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 1:61-63
Context1:61 They 4 said to her, “But 5 none of your relatives bears this name.” 6 1:62 So 7 they made signs to the baby’s 8 father, 9 inquiring what he wanted to name his son. 10 1:63 He 11 asked for a writing tablet 12 and wrote, 13 “His name is John.” And they were all amazed. 14
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 they.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
5 tn The word “but” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Grk “There is no one from your relatives who is called by this name.”
7 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action described.
8 tn Grk “his”; the referent (the baby) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 sn The crowd was sure there had been a mistake, so they appealed to the child’s father. But custom was not to be followed here, since God had spoken. The fact they needed to signal him (made signs) shows that he was deaf as well as unable to speak.
10 tn Grk “what he might wish to call him.”
11 tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
12 sn The writing tablet requested by Zechariah would have been a wax tablet.
13 tn Grk “and wrote, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant is English and has not been translated.
14 sn The response, they were all amazed, expresses a mixture of surprise and reflection in this setting where they were so certain of what the child’s name would be.
