Luke 1:59. On the eighth day. The proper time for administering the rite of circumcision (see Genesis 21:4; Luke 2:21; comp. Philippians 3:5).

They were about to call. The custom of naming a child at circumcision seems to have had its origin in the change of names (Abram, Abraham; Sarai, Sarah) at the institution of the rite; Genesis 17:5; Genesis 17:15. Comp, also Genesis 21:3-4, as a proof that this was the custom from the first. It is said to be the usage in the East, even where circumcision is unknown, to name a child on the seventh or eighth day. Among the Greeks and Romans the name was given on the day of purification.

After the name of his father. Naming a child after the father or a relative (comp. Luke 1:61), was very common among the Greeks, and also among the Jews; but in earlier times a Jewish son rarely bore the name of his father.

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Old Testament