Luke 1:70

Luk_1:70

As he spake

All Gods promises are fulfilled

Look over your lives, O Christians I and you cannot find one hour when Gods promises have failed you.

Look over the history of His people, and it is full of promises fulfilled; but there is not a fragment of a broken promise to be found. When Elishas servant was afraid because the armies of Syria were besieging them in Dothan, Elisha prayed that his eyes might be opened; and the servant saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots round about Elisha. If God touches our eyes, we too shall see all our own life and all history full of Gods fulfilled promises round about us. As when Miltons archangel spoke--

To confirm His words, out flew

Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs

Of mighty cherubim.

So God speaks a promise, and out fly millions of facts and experiences to confirm His words.

Faithfulness of God

Far, far above all comprehension is the truth and faithfulness of God. He never fails, nor forgets, nor falters, nor forfeits His word. Afflictions are like clouds, but the Divine truthfulness is all around them. While we are under the cloud we are in the region of Gods faithfulness; when we mount above it we shall not need such an assurance. To every word of threat, or promise, prophecy or covenant, the Lord has exactly adhered, for He is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Mercy of God boundless

Like the ethereal blue, it encompasses the whole earth smiling upon universal nature, acting as a canopy for all the creatures of earth, surmounting the loftiest peaks of human provocations, and rising high above the mists of mortal trangression. Clear sky is evermore above, and mercy calmly smiles above the din and smoke of this poor world. Darkness and clouds are but of earths lower atmosphere: the heavens are evermore serene, and bright with innumerable stars. Divine mercy abides in its vastness of expanse, and matchless patience, all unaltered by the rebellions of man. When we can measure the heavens, then shall we bound the mercy of the Lord. Towards his own servants especially, in the salvation of the Lord Jesus, He has displayed grace higher than the heaven of heavens, and wider than the universe. O that the atheist could but see this, how earnestly would he long to become a servant of Jehovah! (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Immovableness of the Divine promises

A swallow having built its nest upon the tent of Charles V., the Emperor generously commanded that the tent should not be taken down when the camp removed, but should remain until the young birds were ready to fly. Was there such a gentleness in the heart of a soldier toward a poor bird which was not of his making, and shall the Lord deal hardly with His creatures when they venture to put their trust in Him? Be assured He hath a great love to those trembling souls that fly for shelter to His royal courts. He that buildeth his nest upon a Divine promise shall find it abide and remain until he shall fly away to the land where promises are lost in fulfilments. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 1:70. Καθὼς ἐλάλησε, as He spake) The point at which Mary left off, Luk 1:55, is the same as that at which Zacharias now begins.—διὰ στόματος, by the mouth) To prophesy cost the prophets no labour in so far as they received the power from God; whatever it cost them, was merely in so far as they had to put forth their prophecies to men hostile to them. They needed merely to lend their mouth [for God to supply the words]: nay, even “a mouth” was given tham, Luk 21:15.—ἁγίων, holy) There was no prophet that was not holy:[18] 2Pe 1:21; Heb 11:32-33.—ἈΠʼ ΑἸῶΝΟς, since the world began) Even from the very beginning there were prophets.

[18] Balaam seems an exception. But perhaps Beng. means by ‘sanctus’ consecrated to God, and set apart from other men by God to His service.—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_1:70. No parenthesis.

τῶν ἁγίων] not used substantivally (Bornemann), but see Bernhardy, p. 322; Krüger, § 50. 9. 7.

ἀπʼ αἰῶνος] not absolutely, as though there had been prophets even ab orbe condito (imo per os Adami, Calovius), but relatively; when the oldest prophets emerged (and Moses already was such an one), was the commencement of prophecy since the beginning of the world. Comp. Gen_6:4; Act_3:21; Longin. 34: τοὺς ἀπʼ αἰῶνος ῥήτορας.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 1:70 . ἁγίων : a predicate applied in reverence to the prophets, as to the apostles in Eph 3:5 .

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

since the world began--or, "from the earliest period."

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

(70) His holy prophets, which have been since the world began.—The words were probably more than a lofty paraphrase of the more usual language, “of old time,” “of ancient days,” and imply a reference to the great first Gospel, as it has been called, of Gen_3:15, as well as to those made to Abraham, who is the first person named as a prophet (Gen_20:7).

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

70. by the mouth of his holy prophets] namely “in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms,” see on Luk_24:44.

since the world began] Rather, of old (ἀπ' αἰῶνος). “At sundry times and in divers manners” (Heb_1:1) but even “in old time” (2Pe_1:21) and dating back even to the promises to Eve and to Abraham (Gen_3:15; Gen_22:18; Gen_49:10) and the sceptre and the star of Balaam Num_24:17).

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.

As he spake, by the mouth of his holy prophets,.... Which shows not only the veracity and faithfulness of God in his promises, but the early intimations that were given by him concerning the Messiah: for it follows,

which have been since world began; or from the beginning of the world; ever since the first hint of the Messiah, as the seed of the woman, that should bruise the serpent's head, was given, he was more or less spoken of. Adam, the first prophet, seems to have respect to him, when he calls his wife Eve, which signifies life; and because she should be the mother of all living. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of him, of his second coming, which supposes his first; and Lamech may be thought to have some regard to him, when he named his son Noah, and said what he did concerning him: Christ was spoken of to Abraham, as his seed, in whom all nations of the earth should be blessed; and God spake of him by the patriarch Jacob, under the name of Shiloh, as who should spring from the tribe of Judah, before the sceptre and lawgiver were departed from it. Moses foretold that there should arise a prophet from the midst of his brethren like unto him, to whom the Israelites were to hearken. David, the prophet, often speaks of him, particularly of his death, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension to heaven, and session at God's right hand; and the evangelical prophet Isaiah predicts his birth of a virgin, and testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Micah points out the very place of his birth; and Zechariah describes the manner of his entrance into Jerusalem, as riding on an ass: to say nothing of what Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and others, have prophesied of him, It is a common saying of the Jews (x), that "all the prophets, all of them prophesied not, "but of the days of the Messiah."

The men, by whom God spoke of the Messiah, of the mission of him, and of raising up this horn of salvation, for his people, were "prophets"; men endued with a spirit of prophecy; "holy", men, who were sanctified by the Holy Ghost, and spake, as they were moved by him; and these all spake as if it were with one "mouth"; they all agree in their accounts concerning Christ, though they lived in different periods of time, from the beginning of the world,

(x) T. Bab, Beracot, fol. 34. 2. & Sabbat, fol. 63. 1. Maimon. Hilchot Teshuva, c. 8. sect. 7.

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

70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

Ver. 70. By the mouth] There were many prophets, yet they had all but one mouth, so sweet is their harmony.

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.

His holy prophets ... - All the prophets are said to have referred to the Messiah, from the beginning of the world. The most striking of these were Jacob Gen 49:10; Moses Deu 18:15; Isaiah Isa 9:6-7; Isa 53:1-12.

Since the world began - This is not to be taken literally, for there were no prophets “immediately after” the creation. It is merely a general expression, designed to denote that all the prophets had predicted the coming of the Messiah. Compare the Luk 24:27 note; Rev 19:10 note.

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

70. By the mouth of his holy prophets—The Messiah is the theme of prophecy and the antitype of the types since the world began. Even in the garden of Eden the first prediction of the Saviour was given. Gen_3:15. But Peter, in Act_3:21, uses similar words: All his holy prophets since the world began; by which he plainly means Moses and the prophets following. The words world began are a very loose translation. The original is απ’ αιωνος, which means not from the creation, but from an ancient age, from of old. The same phrase is used by the Septuagint in Gen_6:4, and Psa_25:6.

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

By the mouth of his holy prophets. Zacharias looked on all that was then happening as clearly foretold in those sacred prophetic writings preserved in the nation with so much care and reverence. Which have been since the world began. He considered Messianic prophecy as dating from the first intimation after the fall in Eden, (Gen_3:15) and continuing in an intermittent but yet unbroken line from Genesis to Malachi.

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

His prophets, who have been since the world began - For there were prophets from the very beginning.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

70. διὰ στόματος τῶν ἁγίων … προφητῶν αὐτοῦ. Namely, “in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms,” see on Luk 24:44. The phrase “by the month of” is the circumstantial and picturesque mode of expression so common in Semitic style.

ἀπ’ αἰῶνος. ‘of old.’ πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως, “fragmentarily and multifariously” (Heb 1:1) but “in old time” (2Pe 1:21) and dating back even to the promises to Eve, and to Abraham (Gen 3:15; Gen 22:18; Gen 49:10), and the sceptre and the star of Balaam (Num 24:17).

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.

70.] Meyer cites τοὺς ἀπʼ αἰῶνος ῥήτορας, Longin. 34.

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

70. Second strophe. Like ver. 55, this is not a parenthesis, but determines the preceding statement more exactly. As a priest, Zacharias would be familiar with O.T. prophecies. Even if the τῶν before ἀπʼ αἰῶνος (A C D) were genuine, it would be unlikely that τῶν ἁγίων means “the saints” in app. with τῶν ἀπʼ αἰῶνος προφητῶν. Lk. is fond of the epithet ἅγιος (ver. 72, 9:26; Act 3:21, Act 10:22, Act 21:28). He is also fond of the periphrasis διὰ στόματος (Act 1:16, Act 1:3:18, Act 1:21, Act 1:4:25): comp. 2Ch 36:22. And the expression ἀπʼ αἰῶνος is peculiar to him in N.T. (Act 3:21, Act 15:18). It is used vaguely for “of old time.” Here it does not mean that there have been Prophets “since the world began.” Comp. οἱ γίγαντες οἱ ἀπʼ αἰῶνος (Gen 6:4), and καταβροντᾷ καὶ καταφέγγει τοὺς ἀπʼ αἰῶνος ῥήτορας (Longin. xxxiv.), and adverbially (Hes. Theog. 609).

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

That have been since the world began [απ αιωνος] . A needlessly verbose rendering, retained by Rev. The American Rev. insists on of old.

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