(14) Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas.--Comp. Philemon 1:24. The original is even more emphatic, "Luke the physician, the beloved one." Demas, on the contrary, is barely named. It is impossible not to pass on in thought to the last notice of the two by St. Paul (2 Timothy 4:10), "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. . . . only Luke is with me."
On the relation of St. Luke to St. Paul, see Introduction to the Acts. Here we need only remark that the emphatic mention of him as "the beloved physician" suggests the idea that it was both as physician and as friend that St. Luke, now, as in the last captivity, was with the Apostle. Though the captivity was not, according to ancient ideas, severe, it must have told upon his weak and shattered health.
Verse 14. - Luke the physician, the beloved, saluteth you (Philemon 1:24; 2 Timothy 4:11). This reference to Luke's profession is extremely interesting. We gather from the use of the first person plural in Acts 16:10-17, and again from Acts 20:5 to the end of the narrative, that he joined St. Paul on his first voyage to Europe and was left behind at Philippi; and rejoined him six years after on the journey to Jerusalem which completed his third missionary circuit, continuing with him during his voyage to Rome and his imprisonment. This faithful friend attended him in his second captivity, and solaced his last hours; "Only Luke is with me" (2 Timothy 4:11). His being called "the physician" suggests that he ministered to the apostle in this capacity, especially as "his first appearance in St. Paul's company synchronizes with an attack of St. Paul's constitutional malady" (Lightfoot: comp. Acts 16:10 and Galatians 4:13-15; the illness referred to in 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 and 2 Cor 4:7-5:8 may partly have led to Luke's rejoining St. Paul in Macedonia). St Luke's writings testify both to his medical knowledge and to his Pauline sympathies. His companionship probably gave a special colouring to the phraseology and cast of thought of St. Paul's later Epistles. (On the relations of St. Luke and St. Paul, see a valuable Paper by Dean Plumptre in the Expositor, first series, vol. 4. pp. 134-156.) "The beloved" is a distinct appellation, due partly to Luke's services to the apostle, but chiefly, one would suppose, to the amiable and gentle disposition of the writer of the third Gospel. It is not unlikely that he is "the brother" referred to in 2 Corinthians 8:18, 19. Lucas is a contraction for Lucanus; so that he was not the "Lucius" of Acts 13:1, nor, certainly, the "Lucius my kinsman" of Romans 16:21, who was a Jew. He was probably, like many physicians of that period, a freedman; and, since freedmen took the name of the house to which they had belonged, may have been, as Plumptre conjectures, connected with the family of the Roman philosopher Seneca and the poet Lucan. And Demas (Philemon 1:24; 2 Timothy 4:10), who alone receives no word of commendation - a fact significant in view of the melancholy sentence pronounced upon him in 2 Timothy 4:10. His name is probably short for Demetrius.
4:10-18 Paul had differed with Barnabas, on the account of this Mark, yet he is not only reconciled, but recommends him to the churches; an example of a truly Christian and forgiving spirit. If men have been guilty of a fault, it must not always be remembered against them. We must forget as well as forgive. The apostle had comfort in the communion of saints and ministers. One is his fellow-servant, another his fellow-prisoner, and all his fellow-workers, working out their own salvation, and endeavouring to promote the salvation of others. The effectual, fervent prayer is the prevailing prayer, and availeth much. The smiles, flatteries, or frowns of the world, the spirit of error, or the working of self-love, leads many to a way of preaching and living which comes far short of fulfilling their ministry. But those who preach the same doctrine as Paul, and follow his example, may expect the Divine favour and blessing.
Luke, the beloved physician,.... Luke the Evangelist, though some doubt it, is here intended, who was a constant companion of the apostle in his troubles, and went with him to Rome, as the Acts of the Apostles wrote by him show, and as from 2 Timothy 4:11 it appears; so Jerom (n) calls the Evangelist Luke, the physician of Antioch, for from thence he was; and being converted by the Apostle Paul, as is very probable, though some make him to be one of the seventy disciples, he became of a physician of bodies, a physician of souls: some say (o) he was a scholar of Galen, the famous physician, and others that he was his sister's son; who having heard of Christ's miracles, set out with his master Galen for Judea, to know the truth of them, of which they doubted; Galen died by the way, Luke came to Christ, and being taught by him, became one of the seventy disciples. The apostle calls him "beloved", not on account of his profession, in which he might be useful to many, but as he was a brother in Christ, a minister of the Gospel, and a fellow labourer of his. This is the same person as Lucas, mentioned along with Demas, and others, as here, in Plm 1:24. The name perhaps is Roman, but was, however, well known among the Jews; for they say (p), the
"witnesses that sign a divorce, and their names are as the names of strangers, what is to be done with it? there is none comes into our hands (is received) but "Lukus" and "Lus", and we allow it to be right:''
upon which the gloss says, because these were famous names:
and Demas greet you; the same who, through the love of the present world, forsook the apostle, 2 Timothy 4:10 which he did either after the writing of this epistle, or if before it, he was now returned again to him: his name seems to be the same with the Roman Dama, unless it should be a contraction of Demetrius, or rather of Demarchos; though the Jews make frequent mention of R. "Dimi", or "Demi", in their writings (q), which perhaps is the same name with this.
(n) Catalog. Script. Eccles. p. 91. Vid. Nicephor. Hist. l. 2. c. 43. (o) Vid. Castell. Lex. Polyglott. col. 1894. (p) T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 11. 2.((q) T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 19. 2. Nazir, fol. 36. 1. Sota, fol. 43. 2. Bava Kama, fol. 43.
On the relation of St. Luke to St. Paul, see Introduction to the Acts. Here we need only remark that the emphatic mention of him as "the beloved physician" suggests the idea that it was both as physician and as friend that St. Luke, now, as in the last captivity, was with the Apostle. Though the captivity was not, according to ancient ideas, severe, it must have told upon his weak and shattered health.
"witnesses that sign a divorce, and their names are as the names of strangers, what is to be done with it? there is none comes into our hands (is received) but "Lukus" and "Lus", and we allow it to be right:''
upon which the gloss says, because these were famous names:
and Demas greet you; the same who, through the love of the present world, forsook the apostle, 2 Timothy 4:10 which he did either after the writing of this epistle, or if before it, he was now returned again to him: his name seems to be the same with the Roman Dama, unless it should be a contraction of Demetrius, or rather of Demarchos; though the Jews make frequent mention of R. "Dimi", or "Demi", in their writings (q), which perhaps is the same name with this.
(n) Catalog. Script. Eccles. p. 91. Vid. Nicephor. Hist. l. 2. c. 43. (o) Vid. Castell. Lex. Polyglott. col. 1894. (p) T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 11. 2.((q) T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 19. 2. Nazir, fol. 36. 1. Sota, fol. 43. 2. Bava Kama, fol. 43.