And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
- BSB When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear.
- NKJV And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
- NASB Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.
- NLT Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him.
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
Zacharias was startled and gripped with fear at the sight. Encountering the holy provokes awe.
Overview
Fear is a common human response to angelic and divine encounters throughout Scripture. Zacharias' reaction underscores the reality and weight of the moment. God graciously meets such fear with reassurance, as the next verse shows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Judg 13:22And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
- Judg 6:22And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O LORD God! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.
- Acts 10:4And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
- Luke 2:9–10And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
- Rev 1:17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
- Dan 10:7And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
- Mark 16:5And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
- Luke 1:29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
- Job 4:14–15Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 1:12 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.