128 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ver. 1. Forasmuch as many have taken in hand,.... From hence, to the end of Lu 1:4 is a preface of the evangelist to his Gospel, setting forth the reasons of his writing it; and which he wrote and sent to the excellent Theophilus, for the further confirmation of him in the faith of Christ. It seems that many had took in hand, or attempted to set...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
The Evangelist's Preface. 1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Even as they delivered them unto us,.... By whom the evangelist means, as appears from the after description of them, the twelve apostles, and seventy disciples; who handed down to others the accounts of the birth, life, and death of Christ; and according to which the above Christians proposed to write: which from the beginning were eyewitnesses...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
It seemed good to me also,.... Being moved to it by the Holy Ghost; for he did not undertake this work of himself, merely by the motion of his own will, but was influenced, and directed to it by the Spirit of God, as well as by him assisted in it: having had perfect understanding of all things; relating to the subject of this Gospel, concerning...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
That thou mightest know the certainty,.... The end the evangelist had in writing this Gospel, and sending it to Theophilus, was, that he might be more strongly assured of and more firmly established in the truths of the Gospel. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions render it, "that thou mightest know the truth"; that is, the certain truth...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea,.... This was Herod, the son of Antipater, sometimes called Herod the Great, and is rightly here said to be the king of Judea; for, by deputation from the Roman emperor, he had the government of all Judea, which upon his death was divided among his sons. The phrase, "in the days of", is an eastern...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. You have here a very interesting couple, Zacharias and...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. There have been some good people who have lived in very...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they were both righteous before God,.... Not as the Pharisees, only righteous before men, but in the sight of God, who sees the heart, and whose judgment is according to truth; and therefore were not justified by the deeds of the law; for by them no man can be justified in the sight of God; but were made righteous through the righteousness of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they had no child,.... Son or daughter: and which was accounted a great infelicity: but this was not owing to the judgment of God upon them for any sins they had been guilty of, as the above character of them shows: and it had been the case of some righteous pairs before them for a great while, as Abraham and Sarah, Manoah, and his wile,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord, Certain offices of the...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. We do not, at the present time, understand the anguish which filled the heart of an Eastern woman who had no child. It was considered to be a disgrace, and many suffered very bitterly on that account; as did Hannah, and Rachel, and others...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office,.... To which he was called and ordained, even to offer gifts and sacrifices for men; whilst he was in the way of his duty, when oftentimes God appears to, and in favour of his people; whilst he was performing it, before God; in the temple, where was the symbol of the divine presence,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
According to the custom of the priest's office,.... In which, every man took his part in the execution of it by lot; and which was not an original settled law of God; but a custom, which, in process of time, through the number of the priests, took place, and prevailed: the occasion of it was this; "at first, whoever would, might sweep the altar,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the whole multitude of the people were praying without,.... In the court of the Israelites, whilst Zacharias was in the holy place; though not in the holy of holies, where only the high priest entered: it looks, as Dr. Lightfoot conjectures, as if this was on a sabbath day, since there was such a multitude of people together; for on the...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. While he, in the inner shrine, was burning incense, the multitudes in the outer courts were engaging in prayer. I think that is a very beautiful symbol,-the priest unseen, like the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy of Holies above, and the mass of the people engaged in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord,.... Gabriel, as seem's manifest from Lu 1:19 the same angel that had appeared to Daniel, about the time of the evening oblation, near five hundred years before, and gave him an account of the time of the Messiah's coming, Daniel 9:21. The Jews sometimes speak of divine and wonderful appearances to...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. He was a good man, yet he was troubled at the sight of an angel. Consciousness of sin, even in an outwardly blameless man, makes us all tremble in the presence of anything...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when Zacharias saw him,.... The angel; he was troubled, and fear fell upon him; for such appearances of angels were not now so common as formerly: and when they were more usual, generally had such effects on the minds, even of good men; see Judges 6:22.