“And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.”
My Notes
What Does Luke 1:7 Mean?
Luke describes Zechariah and Elizabeth with two devastating facts: Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in age. The double condition—infertility plus old age—eliminates every natural hope for children. Barrenness alone might be overcome with time. Old age alone doesn't prevent conception. But both together, in the ancient world, meant the case was closed. The biological window had shut permanently.
The detail that they "had no child" is stated as a fact, not a tragedy, but the weight of it in their culture was enormous. In ancient Israel, childlessness was considered a form of divine disfavor. For a priest (Zechariah) and a woman from Aaron's line (Elizabeth), the absence of children carried additional spiritual stigma. They were righteous (Luke 1:6 calls them blameless), yet they bore the social and emotional burden of an unanswered prayer.
God's pattern of working through barren women runs throughout Scripture: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, the Shunammite woman, and now Elizabeth. Each time, the impossibility is the setting for the miracle. The closed womb is God's preferred canvas for the greatest births.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What has been your 'barrenness'—the unanswered prayer, the closed door, the impossibility you've been living with?
- 2.Elizabeth was righteous and barren simultaneously. Have you been questioning your faithfulness because of your unanswered prayer?
- 3.God consistently works through impossible situations. How does the pattern of barren-then-miraculous change your hope?
- 4.If your impossibility is God's preferred canvas, what might He be planning to paint on it?
Devotional
Barren. Old. No child. Two words describe their medical condition. One word describes their life's greatest grief. Elizabeth and Zechariah had done everything right—they were righteous, blameless, faithful. And they had no child. The one prayer that mattered most had gone unanswered for decades.
If you've prayed for something for years—decades—and the answer hasn't come, Elizabeth is your sister in the waiting. She didn't stop being faithful because the prayer wasn't answered. She didn't abandon God because God hadn't given her what she wanted most. She was barren and blameless simultaneously. The unanswered prayer didn't produce unfaithfulness. It produced endurance.
God's pattern with barren women is unmistakable: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and now Elizabeth. He consistently chooses impossible wombs to produce His most important children. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, and John the Baptist all came from women who couldn't conceive—until God opened what nature had closed. The barrenness isn't the obstacle to the plan. It's the setting for it.
If your womb is barren—literally or metaphorically, if the thing you've been longing for has been biologically, circumstantially, or seemingly permanently closed—Elizabeth's story says: the impossibility is where God does His best work. Not despite the barrenness. Through it. The closed door isn't the end of the story. It's the setup for the miracle that only God can take credit for.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And they had no child,.... Son or daughter: and which was accounted a great infelicity: but this was not owing to the…
Well stricken in years - Old or advanced in life, so as to render the prospect of having children hopeless.
Both were now well stricken in years - By the order of God, sterility and old age both met in the person of Elisabeth,…
The two preceding evangelists had agreed to begin the gospel with the baptism of John and his ministry, which commenced…
And they had no child This was regarded as a heavy misfortune because it cut off all hope of the birth of the Messiah in…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture