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Read the Bible

New King James Version

Luke 1:15

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Abstinence, Total;   Angel (a Spirit);   Barrenness;   Children;   Elisabeth (Elizabeth);   Gabriel;   Holy Spirit;   John;   Joy;   Nazarite;   Prophets;   Temple;   Vision;   Wine;   Zacharias (Zechariah);   Zeal, Religious;   Scofield Reference Index - Holy Spirit;   Thompson Chain Reference - Abstinence;   Emptiness-Fulness;   Greatness, God's;   Holy Spirit;   Honour-Dishonour;   Social Duties;   Spirit;   Temperance;   Temperance-Intemperance;   Total Abstinence;   True Greatness;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Nazarites;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Elisabeth;   John;   Nazarite;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Elizabeth;   Gabriel;   Grapes;   John the baptist;   Nazirite;   Zechariah;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Abortion;   Angel;   Holy Spirit;   Jerusalem;   John the Baptist;   Miracle;   Vision(s);   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Angel;   Union Hypostatical;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Baptism, Christian;   Drink, Strong;   John the Baptist;   Nazarite;   Wine;   Zacharias;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Herod;   Juttah;   Mary, the Virgin;   Nazarite;   Tongues, Gift of;   Wine;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Annunciation;   Gabriel;   Holy Spirit;   Incense;   Jesus, Life and Ministry of;   John;   Luke, Gospel of;   Mother;   Nazirite;   Strong Drink;   Temple of Jerusalem;   Zacharias;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Gabriel;   John the Baptist;   Possession;   Vision;   Wine and Strong Drink;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Curse;   Deaf and Dumb;   Drunkenness;   Drunkenness (2);   Holiness Purity;   Holy Spirit (2);   Hymn;   John the Baptist;   Nazirite;   Nazirite ;   Spirit ;   Trinity (2);   Zacharias ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Elisabeth ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Gabriel;   Theophilus;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elisabeth;   Nazarites;   Smith Bible Dictionary - John the Baptist;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Consecration;   Eating;   Fulness;   John the Baptist;   Vinegar;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - John, the Baptize;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Baptism (Non-Immersionist View);   Drink, Strong;   Drunkenness;   John the Baptist;   Liquor;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - John the Baptist;   Nazarite;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.
King James Version (1611)
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shal drinke neither wine, nor strong drinke, and he shall bee filled with the holy Ghost, euen from his mothers wombe.
King James Version
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
English Standard Version
for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
New American Standard Bible
"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother's womb.
New Century Version
John will be a great man for the Lord. He will never drink wine or beer, and even from birth, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Amplified Bible
for he will be great and distinguished in the sight of the Lord; and will never drink wine or liquor, and he will be filled with and empowered to act by the Holy Spirit while still in his mother's womb.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb.
Legacy Standard Bible
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will not drink any wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb.
Berean Standard Bible
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.
Contemporary English Version
Your son will be a great servant of the Lord. He must never drink wine or beer, and the power of the Holy Spirit will be with him from the time he is born.
Complete Jewish Bible
for he will be great in the sight of Adonai . He is never to drink wine or other liquor, and he will be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh even from his mother's womb.
Darby Translation
For he shall be great before [the] Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with [the] Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
Easy-to-Read Version
He will be a great man for the Lord. He will never drink wine or beer. Even before he is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For he shalbe great in the sight of the Lord, and shall neither drinke wine, nor strong drinke: and he shalbe filled with the holy Ghost, euen from his mothers wombe.
George Lamsa Translation
For he will be great before the Lord, and he will not drink wine and strong drink; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while he is still in the womb of his mother.
Good News Translation
John will be great in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
Lexham English Bible
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he must never drink wine or beer, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while he is still in his mother's womb.
Literal Translation
For he shall be great in the eyes of the Lord, and he shall not drink wine or strong drink. And he will be filled of the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
American Standard Version
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
Bible in Basic English
For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord; he will not take wine or strong drink; and he will be full of the Spirit of God from his birth.
Hebrew Names Version
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, even from his mother's womb.
International Standard Version
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will never drink wine or any strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.Numbers 6:3; Judges 13:4; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 7:33; Galatians 1:15;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
for he shall be great before the Lord, and wine and strong liquor [fn] shall he not drink, and with the Spirit of Holiness shall he be filled, from the womb of his mother.
Murdock Translation
For he will be great before the Lord; and he will not drink wine nor strong drink, and will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For he shalbe great in the syght of the Lorde, and shall neither drynke wine nor strong drynke: and he shalbe fylled with the holy ghost, euen from his mothers wombe.
English Revised Version
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
World English Bible
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For he shall be great before the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
Weymouth's New Testament
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; no wine or fermented drink shall he ever drink; but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the very hour of his birth.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For he schal be greet bifor the Lord, and he schal not drynke wyn and sidir, and he schal be fulfillid with the Hooli Goost yit of his modir wombe.
Update Bible Version
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
Webster's Bible Translation
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
New English Translation
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.
New Living Translation
for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.
New Life Bible
He will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or any strong drink. Even from his birth, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
New Revised Standard
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For he shall be great before the Lord, and, wine and strong drink, in nowise may he drink, and, with Holy Spirit, shall he be filled, already, from his mother's womb;
Douay-Rheims Bible
For he shall be great before the Lord and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
Revised Standard Version
for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For he shalbe greate in the sight of the lorde and shall nether drinke wyne ner stronge drinke. And he shalbe filled with the holy goost even in his mothers wombe:
Young's Literal Translation
for he shall be great before the Lord, and wine and strong drink he may not drink, and of the Holy Spirit he shall be full, even from his mother's womb;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
for he shal be greate before the LORDE. Wyne and stronge drynke shal he not drynke. And he shalbe fylled wt the holy goost, euen in his mothers wombe.
Mace New Testament (1729)
he shall appear as a divine messenger. he shall drink neither wine, nor any other strong liquor: he shall be filled with the holy spirit, even from his infancy:
Simplified Cowboy Version
He's going to be a top hand for the Lord. He will never let alcohol pass his lips and even before his birth the Holy Spirit will be with him.

