Luke 1:5-56

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5 ¹In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, ^{[a] 2}of ³the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

6 And they were both ⁴righteous before God, walking ⁵blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

7 But they had no child, because ⁶Elizabeth was barren, and ⁷both were advanced in years.

8 Now ⁸while he was serving as priest before God when ⁹his division was on duty,

9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot ¹⁰to enter ¹¹the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

10 And the whole multitude of the people ¹²were praying ¹³outside at the hour of incense.

11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ¹⁴the altar of incense.

12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ¹⁵fear fell upon him.

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ¹⁶your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ¹⁷you shall call his name John.

14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ¹⁸rejoice at his birth,

15 for he will be ¹⁹great before the Lord. And ²⁰he must not drink wine or strong ²¹drink, and ²²he will be ²³filled with the Holy Spirit, ²⁴even from his mother’s womb.

16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,

17 and ²⁵he will go before him ²⁶in the spirit and power of Elijah, ²⁷to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ²⁸the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ²⁹to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. ”

18 And Zechariah said to the angel, ³⁰“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years. ”

19 And the angel answered him, “I am ³¹Gabriel. ³²I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

20 And behold, ³³you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. ”

21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in ³⁴the temple.

22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ³⁵the temple. And ³⁶he kept making signs to them and remained mute.

23 And ³⁷when his time of ³⁸service was ended, he went to his home.

24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,

25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, ³⁹to take away my reproach among people. ”

Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month the angel ⁴⁰Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ⁴¹Nazareth,

27 ⁴²to a virgin betrothed^[b] to a man whose name was Joseph, ⁴³of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ⁴⁴O favored one, ⁴⁵the Lord is with you! ” ^[c]

29 But ⁴⁶she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for ⁴⁷you have found favor with God.

31 And behold, ⁴⁸you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ⁴⁹you shall call his name Jesus.

32 He will be great and will be called the Son of ⁵⁰the Most High. And the Lord God ⁵¹will give to him the throne of ⁵²his father David,

33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob ⁵³forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. ”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin? ” ^[d]

35 And the angel answered her, ⁵⁴“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ⁵⁵the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[e] will be called ⁵⁶holy— ⁵⁷the Son of God.

36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her ⁵⁸who was called barren.

37 For ⁵⁹nothing will be impossible with God. ”

38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[f] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. ” And ⁶⁰the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into ⁶¹the hill country, to a town in Judah,

40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth ⁶²was filled with the Holy Spirit,

42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ⁶³“Blessed are you among women, and ⁶⁴blessed is ⁶⁵the fruit of your womb!

43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of ⁶⁶my Lord should come to me?

44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

45 And ⁶⁷blessed is she who believed that there would be^[g] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. ”

Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat

46 And Mary said, ⁶⁸“My ⁶⁹soul ⁷⁰magnifies the Lord,

47 ⁷¹and my ⁷²spirit rejoices in ⁷³God my Savior,

48 for ⁷⁴he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations ⁷⁵will call me blessed;

49 for ⁷⁶he who is mighty ⁷⁷has done great things for me, and ⁷⁸holy is his name.

50 And ⁷⁹his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

51 ⁸⁰He has shown strength with his arm; ⁸¹he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

52 ⁸²he has brought down the mighty from their thrones ⁸³and exalted those of humble estate;

53 he has filled ⁸⁴the hungry with good things, and the rich ⁸⁵he has sent away empty.

54 He has ⁸⁶helped ⁸⁷his servant Israel, ⁸⁸in remembrance of his mercy,

55 ⁸⁹as he spoke to our fathers, ⁹⁰to Abraham and to his offspring forever. ”

