St Luke Chapter I : Verses 11-17
Contents
- Luke i. 11-17. Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text & Latin text (Vulgate).
- Annotations
- Douay-Rheims : 1582 text & notes
- Sicer/strong drink.
Luke i. 5-10.
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| Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Apparuit autem illi angelus Domini, stans a dextris altaris incensi.
12 And Zachary seeing him, was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
Et Zacharias turbatus est videns, et timor irruit super eum.
13 But the angel said to him: Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John:
Ait autem ad illum angelus : Ne timeas, Zacharia, quoniam exaudita est deprecatio tua : et uxor tua Elisabeth pariet tibi filium, et vocabis nomen ejus Joannem :
14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity.
et erit gaudium tibi, et exsultatio, et multi in nativitate ejus gaudebunt :
15 For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
erit enim magnus coram Domino : et vinum et siceram non bibet, et Spiritu Sancto replebitur adhuc ex utero matris suae :
16 And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.
et multos filiorum Israel convertet ad Dominum Deum ipsorum :
17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.
et ipse præcedet ante illum in spiritu et virtute Eliæ : ut convertat corda patrum in filios, et incredulos ad prudentiam justorum, parare Domino plebem perfectam.
Annotations
11. And there appeared to him an angel (Gabriel, as is clear from v.19), standing on the right side of the altar. 1. Because he had come to announce good tidings. Euthymius. 2. Because he brought down the token of Divine mercy, for for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved [Ps. xv. 8] S. Ambrose. We may learn from this that angels stand by altars, priests and sacrifices, and co-operate with them in the worship and adoration of God. Of this there are many instances in the lives of the saints, some of which I have mentioned, Exod. xxix. 38; Lev. ix. 24.
12. Zachary was troubled. Both because of the unusual sight, and because of the majesty in which he appeared, which human weakness could scarcely endure to behold: “for man is not strong enough to bear such a strange and unusual sight without alarm.” Titus. So Daniel, when the same angel appeared to him, says,
“And I being left alone saw this great vision: and there remained no strength in me, and the appearance of my countenance was changed in me, and I fainted away, and retained no strength.” [Dan. x.8]
Hence it is the sign of a good angel if at first he causes fear and afterwards joy; but of a bad angel if he makes a man sorrowful after causing joy; whence S. Antony says, “If joy has succeeded to fear we may know that the vision is from God; for the peace of the soul is a sign of the Divine presence; but if the fear remains unshaken it is an enemy who is seen.”
13. thy prayer is heard. Not his prayer for offspring, S. Augustine says, of which he now so despaired that he did not believe the promise of the angel (verse 20), but thy prayer as a priest for the sins of the people and for the coming of the Messiah. But God, who goes beyond the merits and the prayers of suppliants, promised him a son who should be the prophet and forerunner. So Bede, Theophylact, S. Augustine, S. Chrysostom.
Some, however, are of opinion that this prayer of Zacharias was for offspring, only that it had been offered not at this time, but formerly when he was younger.
thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shall call his name John. Because John, according to Maldonatus, is the same in Hebrew as beloved: or, according to Pagninus, the gift or mercy of the Lord. This is not, however, the precise meaning; for then he would have rather been called Hananiah than John. Properly, therefore, the name John signifies, God hath had mercy. And He did this first when he heard the prayer of Zachary; and secondly by appointing John as the forerunner of the Messiah, and soon after by sending the Messiah Himself; for it was by Christ, and not by Moses and the law, that grace came. So the son of Anna was called Samuel, that is asked and obtained from God by the tears of his mother for the salvation of the whole people, 1 Sam. i.20. Thirdly, God also showed mercy on John himself (Bede, Jansen, Maldonatus), by filling him with His manifold grace; by which He made him a Doctor in Israel, a Prophet, an Anchorite, a Martyr, a Virgin, and the Forerunner of Christ. John therefore was, as it were, the Son of Charities and Graces, in whom all the Graces of God seem to have blended together.
Mark here the threefold mystery of the three names:
for Elizabeth, that is, the oath of God who promiseth, and
Zachary, God’s remembrance of His promise, are the parents of
John, that is, the mercy and grace of God.
14. And thou shalt have joy and gladness. Thy son shall be to thee and to many others the cause of the greatest joy and exultation.
15. For he shall be great before the Lord, to Whom alone it belongs to determine what is great, what is ordinary, and what is small. Many, says S. Theophylact, are called great in the sight of men, who, being little, esteem little things as great; but John was great in the sight of the Lord, who, being great, weigheth things that are great.