Contextual Overview

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. 8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

great: Luke 7:28, Genesis 12:2, Genesis 48:19, Joshua 3:7, Joshua 4:14, 1 Chronicles 17:8, 1 Chronicles 29:12, Matthew 11:9-19, John 5:35

and shall: Luke 7:33, Numbers 6:2-4, Judges 13:4-6, Matthew 11:18

filled: Zechariah 9:15, Acts 2:4, Acts 2:14-18, Ephesians 5:18

even: Psalms 22:9, Jeremiah 1:5, Galatians 1:15

Reciprocal: Leviticus 10:9 - Do not Numbers 6:3 - General 1 Kings 18:12 - from my youth 2 Kings 4:8 - a great woman Proverbs 20:11 - General Ecclesiastes 12:1 - Remember Isaiah 49:1 - The Lord Jeremiah 35:6 - Ye shall Lamentations 4:7 - Nazarites Ezekiel 44:21 - General Matthew 5:19 - great Matthew 11:11 - a greater Matthew 20:2 - he sent Mark 1:2 - Behold Luke 1:32 - shall be great Luke 1:41 - the babe Luke 1:67 - filled Luke 1:80 - the child Luke 7:27 - Behold John 1:6 - a man John 14:26 - Holy Ghost 2 Timothy 3:15 - from

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord,.... Of Jehovah, the Father; with whom, what is highly esteemed among men, is oftentimes an abomination; and of the Lord Jesus Christ, before whom he was to go, and who pronounced him a prophet, and more than a prophet, and even greater than any born of women, Matthew 11:9 and of the Lord, the Spirit, with whom he was filled from his mother's womb: he was great, not in birth and blood, in worldly riches and grandeur, but in gifts and grace, in his work, office, and usefulness, and in the esteem of God, and even of men too:

and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; which were forbidden the Nazarites, Numbers 6:3 where the Jews, by "wine", understand "new wine"; and by "strong drink", old wine: so all the "three Targums", of Onkelos, Jonathan ben Uzziel, and the Jerusalem, paraphrase the words there, "from wine new and old, he shall separate himself"; and they allow strong drink to a Nazarite, that has no wine in it: their canon r runs thus,

"three things are forbidden a Nazarite, defilement, and shaving, and whatever proceeds from the vine, whether fruit, or the refuse of fruit; but strong drink made of dates, or dried figs, and such like, is free for a Nazarite; and the strong drink which is forbidden him in the law, is strong drink made of mixture of wine.''

