gladness, and many shall rejoice at | sight of the Lord, and shall drink his birth. neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the 15 For he shall be great in the of John were such, that not only his parents, but many others, had occasion to rejoice that he had been born; in other words, that he lived. His personal labors, in preaching repentance and inducing men to break off their sins by righteousness, were highly beneficial. His testimony concerning the Messiah was productive of joy and consolation to men. Therefore should they rejoice. The meaning of the whole verse may be thus expressed :-Thou shalt rejoice, and many others also shall rejoice, in this thy son; for he shall not only be a blessing to you, but a blessing to mankind, to the world at large. "Some forbidden; or, in other words, that the prohibition extends to intoxicating drinks, and to those which are liable to become such. The word rendered strong drink is sikera, (oixega) from which some derive the word cider. think that by this name was meant a liquor made of dates, the fruit of the palm tree, a drink much used in the East. But I see no reason for confining the term to this signification. The word is Hebrew, shecher, and has been retained by the Seventy interpreters in those passages where the law of the Nazarites is laid down, and in the rules to be observed by the priests, when it 15. Great in the sight of the Lord. should be their turn to officiate in the That is, truly eminent. Many are temple. The Hebrew root signifies to great in the sight of men, who lack the inebriate or make drunk. All fermented moral qualities of true greatness. Such liquors, therefore, as being capable of men, however much applauded by their producing this effect, were understood fellows, cannot be accounted great when as implied in the term. Strong drink measured by the rule of righteousness. is not the meaning. It might be imBut such is the rule according to which possible by words to define intelligibly God judges the comparative greatness the precise degree of strength forbidof men; and by the same rule our Lord den, or for judges to ascertain the transhas instructed us to judge. 1 Sam.gression. For this reason, the proper xvi. 7; John vii. 24. According to this subject of positive law is kinds, not rule, John was great in the sight of the degrees in quality, whereof no standard Lord and of good men. He was virtu- can be assigned. For this reason, all ous himself, and he labored to make liquors, however weak, which had unothers virtuous. He did not hesitate dergone fermentation, were understood to rebuke iniquity even when decorated to be prohibited, both to the Nazarites with royal trappings; but, at the hazard and to the priests during the week and even the sacrifice of his life, bore wherein they officiated in the temple."a steady and unflinching testimony Campbell. In the foregoing note is sugagainst all unrighteousness and ungod-gested the true principle of temperance. liness. These traits in his character are noticed in the remainder of this annunciation, and fully developed in his character, as recorded in the scriptures. Wine nor strong drink. Wine is well understood to have been the juice of the grape; though many of the filthy and poisonous compounds, which now pass under that name, are destitute entirely of grape-juice. By the strong drink, some understand distilled liquors; but others deny that the Jews understood the process of distilling, and suppose fermented liquors to be intended. Pure wine, before fermentation, is not intoxicating; but by fermentation acquires this quality. Hence it is supposed that, by the prohibition against wine and strong drink, wine both new and old is It is idle to distinguish between different intoxicating drinks, as strong or weak, hurtful or innocent, dangerous or safe. The only safe course is to abstain utterly from any and all drinks which can intoxicate. Every prudent man will observe this rule as closely as if he were bound by the law of the Nazarite. If he depart from it, he does so at his peril, a fearful peril. A remark of Lightfoot deserves notice, for its quaintness, and for the hint it suggests, even though we do not admit the truth of his supposition. "Whilst I a little more narrowly consider that severe interdiction, by which the Nazarite was forbidden the total use of the vine, not only that he should not drink of the wine, but not so much as taste of the Holy Ghost, even from his mo- | Israel_shall he turn to the Lord ther's womb. their God. 16 And many of the children of grape, not the pulp nor stone of the grape, no, not the bark of the vine; I cannot but call to mind, whether the vine might not be the tree in paradise, that had been forbidden to Adam, by the tasting of which he sinned. The Jewish doctors positively affirm this without any scruple." One thing may be regarded as certain: that, since the days of Noah, scarcely any one cause has produced more sin and misery on earth, than the use of wine and other intoxicating drinks. Filled with the Holy Ghost, &c. That is, shall be under the special influence of a spirit of holiness, even from his birth. The event fully confirmed the prediction. From his earliest years, he practised righteousness, and labored with untiring energy and zeal to persuade others to do likewise. He was a chosen servant, appointed and fitted for a special duty; and the divine spirit guided and sustained him in its performance. 16. The character of John having been described in the former verse, in this and the succeeding his office and the results of his ministry are denoted. ¶ Children of Israel. One of the common names of the Jews; so designated on account of their descent from Jacob, otherwise called Israel, in distinction from the other posterity of Abraham. Shall he turn, &c. That is, by preaching repentance, by warning them of their danger, and persuading them to forsake their sins and to produce the fruits of righteousness. The manner in which he performed his task may be seen in Luke iii. 1-18. Similar forms of speech occur in Acts iii. 26; xxvi. 19, 20; 1 Thess. i. 9. 17. Go before him. "That is, shall go before God, or in his sight. As in verse 6, it is said that they were righteous before God; so verse 15; so Luke xii. 6. No reference is probably made to Christ."-Livermore. If by this be intended simply that the conduct of John should be manifest in the sight of God, or that his steps should be guided by him, I think the full meaning of the phrase is not exhibited; nor do I believe that a direct and pointed allusion to the Lord Jesus Christ can be properly excluded. That the phrase 17 And he shall go before him enopion autou, (èvάπιov avtoù,) here rendered before him, is to be understood like the similar phrases in verse 15, and Luke xii. 6, I do not deny. But the full force of the verb proeleusetai (noosvosta) is by no means expressed by the common translation, he shall go. This word conveys the idea of going before, or preceding, some other person or thing, in point of time or place. Besides this text, it occurs in Matt. xxvi. 39; Mark ví. 33; xiv. 35; Luke xxii. 47; Acts xii. 10; xx. 5, 13; 2 Cor. ix. 5; in all which cases, it has this meaning; and its use by the LXX. is the same. Hence, as is well observed by Wakefield, "the proper purport of the beginning of this verse is not at all conveyed in our version, and scarcely can be without a circumlocution. To be before God means here, as in ver. 15, and 19, to be in the character of a divine teacher or messenger; and in this character, John was to go before some other person." And that this other person was the Lord Jesus Christ appears evident from Malachi iv. 5, 6, to which this verse has a stronglymarked resemblance, compared with Matt. xi. 10-14; xvii. 10-13. The sense of the whole phrase seems to me to be this: "He shall go before (the Messiah) in the sight of God, in the spirit and power of Elias;" or, he shall go before, that is, precede, the Messiah as his appointed herald or precursor, before him, that is, before or in the sight of the Lord God, ver. 16, in the spirit and power of Elias. On the whole, it may be concluded, that, notwithstanding the word him does not refer to Jesus, yet there is an allusion to him as the Messiah whom John was to precede. And, on the other hand, though the word him undoubtedly does refer to the Lord God, it does not follow that Jesus is that Lord God; because John is announced as the precursor, not of him, (that is, of God,) but of some other person, in his sight or by his direction. To this long note, I will add only one remark: let the common translation be regarded as perfectly correct; let him mean Jesus, and at the same time refer to God or stand in the place of God; still it will not angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready 19 And the angel answering, a people prepared for the Lord. said unto him, I am Gabriel, that 18 And Zacharias said unto the stand in the presence of God; and follow that the Son is identical with principle of Christianity,-a spirit of the Father. Coming in his name and universal love. When men shall love by his authority, to execute his work, God with the whole heart, and shall it would be agreeable to Scripture usage love each other fervently and univerto speak of his precursor as going be- sally, the hearts of fathers and children fore God, inasmuch as he was the rep- shall be turned together and united resentative of God. Similar figures of effectually; and such love is inculspeech occur, Exo. xvi. 8; Acts v. 4. cated and required by the gospel, to On the same principle are founded the which John_called the attention of his declaration of our Lord, John xii. 44, brethren. And the disobedient, &c. 45, and his argument, John x. 30-33. "And, by the wisdom of the righteous, In the spirit and power of Elias. to render the disobedient a people wellPossessing a personal character and en- disposed for the Lord."-Campbell. dowed with powers, resembling those In the same rendering, substantially, of Elijah the prophet. John does not Pearce and others agree. According to seem to have exercised miraculous either version, the general idea is suffipowers, like Elijah. But in arousing ciently obvious. By the sacred writers, men from the lethargy of sin, exciting holiness is called wisdom; and inithem to repentance, and bearing an open quity, folly. By giving heed to the and manly testimony against iniquity, precepts of wisdom and obeying them, wherever it existed and by whomever thus forsaking sin and practising rightpractised, there was a striking simi-eousness, men would be prepared to larity between the two. To this similarity the succeeding words refer. See note on Matt. xi. 14. To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. The language of the prophet, to which this is similar, is somewhat more full "he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers." Mal. iv. 6. These words have been variously interpreted. Some prefer to translate, "to turn the hearts of the fathers with the 18. Whereby shall I know this? &c. children;" and thus to understand a The promised blessing appeared so imgeneral turning from evil. Others sup- probable, and so inconsistent with the pose particular allusion is made to the ordinary course of nature, that Zachadiscordant sects among the Jews, who rias doubted, and desired some evicherished a violent antipathy towards dence of the fact. He evidently had each other; and understand a general not prayed in faith for offspring; perreconciliation among them to be pre-haps he had only lamented his misfordicted. Others, again, imagine the Jews are denoted by the fathers, and the Gentiles, by the children; and understand that the enmity between them should be overcome, and they should together embrace the gospel. There may be somewhat of truth in each of these interpretations. But, in my judgment, we shall apprehend the meaning with 19. I am Gabriel. To remove the sufficient accuracy, without going into doubt of Zacharias, the angel first anparticular details, by supposing the al-nounced himself as a divine messenger, lusion to be to the grand fundamental and therefore entitled to implicit credit; enter that kingdom of the Lord which is "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Rom. xiv. 17. It was the office of John thus to prepare men for the Lord, or dispose them to receive him gladly. Accordingly he commenced his ministry by exhorting to reformation and to the breaking off of sin by righteousness, in view of the speedy approach of the Lord. Matt. iii. 2; Luke iii. 2-18. tune, while engaged in the devotions of the temple; at the least, he staggered at the promise, when made, and expressed doubts of its fulfilment, as did Sarah of old, Gen. xviii. 10-15. For his slowness of heart to believe, the sign which he demanded became a punishment to him, verse 20. am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 20 And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until and then, verse 20, foretold an event which should be at once a confirmation of the truth he had uttered, and a punishment for unbelief. Gabriel signifies "God is my strength, or, man of God, or, strength of God, or, my strong God." -Cruden. This angel is mentioned by name, Dan. viii. 16; ix. 21. See note on verse 11. That stand in the presence of God. The figure is taken from earthly courts, in which admission to the presence of royalty, and the privilege of rendering personal services to the ruler, are accounted highly honorable; inasmuch as free access is allowed only to such as have the confidence of the sovereign, and none but those whose loyalty is well approved are permitted to minister about his person. To stand in the presence of God, therefore, indicates that the individual was a faithful and trusty servant of God. And am sent, &c. It is represented as one of the peculiar employments of angels, to convey messages of kindness from God to men, or to execute his gracious purposes concerning them, thus ministering to the heirs of salvation. Heb. i. 14. The same idea is suggested, Matt. xviii. 10. It is certain that men are enabled to assist each other in acquiring knowledge and practising righteousness; and I see nothing unreasonable in the supposition, that angels may be thus employed on extraordinary occasions. In regard to their willingness to perform this service, the following remark of Barnes deserves notice; and, for its general sentiment, it is worthy to be written in letters of gold: "Holiness is the same as benevolence; and holy beings seek and love opportunities to do good to their fellow-creatures. In the eye of holy beings, all God's creatures are parts of one great family; and whenever they can do them good, they rejoice in the opportunity, at any sacrifice." Glad tidings. To wit, that his desire for offspring should be gratified, and that his son should be so much more eminent, and virtuous, and useful, than he could ever have anticipated. 20. Thou shalt be dumb, &c. Ham the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. mond suggests, that, from this phrase, we should understand that Zacharias was both dumb and deaf; inasmuch as his friends questioned him by signs, ver. 62, and as a portion of this verse would otherwise appear superfluous. But the word siopao, (ownάw,) here used, is not the same which is ordinarily translated dumb, nor does it seem to indicate inability to speak. It occurs seldom in the New Testament; uniformly signifies to be silent, or to refrain from speaking; and is in no other case rendered as in the text. See Matt. xx. 31; xxvi. 63; Mark iii. 4; iv. 39; ix. 34; x. 48; xiv. 61; Luke xviii. 