Luke 1:1-12, Commentary
1-2. Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us.
Luke begins here by stating that he is aware that "many" have taken it upon themselves to write about events fulfilled among us. The "events fulfilled" are events surrounding and including the life of Yeshua the Messiah. Luke goes on to mention the original eyewitnesses and the servants of the word. Luke was not an apostle; he was not an "original eyewitness" but he knew of the writings of these eyewitnesses. These were writings that he knew of, heard about, knew the accounts within them, and may have saw with his own eyes.
3-4. It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.
Luke tells us here that he has taken time, not to just think about these events, but to "carefully investigate" everything. You'll notice as we go through these beginning chapters in Luke that he is extremely detailed in his accounts, as well as very orderly (as he mentions here in verse 3). Luke is specifically writing to a man he calls "most honorable Theophilus" and no one knows for certain who this Theophilus is, but it's likely that he was some sort of high ranking official. In the book of Acts, Luke uses the same title of Felix who was a governor according to that account. Luke writes his work so that Theophilus would know the certainty of the things he was being told. You'll also see in this that Luke doesn't try to embellish his account of things. He doesn't try to say things that people who often lie say like "I'm telling the God's honest truth!" or "I'm really serious, I would never lie." He doesn't use anything close to this. He just gives a detailed, orderly account.
5. In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest of Abijah’s division named Zechariah. His wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Days of King Herod - This is the same Herod that we read about in Matthew 2 that the wise men from the east came to, speaking about the birth of a King. We know that Herod ordered the slaughter of all male children 2 years old and younger in that area. This should tell you what kind of man Herod was. Herod was a great designer of architecture. The temple of Yahweh that stood in the days of Yeshua was known as "Herod's temple" seeing that it was built under his authority, but in spite of this he never faired completely well with the Judahites of that time because Herod was what is sometimes called an Idumean, or an Edomite; Herod was a descendant of Esau and not of Jacob/Israel.
Abijah's division - We then read of a priest of the division of Abijah named Zechariah. Obviously a priest in Biblical terms was a descendant of Aaron. Zechariah was a Levite through the priestly lineage of Aaron, the first high priest in Israel.
What does this mean "the division of Abijah?" During the time of David (according to 1 Chronicles 24:1-19) the temple priesthood was arranged or organized into 24 divisions, with each division serving 2 weeks in the entire year. Josephus (Ant. 7.14.7) mentions David numbering the Levites at some 38,000 from 30 to 50 years old. Josephus says, "He divided them also into courses: and when he had separated the priests from them, he found of these priests 24 courses, 16 of the house of Eleazar, and 8 of that of Ithamar; and he ordained that once course should ministers to God eight days, from sabbath to sabbath... and this partition has remained to this day." The 8th course was the course of Abijah, and this is the division that Zechariah was assigned to.
Daughters of Aaron - This was not a requirement for all Levites (Lev. 21:10-15 does appear to limit the High Priest's wife to the tribe of Levi). A Levite priest could marry any woman from with the lineage of the Israelites, but this woman wasn't just from any tribe, she was woman descendant from the lineage of Aaron. Even her name - Elizabeth - was a prestigious name in the priestly line. Why? Elizabeth was the name of Aaron's wife. (See Exodus 6:23.)
6. Both were righteous in God's sight, living without blame according to all the commands and requirements of the Lord.
Righteous - Here we have a very telling statement about Zechariah and Elizabeth in that they were righteous in God's (Yahweh's) sight. Luke is very specific to tell us in "God's sight" which is different than in "man's sight." We know that during this day (1st century A.D.) there were many people righteous in man's eyes. Luke, later on in his gospel (Luke 18:9-14), gives us an account of two men who entered the temple to pray. The one was a Pharisee (separatist) and the other, a tax collector. In man's eyes you'd take one look at the Pharisee and you'd think, "Well, he's definitely a follower the Most High." But you don't tell who's following Yahweh by how pious they look. I'm certain Zechariah looked pretty similar to this Pharisee, but the key with Zechariah is that his outward appearance was genuinely flowing from the heart. You can appear holy outwardly with or without a flow from the heart. With a flow is the only proper way.
Luke records Yeshua as teaching this parable by saying that the Pharisee prayed like this: "God, I thank You that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get." The Pharisee in his prayer focused on his works, and just continuously gave praise to himself. Luke also records Yeshua teaching how the tax collector prayed: "But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, turn Your wrath from me—a sinner." Yeshua went on to say that the tax collector left and went home justified (declared forgiven/righteous before God) rather than the Pharisee, and the reason is because Yeshua ends by saying those who exalt their self will be humbled, but those who humble their self will be exalted.
I believe Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in Yahweh's sight first and foremost because they were like this tax collector. They knew the law. They read the law and realized that in reading the law they had violated it. They lived lives of repentance. When they prayed it was probably similar to the tax collector's prayer. Have mercy on us Yahweh, help us to live for you, and thank you for your power in our lives. Everything was focused on Yahweh and not on them.
And then they lived lives of obedience. Not perfection. Not without sin. But penitent obedience. Luke 1:6, right after mentioning Zechariah and Elizabeth being righteous by faith or trust in Yahweh then mentions that they were living without blame according to all the commands and requirements of the Lord.
You can never divorce justification from sanctification. You just can't. Every single person that is justified - declared forgiven and thus righteous - will be to some degree sanctified in their life. Why? Because Yahweh has given those he justified the ability to live holy lives. Being humble, and recognizing you are a sinner, and living by faith, does not mean that you do not obey the requirements of Yahweh. And it's no different today than in was in Luke 1:6. The law has not been void from then till now. You could have never sat down and talked Zechariah into the belief that the law has been done away with. He and his wife knew better than that.
What often happens though is people read about the hypocrisy of many Pharisees in Yeshua's day, and they associate that with keeping the law. The reality is that the Pharisees DID NOT KEEP THE LAW. Sure, they obeyed the externals to a degree, but even that was manipulated. Remember how Yeshua said in Matthew 23 that they enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels; they loved the chief seats at the banquets, and they loved to be called Rabbi. They did all their works to be seen of who? Men, and not Yahweh. Yeshua even rebuked them for omitting the weighty matters of the Torah. Yeshua said that they were so meticulous about tithing even the smallest garden plants like mint and dill, but they forgot things like justice, mercy, and faith. But, how is this usually taught? Most of the time people will look at these rebukes towards the Pharisees, and then teach other people not to worry about the small, meticulous things, but that's how Yeshua taught it. He said that they should do all of it. These things you ought to do, without leaving the others undone. Zechariah was meticulous in the Torah too, it's just that he wasn't just putting on a show. Zechariah's obedience was inward and outward.
I talked to a sister the other day about calculating the feast days. I explained to her that if we strive to study about when the feast days are and then keep them to best of our ability, the best we know how at the present time, even if we get things wrong, Yahweh sees the effort that we put forth and he considers our sin a sin of ignorance (2 Chronicles 30 is a good text to go to here). It's different if you're just a sluggard and do not put forth an effort to study and know, Yahweh sees that too. My point is that Yahweh judges the intent of the heart.
So Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous before Yahweh. This verse should show us that this is a possible lifestyle. They had faith in Yahweh, they believed everything he had revealed, they knew they fell short, but they humbly accepted His grace and Yahweh gave them the internal ability to be obedient to His law.
7. But they had no children because Elizabeth could not conceive, and both of them were well along in years.
No children - This was quite a dishonorable thing for an Israelite couple. Women who were not able to have children suffered severely because they wanted to give birth to their own flesh and blood. Sometimes being barren is a curse from Yahweh (read Deuteronomy 28), but sometimes it is not. I don't think Elizabeth was barren because she was cursed. We just read where she was righteous Yahweh's sight. I believe in Yahweh's plan she was barren so that the glory of Yahweh might one day be revealed more fully in her life and in the life of the child that would be born to her. Not only was Elizabeth barren, but by this time they were really too old for anyone to consider it possible that they would have any children.
8-9. When his division was on duty and he was serving as priest before (the) Mighty One, it happened that he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.
Division on duty - Here we're told that Zechariah's priestly division went on duty in the temple, and of course he was an active Aaronic priest, but we have to understand that just because you were an Aaronic priest did not mean that you ever even had the opportunity to serve in the temple.
At this time there were anywhere from 18 to 20,000 eligible priests. When your weekly division came up twice a year, you had to be chosen by the casting of lots. All eligible priests in your division were up for the job, but in this case the lot fell upon Zechariah. He was going to get to go into the sanctuary and burn the incense. Exodus 30:1-9 speaks of the altar of incense; it was burned every morning when the lamps were trimmed, and every evening or late afternoon when the lamps were lit. So Zechariah was chosen by lot and this is something that probably never happened from many priests, and only happened once for many priests in their lifetime. But it was no coincidence. Yahweh was in control. Yahweh wanted Zechariah to be the one chosen to burn the incense this time.
10-12. At the hour of incense the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and overcome with fear
Hour of incense - There were two hours of incense as we just saw in Exodus 30, and seeing that this hour mentioned in Luke 1:10 has an assembly of people praying outside it was most likely the late afternoon hour of incense, but it could have been in the morning; we're not told specifically.
Angel of the Lord - When Zechariah went in an angel of Yahweh appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. You've got to realize here, this is HUGE. There really hasn't been much supernatural activity going on for 500 to 800 years. We know there was a lengthy span of time between Malachi's writing to this time (400 years) and angels were not just popping up every where all the time. When Zechariah saw this angel standing on the right side of the altar of incense it was a big deal.
Luke begins here by stating that he is aware that "many" have taken it upon themselves to write about events fulfilled among us. The "events fulfilled" are events surrounding and including the life of Yeshua the Messiah. Luke goes on to mention the original eyewitnesses and the servants of the word. Luke was not an apostle; he was not an "original eyewitness" but he knew of the writings of these eyewitnesses. These were writings that he knew of, heard about, knew the accounts within them, and may have saw with his own eyes.
3-4. It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.
Luke tells us here that he has taken time, not to just think about these events, but to "carefully investigate" everything. You'll notice as we go through these beginning chapters in Luke that he is extremely detailed in his accounts, as well as very orderly (as he mentions here in verse 3). Luke is specifically writing to a man he calls "most honorable Theophilus" and no one knows for certain who this Theophilus is, but it's likely that he was some sort of high ranking official. In the book of Acts, Luke uses the same title of Felix who was a governor according to that account. Luke writes his work so that Theophilus would know the certainty of the things he was being told. You'll also see in this that Luke doesn't try to embellish his account of things. He doesn't try to say things that people who often lie say like "I'm telling the God's honest truth!" or "I'm really serious, I would never lie." He doesn't use anything close to this. He just gives a detailed, orderly account.
