Bible Strands
Luke 1:8
One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Zechariah serves as a priest during his division’s scheduled rotation, positioned immediately before the lot is drawn to enter the temple (Luke 1:9).
The words — ἱερατεύειν (hi'erateuein) denotes priestly service or the priestly office, marking his official religious capacity rather than a personal spiritual state.
The thread — The concept of organized priestly rotations appears in 1 Chronicles 24:19, 2 Chronicles 8:14, and 2 Chronicles 31:2, where Davidic and Hezekiah-era reforms establish structured service orders.
Why it lands — The text places divine encounter within routine religious duty, requiring the reader to recognize that God’s interruptions operate through established human structures rather than bypassing them.
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 it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,
Cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 24:19 This was their appointed order for service when they entered the house of the LORD, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their forefather Aaron, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him.
- 2 Chronicles 8:14 In keeping with the ordinances of his father David, Solomon appointed the divisions of the priests over their service, and the Levites for their duties to offer praise and to minister before the priests according to the daily requirement. He also appointed gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate, for this had been the command of David, the man of God.
- 2 Chronicles 31:2 Hezekiah reestablished the divisions of the priests and Levites—each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites—for the burnt offerings and peace offerings, for ministry, for giving thanks, and for singing praises at the gates of the LORD’s dwelling.
- Luke 1:5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron.
- Exodus 29:1 “Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish,
- Exodus 29:9 Wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and tie headbands on them. The priesthood shall be theirs by a permanent statute. In this way you are to ordain Aaron and his sons.
- Ezra 6:18 They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
- Exodus 28:1 “Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.
- Exodus 28:41 After you put these garments on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint them, ordain them, and consecrate them so that they may serve Me as priests.
- Exodus 29:44 So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests.