Lukas 1:5

Birth Announcement of John the Baptist

1:5 During the reign ¹  of Herod ²  king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to ³  the priestly division of Abijah, ⁴  and he had a wife named Elizabeth, ⁵  who was a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ 

Lukas 1:36

1:36 “And look, ⁷  your relative ⁸  Elizabeth has also become pregnant with ⁹  a son in her old age – although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! ¹⁰ 

[1:5]  ¹ tn Grk “It happened that in the days.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[1:5]  ² sn Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37 b.c. until he died in 4 b.c. He was known for his extensive building projects (including the temple in Jerusalem) and for his cruelty.

[1:5]  ³ tn Grk “of”; but the meaning of the preposition ἐκ (ek) is more accurately expressed in contemporary English by the relative clause “who belonged to.”

[1:5]  ⁴ sn There were twenty-four divisions of priesthood and the priestly division of Abijah was eighth on the list according to 1 Chr 24:10.

[1:5]  ⁵ tn Grk “and her name was Elizabeth.”

[1:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “a wife of the daughters of Aaron.”

[1:5]  sn It was not unusual for a priest to have a wife from a priestly family (a descendant of Aaron); this was regarded as a special blessing.

[1:36]  ⁷ tn Grk “behold.”

[1:36]  ⁸ tn Some translations render the word συγγενίς (sungeni") as “cousin” (so Phillips) but the term is not necessarily this specific.

[1:36]  ⁹ tn Or “has conceived.”

[1:36]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren.” Yet another note on Elizabeth’s loss of reproach also becomes a sign of the truth of the angel’s declaration.