Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Luke 1:9 - 1:9

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Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Luke 1:9 - 1:9


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9. ἱερατείας. The word is used by Aristotle, and in Heb 7:5, but the more common and classic form is ἱερωσύνης.

ἔλαχε τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι. ‘He obtained by lot the duty of (entering and) burning incense.’ This was the loftiest and most coveted of priestly functions, Exo 30:1-10; Num 16:1-40; Deu 33:10. King Uzziah was smitten with leprosy for trying to usurp it (2Ch 26:18). Incense was a symbol of prayer (Psa 141:2; Heb 9:4; Rev 8:3-4), and Philo tells us that it was offered twice a day,—before the morning and after the evening sacrifice of a lamb. Incense was believed to atone, and the silent smoke of incense atoned for secret slander, T. B. Yoma, f. 44. 1; Wis 18:21; Sir 45:16. The ordinary construction after ἐγένετο would have been καὶ ἔλαχε as in Luk 5:1; Luk 5:12, Luk 9:51, &c., but St Luke more often omits the καί. The ἐγένετο is really pleonastic. Winer, E. T. p. 760. The τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι is governed by λαγχάνω as in ἔλαχε τοῦ βασιλεύειν. The word “custom” refers to the casting lots every day to see which priest was to burn the incense. The method of drawing lots is described in Yoma, f. 39. 1. Λαγχάνω may also be followed by the accusative as in Act 1:17; 2Pe 1:1. It was probably the morning offering at which Zacharias officiated.

εἰς τὸν ναόν. ‘Into the shrine or Holy Place.’ The golden altar of incense stood before the veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies (Exo 30:6). The priest entered in white robes and with unsandalled feet with two attendants, who retired when they had made everything ready. The people waited outside in the Court of Israel praying in deep silence till the priest who was sacrificing the evening lamb at the great altar of Burnt Offering in the Court gave a signal to his colleague in the shrine, perhaps by the tinkling of a bell (Exo 30:1-10; Psa 141:2; Mal 1:11). He then threw the incense on the fire of the golden altar, and its fragrant smoke rose with the prayers of the people. It was while performing this solemn function that John Hyrcanus also had received a divine intimation (Jos. Antt. XIII. 103). The word εἰσελθὼν means strictly that the lot had fallen to him after entering the Sanctuary; but the meaning is that the lot gave him the right “to enter and to burn the incense” (as it is rendered in the R. V[28]). The participle must be taken in close connection with the infinitive. Winer, p. 443.

[28] R. V. Revised Version.