Luke 1:22

1:22 When ¹  he came out, he was not able to speak to them. They ²  realized that he had seen a vision ³  in the holy place, ⁴  because ⁵  he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak. ⁶ 

Luke 1:62-63

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 

[1:22]  ¹ tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:22]  ² tn Grk “and they.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:22]  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.”

[1:22]  ⁴ tn Or “temple.” See the note on the phrase “the holy place” in v. 9.

[1:22]  ⁵ tn Grk “and,” but the force is causal or explanatory in context.

[1:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “dumb,” but this could be understood to mean “stupid” in contemporary English, whereas the point is that he was speechless.

[1:62]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action described.

[1:62]  ⁸ tn Grk “his”; the referent (the baby) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:62]  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.

[1:62]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “what he might wish to call him.”

[1:63]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:63]  ¹² sn The writing tablet requested by Zechariah would have been a wax tablet.

[1:63]  ¹³ tn Grk “and wrote, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant is English and has not been translated.

[1:63]  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.