The Fallible Study Bible

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Luke1:5–25

Gabriel Foretells John’s Birth

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Luke 1:5–25 — Gabriel Foretells John’s Birth. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

5

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron.

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Greek — tap a word ↓

en tais hēmerais Hērōdou basileōs tēs Ioudaias Egeneto tis hiereus onomati Zacharias ex ephēmerias Abia kai autō gynē kai autēs to onoma Elisabet ek tōn thygaterōn Aarōn

Word by word27 · parsed
ἐνenInG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ταῖςtaistheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
ἡμέραιςhēmeraistimeG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounDative Feminine Plural
hēmera: day, the span of a reign The dating formula is deliberately human and datable: an Idumaean king, a named course, a named wife. Luke will do this again at 3:1 with a fuller list of rulers. The incarnation is fastened to a calendar, not floated free of one.
ἩρῴδουHērōdouof HerodG2264
√ Ἡρώδης — heroicNounGenitive Masculine Singular
βασιλέωςbasileōskingG935
√ βασιλεύς — a sovereign (abstractly, relatively, or figuratively)NounGenitive Masculine Singular
τῆςtēsG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
ἸουδαίαςIoudaiasof JudeaG2449
√ Ἰουδαία — the Judæan land (iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
ἘγένετοEgenetothere wasG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
ginomai: to come to be, to be generated Aorist middle, the Septuagintal “and it came to pass.” It recurs at verses 8 and 23 as the hinge of each scene, and at verse 20 (genētai) for the thing promised coming to pass. The word that opens the narrative is the word Gabriel uses for the fulfilment.
τιςtisaG5100
√ τὶς — some or any person or objectInterrogative / Indefinite PronounNominative Masculine Singular
ἱερεύςhiereuspriestG2409
√ ἱερεύς — a priest (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Masculine Singular
hiereus: priest Barnes draws the genealogical point sharply: John was descended from priests on both his father's and his mother's side, “so that John the Baptist was descended, on the father's and the mother's side, from priests. Our Saviour was not on either side.” The forerunner holds the old order's highest legal claim; the One he announces holds none of it.
ὀνόματιonomatinamedG3686
√ ὄνομα — a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority, character)NounDative Neuter Singular
ΖαχαρίαςZachariasZechariahG2197
√ Ζαχαρίας — Zacharias (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἐξexwho belonged toG1537
√ ἐκ — literal or figurativePreposition
ἐφημερίαςephēmerias[the] priestly divisionG2183
√ ἐφημερία — diurnality, iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
ephēmeria: a daily course of service The eighth of the twenty four courses of 1 Chronicles 24:10. Ellicott, Barnes, JFB, Poole, Gill and Cambridge all note that only four courses returned from the exile (Ezra 2:36-39) and that the twenty four names were later restored by subdivision, so the Abijah of Zechariah's day is an heir of the name rather than an unbroken line. Cambridge reckons the course went out of office on Oct 9, b.c. 6; Ellicott judges all such reckonings “necessarily more or less precarious.”
ἈβιάAbiaof AbijahG7
√ Ἀβιά — Abijah, the name of two IsraelitesNounGenitive Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτῷautō[whose]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
γυνὴgynēwifeG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounNominative Feminine Singular
καὶkaivvvG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτῆςautēsvvvG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Feminine 3rd Person Singular
τὸtovvvG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
ὄνομαonomavvvG3686
√ ὄνομα — a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority, character)NounNominative Neuter Singular
ἘλισάβετElisabetElizabethG1665
√ Ἐλισάβετ — Elisabet, an IsraelitessNounNominative Feminine Singular
Elisabet: Elisheba Ellicott: the name in its Hebrew form “had belonged to the wife of Aaron, who was of the tribe of Judah (Exodus 6:23), and was naturally an honoured name among the daughters of the priestly line.” The mother of the forerunner bears the name of the first high priest's wife.
ἐκek[was]G1537
√ ἐκ — literal or figurativePreposition
τῶνtōnaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Plural
θυγατέρωνthygaterōndescendantG2364
√ θυγάτηρ — a female child, or (by Hebraism) descendant (or inhabitant)NounGenitive Feminine Plural
ἈαρώνAarōnof AaronG2
√ Ἀαρών — Aaron, the brother of MosesNounGenitive Masculine Singular
6

Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.

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Greek — tap a word ↓

de amphoteroi ēsan dikaioi enantion tou Theou poreuomenoi amemptoi en pasais tais entolais kai dikaiōmasin tou Kyriou

Word by word17 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἀμφότεροιamphoteroiBothG297
√ ἀμφότερος — (in plural) bothAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἦσανēsanof them wereG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
δίκαιοιdikaioirighteousG1342
√ δίκαιος — equitable (in character or act)AdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
dikaios: righteous, equitable The word is loaded on both sides of the unit: here of the parents, and at verse 17 of “the righteous” whose wisdom the disobedient are to be turned into. Between them stands the whole question of how a person is counted just, which Gill, Poole and Geneva each answer from a Reformation angle (imputed righteousness, acceptance rather than perfection, fruits rather than cause).
ἐναντίονenantionin the sight ofG1726
√ ἐναντίον — (adverbially) in the presence (view) ofPreposition
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΘεοῦTheouGodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounGenitive Masculine Singular
πορευόμενοιporeuomenoiwalkingG4198
√ πορεύομαι — to traverse, iVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Plural
ἄμεμπτοιamemptoiblamelesslyG273
√ ἄμεμπτος — irreproachableAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
amemptos: irreproachable Gill weighs it honestly: “not that they were without sin, as none are; and it appears from this chapter that Zacharias was not, see Luke 1:20.” The narrative itself supplies the counterweight to its own commendation, nineteen verses later.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
πάσαιςpasaisallG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveDative Feminine Plural
ταῖςtaistheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
ἐντολαῖςentolaiscommandmentsG1785
√ ἐντολή — injunction, iNounDative Feminine Plural
entolē: injunction, commandment Cambridge notes the pair commandments and ordinances stands in the Septuagint of Genesis 26:5 (of Abraham) and 2 Chronicles 17:4 (of Jehoshaphat). Luke is describing this couple in the exact vocabulary the Greek Old Testament used for its patriarch and its reforming king.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
δικαιώμασινdikaiōmasindecreesG1345
√ δικαίωμα — an equitable deedNounDative Neuter Plural
τοῦtouof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΚυρίουKyriouLordG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
7

But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai autois ēn ouk teknon kathoti hē Elisabet ēn steira kai ēsan amphoteroi probebēkotes en autōn tais hēmerais

Word by word18 · parsed
καὶkaiButG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτοῖςautoistheyG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ἦνēnhadG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
οὐκouknoG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
τέκνονteknonchildrenG5043
√ τέκνον — a child (as produced)NounNominative Neuter Singular
teknon: a child, as produced Cambridge gives the theological weight of the lack: childlessness “was regarded as a heavy misfortune because it cut off all hope of the birth of the Messiah in that family.” The couple's private grief is also, in the categories of their own people, an exclusion from the one hope that mattered.
καθότιkathotibecauseG2530
√ καθότι — and G3739 (ὅς) and G5100 (τὶς)Adverb
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
ἘλισάβετElisabetElizabethG1665
√ Ἐλισάβετ — Elisabet, an IsraelitessNounNominative Feminine Singular
ἦνēnwasG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
στεῖραsteirabarrenG4723
√ στείρος — "sterile"AdjectiveNominative Feminine Singular
steiros: sterile, barren A rare lexeme (five verses) that carries the whole Old Testament pattern with it: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, the wife of Manoah, Hannah. JFB lists them flatly in a single line; Benson adds the reason, that God “is sometimes pleased to recompense them for their patience, by doubling the worth of it when it is given.”
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἦσανēsanthey wereG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ἀμφότεροιamphoteroibothG297
√ ἀμφότερος — (in plural) bothAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
προβεβηκότεςprobebēkoteswell alongG4260
√ προβαίνω — to walk forward, iVerbPerfect Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
probainō: to walk forward, to advance The perfect participle marks a completed advance with abiding result: they have already walked past the place where such a promise could be received naturally. Zechariah will throw the very same participle back at Gabriel in verse 18, in the feminine, as his objection.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
αὐτῶνautōnG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ταῖςtaisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
ἡμέραιςhēmeraisyearsG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounDative Feminine Plural
8

One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Egeneto tēs autou ephēmerias en tē taxei en auton tō hierateuein enanti tou Theou

