Harnack has recognized the force of the linguistic argument in the case of two verses (thirty-one words). These are the last two verses of the Acts. After remarking that, so far as he knows, it has never been questioned that these words come from the author of the complete work, though they have the appearance of being a postscript, he continues: “Moreover, in content and in form they agree so closely with the Lukan style that from this point of view strong arguments can be produced in favour of their genuineness” (Date of Acts, &c., p. 94). In a footnote he adds the linguistic argument. This is quite enough for our purpose. It is true that the genuineness of Lk. i. 34 f. is questioned by many (on other than linguistic and textual grounds). Nevertheless, the field is open for inquiry as to whether “in content and form they agree so closely with the Lukan style that from this point of view strong arguments can be produced in favour of their genuineness”. After all, the length of the passage is not the vital consideration, but its character (which may, or may not, be more striking than that of a much longer section); and this is something which can come out only after actual examination.
We turn, then, to the linguistic examination of Lk. i. 34 f. According to the Westcott and Hort text, the passage is as follows:
34. εἶπεν δὲ Μαριὰμ πρὸς τὸν ἄγγελον Πῶς ἔσται τοῦτο, ἐπεὶ ἄνδρα οὐ γινώσκω; 35. καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν αὐτῇ Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σέ, καὶ δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι· διὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον ᾿ἍΓΙΟΝ ΚΛΗΘΉΣΕΤΑΙ, υἱὸς θεοῦ.
In treating these words, we shall not follow the order in which they occur, but the order of their importance for our investigation.[51] It is clear that the words fall into different [pg 058] classes: (a) according as they are neutral in character, that is to say, of insufficient importance either way in deciding the question; (b) in so far as they create difficulty on the assumption of Lukan authorship, and, to that extent, support the theory of interpolation; (c) in so far as they give clear support in favour of Lukan origin.
a.
In the first class we may include the words: ἀνήρ, καὶ ἀποκριθείς, πῶς, ἄγγελος, δύναμις, ἅγιος, εἶπεν with dat., υἱὸσ θεοῦ, and perhaps even Πνεῦμα ἅγιον.
Every one of these words and phrases is well represented in the Lukan writings, and in the case of some of them we get, on investigation, remarkable results.[52]
Take the case of ἀνήρ. In the NT. it occurs 212 times, and of these no less than 125 appear in St. Luke's works (26 in G. and 99 in Acts), i.e. 58 per cent. Still more remarkable is the result when we compare ἀνήρ and ἄνθρωπος. Whereas the other Evangelists use ἄνθρωπος very frequently indeed (218 times), they employ ἀνήρ only 20 times. St. Luke also (especially in the Gospel) uses ἄνθρωπος frequently (93 times), but he has ἀνήρ 26 times (cf. Mt. 8 times, Mk. 4 times, Jn. 8 times). If we take both Lukan writings, the usage of ἄνθρωπος and ἀνήρ is roughly equal, whereas in the rest of the NT. it is as 9 is to 2. We can say, therefore, that St. Luke shows a liking for ἀνήρ, whereas Mt. Mk. and Jn. markedly prefer ἄνθρωπος. However, the word is so common that we can lay no stress on the fact that it occurs in i. 34, where the connexion demands it. We can only note its congruity with a Lukan liking.
Καὶ ἀποκριθείς is also interesting, though not, of course, in any way decisive. In Lk. the phrase occurs 14 times; in Mt. it is found 6 times; in Mk. 8; never in the Fourth Gospel, and never in the Acts. It occurs, that is to say, in those parts of the New Testament in which sources, probably Aramaic,[53] are employed. This is in line with the view expressed by Moulton and Milligan with regard to the aorist passive forms of the verb.[54] They say that they incline to the opinion that ἀπεκρίθην “belongs only to early Hellenistic, whence it was taken by the LXX translators to render a common Hebrew phrase, passing thence into the narrative parts of NT. as a definite ‘Septuagintalism’ ”. It is in keeping with this view that καὶ ἀποκριθείς ... εἶπεν should appear in that part of St. Luke's Gospel where most of all we have reason to posit Semitic sources, whether oral or documentary. As we have seen, half the record of this expression in the New Testament, apart from Lk. i. 35, is in the Third Gospel. The presence, then, of καὶ ἀποκριθείς in Lk. i. 35 is congruous with these facts; more, perhaps, we cannot say.
A word like πῶς has no bearing on our present investigation, [pg 060] and the same is true of ἄγγελος, δύναμις (otherwise, however, of δ. in combination with nouns, &c., in the gen.), ἅγιος (very frequently in Lk.), εἶπεν (with dat.),[55] and υἱὸς θεοῦ.