Chapter

Luke 1:25

ESV "Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people."
NIV "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people."
NASB This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among people.'
CSB "The Lord has done this for me. He has looked with favor in these days to take away my disgrace among the people."
NLT How kind the Lord is!' she exclaimed. 'He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.'
KJV Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.
NKJV “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

What does Luke 1:25 mean?

Cultures of the past had no means to offer social security, retirement, or other resources for the elderly. A common person's only reliable means of support in old age was their children. Being childless, in that era, was an enormous financial disadvantage. Likewise, it meant the married couple would pass on no legacy—there would be no continuation of their family line. As a result, women shouldered an outsized social stigma when they could not bear children. In fact, some men divorced wives who did not conceive.

When Elizabeth, aging and without a child (Luke 1:5–7) hears she will finally have a son (Luke 1:13), it is cause for celebration. Not only is this an answer to prayer, and a blessing for an older couple, it removes the cultural shame that came with being an infertile woman. In modern western cultures, infertility is still a deeply personal, emotional issue. However, it does not carry the disgrace of millennia past. Women who overcame infertility would have felt released, by God, from a terrible burden (Genesis 30:22–23; 1 Samuel 1:4–6).

In this case, Elizabeth will have even greater reasons to rejoice. Her son will come to be known as John the Baptist (Luke 3:2–3). This will fulfill prophecy (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1; 4:5–6) and herald the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. She will also be visited by her relative, Mary, who will receive even more amazing news, about an even more miraculous conception (Luke 1:39–45).
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