When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear — the startled fear (etarachthē, deeply disturbed) and fear (phobos) are the standard human responses to genuine angelic appearance throughout Scripture. The reaction is not exaggerated but appropriate: the encounter with the genuinely supernatural produces terror in the most faithful person. The fear is not a failure but the beginning of the response to revelation — the same fear that will be addressed by the angel's first words.

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