to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
on
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
eighth
ὀγδόῃogdoē
G3590
the eighth · adjective — dative singular feminine
day
ἡμέρᾳhēmera
G2250
day · noun — dative singular feminine
came
ἦλθονēlthon
G2064
to come or go (in a great variety of applications · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
circumcise
περιτεμεῖνperitemein
G4059
to cut around · verb — second aorist active infinitive
child
παιδίονpaidion
G3813
a childling (of either sex) · noun — accusative singular neuter
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
called
ἐκάλουνekaloun
G2564
to "call" (properly · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
him
αὐτὸauto
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular neuter
Zacharias
Ζαχαρίαν.Zacharian
G2197
Zacharias (i.e. Zechariah) · noun — accusative singular masculine, a proper name
after
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
name
ὀνόματιonomati
G3686
a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority · noun — dative singular neuter
of
πατρὸςpatros
G3962
a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine
his
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
father
πατήρpatḗr
G3962
a "father" (literally or figuratively
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
Genesis 17:12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought w…
Leviticus 12:3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Luke 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before h…
Philippians 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Genesis 21:3-4 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
Acts 7:8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jac…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 1:57-66
In these verses, we have,
I. The birth of John Baptist, Luk 1:57. Though he was conceived in the womb by miracle, he continued in the womb according to the ordinary course of nature (so did our Saviour): Elisabeth's full time came, that she should be delivered, and then she brought forth a son. Promised mercies are to be expected when the full time for them is come, and not before.
II. The great joy that was among all the relations of the family, upon this extraordinary occasion (Luk 1:58): Her neighbours and her cousins heard of it; for it would be in every body's mouth, as next to miraculous. Dr. Lightfoot observes that Hebron was inhabited by priests of the family of Aaron, and that those…
BIRTH AND CIRCUMCISION OF JOHN--SONG OF ZACHARIAS AND PROGRESS OF THE CHILD. (Luke 1:57-80)
eighth day--The law (Gen 17:12) was observed, even though the eighth day after birth should be a sabbath (Joh 7:23; and see Phi 3:5).
called him--literally, "were calling"--that is, (as we should say) "were for calling." The naming of children at baptism has its origin in the Jewish custom at circumcision (Gen 21:3-4); and the names of Abram and Sarai were changed at its first performance (Gen 17:5, Gen 17:15).
Adam Clarke on Luke 1:59
On the eighth day they came to circumcise - See an account of this institution in the note on Gen 17:10-14 (note). Had circumcision been essential to an infant's salvation, God would not have ordered it to be delayed to the eighth day, because, in all countries, multitudes die before they arrive at that age. Baptism, which is generally allowed to have been substituted for circumcision, is no more necessary to the salvation of an infant than circumcision was. Both are signs of the covenant - circumcision, of the putting away the impurity of the flesh; and baptism, of the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, producing the answer of a good conscience towards God. Confer Pe1…
John's circumcision clearly set forth an image of the Lord's resurrection because it too occurred on the eighth day, that is, on the day after the sabbath. And just as the former was wont to release people from the punishable state of everlasting death, so the latter displayed the perfect newness of immortal life in our Creator, and revealed that it is to be hoped for in us.
John means "the grace of God" or "in whom there is grace." By this name are expressed the entire extent of the grace of the gospel dispensation which he was to proclaim, and especially the Lord himself, through whom this grace was to be granted to the world.…As to his subsequent declaration and confirmation of the name of John, and the opening of Zechariah's mouth and his speaking, blessing God, it is surely evident that once the grace of the new covenant was manifested by the apostles, a large number of priests also became obedient to the faith.
And it happened on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. And his mother answered and said: Not so, but he shall be called John. The holy evangelist thought it well to mention beforehand that many thought the child should be called by the name of his father, Zacharias, so that you might note that the mother did not dislike the name of some relative, but that this name was infused by the Holy Spirit, which had been foretold by the angel to Zacharias before. Indeed, he, being mute, could not intimate the name of the son to his wife, but Elizabeth learned the prophecy, which she had not learned from her husband.
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
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.…
Children · Named at circumcision — Named at circumcision
Circumcision · Child named at the time of — Child named at the time of
Elisabeth (Elizabeth) · The wife of Zacharias and the mother of — The wife of Zacharias and the mother of
John · Miraculous birth of — Miraculous birth of
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).
on Luke 1:59
And it came to pass that on the eighth day,.... The precise time fixed in the normal restitution of the ordinance of circumcision, Genesis 17:12 though this was not always attended to, but circumcision was sometimes deferred to another time; yet keeping the exact time was judged most commendable and praiseworthy; see Gill on Philippians 3:5.
they came to circumcise the child; that is, the neighbours and cousins of Elisabeth, who were at the time of her delivery; eight days after they came again to be at the circumcision of the child: who was the operator is not known; nor was there any particular person appointed for this service; but any one might do it, whether ecclesiastic or laic, men…
Luke 1:56-66
Luke 1:56-66
56. And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. 57. And Elisabeth's time of bringing forth was fulfilled, and she brought forth a son. 58. And her neighbors and relatives heard, that the Lord had wonderfully exercised his mercy toward her, and they congratulated her. 59. And it happened on the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, and they called him Zacharias, by the name of his father. 60. And his mother answering said, [64] By no means, but he shall be called John 61. And they said to her, There is none among thy kindred who is called by that name. 62. And they made signs to his father how he wished him to be called.…
God commanded every Israelite male to be circumcised when eight days old (Gen 17:9-14; Lev 12:3). Circumcision signified the child’s incorporation into the covenant community of Israel. • They wanted to name him Zechariah: It was common to name a child after a relative. The family and friends were surprised because John was not the name of any of his relatives.
