What Does Luke 1:5 Mean in the King James?
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Before the story gives a miracle, it gives a household whose names already speak remembrance and oath.
THE MEANING
Your life is held at once within public power, inherited service, kinship, and names that carry nature. Before a child arrives in the story, this household’s names already sound with remembrance and oath.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that a name is only a label: Zacharias and Elisabeth carry remembrance and oath-language in their names.
THE ROOT
ὀνόματι
onomati
GROWS FROM
ὄνομα
Name; personal designation, with the biblical sense of nature embodied in identity.
In Luke’s Greek, ὀνόματι (onomati, “by name”) introduces Zacharias; it comes from ὄνομα (onoma, “name”), whose derivatives can mean to name or to be named. The word opens a chain of identity-bearing names: Zacharias and Elisabeth carry remembrance and oath-language, so the introductions already contain the passage’s promise-shaped undertone.
ALSO GROWS
onomazō: To name or call by name.
ὀνομάζω
Naming is an act that makes identity explicit, just as this verse introduces each person through a name.
onomastos: Named, renowned.
ὀνομαστός
The same name-root can carry recognition as well as identification, giving a name weight beyond a label.
זְכַרְיָה
Zekharyah
GROWS FROM
זכר
Remember; keep in mind.
Zacharias is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Zekharyah, commonly understood as “Yah remembers.” The root turns remembrance into part of this priest’s named nature, so the verse begins with memory carried in a person’s identity.
ALSO GROWS
zākhar: To remember.
זָכַר
The name Zacharias carries this action of remembering into the household the verse introduces.
zikkārōn: Remembrance, memorial.
זִכָּרוֹן
This branch makes remembrance something held and recalled, echoing the way a name preserves meaning.
אֱלִישֶׁבַע
Elisheva
GROWS FROM
שׁבע
Swear an oath; pledge oneself.
Elisabeth is commonly traced to the Hebrew name Elisheva, “my God is an oath” or “God is my oath.” Its oath-root joins remembrance with pledged commitment, giving the household another layer of meaning before any promise is spoken aloud.
ALSO GROWS
nishbaʿ: To swear, take an oath.
נִשְׁבַּע
The root brings the language of sworn commitment into the name Elisheva.
shevuʿah: An oath.
שְׁבוּעָה
This noun makes the pledge explicit, echoing the oath-language carried in Elisabeth’s name.
THE PATTERN
A name in Scripture carries the nature of the one named, making identity part of the unfolding promise.
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.THE THREAD
But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.Luke 1:5 uses ὀνόματι (onomati, “by name”) to open the family record; Luke 1:13 repeats the same root in ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) when the child is named. The repeated word connects the household’s meaningful names to the next name the story gives.
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