a people (in general · noun — genitive singular masculine
were
ἦνēn
G2258
I (thou
praying
προσευχόμενονproseuchomenon
G4336
to pray to God · verb — present middle or passive deponent participle, nominative singular neuter
without
ἔξωexō
G1854
out(-side · preposition
time
ὥρᾳhōra
G5610
an "hour" (literally or figuratively) · noun — dative singular feminine
incense
θυμιάματος.¶thumiamatos
G2368
an aroma · noun — genitive singular neuter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Leviticus 16:17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out,…
Revelation 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it wi…
Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 1:5-25
The two preceding evangelists had agreed to begin the gospel with the baptism of John and his ministry, which commenced about six months before our Saviour's public ministry (and now, things being near a crisis, six months was a deal of time, which before was but a little), and therefore this evangelist, designing to give a more particular account than had been given of our Saviour's conception and birth, determines to do so of John Baptist, who in both was his harbinger and forerunner, the morning-star to the Sun of righteousness. The evangelist determines thus, not only because it is commonly reckoned a satisfaction and entertainment to know something of the original extraction and early d…
praying without--outside the court in front of the temple, where stood the altar of burnt offering; the men and women in separate courts, but the altar visible to all.
the time of incense--which was offered along with the morning and evening sacrifice of every day; a beautiful symbol of the acceptableness of the sacrifice offered on the altar of burnt offering, with coals from whose altar the incense was burnt (Lev 16:12-13). This again was a symbol of the "living sacrifice" of themselves and their services offered daily to God by the worshippers. Hence the language of Psa 141:2; Rev 8:3. But that the acceptance of this daily offering depended on the expiatory virtue presupposed in the bur…
The whole multitude - were praying - The incense was itself an emblem of the prayers and praises of the people of God: see Psa 141:2; Rev 8:1. While, therefore, the rite is performing by the priest, the people are employed in the thing signified. Happy the people who attend to the spirit as well as the letter of every divine institution! Incense was burnt twice a day in the temple, in the morning and in the evening, Exo 30:7, Exo 30:8; but the evangelist does not specify the time of the day in which this transaction took place. It was probably in the morning.
The Church Fathers
By lot he was chosen to burn incense when he entered the temple of the Lord; and the whole multitude of people was praying outside at the hour of incense. He was not chosen by a new lot, for it was the incense to be burned, but he had been chosen by an ancient lot when first in the order of his priesthood he succeeded in the division of Abijah. But it was commanded that incense be carried into the Holy of Holies by the high priest, while all the people were waiting outside the temple, on the tenth day of the seventh month. And this day of atonement, or which they call the day of propitiation, which among us, due to the varied course of the moon by which the Hebrews compute their months, sometimes falls in the month of September, sometimes in October; because the month in which Passover is held, both by the ordained order and by the decree of the law, holds the beginning of the year, as the Lord said to Moses: "This month shall be to you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. On the tenth day of this month, every man shall take a lamb, etc." (Exodus XII). But of this day the Apostle, writing to the Hebrews, thus mentions: "Into the first tabernacle the priests always entered, performing the duties of the sacrifices; but into the second, the high priest alone once a year, not without blood which he offers, etc." (Hebrews IX). Expanding the mystery of this day, he shows that Jesus is true high priest, who, having completed the days of his office, that is, having fulfilled the dispensation of the flesh with his own blood, entered the secrets of heaven, to make the Father gracious unto us, and to intercede for the sins of those who are still waiting outside, praying and loving his coming. Therefore, fittingly, his descent on that day is announced by an angel, on which his ascension by the law was figured. For he who descended is the same also that ascended. (Ephesians IV): And, as the Psalm says, "His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his meet is unto the end of it." (Psalm XVIII).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Frankincense — (Heb. lebonah; Gr. libanos, i.e., “white”), an odorous resin imported from Arabia (Isa. 60:6; Jer. 6:20), yet also growing in Palestine (Cant. 4:14). It was one of the ingredients in the perfume of…
Incense — A fragrant composition prepared by the “art of the apothecary.” It consisted of four ingredients “beaten small” (Ex. 30:34-36). That which was not thus prepared was called “strange incense” (30:9).…
John the Baptist — The “forerunner of our Lord.” We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. He was of priestly descent. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia (1 Chr.…
Prayer — Is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or…
Barrenness · .El — .El
Elisabeth (Elizabeth) · The wife of Zacharias and the mother of — The wife of Zacharias and the mother of
Incense · In making atonement — In making atonement
Prayer, Public · Exemplified: Jews — Exemplified: Jews
Temple, The Second · The Jews: Prayed without, while the priest offered incense within — The Jews: Prayed without, while the priest offered incense within
Zacharias (Zechariah) · 2. The father of — 2. The father of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Luke 1:10
And the whole multitude of the people were praying without,.... In the court of the Israelites, whilst Zacharias was in the holy place; though not in the holy of holies, where only the high priest entered: it looks, as Dr. Lightfoot conjectures, as if this was on a sabbath day, since there was such a multitude of people together; for on the weekday, there were only the priests and Levites of the course, and the stationary men, which represented the Israelites, and some of the more devout sort of the people; but here was the whole multitude of the people; or as the Ethiopic version renders it, "all the people were in a full congregation praying": prayer, was wont to be made at the time of inc…
Luke 1:5-13
Luke 1:5-13
5. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7. And they had no child, because Elisabeth was barren, and they were now both at an advanced age. 8. And it happened, while he was discharging the priest's office in the order of his course before God, 9. According to the custom of the priest's office, it fell to him by lot to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10. And the whole multitude of the people were…
his order was on duty that week . . . he was chosen by lot: It was common in Old Testament times to cast lots (similar to throwing dice) to determine God’s will (1 Chr 26:13-16; Neh 11:1; Prov 16:33; Jon 1:7). There were twenty-four orders of priests (1 Chr 24:1-19) that took turns in the Temple, and lots were cast to determine which priest would serve in the sanctuary. There were a large number of priests, so this privilege might come only once in a priest’s lifetime. The angel appeared at the most sacred moment of Zechariah’s life. • to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense:. Luke uses the word here translated sanctuary (Greek naos) for the Temple building, not the whole Temple…
