Luke 1:5 introduces a priest named Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth, placing them in the days of King Herod of Judea. The verse is the opening of Luke’s account of the birth of John the Baptist, and it tells you who the main characters are and where their story sits in history. Luke writes it as a narrator speaking to Theophilus, the person his Gospel is addressed to.
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Luke 1:5 (WEB)
What Luke 1:5 Means
The verse begins by anchoring the story in time: “in the days of Herod, the king of Judea.” Herod the Great ruled Judea under Roman authority, so Luke is telling you that this family lived in a real period, under a real and often harsh government. God’s work in Luke is not set in a myth-world but in the ordinary political reality of first-century Palestine.
Next the verse introduces Zacharias as “a certain priest… of the priestly division of Abijah.” Priests served in rotating groups, and Abijah’s group was one of twenty-four. Zacharias is ordinary in a sense: he has a regular job in the temple system, with a schedule and a place in a larger community. He is not a famous figure, which makes what follows more striking.
The verse also says Zacharias had a wife “of the daughters of Aaron,” and her name was Elizabeth. This ties the couple to the priestly line going back to Aaron, Moses’ brother. The verse does not promise anything about their future or their happiness. It simply establishes who they are and where they belong.
The Context of Luke 1:5
Luke wrote his Gospel to give Theophilus an orderly, careful account of the events surrounding Jesus, and he says so directly in verses 1 to 4. The opening of the Gospel is written in polished Greek, closer to the style of a formal historical account than the rest of the book. Luke names his sources as eyewitnesses and servants of the word, and he claims to have investigated everything carefully.
Just after verse 5, Luke adds that Zacharias and Elizabeth were “both righteous before God,” and that they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years. Read with that sentence in view, verse 5 is the setup for a long-hoped-for answer to prayer. The quiet introduction gains weight once you see the grief and waiting that Luke is about to describe.
Key Phrases in Luke 1:5
Luke 1:6
They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
(WEB)
Verse 6 gives the moral character of Zacharias and Elizabeth, describing them as righteous and blameless in keeping God’s commands. Reading it alongside verse 5 shows that the couple’s identity was tied to their faithfulness, even when their circumstances were painful.
1 Samuel 1:10-11
10 She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly. 11 She vowed a vow, and said, “The LORD of Armies, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a boy, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head.”
(WEB)
Hannah prayed bitterly for a child in the temple, and her story closely parallels that of Elizabeth. Reading these verses together helps you see that Luke is drawing on an established pattern in Israel’s history of God answering the prayers of barren women.
A Short Prayer From Luke 1:5
Lord, you know the ordinary days I live through and the longings I have carried for a long time. Like Zacharias and Elizabeth, I want to keep faith with you in the routines you have given me, even when the answer I hoped for has not yet come. Help me to trust that you are paying attention to the details of my life as closely as you watched over that couple in Judea. Give me patience in the waiting and faithfulness in the work, and let me see your hand at work in the ordinary places I live. Amen.
