And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on 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.
- BSB Just then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at 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 40:26–27And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail:
- Acts 10:3–4He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
- Judg 13:3And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
- Rev 9:13And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
- Judg 13:9And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.
- Heb 1:14Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
- Exod 30:1–10And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.
- Luke 1:28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
- Luke 1:19And 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.
- Lev 16:13And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:
- Luke 2:10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
- Exod 37:25–29And he made the incense altar of shittim wood: the length of it was a cubit, and the breadth of it a cubit; it was foursquare; and two cubits was the height of it; the horns thereof were of the same.
- Acts 5:19But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
- Rev 8:3–4And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was 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.