Bible Strands
Luke 1:62
So they made signs to his father to find out what he wanted to name the child.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The relatives and neighbors gather to demand the child’s name, directing nonverbal requests to Zechariah. They act at the moment of naming, after observing his prolonged silence and noting that no family member shares the expected name.
The words — The verb ἐνένευον (eneneuon) literally means “they were making signs,” describing the gestures used to communicate with a mute person. The particle δὲ (de) functions as a narrative connector, marking this action as the immediate response to their earlier question.
The thread — The text records this sign-making in Luke 1:62, which mirrors the gestures Zechariah used in Luke 1:22 to communicate after his temple vision. The narrative uses this same nonverbal pattern to bridge his silence in Luke 1:61–62 to his sudden speech and writing in Luke 1:63.
Why it lands — The text states that the family resorts to gestures to bypass Zechariah’s muteness before any divine intervention occurs. It asks the reader to observe how the narrative deliberately withholds the naming until Zechariah complies with the announced instruction.
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 they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
Cross-references
- Luke 1:22 When he came out and was unable to speak to them, they realized he had seen a vision in the temple. He kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.