What Does Luke 1:23 Mean?
And it came to be that, as soon as the days of his service were filled, he went away to his own house.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.THE KEY
The days are not merely over; they are filled, and only then does the way home open.
THE MEANING
Your time of service has a measure; it reaches fullness rather than claiming the whole of you. When that measure is full, going home is part of the movement, and your own life receives you again.
THE ROOT
ἐπλήσθησαν
eplēsthēsan
GROWS FROM
πλη-/πληθ- (plē-/plēth-)
Fill; bring to fullness.
The verb translated “accomplished” means “were filled.” The days of service reach their fullness, and that fullness marks the threshold of Zechariah’s return home.
ALSO GROWS
plērēs: full
πλήρης
This related word shows fullness as a reached condition, not simply time running out.
plērōma: fullness; that which fills
πλήρωμα
It echoes the verse’s sense that the appointed days have reached their full measure.
plēroō: fill; fulfill
πληρόω
This verb family makes “fulfillment” carry the image of something brought to fullness.
THE PATTERN
When an appointed season reaches its full measure, departure carries people into the next place of life.
You shall boil it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents.On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king, and went to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.And when we had completed those days, we went out and went on our way; and they all sent us forward, with wives and children, until we were outside the city; and we bent our knees on the shore and prayed.THE THREAD
Now Elisabeth's time was filled for her to bring forth, and she brought forth a son.Luke uses the same Greek verb of filling for Elisabeth’s time to give birth and Zechariah’s days of service. The same fullness marks two thresholds: service gives way to home, and pregnancy gives way to birth.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us