5. In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest of Abijah’s division named Zechariah. His wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Days of King Herod - This is the same Herod that we read about in Matthew 2 that the wise men from the east came to, speaking about the birth of a King. We know that Herod ordered the slaughter of all male children 2 years old and younger in that area. This should tell you what kind of man Herod was. Herod was a great designer of architecture. The temple of Yahweh that stood in the days of Yeshua was known as "Herod's temple" seeing that it was built under his authority, but in spite of this he never faired completely well with the Judahites of that time because Herod was what is sometimes called an Idumean, or an Edomite; Herod was a descendant of Esau and not of Jacob/Israel.
Abijah's division - We then read of a priest of the division of Abijah named Zechariah. Obviously a priest in Biblical terms was a descendant of Aaron. Zechariah was a Levite through the priestly lineage of Aaron, the first high priest in Israel.
What does this mean "the division of Abijah?" During the time of David (according to 1 Chronicles 24:1-19) the temple priesthood was arranged or organized into 24 divisions, with each division serving 2 weeks in the entire year. Josephus (Ant. 7.14.7) mentions David numbering the Levites at some 38,000 from 30 to 50 years old. Josephus says, "He divided them also into courses: and when he had separated the priests from them, he found of these priests 24 courses, 16 of the house of Eleazar, and 8 of that of Ithamar; and he ordained that once course should ministers to God eight days, from sabbath to sabbath... and this partition has remained to this day." The 8th course was the course of Abijah, and this is the division that Zechariah was assigned to.
Daughters of Aaron - This was not a requirement for all Levites (Lev. 21:10-15 does appear to limit the High Priest's wife to the tribe of Levi). A Levite priest could marry any woman from with the lineage of the Israelites, but this woman wasn't just from any tribe, she was woman descendant from the lineage of Aaron. Even her name - Elizabeth - was a prestigious name in the priestly line. Why? Elizabeth was the name of Aaron's wife. (See Exodus 6:23.)
6. Both were righteous in God's sight, living without blame according to all the commands and requirements of the Lord.
Righteous - Here we have a very telling statement about Zechariah and Elizabeth in that they were righteous in God's (Yahweh's) sight. Luke is very specific to tell us in "God's sight" which is different than in "man's sight." We know that during this day (1st century A.D.) there were many people righteous in man's eyes. Luke, later on in his gospel (Luke 18:9-14), gives us an account of two men who entered the temple to pray. The one was a Pharisee (separatist) and the other, a tax collector. In man's eyes you'd take one look at the Pharisee and you'd think, "Well, he's definitely a follower the Most High." But you don't tell who's following Yahweh by how pious they look. I'm certain Zechariah looked pretty similar to this Pharisee, but the key with Zechariah is that his outward appearance was genuinely flowing from the heart. You can appear holy outwardly with or without a flow from the heart. With a flow is the only proper way.
Luke records Yeshua as teaching this parable by saying that the Pharisee prayed like this: "God, I thank You that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get." The Pharisee in his prayer focused on his works, and just continuously gave praise to himself. Luke also records Yeshua teaching how the tax collector prayed: "But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, turn Your wrath from me—a sinner." Yeshua went on to say that the tax collector left and went home justified (declared forgiven/righteous before God) rather than the Pharisee, and the reason is because Yeshua ends by saying those who exalt their self will be humbled, but those who humble their self will be exalted.
I believe Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in Yahweh's sight first and foremost because they were like this tax collector. They knew the law. They read the law and realized that in reading the law they had violated it. They lived lives of repentance. When they prayed it was probably similar to the tax collector's prayer. Have mercy on us Yahweh, help us to live for you, and thank you for your power in our lives. Everything was focused on Yahweh and not on them.
And then they lived lives of obedience. Not perfection. Not without sin. But penitent obedience. Luke 1:6, right after mentioning Zechariah and Elizabeth being righteous by faith or trust in Yahweh then mentions that they were living without blame according to all the commands and requirements of the Lord.
You can never divorce justification from sanctification. You just can't. Every single person that is justified - declared forgiven and thus righteous - will be to some degree sanctified in their life. Why? Because Yahweh has given those he justified the ability to live holy lives. Being humble, and recognizing you are a sinner, and living by faith, does not mean that you do not obey the requirements of Yahweh. And it's no different today than in was in Luke 1:6. The law has not been void from then till now. You could have never sat down and talked Zechariah into the belief that the law has been done away with. He and his wife knew better than that.
What often happens though is people read about the hypocrisy of many Pharisees in Yeshua's day, and they associate that with keeping the law. The reality is that the Pharisees DID NOT KEEP THE LAW. Sure, they obeyed the externals to a degree, but even that was manipulated. Remember how Yeshua said in Matthew 23 that they enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels; they loved the chief seats at the banquets, and they loved to be called Rabbi. They did all their works to be seen of who? Men, and not Yahweh. Yeshua even rebuked them for omitting the weighty matters of the Torah. Yeshua said that they were so meticulous about tithing even the smallest garden plants like mint and dill, but they forgot things like justice, mercy, and faith. But, how is this usually taught? Most of the time people will look at these rebukes towards the Pharisees, and then teach other people not to worry about the small, meticulous things, but that's how Yeshua taught it. He said that they should do all of it. These things you ought to do, without leaving the others undone. Zechariah was meticulous in the Torah too, it's just that he wasn't just putting on a show. Zechariah's obedience was inward and outward.
I talked to a sister the other day about calculating the feast days. I explained to her that if we strive to study about when the feast days are and then keep them to best of our ability, the best we know how at the present time, even if we get things wrong, Yahweh sees the effort that we put forth and he considers our sin a sin of ignorance (2 Chronicles 30 is a good text to go to here). It's different if you're just a sluggard and do not put forth an effort to study and know, Yahweh sees that too. My point is that Yahweh judges the intent of the heart.
So Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous before Yahweh. This verse should show us that this is a possible lifestyle. They had faith in Yahweh, they believed everything he had revealed, they knew they fell short, but they humbly accepted His grace and Yahweh gave them the internal ability to be obedient to His law.
7. But they had no children because Elizabeth could not conceive, and both of them were well along in years.
No children - This was quite a dishonorable thing for an Israelite couple. Women who were not able to have children suffered severely because they wanted to give birth to their own flesh and blood. Sometimes being barren is a curse from Yahweh (read Deuteronomy 28), but sometimes it is not. I don't think Elizabeth was barren because she was cursed. We just read where she was righteous Yahweh's sight. I believe in Yahweh's plan she was barren so that the glory of Yahweh might one day be revealed more fully in her life and in the life of the child that would be born to her. Not only was Elizabeth barren, but by this time they were really too old for anyone to consider it possible that they would have any children.
8-9. When his division was on duty and he was serving as priest before (the) Mighty One, it happened that he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.
Division on duty - Here we're told that Zechariah's priestly division went on duty in the temple, and of course he was an active Aaronic priest, but we have to understand that just because you were an Aaronic priest did not mean that you ever even had the opportunity to serve in the temple.
At this time there were anywhere from 18 to 20,000 eligible priests. When your weekly division came up twice a year, you had to be chosen by the casting of lots. All eligible priests in your division were up for the job, but in this case the lot fell upon Zechariah. He was going to get to go into the sanctuary and burn the incense. Exodus 30:1-9 speaks of the altar of incense; it was burned every morning when the lamps were trimmed, and every evening or late afternoon when the lamps were lit. So Zechariah was chosen by lot and this is something that probably never happened from many priests, and only happened once for many priests in their lifetime. But it was no coincidence. Yahweh was in control. Yahweh wanted Zechariah to be the one chosen to burn the incense this time.
10-12. At the hour of incense the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and overcome with fear
Hour of incense - There were two hours of incense as we just saw in Exodus 30, and seeing that this hour mentioned in Luke 1:10 has an assembly of people praying outside it was most likely the late afternoon hour of incense, but it could have been in the morning; we're not told specifically.
Angel of the Lord - When Zechariah went in an angel of Yahweh appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. You've got to realize here, this is HUGE. There really hasn't been much supernatural activity going on for 500 to 800 years. We know there was a lengthy span of time between Malachi's writing to this time (400 years) and angels were not just popping up every where all the time. When Zechariah saw this angel standing on the right side of the altar of incense it was a big deal.
Luke 1:13-25, Commentary
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 will name him John.
The Angel - Here we have the angel telling him not to be afraid. You have to realize that Zechariah knew the Tanach; he knew about the existence of supernatural messengers from Yahweh. No doubt, there are human messengers, human angels, but there are also heavenly, spirit beings, some of which are called seraphim and cherubim that are sent from heaven by Yahweh. This was one of the these angels.
No Judgment - Zechariah knew that many times when angels would show up it was for the purpose of judgment; something was amiss and thus Yahweh sent an angel to set things straight. This angel tells Zechariah not to worry, thus this was not a message of judgment.
Have a Son - The reason this angel had come is because of what we read in verse 13. Zechariah's prayer had been heard. Prayer? What prayer? Reading the remaining portion of verse 13 we learn that this prayer must have been a prayer Zechariah prayed to Yahweh asking Yahweh for a son. Notice verse 13 says your wife Elizabeth will have a son. Remember, Elizabeth was barren, so Zechariah had most likely been praying for a long time. Likewise, at this point in their life, they were old as we will see; past the age of child bearing. Zechariah was praying for a double portion, a double blessing.
Name him John - Then we have the angel tell Zechariah what to name his son. He said to name him John, or more correctly Yochanan, the Hebrew name. From the name Yochanan we have the shortened form Yohn and then the anglicized John. But Zechariah's son's name, the name his mother and father called him, would have been Yochanan. This name stems from the sacred name Yahweh, as well as the Hebrew word chana, meaning grace or favor. The name together means that Yahweh has been gracious, or the favor of Yahweh. What better name to give to the child that would be born to a woman who had been barren her whole life and was now well past the age of child bearing.
14. There will be joy and delight for you, and many will rejoice at his birth.
Joy and delight - Zechariah had been wanting a child and probably a son (to carry on the Aaronic line) ever since he first married Elizabeth. Not only though would he have joy, but the text says MANY would rejoice at his birth. I believe the reason for this is because many would recognize that John's birth was the fulfillment of a grand prophecy in the book of Malachi. More on this in a bit.
15. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.
Greatness - The angel tells Zechariah that this child would be great in the sight of Yahweh. Take note here that John's greatness would not necessarily be in the sight of man. We often define greatness by how well people get along or progress in man's eyes. We get excited if our children excel in the eyes of man, but in reality we should constantly be concerned with them excelling in the sight of Yahweh. Greatness is not defined by the clothes you wear or how much money you make, or if you're in the best selling movie. Greatness is defined by how Yahweh looks upon you; how He sees you. That's what makes you great.
Wine or Beer - The angel tells Zechariah that this son will be dedicated to Yahweh in a specific way. He will never drink wine or beer. The most likely way to interpret this verse is to understand that John was to be a lifelong Nazarite, like Samson. Samson's parents were also told to not allow Samson to drink wine or beer (Judges 13:3-7). The vow of the Nazarite is found in Numbers 6, and right at the beginning of the chapter you see that one of the requirements (although there were others) was that a man who took the vow of a Nazarite was not to drink wine or beer. It is possible that John was not a Nazarite, and that he was just to abstain from wine and beer because Yahweh appointed that for John.
