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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Luke 1:67-80

We have here the song wherewith Zacharias praised God when his mouth was opened; in it he is said to prophesy (Luke 1:67), and so he did in the strictest sense of prophesying; for he foretold things to come concerning the kingdom of the Messiah, to which all the prophets bear witness. Observe, I. How he was qualified for this: He was filled with the Holy Ghost, was endued with more than ordinary measures and degrees of it, for this purpose; he was divinely inspired. God not only forgave him... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Luke 1:67-80

1:67-80 His father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied like this: "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has graciously visited his people and wrought deliverance for them. He has raised the horn of salvation for us in the house of David, his servant--as long ago he said he would through the mouth of his holy prophets--even deliverance from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, in that he has shown mercy to us as he did to our fathers and has... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Luke 1:79

To give light to them that sit in darkness ,.... God's elect among the Jews, who were not only in a state of unregeneracy, which is a state of darkness, ignorance, and unbelief; but in the darkness of the legal dispensation, and at this time under more than ordinary darkness and ignorance; having lost the knowledge of the righteousness of God, and of the spirituality of his law, the true sense of the Scriptures, and right notions of the Messiah; being led by blind guides, the Scribes and... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 1:79

Verse 79 79.That he might give light to those who were sitting in darkness As to light and darkness, there are similar modes of expression in Isaiah: such as, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined,” (Isaiah 9:1;) and in many other passages. These words show, that out of Christ there is no life-giving light in the world, but every thing is covered by the appalling darkness of death.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 1:1-80

After the Ascension and the events of the first Pentecost, which quickly followed their Master's return to heaven, the twelve and a few others who had walked in the company which followed Jesus during the years of his public ministry no doubt often met together and talked over the teaching and the acts of their risen and now glorified Master. As time passed on, a certain number of these acts, a certain number of the public and private discourses in the apostolic company, became adopted as... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 1:57-80

John, afterwards called the Baptist, the son of Zacharias and Elisabeth, is born. The Benedictus . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 1:57-80

The birth and development of the Baptist. We now pass from the inspirations of the holy women to the birth of the Baptist. We have before us what one has well denominated "a pious family in their good fortune." £ As this preacher observes, we have here "the mother in her joy, the father with his song of praise, and the little child and his development." We cannot do better than allow our thoughts to group themselves round these three persons in this order. I. CONTEMPLATE THE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 1:59-80

The name-giving, and what followed it. There is a quiet, gentle beauty in the picture of the home life given in Luke 1:58 . The touches of nature in it make us feel our kinship with all the ages. We are told of the flood of congratulations and kind messages which surges towards the happy mother; how the cousins of the priestly families in and around Hebron, and the neighbors scattered over that part of northern Judea, hastened to express their gladness to Zacharias and Elisabeth. The... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 1:79

To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death . It would seem that for a moment the Hebrew priest saw beyond the narrow horizon of Israel, and that here, in the close of his glorious song, he caught sight of the distant far-reaching isles of the Gentiles, over which so deep a darkness brooded for ages. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 1:79

Christ our Light. To whom and to what extent the Messiah should "give light" probably Zacharias did not know. He may have limited the blessing, in his mind, to the people of Israel; or, inspired and illumined of God, he may have had a larger and truer outlook. We, at any rate, are unable to confine our thoughts to Jewry; we see in the Sun of Righteousness, in the Dayspring from on high, a celestial luminary "whose going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of... read more

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