Lukas 1:13

1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, ¹  and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; you ²  will name him John. ³ 

Lukas 1:30

1:30 So ⁴  the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, ⁵  Mary, for you have found favor ⁶  with God!

Lukas 12:32

12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased ⁷  to give you the kingdom.

[1:13]  ¹ tn The passive means that the prayer was heard by God.

[1:13]  sn Your prayer has been heard. Zechariah’s prayer while offering the sacrifice would have been for the nation, but the answer to the prayer also gave them a long hoped-for child, a hope they had abandoned because of their old age.

[1:13]  ² tn Grk “a son, and you”; καί (kai) has not been translated. Instead a semicolon is used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:13]  ³ tn Grk “you will call his name John.” The future tense here functions like a command (see ExSyn 569-70). This same construction occurs in v. 31.

[1:13]  sn “Do not be afraid…you must call his name John.” This is a standard birth announcement (see Gen 16:11; Isa 7:14; Matt 1:21; Luke 1:31).

[1:30]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Gabriel’s statement is a response to Mary’s perplexity over the greeting.

[1:30]  ⁵ sn Do not be afraid. See 1:13 for a similar statement to Zechariah.

[1:30]  ⁶ tn Or “grace.”

[1:30]  sn The expression found favor is a Semitism, common in the OT (Gen 6:8; 18:3; 43:14; 2 Sam 15:25). God has chosen to act on this person’s behalf.

[12:32]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps, “your Father chooses.”