Luke 1:11

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

Luke 1:11 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
English Standard Version (ESV)
11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
New Living Translation (NLT)
11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.
The Message Bible (MSG)
11 Unannounced, an angel of God appeared just to the right of the altar of incense.
American Standard Version (ASV)
11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of altar of incense.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
11 Then, to the right of the incense altar, an angel of the Lord appeared to him.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
11 An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah. The angel was standing at the right side of the incense altar.

Luke 1:11 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 1:11

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord
Gabriel, as seem's manifest from ( Luke 1:19 Luke 1:26 Luke 1:36 ) 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 their priests, at such times, and in such places:

``it is a tradition that R. Ishmael ben Elishah should say, one time I went in, (trjq ryjqhl) , "to burn incense": and I saw Actariel (one of the names of God with them) the Lord, the Lord of hosts, who was sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. F13''

And so they say of Simeon the just, that there was always an appearance when he went into the holy of holies; it is related thus F14:

``Simeon the just, ministered unto Israel in the high priesthood, forty years; and in the last year, he said to them, I shall die this year: they said to him, from whence dost thou know it? He replied to them, every year that I have entered into the holy of holies, there was, (dxa Nqz) , "one old man" clothed in white, and veiled in white, that went in with me, and came out with me; and this year he went in with me, but did not come out with me.''

And according to Josephus F15, the high priest Hyrcanus received an oracle, or answer from God, as he was offering incense; so that the Jews ought not to discredit such an appearance to Zacharias:

standing on the right side of the altar of incense;
of which, see ( Exodus 30:1-10 ) ( 35:25-28 ) the situation of it, according to the Jews, was this F16:

``the table (of showbread) was in the north, two cubits and a half distant from the wall; and the candlestick was in the south, two cubits and a half distant from the wall; and the altar (of incense) was in the middle, and stood between them.''

And to

``this agrees the account of Maimonides F17, who says, the candlestick was on the south, on the left hand, as you go in; and the table of shewbread on the right hand, and both of them on the side of the holy of holies without; and the altar of incense was between them both without.''

So that it was on the north side that the angel stood.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 T. Bab. Berncot, fol. 7. 1.
F14 T. Hieros. Yoma, fol. 42. 3.
F15 De Bello Jud. l. 13. c. 18.
F16 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 33. 2.
F17 Hilch. Beth Habbechira, c. 1. sect. 7.

Luke 1:11 In-Context

9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.
13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.

Cross References 2

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