Luke 2:18

2:18 and all who heard it were astonished ¹  at what the shepherds said.

Luke 1:63

1:63 He ²  asked for a writing tablet ³  and wrote, ⁴  “His name is John.” And they were all amazed. ⁵ 

¹ tn Grk “marveled.” It is a hard word to translate with one term in this context. There is a mixture of amazement and pondering at work in considering the surprising events here. See Luke 1:21, 63; 2:33.

² tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

³ sn The writing tablet requested by Zechariah would have been a wax tablet.

⁴ tn Grk “and wrote, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant is English and has not been translated.

⁵ 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.