Luke 1:80

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
child	παιδίον paidion	G3813	a childling (of either sex) · noun — nominative singular neuter
grew	ηὔξανεν ēuxanen	G837	to grow ("wax") · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
strong	ἐκραταιοῦτο ekrataiouto	G2901	to empower · verb — imperfect passive indicative, 3rd person singular
spirit	πνεύματι pneumati	G4151	a current of air · noun — dative singular neuter
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
was	ἦν ēn	G2258	I (thou
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
deserts	ἐρήμοις erēmois	G2048	desert · adjective — dative plural feminine
till	ἕως he'ōs	G2193	a conjunction · preposition
day	ἡμέρας hēmeras	G2250	day · noun — genitive singular feminine
of	ἀναδείξεως anadeixeōs	G323	(the act of) exhibition · noun — genitive singular feminine
his	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
shewing	ἀνάδειξις anádeixis	G323	(the act of) exhibition
unto	πρὸς pros	G4314	a preposition of direction · preposition
Israel	Ἰσραήλ.¶ Israēl	G2474	Israel (i.e. Jisrael) · noun — accusative singular masculine, a place

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

Luke 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
Mark 1:3-4 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
1 Samuel 3:19-20 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
Matthew 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Judges 13:24-25 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
John 1:31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
Matthew 11:7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken wit…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 1:67–end

We have here the song wherewith Zacharias praised God when his mouth was opened; in it he is said to prophesy (Luk 1:67), and so he did in the strictest sense of prophesying; for he foretold things to come concerning the kingdom of the Messiah, to which all the prophets bear witness. Observe, I. How he was qualified for this: He was filled with the Holy Ghost, was endued with more than ordinary measures and degrees of it, for this purpose; he was divinely inspired. God not only forgave him his unbelief and distrust (which was signified by discharging him from the punishment of it), but, as a specimen of the abounding of grace towards believers, he filled him with the Holy Ghost, and put this…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 1:80

And the child, &c.--"a concluding paragraph, indicating, in strokes full of grandeur, the bodily and mental development of the Baptist; and bringing his life up to the period of his public appearance" [OLSHAUSEN]. in the deserts--probably "the wilderness of Judea" (Mat 3:1), whither he had retired early in life, in the Nazarite spirit, and where, free from rabbinical influences and alone with God, his spirit would be educated, like Moses in the desert, for his future high vocation. his showing unto Israel--the presentation of himself before his nation, as Messiah's forerunner. Next: Luke Chapter 2

Adam Clarke on Luke 1:80

The child grew - Increased in stature and bodily vigor. And waxed strong in spirit - had his understanding Divinely illuminated and confirmed in the truths of God. And was in the deserts - the city of Hebron, the circumjacent hill country, and in or near Nazareth. Till the time of his showing, or manifestation - till he was thirty years of age, before which time the law did not permit a man to enter into the public ministry, Num 4:3. See also Luk 3:23. So much has already been said, by way of practical improvement of the different subjects in this important chapter, as to preclude the necessity of any addition here.

John Gill on Luke 1:80

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit,.... That is, John, the son of Zacharias and Elisabeth, grew in stature of body, and increased in wisdom and knowledge, and fortitude in his soul: and was in the deserts; or "desert", as the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read; not in the wilderness of Judea, where he came preaching, but either of Ziph or Maon, which were near to Hebron; see 1 Samuel 23:14 he was not brought up in the schools of the prophets, nor in the academies of the Jews, or at the feet of any of their Rabbins and doctors; that it might appear he was not taught and sent of men, but of God: nor did he dwell in any of the cities, or larger towns, but in deserts; partly…

The Church Fathers

The future preacher of repentance, that he might the more boldly reclaim his hearers from the allurements of the world, passes the first part of his life in the deserts. Hence it is said, And the child grew.
— Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

But the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the deserts till the day of his showing to Israel. It is appropriate and just that he who is to be a future preacher of repentance follows the harshness of solitude; and so that the young man may more freely lift his listeners by instructing them from the allurements of the world, he himself also passes his early life squalid in deserts.
— Bede, On the Gospel of Luke

Mark also, in how few words Elisabeth prophesies, in how many Zacharias, and yet each spoke filled with the Holy Spirit; but this discipline is preserved, that women may study rather to learn what are the Divine commands than to teach them. And rightly is the time noted during which the prophet was in the womb, in order that the presence of Mary might not be passed over, while they are silent about the time of his childhood, because being strengthened in the womb by the presence of the Mother of the Lord, he knew not the struggles of childhood.
— Ambrose of Milan ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

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 · . — .
Children, Good · Exemplified: John the Baptist — Exemplified: John the Baptist
John · Lives in the — Lives in the

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).

Luke 1:80

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 1:67–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 1:80

Adam Clarke on Luke 1:80

John Gill on Luke 1:80

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Luke 1:80

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 1:67–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 1:80

Adam Clarke on Luke 1:80

John Gill on Luke 1:80

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Luke 1:76–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Luke 1:80