Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 1:21
And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple.
21. he tarried so long ] Priests never tarried in the awful precincts of the shrine longer than was absolutely necessary for the fulfilment of their duties, from feelings of holy fear, Lev 16:13, “that he die not” (T. B. Yoma f. 52. 2.) See Excursus VII.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The people waited – That is, beyond the usual time.
Marvelled – Wondered. The priest, it is said, was not accustomed to remain in the temple more than half an hour commonly. Having remained on this occasion a longer time, the people became apprehensive of his safety, and wondered what had happened to him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. The people waited] The time spent in burning the incense was probably about half an hour, during which there was a profound silence, as the people stood without engaged in mental prayer. To this there is an allusion in Re 8:1-5. Zacharias had spent not only the time necessary for burning the incense, but also that which the discourse between him and the angel took up.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
While the priest was in the holy place, the people were in that part of the temple called the court of Israel, or the court of the people, praying: when he had done, he came out, and blessed them according to the law, Num 6:23-26, where is the form of blessing which he used; for this the people waited before they went home. Whether the angels discourse with Zacharias was longer, or his amazement at the vision made him stay longer than the priest was wont to stay, it is uncertain; but so he did, and when he came out he was not able to pronounce the blessing, nor to speak at all, only he beckons to them, by which the people judged that he had seen some vision. Yet dumbness being none of those bodily defects for which by the law they were to be removed from the priests office, nor having any great work in which he used his tongue during his ministration, which was more the work of the hands, he accomplished the days he was to minister, and then departed to his own house, for in the days of their ministration they had their lodgings in buildings appertaining to the temple.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. waitedto receive from himthe usual benediction (Nu6:23-27).
tarried so longIt wasnot usual to tarry long, lest it should be thought vengeance hadstricken the people’s representative for something wrong [LIGHTFOOT].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the people waited for Zacharias,…. That were without, in the court of the Israelites, praying there, while he was offering incense: these were waiting for his coming out, in order to be blessed by him, according to Nu 6:23 and be dismissed: and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple; beyond the usual time of burning incense; which might be occasioned either by a longer discourse of the angel with him than what is here related; or being struck with amazement at the sight and hearing of the angel, he might continue long musing on this unexpected appearance and relation; or he might spend some time not only in meditation upon it, but in mental prayer, confession, and thanksgiving. The high priest, when he went in to burn incense on the day of atonement,
“made a short prayer in the outward house, (in the temple,) and he did not continue long in his prayer, , “that he might not affright” the Israelites” m,
thinking that he was dead; for many high priests that were unfit for, or made alteration in the service, died in the holy of holies n.
“It is reported o of one high priest, that he continued long in his prayer, and his brethren, the priests, thought to have gone in after him; and they began to go in, and he came out; they say unto him, why didst thou continue long in thy prayer? he replied to them, is it hard in your eyes that I should pray for you, and for the house of the sanctuary, that it might not be destroyed? they answered him, be not used to do so; for we have learned, that a man should not continue long in prayer, that he may not affright Israel.”
This high priest, they elsewhere say p, was Simeon the just.
m Misna Yoma, c. 5. sect. 1. n Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. o T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 53. 2. p T. Hieros. Yoma, fol. 42. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Were waiting ( ). Periphrastic imperfect again. An old Greek verb for expecting. Appears in papyri and inscriptions. It denotes mental direction whether hope or fear.
They marvelled (). Imperfect tense, were wondering. The Talmud says that the priest remained only a brief time in the sanctuary.
While he tarried ( ). See verse 8 for the same idiom.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Waited [ ] . The finite verb and participle, denoting protracted waiting. Hence, better as Rev., were waiting. Wyc., was abiding.
Marvelled. According to the Talmud, the priests, especially the chief priests, were accustomed to spend only a short time in the sanctuary, otherwise it was feared that they had been slain by God for unworthiness or transgression.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And the people waited for Zacharias,” (kai en ho laos prosdokon ton Zacharian) “And the people were expecting Zacharias,” waiting expectantly without the temple; As Zacharias was delaying and doubting beside the altar of incense; Even righteous men may waver, 1Co 15:58.
2) “And they marvelled,” (kai ethaumazon) “And they marvelled,” wondered among themselves, as they waited for him to come forth for a benediction upon them, in the normal manner, as expressed in the Aaronic benediction, Num 6:23-27.
