Luke 1:63

And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(63) A writing table.—The tablets in common use at this time throughout the Roman empire were commonly of wood, covered with a thin coat of wax, on which men wrote with the sharp point which has left its traces in our language, in the word “style,” in its literal and figurative senses.

His name is John.—There is something emphatic in the use of the present tense. It was not a question to be discussed. The name had been given already.

And they marvelled all.—This confirms the view given above as to the previous deafness of Zacharias. There would have been no ground for wonder, had he heard the discussion. It was the coincidence that surprised them, hardly less than the utterance.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:57-66 In these verses we have an account of the birth of John the Baptist, and the great joy among all the relations of the family. He shall be called Johanan, or Gracious, because he shall bring in the gospel of Christ, wherein God's grace shines most bright. Zacharias recovered his speech. Unbelief closed his mouth, and believing opened it again: he believers, therefore he speaks. When God opens our lips, our mouths must show forth his praise; and better be without speech, than not use it in praising God. It is said, The hand of the Lord was working with John. God has ways of working on children in their infancy, which we cannot account for. We should observe the dealings of God, and wait the event.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He asked - That is, by signs.

A writing table - The table denoted by this word was usually made of wood and covered with wax. The ancients used to write on such tables, as they had not the use of paper. The instrument used for writing was an iron pen or style, by which they marked on the wax which covered the table. Sometimes the writing-table was made entirely of lead.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

63. marvelled all—at his giving the same name, not knowing of any communication between them on the subject.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Luke 1:61"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he asked for a writing table,.... That is, he made signs for one, for as yet he could not speak. The Persic version renders it "ink", and the Ethiopic, a book, and the Vulgate Latin, a notebook. The word signifies "a little table", such as they used to write not only "upon", but "in"; and was sometimes of brass (t), sometimes of wood, and sometimes of wax (u), on which they wrote with a style or pen,

and wrote, saying, his name is John: not that he must be, or shall be, so called; but this is his name, and no other; being what the angel had given him before his conception, and Zacharias now confirms:

and they marvelled all; they were astonished, not so much at the new name brought into the family, as at the agreement between Elisabeth and Zacharias in this point, when the latter was both deaf and dumb; they knowing nothing, as yet, of the angel's message to him,

(t) Haryocration. Lex. p. 244. (u) Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 2. c. 30.

Geneva Study Bible

And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 1:63. πινακίδιον (dim. from πίναξ), here only in N. T.: a little tablet probably covered with wax, used like a slate; pugillarem in Vulg[13]—λέγων is used here, Hebrew fashion = to the effect.—ἔγραψε λέγων: hypallage pro γράφων ἔλεγε (Pricaeus) = he said by writing.—ἐθαύμασαν: they wondered, at this consent of the parents in giving a strange name, and felt there must be something under it—an omen.

[13] Vulgate (Jerome’s revision of old Latin version).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

63. table] Rather, tablet. A small wooden tablet (abacus) either smeared with wax, or with sand sprinkled over it, on which words were written with an iron stylus. Thus ‘John,’ ‘the grace of Jehovah,’ is the first word written under the Gospel; the aeon of the written Law had ended with Cherem, ‘curse,’ in Mal. 3:24 (Bengel).

Bengel's Gnomen

Luke 1:63. Πινακίδιον, a tablet) If the relics of the Gospel histories, which are usually shown, were as genuine as they are numerous, there is no doubt but that Providence would have preserved this tablet.—ἔγραψε, λέγων, he wrote, saying) He wrote in these words: Luke 1:64.[17] Comp. 2 Kings 10:1; 2 Kings 10:6; 2 Chronicles 21:12.—Ἰωάννης, John) The last writing in the Old Testament ends in חרם, i.e. [“lest I come and smite the earth with”] a curse, Malachi 4:6. This, the first instance of writing in the New Testament, begins with grace [John in Hebr. = the grace or favour of God].—ἔστι, is) Zacharias does not so much command, as indicate the Divine commands.—ἘΘΑΎΜΑΣΑΝ, they marvelled) at the newness of the name, without precedent in the family, and at the unanimity of Zacharias and Elisabeth on the question of the name, though there had been no consultation between them, which must therefore have been the result, not of preconcerted design, but of a revelation, which had been vouchsafed to each of the two.

[17] This verse shows his ‘mouth’ was not yet ‘opened:’ therefore ‘saying’ does not mean oral words.—ED. and TRANSL.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 63. - A writing-table; better, a writing-tablet. The tablets in use generally at the time were usually made of wood, covered with a thin coating of wax; on the soft layer of wax the words were written with an iron stylus. Luke 1:63

Vincent's Word Studies

Writing-table (πινακίδιον)

Table was formerly used in the sense of tablet. Thus Shakspeare:

"Yea, from the table of my memory,

I'll wipe away all trivial fond records."

Hamlet, i., 5.

Tynd., writing-tables. The meaning is a little writing-tablet, probably covered with wax. Only here in the New Testament. Used by medical writers of a physician's note-book. Wyc. has poyntel, i.e., a style for writing.

Wrote, saying

A Hebrew form of expression. See 2 Kings 10:6.