He was great on account—1. of his sanctification in his mother’s womb; 2. the depth of his humility; 3. his extraordinary charity; 4. his exemplary penitence; 5. his seraphic zeal; 6. his whole life, which was as much human as angelic; 7. the sublimity of his prophesying; 8. his solitary life; 9. his office of forerunner of Christ; 10. his most noble martyrdom. See the twenty eight privileges ascribed to John, which Baradius enumerates here.
[Ed. Amen I say to you, there hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist: Amen dico vobis, non surrexit inter natos mulierum major Joanne Baptista : Matt. xi. 11]
and he shall not drink wine nor strong drink. Strong drink (Sicera) is everything that intoxicates. To abstain from wine and strong drink was peculiar to Nazarites; and from this place it appears that John was one during the whole of his life.
And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb. This was when on the entrance of the Blessed Virgin he leapt in his mother’s womb, and, as far as he could, fulfilled his office of forerunner. John, therefore, was born again of the Spirit before he was born of his mother.
Was John then truly cleansed from original sin in the womb and justified? S. Augustine (Ep. 57) and S. Jerome (in Jerem. i.) maintain that he was not; for they say that John and Jeremiah are both said to have been sanctified in the womb not really, but according to the predestination of God; for they were ordained to future sanctity, so that the same is said here concerning John that the Apostle says of himself, Gal. 1, “who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace.” The reason that S. Augustine gives is, that to be born again presupposes being born; but John when in the womb was not yet born; therefore he could not have been born again in reality, but only according to the predestination of God.
But the common opinion of the Fathers is contrary to this (S. Athanasius, Cyprian, Ambrose, Gregory, and others) which I approve of—First, because the angel here most clearly promises “he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb.” Secondly, because at the salutation of the Blessed Virgin he believed in Christ when in the womb. For at that time it was when he was visited and saluted by the Blessed Virgin in the sixth month from his conception that this wonderful sanctification took place. To the argument of S. Augustine I answer, that a man in order that he may be born again may be considered as born when he has been conceived in the womb; for then as he is born in original sin so also he can by grace be born again and even baptized, as is clear from the practice of the Church in certain cases.
17. he shall go before Him. John went before Christ. 1. In his birth, for he was born six months before Christ. 2. In his baptism, for he baptized before Christ did; yea, he even baptized Christ. 3. In preaching of repentance that he might prepare the way for Christ. 4. By pointing out Jesus as the Messiah and Lamb of God who should take away the sin of the world. 5. By suffering martyrdom before Christ. 6. In descending to the fathers in limbus, and announcing to them that Christ would soon come and set them free.
in the spirit and power of Elias. As Elias did excel and in the end of the world will excel in a spirit steadfast and powerful for contending against Antichrist, so that he will convert Jews and others from him to Christ; so in the same powerful spirit John will excel, and by his preaching and holy example move the hardened Jews to repentance, and so prepare them for the baptism of Christ.
The spirit of power in John was like that in Elias;
1. In the austerity of his life.
2. They both lived in solitude. And
3, in poverty and contempt of the world.
4. In zeal, and in fervour of preaching, by which both of them converted many Israelites to repentance, and Elias will again do so in the last days, according to the saying (Ecclesiasticus xlviii. 1), “And Elias the prophet stood up, as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch.” In the same way Christ says of John, “He was a burning and a shining light: and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.” S. John v.35.
5. In fortitude and suffering: for as Elias contended against the priests of Baal, and their patrons Ahab and Jezebel, and again in the last days will contend against Antichrist and his followers and will suffer many things from them and at last be slain as a martyr; so John contended against Herod and Herodias, and being beheaded by them obtained the crown of martyrdom.
