Behind | Who Was Luke?

Tradition tells us that Luke was a Greek physician. The church historian Eusebius identifies Luke with Antioch of Syria, the headquarters of first-century “Christianity.” What can we say about these claims?

Some scholars point out that the author of Acts shows a high degree of familiarity with Antioch and the events of the local church there (Acts 11:19-30; 13:1; 14:26-28; 15:22, 30-35; 18:22). But, why would the so-called Greek evangelist be associated with a Syrian city?

Antioch’s history is connected with Alexander the Great’s successors. It was developed as a capital city of the Greek-cultured Seleucid Empire, populated by a combination of local peoples and colonists from Greece and Macedonia. 

By the time of Acts, Antioch was a city of great significance and heavily Greek-influenced (“Hellenized”). It is believed to have been the third largest city in the world (after Rome and Alexandria) at the time with as many as half a million inhabitants. 

As for references to Luke’s vocation as a physician, studies have shown tendencies in his writings to mention details that would have been of interest to a medical doctor. One prominent example is:

This terminology is found in ancient medical literature. 

To summarize, consider a few points:

1. Luke was likely connected to the large, cosmopolitan city of Antioch, whether or not it was his native city. He was also likely of Greek heritage. This would have given him unique insights into the Greco-Roman world of his time.
2. Luke was likely not of Jewish background. Luke may have been the only New Testament author who was not Jewish (depending on the debatable authorship of a few other New Testament books). 
3. Luke was likely a physician, suggesting that he was significantly educated. This would make Luke literate and possibly able to have personally drafted Luke and Acts, rather than rely on a scribe.

Finally, what happened to Luke?

Tradition claims that he ended up as an evangelist to Thebes, a Greek city near Corinth and Athens, and then suffered death as a martyr at age 84. He was tortured and hanged on an olive tree. 

References: Andrea U. De Giorgi, Ancient Antioch, 2016, p. 180; Adolf Harnack, Luke the Physician, 1907, pp. 176-177; William Kirk Hobart, The Medical Language of St. Luke, 1882; Reuben A. Hubbard, “Medical Terminology in Luke,” Ministry Magazine, May 1977, accessed July 27, 2018; Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen, 1894, p. 390.