Luke 1:59
“On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.”
What does Luke 1:59 mean?
When a baby boy was born in Jewish tradition, circumcision happened on the eighth day as a sign of the covenant with God. This was also typically when the child received his official name, usually honoring a family member. In this case, everyone assumed the baby would be called Zacharias after his father, which was the expected and proper thing to do. What makes this moment remarkable, though, is what happens next in the story: the parents choose a completely different name, John, because of a promise God had made to them. This sets the stage for understanding how this child was set apart for a special purpose from birth.