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OET (OET-LV) And they_were_signaling to_the father of_him, what the name wishfully he_might_be_wanting him to_be_being_called.
In this section, Elizabeth gave birth to a son, and she and his father gave him the name John. John received this name at the time when he was circumcised. He was the one who was later called John the Baptizer.
It was Jewish custom to circumcise a baby boy one week after his birth. The circumcision commonly took place at the family’s home. The father or a man who specialized in doing circumcision would cut off the skin at the end of the baby’s penis. This was a sign in each boy’s body that he was part of Israel and included in the covenant that God had made with Israel. Neighbors and relatives joined in the celebration.
God had shown his power in causing Elizabeth to become pregnant when she was old and had been unable to have children. When the baby was circumcised, God again showed his power by restoring Zechariah’s ability to speak. The unusual events in connection with John’s birth were told throughout the hill country of Judah. As a result, people thought about these things and felt awe and fear to see God working in that powerful way among them.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
Elizabeth gave birth to John
Elizabeth gave birth to a baby who was circumcised and named John
The birth and circumcision of John the Baptizer
So they made signs to his father
Then they signaled/gestured to the baby’s father,
Then they made motions with their hands to ask Zechariah
So they made signs to his father: The visitors communicated to the baby’s father here by motioning with their hands.
his father: It may be necessary to make it clear that his father refers to the baby’s father, that is, Zechariah. For example:
they made signs to the baby’s father
they made signs to Zechariah
to find out what he wanted to name the child.
asking what he wanted to name the child.
what/how he wanted people to call the baby.
to find out what he wanted to name the child: Luke 1:62b gives the meaning of the people’s question that they asked by making signs with their hands. Some other ways to translate this are:
inquiring what he wanted to name his son (NET)
asking how he wanted people to call the baby
In some languages it may be natural to express this in direct speech, even though the people communicated this through signs and not through speech. For example:
…they used signs to ask the baby’s father: “What/how do you want people to call the child?”
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐνένευον & τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ
˱they˲_˓were˒_signaling & ˱to˲_the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐνένευον Δέ τῷ πατρί αὐτοῦ τό τί ἄν θέλοι καλεῖσθαι αὐτό)
Zechariah may have been unable both to speak and to hear, but Gabriel only told him that he would be unable to speak, so it is more likely that the people simply assumed he could not hear because he was not speaking. If you think your readers might wonder why the people made signs to Zechariah, you could offer an explanation. Alternate translation: [because Zechariah was not speaking, the people thought he could not hear either, so they made signs to him]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
τὸ τί ἂν θέλοι καλεῖσθαι αὐτό
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐνένευον Δέ τῷ πατρί αὐτοῦ τό τί ἄν θέλοι καλεῖσθαι αὐτό)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this with an active form, and you could state who would do the action. Alternate translation: [to ask him what name he wanted to give the baby]
1:62-63 they used gestures: Zechariah was mute and deaf (see study note on 1:20). Zechariah’s obedience in naming the child John confirmed his faith, and his voice and hearing were restored.
OET (OET-LV) And they_were_signaling to_the father of_him, what the name wishfully he_might_be_wanting him to_be_being_called.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.