Luke Chapter 1 verse 18 Holy Bible
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
read chapter 1 in ASV
And Zacharias said to the angel, How may I be certain of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is far on in years.
read chapter 1 in BBE
And Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this, for *I* am an old man, and my wife advanced in years?
read chapter 1 in DARBY
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
read chapter 1 in KJV
read chapter 1 in WBT
Zacharias said to the angel, "How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years."
read chapter 1 in WEB
And Zacharias said unto the messenger, `Whereby shall I know this? for I am aged, and my wife is advanced in her days?'
read chapter 1 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 18. - Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man. There was something evidently blamable in this hesitation on the part of Zacharias to receive the angel's promise. It seems as though the radiant glory of the messenger, as he stood before the curtain of the silent sanctuary in his awful beauty, ought to have convinced the doubting old man of the truth of the strange message. The words of the angel, which follow, seem to imply this. What! do you doubt my message? "I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of the Eternal." Others in Old Testament story before - for instance, Abraham (Genesis 15) and Gideon (Judges 6) - had seen and listened to an angel, had at first doubted, but had received in consequence no rebuke, no punishment, for their want of faith. Zacharias was, however, condemned, we learn, to a long period of dumbness.