But the Hebrew word, שכר, and which is here retained by the evangelist, signifies s any sort of liquor, which is inebriating, whether it is made of fruits, or honey, or what not. The Jews had no such strong drink as ours, which we call beer or ale; but they speak of the strong drink of the Medes, which they say was an inebriating liquor, made of barley t:

and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb; or "whilst in his mother's womb", as the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions render it: like Jeremiah, he was sanctified, set apart, and ordained to be the prophet of the Highest, before he came out of his mother's womb; and was then under such an influence of the Spirit of God, as to leap in it for joy, at the salutation of the mother of Christ to his, Luke 1:41 and very early appeared to have the extraordinary gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, qualifying him for his work.

r Maimon. Hilch. Nezirut, c. 5. sect. 1. s R. David Kimchi in Sepher Shorashim, rad. שכר t Misn. Pesach. c. 3. sect. 1. & Jarchi, Maimom. & Bartenora in ib.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Shall be great - Shall be eminent, or distinguished as a preacher.

In the sight of the Lord - Greek, “before the Lord.” That is, shall be “really” or “truly” great. God shall regard him as such.

Shall drink neither wine - The kind of wine commonly used in Judea was a light wine, often not stronger than cider in this country. It was the common drink of all classes of the people. See the notes at John 2:11. The use of wine was forbidden only to the Nazarite, Numbers 6:3. It was because John sustained this character that he abstained from the use of wine.

Strong drink - It is not easy to ascertain precisely what is meant by this word, but we are certain that it does not mean strong drink in our sense of the term. Distilled spirits were not then known. The art of distilling was discovered by an Arabian chemist in the 9th or 10th century; but distilled liquors are not used by Arabians. They banished them at once, as if sensible of their pernicious influence; nor are they used in Eastern nations at all. Europe and America have been the places where this poison has been most extensively used, and there it has beggared and ruined millions, and is yearly sweeping thousands unprepared into a wretched eternity. The “strong drink” among the Jews was probably nothing more than fermented liquors, or a drink obtained from fermented dates, figs, and the juice of the palm, or the lees of wine, mingled with sugar, and having the property of producing intoxication. Many of the Jewish writers say that by the word here translated “strong drink” was meant nothing more than old wine, which probably had the power of producing intoxication. See the notes at Isaiah 5:11.

Shall be filled with the Holy Ghost ... - Shall be divinely designated or appointed to this office, and qualified for it by all needful communications of the Holy Spirit. To be “filled” with the Holy Spirit is to be illuminated, sanctified, and guided by his influence. In this place it refers:

  1. To the divine intention that he should be set apart to this work, as God designed that Paul should be an apostle from his mother’s womb, Galatians 1:15.
  2. It refers to an actual fitting for the work from the birth by the influence of the Holy Spirit, as was the case with Jeremiah Jeremiah 1:5, and with the Messiah himself, Psalms 22:9-10.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Luke 1:15. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord — That is, before Jesus Christ, whose forerunner he shall be; or he shall be a truly great person, for so this form of speech may imply.

Neither wine nor strong drink — σικερα, i.e. all fermented liquors which have the property of intoxicating, or producing drunkenness. The original word σικερα, sikera, comes from the Hebrew, שכר shakar, to inebriate. "Any inebriating liquor," says St. Jerome, (Epis. ad Nepot.)" is called sicera, whether made of corn, apples, honey, dates, or any other fruits." One of the four prohibited liquors among the East Indian Moslimans is called sikkir. "Sikkir is made by steeping fresh dates in water till they take effect in sweetening it: this liquor is abominable and unlawful." HEDAYA, vol. iv. p. 158. Probably this is the very liquor referred to in the text. In the Institutes of Menu it is said, "Inebriating liquor may be considered as of three principal sorts: that extracted from dregs of sugar, that extracted from bruised rice, and that extracted from the flowers of the madhuca: as one, so are all; they shall not be tasted by the chief of the twice-born." Chap. xi. Inst. 95. Twice-born is used by the Brahmins in the same sense as being born again is used by Christians. It signifies a spiritual regeneration. From this word comes our English term cyder, or sider, a beverage made of the fermented juice of apples. Leviticus 10:9.

Shall be filled with the Holy Ghost — Shall be Divinely designated to this particular office, and qualified for it, from his mother's womb-from the instant of his birth. One MS., two versions, and four of the primitive fathers read εν τη κοιλια, IN the womb of has mother - intimating that even before he should be born into the world the Holy Spirit should be communicated to him. Did not this take place on the salutation of the Virgin Mary? - and is not this what is intended, Luke 1:44? To be filled with the Holy Ghost, implies having the soul influenced in all its powers, with the illuminating, strengthening, and sanctifying energy of the Spirit.


 
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