And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken 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.”
- BSB “How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “I am an old man, and my wife is well along 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 18:12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
- Gen 17:17Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
- Isa 38:22Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?
- Luke 1:7And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
- Luke 1:34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
- 2 Kgs 7:2Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
- Rom 4:19And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:
- Judg 6:36–40And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
- Gen 15:8And he said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
- Num 11:21–23And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.
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 1:18 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
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.