Word by word15 · parsed
δὲdeOne dayG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἘγένετοEgeneto. . .G1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
τῆςtēswhileG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
αὐτοῦautou[Zechariah’s]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἐφημερίαςephēmeriasdivisionG2183
√ ἐφημερία — diurnality, iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
ἐνenvvvG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῇtēvvvG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
τάξειtaxeiwas on dutyG5010
√ τάξις — regular arrangement, iNounDative Feminine Singular
taxis: regular arrangement, fixed order The lot that is about to fall (verse 9) falls inside an order that no one present chose. Poole: the priests “divided amongst themselves by lot” the several parts of the office. Providence works here through a rota and a drawing of lots, which is exactly why Cambridge can call this, apart from the vision, “the most memorable day in the life of Zacharias.”
ἐνen[and]G1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
αὐτὸνautonheG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τῷtōG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
ἱερατεύεινhierateueinwas serving as priestG2407
√ ἱερατεύω — to be a priest, iVerbPresent Infinitive Active
hierateuō: to serve as priest The verb is uncommon, and its cognate noun hierateia stands in the next verse: the Verifier records that noun in only two verses, the other being Hebrews 7:5. Luke's vocabulary for the priesthood is thin and precise, and it is spent almost entirely on this one man's one week.
ἔναντιenantibeforeG1725
√ ἔναντι — in front (iPreposition
enanti: in front of, before Rare (two verses). The unit stacks three different “before God” prepositions: enantion (v6), enanti (v8), enōpion (vv15, 17, 19). The whole scene is staged as a matter of who stands in front of whom.
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΘεοῦTheouGodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounGenitive Masculine Singular
9

he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

elache kata to ethos tēs hierateias eiselthōn eis ton naon tou Kyriou tou thymiasai

Word by word14 · parsed
ἔλαχεelachehe was chosen by lotG2975
√ λαγχάνω — to lot, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
lanchanō: to obtain by lot The decisive event of the old priest's life arrives by lot, that is, by the one procedure Israel used to let God decide without human argument. Because the lot could fall to a given priest only once (Cambridge, Pulpit), the hour of the annunciation is also the one hour in Zechariah's life when he stands in that room.
κατὰkataaccording toG2596
√ κατά — (prepositionally) down (in place or time), in varied relations (according to the case (genitive, dative or accusative) with which it is joined)Preposition
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
ἔθοςethoscustomG1485
√ ἔθος — a usage (prescribed by habit or law)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
τῆςtēsof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
ἱερατείαςhierateiaspriesthoodG2405
√ ἱερατεία — priestliness, iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
hierateia: priestliness, the priest's office A rare noun, standing in only two verses of the New Testament. The other is Hebrews 7:5, where the sons of Levi “have a commandment to take tithes of the people.” Both verses are about the legal warrant of the Levitical office, and Hebrews is arguing that it is passing.
εἰσελθὼνeiselthōnto enterG1525
√ εἰσέρχομαι — to enter (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
εἰςeis. . .G1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ναὸνnaontempleG3485
√ ναός — a fane, shrine, templeNounAccusative Masculine Singular
naos: shrine, Holy Place Cambridge sets the scene exactly: the golden altar “stood before the veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies,” the priest entered “in white robes and with unsandalled feet with two attendants who retired when they had made everything ready.” Zechariah is alone in the last room before the veil.
τοῦtouof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΚυρίουKyriouLordG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
θυμιᾶσαιthymiasai[and] burn incenseG2370
√ θυμιάω — to fumigate, iVerbAorist Infinitive Active
thymiaō: to fumigate, to burn incense Ellicott names the symbolism the act carried for those who performed it: incense is “the priestly work of presenting the prayers of the people, and joining his own with them (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 5:8).” The answer to a prayer arrives in the very minute of the act that figures prayer.
10

And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai tē hōra tou thymiamatos to pan plēthos tou laou ēn proseuchomenon exō

Word by word13 · parsed
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τῇtēat theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
ὥρᾳhōrahourG5610
√ ὥρα — an "hour" (literally or figuratively)NounDative Feminine Singular
τοῦtouof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
θυμιάματοςthymiamatosincense offeringG2368
√ θυμίαμα — an aroma, iNounGenitive Neuter Singular
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
πᾶνpanwholeG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
πλῆθοςplēthoscongregationG4128
√ πλῆθος — a fulness, iNounNominative Neuter Singular
plēthos: a fulness, a multitude Cambridge and Pulpit both take the size of the crowd as evidence that the day was a sabbath or a feast. Benson draws the consequence: the publicity of the event “would give great publicity to the facts here recorded,” spreading expectation through Jerusalem and Judea before ever John was born.
τοῦtou. . .G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
λαοῦlaou. . .G2992
√ λαός — a people (in generalNounGenitive Masculine Singular
ἦνēnwasG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
προσευχόμενονproseuchomenonprayingG4336
√ προσεύχομαι — to pray to God, iVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Neuter Singular
proseuchomai: to pray to God The people's unheard prayer and the priest's silent incense are one act in two rooms. Henry makes it the pattern of all prayer: “All the prayers we offer up to God, are acceptable and successful only by Christ's intercession in the temple of God above.”
ἔξωexōoutsideG1854
√ ἔξω — out(-side, of doors), literally or figurativelyAdverb
exō: outside, out of doors One adverb carries the architecture of the whole covenant: a mediator inside, a people outside, a veil beyond him that he may not pass. Everything in this scene that will be undone is contained in that word.
11

Just then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de angelos Kyriou Ōphthē autō hestōs ek dexiōn tou thysiastēriou tou thymiamatos

Word by word12 · parsed
δὲdeJust thenG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἄγγελοςangelosan angelG32
√ ἄγγελος — compare G34 (ἀγέλη)) (to bring tidings)NounNominative Masculine Singular
angelos: messenger, one who brings tidings Cambridge: “St Luke dwells more than any of the Evangelists on the ministry of angels.” Benson supplies the interval this one breaks: about four hundred years had passed with no such communication, so the first thing that happens when heaven speaks again is that a messenger stands where the prayers of Israel are burned.
ΚυρίουKyriouof [the] LordG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
ὬφθηŌphthēappearedG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
horaō: to see, to be seen The passive governs the whole unit's logic of sight and speech: Zechariah is granted to see (v11), the people perceive that he has seen (v22), and the seeing costs him his voice. Pulpit, quoting Godet, puts the condition honestly: “in our ordinary condition we want the sense necessary to perceive their presence.”
αὐτῷautōto [Zechariah]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἑστὼςhestōsstandingG2476
√ ἵστημι — to stand (transitively or intransitively), used in various applications (literally or figuratively)VerbPerfect Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἐκekatG1537
√ ἐκ — literal or figurativePreposition
δεξιῶνdexiōn[the] right sideG1188
√ δεξιός — the right side or (feminine) hand (as that which usually takes)AdjectiveGenitive Neuter Plural
τοῦtouof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
θυσιαστηρίουthysiastērioualtarG2379
√ θυσιαστήριον — a place of sacrifice, iNounGenitive Neuter Singular
thysiastērion: place of sacrifice, altar Ellicott ties the altar's position to its meaning: standing just before the veil, “it symbolised accordingly the closest approach to God which was then possible for any but the high priest.” The announcement of the forerunner is made at the furthest point the old covenant could reach.
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
θυμιάματοςthymiamatosof incenseG2368
√ θυμίαμα — an aroma, iNounGenitive Neuter Singular
12

When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai Zacharias idōn etarachthē kai epepesen ep’ auton phobos

Word by word9 · parsed
καὶkaiWhenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ΖαχαρίαςZachariasZechariahG2197
√ Ζαχαρίας — Zacharias (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ἰδώνidōnsaw [him]G3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἐταράχθηetarachthēhe was startledG5015
√ ταράσσω — to stir or agitate (roil water)VerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
tarassō: to stir, to agitate, to roil Cambridge: “Such is the effect always recorded of these supernatural appearances,” citing Judges 13:22, Daniel 10:7-9, Ezekiel 1:28, Mark 16:8, Revelation 1:17. The reaction is a fixed feature of the biblical record, and Luke will repeat it with Mary (1:29) and the shepherds (2:9).
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐπέπεσενepepesengrippedG1968
√ ἐπιπίπτω — to embrace (with affection) or seize (with more or less violenceVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἐπ’ep’. . .G1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
αὐτόνauton. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
φόβοςphoboswith fearG5401
√ φόβος — alarm or frightNounNominative Masculine Singular
phobos: alarm, fright Poole gives the theological account without flattering the man: “it is but reasonable that God should by this means both declare his own glory and majesty, and also humble his poor creatures, and make them more impressive, and receptive of his Divine revelations.” Fear is not the point, but it is the doorway.
13

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de ho angelos Eipen pros auton Mē phobou Zacharia dioti sou hē deēsis eisēkousthē kai sou hē gynē Elisabet gennēsei soi huion kai kaleseis autou to onoma Iōannēn

