Luke 1:5 (YLT)

Passage

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the course of Abijah, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elisabeth;

Nearby Context

Luke 1:3 it seemed good also to me, having followed from the first after all things exactly, to write to thee in order, most noble Theophilus,

Luke 1:4 that thou mayest know the certainty of the things wherein thou wast instructed.

Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the course of Abijah, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elisabeth;

Luke 1:6 and they were both righteous before God, going on in all the commands and righteousnesses of the Lord blameless,

Luke 1:7 and they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and both were advanced in their days.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "days", "herod", "king", "judea", "certain", "priest", "name", and "zacharias". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "days" and "herod", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "that thou mayest know the certainty of..." into verse 6's "and they were both righteous before God...", so "days" and "herod" 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 "days" and "herod" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.