Luke 1:24 Commentary and Bible Study

In her old age Elisabeth conceived, and what had been though impossible by husband and wife became a reality. Zacharias was rebuked by this blessing from God for his unbelief. What could he do but rejoice by compulsion, and condemn his own unbelief with greater force as he saw it proved wrong with his own eyes? She hid herself for five months, that is, she hid her pregnant condition. Why? We can assume that Zacharias somehow communicated the message from the Lord to her, and she therefore knew that this was God’s answer to their prayer, and she also knew what great things had been predicted of the child. She saw that her husband had been disciplined for his unbelief, and though she was not glad to see him punished in this way, it was a further confirmation to her that what the angel Gabriel had said was going to be fulfilled, and she accepted that the Lord had done all things well, including making Zacharias dumb. This temporary shame on her husband was something they simply had to bear patiently together. The angel had said this would not last forever, but only up to the time when the child was born. It was not out of shame that she hid herself, for she says that her being with child had taken away her reproach among men, her shame at being barren. It is more likely that she retired from the public eye because she wanted to wait until it was undeniable that she was pregnant; she believed it from the first, but she did not expect other to believe such an unlikely thing until they saw it with their own eyes. She did not wish to claim anything so extraordinary before people who might respond cynically to what she said. She thanks the Lord for a blessing which she had surely given up hoping for, but which would remove the reproach of barrenness in due time, as her condition became undeniable.