56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

Luke 1:5-56 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LUKE

The writer of this Gospel, Luke, has been, by some, thought, as Origen {a} relates, to be the same with Lucius, mentioned in Ro 16:21, but he seems rather to be, and without doubt is, Luke the beloved physician, who was a companion of the Apostle Paul in great part of his travels in the Gentile world: he came with him to Jerusalem, and from thence accompanied him to Rome, and continued with him when in prison, and was with him to the last; see Ac 16:10,11 \Col 4:14 2Ti 4:11 Phm 1:24\. Jerom {b}, and others, say, he was a physician of Antioch in Syria; where it may be the Apostle Paul met with him, and might be the happy instrument of his conversion; so that he seems to be, by nation, a Syrian, as Jerom {c} calls him. Grotius thinks his name is Roman, and that it is the contraction of Lucilius. It is not an Hebrew name, but might be in common use in Syria; for though the Jews reckon owqwl, "Lukus", among foreign names, yet say {d} a it was a very illustrious one, and well known to them, as it may well be thought to be if Syriac, the language being spoke by them: and many Jews lived in Syria, and particularly in Antioch. Some say that this Gospel was written by the advice, and assistance, and under the direction of the Apostle Paul, as the Gospel according to Mark was by that of Peter; though the following preface does not seem so well to accord with this. Eusebius says {e} that it was the sense of the ancients, that whenever the Apostle Paul makes mention of his Gospel, he intends this according to Luke. The time of the writing of it is not certain; some say it was written in the fifteenth year after the ascension of our Lord; others in the twenty second; and others in the twenty seventh. It is commonly thought to have been written after the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, according to the order in which it stands; but this is rejected by some learned men, who rather think that Luke wrote first of all: and indeed, there are some things in his preface which look as if there had not, as yet, been any authentic account published, at least which was come to the knowledge of this evangelist. The place where he wrote it is also uncertain. Jerom says {f}, he wrote it in the parts of Achaia, perhaps at Corinth: according to the titles prefixed to the Syriac and Persic versions, he wrote it in Alexandria: the former of these runs thus;

``the Gospel of Luke, the Evangelist, which he spake and published in Greek in Alexandria the great.''

And the latter thus;

``the Gospel of Luke, which he wrote in the Greek tongue in Alexandria of Egypt.''

However, it is agreed on all hands, that it is genuine, and of divine inspiration. Eusebius {g} relates, that it was affirmed by some, that this Gospel, together with those of Matthew and Mark, were brought to the Apostle John, who approved of them, and bore witness to the truth in them.

{a} In Rom. xvi. 21. {b} Catalog. Script. Eccles. sect. 17. fol. 91. Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 4. {c} Praefat in Luc. {d} T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 11. 2. & Gloss. in ib. {e} Ubi supra. (Hist. Eccl. l. 3. c. 39.) {f} Praefat in Luc. {g} Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 24.