John here is rather compared to Elias in his future coming than in his past; because, as Elias will precede the second coming of Christ with great spirit and power, so likewise John with the same spirit and power will precede the first coming of Christ. S. Ambrose says that he will go before Him “in the spirit and power of Elias, because Elias had great power and grace, so that he turned back the hearts of the people to faith, power of abstinence, and patience and the spirit of prophecy. Elias was in the wilderness; so also was John.… The one sought not the favour of Ahab; the other despised that of Herod. The one divided Jordan; the other brought men to the laver of salvation. The one was the forerunner of our Lord’s first advent, the other of His second,” &c.
that he may turn the hearts of the fathers, &c. John did this when he urged them by word and example to imitate the faith and piety of their fathers; for thus the fathers acknowledged their children as the worshippers of the true God. These words are taken from Malachi, who speaks literally of Elias, typically of John.
and the incredulous, &c. Greek ἀπειθεῖς, Vulgate, incredulos. That is, he will turn them to the faith and wisdom which the just had and have concerning Christ, which consists in the fear and love of God and of heavenly things, and not perishable, according to the teaching of Christ (Maldonatus). Or, John will cause the unbelieving Jews to consider the signs of the coming of the Messiah given by God to the fathers, and from them to know and believe that Christ has already come, and that this Jesus, whom John pointed out as such, is He.
to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people., &c. Perfectam, Vulgate; κατασκευάσμενον, Greek; that is well and perfectly prepared and made ready for receiving the teaching and faith of Christ, and the perfection of grace, justice, and the Christian life brought by Christ from heaven.
Douay-Rheims : 1582 text & notes
11. And there appeared to him an Angel of our Lord, standing on the right hand of the Altar of incenſe.12. And Zachary was troubled ſeeing him and feare fel vpon him.13. But the Angel said to him : Feare not Zacharie, for thy praier is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth ſhal beare thee a ſonne and thou ſhalt cal his name Iohn:14. and thou ſhalt haue ioy and exultation, and many ſhal reioyce in his nativity.15. For he ſhal be great before our Lord; and wine and ſicer he ſhal not drinke ; and he ſhal be repleniſhed with the Holy Ghoſt euen from his mothers womb.16. And he ſhal conuert many of the children of Iſrael to the Lord their God.17. And he ſhal goe before him in the ſpirit and vertue of Elias, that he may conuert the harts of the Fathers vnto the children , and the incredulous to the wiſedom of the iuſt, to prepare vnto the Lord a perfect People.
"This abſtinence foretold and preſcribed by the Angel, sheweth that it is a worthie thing, and an act of religion in S. John, as it was in the Nazarites,"
14. ioy and exultation. This was fulfilled, not only when he was borne, but now alſo through the whole Church for euer, in joyful celebrating of his Nativitie.
Sicer/strong drink
Note by editor:
When comparing Challoner's Douay-Rheims Gospel of St Luke with the original version of 1582, I was surprised to come across the English word ſicer (sicer) [emphases added]:
15. For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. [Challoner]15. For he ſhal be great before our Lord; and wine and ſicer he ſhal not drinke ; and he ſhal be repleniſhed with the Holy Ghoſt euen from his mothers womb. [1582 version]
Here is the Latin Vulgate...
erit enim magnus coram Domino : et vinum et siceram non bibet, et Spiritu Sancto replebitur adhuc ex utero matris suæ :
and the Greek...
15. ἔσται γὰρ μέγας ἐνώπιον ⸀τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ οἶνον καὶ σίκερα οὐ μὴ πίῃ, καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου πλησθήσεται ἔτι ἐκ κοιλίας μητρὸς αὐτοῦ,
The OED says of sicer:
a1400–1609. sicer, n. Intoxicating liquor, strong drink.A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin sicera.
Lewis Short on Logeion says:
sīcĕra, n., = σίκερα [from the Heb. ],a kind of spirituous, intoxicating drink (eccl. Lat.)
There are many Hebrew sources which explain sicer refers to beer... Here is one excerpt:
The importance of beer in the ancient Near East can be seen by the fact that, in time, the word for beer came to designate the state of drunkenness. The word for beer became synonymous with inebriation in Akkadian, Aramaic, Ugaritic and Arabic. Similarly in the Egyptian language, “beer” (hnqt) was used for general drunkenness. And in the Bible, shekhar is often a verb that means “to get drunk” (e.g., Genesis ix. 21; Isaiah xxix. 9), a parallel linguistic usage that furthers the case for shekhar as “beer.” (This parallel usage has also survived in modern Hebrew: A drunk is a shekhor (שכור), and shekhar (שכר) means beer, although beer is also commonly called simply beera.)[Taken from Beer in the Bible, Arranged by Rabbi Drew Kaplan]
It seems that this beer would have been much stronger and sweeter than the northern European variety, perhaps more akin to "amber nectar." For a selection of Jewish interpretations of the word shekar, see Shekhar: Is it Wine or Beer? by Dr.Elaine Goodfriend.
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SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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