Verse 59
On the eighth day they came to circumcise - See an account of this institution in the note on [Gen 17:10-14] (note). Had circumcision been essential to an infant's salvation, God would not have ordered it to be delayed to the eighth day, because, in all countries, multitudes die before they arrive at that age. Baptism, which is generally allowed to have been substituted for circumcision, is no more necessary to the salvation of an infant than circumcision was. Both are signs of the covenant - circumcision, of the putting away the impurity of the flesh; and baptism, of the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, producing the answer of a good conscience towards God. Confer [1Pet 3:21], with [Tit 3:5]. This should never be neglected: it is a sign and token of the spiritual grace.
They called him Zacharias - Among the Jews, the child was named when it was circumcised, and ordinarily the name of the father was given to the first-born son.
Verse 60
Not so; but he shall be called John - This is the name which the angel desired should be given him, [Luk 1:13], and of which Zacharias by writing had informed his wife. There is something very remarkable in the names of this family. Zachariah, זכריהו the memory or memorial of Jehovah; יהו yeho, at the end of the word, being contracted for יהוה Yehovah, as in many other names. Elisabeth, אליסבה the Sabbath or rest of my strong God: names probably given them by their parents, to point out some remarkable circumstance in their conception or birth. And John, which should always be written Jehochanan or Yehochanan, יהוחנן the grace or mercy of Jehovah: so named, because he was to go before and proclaim the God of all grace, and the mercy granted through him to a lost world. See [Joh 1:29]; see also [Luk 3:16], and [Mar 1:4].
Verse 61
None of thy kindred - As the Jewish tribes and families were kept sacredly distinct, it appears the very names of the ancestors were continued among their descendants, partly through reverence for them, and partly to avoid confusion in the genealogical tables, which, for the sake of distinguishing the inheritances, were carefully preserved in each of the families. It seems to be on this account that the neighbors and relatives objected to a name which had not before existed in any branch of the family.
Verse 62
They made signs to his father - Who, it appears from this, was deaf as well as dumb; otherwise they might have asked him, and obtained his answer in this way.
Verse 63
A writing table - Πινακιδιον, a tablet, a diminutive of πιναξ, a table. "The boys in Barbary are taught to write upon a smooth thin board, slightly daubed over with whiting, which may be rubbed off or renewed at pleasure. Such probably (for the Jewish children use the same) was the little board, or writing table, as we render it [Luk 1:63], that was called for by Zacharias." Shaw's Travels, p. 194. My old MS. considers the word as meaning the instrument of writing, rather than the tablet on which he wrote: and he aringe a poyntel, wroot seyinge, Joon is his name.
A thin board, made out of the pine tree, smeared over with wax, was used among the ancients; and to this the Anglo-Saxon version seems to refer, as it translates πινακιδιον, a wax board or cloth.
An intelligent friend has suggested a different mode of reading the 62nd and 63rd verses: [Luk 1:62]. And they asked his father how he would have him called? [Luk 1:63]. And he made signs for a writing table and wrote, His name is John: "For," says my friend, "the 64th verse proves his mouth was not opened, neither his tongue loosed, till after the child was named; therefore he could not ask for the table; and it is more reasonable that he, being dumb, should make signs, than that those should who had the use of their tongues." But, howsoever ingenious this may be, neither the words of the Greek text, nor their construction, will bear this version.
Verse 64
The latter clause of the preceding verse should be joined with the beginning of this, as follows: And they marveled all, for his mouth was opened, etc. Every person must see the propriety of putting this clause, And they marveled all, to the beginning of the 64th verse, instead of leaving it at the end of the 63rd, as in the common version. The people did not wonder because Zacharias said, He shall be called John; but because he himself was that instant restored to the use of his speech.
And he spake, and praised God - In his nine months' silence, he had learned the proper use of his tongue; and God, whose power was discredited by it, is now magnified. Happy they who, in religious matters, only break silence in order to speak of the loving-kindness of the Lord!
