Luke 1:5

Luke 1:5. In the days of Herod. See on Matthew 2:1.

A certain priest. Not the high-priest

Zacharias, i.e., ‘the Lord remembers.'

Of the course of Abijah. The eighth of the twenty-four classes, into which the descendants of Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, were divided (1 Chronicles 24). Each of these ministered in the temple for one week, from the days of Solomon until the destruction of the first temple, and from the restoration of the courses by Judas Maccabæus until the final destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. In the latter period the names and order of the courses were preserved, but not the descent. At the destruction of the temple by the Romans, the course in waiting was that of Jehoiarib (the first), and date was the 9 th day of the Jewish month Ab. But these data do not determine the ‘date of the occurrence before us, since each course must serve at least twice in a year, and ‘after those days' (Luke 1:24) is indefinite.

Elisabeth, i.e., ‘God's oath.' The wife of Aaron bore the same name (Exodus 6:23: ‘Elisheba').