Luke 1:63

Verse 63. A writing table] πινακιδιον, a tablet, a diminutive of πιναξ, a table. "The boys in Barbary are taught to write upon a smooth thin board, slightly daubed over with whiting, which may be rubbed off or renewed at pleasure. Such probably (for the Jewish children use the same) was the little board, or writing table, as we render it Lu 1:63, that was called for by Zacharias." Shaw's Travels, p. 194. My old MS. considers the word as meaning the instrument of writing, rather than the tablet on which he wrote: and he aringe a poyntel, wroot seyinge, Joon is his name.

A thin board, made out of the pine tree, smeared over with wax, was used among the ancients; and to this the Anglo-Saxon version seems to refer, as it translates πινακιδιον, [Anglo-Saxon], a wax board or cloth.

An intelligent friend has suggested a different mode of reading the 62nd and 63rd verses: Lu 1:62. And they asked his father how he would have him called? Lu 1:63. And he made signs for a writing table and wrote, His name is John: "For," says my friend, "the 64th verse Lu 1:64 proves his mouth was not opened, neither his tongue loosed, till after the child was named; therefore he could not ask for the table; and it is more reasonable that he, being dumb, should make signs, than that those should who had the use of their tongues." But, howsoever ingenious this may be, neither the words of the Greek text, nor their construction, will bear this version.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Luk 1:63. Πινακίδιον, a tablet) If the relics of the Gospel histories, which are usually shown, were as genuine as they are numerous, there is no doubt but that Providence would have preserved this tablet.—ἔγραψε, λέγων, he wrote, saying) He wrote in these words: Luk 1:64.[17] Comp. 2Ki 10:1; 2Ki 10:6; 2Ch 21:12.—Ἰωάννης, John) The last writing in the Old Testament ends in חרם, i.e. [“lest I come and smite the earth with”] a curse, Mal 4:6. This, the first instance of writing in the New Testament, begins with grace [John in Hebr. = the grace or favour of God].—ἔστι, is) Zacharias does not so much command, as indicate the Divine commands.—ἘΘΑΎΜΑΣΑΝ, they marvelled) at the newness of the name, without precedent in the family, and at the unanimity of Zacharias and Elisabeth on the question of the name, though there had been no consultation between them, which must therefore have been the result, not of preconcerted design, but of a revelation, which had been vouchsafed to each of the two.

[17] This verse shows his ‘mouth’ was not yet ‘opened:’ therefore ‘saying’ does not mean oral words.—ED. and TRANSL.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 1:63 . πινακίδιον (dim. from πίναξ ), here only in N. T.: a little tablet probably covered with wax, used like a slate; pugillarem in Vulg [13] λέγων is used here, Hebrew fashion = to the effect. ἔγραψε λέγων : hypallage pro γράφων ἔλεγε (Pricaeus) = he said by writing. ἐθαύμασαν : they wondered , at this consent of the parents in giving a strange name, and felt there must be something under it an omen .

[13] Vulgate (Jerome’s revision of old Latin version).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

marvelled all--at his giving the same name, not knowing of any communication between them on the subject.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(63) A writing table.—The tablets in common use at this time throughout the Roman empire were commonly of wood, covered with a thin coat of wax, on which men wrote with the sharp point which has left its traces in our language, in the word “style,” in its literal and figurative senses.

His name is John.—There is something emphatic in the use of the present tense. It was not a question to be discussed. The name had been given already.

And they marvelled all.—This confirms the view given above as to the previous deafness of Zacharias. There would have been no ground for wonder, had he heard the discussion. It was the coincidence that surprised them, hardly less than the utterance.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

63. table] Rather, tablet. A small wooden tablet (abacus) either smeared with wax, or with sand sprinkled over it, on which words were written with an iron stylus. Thus ‘John,’ ‘the grace of Jehovah,’ is the first word written under the Gospel; the aeon of the written Law had ended with Cherem, ‘curse,’ in Mal. 3:24 (Bengel).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he asked for a writing table,.... That is, he made signs for one, for as yet he could not speak. The Persic version renders it "ink", and the Ethiopic, a book, and the Vulgate Latin, a notebook. The word signifies "a little table", such as they used to write not only "upon", but "in"; and was sometimes of brass (t), sometimes of wood, and sometimes of wax (u), on which they wrote with a style or pen,

and wrote, saying, his name is John: not that he must be, or shall be, so called; but this is his name, and no other; being what the angel had given him before his conception, and Zacharias now confirms:

and they marvelled all; they were astonished, not so much at the new name brought into the family, as at the agreement between Elisabeth and Zacharias in this point, when the latter was both deaf and dumb; they knowing nothing, as yet, of the angel's message to him,

(t) Haryocration. Lex. p. 244. (u) Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 2. c. 30.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.