Verse 65
And fear came - Seeing what they might have thought a paralytic affection so suddenly and effectually healed. Φοβος - This word certainly means in several places, religious fear or reverence; and in this sense it is used [Act 9:31]; [Rom 3:18]; [Rom 13:7]; [1Pet 1:17]; [1Pet 2:18]; [1Pet 3:2]. The meaning of it here is plainly this: The inhabitants of Hebron and its environs, who were well acquainted with the circumstances of Zacharias and Elisabeth, perceived that God had in a remarkable manner visited them; and this begot in their minds a more than ordinary reverence for the Supreme Being. Thus the salvation of one often becomes an instrument of good to the souls of many. The inhabitants of this hill country seem to have been an open, honest-hearted, generous people; who were easily led to acknowledge the interposition of God, and to rejoice in the comfort and welfare of each other. The people of the country are more remarkable for these qualities than those in towns and cities. The latter, through that evil communication which corrupts good manners, are generally profligate, selfish, regardless of God, and inattentive to the operation of his hands.
Verse 66
What manner of child shall this be! - As there have been so many extraordinary things in his conception and birth, surely God has designed him for some extraordinary purpose. These things they laid up in their heart, patiently waiting to see what God would work.
The hand of the Lord was with him - God defended and prospered him in all things, and the prophetic spirit began to rest upon him.
Verse 67
Zacharias - prophesied - The word prophesy is to be taken here in its proper acceptation, for the predicting or foretelling future events.
Zacharias speaks, not only of what God had already done, but also of what he was about to do, in order to save a lost world.
Verse 68
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for, etc. - Zacharias praises God for two grand benefits which he had granted to his people. 1. He has visited them. 2. He has ransomed them.
1. He speaks by the spirit of prophecy, which calls things that are not, as though they were; because they are absolutely determined by the Most High, and shall be all fulfilled in their season. God visits his people in the incarnation of Jesus Christ; therefore this Christ is called by him, Κυριος ὁ Θεος, Jehovah the God of Israel. Here the highest and most glorious character of the Supreme Being is given to Christ.
2. This God redeems his people: it is for this end that he visits them. His soul is about to be made a sacrifice for sin: he becomes flesh, that he may suffer and die for the sin of the world. God, by taking upon him the nature of man, has redeemed that nature from eternal ruin.
He hath - redeemed - Εποιησε λυτρωσιν, he hath made a ransom - laid down the ransom price. Λυτροω signifies particularly to ransom a captive from the enemy, by paying a price. The following remarkable passage from Josephus, Ant. b. xiv. c. 14, sect. 1, fully illustrates this meaning of the original. "Herod, not knowing what had happened to his brother, hastened λυτρωσασθαι, to ransom him from the enemy, and was willing to pay λυτρον ὑπερ αυτου, a ransom for him, to the amount of three hundred talents." Sinners are fallen into the hands of their enemies, and are captives to sin and death. Jesus ransoms them by his own blood, and restores them to life, liberty, and happiness. This truth the whole Bible teaches: this truth God has shown in certain measures, even to those nations who have not been favored with the light of his written word: for Christ is that true light, which enlightens every man that cometh into the world.
How astonishing is the following invocation of the Supreme Being, (translated from the original Sanscreet by Dr. C. Wilkins), still existing on a stone, in a cave near she ancient city of Gya, in the East Indies! "The Deity, who is the Lord, the possessor of all, appeared in this ocean of natural beings, at the beginning of the Kalee Yoog (the age of contention and baseness). He who is omnipresent and everlastingly to be contemplated, the Supreme Being, the Eternal One, the Divinity worthy to be adored - Appeared here with a Portion of his Divine Nature. Reverence be unto thee in the form of (a) Bood-dha! Reverence be unto the Lord of the earth! Reverence be unto thee, an Incarnation of the Deity, and the Eternal One! Reverence be unto thee, O God, in the form of the God of mercy; the dispeller of pain and trouble, the Lord of all things, the Deity who overcometh the sins of the Kalee Yoog; the guardian of the universe, the emblem of mercy toward those who serve thee - (b) O'M! the possessor of all things in Vital Form! Thou art (c) Brahma, Veeshnoo, and Mahesa! Thou art Lord of the universe! Thou art under the form of all things, movable and immovable, the possessor of the whole! and thus I adore thee. Reverence be unto the Bestower Of Salvation, and the Ruler of the faculties! Reverence be unto thee, the Destroyer of the Evil Spirit! O Damordara, (d) show me favor! I adore thee, who art celebrated by a thousand names, and under various forms, in the shape of Bood-dha, the God of Mercy! Be propitious, O Most High God!" - Asiatic Researches, vol. i. pp. 284, 285. (a) Bood-dha. The name of the Deity, as author of happiness. (b) O'M. A mystic emblem of the Deity, forbidden to be pronounced but in silence. It is a syllable formed of the Sanscreet letters a, o o, which in composition coalesce, and make o, and the nasal consonant m. The first letter stands for the Creator, the second for the Preserver and the third for the Destroyer. It is the same among the Hindoos as יהוה Yehovah is among the Hebrews. (c) Brahma, the Deity in his creative quality. Veeshnoo, he who filleth all space, the Deity in his preserving quality. Mahesa, the Deity in his destroying quality. This is properly the Hindoo Trinity: for these three names belong to the same Being. See the notes to the Bhagvat Geeta. (d) Damordara, or Darmadeve, the Indian God of Virtue.
