All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, "What then will this child be?" The hand of the Lord was with him.
and the hand of the Lord was with him; which may intend the special care, and peculiar providence of God in preserving his life, giving him health, causing him to grow strong and robust, and in stature of body, and in endowments of mind; and also the communications of grace unto him, and the gracious presence of God with him, so soon as he was capable of enjoying them; as likewise a spirit of prophecy, which is sometimes signified by the hand of the Lord; and the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, which, in process of time, appeared in him, qualifying him for his high office and work: the hand of the Lord, with the Jews, is the Holy Ghost: thus they interpret 1 Chronicles 28:19 "all in writing", this is the "Masora"; "from the hand of the Lord", vdwqh xwr wz, "this is the Holy Ghost". w