Discovery BoxLuke 1:13 
Context1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, 1 and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; you 2 will name him John. 3
Luke 1:18
Context1:18 Zechariah 4 said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? 5 For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well.” 6
1 tn The passive means that the prayer was heard by God.
sn Your prayer has been heard. Zechariah’s prayer while offering the sacrifice would have been for the nation, but the answer to the prayer also gave them a long hoped-for child, a hope they had abandoned because of their old age.
2 tn Grk “a son, and you”; καί (kai) has not been translated. Instead a semicolon is used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Grk “you will call his name John.” The future tense here functions like a command (see ExSyn 569-70). This same construction occurs in v. 31.
sn “Do not be afraid…you must call his name John.” This is a standard birth announcement (see Gen 16:11; Isa 7:14; Matt 1:21; Luke 1:31).
4 tn Grk “And Zechariah.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
5 tn Grk “How will I know this?”
6 tn Grk “is advanced in days” (an idiom for old age).