Verse 69
And hath raised up a horn of salvation - That is, a mighty and glorious Savior: a quotation from [Psa 18:2]. Horns are the well known emblems of strength, glory, and power, both in the sacred and profane writers, because the strength and beauty of horned animals consist in their horns. Horns have also been considered as emblems of light; therefore the heathen god Apollo is represented with horns, to point out the power, glory, and excellence of the solar light. The Chaldee paraphrast sometimes translates קרן keren, horn, by מלכות malcuth, or מלכותא malcutha, [1Sam 2:10]; [Jer 48:25], which signify a kingdom: but it is likely that the allusion is here made to the horns of the altar; and as the altar was a place of refuge and safety, and those who laid hold on its horns were considered to be under the protection of the Lord, so, according to the expression of Zacharias, Jesus Christ is a new altar, to which whosoever flees shall find refuge.
Some imagine that this form of speech is taken from the custom of ancient warriors, who had a horn of steel on the top of their helmets, which ordinarily lay flat, till the person came victorious from battle, and then it was erected, as emblematical of the victory gained. Such a horn as this is represented on the helmet of the Abyssinian kings and warriors: see the plates in Bruce's Travels. To this custom of wearing or lifting up the horn, the following scriptures are thought to allude: [1Sam 2:10]; [Psa 112:9]; [Psa 148:4]; [Lam 2:17]. In ancient gems and coins, this form of the horn on helmets is easily discernible, sometimes flat, sometimes erected. A horn, filled with various fruits, was also the emblem of abundance among the ancients: hence their cornu copia, or horn of plenty. From all this we may learn that the Lord Jesus gives a luminous, powerful, prevalent, glorious, and abundant Salvation or Refuge to mankind.
In the house of his servant David - Or, in the family: so the word οικος, house, is often used in the Sacred Writings. In [Luk 1:32], the angel states that Mary was of the family of David; and Zacharias, who, from the nature of his office, must have been well acquainted with the public genealogical tables, attests the same thing. This is a matter of considerable importance; because it shows forth the truth of all the prophetic declarations, which uniformly state that the Messiah should come from the family and sit on the throne of David.
Verse 71
That we should be saved (literally, a salvation) from our enemies - As Zacharias spoke by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the salvation which he mentions here must necessarily be understood in a spiritual sense. Satan, death, and sin are the enemies from whom Jesus came to deliver us. Sin is the most dangerous of all, and is properly the only enemy we have to fear. Satan is without us, and can have no power over us, but what he gets through sin. Death is only in our flesh, and shall be finally destroyed (as it affects us) on the morning of the resurrection.
Jesus redeems from sin; this is the grand, the glorious, the important victory. Let us get sin cast out, and then we need, fear neither death, nor the devil.
Verse 72
His holy covenant - See the note on [Luk 1:54].
Verse 74
Being delivered, etc. - The salvation brought by Jesus Christ, consists in the following things: -
1. We are to be delivered out of the hand of our enemies, and from all that hate us; so that sin shall neither have dominion over us, nor existence in us.
2. We are to worship God, λατρευειν, to render him that service and adoration which the letter and spirit of his religion require.
3. Ye are to live in holiness, a strict inward conformity to the mind of Christ - and righteousness, a full outward conformity to the precepts of the Gospel.
4. This is to be done before God, under the continual influence and support of his grace, and with a constant evidence of his presence and approbation.
5. This state is a state of true happiness - it is without fear. Sin is all cast out, holiness is brought in; God's power upholds, and his approbation cheers and comforts, the believing heart. Thus misery is precluded, and happiness established.