Paragraph 1:59–62

1:59a

On the eighth day: The phrase On the eighth day refers to “the eighth day, starting with the day of the baby’s birth.” This was the way the Jews counted days. For example, if a baby was born on a Friday, they would say that the Friday of the following week was the eighth day. Other ways to express this meaning are:

When the baby was a week old (Good News Translation)
-or-
When the baby was eight days old

1:59b

they came to circumcise the child: The clause they came to circumcise the child indicates that many people came to be with Zechariah and Elizabeth when the baby was circumcised. The people did not actually help to circumcise the child. Only one person circumcised him. Some ways to make this clear are:

they came to attend the child’s circumcision
-or-
they came to witness the circumcision of the child

they: The pronoun they here included the family and neighbors of Elizabeth and Zechariah. Some ways to translate this are:

people
-or-
all the relatives and friends (New Living Translation (1996))

came: The text is not explicit about where the circumcision was held. If you need to specify where they came, they probably came to the house where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived.

circumcise: The word circumcise means to cut off the loose skin at the end of a boy’s penis. The father or a man who specialized in doing circumcision would perform this operation. Among the Jews circumcision was an important custom that had to be done for every male. When a baby was circumcised, it was usual for neighbors and relatives to come for the circumcision.

In some cultures, it may be acceptable to use an explicit expression that means “cut off the loose skin at the end of a boy’s penis.” In other cultures, it may be necessary to use a euphemism to describe this event. Some examples are:

cut the skin
-or-
mark ⌊the body to show he belongs to God⌋
-or-
receive the mark

In some cultures people do not circumcise babies, and in some cultures they do not circumcise any males. In other cultures circumcision may be done for different reasons than Jewish circumcision. If that is true in your culture, you may want to include a footnote to explain the Jewish custom. For example:

Circumcision is the cutting off of the skin at the end of the penis. Every male Jew was required to be circumcised. Circumcision was the sign that he was a member of the community with whom God had made a covenant.

child: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as child is a general term that refers to someone who is below the age of puberty. The same Greek word is also used to refer to John as he grows (see 1:66, 1:76, 1:80). In some languages it may be more natural to use a specific word like “baby” or “infant” here. Use the word that is most natural in your language.

1:59c

they: The pronoun they refers in general to some of the people who came to Zechariah’s house for the circumcision. These people were probably members of Zechariah’s family. The word they does not include Zechariah and Elizabeth here. In some languages it may be helpful to refer to the people in a more specific way. For example:

The people who came to watch the ceremony
-or-
The relatives and neighbors

were going to name him after his father Zechariah: The Greek verb phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as were going to name him is literally “were calling him.” It implies that the people assumed or wished that he would be given the name Zechariah. They may have actually called him by that name as they were talking about him during the celebration. Some ways to translate this are:

they wanted to name him Zechariah (NET Bible)
-or-
they assumed/thought that his name would be Zechariah

name him after his father Zechariah: To name someone after his father means to give him the same name as his father. Jewish parents often gave a son the same name as his father or grandfather. Some other ways to translate this part of the verse are:

They assumed that he would be given the same name as his father
-or-
They wanted to name him Zechariah because this was his father’s name (New Century Version)

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