He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” They all marveled.
Parallel Translations
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He asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” They all marveled.
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And he axed for wrytynge tables and wroote saying: his name is Iohn. And they marvelled all.
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So hee asked for writing tables, and wrote, saying, His name is Iohn, and they marueiled all.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Luke 1:63 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 30:8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever.
- Luke 1:60 His mother answered, “Not so; but he will be called John.”
- Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
- Jeremiah 17:1 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond. It is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars.
- Habakkuk 2:2 Yahweh answered me, “Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 63 And he asked for a writing table, and…
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,
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" 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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he asked for a writing table,.... That is,…
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:
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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.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 63. A writing table] πινακιδιον, a tablet, a…
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.
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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.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He asked - That is, by signs.
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.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain As then in circumcision, so now in baptism, names…
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain marvelled all--at his giving the same name, not knowing…
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.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 63. Writing table—It was a small, flat piece of…
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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 63. table] Rather, tablet. A small wooden tablet (abacus)…
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (63) A writing table.—The tablets in common use at…
(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.
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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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain A writing-table; better, a writing-tablet. The tablets in use…
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.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 63. Asked for a writing tablet. Because his tongue…
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.