Luke 1:11

Contemporary English Version

All at once an angel from the Lord appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

King James Version (1611)
And there appeared vnto him an Angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the Altar of incense.

King James Version
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

English Standard Version
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

New American Standard Bible
Now an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

New Century Version
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing on the right side of the incense table.

Amplified Bible
And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

Legacy Standard Bible
And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

Berean Standard Bible
Just then, an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of the incense.

Complete Jewish Bible
when there appeared to him an angel of Adonai standing to the right of the incense altar.

Darby Translation
And an angel of [the] Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar of incense.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then, on the right side of the incense table, an angel of the Lord came and stood before Zechariah.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then appeared vnto him an Angel of the Lorde standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

George Lamsa Translation
And the angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias, standing on the right of the altar of incense.

Good News Translation
An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned.

Lexham English Bible
And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

Literal Translation
And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar of incense.

American Standard Version
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Bible in Basic English
And he saw an angel of the Lord in his place on the right side of the altar.

Hebrew Names Version
An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

International Standard Version
An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the incense altar.Exodus 30:1;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And there appeared to him, to Zakaria, the angel of the Lord, standing on the right hand of the altar of incense.

Murdock Translation
And the angel of the Lord appeared to Zachariah, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And there appeared vnto hym an Angel of the Lorde, standyng on the ryght syde of the aulter of incence.

English Revised Version
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

World English Bible
An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Weymouth's New Testament
Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And an aungel of the Lord apperide to hym, and stood on the riythalf of the auter of encense.

Update Bible Version
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of altar of incense.

Webster's Bible Translation
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

New English Translation
An angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense, appeared to him.

New King James Version
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

New Living Translation
While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.

New Life Bible
Zacharias saw an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar where the special perfume was burning.

New Revised Standard
Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And there appeared unto him a messenger of the Lord, standing on the right hand of the altar of incense;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Revised Standard Version
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And ther appered vnto him an angell of the lorde stondinge on the ryght syde of the altare of incense.

Young's Literal Translation
And there appeared to him a messenger of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of the perfume,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the angell of the LORDE appeared vnto him, and stode on the right syde of the altare of incese.

Mace New Testament (1729)
when there appear'd to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the incense-altar.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Then an angel appeared right next to the table where Zechariah was offering incense.

Contextual Overview

⁵ When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest by the name of Zechariah from the priestly group of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was from the family of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded. ⁷ But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old. ⁸ One day Zechariah's group of priests were on duty, and he was serving God as a priest. ⁹ According to the custom of the priests, he had been chosen to go into the Lord's temple that day and to burn incense, ¹⁰ while the people stood outside praying. ¹¹ All at once an angel from the Lord appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar. ¹² Zechariah was confused and afraid when he saw the angel. ¹³ But the angel told him: Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you must name him John. ¹⁴ His birth will make you very happy, and many people will be glad.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

appeared: Luke 1:19, Luke 1:28, Luke 2:10, Judges 13:3, Judges 13:9, Acts 10:3, Acts 10:4, Hebrews 1:14

the altar: Exodus 30:1-6, Exodus 37:25-29, Exodus 40:26, Exodus 40:27, Leviticus 16:13, Revelation 8:3, Revelation 8:4, Revelation 9:13

Reciprocal: Numbers 12:6 - in a vision Judges 6:12 - the angel Matthew 14:26 - they were Matthew 21:25 - baptism Luke 2:9 - lo

Cross-References

Genesis 1:9

The Third Day

God said, "I command the water under the sky to come together in one place, so there will be dry ground." And that's what happened.

Genesis 1:13
Evening came and then morning—that was the third day.

Genesis 1:14

The Fourth Day

God said, "I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years.

Genesis 1:16
God made two powerful lights, the brighter one to rule the day and the other to rule the night. He also made the stars.

Genesis 1:17
Then God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth,

Genesis 1:20

The Fifth Day

God said, "I command the ocean to be full of living creatures, and I command birds to fly above the earth."

Genesis 1:29
I have provided all kinds of fruit and grain for you to eat.

Genesis 2:5
no grass or plants were growing anywhere. God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work the land.

Genesis 2:9
The Lord God placed all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden. Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life—the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong.