Filled with Holy Spirit - This child would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. This is amazing. When we think of people being filled with the Holy Spirit and operating in the gifts of the Spirit we think of people who walk around, people we can see. We generally think of people who are of age as well, old enough to communicate intelligently with other adults. This case was exceptional though. Here we would have a child inside of his mother, still in the womb, filled with the Holy Spirit. I'd say this was a special child, wouldn't you?
16-17. He will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.
Sons of Israel to Yahweh their Mighty One - One of the purposes, the specific, special purposes of this child would be to turn many Israelites to Yahweh. The word "turn" here is used throughout the Scriptures to speak of a spiritual turning, a repentance from sin. One example is Acts 3:19 where the word is translated "converted." Same Greek word - epistrepho - different English translation.
He will go before Him as Elijah - Here we read that John would be before Yahweh as Elijah. This doesn't mean John was literally the prophet Elijah, reincarnated (as I've heard a few teach). What we have here is a fulfillment of Malachi 4:4-6 which reads - "Remember the instruction of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of Yahweh comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse." Isn't this exactly what we just read in Luke 1:16-17? John would be the Elijah like character. The way Yahweh sent Elijah was by sending John, a prophet who would come in the spirit and power of Elijah.
Fathers to Children - One aspect of John's ministry was to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children. What does this mean? Well, it means more than just having a child and thus becoming a Dad. It means that your heart is with your children, and you desire to instruct them in the way of righteousness. This is how it begins in a child's life. The father instructs his children in the path they should take. The father diligently teaches his children the commandments (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). His heart is turned towards his children.
Disobedient to Understanding - This goes right along with what we read earlier about many of the children of Israel turning to Yahweh. John's ministry would cause disobedient people to change to people who understood righteousness. This is because John would preach righteousness. He would make ready for Yahweh a prepared people. Prepared means ready to inherit the kingdom. Their life is in order, and they are concerned with matters of justice.
18. How can I know this? Zechariah asked the angel. For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.
How can I know this - What kind of a question is that? You're just a certain priest, whose been chosen to burn the incense, and a supernatural spirit being shows up inside the temple and talks to you, tells you secret things, and your going to ask him, how can I know this?
For I am old - Zechariah's was basing his question upon human reasoning. Instead of trusting that the angel was speaking the truth directly from Yahweh, and thus a miracle would take place, Zechariah looks at his age and the age of his wife and says, "That's not happening." We are too old to have children. This is the same response Sarah (and even Abraham) gave in Genesis 17 and 18. Sarah even laughed at such a thing. She thought she was too old and shriveled up. You would think that Zechariah would remember this account in Genesis and think to himself, "Yes... this really can happen." Us humans are so quick to forget the power that Yahweh has show before us.
19. The angel answered him, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of (the) Mighty One, and I was sent to speak to you and tell you this good news.
I am Gabriel - I love how the angel answers this question. It's like he tells Zechariah, "Are you serious? Do you know who I am? I'm Gabriel for cryin' out loud! That's how you can know I'm telling the truth!" But you know what, sometimes we do the same thing as Zechariah. 2 Peter 1:16-21 tells us that the words of Scripture are a more sure word of prophecy, and we would do well to take heed to them. But sometimes we read the Scriptures that are as plain as the nose on our face, but we say, "How can this be? Surely Yahweh is not teaching us this?" We doubt just like Zechariah.
Good News - We often associate the phrase "good news" with the gospel of Yeshua the Messiah, but the phrase just means any news that is good. In this case the good news is that Zechariah's prayer would be heard, and his wife Elizabeth would get what she had been wanting for quite some time. A child of her own to take care of and train.
20. Now listen! You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.
Become Silent - Because Zechariah doubted the words of the angel, Yahweh would take away his ability to speak. This did not mean that Zechariah lost his salvation, this was simply Yahweh punishing the one he loved. He was teaching Zechariah a lesson. "You don't believe me, I'll show you my power, your speech will be taken away."
These Things Take Place - The "these things" here refers to when John was born, and we know this not just from this context but also from later on in Luke 1:57-66. Zechariah would not be able to speak, and what a punishment. You know he would want to tell everyone what had happened to him in the temple, but this ability was removed from him.
21-22. Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. When he did come out, he could not speak to them. Then they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept making signs to them and remained speechless.
So Long in the Sanctuary - All of the people who had been outside praying (vs. 10) were wondering what in the world was taking Zechariah so long. I mean, even as we've been studying this text, we've been inside of the temple since verse 9 and here we are now at verse 21. Generally the priests would come on out after they did their duty inside the temple with the incense, but not so here.
He kept Making Signs - We know he couldn't speak to the people when he came out, but the text says he kept making signs, and I'm not sure what kind of sign he made here, but I do know that he wasn't fluent in sign language if there was a thing in Hebrew, because he been able to talk all of his life and was just a few moments before this struck with being unable to speak.
23-25. When the days of his ministry were completed, he went back home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and kept herself in seclusion for five months. She said, The Lord has done this for me. He has looked with favor in these days to take away my disgrace among the people.
He went back home - Luke is very careful here to tell us that after Zechariah completed his weekly, priestly duty he went back home, and then only AFTER these days his wife Elizabeth conceived. There was no other man involved here, there was nothing sinful happening here. Luke makes it clear that Zechariah came home and was intimate with his wife. Wouldn't it be nice if we had their conversation in between verses 23 and 24? I mean picture Elizabeth when her husband comes into the door of the home. "How are you doing honey? You could at least say something to me!" She didn't know he'd been struck dumb!
Seclusion for 5 months - Why did Elizabeth seclude herself for five months? We're not specifically told, but it may have been to simply rest her body, to make sure her baby got the proper nourishment, or maybe she didn't want to show herself until her pregnancy was visible to others, which at 5 months she would be visibly pregnant.
The Lord has done this for me - We have all this supernatural taking place, and Elizabeth recognizes within this that Yahweh has been gracious to her. Remember her child's name "Yahweh is gracious" Yochanan. She stated that Yahweh looked on her with favor and took away her disgrace among people. Remember, she wasn't disgraced in the sight of Yahweh; verse 6 tells us she was a righteous law-keeper in Yahweh's sight. But because she was childless she was looked upon with disgrace in the sight of men, but now - now she would be looked upon as blessed. People would say about her, "Yahweh has had favor on Elizabeth." And Yahweh had, He gave her Yochanan.
The Angel - Here we have the angel telling him not to be afraid. You have to realize that Zechariah knew the Tanach; he knew about the existence of supernatural messengers from Yahweh. No doubt, there are human messengers, human angels, but there are also heavenly, spirit beings, some of which are called seraphim and cherubim that are sent from heaven by Yahweh. This was one of the these angels.
No Judgment - Zechariah knew that many times when angels would show up it was for the purpose of judgment; something was amiss and thus Yahweh sent an angel to set things straight. This angel tells Zechariah not to worry, thus this was not a message of judgment.
Have a Son - The reason this angel had come is because of what we read in verse 13. Zechariah's prayer had been heard. Prayer? What prayer? Reading the remaining portion of verse 13 we learn that this prayer must have been a prayer Zechariah prayed to Yahweh asking Yahweh for a son. Notice verse 13 says your wife Elizabeth will have a son. Remember, Elizabeth was barren, so Zechariah had most likely been praying for a long time. Likewise, at this point in their life, they were old as we will see; past the age of child bearing. Zechariah was praying for a double portion, a double blessing.
Name him John - Then we have the angel tell Zechariah what to name his son. He said to name him John, or more correctly Yochanan, the Hebrew name. From the name Yochanan we have the shortened form Yohn and then the anglicized John. But Zechariah's son's name, the name his mother and father called him, would have been Yochanan. This name stems from the sacred name Yahweh, as well as the Hebrew word chana, meaning grace or favor. The name together means that Yahweh has been gracious, or the favor of Yahweh. What better name to give to the child that would be born to a woman who had been barren her whole life and was now well past the age of child bearing.
14. There will be joy and delight for you, and many will rejoice at his birth.
Joy and delight - Zechariah had been wanting a child and probably a son (to carry on the Aaronic line) ever since he first married Elizabeth. Not only though would he have joy, but the text says MANY would rejoice at his birth. I believe the reason for this is because many would recognize that John's birth was the fulfillment of a grand prophecy in the book of Malachi. More on this in a bit.
15. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.
Greatness - The angel tells Zechariah that this child would be great in the sight of Yahweh. Take note here that John's greatness would not necessarily be in the sight of man. We often define greatness by how well people get along or progress in man's eyes. We get excited if our children excel in the eyes of man, but in reality we should constantly be concerned with them excelling in the sight of Yahweh. Greatness is not defined by the clothes you wear or how much money you make, or if you're in the best selling movie. Greatness is defined by how Yahweh looks upon you; how He sees you. That's what makes you great.
Wine or Beer - The angel tells Zechariah that this son will be dedicated to Yahweh in a specific way. He will never drink wine or beer. The most likely way to interpret this verse is to understand that John was to be a lifelong Nazarite, like Samson. Samson's parents were also told to not allow Samson to drink wine or beer (Judges 13:3-7). The vow of the Nazarite is found in Numbers 6, and right at the beginning of the chapter you see that one of the requirements (although there were others) was that a man who took the vow of a Nazarite was not to drink wine or beer. It is possible that John was not a Nazarite, and that he was just to abstain from wine and beer because Yahweh appointed that for John.
Filled with Holy Spirit - This child would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. This is amazing. When we think of people being filled with the Holy Spirit and operating in the gifts of the Spirit we think of people who walk around, people we can see. We generally think of people who are of age as well, old enough to communicate intelligently with other adults. This case was exceptional though. Here we would have a child inside of his mother, still in the womb, filled with the Holy Spirit. I'd say this was a special child, wouldn't you?
16-17. He will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.
Sons of Israel to Yahweh their Mighty One - One of the purposes, the specific, special purposes of this child would be to turn many Israelites to Yahweh. The word "turn" here is used throughout the Scriptures to speak of a spiritual turning, a repentance from sin. One example is Acts 3:19 where the word is translated "converted." Same Greek word - epistrepho - different English translation.
He will go before Him as Elijah - Here we read that John would be before Yahweh as Elijah. This doesn't mean John was literally the prophet Elijah, reincarnated (as I've heard a few teach). What we have here is a fulfillment of Malachi 4:4-6 which reads - "Remember the instruction of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of Yahweh comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse." Isn't this exactly what we just read in Luke 1:16-17? John would be the Elijah like character. The way Yahweh sent Elijah was by sending John, a prophet who would come in the spirit and power of Elijah.
Fathers to Children - One aspect of John's ministry was to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children. What does this mean? Well, it means more than just having a child and thus becoming a Dad. It means that your heart is with your children, and you desire to instruct them in the way of righteousness. This is how it begins in a child's life. The father instructs his children in the path they should take. The father diligently teaches his children the commandments (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). His heart is turned towards his children.
