Luke 1:7

Luke 1:7, in plain English

But they had no children because Elizabeth couldn't have any, and they were both very old.

Why it's here

In their culture, being childless was considered a deep shame and even a sign of God's displeasure. For this righteous couple, it must have been especially painful.

Who's speaking

Luke reveals the source of their heartbreak.

Where it sits in the story

They had probably given up hope long ago. They were old, childless, and likely felt forgotten. But God was about to show them that His timing is always perfect.

The scholarly reading

Despite their righteousness, they have no children because Elizabeth is steira (barren), and both are probebekotes en tais hemerais (advanced in their days/years).

Language and setting

The barren-wife motif echoes Sarah (Genesis 11:30), Rebekah (Genesis 25:21), Rachel (Genesis 29:31), and Hannah (1 Samuel 1:2). Each barrenness preceded a miraculous birth of a key figure.

Voice

The narrator states the couple's painful circumstance.

Significance

The pattern of barrenness followed by miraculous birth runs deep in Israel's story. Luke signals that God is about to do something extraordinary through this faithful but suffering couple.

5In 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.

6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.

7But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.

8One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,

9he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

Read all of Luke 1 — A physician writes the most detailed account of Jesus' life. Luke notices the people others overlook — the poor, the outcast, the women, the forgotten.