Genesis 2:16
But the Lord told him, "You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord,.... Gabriel, as seem's manifest from Luke 1:19 the same angel that had appeared to Daniel, about the time of the evening oblation, near five hundred years before, and gave him an account of the time of the Messiah's coming, Daniel 9:21. The Jews sometimes speak of divine and wonderful appearances to their priests, at such times, and in such places:

"it is a tradition that R. Ishmael ben Elishah should say, one time I went in, להקטיר קטרת, "to burn incense": and I saw Actariel (one of the names of God with them) the Lord, the Lord of hosts, who was sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. m''

And so they say of Simeon the just, that there was always an appearance when he went into the holy of holies; it is related thus n:

"Simeon the just, ministered unto Israel in the high priesthood, forty years; and in the last year, he said to them, I shall die this year: they said to him, from whence dost thou know it? He replied to them, every year that I have entered into the holy of holies, there was, זקן אחד, "one old man" clothed in white, and veiled in white, that went in with me, and came out with me; and this year he went in with me, but did not come out with me.''

And according to Josephus o, the high priest Hyrcanus received an oracle, or answer from God, as he was offering incense; so that the Jews ought not to discredit such an appearance to Zacharias:

standing on the right side of the altar of incense; of which, see

Exodus 30:1 the situation of it, according to the Jews, was this p:

"the table (of showbread) was in the north, two cubits and a half distant from the wall; and the candlestick was in the south, two cubits and a half distant from the wall; and the altar (of incense) was in the middle, and stood between them.''

And to

"this agrees the account of Maimonides q, who says, the candlestick was on the south, on the left hand, as you go in; and the table of shewbread on the right hand, and both of them on the side of the holy of holies without; and the altar of incense was between them both without.''

So that it was on the north side that the angel stood.

m T. Bab. Berncot, fol. 7. 1. n T. Hieros. Yoma, fol. 42. 3. o De Bello Jud. l. 13. c. 18. p T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 33. 2. q Hilch. Beth Habbechira, c. 1. sect. 7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

An angel - An “angel” is a messenger sent from God. See the notes at Matthew 1:20. It had now been about 400 years since the time of “Malachi,” and since there had been any divine revelation. During that time the nation was looking for the Messiah, but still with nothing more than the ancient prophecies to direct them. Now that he was about to appear, God sent his messenger to announce his coming, to encourage the hearts of his people, and to prepare them to receive him.

On the right side ... - The altar of incense stood close by the veil which divided the holy place from the most holy. On the north stood the table of showbread; on the south the golden candlestick. As Zechariah entered, therefore, with his face to the west, the angel would stand on the north, or near the table of showbread. That table was 18 inches square and 3 feet high. The top, as well as the sides and horns, was overlaid with pure gold, and it was finished around the upper surface with a crown or border of gold. Just below this border, four golden rings were attached to each side of the altar, one near each corner. The staves or rods for bearing the altar passed through these rings, and were made of the same wood with the altar itself, and richly overlaid with the same precious metal. Upon this altar incense was burned every morning and every evening, so that it was literally perpetual, Exodus 30:8. Neither burnt-sacrifice, nor meat-offering, nor drink-offering was permitted upon this altar; nor was it ever stained with blood except once annually, when the priest made atonement, Leviticus 16:18-19.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Luke 1:11. There appeared - an angel of the Lord — There had been neither prophecy nor angelic ministry vouchsafed to this people for about 400 years. But now, as the Sun of righteousness is about to arise upon them, the day-spring from on high visits them, that they may be prepared for that kingdom of God which was at hand. Every circumstance here is worthy of remark:

1. That an angel should now appear, as such a favour had not been granted for 400 years.

2. The person to whom this angel was sent-one of the priests. The sacerdotal office itself pointed out the Son of God till he came: by him it was to be completed, and in him it was to be eternally established: - Thou art a priest for ever, Psalms 110:4.

3. The place in which the angel appeared - Jerusalem; out of which the word of the Lord should go forth, Isaiah 2:3, and not at Hebron, in the hill country of Judea, where Zacharias lived, Luke 1:39, which was the ordinary residence of the priests, Joshua 21:11, where there could have been few witnesses of this interposition of God, and the effects produced by it.

4. The place where he was when the angel appeared to him - in the temple, which was the place where God was to be sought; the place of his residence, and a type of the human nature of the blessed Jesus, John 2:21.

5. The time in which this was done - the solemn hour of public prayer. God has always promised to be present with those who call upon him. When the people and the priest go hand in hand, and heart with heart, to the house of God, the angel of his presence shall surely accompany them, and God shall appear among them.

6. The employment of Zacharias when the angel appeared - he was burning incense, one of the most sacred and mysterious functions of the Levitical priesthood, and which typified the intercession of Christ: confer Hebrews 7:25, with Hebrews 9:24.

7. The long continued and publicly known dumbness of the priest, who doubted the word thus miraculously sent to him from the Lord: a solemn intimation of what God would do to all those who would not believe in the Lord Jesus. Every mouth shall be stopped.