39; xix. 40; Acts xviii. 9. The meaning of the phrase is, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak. There is no superfluity, as the two members of the sentence express different ideas the first, that he should be silent, and the second, that his silence should be occasioned by a miraculous deprivation of the power of speech. Until the day, &c. That is, until the birth of the child; not until all the other predictions were fulfilled. A part being put for the whole, the birth of John, on which the remainder depended, and indeed that which chiefly staggered the faith of Zacharias, is represented as a complete fulfilment of the prediction. Accordingly, we find the father speaking with freedom and glorifying God for his grace, ver. 64, when the son was only eight days old. ¶ Because thou believest not. This inability to speak is represented both as a sign that the prediction should be accomplished, and as a penalty of unbelief. To disbelieve the word of God, when communicated by an authorized messenger, is uniformly represented in the scriptures as criminal. And if all who thus disbelieve, because they think the blessing is too rich for God to bestow, or because they regard its bestowment as improbable or impossible, are not literally dumb, they are, at the least, incapable of praising God according to his excellent greatness, and their lips are silent in regard to his richest mercies. 21. Marvelled that he tarried so long. It was not usual for the priest to re 21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. 24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, 22 And when he came out, he 25 Thus hath the Lord dealt could not speak unto them and with me in the days wherein he they perceived that he had seen a looked on me, to take away my revision in the temple; for he beck-proach among men. oned unto them, and remained speechless. 23 And it came to pass, that as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. main in the sanctuary, while offering incense, more than half an hour. Zacharias seems to have remained longer, on this occasion, insomuch that the people were amazed. It may be, they feared also that some harm had befallen him; for not only was he absent an unusual time, but probably he was motionless in presence of the angel, so that no sound proceeded from the bells on his garment, to indicate his safety. See Exo. xxviii. 33-35. 26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of make ourselves serviceable to men, while we obey and glorify God. 24. Hid herself. Some have imagined that she confined herself absolutely to the house, lest she should accidentally contract any legal uncleanness by walking abroad. A more probable interpretation is, that she lived in retirement, or did not appear in public. She would not proclaim the blessing prematurely, but cherished the promise in her own heart. 25. Reproach. Among the Jews, an abundant posterity was regarded as a token of divine favor, as is evident from many places in the Old Testament. For example, Gen. xxii. 17; Ps. cxxvii. 3-5. On the other hand, unfruitfulness or barrenness was considered an indication of divine displeasure, and a subject of reproach. See Gen. xxx. 2, 23; 22. They perceived, &c. Either, his inability to speak was regarded as sufficient evidence that he had witnessed a supernatural appearance, or it occasioned suspicions which were confirmed when they questioned him. ¶ Vision. Literally, sight, or perhaps rather a thing seen, or an object of sight. But, in the New Testament, it uniformly denotes a supernatural appearance. This 1 Sam. i. 6. To this kind of reproach, word occurs only in Luke xxiv. 23; the text refers; it had been taken away, Acts xxvi. 19; 2 Cor. xii. 1. Beck-by anticipation, in that promise of posoned. Made signs with the hand; the terity, which the angel made. meaning is not limited to the peculiar motion generally denominated beckoning. 23. Days of his ministration. That is, the week during which the class of priests to which he belonged served, in their turn, at the temple. See note on ver. 5. Were accomplished, he departed, &c. Notwithstanding this visitation, by which he was deprived of speech for a season, Zacharias did not desert his post of duty, until discharged in due course. His example is worthy of imitation. Slight discouragements should never make us remiss in the performance of duty. And even though disabled in one form, we may still do good in some other; if we cannot labor in word, we may labor in deed, and thus 26. In the sixth month. That is, about six months subsequently to the appearance of Gabriel to Zacharias. T Galilee. See note on Matt. ii. 22. ¶ Nazareth. See note on Matt. ii. 23. It 27. To a virgin, &c. See note on Matt. i. 13. ¶ House of David. Family of David; posterity of David. Joseph was of this family. Luke ii. 4. So also was Mary. See note on Matt. i. 2-16. is supposed by some commentators, and apparently with good reason, that the reference here is specially to Mary; and they propose a different arrangement of the language, thus: "to a virgin of the house of David, espoused to a man whose name was Joseph; and the virgin's name was Mary." As Jesus is so emphatically denominated the "son of |