Word by word28 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἄγγελοςangelosangelG32
√ ἄγγελος — compare G34 (ἀγέλη)) (to bring tidings)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ΕἶπενEipensaidG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
πρὸςprostoG4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
αὐτὸνautonhimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ΜὴMē{Do} notG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
φοβοῦphoboube afraidG5399
√ φοβέω — to frighten, iVerbPresent Imperative Middle or Passive2nd Person Singular
phobeō: to frighten, to fear The imperative answers verse 12 word for word: phobos fell on him, and the first thing said to him is mē phobou. Poole: “yet he never suffereth the souls of his people to sink under those apprehensions.” The same two words open the message to Mary (1:30) and to the shepherds (2:10).
ΖαχαρίαZachariaZechariahG2197
√ Ζαχαρίας — Zacharias (iNounVocative Masculine Singular
διότιdiotibecauseG1360
√ διότι — on the very account that, or inasmuch asConjunction
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
δέησίςdeēsisprayerG1162
√ δέησις — a petitionNounNominative Feminine Singular
deēsis: a petition, a specific request The whole question of this unit turns on what the noun contained. Ellicott: the words imply a prayer “not that he might have a son (that hope appears to have died out long before), but that the Kingdom of God might come. Praying for this he receives more than he asks.” Gill answers that prayer is often “deferred a long time, to try the faith and patience of the saints.” Henry holds both: “Prayers made when we were young and entering into the world, may be answered when we are old and going out of the world.”
εἰσηκούσθηeisēkousthēhas been heardG1522
√ εἰσακούω — to listen toVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
eisakouō: to listen to Aorist passive, and the passive has no named agent: the text does not say God heard, it says the petition was heard. The same reticence governs the unit's other great passive, plēsthēsetai in verse 15. Luke keeps the divine actor just out of the grammar.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
σουsouYourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
γυνήgynēwifeG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounNominative Feminine Singular
ἘλισάβετElisabetElizabethG1665
√ Ἐλισάβετ — Elisabet, an IsraelitessNounNominative Feminine Singular
γεννήσειgennēseiwill bearG1080
√ γεννάω — to procreate (properly, of the father, but by extension of the mother)VerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
gennaō: to procreate, to beget Properly used of the father and by extension of the mother, and here, pointedly, of Elizabeth: she will bear to you a son. The verb is the standard one of the genealogies (it stands in 65 verses), which places this miraculous birth inside the ordinary chain of generation rather than outside it.
σοιsoiyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Singular
υἱόνhuiona sonG5207
√ υἱός — a "son" (sometimes of animals), used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinshipNounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
καλέσειςkaleseisyou are to giveG2564
√ καλέω — to "call" (properly, aloud, but used in a variety of applications, directly or otherwise)VerbFuture Indicative Active2nd Person Singular
αὐτοῦautouhimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
ὄνομαonomanameG3686
√ ὄνομα — a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority, character)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
ἸωάννηνIōannēnJohnG2491
√ Ἰωάννης — Joannes (iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
Iōannēs: Jehochanan, the LORD is gracious Ellicott: “As the meaning of the Hebrew word is Jehovah is gracious, the announcement of the name was in itself a pledge of the outpouring of the grace of God.” Poole sets the two divine namings side by side: Joseph is told to call the child Jesus “because he was to save his people from their sins,” and Zechariah to call his son John, “because he was to open the kingdom of grace.”
14

He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai estai chara kai agalliasis soi kai polloi charēsontai epi autou tē genesei

Word by word13 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἔσταιestaiHe will beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
χαράcharaa joyG5479
√ χαρά — cheerfulness, iNounNominative Feminine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀγαλλίασιςagalliasisdelightG20
√ ἀγαλλίασις — exultationNounNominative Feminine Singular
agalliasis: exultation, leaping joy Not a domestic pleasure but the word of festal shouting. Its verb recurs in this very chapter of the unborn child (1:44) and in Mary's song (1:47). The unit thus names the joy twice before John is born and once in his mother's greeting, which is Luke's way of saying that the gladness runs ahead of the event.
σοιsoito youG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πολλοὶpolloimanyG4183
√ πολύς — (singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) manyAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
χαρήσονταιcharēsontaiwill rejoiceG5463
√ χαίρω — to be "cheer"ful, iVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
chairō: to be cheerful, to rejoice JFB reads the future soberly: “shall rejoice, so they did (Lu 1:58, 66); but the meaning rather is, shall have cause to rejoice.” Cambridge is more sober still, noting that “the Pharisees and leading Jews did not accept John's baptism,” so the many who rejoiced were never the whole nation.
ἐπὶepiatG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
γενέσειgeneseibirthG1078
√ γένεσις — nativityNounDative Feminine Singular
genesis: nativity, coming into being Poole refuses to let the promise shrink to family feeling: the joy is “not only expressive of that affection which commonly discovereth itself in us when God giveth us sons,” but of the glad tidings the child would bring. Pulpit: “no mere private family rejoicing.”
15

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

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Greek — tap a word ↓

gar estai megas enōpion tou Kyriou kai ou mē piē oinon kai sikera kai plēsthēsetai Hagiou Pneumatos eti ek autou mētros koilias

Word by word22 · parsed
γὰρgarforG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἔσταιestaihe will beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
μέγαςmegasgreatG3173
√ μέγας — big (literally or figuratively, in a very wide application)AdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
megas: great Maclaren spends a whole exposition on this word and refuses the world's version of it: “No epithet is more misused and misapplied.” Poole measures John's greatness by subtraction: no palace, no titles, no soft raiment, “nature was his cook,” and yet the Lord said no one born of women was greater. The greatness is the work and the God who blessed it.
ἐνώπιονenōpionin the sightG1799
√ ἐνώπιον — in the face of (literally or figuratively)Preposition
τοῦtouof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΚυρίουKyriouLordG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οὐouvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
πίῃpiēHe shall never takeG4095
√ πίνω — to imbibe (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
pinō: to imbibe Under the emphatic double negative, the abstinence is total and lifelong. Cambridge notes strong drink was also forbidden to ministering priests (Leviticus 10:8); Pulpit observes that God's heroes “must stamp their high lives, from the beginning, by the solemn vow of self-denial and abstinence.” The priest's son will keep the priest's rule outside the priesthood, in the desert.
οἶνονoinonwineG3631
√ οἶνος — "wine" (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkai[or]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
σίκεραsikerastrong drinkG4608
√ σίκερα — an intoxicant, iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
sikera: shekar, an intoxicant A transliterated Hebrew word, left standing in Greek because no Greek word covered it. Its presence is the Nazirite law of Numbers 6:1-4 standing in the angel's speech untranslated, which is why JFB, Ellicott, Cambridge and Gill all identify John as a Nazirite from the womb, in the company of Samson (Judges 13:7) and Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11).
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πλησθήσεταιplēsthēsetaihe will be filledG4130
√ πλήθω — to "fill" (literally or figuratively (imbue, influence, supply))VerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
plēthō: to fill, to imbue, to supply Ellicott warns against reading Christian theology back into the phrase: Zechariah would hear it “from the Hebrew point of view,” as “the highest prophetic inspiration, as in Isaiah 11:2; Isaiah 61:1; Joel 2:28.” Cambridge sets it against the emptier filling just denied: the contrast between drunkenness and “the divine exaltation of spiritual fervour” is the contrast of Ephesians 5:18.
ἉγίουHagiou[with the] HolyG40
√ ἅγιος — sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated)AdjectiveGenitive Neuter Singular
ΠνεύματοςPneumatosSpiritG4151
√ πνεῦμα — a current of air, iNounGenitive Neuter Singular
ἔτιetievenG2089
√ ἔτι — "yet," still (of time or degree)Adverb
ἐκekfromG1537
√ ἐκ — literal or figurativePreposition
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
μητρὸςmētrosmother’sG3384
√ μήτηρ — a "mother" (literally or figuratively, immediate or remote)NounGenitive Feminine Singular
κοιλίαςkoiliaswombG2836
√ κοιλία — a cavity, iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
koilia: a cavity, the womb eti ek koilias mētros autou, “yet from his mother's womb.” Gill compares Jeremiah, “sanctified, set apart, and ordained to be the prophet of the Highest, before he came out of his mother's womb” (Jeremiah 1:5); Barnes adds Galatians 1:15 and Psalm 22:9-10. The clause is what makes verse 41 possible: a child who can leap for joy before he can breathe.
16

Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai pollous tōn huiōn Israēl epistrepsei epi Kyrion autōn ton Theon

Word by word11 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πολλοὺςpollousManyG4183
√ πολύς — (singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) manyAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
polys: many Not all. JFB is honest about the limit on both Elijah's success and John's: “In both cases their success, though great, was partial, the nation was not gained.” Cambridge says the same of John's influence. The prophecy promises much and does not promise everything.
τῶνtōnof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
υἱῶνhuiōnsonsG5207
√ υἱός — a "son" (sometimes of animals), used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinshipNounGenitive Masculine Plural
ἸσραὴλIsraēlof IsraelG2474
√ Ἰσραήλ — Israel (iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
ἐπιστρέψειepistrepseihe will turnG1994
√ ἐπιστρέφω — to revert (literally, figuratively or morally)VerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
epistrephō: to turn back, to revert Ellicott: “The opening words of the message of the New Covenant spring out of the closing words of the last of the prophets (Malachi 4:6).” Cambridge: these words “resume the thread of prophecy which had been broken for three centuries.” After four hundred years of silence the first thing heaven says is the last thing it had said.
ἐπὶepiback toG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
ΚύριονKyrion[the] LordG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
αὐτῶνautōntheirG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ΘεὸνTheonGodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounAccusative Masculine Singular
theos: God Gill reads “the Lord their God” as the Messiah himself, since verse 17 has John going before him: the phrase is “a name peculiar to God alone,” and John could not be said to go before the Father. Barnes, JFB and Poole reach the same conclusion by the same route. The christology of this unit is carried by a pronoun.
17

And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai autos proeleusetai enōpion autou en pneumati kai dynamei Ēliou epistrepsai kardias paterōn epi tekna kai apeitheis en phronēsei dikaiōn hetoimasai laon kateskeuasmenon Kyriō

Word by word24 · parsed
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτὸςautosheG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
προελεύσεταιproeleusetaiwill go onG4281
√ προέρχομαι — to go onward, precede (in place or time)VerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
proerchomai: to go onward, to precede The pronoun that follows is the crux. Barnes: “The connection here leads us to suppose that the word him refers to the Lord their God in the previous verse. If so, then it will follow that the Messiah was the Lord God of Israel.” JFB, reading with Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3, calls it “plainly Jehovah in the flesh of Messiah.”
ἐνώπιονenōpionbeforeG1799
√ ἐνώπιον — in the face of (literally or figuratively)Preposition
αὐτοῦautou[the Lord]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
πνεύματιpneumati[the] spiritG4151
√ πνεῦμα — a current of air, iNounDative Neuter Singular
pneuma: breath, wind, spirit Geneva's gloss (s) is careful about the figure: the spirit here is named for the gift of the spirit, “taking the spirit for the gift of the spirit.” Poole prefers the plainer sense, “with the same zeal and frame of spirit that Elijah had,” and lists the resemblances: the habit, the severity of life, the corrupt age, the fearlessness before princes.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
δυνάμειdynameipowerG1411
√ δύναμις — force (literally or figuratively)NounDative Feminine Singular
ἨλίουĒliouof ElijahG2243
√ Ἡλίας — Helias (iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
Ēlias: Elijah Cambridge: from the last words of Malachi “the Jews universally believed (as they do to this day) that Elijah would visibly return to earth as a herald of the Messiah,” and it took the Lord's own explanation (Matthew 11:14; Matthew 17:10-13) to show the disciples that the promise was kept in John. Benson notes John “did no miracle” and yet was “more successful without miracles than Elijah had been with them.”
ἐπιστρέψαιepistrepsaito turnG1994
√ ἐπιστρέφω — to revert (literally, figuratively or morally)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
epistrephō: to turn back The infinitive repeats verse 16's future and quotes Malachi 4:6. Poole marks Luke's one substitution: where Malachi has “and the heart of the children to their fathers,” Luke has “and the disobedient in the wisdom of the just,” which he reads as “to bring both young and old to repentance.”
καρδίαςkardias[the] heartsG2588
√ καρδία — the heart, iNounAccusative Feminine Plural
πατέρωνpaterōnof [the] fathersG3962
√ πατήρ — a "father" (literally or figuratively, near or more remote)NounGenitive Masculine Plural
ἐπὶepitoG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
τέκναtekna[their] childrenG5043
√ τέκνον — a child (as produced)NounAccusative Neuter Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀπειθεῖςapeitheis[the] disobedientG545
√ ἀπειθής — unpersuadable, iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
ἐνentoG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
φρονήσειphronēsei[the] wisdomG5428
√ φρόνησις — mental action or activity, iNounDative Feminine Singular
phronēsis: practical wisdom, prudence Rare (two verses; the other is Ephesians 1:8). Read instrumentally, as Ellicott insists, the clause says the unpersuadable are turned by means of the wisdom the righteous have, that is, by the old faith of the fathers brought to bear on their degenerate children. Pulpit, following Godet, takes the whole verse that way: John's mission is “to reconstitute the moral unity of the people.”
δικαίωνdikaiōnof [the] righteousG1342
√ δίκαιος — equitable (in character or act)AdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
ἑτοιμάσαιhetoimasaito make readyG2090
√ ἑτοιμάζω — to prepareVerbAorist Infinitive Active
λαὸνlaona peopleG2992
√ λαός — a people (in generalNounAccusative Masculine Singular
κατεσκευασμένονkateskeuasmenonpreparedG2680
√ κατασκευάζω — to prepare thoroughly (properly, by external equipmentVerbPerfect Participle Middle or PassiveAccusative Masculine Singular
kataskeuazō: to prepare thoroughly, to equip JFB draws the pastoral consequence without softening the text: “Such preparation requires, in every age and every soul, an operation corresponding to the Baptist's ministry.” The perfect participle says the people are handed over ready; it does not say they made themselves so.
ΚυρίῳKyriōfor [the] LordG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounDative Masculine Singular
18

“How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kata ti gnōsomai touto Kai Zacharias eipen pros ton angelon gar egō eimi presbytēs kai mou hē gynē probebēkuia en autēs tais hēmerais

Word by word23 · parsed
ΚατὰKatavvvG2596
√ κατά — (prepositionally) down (in place or time), in varied relations (according to the case (genitive, dative or accusative) with which it is joined)Preposition
τίtiHowG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
γνώσομαιgnōsomaican I be sure ofG1097
√ γινώσκω — to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applications and with many implications (as follow, with others not thus clearly expressed)VerbFuture Indicative Middle1st Person Singular
ginōskō: to know by evidence The demand was not unprecedented. Poole notes that Abraham asked “Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” (Genesis 15:8) and Gideon asked a sign (Judges 6:17) without rebuke, and concludes: “Where there is no difference in the words, or in a fact, there may be a great difference in the heart, and its inward habit and motions, from which those words proceed, and we must allow God to see that better than we can discern it by the words.”
τοῦτοtoutothisG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ΖαχαρίαςZachariasZechariahG2197
√ Ζαχαρίας — Zacharias (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
εἶπενeipenaskedG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
πρὸςpros. . .G4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἄγγελονangelonangelG32
√ ἄγγελος — compare G34 (ἀγέλη)) (to bring tidings)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
γάρgarG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἐγὼegōIG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 1st Person Singular
εἰμιeimiamG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
πρεσβύτηςpresbytēsan old manG4246
√ πρεσβύτης — an old manNounNominative Masculine Singular
presbytēs: an old man Gill records the Jewish reckoning that sixty years counted as old age, and notes that years did not disqualify a priest from service as they partially did a Levite. The objection is therefore about capacity to father a child, not about fitness to serve. Cambridge sets it beside Abraham, who “fell upon his face, and laughed” (Genesis 17:17) and yet “believed God who quickeneth the dead.”
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
μουmoumyG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
γυνήgynēwifeG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounNominative Feminine Singular
προβεβηκυῖαprobebēkuiais well alongG4260
√ προβαίνω — to walk forward, iVerbPerfect Participle ActiveNominative Feminine Singular
probainō: to walk forward, to advance The word repeats verse 7 exactly. The obstacle the narrator stated as fact, the priest now states as objection. That is the difference the angel answers: the same sentence is an observation in the mouth of Luke and an unbelief in the mouth of Zechariah.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
αὐτῆςautēsG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Feminine 3rd Person Singular
ταῖςtaisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
ἡμέραιςhēmeraisyearsG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounDative Feminine Plural
19

“I am Gabriel,” replied the angel. “I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Egō eimi Gabriēl apokritheis eipen autō Kai ho angelos ho parestēkōs enōpion tou Theou kai apestalēn lalēsai pros se kai euangelisasthai tauta soi

Word by word23 · parsed
ἘγώEgōIG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 1st Person Singular
εἰμιeimiamG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
ΓαβριὴλGabriēlGabrielG1043
√ Γαβριήλ — Gabriel, an archangelNounNominative Masculine Singular
Gabriēl: Hero, or Strong One, of God Ellicott notes that no angel is named in the Old Testament until after the exile, and that Gabriel's earlier appearances (Daniel 8:16; 9:21) are precisely the prophecies “which, more than any others, were the germ of the Messianic expectations which the people cherished.” Cambridge quotes Bengel's two words on the correspondence: “idem Angelus, idem negotium.” The same messenger returns on the same business, and the naming is itself an argument.
ἀποκριθεὶςapokritheisrepliedG611
√ ἀποκρίνομαι — to conclude for oneself, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
εἶπενeipen. . .G2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτῷautō. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἄγγελοςangelosangelG32
√ ἄγγελος — compare G34 (ἀγέλη)) (to bring tidings)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
παρεστηκὼςparestēkōsI standG3936
√ παρίστημι — to stand beside, iVerbPerfect Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
paristēmi: to stand beside, to be at hand Barnes: “To stand in the presence of one is a phrase denoting honor or favor,” comparing 1 Kings 10:8 and 1 Kings 17:1. The contrast with Zechariah is unspoken and total: the priest has entered the presence once in his life, by lot; the messenger has never left it.
ἐνώπιονenōpionin the presence ofG1799
√ ἐνώπιον — in the face of (literally or figuratively)Preposition
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΘεοῦTheouGodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounGenitive Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀπεστάληνapestalēnI have been sentG649
√ ἀποστέλλω — set apart, iVerbAorist Indicative Passive1st Person Singular
apostellō: to set apart, to send forth Barnes grounds the mission in Hebrews 1:14: angels are “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” Gill makes the same point about this angel in particular, that he “was not a minister of the wrath and vengeance of God, but of his favour.”
λαλῆσαιlalēsaito speakG2980
√ λαλέω — to talk, iVerbAorist Infinitive Active
πρὸςprostoG4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
σὲseyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εὐαγγελίσασθαίeuangelisasthaito bring you this good newsG2097
√ εὐαγγελίζω — to announce good news ("evangelize") especially the gospelVerbAorist Infinitive Middle
euangelizō: to announce good news The verb that will name the whole enterprise (it is a favourite of Luke and Paul) makes its first appearance in the Gospel record here, in an angel's mouth, to a man who is about to be silenced for not believing it. Ellicott notes the word was not new, its use here being shaped by Isaiah 40:9 and 61:1.
ταῦταtauta. . .G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Neuter Plural
σοιsoi. . .G4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Singular
20

And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai idou esē siōpōn kai mē dynamenos lalēsai achri hēs hēmeras tauta genētai anth’ hōn ouk episteusas mou tois logois hoitines plērōthēsontai eis autōn ton kairon

Word by word26 · parsed
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἰδοὺidounowG2400
√ ἰδού — used as imperative lo!VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
idou: lo, behold Parsed as an aorist imperative, a command to look. The imperative is aimed at a man who has just asked for something to see. He is given something to see, and it is himself.
ἔσῃesēyou will beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle2nd Person Singular
σιωπῶνsiōpōnsilentG4623
√ σιωπάω — properly, muteness, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
δυνάμενοςdynamenosunableG1410
√ δύναμαι — to be able or possibleVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
λαλῆσαιlalēsaito speakG2980
√ λαλέω — to talk, iVerbAorist Infinitive Active
ἄχριachriuntilG891
√ ἄχρι — (of time) until or (of place) up toPreposition
ἧςhēstheG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounGenitive Feminine Singular
ἡμέραςhēmerasdayG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
ταῦταtauta[this]G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Neuter Plural
γένηταιgenētaicomes to passG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Subjunctive Middle3rd Person Singular
ἀνθ’anth’becauseG473
√ ἀντί — opposite, iPreposition
anti: opposite, in return for The exchange formula makes the punishment fit the request with unsettling precision. Ellicott: “The question was answered, the demand for a sign granted, but the demand had implied a want of faith, and therefore the sign took the form of a penalty.” Benson: “Because he had sinned with his lips, the angel struck him dumb.”
ὧνhōn. . .G3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounGenitive Neuter Plural
οὐκoukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἐπίστευσαςepisteusasyou did not believeG4100
√ πιστεύω — to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), iVerbAorist Indicative Active2nd Person Singular
pisteuō: to have faith, to trust Barnes states the principle without hedging: “There is no sin in the sight of God more aggravated than unbelief. When God speaks, man should believe.” Henry balances it with the mercy in the same stroke: God “dealt kindly with him, for thus he prevented his speaking any more distrustful, unbelieving words. Thus also God confirmed his faith.”
μουmoumyG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
λόγοιςlogoiswordsG3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounDative Masculine Plural
οἵτινεςhoitineswhichG3748
√ ὅστις — which some, iPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Plural
πληρωθήσονταιplērōthēsontaiwill be fulfilledG4137
√ πληρόω — to make replete, iVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
plēroō: to make replete, to fulfil The third member of the unit's filling vocabulary: the child filled with the Spirit (v15), the days of service filled full (v23), and here the words filled out to completion. Poole draws the conclusion: “The unbelief of men shall not make the word and promise of God of none effect.”
εἰςeisatG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
αὐτῶνautōntheirG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
καιρὸνkaironproper timeG2540
√ καιρός — an occasion, iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
kairos: the appointed occasion Cambridge glosses it from Genesis 18:10, “I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life,” that is, after the usual nine months. The promise carries its own clock, and the man who asked for a token is made to keep time with his body until it runs out.
21

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he took so long in the temple.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai ho laos ēn prosdokōn ton Zacharian kai ethaumazon en auton tō chronizein en tō naō

Word by word16 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiMeanwhileG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
λαὸςlaospeopleG2992
√ λαός — a people (in generalNounNominative Masculine Singular
laos: a people The same word as in verse 10 and in Gabriel's promise of a people made ready (v17). The crowd in the court is not scenery: it is the laos whose prayers the incense carried and whose readying the angel has just foretold, standing outside and waiting for a blessing that will not come.
ἦνēnwereG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
προσδοκῶνprosdokōnwaiting forG4328
√ προσδοκάω — to anticipate (in thought, hope or fear)VerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
prosdokaō: to anticipate in hope or fear JFB explains what they were waiting for and why the delay alarmed them: they waited “to receive from him the usual benediction (Nu 6:23-27),” and “it was not usual to tarry long, lest it should be thought vengeance had stricken the people's representative for something wrong.”
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ΖαχαρίανZacharianZechariahG2197
√ Ζαχαρίας — Zacharias (iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐθαύμαζονethaumazonwonderingG2296
√ θαυμάζω — to wonderVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ἐνenwhyG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
αὐτόνautonheG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τῷtōG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
χρονίζεινchronizeintook so longG5549
√ χρονίζω — to take time, iVerbPresent Infinitive Active
chronizō: to take time, to linger Cambridge: priests “never tarried in the awful precincts of the shrine longer than was absolutely necessary for the fulfilment of their duties, from feelings of holy fear,” citing Leviticus 16:13, “that he die not.” Gill records the Talmudic story of a high priest whose long prayer alarmed his brethren, and the rule drawn from it that no one should pray long there, “that he may not affright Israel.”
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῷtōtheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
ναῷnaōtempleG3485
√ ναός — a fane, shrine, templeNounDative Masculine Singular
22

When he came out and was unable to speak to them, they realized he had seen a vision in the temple. He kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de exelthōn ouk edynato lalēsai autois kai epegnōsan hoti heōraken optasian en tō naō kai autos ēn dianeuōn autois kai diemenen kōphos

Word by word22 · parsed
δὲdeWhenG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἐξελθὼνexelthōnhe came outG1831
√ ἐξέρχομαι — to issue (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
οὐκoukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἐδύνατοedynato[and] was unableG1410
√ δύναμαι — to be able or possibleVerbImperfect Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
λαλῆσαιlalēsaito speakG2980
√ λαλέω — to talk, iVerbAorist Infinitive Active
αὐτοῖςautoisto themG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐπέγνωσανepegnōsanthey realizedG1921
√ ἐπιγινώσκω — to know upon some mark, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ἑώρακενheōrakenhe had seenG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbPerfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ὀπτασίανoptasiana visionG3701
√ ὀπτασία — visuality, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
optasia: a waking sight, a vision The people name correctly what they did not see. Cambridge notes that the moment the priest reappeared “was one which powerfully affected the Jewish imagination,” citing the description of the high priest Simon in Sirach 50. Here the moment arrives and the blessing does not.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῷtōtheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
ναῷnaōtempleG3485
√ ναός — a fane, shrine, templeNounDative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτὸςautosHeG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἦνēnkeptG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
διανεύωνdianeuōnmaking signsG1269
√ διανεύω — to nod (or express by signs) across an intervening spaceVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
dianeuō: to nod signs across a space A precise and uncommon verb, and the only mode of speech left to him. Gill notes that Jewish law distinguished signs made with head and hands from signs made with the lips, and that a mute man's signs had legal standing. The one act of communication left to him is the one the rabbis classed as a mute's.
αὐτοῖςautoisto themG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
καὶkaibutG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
διέμενενdiemenenremainedG1265
√ διαμένω — to stay constantly (in being or relation)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
κωφόςkōphosunable to speakG2974
√ κωφός — blunted, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
kōphos: blunted, dull The adjective can mean deaf or dumb, since it means blunted in either faculty. Benson, Gill and JFB all argue from verse 62, where his friends make signs to him, that he was deaf as well as mute. The text does not settle it; the inference from verse 62 is strong and we record it as inference.
23

And when the days of his service were complete, he returned home.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai egeneto hōs hai hēmerai autou tēs leitourgias eplēsthēsan apēlthen eis autou ton oikon

Word by word14 · parsed
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐγένετοegeneto. . .G1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
ὡςhōswhenG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
αἱhaitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Plural
ἡμέραιhēmeraidaysG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounNominative Feminine Plural
αὐτοῦautouof hisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τῆςtēsG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
λειτουργίαςleitourgiasserviceG3009
√ λειτουργία — public function (as priest ("liturgy") or almsgiver)NounGenitive Feminine Singular
leitourgia: public function, liturgy Cambridge: the days “lasted from the evening of one Sabbath to the morning of the next” (2 Kings 11:5). Gill explains why deafness and dumbness did not release him: a Levite who lost his voice was disqualified because his work was song, but a priest's work was hands, so Zechariah could finish the week mute.
ἐπλήσθησανeplēsthēsanwere completeG4130
√ πλήθω — to "fill" (literally or figuratively (imbue, influence, supply))VerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
plēthō: to fill, to complete Barnes draws the vocational point: “It is the duty of ministers of religion to remain at their work until they are unfitted for it, and unable to serve God in their profession.” The man under judgment serves out his term, which is itself a kind of answer to the charge of unbelief.
ἀπῆλθενapēlthenhe returnedG565
√ ἀπέρχομαι — to go off (iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
εἰςeisvvvG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
αὐτοῦautouvvvG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τὸνtonvvvG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
οἶκονoikonhomeG3624
√ οἶκος — a dwelling (more or less extensive, literal or figurative)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
24

After these days, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. She declared,

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Greek — tap a word ↓

de Meta tautas tas hēmeras autou hē gynē Elisabet synelaben kai pente mēnas periekryben heautēn legousa

Word by word16 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΜετὰMetaAfterG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
ταύταςtautastheseG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Feminine Plural
τὰςtasG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Plural
ἡμέραςhēmerasdaysG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounAccusative Feminine Plural
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
γυνὴgynēwifeG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounNominative Feminine Singular
ἘλισάβετElisabetElizabethG1665
√ Ἐλισάβετ — Elisabet, an IsraelitessNounNominative Feminine Singular
συνέλαβενsynelabenbecame pregnantG4815
√ συλλαμβάνω — to clasp, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
syllambanō: to clasp, to conceive The verb is used again of Mary at verse 31 and of both women together in Gabriel's word at verse 36. Luke narrates the two conceptions with the same word and distinguishes them only by what the angels say about how each came about.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πέντεpentefor fiveG4002
√ πέντε — "five"AdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
μῆναςmēnasmonthsG3376
√ μήν — a monthNounAccusative Masculine Plural
περιέκρυβενperiekrybenremained in seclusionG4032
√ περικρύπτω — to conceal all around, iVerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
perikryptō: to conceal all around A rare and vivid verb, and the commentators frankly disagree about her motive. Cambridge: “We can only conjecture her motive.” Gill suggests avoiding ceremonial uncleanness on account of the Nazirite she was carrying (Judges 13:14) and time for thanksgiving; Barnes suggests waiting for proof; Pulpit suggests preparation for the child's training; Benson suggests modesty. We record the range and settle nothing.
ἑαυτὴνheautēn. . .G1438
√ ἑαυτοῦ — him- (her-, it-, them-, also (in conjunction with the personal pronoun of the other persons) my-, thy-, our-, your-) self (selves), etcReflexive PronounAccusative Feminine 3rd Person Singular
λέγουσαlegousaShe declaredG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Feminine Singular
legō: to lay forth, to say The present participle hands the last word of the unit to Elizabeth. The husband who spoke and was silenced ends the passage voiceless; the wife who has not spoken until now closes it with a confession of the Lord's dealing.
25

“The Lord has done this for me. In these days He has shown me favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

hoti Kyrios pepoiēken Houtōs moi en hēmerais hais epeiden aphelein mou oneidos en anthrōpois

Word by word14 · parsed
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ΚύριοςKyriosThe LordG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
πεποίηκενpepoiēkenhas doneG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbPerfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
poieō: to make, to do Perfect tense, and the subject is Kyrios, placed first in the clause. She does not say the child came; she says the Lord has done this. The grammar of her confession is the exact opposite of her husband's question at verse 18.
ΟὕτωςHoutōs[this]G3779
√ οὕτω — in this way (referring to what precedes or follows)Adverb
μοιmoifor meG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounDative 1st Person Singular
ἐνenInG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ἡμέραιςhēmerais[these] daysG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounDative Feminine Plural
αἷςhaisG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounDative Feminine Plural
ἐπεῖδενepeidenHe has shown me favorG1896
√ ἐπεῖδον — to regard (favorably or otherwise)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
epeidon: to regard, to look upon Strong's glosses it “to regard (favorably or otherwise)”, so the verb is neutral in itself, so the mercy is in the days, not in the word. Henry: “He has looked on us with compassion and favour, and therefore has thus dealt with us.”
ἀφελεῖνapheleinand taken awayG851
√ ἀφαιρέω — to remove (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
μουmoumyG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
ὄνειδόςoneidosdisgraceG3681
√ ὄνειδος — notoriety, iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
oneidos: notoriety, reproach Ellicott measures how heavy it was: “To have no children was more than a misfortune. It seemed to imply some secret sin which God was punishing with barrenness,” citing Rachel's cry (Genesis 30:1) and Hannah's bitterness (1 Samuel 1:6-10). Cambridge adds the reversal to come: “Yet the days were coming when to be childless would be regarded by Jewish mothers as a blessing. See Luke 23:29.”
ἐνenamongG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ἀνθρώποιςanthrōpoisthe peopleG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounDative Masculine Plural
anthrōpos: a human being The unit's last word locates the shame precisely: among men. The removal of it is not the point of the child's mission, and Elizabeth does not pretend otherwise; it is the mercy she can name, and she names it and stops.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. A dated world and a childless house — 5-7

Luke fastens the story to a calendar and a court. ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἡρῴδου is the Hebrew “in the days of,” and Geneva's gloss (f) hears in the idiom “how short and frail a thing the power of princes is.” Poole goes further and reads Herod's usurpation as the moment “the sceptre, that is, the government, departed from Judah,” which we record as Poole's reading of Genesis 49:10 rather than as fact. Against that public frame Luke sets two private people, both of priestly blood, whom he calls δίκαιοι and ἄμεμπτοι. Cambridge notes that righteous is “one of the oldest terms of high praise among the Jews,” the true Jashar; Maclaren refuses to let the word become a doctrine, calling it “the expression of God's merciful estimate of His servants' characters”; Gill grounds the standing outside them altogether, in the righteousness of Christ; and Gill himself supplies the counterweight by pointing to verse 20. Then the one word that undoes the picture: στεῖρα, a rare lexeme (five verses). Cambridge states what that meant in that house: childlessness “cut off all hope of the birth of the Messiah in that family.” Maclaren, hearing the whole of it, says only that “this blameless pair had a crook in their lot.”

ii. The lot, the incense, the people outside — 8-12

Everything in this movement is decided by procedure. The course is a τάξις, a fixed rota; the assignment falls by ἔλαχε, a lot, which Cambridge notes is the single word that disproves the old guess that Zechariah was high priest on the Day of Atonement. Because the priests were so many, Cambridge and Pulpit (following Farrar) reckon the lot could fall to a man only once in a lifetime, so the day of the vision is also the only day he stands in that room. He enters the ναός, the shrine, which Benson insists is a different word and a different room from the ἱερόν where the people stand. And the people stand ἔξω, outside, praying in one body while the incense burns; Gill quotes the canon that at that hour “they separate all the people.” Ellicott reads the act itself as the presenting of the people's prayers (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 5:8), and Henry turns it toward the greater Priest: all our prayers succeed “only by Christ's intercession in the temple of God above.” Into that moment an angel is Ὤφθη, “was seen,” already standing. Benson measures the silence it breaks: about four hundred years with no such communication. The old priest is churned (ἐταράχθη) and fear falls on him like an assailant.

iii. Gabriel's oracle: a Nazirite in the spirit of Elijah — 13-17

The angel's first word is the Gospel's first word: stop being afraid. Then ἡ δέησίς σου εἰσηκούσθη, aorist passive, “your petition was heard,” already, before the incense had burned down. Which petition? Ellicott, Benson and Pulpit all argue it was not a private prayer for a son but the priest's intercession that the kingdom should come, and that “praying for this he receives more than he asks”; Gill and JFB leave room for the old private prayer as well, Gill observing that answers are sometimes “deferred a long time, to try the faith and patience of the saints.” The child's programme is then given in four strokes. He will be μέγας ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, great in God's own estimate, which Geneva's gloss (o) calls a Hebrew idiom for rare excellency and which Maclaren contrasts with the world's cheap distribution of the title. He will drink neither wine nor σίκερα, a Hebrew loanword kept untranslated, which JFB, Ellicott, Cambridge and Gill all identify as the Nazirite charge of Numbers 6, Samson's and Samuel's consecration carried to the womb. Instead of that lower stimulation he will be πλησθήσεται Πνεύματος Ἁγίου, filled with the Spirit, a passive Cambridge and Ellicott both set beside Ephesians 5:18. And he will ἐπιστρέψει many, the very verb of Malachi's last oracle; Ellicott: “The opening words of the message of the New Covenant spring out of the closing words of the last of the prophets.” Verse 17 then speaks Malachi's own sentence about the fathers and the children. Poole notes that where Malachi wrote “and the heart of the children to their fathers,” Luke has “the disobedient in the wisdom of the just,” which he takes as “to bring both young and old to repentance”; Pulpit, following Godet, reads it as reconstituting “the moral unity of the people by restoring the broken relation between the patriarchs and their degenerate descendants.” Barnes, JFB, Poole and Gill all press the pronoun: the him John goes before is “the Lord their God” of verse 16.

iv. The sign that silences and the womb that speaks — 18-25

Zechariah answers with Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο, “according to what shall I know this,” a demand for a measurable token, and backs it with the same perfect participle used of him and his wife in verse 7. Poole is honest about how close this stands to Abraham (Genesis 15:8) and Gideon (Judges 6:17), who asked and were not punished, and concludes that God sees the heart behind identical words; JFB puts it more sharply, that Abraham “staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief,” and “this was that in which Zacharias failed”; Benson contrasts Mary's “How shall this be?” with this man's “Whereby shall I know?” The reply names the speaker: Ἐγώ εἰμι Γαβριήλ, the angel of Daniel 8:16 and 9:21, ὁ παρεστηκὼς ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, standing in God's presence as an eastern king's most honoured minister (Ellicott). Then the last verb of his speech, εὐαγγελίσασθαί, which Ellicott marks as “the first utterance, as far as the Gospel records are concerned, of that which was to be the watchword of the kingdom.” The sign granted is a penalty: silence until the day it comes to pass, ἀνθ’ ὧν, “in return for which” he did not believe. Benson, Gill and JFB argue from verse 62 that he was deaf as well as mute, which is what κωφός can mean. Outside, the crowd waits for a blessing that never comes; Cambridge, reporting Origen, Ambrose and Isidore, sees in “the speechless priest vainly endeavouring to bless the people, a fine image of the Law reduced to silence.” The man who doubted finishes his week of liturgy anyway (Barnes: a minister stays at his work until unfitted for it), goes home, and the narrative's last word is not his but his wife's: ἀφελεῖν τὸ ὄνειδός μου, Rachel's sentence from Genesis 30:23 in a Judean hill town.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read as one movement, this passage is about who is allowed to speak. The old covenant's finest representative, blameless by its own measure and holding its most coveted office, is standing in its innermost accessible room at its most eloquent moment, performing the act that means prayer, with the whole fulness of the people praying outside where they must stay. And at the height of that eloquence he is struck dumb, for nine months, by the first word of good news anyone has heard in four hundred years. The order that could do everything right could not receive what it had asked for. Meanwhile the announcement runs, with no ceremony at all, through a barren woman's body in the hills, and the sentence that closes the unit is hers, not his. Two things follow, and we hold them together rather than choosing. First, the silencing is a judgment, and Gill, Barnes and Ellicott are right that unbelief is what is judged: God had spoken, and a man who had spent his life handling holy things asked for a receipt. Second, the silencing is a mercy and a sign, and Henry is right that by it God “prevented his speaking any more distrustful, unbelieving words” and “confirmed his faith.” The same stroke does both, which is the ordinary way God deals with his own. We also think, more tentatively, that the geography is the sermon: a mediator inside, a people outside, a veil he may not pass, and a voice that comes from beyond the veil to tell him that the last prophet of that whole arrangement is about to be conceived. The word ἔξω in verse 10 is a small word doing the work of the Epistle to the Hebrews. We offer that reading to be tested; it is inference from the arrangement of the scene, not a claim the text makes in so many words.

The priesthood's most eloquent hour ended in a man who could not pronounce the blessing. (This line is the tool's own reading, not a verse of Scripture.)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

Malachi's last sentence, spoken by an angel structural / thematic: confirmed

Gabriel's description of the child in verse 17, “to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,” is Malachi 4:5-6 carried over almost word for word, with Malachi 3:1 standing behind “he will go on before.” Ellicott states it plainly: “The opening words of the message of the New Covenant spring out of the closing words of the last of the prophets.” Cambridge adds that these words “resume the thread of prophecy which had been broken for three centuries.” Poole notes the one deliberate change: where Malachi wrote “and the heart of the children to their fathers,” Luke has “the disobedient in the wisdom of the just.” JFB reads the whole through Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. We tier this structural rather than verbal only because the refs cross the Testaments, where no shared Strong's number can be recorded; the borrowing of wording is real and is the strongest verbal dependence in the unit.

Malachi 4:6 · Malachi 3:1

basis: The wording of verse 17 is Malachi's (Malachi 4:5-6, with Malachi 3:1 behind the herald clause), named as such by Ellicott, Cambridge, JFB, Poole and Gill. Greek to Hebrew refs cannot share Strong's lexemes, so no verbal basis can be computed and the cross-Testament rule forbids a verbal tier; the tier understates a real quotation, deliberately.

The Nazirite charge carried back to the womb typological

“He shall never take wine or strong drink” is the standing formula of the Nazirite law (Numbers 6:1-4), and Luke keeps the Hebrew loanword σίκερα (shekar) untranslated. JFB: “that is, shall be a Nazarite, or a separated one (Nu 6:2),” and only “Samson (Jud 13:7), Samuel (1Sa 1:11), and John Baptist were Nazarites from the womb.” Ellicott adds the house of Jonadab the Rechabite (Jeremiah 35:6) and the prophetic link at Amos 2:11-12; Cambridge notes the same abstinence was required of ministering priests (Leviticus 10:8); Gill records the rabbinic dispute over what counts as strong drink for a Nazirite. The angel's charge to Elizabeth's household is the same charge given to Samson's mother in Judges 13:4. Cross-Testament, so structural and typological, never verbal.

Numbers 6:3 · Judges 13:4 · 1 Samuel 1:11

basis: Nazirite consecration from the womb applied to John: named by JFB, Ellicott, Cambridge, Gill and Pulpit, who read Samson (Judges 13) and Samuel (1 Samuel 1) as the pattern. The reading is ancient and widely held. Refs cross the Testaments, so no shared Strong's lexeme exists and no verbal tier is possible.

The barren wife annunciations structural / thematic: confirmed

The scene is built on a fixed Old Testament form: an aged or barren wife, a divine announcement, a named son with a mission. JFB lists it in one breath: “So with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Elkanah and Hannah, Manoah and his wife.” Benson names the same roll (Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samson, Samuel) and gives the reason, “to render their birth the more extraordinary.” Gill notes that Luke's phrase for the couple's age renders the Hebrew of Genesis 18:11 exactly as the Septuagint does there, which is the closest the pattern comes to a verbal link. Poole observes that God “chooseth this woman, naturally barren, and now aged also.” Cross-Testament, so no shared lexeme can be recorded and the tier stays structural.

Genesis 18:11 · Judges 13:2 · 1 Samuel 1:2

basis: Shared annunciation pattern (barren or aged wife, angelic announcement, named son) recorded by JFB, Benson, Poole, Gill and Cambridge; Gill notes Luke's age idiom matches the Septuagint of Genesis 18:11. Refs cross the Testaments, so no Strong's-based verbal basis is available and no verbal tier is claimed.

The barren one and the virgin: one rare word verbal / quotation: confirmed

Verse 7 calls Elizabeth στεῖρα, and twenty nine verses later Gabriel tells Mary that “Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month.” The Verifier confirms the shared lexemes, and steiros is rare enough (five verses) to carry weight. Luke uses the word of one woman only, and uses it twice: once as the fact that closes the old order's hope, once as the proof offered to the young woman in whom a wholly new thing is announced. The five months of hiding in verse 24 are what leave the sixth month standing as the sign.

Luke 1:36

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G1665 Ἐλισάβετ (in 8 vv) and G4723 στείρος (in 5 vv). Both refs are Greek New Testament, and steiros is rare, so a verbal link is legitimate; this is Luke's own repetition, not a quotation of another book.

The office of the priesthood, in only two verses verbal / quotation: confirmed

The noun ἱερατεία of verse 9, “the priest's office,” occurs in only two verses of the Greek New Testament. The other is Hebrews 7:5: the sons of Levi “who receive the office of the priesthood have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law.” The Verifier confirms the shared rare lexeme together with G1785 entolē and G2992 laos, the same three ideas that structure Luke 1:5-10: an office, a commandment, a people. Hebrews uses them to argue that this priesthood is provisional and about to be superseded. Luke uses them to stage its finest hour, which ends in silence. Cambridge records that Origen, Ambrose and Isidore already read the speechless priest as “an allegorical representation of the thesis so powerfully worked out in the Epistle to the Hebrews.”

Hebrews 7:5

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G2405 ἱερατεία (in 2 vv, rare), G1785 ἐντολή (in 61 vv), G2992 λαός (in 138 vv). Both refs are New Testament Greek. The rare lexeme establishes the verbal link; neither passage quotes the other, so the connection is lexical, not citational.

Prudence: the second of two verses verbal / quotation: confirmed

φρόνησις (G5428, “mental action, practical wisdom”) in verse 17, “the disobedient in the wisdom of the righteous,” stands in only one other verse of the Greek New Testament: Ephesians 1:8, where grace is lavished on us “in all wisdom and prudence.” The Verifier confirms the shared rare lexeme. Ellicott insists the preposition here is instrumental, “by the wisdom of the just,” which makes the righteous wisdom the means of the turning rather than its destination. Read with Ephesians, the same rare word names what God pours out and what the forerunner's preaching turns the disobedient into.

Ephesians 1:8

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G5428 φρόνησις (in 2 vv), the rarest possible shared basis. Both refs are New Testament Greek. The link is lexical only; the two passages make different arguments and neither cites the other, so nothing more than the shared rare word is claimed.

