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 1:20
Context1:20 And now, 4 because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, 5 you will be silent, unable to speak, 6 until the day these things take place.”
Luke 1:36
Context1:36 “And look, 7 your relative 8 Elizabeth has also become pregnant with 9 a son in her old age – although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! 10
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 “behold.”
5 sn The predicted fulfillment in the expression my words, which will be fulfilled in their time takes place in Luke 1:63-66.
6 sn Silent, unable to speak. Actually Zechariah was deaf and mute as 1:61-63 indicates, since others had to use gestures to communicate with him.
7 tn Grk “behold.”
8 tn Some translations render the word συγγενίς (sungeni") as “cousin” (so Phillips) but the term is not necessarily this specific.
9 tn Or “has conceived.”
10 tn Grk “and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren.” Yet another note on Elizabeth’s loss of reproach also becomes a sign of the truth of the angel’s declaration.
