information, as skeptics would reject appearances by angels and God's intervention in history in this manner.

Luke seems to follow an Old Testament pattern in the sequence of his information here, specifically an announcement of impending birth, the child being given a name, and then discussion of their destiny.

[25] Luke then tells the story of Gabriel's visit to Mary, informing her that she will soon have a virgin conception by God.

The account is recorded differently in Matthew 1:20, where an unnamed angel appears to Joseph after he has discovered that Mary is pregnant.

Gabriel goes to Nazareth and visits Mary, who Luke tells us is a virgin engaged or betrothed to Joseph.

[23] Irish Archbishop John McEvilly notes that Mary was to name him, rather than Joseph (cf.

[35] It is significant that Luke states that Mary lives in Nazareth, considered a small backwater town.

He thus has God's grace bestowed on a young, unmarried woman living in an insignificant town.

[34] Paul the Apostle never explicitly mentions a virgin birth for Jesus, but in Galatians 4:4 he states that "God sent forth His Son, born of a woman", which according to Cornelius a Lapide "denotes conception without a male".

Upon meeting the pregnant Mary, Elizabeth feels John move in her womb and is "filled with the Holy Spirit" (verse 41).

God's mercy (το ελεος αυτου, to eleos autou) is mentioned five times within the Magnificat and Zechariah's Benedictus hymn.

Some find the idea of a young pregnant woman making the trip from the Judean hills to Nazareth improbable, but it is certainly not impossible.

Raymond E. Brown thought these sections might have been Jewish Christian hymns linked together by Luke.

[37] It is a common thesis that the Magnificat, the Canticle, and the two songs in chapter 2, the Gloria in Excelsis Deo and the Nunc dimittis, were added by Luke to his original composition from a collection of hymns written in Greek.