Ver. 63. And he asked for a writing table] Tabellam, sc. ceratam, in qua olim stil scribebatur, saith Sa. He had an excellent faculty of whom Martial reporteth,

" Currant verba licet, manus est velocior illis;

Et vix lingua suum, dextra peregit opus."

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He asked - That is, by signs.

A writing table - The table denoted by this word was usually made of wood and covered with wax. The ancients used to write on such tables, as they had not the use of paper. The instrument used for writing was an iron pen or style, by which they marked on the wax which covered the table. Sometimes the writing-table was made entirely of lead.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

As then in circumcision, so now in baptism, names are given. And as we see here, and is all the Old Testament, great respect was had of names, so must we be aware of profane and secular names, and rather, according to the catechism of the council of Trent, take names of saints and holy persons, which may put us in mind of their virtues. (De Bap. in fine.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

63. Writing table—It was a small, flat piece of wood, (for the simple conveniences of pen, ink, and paper were then unknown,) like a slate, overspread with a surface of wax. The writing was done with an iron stylus or bodkin, sharp at one end, and broad and smooth at the other, so that the opposite ends could be used for writing and

erasing. His name is John— Not his name shall be called John; for Zacharias recognizes that the angel of God had already named him. Zacharias is only a recorder of the divine commandment.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A writing-table; better, a writing-tablet. The tablets in use generally at the time were usually made of wood, covered with a thin coating of wax; on the soft layer of wax the words were written with an iron stylus.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

63. Asked for a writing tablet. Because his tongue had not yet been loosed.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

63. πινακίδιον. ‘tablet.’ A small wooden tablet (abacus) either smeared with wax, or with sand sprinkled over it, on which words were written with an iron stylus. Thus ‘John,’ (‘the grace of Jehovah,’) is the first word written under the Gospel; the aeon of the written Law had ended with Cherem, ‘curse,’ in Mal 3:2-4 (Bengel).

ἔγραψεν λέγων. 2Ki 10:6. It is one of the common picturesque pleonasms with which Hebrew abounds.

Ἰωάννης ἐστὶν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ. The Spartan brevity and decision of his answer was more marked in the two Aramaic words—יחנן שמו—which he probably wrote.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

63.] πινακίδ. (= πινάκιον, Aristoph. Vesp. 167), a tablet smeared with wax, on which they wrote with a style. On λέγων, a Hebraism, as applied to writing, see reff. and Jos. Antt. xi. 4. 7,—Δαρεῖος ἀντιγράφει τῷ Σισίνῃ … τάδε λέγων.

ἐθαύμ. πάντες] This also confirms the view that Zacharias was deaf. There would be nothing wonderful in his acceding to his wife’s suggestion, if he had known it: the coincidence, apparently without this knowledge, was the matter of wonder.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

63. αἰτήσας πινακίδιον . Postulans pugillarem (Vulg.), cum petisset tabulam (d). Of course by means of signs, ἐννεύμασιν δακτύλων. One is inclined to conjecture that Lk. or his authority accidentally put the ἐννεύειν in the wrong place. Signs must have been used here, and they are not mentioned. They need not have been used ver. 62, and they are mentioned. The πινακίδιον would probably be a tablet covered with wax: loquitur in stylo, auditur in cera (Tert. De idol. xxiii.).

All four forms, πίναξ, πινακίς, πινάκιον, and πινακίδιον, are used of writing-tablets, and πινακίδα is v.l. (D) here. But elsewhere in N.T. πίναξ is a “dish” or “platter” (11:39; Mat 14:8, Mat 14:11; Mar 6:25, Mar 6:28). Note the Hebraistic particularity in ἔγραψεν λέγων, and comp. 2Ki 10:6; 2Ki_1 Mac. 10:17, 11:57. This is the first mention of writing in N.T.

Ἰωάης ἐστὶν ὄνομα αὐτοῦ. Not ἔσται, but ἐστίν: habet vocabulum suum quod agnovimus, non quod elegimus (Bede); quasi dicat nullam superesse consultationem in re quam Deus jam definiisset (Grotius); non tam jubet, quam jussum divinum indicat (Beng.). The ἐθαύμασαν πάντες may be used on either side of the question of his deafness. They wondered at his agreeing with Elisabeth, although he had not heard her choice of name; or, they wondered at his agreeing with her, although he had heard the discussion.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Writing table [πινακιδιον] . Table was formerly used in the sense of tablet. Thus Shakspeare :

"Yea, from the table of my memory, I'll wipe away all trivial fond records." Hamlet, 1, 5.

Tynd., writing tables. The meaning is a little writing tablet, probably covered with wax. Only here in the New Testament. Used by medical writers of a physician 's note book. Wyc., has a poyntel, i e., a style for writing.

Wrote, saying. A Hebrew form of expression. See 2Ki 10:6.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.