1:6a
Both of them: The phrase Both of them refers to Elizabeth and Zechariah. In some languages, it may be helpful to refer to them by name here. For example:
Zechariah and Elizabeth (God’s Word)
righteous in the sight of God: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as righteous in the sight of God is literally “righteous before God” (as in the Revised Standard Version). This phrase means that God considered them to be righteous. He approved of both of them. The phrase indicates that Elizabeth and Zechariah both did what was right according to God’s standards.
Some other ways to translate this are:
God saw that they were righteous people.
-or-
They did what God regarded as right and good.
God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as God refers here to the eternal spirit who created everything. He is more powerful than any other spirit, and he is perfectly good and wise. In many languages, there is already an established term for God. If that is not true in your language, here are some ways to translate God:
• Use a name or title for God that people in your culture already use.
• Use a descriptive term that fits the truth about God that is revealed in the Bible. For example:
Creator
-or-
Great Spirit
-or-
Ruler of the universe
• Use a borrowed word from the national or trade language Bible.
Choose a term that is acceptable to the believers and churches in your area. For more detailed information, see God in the Glossary.
1:6b
walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord means “obeying all the commandments and regulations that the Lord had given/made.” Another way to say this is:
obeying everything that the Lord commanded and ordered
The words commandments and decrees have basically the same meaning. They refer here to the laws and rules in the Old Testament. God told the Jewish people to obey these laws and rules. In some languages it may be more natural to express the meaning of these two words with one word or phrase. For example:
…obeying all that he had commanded (Contemporary English Version)
blamelessly: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as blamelessly means “without fault.” Zechariah and Elizabeth obeyed God’s rules fully and completely. No one could say that they had broken God’s law.
Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Lord means “master, one who has authority over others.” The word Lord was one of the terms that the Jews used to refer to God. This is the first time in Luke that the word Lord occurs. Remember that in 1:6a Luke used the word God to refer to him.
In some languages, it may not be clear that the word Lord refers to God in this context. If that is true in your language, you should make it clear in some way. For example:
• Use your word for God.
• Use your word for God along with the word for Lord. For example:
God the Lord
-or-
Master God
If you include the word for God in your translation of Lord, you may want to include a footnote to give the literal Greek meaning. For example:
Here the Greek text is literally “Lord.”
See Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary.
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