1:5 During the reign 10 of Herod 11 king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to 12 the priestly division of Abijah, 13 and he had a wife named Elizabeth, 14 who was a descendant of Aaron. 15 1:6 They 16 were both righteous in the sight of God, following 17 all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. 18
1 tn Heb “A wife harlot and profaned they shall not take.” The structure of the verse (e.g., “wife” at the beginning of the two main clauses) suggests that “harlot and profaned” constitutes a hendiadys, meaning “a wife defiled by harlotry” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 143, as opposed to that in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 343, 348; cf. v. 14 below). Cf. NASB “a woman who is profaned by harlotry.”
2 sn For a helpful discussion of divorce in general and as it relates to this passage see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 143-44.
3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn The pronoun “he” in this clause refers to the priest, not the former husband of the divorced woman.
5 tn Heb “And he, a wife in her virginity he shall take.”
6 tn Heb “take.” In context this means “take as wife,” i.e., “marry.”
7 tc The MT has literally, “from his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “from his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
8 tc The MT has literally, “in his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
9 tn Heb “from the offspring of the house of Israel.”
10 tn Grk “It happened that in the days.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
11 sn Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37
12 tn Grk “of”; but the meaning of the preposition ἐκ (ek) is more accurately expressed in contemporary English by the relative clause “who belonged to.”
13 sn There were twenty-four divisions of priesthood and the priestly division of Abijah was eighth on the list according to 1 Chr 24:10.
14 tn Grk “and her name was Elizabeth.”
15 tn Grk “a wife of the daughters of Aaron.”
16 tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
17 tn Grk “walking in” (an idiom for one’s lifestyle).
18 tn The predicate adjective has the effect of an adverb here (BDF §243).