Luke 1:10 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

The whole multitude, &c.— Because it sometimes happened, that, on ordinary week-days, few or none of the people attended the morning and evening sacrifices, there were four and twenty men employed to attend this service, as representatives of the people of Israel, to lay their hands on the heads of the sacrifice, to pray, and to receive the blessing. These were called, from their office, stationary men. Wherefore the manner in which the evangelist has expressed himself on this occasion—the whole multitude of the people, shews that an unusual concourse was in the temple when Zacharias had this vision. Probably the day on which he burned this incense was a sabbath, or some high festival, when there was always a great multitudeassembled.Zacharias'sremaininginthe temple beyond the usual time, must thus have been taken notice of by many. See Luke 1:21. There were likewise many, who, upon his coming out dumb, conjectured that he had seen a vision, Luke 1:22. Matters of so public a nature, the truth or falsehood whereof so many must have known, would never have been thus openly appealed to by St. Luke, if they had been false. The evangelist adds, that the people were praying without at the time of incense.—As the daily sacrifice represented the sacrifice of Christ, and the incense the prayers of the saints, Revelation 8:1-4 the incense was ordered to be burned while the sacrifice was offering, to teach mankind that it was through the sacrifice of Christ they had access to God. Accordingly, the sacrifices and incense both morning and evening were fitly accompanied with the prayers of the people; and that not in the temple only, but every where else; pious men choosing to put up their supplications particularly at the hours of sacrifice, while the ministers of religion interceded for the nation. Hence these hours were called hours of prayer, Acts 3:1. What is above-mentioned was the foundation of that elegant figure by which prayer is so often compared in scripture to incense: perhaps one reason of ordaining incense might be to intimate the acceptableness of those pious prayers which were to accompany it; and indeed burning fragrant perfumes was, and in Eastern nations still is, so important a part of the entertainment of illustrious families, that one might well expect it in the house of God, where so great a part of the worship was of the ceremonial kind. It is so plain that this was only an office of daily ministration, and that Zacharias was one of theordinary priests, that one cannot but be surprised that any should conclude from this circumstance, that Zacharias was sagan, or assistant to the high-priest, and was now performing his grand office on the day of atonement, and so on this foundation should calculate the birth of John the Baptist and of Christ, and all the other feasts which depend upon them; yet this is done in the calendars both of the Roman and Greek churches. See Doddridge and Hammond.