Disobedient to Understanding - This goes right along with what we read earlier about many of the children of Israel turning to Yahweh. John's ministry would cause disobedient people to change to people who understood righteousness. This is because John would preach righteousness. He would make ready for Yahweh a prepared people. Prepared means ready to inherit the kingdom. Their life is in order, and they are concerned with matters of justice.
18. How can I know this? Zechariah asked the angel. For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.
How can I know this - What kind of a question is that? You're just a certain priest, whose been chosen to burn the incense, and a supernatural spirit being shows up inside the temple and talks to you, tells you secret things, and your going to ask him, how can I know this?
For I am old - Zechariah's was basing his question upon human reasoning. Instead of trusting that the angel was speaking the truth directly from Yahweh, and thus a miracle would take place, Zechariah looks at his age and the age of his wife and says, "That's not happening." We are too old to have children. This is the same response Sarah (and even Abraham) gave in Genesis 17 and 18. Sarah even laughed at such a thing. She thought she was too old and shriveled up. You would think that Zechariah would remember this account in Genesis and think to himself, "Yes... this really can happen." Us humans are so quick to forget the power that Yahweh has show before us.
19. The angel answered him, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of (the) Mighty One, and I was sent to speak to you and tell you this good news.
I am Gabriel - I love how the angel answers this question. It's like he tells Zechariah, "Are you serious? Do you know who I am? I'm Gabriel for cryin' out loud! That's how you can know I'm telling the truth!" But you know what, sometimes we do the same thing as Zechariah. 2 Peter 1:16-21 tells us that the words of Scripture are a more sure word of prophecy, and we would do well to take heed to them. But sometimes we read the Scriptures that are as plain as the nose on our face, but we say, "How can this be? Surely Yahweh is not teaching us this?" We doubt just like Zechariah.
Good News - We often associate the phrase "good news" with the gospel of Yeshua the Messiah, but the phrase just means any news that is good. In this case the good news is that Zechariah's prayer would be heard, and his wife Elizabeth would get what she had been wanting for quite some time. A child of her own to take care of and train.
20. Now listen! You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.
Become Silent - Because Zechariah doubted the words of the angel, Yahweh would take away his ability to speak. This did not mean that Zechariah lost his salvation, this was simply Yahweh punishing the one he loved. He was teaching Zechariah a lesson. "You don't believe me, I'll show you my power, your speech will be taken away."
These Things Take Place - The "these things" here refers to when John was born, and we know this not just from this context but also from later on in Luke 1:57-66. Zechariah would not be able to speak, and what a punishment. You know he would want to tell everyone what had happened to him in the temple, but this ability was removed from him.
21-22. Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. When he did come out, he could not speak to them. Then they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept making signs to them and remained speechless.
So Long in the Sanctuary - All of the people who had been outside praying (vs. 10) were wondering what in the world was taking Zechariah so long. I mean, even as we've been studying this text, we've been inside of the temple since verse 9 and here we are now at verse 21. Generally the priests would come on out after they did their duty inside the temple with the incense, but not so here.
He kept Making Signs - We know he couldn't speak to the people when he came out, but the text says he kept making signs, and I'm not sure what kind of sign he made here, but I do know that he wasn't fluent in sign language if there was a thing in Hebrew, because he been able to talk all of his life and was just a few moments before this struck with being unable to speak.
23-25. When the days of his ministry were completed, he went back home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and kept herself in seclusion for five months. She said, The Lord has done this for me. He has looked with favor in these days to take away my disgrace among the people.
He went back home - Luke is very careful here to tell us that after Zechariah completed his weekly, priestly duty he went back home, and then only AFTER these days his wife Elizabeth conceived. There was no other man involved here, there was nothing sinful happening here. Luke makes it clear that Zechariah came home and was intimate with his wife. Wouldn't it be nice if we had their conversation in between verses 23 and 24? I mean picture Elizabeth when her husband comes into the door of the home. "How are you doing honey? You could at least say something to me!" She didn't know he'd been struck dumb!
Seclusion for 5 months - Why did Elizabeth seclude herself for five months? We're not specifically told, but it may have been to simply rest her body, to make sure her baby got the proper nourishment, or maybe she didn't want to show herself until her pregnancy was visible to others, which at 5 months she would be visibly pregnant.
The Lord has done this for me - We have all this supernatural taking place, and Elizabeth recognizes within this that Yahweh has been gracious to her. Remember her child's name "Yahweh is gracious" Yochanan. She stated that Yahweh looked on her with favor and took away her disgrace among people. Remember, she wasn't disgraced in the sight of Yahweh; verse 6 tells us she was a righteous law-keeper in Yahweh's sight. But because she was childless she was looked upon with disgrace in the sight of men, but now - now she would be looked upon as blessed. People would say about her, "Yahweh has had favor on Elizabeth." And Yahweh had, He gave her Yochanan.
Luke 1:26-33, Commentary
26. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth...
Sixth Month - Is this the 6th month of the year? We must be careful here to be good students of Scripture and not just make assumptions when it comes to the numbering of a month here. Surely we know that 6th month could be used to denote the 6th month of a yearly cycle, but the context here demands that another understanding is in order. Reading Luke 1:24-25 and coupling that with Luke 1:36 we find that this is a reference to the 6th month of Elizabeth's pregnancy.
Angel Gabriel - Gabriel had already showed up to Zechariah probably no later than 1 year prior to this visitation. Gabriel's name is made up of two Hebrew words (1) geber, and (2) el. Placing them together means strength of (the) Mighty One or man of (the) Mighty One. This is most likely the same angel that spoke to Daniel (8:16; 9:21), and possibly (but we can't be for sure) the angel of the Lord that spoke to Joseph in his dream (Matthew 1:18-25).
Sent by God - This is translated in other English Bibles as "sent FROM God" and it could probably go either way. The phrase as it stands does not in itself carry the idea of coming directly from the presence of Yahweh, because John the Baptist is said to be sent by or from God (John 1:6). In the case of Gabriel, we do know that his origin was one in which he stood in the very presence of the Almighty (Luke 1:19).
Town in Galilee called Nazareth - Nazareth is basically a "nothing" town. This is one of the those places that we sometimes jokingly mention by calling it a "one light town" or saying "if you blink you'll miss it." It's location is probably 60 to 70 miles north of the temple in Jerusalem, and it was of such small significance that when Philip told Nathaniel that he had found the one who the law and prophets wrote about - Yeshua of Nazareth - Nathaniel responded, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:45-46) The name Yeshua (i.e. Jesus) is associated in the NT with the city of Nazareth approximately 81 times. Often times he is called "Yeshua of Nazareth" (Matthew 21:11; Mark 1:24) even calling himself with this title at times (Acts 22:8). This title was most likely attached to his name frequently because of the popularity of the name Yeshua in the 1st century. There were other "Yeshua's" in existence at the time and the title "of Nazareth" was applied to the Messiah in order to distinguish him from the others.
27. To a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
Virgin - Twice in this verse Mary (Hebrew = Miriam) is called a virgin, or more correctly from the Greek parthenos. The word parthenos is a word which almost if not always carries with it the meaning of a woman who has never had sex with a man. Revelation 14:4 does use it once to refer to young virgin men (men who have never laid with women). It is interesting to note that while the Hebrew text of Isaiah 7:14 uses the word almah (a word hotly discussed amongst Bible students) the LXX translates this into Greek as parthenos. Almah is a term that can denote a woman who has never had sex (although in some contexs it can just mean a young woman). We see the word almah being used interchangeably with the word bethulah in one case (Genesis 24:16, 43), bethulah being the more common Hebrew word for a young maiden who had never had sex. Even if both words almah and parthenos can at times refer to young women with no connotations of sexual purity, they are undoubtedly used the majority of the time to refer to sexually pure virgins. See my work titled "The Virgin Birth: Fact or Fiction?" for a detailed look at both words.
Engaged to a man named Joseph - We read the English word engagement and generally associate modern day engagement practices with this word. We must be careful not to read 21st century concepts into 1st century Hebrew practices. Hebrew "engagements" were legally binding and taken serious. To distinguish between the cultures the word would probably be better translated as "betrothed." The word betrothed carries with it the meaning of "to be pledged to" and here refers to the fact that the girl's father has authorized the giving of his daughter's hand in marriage to a particular man. The man has paid the girl's father the dowry, and according to the Aramaic text of the NT this should read "to a virgin acquired for a price" (see Lamsa translation). What would take place in betrothal though was not equivalent to marriage, for we read of the two as separate in the OT texts of Deuteronomy 20:7 and 22:23. After betrothal the future husband would make sure he made the necessary arrangements to provide sufficiently for his wife (usually around the neighborhood of 1 year) and then come back and take his virgin bride's hand in marriage. Take note that Hebrew betrothals according to historical sources generally took place between the ages of 12 to 14 years old at that time. We see here that Miriam was betrothed to a man named Joseph, Joseph's name meaning "let him be fruitful."
House of David - Here we learn that Joseph was of the house of David, that is, David was reckoned to be in Joseph's lineage or ancestry. The house of David was of the tribe of Yehudah or Judah (2 Samuel 2:4-11; Zechariah 12:7). We cannot be certain that this verse places Miriam's lineage from the house of David; it seems to mention her separate at the end by mentioning her as a virgin again at the end of this verse.
28. And the angel came to her and said "Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you."
Angel came to her - Gabriel comes and speaks with the woman, and we need to realize just how special this is. There are so many, many Hebrew women that Yahweh could have chosen to perform this miracle through, yet the angel was sent to one, just one.
Rejoice, Favored Woman - The term translated "rejoice" could merely be an introductory greeting (hail, hello) but could also be taken as translated here, as a greeting of excitement. Favored carries with it the idea of special grace. The Lord is with this woman in a special way.
29. But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.
Deeply Troubled - As mentioned earlier in the case of Zechariah (Luke 1:12), when a spirit-being angelic creature showed up in front of you to talk you were in a sense of awe, fear, and even terror at times. Miriam was just a young girl whose time probably was spent doing house work, drawing water, cooking, etc. She was wondering something like, "Why is an angel speaking to me? Why am I being shown favor in the sight of the Lord? What is happening here?" Recognize that Miriam does not know about Elizabeth's pregnancy at this time (see Luke 1:36-37).
30. Then the angel told her: Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Do not be afraid - Miriam is assured that this angel has not come to announce to her any type of destruction. He has not come to give her a word of warning. His message is one which is good and special. Miriam has found favor (grace) with Yahweh. The Almighty is about to do something wonderful with Miriam.
31. Now listen, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name Yeshua.
Conceive and Give Birth - The angel tells Miriam that she will conceive and then birth a male child. Remember, Miriam has been called a virgin (parthenos) twice already, and it has further been said the she has been betrothed to Joseph. Miriam knows that she and Joseph have not consummated the marriage yet. Miriam had never had sex, yet the angel tells her she will conceive and give birth. Naturally, a betrothed woman who was told this by an angel may think, "Okay, this is great. I will get married to by betrothed and we will come together and pro-create a son." However, as we will see, this is not what went through Miriam's mind, and there must be a reason for this.
Call His Name Yeshua - I have retained the proper Hebrew name of the Messiah here out of honor and respect for him, who he is, and what he stands for. Our English Bibles render this name as "Jesus," but we can be assured that Jesus is not the name given by the angel to this "Hebrew-ess" Miriam. The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew name Yehoshua or Yeshua, being transliterated from Hebrew to Greek, then from Greek to Latin, then from Latin to English, and then lastly by adding the letter "J" to the beginning later on down the line. When you look up the English names Jesus and Joshua you will find that they are written identically in Greek (see Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8 KJV), so why the difference? Jesus takes into account the process of going through the Greek and Latin alphabets while the name Joshua jumps directly from Hebrew to English. If we were going to call our Messiah by his English name it would certainly be more proper to render it as Joshua or Jeshua instead of Jesus. To many Christian people this seems strange because the name of Jesus is so close to their heart and they wouldn't dream of naming their son Jesus. The fact is though that the name given to the Messiah was a common Hebrew name for a son of Hebrew parents in 1st century Palestine and the surrounding areas. The reason Yahweh (through the angel) gives this name for the child is because of what will be done through the child. Matthew 1:21 defines his name for us. The child is name Yeshua because "he will save" his people from their sins. The name Yeshua means "he will save." The name Yochanan (Johann or John) was given for the child born to Zechariah and Elizabeth (meaning Yahweh had been gracious to them), but this child would be more special than Yochanan seeing that through this child (Yeshua) Yahweh would bring salvation.
32. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.
He will be Great - I am surprised at how I have seen this appellation towards Yeshua interpreted by some scholars. I was listening the other day to a sermon on this text and heard a teacher say that because John the Baptist is called "great in the sight of the Lord" (Luke 1:15) and Yeshua is just called "great" this must mean that Yeshua is Yahweh (Oneness), or the same in essence or substance with the Father (Trinitarianism). I believe what has been done here as well as in other texts of Scripture is reading one's already committed theology into a text of Scripture rather than letting the text speak for itself. Based upon exegeting the text by itself we can only conclude that the child born to Miriam will be "great," i.e. he will not be just any ordinary child. He will be a special, extraordinary child. To read into this adjective the idea of Yeshua really being the Almighty is completely foreign to the text. (Note: The LXX gives the bare title "great" [Greek = megas] to both Moses [Exodus 11:3] and Mordechai [Esther 10:3].)
Son of the Most High - Here again we have many scholars reading something into the text that it just does not say or even imply. What we have is another appellation to Yeshua - he is the "Son of the Most High." Reading this text literally tells us that there is a being known as the Most High and Yeshua is His Son. Obviously then Yeshua would not be the "Most High," but would still be astonishingly great as the "Son OF the Most High." The title Most High is used of Yahweh in the OT, and frequently in the book of Daniel. The title "Son of the Most High" is used in the plural (sons) in Psalm 82:6 of the judges of Israel (or divine beings), and also out of the mouth of Yeshua himself from the "pen" of the same author (Luke 6:35). This second title is not one promoting deity or divinity, but one showing a person to be in a unique, special relationship with the Most High. It speaks nothing about a person's essence or substance (as Trinitarian Christology often insinuates), but rather of a person's status as well as their relationship with the Most High Yahweh. It is very likely that this title is a precursor to a similar title used of John shortly hereafter. We do know that the births of these children were closely related; both were announced by Gabriel and both were miraculous births. John was also to be the prophet to introduce Yeshua's ministry. In Luke 1:76 we see that John is called by Zechariah his father a "prophet of the Most High." Just as prophet OF the Most High means the Most High's prophet, "Son OF the Most High" means the Most High's Son.
The Lord Will Give Him - Right after mentioning Yahweh with the title Most High, Luke now references Yahweh as the "Lord God" frequently used as Yahweh Elohim in the OT. Here we have the Lord God giving something to "him," but who is the "him" in this phrase? It is undoubtedly the child that will be born to Miriam, the child that was just said to be the Son of the Most High. Recognize that the Lord God is giving something to him. This means the Lord God is the giver and the child is the receiver. Points like these (which unambiguously separate God and Christ) are found time and time again on the pages of the NT. Yeshua is not the Lord God, Most High, or Yahweh. Yeshua is rather the Son.
The Throne of His Father David - What is it that the Lord God will give to this child? It is none other than the throne of David, or as David is called here, the father of the child. Why is David called the father of Yeshua? Matthew 1:1 references both David and Abraham as the father of Yeshua, and of course we know that both of these men had long ago fallen asleep and were buried with their fathers. The term father is often used in Scripture to denote ancestry; someone who was your great-great-great-grandfather could be termed your father because you stemmed from their lineage. Seeing that Messiah stemmed from the lineage of David, David could rightfully be called his father. Likewise the same can be said of father Abraham. So how was Yeshua a descendant of David if Joseph (who was from the house of David [Luke 1:27]) was not the biological father of Yeshua. Here are some points to consider:
1. It is possible that Miriam's biological father was of Judah, and thus Yeshua received genetics from the line of David through his grandfather on his Mother's side.
2. Joseph was the legal father of Yeshua by adoption. We do know from the text of Deuteronomy 25:5-10 that if a husband dies childless, the husband's brother is to go into his deceased brother's wife and perform the duty of a husband to her (have sex with her), in order to raise up seed to his dead brother. The child will carry on the name of this dead brother even though he is not directly descended from the seed of his mother's first husband, but rather from the brother of his mother's first husband. As the legal father, Joseph took care of, raised, trained, and studied with him. Thus Yeshua can be said to stem from the royal line of David even though he was not produced by a sexual act between Joseph and Miriam.
3. We are not told exactly how the virgin conception of Miriam took place. We do know that many of the false, pagan religions of antiquity had stories of "virgin conceptions," but these stories all included some sort of sexual act between one of their gods and a virgin woman, producing some sort of demi-god upon the earth (half man - half god. Satan tries his best to mimic the truth seeing that he was once a beautiful angelic creature before the Almighty in heaven. A difference between the pagan religions and what happened with Miriam is that in the accounts of the virgin conception in Matthew and Luke, there is nothing ever said about any sexual activity between Yahweh and Miriam. The child produced in Miriam would not be half god and half man, but 100% man. Miriam's conception would be miraculous. There are other miraculous births recorded in Scripture as well (consider Sarah conceiving Isaac at 90 years old [Genesis 17-18]). When Yahweh steps in to miraculously make conception happen he is not tampering with the woman in any way. He is performing a miracle for the woman.
4. Anyway we explain it or look at it the facts are (1) Miriam was a sexually pure virgin when she conceived Yeshua, (2) Yahweh did not violate Miriam's sexual virginity because Yahweh did not have sex in any way with Miriam as Joseph eventually would [after Yeshua's birth and days of purification, Leviticus 12], and (3) Yeshua was descended from the royal Davidic line. These are the facts, and we can speculate about how they work out, but even if we don't know for certain we still know that this is what Scripture teaches us to be true.
Getting back to our text (Luke 1:32) what does it mean that Yahweh Elohim will give him THE THRONE of his father David? I believe this is a reference to Yeshua physically ruling from the Davidic throne in Jerusalem. People tend to neglect this aspect of OT prophecy, or either spiritualize it away making literal texts from the OT prophets merely symbolic and coming up with a wide range of "spiritualizations" that can hardly be proven true. All through the OT we find that the prophets speak of a time with Israel and Judah will be gathered together in the land Yahweh gave to their fathers (see Ezekiel 36-37; Jeremiah 31:31-40; Isaiah 2:1-4; Jeremiah 23:5-6). In short (without going into much detail) Yeshua will return to this earth and produce restoration for the heavens and earth prior to the complete renewal of the heavens and earth (Revelation 21). This restoration will be the first stage in the kingdom of Yahweh and last for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-7). During this time period the headquarters of this millennium kingdom will be established in Jerusalem Israel, and Yeshua will be the chief, with David also resurrected to be King under Yeshua (Ezekiel 36:24). Yeshua will have then been given the throne of his father David, because Yeshua will be ruling in a governmental style just as the Kings of old.
33. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.
He Will Reign Forever - This goes back to what we just covered at the end of verse 32. The forever part may appear as a stumbling block at first because this is said to only be for a 1,000 year period of time (Revelation 20:1-7), but we must recognize this is only the first part or stage of the kingdom. After this (Revelation 21) the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven and the final stage of the kingdom occurs with Yeshua still reigning over the house of Jacob/Israel. The forever part is echoed at the end of this verse where we read that His kingdom will have no end.
House of Jacob - This is undoubtedly referring to the physical tribes of Israel, Yahweh's chosen people out of all the nations on the face of the earth. Remember that Israel's name - before it was changed - was Jacob. Many people believe that under the New Covenant Yahweh does not have a plan with physical Israel, nor is He planning a physical kingdom here upon this earth. There are just so many Scriptural texts to disprove this notion. The New Covenant was made with the houses of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:8-12; Romans 9:4-5) and if Yahweh were to forsake His chosen people many prophecies would be left unfulfilled (Jeremiah 31:38-40; Ezekiel 36-37). Without a doubt, just as the virgin conception of Yeshua was spoken of by this angel and it took place, the reigning over the house of Jacob in a kingdom - by Yeshua - will also take place.
Sixth Month - Is this the 6th month of the year? We must be careful here to be good students of Scripture and not just make assumptions when it comes to the numbering of a month here. Surely we know that 6th month could be used to denote the 6th month of a yearly cycle, but the context here demands that another understanding is in order. Reading Luke 1:24-25 and coupling that with Luke 1:36 we find that this is a reference to the 6th month of Elizabeth's pregnancy.
Angel Gabriel - Gabriel had already showed up to Zechariah probably no later than 1 year prior to this visitation. Gabriel's name is made up of two Hebrew words (1) geber, and (2) el. Placing them together means strength of (the) Mighty One or man of (the) Mighty One. This is most likely the same angel that spoke to Daniel (8:16; 9:21), and possibly (but we can't be for sure) the angel of the Lord that spoke to Joseph in his dream (Matthew 1:18-25).
Sent by God - This is translated in other English Bibles as "sent FROM God" and it could probably go either way. The phrase as it stands does not in itself carry the idea of coming directly from the presence of Yahweh, because John the Baptist is said to be sent by or from God (John 1:6). In the case of Gabriel, we do know that his origin was one in which he stood in the very presence of the Almighty (Luke 1:19).
Town in Galilee called Nazareth - Nazareth is basically a "nothing" town. This is one of the those places that we sometimes jokingly mention by calling it a "one light town" or saying "if you blink you'll miss it." It's location is probably 60 to 70 miles north of the temple in Jerusalem, and it was of such small significance that when Philip told Nathaniel that he had found the one who the law and prophets wrote about - Yeshua of Nazareth - Nathaniel responded, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:45-46) The name Yeshua (i.e. Jesus) is associated in the NT with the city of Nazareth approximately 81 times. Often times he is called "Yeshua of Nazareth" (Matthew 21:11; Mark 1:24) even calling himself with this title at times (Acts 22:8). This title was most likely attached to his name frequently because of the popularity of the name Yeshua in the 1st century. There were other "Yeshua's" in existence at the time and the title "of Nazareth" was applied to the Messiah in order to distinguish him from the others.
27. To a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
Virgin - Twice in this verse Mary (Hebrew = Miriam) is called a virgin, or more correctly from the Greek parthenos. The word parthenos is a word which almost if not always carries with it the meaning of a woman who has never had sex with a man. Revelation 14:4 does use it once to refer to young virgin men (men who have never laid with women). It is interesting to note that while the Hebrew text of Isaiah 7:14 uses the word almah (a word hotly discussed amongst Bible students) the LXX translates this into Greek as parthenos. Almah is a term that can denote a woman who has never had sex (although in some contexs it can just mean a young woman). We see the word almah being used interchangeably with the word bethulah in one case (Genesis 24:16, 43), bethulah being the more common Hebrew word for a young maiden who had never had sex. Even if both words almah and parthenos can at times refer to young women with no connotations of sexual purity, they are undoubtedly used the majority of the time to refer to sexually pure virgins. See my work titled "The Virgin Birth: Fact or Fiction?" for a detailed look at both words.
Engaged to a man named Joseph - We read the English word engagement and generally associate modern day engagement practices with this word. We must be careful not to read 21st century concepts into 1st century Hebrew practices. Hebrew "engagements" were legally binding and taken serious. To distinguish between the cultures the word would probably be better translated as "betrothed." The word betrothed carries with it the meaning of "to be pledged to" and here refers to the fact that the girl's father has authorized the giving of his daughter's hand in marriage to a particular man. The man has paid the girl's father the dowry, and according to the Aramaic text of the NT this should read "to a virgin acquired for a price" (see Lamsa translation). What would take place in betrothal though was not equivalent to marriage, for we read of the two as separate in the OT texts of Deuteronomy 20:7 and 22:23. After betrothal the future husband would make sure he made the necessary arrangements to provide sufficiently for his wife (usually around the neighborhood of 1 year) and then come back and take his virgin bride's hand in marriage. Take note that Hebrew betrothals according to historical sources generally took place between the ages of 12 to 14 years old at that time. We see here that Miriam was betrothed to a man named Joseph, Joseph's name meaning "let him be fruitful."
House of David - Here we learn that Joseph was of the house of David, that is, David was reckoned to be in Joseph's lineage or ancestry. The house of David was of the tribe of Yehudah or Judah (2 Samuel 2:4-11; Zechariah 12:7). We cannot be certain that this verse places Miriam's lineage from the house of David; it seems to mention her separate at the end by mentioning her as a virgin again at the end of this verse.
28. And the angel came to her and said "Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you."
Angel came to her - Gabriel comes and speaks with the woman, and we need to realize just how special this is. There are so many, many Hebrew women that Yahweh could have chosen to perform this miracle through, yet the angel was sent to one, just one.
Rejoice, Favored Woman - The term translated "rejoice" could merely be an introductory greeting (hail, hello) but could also be taken as translated here, as a greeting of excitement. Favored carries with it the idea of special grace. The Lord is with this woman in a special way.
29. But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.
Deeply Troubled - As mentioned earlier in the case of Zechariah (Luke 1:12), when a spirit-being angelic creature showed up in front of you to talk you were in a sense of awe, fear, and even terror at times. Miriam was just a young girl whose time probably was spent doing house work, drawing water, cooking, etc. She was wondering something like, "Why is an angel speaking to me? Why am I being shown favor in the sight of the Lord? What is happening here?" Recognize that Miriam does not know about Elizabeth's pregnancy at this time (see Luke 1:36-37).
30. Then the angel told her: Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Do not be afraid - Miriam is assured that this angel has not come to announce to her any type of destruction. He has not come to give her a word of warning. His message is one which is good and special. Miriam has found favor (grace) with Yahweh. The Almighty is about to do something wonderful with Miriam.
31. Now listen, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name Yeshua.
Conceive and Give Birth - The angel tells Miriam that she will conceive and then birth a male child. Remember, Miriam has been called a virgin (parthenos) twice already, and it has further been said the she has been betrothed to Joseph. Miriam knows that she and Joseph have not consummated the marriage yet. Miriam had never had sex, yet the angel tells her she will conceive and give birth. Naturally, a betrothed woman who was told this by an angel may think, "Okay, this is great. I will get married to by betrothed and we will come together and pro-create a son." However, as we will see, this is not what went through Miriam's mind, and there must be a reason for this.
Call His Name Yeshua - I have retained the proper Hebrew name of the Messiah here out of honor and respect for him, who he is, and what he stands for. Our English Bibles render this name as "Jesus," but we can be assured that Jesus is not the name given by the angel to this "Hebrew-ess" Miriam. The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew name Yehoshua or Yeshua, being transliterated from Hebrew to Greek, then from Greek to Latin, then from Latin to English, and then lastly by adding the letter "J" to the beginning later on down the line. When you look up the English names Jesus and Joshua you will find that they are written identically in Greek (see Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8 KJV), so why the difference? Jesus takes into account the process of going through the Greek and Latin alphabets while the name Joshua jumps directly from Hebrew to English. If we were going to call our Messiah by his English name it would certainly be more proper to render it as Joshua or Jeshua instead of Jesus. To many Christian people this seems strange because the name of Jesus is so close to their heart and they wouldn't dream of naming their son Jesus. The fact is though that the name given to the Messiah was a common Hebrew name for a son of Hebrew parents in 1st century Palestine and the surrounding areas. The reason Yahweh (through the angel) gives this name for the child is because of what will be done through the child. Matthew 1:21 defines his name for us. The child is name Yeshua because "he will save" his people from their sins. The name Yeshua means "he will save." The name Yochanan (Johann or John) was given for the child born to Zechariah and Elizabeth (meaning Yahweh had been gracious to them), but this child would be more special than Yochanan seeing that through this child (Yeshua) Yahweh would bring salvation.
32. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.
He will be Great - I am surprised at how I have seen this appellation towards Yeshua interpreted by some scholars. I was listening the other day to a sermon on this text and heard a teacher say that because John the Baptist is called "great in the sight of the Lord" (Luke 1:15) and Yeshua is just called "great" this must mean that Yeshua is Yahweh (Oneness), or the same in essence or substance with the Father (Trinitarianism). I believe what has been done here as well as in other texts of Scripture is reading one's already committed theology into a text of Scripture rather than letting the text speak for itself. Based upon exegeting the text by itself we can only conclude that the child born to Miriam will be "great," i.e. he will not be just any ordinary child. He will be a special, extraordinary child. To read into this adjective the idea of Yeshua really being the Almighty is completely foreign to the text. (Note: The LXX gives the bare title "great" [Greek = megas] to both Moses [Exodus 11:3] and Mordechai [Esther 10:3].)
Son of the Most High - Here again we have many scholars reading something into the text that it just does not say or even imply. What we have is another appellation to Yeshua - he is the "Son of the Most High." Reading this text literally tells us that there is a being known as the Most High and Yeshua is His Son. Obviously then Yeshua would not be the "Most High," but would still be astonishingly great as the "Son OF the Most High." The title Most High is used of Yahweh in the OT, and frequently in the book of Daniel. The title "Son of the Most High" is used in the plural (sons) in Psalm 82:6 of the judges of Israel (or divine beings), and also out of the mouth of Yeshua himself from the "pen" of the same author (Luke 6:35). This second title is not one promoting deity or divinity, but one showing a person to be in a unique, special relationship with the Most High. It speaks nothing about a person's essence or substance (as Trinitarian Christology often insinuates), but rather of a person's status as well as their relationship with the Most High Yahweh. It is very likely that this title is a precursor to a similar title used of John shortly hereafter. We do know that the births of these children were closely related; both were announced by Gabriel and both were miraculous births. John was also to be the prophet to introduce Yeshua's ministry. In Luke 1:76 we see that John is called by Zechariah his father a "prophet of the Most High." Just as prophet OF the Most High means the Most High's prophet, "Son OF the Most High" means the Most High's Son.
The Lord Will Give Him - Right after mentioning Yahweh with the title Most High, Luke now references Yahweh as the "Lord God" frequently used as Yahweh Elohim in the OT. Here we have the Lord God giving something to "him," but who is the "him" in this phrase? It is undoubtedly the child that will be born to Miriam, the child that was just said to be the Son of the Most High. Recognize that the Lord God is giving something to him. This means the Lord God is the giver and the child is the receiver. Points like these (which unambiguously separate God and Christ) are found time and time again on the pages of the NT. Yeshua is not the Lord God, Most High, or Yahweh. Yeshua is rather the Son.
The Throne of His Father David - What is it that the Lord God will give to this child? It is none other than the throne of David, or as David is called here, the father of the child. Why is David called the father of Yeshua? Matthew 1:1 references both David and Abraham as the father of Yeshua, and of course we know that both of these men had long ago fallen asleep and were buried with their fathers. The term father is often used in Scripture to denote ancestry; someone who was your great-great-great-grandfather could be termed your father because you stemmed from their lineage. Seeing that Messiah stemmed from the lineage of David, David could rightfully be called his father. Likewise the same can be said of father Abraham. So how was Yeshua a descendant of David if Joseph (who was from the house of David [Luke 1:27]) was not the biological father of Yeshua. Here are some points to consider:
1. It is possible that Miriam's biological father was of Judah, and thus Yeshua received genetics from the line of David through his grandfather on his Mother's side.
2. Joseph was the legal father of Yeshua by adoption. We do know from the text of Deuteronomy 25:5-10 that if a husband dies childless, the husband's brother is to go into his deceased brother's wife and perform the duty of a husband to her (have sex with her), in order to raise up seed to his dead brother. The child will carry on the name of this dead brother even though he is not directly descended from the seed of his mother's first husband, but rather from the brother of his mother's first husband. As the legal father, Joseph took care of, raised, trained, and studied with him. Thus Yeshua can be said to stem from the royal line of David even though he was not produced by a sexual act between Joseph and Miriam.
3. We are not told exactly how the virgin conception of Miriam took place. We do know that many of the false, pagan religions of antiquity had stories of "virgin conceptions," but these stories all included some sort of sexual act between one of their gods and a virgin woman, producing some sort of demi-god upon the earth (half man - half god. Satan tries his best to mimic the truth seeing that he was once a beautiful angelic creature before the Almighty in heaven. A difference between the pagan religions and what happened with Miriam is that in the accounts of the virgin conception in Matthew and Luke, there is nothing ever said about any sexual activity between Yahweh and Miriam. The child produced in Miriam would not be half god and half man, but 100% man. Miriam's conception would be miraculous. There are other miraculous births recorded in Scripture as well (consider Sarah conceiving Isaac at 90 years old [Genesis 17-18]). When Yahweh steps in to miraculously make conception happen he is not tampering with the woman in any way. He is performing a miracle for the woman.
