Luke 1:18

18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years*.

Luke 1:18 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 1:18

And Zacharias said unto the angel, whereby shall I know
this?
&c.] Notwithstanding such an appearance of an angel to him, which in those times was not so usual, and this in the holy place; and the things themselves which were told him, and these as the return of prayer; yet he distrusted, and wanted a sign, whereby he might know the truth of them, as the Jews were generally desirous of, and as the father of them was; who expressed himself in much such language, on a certain occasion, as this his son did; see ( Genesis 15:8 ) .

For I am an old man;
at least sixty years of age; for with the Jews, sixty years were reckoned, (hnqzl) , "for old age" ^F23; and a man of these years, was accounted an old man: and the Jewish Rabbins observe ^F24, that the word for old age in ( Job 30:2 ) is by "gematry, sixty"; that is, the letters of the word, numerically make so much. The Mahometan writers, as before observed on ( Luke 1:7 ) make him to be ninety nine years of age: he was not discharged from service; the Levites were at fifty, but not the priests; blemishes, as the Jewish writers say ^F25, made them unfit for service, but years did not: and even the law concerning the Levites, they say ^F26, only respected the time they carried the sanctuary from place to place, and not future generations; and that they are disqualified neither by blemishes, nor by years, only by voice, for singing of the song; but then they might be among the porters; so that they were not on that account laid aside from all service:

and my wife well stricken in years.
The Mahometan writers, as before, say, she was "eighty nine"; a like objection Abraham made, though he afterwards got over it, and was strong in faith, giving glory to God, believing in his power and faithfulness; see ( Genesis 17:17 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Misn. Abot, c. 5. sect. 21. & Maimon. in ib.
F24 R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 24. 2.
F25 T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 24. 1.
F26 Maimon. Hilch. Cele Hamikdash, c. 3. sect. 8.

Luke 1:18 In-Context

16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.