Bible Strands
Luke 1:18
“How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Zechariah addresses the angel Gabriel immediately after receiving the announcement of his son’s birth. He voices his doubt by stating his advanced age and his wife’s advanced years.
The words — The Greek phrase κατὰ τὶ (kata ti) literally means "by what" or "how," framing Zechariah’s request for verification. The verb εἶπεν (eipen) explicitly identifies Zechariah as the speaker addressing the angel.
The thread — This exchange echoes Abraham’s question about fathering a child at a hundred in Genesis 17:17 and Sarah’s laughter in Genesis 18:12. It also parallels Hezekiah’s request for a confirming sign in Isaiah 38:22.
Why it lands — The text records a direct challenge to divine timing that requires concrete verification. It asks the reader to confront how human limitation meets divine promise without presuming immediate certainty.
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
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
Cross-references
- Genesis 17:17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”
- Genesis 18:12 So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
- Isaiah 38:22 And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?”
- Luke 1:7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.
- 2 Kings 7:2 But the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” replied Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it.”
- Luke 1:34 “How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
- Romans 4:19 Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.
- Judges 6:36 Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said,
- Genesis 15:8 But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”
- Numbers 11:21 But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’