Cross References

• 1. 1:5 Matt. 2:1
• 2. 1:5 1 Chr. 24:10
• 3. 1:5 ver. 8
• 4. 1:6 ch. 2:25
• 5. 1:6 Phil. 2:15; 3:6; 1 Thess. 2:10; 3:13; 5:23; [Acts 23:1; 24:16]
• 6. 1:7 ver. 36; [Judg. 13:2; 1 Sam. 1:2]
• 7. 1:7 [Gen. 18:11; Heb. 11:11, 12]
• 8. 1:8 1 Chr. 24:19; 2 Chr. 8:14; 31:2; [ver. 23]
• 9. 1:8 ver. 5
• 10. 1:9 Ex. 30:7, 8; 1 Sam. 2:28; 1 Chr. 23:13; 2 Chr. 29:11
• 11. 1:9 ver. 21, 22; Rev. 11:2, 19; [Heb. 9:2, 3]
• 12. 1:10 Ps. 141:2; [Rev. 5:8; 8:3, 4]
• 13. 1:10 [Lev. 16:17]
• 14. 1:11 Ex. 30:1-10; 40:26, 27
• 15. 1:12 Acts 19:17
• 16. 1:13 [Acts 10:4, 31]
• 17. 1:13 ver. 60, 63
• 18. 1:14 [ver. 58]
• 19. 1:15 ch. 7:28; Matt. 11:11
• 20. 1:15 ch. 7:33; Num. 6:3; Judg. 13:4, 7, 14; Matt. 11:18
• 21. 1:15 [Acts 2:15, 17; Eph. 5:18]
• 22. 1:15 [Acts 2:15, 17; Eph. 5:18]
• 23. 1:15 ver. 41, 67; See Acts 2:4
• 24. 1:15 Isa. 49:1, 5; Jer. 1:5; Gal. 1:15
• 25. 1:17 ver. 76; John 3:28
• 26. 1:17 See Matt. 11:14
• 27. 1:17 Cited from Mal. 4:6
• 28. 1:17 Rom. 10:21
• 29. 1:17 ch. 7:27; Mal. 3:1; Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2
• 30. 1:18 Gen. 15:8; [Gen. 17:17]
• 31. 1:19 ver. 26; Dan. 8:16; 9:21
• 32. 1:19 Rev. 8:2; [1 Kgs. 17:1; Job 1:6; Isa. 63:9; Matt. 18:10]
• 33. 1:20 [Ezek. 3:26; 24:27]
• 34. 1:21 See ver. 9
• 35. 1:22 [See ver. 21 above]
• 36. 1:22 ver. 62
• 37. 1:23 2 Chr. 23:8; [ver. 8; 2 Kgs. 11:5; 1 Chr. 9:25]
• 38. 1:23 Heb. 10:11
• 39. 1:25 [Gen. 30:23; 1 Sam. 1:6; Ps. 113:9; Isa. 4:1]
• 40. 1:26 ver. 19
• 41. 1:26 See Matt. 2:23
• 42. 1:27 Matt. 1:16, 18
• 43. 1:27 ch. 2:4; Matt. 1:20
• 44. 1:28 [Ps. 45:2; Dan. 9:23]
• 45. 1:28 Judg. 6:12
• 46. 1:29 See ver. 12
• 47. 1:30 Acts 7:46
• 48. 1:31 Isa. 7:14
• 49. 1:31 ch. 2:21; Matt. 1:21, 25
• 50. 1:32 ver. 76; ch. 6:35; Acts 7:48; See Mark 5:7
• 51. 1:32 ver. 69; 2 Sam. 7:11-13, 16; Ps. 89:4; 132:11; Isa. 9:6, 7; 16:5; Acts 2:30; [Rev. 3:7]
• 52. 1:32 See Matt. 1:1
• 53. 1:33 Dan. 2:44; 7:14, 18, 27; Heb. 1:8; Rev. 11:15; [John 12:34]
• 54. 1:35 Matt. 1:18, 20
• 55. 1:35 [See ver. 32 above]
• 56. 1:35 John 6:69
• 57. 1:35 See Matt. 14:33
• 58. 1:36 ver. 7
• 59. 1:37 Cited from Gen. 18:14 (Gk.); See Matt. 19:26
• 60. 1:38 [Judg. 6:21; Acts 12:10]
• 61. 1:39 ver. 65; Josh. 20:7; 21:11
• 62. 1:41 ver. 15, 67
• 63. 1:42 [Judg. 5:24]
• 64. 1:42 [Deut. 28:4]
• 65. 1:42 Ps. 127:3
• 66. 1:43 ch. 20:42; John 20:28; [ch. 2:11]
• 67. 1:45 John 20:29; [ver. 20]
• 68. 1:46 For ver. 46-53, [1 Sam. 2:1-10]
• 69. 1:46 1 Thess. 5:23
• 70. 1:46 Ps. 34:2, 3; 69:30; Acts 10:46; 19:17
• 71. 1:47 Ps. 35:9; Isa. 61:10; Hab. 3:18; [Acts 16:34]
• 72. 1:47 [See ver. 46 above]
• 73. 1:47 Ps. 106:21; 1 Tim. 1:1; 2:3; Titus 1:3; 2:10; 3:4; Jude 25; [2 Tim. 1:9]
• 74. 1:48 1 Sam. 1:11; Ps. 138:6; [ch. 9:38]
• 75. 1:48 ch. 11:27; Ps. 72:17; [Mal. 3:12]
• 76. 1:49 Ps. 89:8; Zeph. 3:17
• 77. 1:49 Ps. 71:19; 126:2, 3
• 78. 1:49 Ps. 99:3; 111:9; Isa. 57:15
• 79. 1:50 Deut. 5:10; 7:9; Ps. 89:1, 2; 103:17
• 80. 1:51 Ps. 89:10; 98:1; 118:16; Isa. 51:9
• 81. 1:51 Dan. 4:37; See James 4:6
• 82. 1:52 [See ver. 51 above]
• 83. 1:52 Job 5:11; Ps. 75:7; 107:40, 41; 113:7, 8; 147:6; Ezek. 21:26; [James 4:10]
• 84. 1:53 Ps. 34:10; 107:9; [ch. 6:21, 24, 25]
• 85. 1:53 Job 22:9
• 86. 1:54 Isa. 41:8, 9; Heb. 2:16
• 87. 1:54 Isa. 44:21; 49:3
• 88. 1:54 Ps. 98:3; Mic. 7:20; [ver. 72, 73]
• 89. 1:55 Gen. 17:19; Ps. 132:11; Gal. 3:16
• 90. 1:55 [See ver. 54 above]

Footnotes

• [a] 1:5 Greek 'Zacharias'
• [b] 1:27 That is, legally pledged to be married
• [c] 1:28 Some manuscripts add 'Blessed are you among women!'
• [d] 1:34 Greek 'since I do not know a man'
• [e] 1:35 Some manuscripts add 'of you'
• [f] 1:38 Greek 'bondservant'; also verse 48
• [g] 1:45 Or 'believed, for there will be'