Verses of Luke 1
Luke 1:78 Commentary - Whedon's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
78. Dayspring from on high The beautiful English word dayspring is taken, we suppose, from the conception of the spring or fountain of light, from which day is conceived to be poured upon us from the morning sky. The Greek word here used, ανατολη , signifies rising, namely, of the sun at dawn; and thence it signifies the east, or region of sunrise. But it is objected that the rising of the sun does not come from on high, but is at the horizon. Hence some commentators have, very tastelessly, referred the Greek word to the upspringing of the plant, as the image of the Messiah. Professor Owen refers it to the sun, but confines the figure to the word ανατολη , referring the phrase from on high literally to the Messiah, as being from above. But the dayspring is not limited to the luminary alone. The ανατολη is the rising of the morning light, not merely of the sun; and the ascent of the daylight, or dawn of a clear morning, from which the commencing day comes down upon us, really mounts the firmament and reaches the zenith long before the sun attains the horizon. The dawn or dayspring, therefore, is from on high, as belonging to the firmament above us, and not to the plane of the earth beneath us. As so descending from above, it is here the beautiful image of light and salvation from heaven.
Verses of Luke 1
Consult other comments:
Luke 1:78 - Abbott's Illustrated New Testament
Luke 1:78 - The Greek Testament
Luke 1:78 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Luke 1:78 - Calvin's Complete Commentary
Luke 1:78 - The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Luke 1:78 - Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luke 1:78 - Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Luke 1:78 - Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Luke 1:78 - Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Luke 1:78 - The Expositor’s Greek Testament by Robertson
Luke 1:78 - Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Luke 1:78 - Geneva Bible Notes
Luke 1:78 - John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Luke 1:78 - Gnomon of the New Testament
Luke 1:78 - Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Luke 1:78 - Henry Alford's Greek Testament
Luke 1:78 - Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Luke 1:78 - Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Luke 1:78 - Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Luke 1:78 - Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luke 1:78 - Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Luke 1:78 - Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer's New Testament Commentary
Luke 1:78 - Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luke 1:78 - English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Luke 1:78 - Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament
Luke 1:78 - A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Luke 1:78 - John Trapp's Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Luke 1:78 - The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Luke 1:78 - Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament
Luke 1:78 - Whedon's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Whedon's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Daniel D. Whedon (1808-1885) was a prominent university professor, theologian, and author. He served as Professor of Ancient Languages at Wesleyan University in Connecticut; as Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Michigan; and as editor of the Methodist Quarterly Review from 1856 to1884. He authored numerous books including Commentary on the New Testament (New York: Carlton & Porter, 1860); Commentary on the Old Testament (New York: Nelson & Phillips, 1873); What is Arminianism? (Toronto: W. Briggs, 1879); and Essays, Reviews, and Discourses (New York: Phillips & Hunt, 1887).