»By what proof,« asked Zechariah, »shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is far advanced in years.«
»How can this be,« Mary replied, »seeing that I have no husband?«
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren; and both of them were far advanced in life.
And, without growing weak in faith, he could contemplate his own vital powers which had now decayed –for he was nearly 100 years old– and Sarah's barrenness.