¹ sn That is, to Zechariah.

² sn On the phrase greatly troubled see 1:12. Mary’s reaction was like Zechariah’s response.

³ sn Zechariah’s division would be on duty twice a year for a week at a time.

¹ sn Now Zechariah describes his son John (you, child) through v. 77.

² sn The writing tablet requested by Zechariah would have been a wax tablet.

² tn Grk “his”; the referent (Zechariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn Do not be afraid. See 1:13 for a similar statement to Zechariah.

² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Zechariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Aram “and Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo the prophet.”

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Zechariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹ tn Grk “And Zechariah.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² sn It is not clear which Zechariah is meant here. It is probably the person mentioned in 2 Chr 24:20-25.

² sn Jesus’ parents obeyed the angel as Zechariah and Elizabeth had (1:57-66). These events are taking place very much under God’s direction.

³ 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.

³ tn That is, “he had had a supernatural encounter in the holy place,” since the angel came to Zechariah by the altar. This was not just a “mental experience.”

¹ sn The speaker (Zechariah) represents the Lord, who here is asking what his service as faithful shepherd has been worth in the opinion of his people Israel.

³ sn Both Ezra (5:1; 6:14) and Nehemiah (12:16) speak of Zechariah as a son of Iddo only. A probable explanation is that Zechariah’s actual father Berechiah had died and the prophet was raised by his grandfather Iddo. The “Zechariah son of Barachiah” of whom Jesus spoke (Matt 23:35; Luke 11:51) was probably the martyred prophet by that name who may have been a grandson of the priest Jehoiada (2 Chr 24:20-22).

³ sn The mention of both mouth and tongue here is a figure called zeugma and emphasizes that the end of the temporary judgment came instantly and fully upon Zechariah’s expression of faith in naming the child. He had learned to trust and obey God during his short period of silence. He had learned from his trial.

¹ 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.

¹ sn These are the scattered Jews of eschatological times (as the expression four winds of heaven makes clear) and not those of Zechariah’s time who have, for the most part, already returned by 520 b.c. This theme continues and is reinforced in vv. 10-13.