4. Anyway we explain it or look at it the facts are (1) Miriam was a sexually pure virgin when she conceived Yeshua, (2) Yahweh did not violate Miriam's sexual virginity because Yahweh did not have sex in any way with Miriam as Joseph eventually would [after Yeshua's birth and days of purification, Leviticus 12], and (3) Yeshua was descended from the royal Davidic line. These are the facts, and we can speculate about how they work out, but even if we don't know for certain we still know that this is what Scripture teaches us to be true.
Getting back to our text (Luke 1:32) what does it mean that Yahweh Elohim will give him THE THRONE of his father David? I believe this is a reference to Yeshua physically ruling from the Davidic throne in Jerusalem. People tend to neglect this aspect of OT prophecy, or either spiritualize it away making literal texts from the OT prophets merely symbolic and coming up with a wide range of "spiritualizations" that can hardly be proven true. All through the OT we find that the prophets speak of a time with Israel and Judah will be gathered together in the land Yahweh gave to their fathers (see Ezekiel 36-37; Jeremiah 31:31-40; Isaiah 2:1-4; Jeremiah 23:5-6). In short (without going into much detail) Yeshua will return to this earth and produce restoration for the heavens and earth prior to the complete renewal of the heavens and earth (Revelation 21). This restoration will be the first stage in the kingdom of Yahweh and last for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-7). During this time period the headquarters of this millennium kingdom will be established in Jerusalem Israel, and Yeshua will be the chief, with David also resurrected to be King under Yeshua (Ezekiel 36:24). Yeshua will have then been given the throne of his father David, because Yeshua will be ruling in a governmental style just as the Kings of old.
33. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.
He Will Reign Forever - This goes back to what we just covered at the end of verse 32. The forever part may appear as a stumbling block at first because this is said to only be for a 1,000 year period of time (Revelation 20:1-7), but we must recognize this is only the first part or stage of the kingdom. After this (Revelation 21) the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven and the final stage of the kingdom occurs with Yeshua still reigning over the house of Jacob/Israel. The forever part is echoed at the end of this verse where we read that His kingdom will have no end.
House of Jacob - This is undoubtedly referring to the physical tribes of Israel, Yahweh's chosen people out of all the nations on the face of the earth. Remember that Israel's name - before it was changed - was Jacob. Many people believe that under the New Covenant Yahweh does not have a plan with physical Israel, nor is He planning a physical kingdom here upon this earth. There are just so many Scriptural texts to disprove this notion. The New Covenant was made with the houses of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:8-12; Romans 9:4-5) and if Yahweh were to forsake His chosen people many prophecies would be left unfulfilled (Jeremiah 31:38-40; Ezekiel 36-37). Without a doubt, just as the virgin conception of Yeshua was spoken of by this angel and it took place, the reigning over the house of Jacob in a kingdom - by Yeshua - will also take place.
Luke 1:34-38, Commentary
34. Mary asked the angel, "How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?"
Let's think this through for a moment. If the angel came to Miriam as a parthenos (virgin), and told her she would conceive a son, it would be quite logical for Miriam to think, "Well, I am a virgin now, but I am betrothed to Joseph so I'll be getting married soon. Joseph and I will be intimate and we will have a special child." I do have here in my office one article that denies a virgin conception here by going through this account and pointing out that everything the angel said was to take place would be in the future. Luke 1:31 is emphasized in this article as saying, "You SHALL conceive a son" meaning that it would happen later after Joseph and Miriam came together. I think this is incorrect for the following reason(s): I agree that the word "shall" or "will" in some translations carries with it a future tense, but even one second after that is spoken is still future. As I sit here typing at my computer, the future is 1 minute away and 100 years away; both are in the future. We know that the word "shall" can have immediate afterward effect because of the account of Zechariah in the temple earlier in this chapter. After Zechariah questioned the angel's words, the angel told him "you SHALL become silent" (Luke 1:18-20). When did Zechariah lose his ability to speak? It was immediately after the angel told him this because Zechariah came out of the temple and couldn't talk (Luke 1:21-22).
Why does Miriam respond to the angel with wonder and amazement if she was already betrothed and would soon be married and able to be intimate with Joseph? The best way to understand this is that Miriam took Gabriel's words with immediacy. As Gabriel talked to her (Luke 1:30-33) Miriam realized that the word given to her about conceiving a son would happened right after he said it. This explains why she asked the question, "How is this possible seeing I've never had sex with a man?" Miriam realized that Gabriel was telling her she would conceive while only being betrothed to Joseph.
The literal rendering of Miriam's question at this point is "seeing I know not a man," but if we are familiar with Scripture we should realize that this is a common euphemism for sexual relations. We see it as early as Genesis 4:1 where Adam knew Eve and she conceived. Does this mean Adam "met" Eve in the English sense of the word "met?" Does it just mean that Adam knew who she was like I know who women in my family are? Of course not, it means that Adam had sex with Eve, i.e. he knew her intimately. So Miriam was saying "I've never had sex with a man before." Miriam was aware, even as a young teenager, of how children were pro-created, and she realized that she had never participated in this act of pro-creation. "I have not been intimate with man" is a translation (NET) that accurately portrays the meaning of the original sentence Miriam spoke. The LEB translates it as "I have not had sexual relations with a man."
Should we take Miriam's words here as doubt on her part? I do not believe so. We know that Zechariah's words (Luke 1:18) were words of doubt because of the punishment that was placed upon him. In contrast Miriam's words do not produce a punishment therefore her words must be in this sense: "Okay I believe you, but how is this going to take place? What are some of the details here? I'm interested in learning more."
35. The angel replied to her: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God."
Holy Spirit Will Come Upon You - After Miriam asks the angel "How is this going to happen?" Gabriel responds with an explanation. Gabriel's response is right in line with Miriam understanding the immediacy of her pregnancy. Gabriel does not correct her and say, "No Miriam, you will marry Joseph and have a child after having sex with him." Gabriel tells her that a miracle will take place in her womb; the Holy Spirit will come upon her. He continues by saying that the power of the Most High will overshadow her. The Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High are the same thing. Of course we know the Most High spoken of here is Yahweh, and so obviously the Holy Spirit is synonymous with Yahweh as well - it is His power and presence.
Therefore - Here is a word that is often neglected in exegesis. I heard a preacher say one time, "Anytime you see the word 'therefore' in the Bible you need to ask yourself what it's there for." It basically means "On the basis of what I've just told you." The NASB and TS2009 say "For that reason," and the GNB and Weymouth say, "For this reason."
Holy One to be Born/Son of God - What Gabriel is saying is this, "There will be a miracle performed upon you Miriam. The Most High's power will overshadow you and because of this the holy child born within you will be called God's Son." There is no indication of an "eternally begotten" Son here. Yeshua being God's Son is based upon the miracle in the womb of His mother; it's for that reason. Son of Son of God does not denote being the God you are the Son of, or being the second person of a Trinity (the same essence or substance as the Father). Son of God carries with it the idea of having a special relationship with Yahweh, seeing that Yahweh has caused your existence to come about in a special way.
Take for instance what Luke writes in Luke 3:38. After giving a long genealogy, Luke speaks of Adam as being the "son of God." Why is Adam termed son of God? It's because Adam was directly created by Yahweh without the aid of human parents. Seth was later the product of Adam and Eve's sexual relations, but Adam was a product of Yahweh forming dirt from the earth and breathing into that form the breath of life. Eve is similar; we don't directly read of her being the "daughter of God," but it's a safe implication and understanding. She was directly created by God out of the side (or rib) of Adam. Adam and Eve, in spite of their unique origin, are still 100% human beings. They are not demi-gods or anything like that, Yahweh just performed a supernatural act of creation producing a human male and a human female. Likewise, Yeshua was supernaturally produced by Yahweh's power, but was in the womb of a woman for the entire normal pregnancy period, and then birthed through his mother. Yeshua was 100% human, like Adam and Eve, but he (like Adam) can be called "son of God" because his origin stemmed directly from Yahweh.
Yeshua is termed as the "only begotten Son of God" in John 3:16 and 1 John 4:9-10. "Only begotten" stems from the Greek compound word monogenes: mono meaning sole, only, one and genes having to do with kind or species. Yeshua was thus "one of a kind" or "unique." I believe that part of what makes him the monogenes Son is His virgin conception and birth. This is not to leave out his sinless life, miraculous power, sacrificial death, victorious resurrection, or ascension into heaven, but it is to center in on the beginning of all of these unique traits.
"Son of God" doesn't mean you are God, it means you are God's son, and here in a unique way. When we speak of Yeshua we speak of Yahweh's most unique son. Even right here in Luke 1:35 Yeshua is said to be a holy child from birth. As I ponder on this I can't help but see another parallel to Yochanan; Remember, John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, but Yeshua would be greater than John in the fact that he is said to be holy from conception. Yahweh would have more invested in this man (Yeshua) than any other man to ever walk the face of the earth. This would be the only begotten Son of Almighty God.
36. And consider your relative Elizabeth - even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the 6th month for her who was called barren.
Relative Elizabeth - The KJV translates this as "cousin" and while this is a possibility the Greek more loosely means someone related to you. Elizabeth could have been an aunt to Miriam. Some have suggested that this means Miriam was not from Judah but rather from Levi, but that's not a necessary implication. We can view Miriam's lineage as stemming from both Judah (see earlier comments) and Levi. Miriam could have been related to Levi through her mother's side of the family and Judah through her father's side of the family. It is possible (though not certain) that Miriam's mother and Elizabeth were sisters. This would make Miriam, Elizabeth's niece (thus relative) while at the same time retaining her Judahite blood through her father. There was nothing wrong with men from one tribe of Israel marrying women from another tribe within Israel (or for that matter they could even marry non-Israelite women who had joined the Covenant made with Israel.)
Even She Has Conceived a Son - Gabriel is telling Miriam what had taken place with Elizabeth. We've covered how that Elizabeth after becoming pregnant secluded herself for 5 months (Luke 1:24), and now it was the sixth month of her pregnancy according to this verse. We don't know where in the sixth month; it could have been right at the end of Elizabeth's 5th month and the very beginning of her 6th month. Gabriel is telling her that Elizabeth was with child! No doubt Miriam knew of Elizabeth's barrenness, so Gabriel telling Miriam this would be a further word of encouragement for her to hear.
