Lukas 1:22

22 And when he came out, he was illem (mute) and not able to speak to them, and they had daas that he had seen a chazon in the Heikhal. He kept motioning to them and he remained illem.

Lukas 1:22 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 1:22

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 of his lips; for the signs of a dumb man are distinguished into (hzymr) , and (huypq) ^F17; the one is a sign which is expressed by the head and hands; and the other is a sign expressed by the lips: hence that rule, ^F18

``a dumb man beckons, and is beckoned to; and Ben Bethira says, he moves his lips, and lips are moved to him:''

and remained speechless; to the time the angel fixed.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Bartenora in Misa. Gittin, c. 5. sect. 7.
F18 Misn. ib.

Lukas 1:22 In-Context

20 And hinei! You will be illem (mute) and not be able to speak, until the yom (day) when these things come to pass, because you did not have emunah in my dvarim (words), which will be fulfilled in their time. [SHEMOT 4:11; YECHEZKEL 3:26]

21 And the people were expecting Zecharyah and they were bewildered at his delay in the Beis HaMikdash.

22 And when he came out, he was illem (mute) and not able to speak to them, and they had daas that he had seen a chazon in the Heikhal. He kept motioning to them and he remained illem.

23 And it came about as the yamim of his sherut (service in the Beis HaMikdash) as a kohen were fulfilled, he went to his bais (house).

24 And after these yamim, Elisheva, his isha, became with child, and she kept herself in hitbodedut for chamesh chodashim, saying,