And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby [ kata (G2596 ) ti (G5101 )] shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. Had such a promise never been made and fulfilled before, the unbelief of Zacharias would have been more easily accounted for, and less sinful. But when the like promise was made to Abraham, at a more advanced age, "he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God" (Romans 4:20). "Through faith Sara herself also received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised" (Hebrews 11:11). As God is glorified by implicit confidence in His promises-and just in proportion to the natural obstacles in the way of fulfillment-so unbelief like that of Zacharias here is regarded as a dishonour put upon His word, and resented accordingly.