The birth, naming and circumcision of John the Baptist

St Luke Chapter I : Verses 57-64

Contents

• Luke i. 57-64.  Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text & Latin text (Vulgate).
• Annotations
• Douay-Rheims : 1582 text & notes

Luke i. 57-64.

Zachary.... wrote, saying: John is his name.
Pontormo (1526).Uffizi.

57 Now Elizabeth's full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son.

Elisabeth autem impletum est tempus pariendi, et peperit filium.

58 And her neighbours and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had shewed his great mercy towards her, and they congratulated with her.

Et audierunt vicini et cognati ejus quia magnificavit Dominus misericordiam suam cum illa, et congratulabantur ei.

59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by his father's name Zachary.

Et factum est in die octavo, venerunt circumcidere puerum, et vocabant eum nomine patris sui Zachariam.

60 And his mother answering, said: Not so; but he shall be called John.

Et respondens mater ejus, dixit : Nequaquam, sed vocabitur Joannes.

61 And they said to her: There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.

Et dixerunt ad illam : Quia nemo est in cognatione tua, qui vocetur hoc nomine.

62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.

Innuebant autem patri ejus, quem vellet vocari eum.

63 And demanding a writing table, he wrote, saying: John is his name. And they all wondered.

Et postulans pugillarem scripsit, dicens : Joannes est nomen ejus. Et mirati sunt universi.

64 And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.

Apertum est autem illico os ejus, et lingua ejus, et loquebatur benedicens Deum.

Annotations

    57. Now Elizabeth's full time of being delivered was come, &c. S. Luke adds the account of Elizabeth’s bringing forth to that of the visitation of the Blessed Virgin, as an effect to a cause. For the Blessed Virgin by her prayers and merits obtained for John both his nativity and his sanctification; for for this purpose she had come from Nazareth and had remained with her for three months.

    and she brought forth a son. John the Baptist on June 24th; for then the Church keeps the yearly celebration of his birth, observing it in his case alone, as it does also in the case of Christ. For as regards the rest of the Saints the Church celebrates not the day of their birth, but that of their death on which they passed from a life of misery to one of blessedness. [Ed. Contra: the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated on the 8th of September. The earliest document commemorating this feast comes from the sixth century. See Catholic Encyclopedia entry here. Christ, His Blessed Mother and St John are the only persons who have all been born free from sin.]

    58. and her neighbours, &c. So was fulfilled the promise of the Angel (verse 14), and many shall rejoice in his nativity. Truly as S. Ambrose says, “The bringing forth of the Saints causes the rejoicing of many, for it is a common blessing; for justice is a public virtue.” For the just by their example benefit all; many also, as John did, benefit them by their preaching.

    59. they came. That is, the priests and relations whose office it was to perform the rite of circumcision.

    to circumcise. Notice here that the Jews were not always circumcised in the synagogue. For that John was circumcised at home is inferred from the following verse, in which it is clearly implied that his mother was present, who could not at that time according to the law (Lev. xii. 4) leave the house.

    Also by circumcision an infant was purged from original sin, and united to the church, or company of the faithful, whence at that time the name of some faithful person, especially of the father, grandfather, or some relation was given to the infant, as is now done in baptism.

    60. And his mother, &c. Elizabeth, who on the salutation of the Virgin, being filled with the Holy Ghost, had learned the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, learned also the name of her son not from Zachary but from the Holy Spirit, and all the other things that had happened to Zachary in the temple when he was burning incense. For as S. Ambrose says, “She could not be ignorant of the Forerunner of the Lord who had prophesied of Christ.”

    61. And they said to her, There is none of thy kindred, &c. This is an earthly custom; but John was a citizen of heaven, not of the earth; whence he received from heaven a celestial name. “Observe,” as S. Ambrose and Bede say, “that the name belongs not to the family but to the prophet.”

    62. They made signs, &c. Lest perchance the mother had made a mistake in assigning the name, they refer to the father, to whom both the infant and the giving of a name to the infant belonged. They made signs; “because,” says S. Ambrose, “his unbelief had deprived him of speech and hearing, they question him by signs.”

    63. John is his name. S. Ambrose remarks that it is said his name is, not will be; so that the meaning is, we do not give a name to him who has received one from God, “he has his own name, which we acknowledge, but which we did not choose.” Names were frequently given from some event either present or future; thus Isaac received his name from the laughter of his mother; Cain because he was the possession of his mother Eve; Moses because he was drawn out of the water, &c.; so also John received his name from the grace and mercy which he received, not in his conception, but when he was visited by the Blessed Virgin.

    And they all wondered, both at the agreement between the father and mother, and at the name, which was an unknown one in the family; for they did not know that it had been revealed from heaven to Zachary.

    64. And immediately his mouth was opened, &c. That is, he began to speak. S. Ambrose says, “Rightly from that moment was his tongue loosed, for that which unbelief had bound faith set free.” When he saw John really born, he believed the promise made to him by the angel concerning him. John therefore, as he had filled his mother when in her womb with the Holy Spirit, so now when born breathed the same spirit upon his father. Whence S. Gregory Nazianzen says, “The birth of John broke the silence of Zachary; for it were unreasonable, when the voice of the Word had come forth, that the father should remain speechless.”

    Moreover, Theophylact says, “All these things were done œconomically, that John might be esteemed a witness of Christ worthy of credit;” and Bede, “The future prophet is commended by previous auspices.”

    Symbolically, S. Ambrose says, “Because John was a voice (according to the words, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness), therefore at his birth his father, who had been dumb, recovered his voice.”

Douay-Rheims : 1582 text & notes

 

57 And Elisabeths ful time was come to be deliuered; and ſhe bare a sonne. 

58 And her neighbours and kinsfolke heard that our Lord did magnifie his mercie with her, and they did congratulate her. 

59 And it came to paſſe: on the eight day they came to circumciſe the childe, and they called him by his fathers name, Zacharie. 

60 And his mother anſwering, said, Not so, but he shal be called Iohn. 

61 And they ſaid to her, That there is none in thy kinred that is called by this name. 

62 And they made ſignes to his father, what he would haue him called. 

63 And demanding a writing table, he wrote, saying, Iohn is his name. And they al marueled. 

64 And forthwith his mouth was opened, and his tonge, and he spake blessing God.

63. Iohn is his name.) Wee see that names are of ſignification and importance, God him ſelf changing or giuing names in both Teſtaments: as, Abraham, Israel, Peter, and the principal of al others, Ieſus: and here IOHN, which signifieth, Gods grace or mercie, or, God wil haue mercie. For he was the Precurſoor and Prophet of the mercie and grace that ensued by Chriſt Jeſus. Note alſo that as then in Circunciſion, so now in Baptiſme (which anſwereth therevnto) names are giuen. And as we ſee here and in al the old Teſtament, great reſpect was had of names: so we must beware of ſtrange, profane, and ſecular names (now a daies too common) and rather according to the Catechiſme of the holy Councel of Trent, take names of Saints and holy men, that may put vs in minde of their vertues.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

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.