In Her Old Age - I have read some non-virgin birth literature that attempts to say this verse proves Miriam was an old woman, therefore her birth was miraculous in this way rather than her having a virgin conception. This view must overlook the fact of (1) Miriam being emphasized as a parthenos in the text, (2) Miriam being only betrothed or pledged, which happened during the early teenage years for Hebrew women ofthat time, (3) Miriam's question in verse 34 of how this would be possible seeing seeing she'd never been intimate, and (4) Gabriel's response in verse 35 to Miriam's question. Gabriel is saying that Elizabeth has also CONCEIVED a son like Miriam. Gabriel then goes on to say that this happened in her old age and in spite of her lifetime barrenness; so the two women were parallel in that a miracle had taken place for each of them in regards to conception.
37. For nothing will be impossible with God.
Gabriel emphasizes the miraculous power of God; both pregnancies were miracles. This further substantiates the point I made previously about Gabriel giving encouragement to Miriam. Gabriel is telling Miriam, "Not only is this happening to you, but your relative Elizabeth is having a miracle baby too, for these things are not impossible when it comes to the power of the Most High."
38. "I am the Lord's slave," said Mary. "May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel left her.
The Lord's Slave - The Greek word here technically refers to a female slave and shows the humility in Miriam. Imagine being a young, Hebrew woman betrothed to a man, and so excited about your soon to be marriage and husband. All of a sudden an angel shows up and gives you some news that no woman has ever heard or ever will hear again. Would your response be, "I am the female slave of the Lord"? What a humble response. It's quite possible that Miriam is the most righteous woman to ever be on this earth. I don't believe Yahweh would have picked just any woman to be the mother of His anointed one.
Let it Be Done to Me - Here again we see Miriam's humility. She recognizes that she is a chosen vessel that has had grace and favor shown to her, and she humbly submits to the will of the Almighty. She is saying, "This is the Father's will so I will rest in His will knowing that He knows what is best and has everything worked out."
Let's think this through for a moment. If the angel came to Miriam as a parthenos (virgin), and told her she would conceive a son, it would be quite logical for Miriam to think, "Well, I am a virgin now, but I am betrothed to Joseph so I'll be getting married soon. Joseph and I will be intimate and we will have a special child." I do have here in my office one article that denies a virgin conception here by going through this account and pointing out that everything the angel said was to take place would be in the future. Luke 1:31 is emphasized in this article as saying, "You SHALL conceive a son" meaning that it would happen later after Joseph and Miriam came together. I think this is incorrect for the following reason(s): I agree that the word "shall" or "will" in some translations carries with it a future tense, but even one second after that is spoken is still future. As I sit here typing at my computer, the future is 1 minute away and 100 years away; both are in the future. We know that the word "shall" can have immediate afterward effect because of the account of Zechariah in the temple earlier in this chapter. After Zechariah questioned the angel's words, the angel told him "you SHALL become silent" (Luke 1:18-20). When did Zechariah lose his ability to speak? It was immediately after the angel told him this because Zechariah came out of the temple and couldn't talk (Luke 1:21-22).
Why does Miriam respond to the angel with wonder and amazement if she was already betrothed and would soon be married and able to be intimate with Joseph? The best way to understand this is that Miriam took Gabriel's words with immediacy. As Gabriel talked to her (Luke 1:30-33) Miriam realized that the word given to her about conceiving a son would happened right after he said it. This explains why she asked the question, "How is this possible seeing I've never had sex with a man?" Miriam realized that Gabriel was telling her she would conceive while only being betrothed to Joseph.
The literal rendering of Miriam's question at this point is "seeing I know not a man," but if we are familiar with Scripture we should realize that this is a common euphemism for sexual relations. We see it as early as Genesis 4:1 where Adam knew Eve and she conceived. Does this mean Adam "met" Eve in the English sense of the word "met?" Does it just mean that Adam knew who she was like I know who women in my family are? Of course not, it means that Adam had sex with Eve, i.e. he knew her intimately. So Miriam was saying "I've never had sex with a man before." Miriam was aware, even as a young teenager, of how children were pro-created, and she realized that she had never participated in this act of pro-creation. "I have not been intimate with man" is a translation (NET) that accurately portrays the meaning of the original sentence Miriam spoke. The LEB translates it as "I have not had sexual relations with a man."
Should we take Miriam's words here as doubt on her part? I do not believe so. We know that Zechariah's words (Luke 1:18) were words of doubt because of the punishment that was placed upon him. In contrast Miriam's words do not produce a punishment therefore her words must be in this sense: "Okay I believe you, but how is this going to take place? What are some of the details here? I'm interested in learning more."
35. The angel replied to her: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God."
Holy Spirit Will Come Upon You - After Miriam asks the angel "How is this going to happen?" Gabriel responds with an explanation. Gabriel's response is right in line with Miriam understanding the immediacy of her pregnancy. Gabriel does not correct her and say, "No Miriam, you will marry Joseph and have a child after having sex with him." Gabriel tells her that a miracle will take place in her womb; the Holy Spirit will come upon her. He continues by saying that the power of the Most High will overshadow her. The Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High are the same thing. Of course we know the Most High spoken of here is Yahweh, and so obviously the Holy Spirit is synonymous with Yahweh as well - it is His power and presence.
Therefore - Here is a word that is often neglected in exegesis. I heard a preacher say one time, "Anytime you see the word 'therefore' in the Bible you need to ask yourself what it's there for." It basically means "On the basis of what I've just told you." The NASB and TS2009 say "For that reason," and the GNB and Weymouth say, "For this reason."
Holy One to be Born/Son of God - What Gabriel is saying is this, "There will be a miracle performed upon you Miriam. The Most High's power will overshadow you and because of this the holy child born within you will be called God's Son." There is no indication of an "eternally begotten" Son here. Yeshua being God's Son is based upon the miracle in the womb of His mother; it's for that reason. Son of Son of God does not denote being the God you are the Son of, or being the second person of a Trinity (the same essence or substance as the Father). Son of God carries with it the idea of having a special relationship with Yahweh, seeing that Yahweh has caused your existence to come about in a special way.
Take for instance what Luke writes in Luke 3:38. After giving a long genealogy, Luke speaks of Adam as being the "son of God." Why is Adam termed son of God? It's because Adam was directly created by Yahweh without the aid of human parents. Seth was later the product of Adam and Eve's sexual relations, but Adam was a product of Yahweh forming dirt from the earth and breathing into that form the breath of life. Eve is similar; we don't directly read of her being the "daughter of God," but it's a safe implication and understanding. She was directly created by God out of the side (or rib) of Adam. Adam and Eve, in spite of their unique origin, are still 100% human beings. They are not demi-gods or anything like that, Yahweh just performed a supernatural act of creation producing a human male and a human female. Likewise, Yeshua was supernaturally produced by Yahweh's power, but was in the womb of a woman for the entire normal pregnancy period, and then birthed through his mother. Yeshua was 100% human, like Adam and Eve, but he (like Adam) can be called "son of God" because his origin stemmed directly from Yahweh.
Yeshua is termed as the "only begotten Son of God" in John 3:16 and 1 John 4:9-10. "Only begotten" stems from the Greek compound word monogenes: mono meaning sole, only, one and genes having to do with kind or species. Yeshua was thus "one of a kind" or "unique." I believe that part of what makes him the monogenes Son is His virgin conception and birth. This is not to leave out his sinless life, miraculous power, sacrificial death, victorious resurrection, or ascension into heaven, but it is to center in on the beginning of all of these unique traits.
"Son of God" doesn't mean you are God, it means you are God's son, and here in a unique way. When we speak of Yeshua we speak of Yahweh's most unique son. Even right here in Luke 1:35 Yeshua is said to be a holy child from birth. As I ponder on this I can't help but see another parallel to Yochanan; Remember, John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, but Yeshua would be greater than John in the fact that he is said to be holy from conception. Yahweh would have more invested in this man (Yeshua) than any other man to ever walk the face of the earth. This would be the only begotten Son of Almighty God.
36. And consider your relative Elizabeth - even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the 6th month for her who was called barren.
Relative Elizabeth - The KJV translates this as "cousin" and while this is a possibility the Greek more loosely means someone related to you. Elizabeth could have been an aunt to Miriam. Some have suggested that this means Miriam was not from Judah but rather from Levi, but that's not a necessary implication. We can view Miriam's lineage as stemming from both Judah (see earlier comments) and Levi. Miriam could have been related to Levi through her mother's side of the family and Judah through her father's side of the family. It is possible (though not certain) that Miriam's mother and Elizabeth were sisters. This would make Miriam, Elizabeth's niece (thus relative) while at the same time retaining her Judahite blood through her father. There was nothing wrong with men from one tribe of Israel marrying women from another tribe within Israel (or for that matter they could even marry non-Israelite women who had joined the Covenant made with Israel.)
Even She Has Conceived a Son - Gabriel is telling Miriam what had taken place with Elizabeth. We've covered how that Elizabeth after becoming pregnant secluded herself for 5 months (Luke 1:24), and now it was the sixth month of her pregnancy according to this verse. We don't know where in the sixth month; it could have been right at the end of Elizabeth's 5th month and the very beginning of her 6th month. Gabriel is telling her that Elizabeth was with child! No doubt Miriam knew of Elizabeth's barrenness, so Gabriel telling Miriam this would be a further word of encouragement for her to hear.
In Her Old Age - I have read some non-virgin birth literature that attempts to say this verse proves Miriam was an old woman, therefore her birth was miraculous in this way rather than her having a virgin conception. This view must overlook the fact of (1) Miriam being emphasized as a parthenos in the text, (2) Miriam being only betrothed or pledged, which happened during the early teenage years for Hebrew women ofthat time, (3) Miriam's question in verse 34 of how this would be possible seeing seeing she'd never been intimate, and (4) Gabriel's response in verse 35 to Miriam's question. Gabriel is saying that Elizabeth has also CONCEIVED a son like Miriam. Gabriel then goes on to say that this happened in her old age and in spite of her lifetime barrenness; so the two women were parallel in that a miracle had taken place for each of them in regards to conception.
37. For nothing will be impossible with God.
Gabriel emphasizes the miraculous power of God; both pregnancies were miracles. This further substantiates the point I made previously about Gabriel giving encouragement to Miriam. Gabriel is telling Miriam, "Not only is this happening to you, but your relative Elizabeth is having a miracle baby too, for these things are not impossible when it comes to the power of the Most High."
38. "I am the Lord's slave," said Mary. "May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel left her.
The Lord's Slave - The Greek word here technically refers to a female slave and shows the humility in Miriam. Imagine being a young, Hebrew woman betrothed to a man, and so excited about your soon to be marriage and husband. All of a sudden an angel shows up and gives you some news that no woman has ever heard or ever will hear again. Would your response be, "I am the female slave of the Lord"? What a humble response. It's quite possible that Miriam is the most righteous woman to ever be on this earth. I don't believe Yahweh would have picked just any woman to be the mother of His anointed one.
Let it Be Done to Me - Here again we see Miriam's humility. She recognizes that she is a chosen vessel that has had grace and favor shown to her, and she humbly submits to the will of the Almighty. She is saying, "This is the Father's will so I will rest in His will knowing that He knows what is best and has everything worked out."