3) “That he tarried so long in the temple,” (en to chronizein en to nao auton) “When he stayed for so long a time in the temple proper,” much longer than the normal half hour, in performing his offering of incense and prayer, at the golden altar, in their behalf. It was not a custom for the priest to tarry long, lest the people should be in fear that he was stricken of God in vengeance for something that was wrong in Israel. They stood at a distance for fear, while we are now bid to “draw nigh” to the Lord, and fellowship in His. church worship, Heb 10:21-25.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
21. And the people were waiting Luke now relates that the people were witnesses of this vision. Zacharias had tarried in the temple longer than usual. This leads to the supposition that something uncommon has happened to him. When he comes out, he makes known, by looks and gestures, that he has been struck dumb. There is reason to believe, also, that there were traces of alarm in his countenance. Hence they conclude that God has appeared to him. True, there were few or no visions in that age, but the people remembered that formerly, in the time of their fathers, they were of frequent occurrence. It is not without reason, therefore, that they draw this conclusion from obvious symptoms: for it was not an ordinary occurrence, [it was not a common accident, but rather an astonishing work of God, (22) ] that he became suddenly dumb without disease, and after a more than ordinary delay came out of the temple in a state of amazement. The word temple, as we have already mentioned, is put for the sanctuary, where the altar of incense stood, (Exo 30:1.) From this place the priests, after performing their sacred functions, were wont to go out into their own court, for the purpose of blessing the people.
(22) Ce n’estoit point un accident commun, mais plustost une ceuvre ad-mirable de Dieu — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
‘And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marvelled while he tarried (or ‘at his tarrying’) in the temple.’
Meanwhile the people outside were waiting and getting restless. Why was the priest being so long? they must have wondered. Something unusual must have happened. They too did not realise the significance of this moment, although they would soon become aware that something remarkable had happened.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The anxiety of the people:
v. 21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he tarried so long in the Temple.
v. 22. And when he came out, he could not speak unto them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the Temple; for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
v. 23. And it came to pass that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. The offering of incense was the culmination of the morning service during which Zacharias was in the Holy Place all alone. The people were always apprehensive of some disaster that might befall the officiating priest, that God might slay him as unworthy and then visit His wrath upon the entire people; therefore they worried about him. The conversation with the angel had prolonged the priest’s stay far beyond the usual hour of closing, and their uneasy wonder about the delay was increasing. When he finally emerged from the Holy Place and stepped into the open space of the priests’ court, near the steps which led down to the other courts, he could not speak to the people, he could not pronounce the Aaronic blessing, which concluded the morning service. Zacharias had received proof positive that the credentials of Gabriel were beyond question; dumbness had at once fallen upon him. But by his gestures and signs the people sensed or perceived, understood that something unusual had occurred in the Temple, they inferred that he had seen a vision of some kind which had rendered him speechless. But though Zacharias had been deprived of the power of speech, he served the full course of his Temple ministry, he stayed for the full week, 2Ki 11:17. There were other services that did not demand the use of the voice, and many ministrations in the Temple were given over to such as had minor physical defects. But at the end of the week he returned to his house, to the city of the priests where he had his home. The words of one commentator referring to the work of the pastors in this connection may well be extended to include all Christians, inasmuch as they all should be engaged in the work of the Master. He writes: “There is something very instructive in the conduct of this priest; had he not loved the service he was engaged in, he might have made the loss of his speech a pretext for immediately quitting it. But as he was not thereby disabled from fulfilling the sacerdotal function, so he saw he was bound to continue till his ministry was ended, or till God had ‘given him a positive dismissal. Preachers who give up their labor in the vineyard because of some trifling bodily disorder by which they are afflicted, or through some inconvenience in outward circumstances which the follower of a cross-bearing, crucified Lord should not mention, show either that they never had a proper concern for the honor of their Master or for the salvation of men, or else that they have lost the spirit of their Master and the spirit of their work. Again, Zacharias did not hasten to his house to tell his wife the good news that he had received from heaven, in which she was certainly very much interested: the angel had promised that all his words should be fulfilled in their season, and for this season he patiently waited in the path of duty. He had engaged in the work of the Lord, and must pay no attention to anything that was likely to mar or interrupt his religious service. Preachers who profess to be called of God to labor in the Word and doctrine and who abandon their work for filthy lucre’s sake are the most contemptible of mortals and traitors to their God.”
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Luk 1:21. The people waited for Zacharias, They waited for his blessing, and could not imagine what had detained him so much longer than usual. See Numbers 6.
23-27. Lev 9:22-23. All that is here recorded, might have passed in a few minutes; it seems probable therefore, that, since the people took notice of his continuing so much longer than ordinary in the holy place, he spent some time in secret devotion, where, in the mixture of holy affections arising on so great and extraordinary an occasion, he might easily forget how fast the moments passed away.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 1:21 . The priests, especially the chief priests, were accustomed, according to the Talmud, to spend only a short time in the sanctuary; otherwise it was apprehended that they had been slain by God, because they were unworthy or had done something wrong. See Hieros. Joma , f. 43, 2; Babyl. f. 53, 2; Deyling, Obss. III. ed. 2, p. 455 f. Still the unusually long delay of Zacharias, which could not but strike the people, is sufficient in itself as a reason of their wonder.
] not over ( , Luk 4:22 , al. ), or on account of (Mar 6:6 , ), but on occasion of his failure to appear. So also Sir 11:21 ; Isa 61:6 . Rightly, Gersdorf, Ewald, render: when he , etc.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.
