LUKE 1:9 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT according to the custom of the priesthood, he came up by lot to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense.

UST The priests chose Zechariah to go into the Lord’s temple and burn incense there. They chose him in their usual way, by casting lots to determine whom God wanted to perform a particular task.

BLB according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to burn incense, having entered into the temple of the Lord.

AICNT according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of {the Lord}[fn] and burn incense.

1:9, the Lord: Some manuscripts read “God.” C(04) D(05)

OEB it fell to him by lot, in accordance with the practice among the priests, to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense;

WEBBE according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the holy place of the Lord and burn incense.

LSV according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot was to make incense, having gone into the temple of the LORD,

FBV he was chosen by lot[fn] according to priestly custom to enter the Temple of the Lord and burn incense.

1:9 A system of random choice like “choosing straws” was used because more wanted to serve than there were places available.

TCNT he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

T4T Following their custom, the other priests chose him by lot to enter the Lord’s temple and burn incense.

LEB according to the custom of the priesthood he was chosen by lot to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense.

BBE And as was the way of the priests, he had to go into the Temple to see to the burning of perfumes.

Moff it fell to him by lot, as was the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense,

Wymth it fell to his lot—according to the custom of the priesthood—to go into the Sanctuary of the Lord and burn the incense;

ASV according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

DRA According to the custom of the priestly office, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord.

YLT according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot was to make perfume, having gone into the sanctuary of the Lord,

Drby it fell to him by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense.

RV according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

SLT According to the custom of the priesthood, he drew lots to burn incense, having entered into the temple of the Lord.

Wbstr According to the custom of the priests' office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

KJB-1769 According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

KJB-1611 According to the custome of the Priests office, his lot was to burne incense when he went into the Temple of the Lord.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps Accordyng to ye custome of the priestes office, his lot was to burne incence, whe he went into the temple of the Lorde.
(According to ye/you_all custom of the priests office, his lot was to burn incence, when he went into the temple of the Lord.)

Gnva According to the custome of the Priests office, his lot was to burne incense, when he went into the Temple of the Lord.
(According to the custom of the Priests office, his lot was to burn incense, when he went into the Temple of the Lord. )

Cvdl (acordinge to the custome of the presthode) it fell to his lott to burne incense.
((according to the custom of the priesthood) it fell to his lot to burn incense.)

TNT (accordinge to the custome of the prestes office) his lot was to bourne incence. And went into the temple of the Lorde
((according to the custom of the priests office) his lot was to bourne incence. And went into the temple of the Lord )

Wycl aftir the custome of the preesthod, he wente forth bi lot, and entride in to the temple, to encense.
(after the custom of the priesthood, he went forth by lot, and entered in to the temple, to incense.)

Luth nach Gewohnheit des Priestertums, und an ihm war, daß er räuchern sollte, ging er in den Tempel des HErr’s.
(after Gewohnheit the priesthood, and at/to him was, that he smoking should, went he in the temple the LORD’s.)

ClVg secundum consuetudinem sacerdotii, sorte exiit ut incensum poneret, ingressus in templum Domini:[fn]
(after/second custom priesthood, by_lot went_out as incense to_putt, entering in/into/on the_temple/sanctuary Master: )

1.9 Sorte. BEDA. Non nova tunc sorte electus, quando incensum erat adolendum, etc., usque ad prædicitur dum ille promittitur præcursurus.

1.9 Sorte. BEDA. Not/No new then by_lot elected, when incense was adolendum, etc., until to predictsur while he/that_one promised beforecursurus.

UGNT κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τῆς ἱερατείας, ἔλαχε τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι, εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ Κυρίου.
(kata to ethos taʸs hierateias, elaⱪe tou thumiasai, eiselthōn eis ton naon tou Kuriou.)

SBL-GNT κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τῆς ἱερατείας ἔλαχε τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ κυρίου,
(kata to ethos taʸs hierateias elaⱪe tou thumiasai eiselthōn eis ton naon tou kuriou,)

RP-GNT κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τῆς ἱερατείας, ἔλαχεν τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ κυρίου.
(kata to ethos taʸs hierateias, elaⱪen tou thumiasai eiselthōn eis ton naon tou kuriou.)

TC-GNT κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τῆς [fn]ἱερατείας, ἔλαχε τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ Κυρίου.
(kata to ethos taʸs hierateias, elaⱪe tou thumiasai eiselthōn eis ton naon tou Kuriou. )

1:9 ιερατειας ¦ ιερατιας WH

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:5–25: An angel said that John the Baptizer would be born

An angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah while he was working in the temple as a priest. The angel told him that his wife Elizabeth would become pregnant and have a baby, and that he must name him John. Zechariah and Elizabeth were old, and Elizabeth was not able to have children. So Zechariah did not believe the angel. Because he did not believe that what the angel said would happen, the angel made him unable to speak. But later, Elizabeth became pregnant.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Some other possible headings for this section are:

The Birth of John the Baptist is Announced (GNT)

The angel Gabriel predicts the birth of John the Baptizer

The angel Gabriel announces/prophesies to Zechariah that his wife will have a son

Paragraph 1:8–10

This paragraph gives background information for the events in 1:11–20. These events happened in the temple of God in Jerusalem. The temple had several courtyards. The ordinary people remained in the courtyards while the priests went into the temple building to offer incense and other sacrifices. It may be helpful to have a picture of the temple and the temple courtyards here in your translation.

