Luke 1:18 (GNV)

Passage

Then Zacharias said vnto ye Angel, Whereby shall I knowe this? for I am an olde man, and my wife is of a great age.

Nearby Context

Luke 1:16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turne to their Lord God.

Luke 1:17 For he shall goe before him in the spirite and power of Elias, to turne the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisedome of the iust men, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Luke 1:18 Then Zacharias said vnto ye Angel, Whereby shall I knowe this? for I am an olde man, and my wife is of a great age.

Luke 1:19 And the Angell answered, and sayde vnto him, I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God, and am sent to speake vnto thee, and to shew thee these good tidings.

Luke 1:20 And beholde, thou shalt be domme, and not be able to speake, vntill the day that these things be done, because thou beleeuedst not my words, which shalbe fulfilled in their season.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "zacharias", "said", "vnto", "angel", "whereby", "shall", "knowe", and "olde". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "zacharias" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "For he shall goe before him in..." into verse 19's "And the Angell answered and sayde vnto...", so "zacharias" and "said" 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 "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.