Luke 1:5

Birth Announcement of John the Baptist

1:5 During the reign ¹  of Herod ²  king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to ³  the priestly division of Abijah, ⁴  and he had a wife named Elizabeth, ⁵  who was a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ 

Luke 2:4

2:4 So ⁷  Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth ⁸  in Galilee to Judea, to the city ⁹  of David called Bethlehem, ¹⁰  because he was of the house ¹¹  and family line ¹²  of David.

Luke 21:21

21:21 Then those who are in Judea must flee ¹³  to the mountains. Those ¹⁴  who are inside the city must depart. Those ¹⁵  who are out in the country must not enter it,

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¹ tn Grk “It happened that in the days.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

² sn Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37 b.c. until he died in 4 b.c. He was known for his extensive building projects (including the temple in Jerusalem) and for his cruelty.

³ tn Grk “of”; but the meaning of the preposition ἐκ (ek) is more accurately expressed in contemporary English by the relative clause “who belonged to.”

⁴ sn There were twenty-four divisions of priesthood and the priestly division of Abijah was eighth on the list according to 1 Chr 24:10.

⁵ tn Grk “and her name was Elizabeth.”

⁶ tn Grk “a wife of the daughters of Aaron.”

sn It was not unusual for a priest to have a wife from a priestly family (a descendant of Aaron); this was regarded as a special blessing.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action.

⁸ sn On Nazareth see Luke 1:26.

map For location see Map1-D3; Map2-C2; Map3-D5; Map4-C1; Map5-G3.

⁹ tn Or “town.” The translation “city” is used here because of its collocation with “of David,” suggesting its importance, though not its size.

¹⁰ sn The journey from Nazareth to the city of David called Bethlehem was a journey of about 90 mi (150 km). Bethlehem was a small village located about 7 miles south-southwest of Jerusalem.

map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.

¹¹ sn Luke’s use of the term “house” probably alludes to the original promise made to David outlined in the Nathan oracle of 2 Sam 7:12-16, especially in light of earlier connections between Jesus and David made in Luke 1:32. Further, the mention of Bethlehem reminds one of the promise of Mic 5:2, namely, that a great king would emerge from Bethlehem to rule over God’s people.

¹² tn Or “family,” “lineage.”

¹³ sn Fleeing to the mountains is a key OT image: Gen 19:17; Judg 6:2; Isa 15:5; Jer 16:16; Zech 14:5.

¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.