Gabriel at the hour of the evening offering structural / thematic: confirmed

The angel names himself: Ἐγώ εἰμι Γαβριήλ. Gill, Barnes, JFB, Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit all identify him as the angel of Daniel 8:16 and 9:21, where he comes to Daniel “about the time of the evening oblation” with a message about the appointed weeks until the Anointed One. Ellicott notes that no angel is named in the Old Testament before the exile, and that “as having appeared in the prophecies which, more than any others, were the germ of the Messianic expectations which the people cherished, there was a fitness in the mission now given to Gabriel.” Cambridge quotes Bengel's terse note on the pair: “idem Angelus, idem negotium” (the same angel, the same business). The correspondence of the hour, the messenger and the subject is precise, but the refs cross the Testaments, so the tier stays structural.

Daniel 9:21 · Daniel 8:16

basis: Same named messenger, same hour of offering, same Messianic subject, recorded by Ellicott, Barnes, JFB, Gill, Cambridge and Pulpit (with Bengel). Greek to Hebrew refs share no Strong's numbers, so no verbal basis can be computed and no verbal tier is claimed.

Incense while the assembly prays outside structural / thematic: confirmed

The staging of verses 9 to 11 is the daily service of Exodus 30:7-8, where Aaron burns fragrant incense on the golden altar morning and evening, with Leviticus 16:17 behind the rule that no one else may be in the tent while atonement is being made. Gill quotes the rabbinic canon that at the hour of incense “they separate all the people, from the temple, and from between the porch and the altar.” Barnes describes the altar itself from Exodus 30; Ellicott notes its position just before the veil and that Hebrews 9:4 seems to reckon it as belonging to the innermost sanctuary. The division of Abijah is 1 Chronicles 24:10, which Ellicott, Benson, Barnes, JFB, Poole, Gill and Cambridge all cite as the eighth lot. Cross-Testament throughout, so structural.

Exodus 30:8 · Leviticus 16:17 · 1 Chronicles 24:10

basis: Shared cultic setting (daily incense, the exclusion of the assembly, the eighth course of Abijah), cited by every commentator in the brief. Refs cross the Testaments, so no shared Strong's lexeme can be recorded; the link is institutional and legal, not a quotation.

The other Zechariah, and a tradition that confused them flagged: verify source

The Verifier pairs this unit with Matthew 23:35 and Luke 11:51, where the Lord speaks of “Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.” The shared lexemes are real (the name, the altar, the shrine, the word righteous), but the identification of that Zechariah is disputed, and a further tradition, found in the apocryphal Protevangelium and repeated by some ancient writers, identified him with the father of John the Baptist. None of the commentators in this brief endorse that identification. Gill and Ellicott both connect the name to the Zechariah of 2 Chronicles 24:20 and to the post-exilic prophet, which is a different matter. We record the lexical pairing and flag the reading it has historically invited.

Matthew 23:35 · Luke 11:51

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G2197 Ζαχαρίας (in 11 vv), G2379 θυσιαστήριον (in 21 vv), G1342 δίκαιος (in 74 vv), G3485 ναός (in 39 vv). The lexical overlap is computed and real, but the identification of the Zechariah of Matthew 23:35, and the later tradition equating him with the father of John, are contested and not supported by any commentator in this brief. Flagged rather than tiered.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The herald goes before the Lord his God ancient/widely-held

Verse 16 says John will turn many “to the Lord their God”; verse 17 says “he will go on before him.” Barnes presses the pronoun: “The connection here leads us to suppose that the word him refers to the Lord their God in the previous verse. If so, then it will follow that the Messiah was the Lord God of Israel.” JFB, comparing Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3, says it is “plainly Jehovah in the flesh of Messiah before whom John was to go as a herald.” Poole draws the same conclusion and adds that missing it is what keeps a certain expectation unsatisfied to this day. Gill takes the same route through Isaiah 40:3. ⚙ The grammar of the sentence does the christology: the forerunner is announced as going before God, and the one he went before was Jesus of Nazareth. This is the apostolic reading, recorded here by Barnes, JFB, Poole, Gill and Cambridge alike, and endorsed in the Gospels themselves at Matthew 11:14 and Matthew 17:10-13.

Malachi 3:1 · Isaiah 40:3 · Matthew 11:14

The incense, the intercession, and the priest who could not bless ancient/widely-held

Ellicott reads the incense as “the priestly work of presenting the prayers of the people” (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 5:8); JFB reads the whole daily offering as depending on “the expiatory virtue presupposed in the burnt offering, and pointing to the one sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savor (Eph 5:2)”; Henry brings it home: “All the prayers we offer up to God, are acceptable and successful only by Christ's intercession in the temple of God above.” Then the figure breaks. The priest comes out and cannot pronounce the blessing of Numbers 6:23-26 that the waiting people had come for. Cambridge records the ancient reading: “Origen, Ambrose, and Isidore, see in the speechless priest vainly endeavouring to bless the people, a fine image of the Law reduced to silence before the first announcement of the Gospel,” and cites Bengel's phrase for it, a prelude to the ceremonial law's ending at Christ's coming. ⚙ We take the reading as sound but note it is figural: Luke reports a punishment for unbelief, and the allegory is what the Fathers heard in it, not what the text asserts.

Numbers 6:23 · Hebrews 8:13 · Revelation 8:3

Filled before he could ask, and a joy before either birth novel

The child is πλησθήσεται Πνεύματος Ἁγίου from his mother's womb, a future passive: the filling is done to him before he has done anything at all. Gill sets him beside Jeremiah, “sanctified, set apart, and ordained to be the prophet of the Highest, before he came out of his mother's womb” (Jeremiah 1:5); Barnes adds Paul at Galatians 1:15 and the Messiah at Psalm 22:9-10; Ellicott names Jeremiah as the prototype. JFB draws the christological line through the Nazirite figure: John “was the Reality and Perfection of the Nazarite without the symbol,” and quotes Hebrews 7:26, “Such an High Priest became us, who was Separate from Sinners,” which transfers the separation from the forerunner to the One he preceded. ⚙ Our own reading, offered as inference: the unit's two consecrations run in parallel and in the wrong order for human merit. The blameless priest who did everything right is silenced; the unborn child who has done nothing is filled. That is the shape of grace in this passage, and Luke will repeat it at verse 41 when the unborn John leaps at the voice of the mother of his Lord. The individual citations here are ancient; this particular framing of the contrast is ours.

Jeremiah 1:5 · Hebrews 7:26 · Luke 1:41

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (c. 1905)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

⚙ Text and sources. The English base is the Berean Standard Bible (CC0); word-by-word forms, glosses, Strong's numbers and parsings are the Berean interlinear as supplied in the brief, and every parse cited above is taken from it rather than judged by us. The commentary is public domain and quoted verbatim by anchor: Ellicott, Maclaren, Benson, Henry, Barnes, JFB, Poole, Gill, Geneva, Cambridge and Pulpit. Where a commentator's entry was capped in the brief, we quoted only within the portion supplied.

What is uncertain. (1) The source behind Luke 1 to 2. Ellicott, Cambridge, Pulpit and Maclaren all infer a Hebrew or Aramaic document from the abrupt change of Greek style at verse 5, and several go further and conjecture Mary herself as the narrator. That is conjecture, clearly labelled as such by Maclaren (“It is impossible to say whence they came”), and we have not treated it as fact. (2) The date. Cambridge reckons back from the course on duty at the fall of Jerusalem to place the course of Abijah out of office on Oct 9, b.c. 6, and notes that the received era for the Nativity “is probably four years wrong”; Ellicott judges all such calculations “necessarily more or less precarious.” We report both and settle nothing. (3) Whether Zechariah was also deaf. Benson, Gill and JFB argue from the signs made to him at verse 62 that κωφός (“blunted”) means deaf as well as mute; the word can mean either, and the unit itself does not decide it. (4) The content of the prayer heard in verse 13. Ellicott, Benson, Pulpit and Cambridge favour the intercession for the coming of the kingdom; Gill, JFB and Poole allow the long-standing private prayer for a son. Both are readings of one Greek noun, δέησις, and we have let them stand side by side. (5) Rabbinic and non-biblical citations. Gill's extensive quotations from the Talmud, Maimonides and the Targums, and his citations of Muslim commentators giving Zechariah's age as ninety nine and Elizabeth's as eighty nine, are his sources and not Scripture; the ages in particular have no biblical warrant and are recorded only as what Gill reports. Cambridge's estimate of twenty thousand priests and its quotation of Josephus are of the same order. (6) Thread tiering. Every link that pairs this Greek text with a Hebrew one is tiered structural or typological, never verbal, because no shared Strong's lexeme can exist across the Testaments. In the case of Malachi 4:5-6 this understates the evidence, since verse 17 reproduces Malachi's wording almost exactly; we have said so in the basis rather than break the rule. (7) One thread (Matthew 23:35) is flagged rather than tiered, because the identification of the Zechariah there, and the ancient tradition confusing him with this one, are disputed and unsupported by any source in this brief.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)