128 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the angel said unto him, fear not, Zacharias,.... He calls him by his name; for holy men are known to angels in person, and by name; to whom they are ministering spirits, and for whose good they are concerned; and bid him not be afraid, as the angel also said to the women at Christ's sepulchre, Matthew 28:5 for he saw by his countenance and...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; The best quietus to fear is answered prayer. If God has heard thee, be not thou again afraid. Luk_1:13. And thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. “The grace” or “the gift of God”, so the name “John” signifies; and it is a sweet name...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And thou shalt have joy and gladness,.... Not only because of his having a son; but because this his son would be the prophet of the Highest; would go before the Lord, and prepare his ways; give knowledge of salvation to many, and light to them that were in darkness, and guide their feet in the way of peace: all which, and more, he afterwards...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; I do not say that it is the duty of every man to drink neither wine nor strong drink, but I beg every man to notice that if anyone was to be peculiarly consecrated to a holy...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord,.... Of Jehovah, the Father; with whom, what is highly esteemed among men, is oftentimes an abomination; and of the Lord Jesus Christ, before whom he was to go, and who pronounced him a prophet, and more than a prophet, and even greater than any born of women, Matthew 11:9 and of the Lord, the Spirit,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And many of the children of Israel,.... To whom only, or at least chiefly, he was sent, and came preaching, and administering the ordinance of baptism; and great multitudes of them flocked unto him, attended on his ministry, believed in his doctrine, and submitted to his baptism, but not all; for some slighted his preaching, and rejected his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he shall go before him,.... The Lord his God, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose forerunner he was; the messenger of him, that according to the prophecies in Isaiah 40:3 was to go before him, and prepare his ways; as he did by his wonderful conception and birth, which made way for the more easy belief of the conception and birth of the Messiah, by a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Zacharias said unto the angel, whereby shall I know this?.... Notwithstanding such an appearance of an angel to him, which in those times was not so usual, and this in the holy place; and the things themselves which were told him, and these as the return of prayer; yet he distrusted, and wanted a sign, whereby he might know the truth of them,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And, the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the angel answering, said unto him, I am Gabriel,.... The name of an angel well known to Zacharias from Daniel's prophecies, Daniel 8:16 and is the first time we read of the name of an angel: the Jews say (a), the names of angels came out of Babylon, by the means of the Israelites; and it was there that Daniel became acquainted with this name...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And behold, thou shalt be dumb, c] Or "silent and not able to speak", if he would. Silence is sometimes voluntary; but this was what he could not help; until the day that these thing shall be performed; which he had said concerning the conception and birth of a son, and the imposition of a name on him; for this dumbness remained upon Zachariah,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. Many a child of God is dumb, because of unbelief. Mary believed, and therefore she sang a holy, joyous song, — a sweet canticle of delight: “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” But Zacharias, because of his unbelief, was unable to speak. I wonder whether...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the people waited for Zacharias,.... That were without, in the court of the Israelites, praying there, while he was offering incense: these were waiting for his coming out, in order to be blessed by him, according to Numbers 6:23 and be dismissed: and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple; beyond the usual time of burning incense;...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless. By the signs he made, he impressed them with the fact that something extraordinary had happened.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when he came out, he could not speak unto them,.... Or deliver the benediction they were waiting for: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: which he made them to understand, by the gestures he used: for he beckoned unto them; nodding his head, or by some motions of his hands the Ethiopic version adds, "with his hand": or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, that as soon as the days of his ministration,.... In the order of the course, which might be three, four, five, or six days, according to the number of the heads of the house of their fathers in the course; [See comments on Lu 1:5] were accomplished: for though he was deaf and dumb, he was not hereby disqualified for service....
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. I do not wonder that, in her solemn...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And after those days,.... The days of his ministration in the temple, quickly after his return home; the Ethiopic version reads, "after two days": his wife Elisabeth conceived; according to the angels prediction, and notwithstanding her barrenness, and the unbelief of her husband; and hid herself five months. The Arabic and Persic versions render...