“How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Zacharias said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
- KJV And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
- NKJV And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
- NASB Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her years.”
- NLT Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”
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 asks for proof, citing his and Elizabeth's old age. He responds with doubt rather than faith.
Overview
Zacharias requests a sign because the promise seems impossible given their age. His question echoes Abraham's situation but reflects unbelief rather than trust. His doubt invites the discipline that follows and contrasts with Mary's later faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gen 18:12So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
- Gen 17:17Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”
- Isa 38:22And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?”
- Luke 1:7But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.
- Luke 1:34“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
- 2 Kgs 7:2But the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” replied Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it.”
- Rom 4:19Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.
- Judg 6:36–40Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said,
- Gen 15:8But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”
- Num 11:21–23But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’
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 1:18 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
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