Just then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
Parallel translations
- WEB An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
- KJV And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
- NKJV Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
- NASB Now an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
- NLT While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
An angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Zacharias by the altar of incense. God breaks his long silence with a heavenly messenger.
Overview
After centuries with no recorded prophetic word, an angel appears, signaling that God is acting decisively in redemptive history. The angel stands at the place of prayer and atonement imagery. This dramatic appearance announces that the time of fulfillment has arrived.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Exod 40:26–27Moses placed the gold altar in the Tent of Meeting, in front of the veil,
- Acts 10:3–4One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
- Judg 13:3The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son.
- Rev 9:13Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God
- Judg 13:9And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.
- Heb 1:14Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
- Exod 30:1–10“You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense.
- Luke 1:28The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
- Luke 1:19“I am Gabriel,” replied the angel. “I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
- Lev 16:13He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony, so that he will not die.
- Luke 2:10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:
- Exod 37:25–29He made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns were of one piece.
- Acts 5:19But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out, saying,
- Rev 8:3–4Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 1:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.