1:9a

he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood,

he was selected by lot, which was the customary/usual way that one of the priests was selected,
The priests, according to their custom, threw lots/stones in order to see whom God wanted to obtain the privilege

he was chosen by lot: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as he was chosen by lot refers to the custom of throwing or drawing “lots” to choose a person. It is not clear what kind of object the priests used for lots. They may have used small stones with one priest’s name on each stone. They may have thrown the lots in a certain way or drawn them from a container in which all of them had been placed. The priest who would serve before God was chosen in this way.

The Greek verb that the BSB translates with a passive form, he was chosen by lot, is literally “he obtained/received by lot.” This is an active form in Greek, and it may be more natural to use an active form in your language. For example:

the priests chose him by lot

The priests used lots in this way so that God would be the one to choose a priest. In some languages, it may be helpful to make this information explicit. For example:

he was chosen by the way God allowed the lot to fall

he obtained/received the privilege by lot as God determined

In some cultures, the custom of using lots in this way is not known. It may also be difficult to describe this custom in the text. If this is true in your culture, you may want to use a more general expression and explain the custom in a footnote. For example:

he was chosen by priestly custom (GW)

they threw marked stones to decide which priest would serve

Here is a possible footnote:

The priests used certain objects to decide which of them would burn incense. They put a priest’s name on each object. Then they put the objects in a container and shook or drew one out. They believed that the priest whose name was on that object was chosen by God to burn the incense.

according to the custom of the priesthood: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as according to the custom of the priesthood means that this was the method that the Jewish priests regularly used.

1:9b

to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

to enter the holiest place/part of the Lord’s temple and burn incense there.
of entering the temple sanctuary where the Lord God is/dwells to burn sweet-smelling spices to God.

the temple of the Lord: The phrase the temple of the Lord refers to the temple in Jerusalem where the Lord was present in a special way. Priests served in the temple and presented the people’s sacrifices to the Lord.

The Greek word that the BSB translates as the temple refers specifically here to the holiest place in the temple building. It does not refer to the temple as a whole.

Some ways to translate this are:

the holy/holiest place of the Lord’s temple

the house/place where the Lord is/dwells

the innermost part of the Lord’s temple

the sanctuary

See temple, Meaning 2, in the Glossary for more information.

the Lord: The phrase the Lord refers here to God. See the note at 1:6b.

See also Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary.

burn incense: The Greek word that the BSB translates as incense refers to a certain powder that smelled good when it burned. The Jews used a special type of incense to burn for God. While the incense burned, the priest prayed to God. The sweet-smelling smoke that rose while it burned was a symbol of people praying to God.

Jewish law did not allow any priest to burn this incense more than once in his life. So it was a special honor for Zechariah to burn the incense.

General Comment on 1:9a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of some of the information in 1:9a–b. For example:

^9aIt was the custom of the priests to draw/take lots in order to decide who ^9bwould enter the temple of the Lord to burn incense. ^9aThe priests did this and Zechariah was the one who gained that right.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-background

κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τῆς ἱερατείας, ἔλαχε

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: κατά τό ἔθος τῆς ἱερατείας ἔλαχε τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι εἰσελθών εἰς τόν ναόν τοῦ Κυρίου)

Luke is providing background information about how the priests selected members of their group to perform specific duties. Alternate translation: [The priests chose him in their customary way, by casting a lot]

Note 2 topic: translate-unknown

ἔλαχε

˱he˲_was_chosen_by_lot

A lot was a marked stone that was thrown or rolled on the ground in order to help decide something. The priests believed that God would guide the lot and show them which priest he wanted them to choose for a particular duty. If your culture has a similar object, you could use the word for that in your language here. Alternate translation: [by casting a marked stone]

Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι, εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ Κυρίου

¬which ˓to˒_burn_incense ˱of˲_the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: κατά τό ἔθος τῆς ἱερατείας ἔλαχε τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι εἰσελθών εἰς τόν ναόν τοῦ Κυρίου)

The ULT puts these phrases in the chronological order of what Zechariah needed to do. If it would be helpful in your language, you could put them in logical order instead. Alternate translation: [to burn incense, and so he went into the temple to do that]

Note 4 topic: translate-unknown

τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι

¬which ˓to˒_burn_incense

The word incense describes a substance that gives off a sweet smell when it is burned. The priests were to burn it as an offering to God each morning and evening on a special altar inside the temple. If your language has a word for this substance, you could use it here. Alternate translation: [to burn a substance that would create a sweet smell as an offering to God]

Parallel LUKE 1:9

Section 1:5–25: An angel said that John the Baptizer would be born

Paragraph 1:8–10

1:9a

1:9b

General Comment on 1:9a–b