Luke 1:12 (DBY)

Passage

And Zacharias was troubled, seeing [him], and fear fell upon him.

Nearby Context

Luke 1:10 And all the multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense.

Luke 1:11 And an angel of [the] Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar of incense.

Luke 1:12 And Zacharias was troubled, seeing [him], and fear fell upon him.

Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, Fear not, Zacharias, because thy supplication has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

Luke 1:14 And he shall be to thee joy and rejoicing, and many shall rejoice at his birth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "zacharias", "troubled", "seeing", "fear", "fell", and "upon". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "zacharias" and "troubled", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And an angel of the Lord appeared..." into verse 13's "But the angel said to him Fear...", so "zacharias" and "troubled" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "zacharias" and "troubled" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.