Ver. 21. The people waited for Zacharias ] They would not away without the blessing prescribed to the priests, Num 6:23-27 . In the council of Agathon it was decreed that people should not presume to go out of the temples before the ministers had blessed the congregation. (Canon 32.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
21. ] It was customary for the priest at the time of prayer not to remain long in the holy place, for fear the people who were without might imagine that any vengeance had been inflicted on him for some informality; as he was considered the representative of the people . The words are best taken together, wondered at, as in ref. Sir. They may also be taken separately, taking as ‘ during: ’ and so Meyer: but this is not so probable.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 1:21-22 . The people without . , waiting; they had to wait. The priest was an unusually long time within, something uncommon must have happened. The thought likely to occur was that God had slain the priest as unworthy. The Levitical religion a religion of distance from God and of fear. So viewed in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Illustrative quotations from Talmud in Wnsche, Beitrge , p. 413.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 1:21-23
21And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute. 23When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.
Luk 1:21 “the temple” This is the term naos. Literally it is from the term “to dwell.” It came to be used of the central shrine made up of the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place.
Luk 1:22 “when he came out, he was unable to speak” According to rabbinical tradition it was customary for the priest to bless the people when he came out from burning incense, using the Aaronic blessing of Num 6:24-26.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
waited for = were looking for. The finite Verb and Participle denoting protracted waiting.
marvelled. Because such waiting was usually short.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
21.] It was customary for the priest at the time of prayer not to remain long in the holy place, for fear the people who were without might imagine that any vengeance had been inflicted on him for some informality;-as he was considered the representative of the people. The words are best taken together, wondered at, as in ref. Sir. They may also be taken separately, taking as during: and so Meyer: but this is not so probable.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Num 6:23-27
Reciprocal: Gen 30:23 – General Lev 9:23 – came out
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
The people waited according to the law, but Zacharias was detained longer than the regular service usually required which caused them to wonder.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.
[They marvelled that he tarried so long.] There is something of this kind told of Simeon the Just, concerning whom we have made some mention already:
“The high priest made a short prayer in the holy place. He would not be long in prayer, lest he should occasion any fear in the people. There is a story of one who tarried a long while in it, and the people were ready to have entered in upon him. They say it was Simeon the Just. They say unto him, ‘Why didst thou tarry so long?’ He answered them, saying, ‘I have been praying for the Temple of your God, that it be not destroyed.’ They answered him again, ‘However, it was not well for you to tarry so long.'”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 1:21. Were waiting for Zacharias, etc. They would wait, not for him to pronounce the blessing, for this was the office of the other priest, who carried the fire into the holy place (see Luk 1:9); but because it was usual.
Marvelled, etc. Their wonder was both at and during his unusual stay. The brief stay of the priest is said to have been occasioned by the fear that the people who were without might imagine that any vengeance had been inflicted on him for some informality;as he was considered the representative of the people (Alford).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Luk 1:21-22. And the people Who had been praying in the court of the temple, while the incense was burning; waited for Zacharias To come out and bless them; for so the priests used to do after burning the incense; and marvelled that he tarried so long, , at his delaying, or, spending time in the temple; , in the house, or sanctuary. See note on Luk 1:9. All that is here said to have taken place between the angel and Zacharias, might have passed in a few minutes; since, therefore, the people took notice of his continuing so much longer than was usual in the holy place, it is probable, that after the angel had left him, he employed some time in secret devotion, to which the mixture of holy affections that would naturally arise in his mind on so great and extraordinary an occasion would powerfully incline him; and while thus occupied, he might easily forget how fast the moments passed away. When he came out, he could not speak unto them A circumstance which must have greatly astonished them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision That is, a divine vision; in the temple Or holy place. As the signs which he made, left them no room to doubt that some extraordinary and supernatural revelation had been made to him by God. For he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless He continued deaf and dumb during the remainder of his stay at Jerusalem; a circumstance wisely ordered by Providence to awaken a greater and more general expectation, as to the event of so strange an occurrence; which, as a great multitude were now present in the court of the temple, (see Luk 1:10,) would of course be widely spread, not only through Jerusalem but all Judea.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vers. 21 and 22. According to the Talmud, the high priest did not remain long in the Holy of Holies on the great day of atonement. Much more would this be true of the priest officiating daily in the Holy Place. The analytical form depicts the lengthened expectation and uneasiness which began to take possession of the people. The text indicates that the event which had just taken place was made known in two ways: on the one hand, by the silence of Zacharias; on the other, by signs by which he himself () indicated its cause. The analytical form denotes the frequent repetition of the same signs, and the imperfect , he remained dumb, depicts the increasing surprise produced by his continuing in this state.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Zechariah’s delay in the temple and then his inability to speak impressed the worshippers that something supernatural had occurred. Normally he would have pronounced the Aaronic blessing over them (Num 6:24-26). [Note: Mishnah Yoma 5:1; ibid. Tamid 7:2.] The people assumed incorrectly that he had seen a vision. Zechariah was unable to communicate to them what had really happened. Luke recorded their reaction to impress his readers with the importance of this event.