Luke 1:15

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — An angel addresses Zechariah concerning the birth of John, describing the child’s future identity and consecration. The declaration occurs during the announcement of John’s coming, positioned between promises of his parental joy and his future ministry to Israel.

The words — ἔσται (estai) translates literally as “He will be,” establishing a future divine certainty. οἶνον (oinon) means “wine,” specifying the exact substance from which the child must abstain.

The thread — The concept of womb-consecration appears in Jeremiah 1:5, while the wine prohibition echoes the Nazirite regulations of Numbers 6:2. The contrast between intoxication and divine filling is later restated in Ephesians 5:18.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition of a divinely appointed life marked by total abstinence from wine and continuous Spirit influence. It requires the reader to acknowledge that sacred service begins before birth and operates outside conventional human empowerment.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Numbers 6:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,
Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Judges 13:4 Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean.
Luke 7:33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’
Galatians 1:15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased
Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Joshua 4:14 On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.
1 Chronicles 17:8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make for you a name like that of the greatest in the land.
Luke 7:28 I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John, yet even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”