Luke 1:27

1:27 to a virgin engaged ¹  to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David, ²  and the virgin’s name was Mary.

Luke 1:30

1:30 So ³  the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, ⁴  Mary, for you have found favor ⁵  with God!

Luke 1:34

1:34 Mary ⁶  said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with ⁷  a man?”

Luke 1:39

Mary and Elizabeth

1:39 In those days ⁸  Mary got up and went hurriedly into the hill country, to a town of Judah, ⁹ 

Luke 1:56

1:56 So ¹⁰  Mary stayed with Elizabeth ¹¹  about three months ¹²  and then returned to her home.

Luke 2:19

2:19 But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering in her heart what they might mean. ¹³ 

Luke 10:42

10:42 but one thing ¹⁴  is needed. Mary has chosen the best ¹⁵  part; it will not be taken away from her.”

¹ tn Or “promised in marriage.”

² tn Grk “Joseph, of the house of David.”

³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Gabriel’s statement is a response to Mary’s perplexity over the greeting.

⁴ sn Do not be afraid. See 1:13 for a similar statement to Zechariah.

⁵ tn Or “grace.”

⁵ tn Grk “And Mary.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁶ tn Grk “have not known.” The expression in the Greek text is a euphemism for sexual relations. Mary seems to have sensed that the declaration had an element of immediacy to it that excluded Joseph. Many modern translations render this phrase “since I am a virgin,” but the Greek word for virgin is not used in the text, and the euphemistic expression is really more explicit, referring specifically to sexual relations.

⁷ sn The expression In those days is another general time reference, though the sense of the context is that the visit came shortly after Mary miraculously conceived and shortly after the announcement about Jesus.

⁸ sn The author does not say exactly where Elizabeth stayed. The location is given generally as a town of Judah. Judah is about a three day trip south of Nazareth.

⁹ tn Grk “And.” Here (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion of the topic.

¹⁰ tn Grk “her”; the referent (Elizabeth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ sn As is typical with Luke the timing is approximate (about three months), not specific.

¹¹ tn The term συμβάλλουσα (sumballousa) suggests more than remembering. She is trying to put things together here (Josephus, Ant. 2.5.3 [2.72]). The words “what they might mean” have been supplied in the translation to make this clear. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

¹³ tc Or, with some mss (̳ [א] B C² L 070^vid ˹ 33 [579] pc), “few things are needed – or only one” (as well as other variants). The textual problem here is a difficult one to decide. The shorter reading is normally preferred, but it is not altogether clear how the variants would arise from it. However, the reading followed in the translation has good support (with some internal variations) from a number of witnesses (Ì^45,75 A C* W Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï lat sa).

¹⁴ tn Or “better”; Grk “good.” This is an instance of the positive adjective used in place of the superlative adjective. According to ExSyn 298, this could also be treated as a positive for comparative (“better”).