Judges 2:1

Confrontation and Repentance at Bokim

2:1 The Lord’s angelic messenger ¹  went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors. ²  I said, ‘I will never break my agreement ³  with you,

Judges 6:11-12

Gideon Meets Some Visitors

6:11 The Lord’s angelic messenger ⁴  came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon ⁵  was threshing ⁶  wheat in a winepress ⁷  so he could hide it from the Midianites. ⁸  6:12 The Lord’s messenger appeared and said to him, “The Lord is with you, courageous warrior!”

Genesis 16:7-13

16:7 The Lord’s angel ⁹  found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. ¹⁰  16:8 He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from ¹¹  my mistress, Sarai.”

16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit ¹²  to her authority. 16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, ¹³  “so that they will be too numerous to count.” ¹⁴  16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,

“You are now ¹⁵  pregnant

and are about to give birth ¹⁶  to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael, ¹⁷ 

for the Lord has heard your painful groans. ¹⁸ 

16:12 He will be a wild donkey ¹⁹  of a man.

He will be hostile to everyone, ²⁰ 

and everyone will be hostile to him. ²¹ 

He will live away from ²²  his brothers.”

16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” ²³  for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” ²⁴ 

Luke 1:11

1:11 An ²⁵  angel of the Lord, ²⁶  standing on the right side of the altar of incense, appeared ²⁷  to him.

Luke 1:28-38

1:28 The ²⁸  angel ²⁹  came ³⁰  to her and said, “Greetings, favored one, ³¹  the Lord is with you!” ³²  1:29 But ³³  she was greatly troubled ³⁴  by his words and began to wonder about the meaning of this greeting. ³⁵  1:30 So ³⁶  the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, ³⁷  Mary, for you have found favor ³⁸  with God! 1:31 Listen: ³⁹  You will become pregnant ⁴⁰  and give birth to ⁴¹  a son, and you will name him ⁴²  Jesus. ⁴³  1:32 He ⁴⁴  will be great, ⁴⁵  and will be called the Son of the Most High, ⁴⁶  and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father ⁴⁷  David. 1:33 He ⁴⁸  will reign over the house of Jacob ⁴⁹  forever, and his kingdom will never end.” 1:34 Mary ⁵⁰  said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with ⁵¹  a man?” 1:35 The angel replied, ⁵²  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow ⁵³  you. Therefore the child ⁵⁴  to be born ⁵⁵  will be holy; ⁵⁶  he will be called the Son of God.

1:36 “And look, ⁵⁷  your relative ⁵⁸  Elizabeth has also become pregnant with ⁵⁹  a son in her old age – although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! ⁶⁰  1:37 For nothing ⁶¹  will be impossible with God.” 1:38 So ⁶²  Mary said, “Yes, ⁶³  I am a servant ⁶⁴  of the Lord; let this happen to me ⁶⁵  according to your word.” ⁶⁶  Then ⁶⁷  the angel departed from her.

[2:1]  ¹ sn See Exod 14:19; 23:20.

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “the land that I had sworn to your fathers.”

[2:1]  ³ tn Or “covenant” (also in the following verse).

[6:11]  ⁴ tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive.

[6:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “Now Gideon his son…” The Hebrew circumstantial clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + predicate) breaks the narrative sequence and indicates that the angel’s arrival coincided with Gideon’s threshing.

[6:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “beating out.”

[6:11]  ⁷ sn Threshing wheat in a winepress. One would normally thresh wheat at the threshing floor outside the city. Animals and a threshing sledge would be employed. Because of the Midianite threat, Gideon was forced to thresh with a stick in a winepress inside the city. For further discussion see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63.

[6:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “Midian.”

[16:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “the messenger of the Lord.” Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, it is more likely that the angel merely represents the Lord; he can speak for the Lord because he is sent with the Lord’s full authority. In some cases the angel is clearly distinct from the Lord (see Judg 6:11-23). It is not certain if the same angel is always in view. Though the proper name following the noun “angel” makes the construction definite, this may simply indicate that a definite angel sent from the Lord is referred to in any given context. It need not be the same angel on every occasion. Note the analogous expression “the servant of the Lord,” which refers to various individuals in the OT (see BDB 714 s.v. עֶבֶד).

[16:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And the angel of the Lord found her near the spring of water in the desert, near the spring on the way to Shur.”

[16:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from the presence of.”

[16:9]  ¹² tn The imperative וְהִתְעַנִּי (vÿhit’anni) is the Hitpael of עָנָה (’anah, here translated “submit”), the same word used for Sarai’s harsh treatment of her. Hagar is instructed not only to submit to Sarai’s authority, but to whatever mistreatment that involves. God calls for Hagar to humble herself.

[16:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “The Lord’s angel said, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants….” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “cannot be numbered because of abundance.”

[16:11]  ¹⁵ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”

[16:11]  ¹⁶ tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.

[16:11]  ¹⁷ sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”

[16:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.

[16:12]  ¹⁹ sn A wild donkey of a man. The prophecy is not an insult. The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought.

[16:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “His hand will be against everyone.” The “hand” by metonymy represents strength. His free-roaming life style would put him in conflict with those who follow social conventions. There would not be open warfare, only friction because of his antagonism to their way of life.

[16:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”

[16:12]  ²² tn Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).

[16:13]  ²³ tn Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).

[16:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “after one who sees me.”

[1:11]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And an angel.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here.

[1:11]  ²⁶ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.

[1:11]  ²⁷ sn This term is often used to describe a supernatural appearance (24:34; Acts 2:3; 7:2, 30, 35; 9:17; 13:31; 16:9; 26:16).

[1:28]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And coming to her.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:28]  ²⁹ tn Grk “And coming to her, he said”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:28]  ³⁰ tn Grk “coming to her, he said.” The participle εἰσελθών (eiselqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[1:28]  ³¹ tn The address, “favored one” (a perfect participle, Grk “Oh one who is favored”) points to Mary as the recipient of God’s grace, not a bestower of it. She is a model saint in this passage, one who willingly receives God’s benefits. The Vulgate rendering “full of grace” suggests something more of Mary as a bestower of grace, but does not make sense here contextually.

[1:28]  ³² tc Most mss (A C D Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï latt sy) read here εὐλογημένη σὺ ἐν γυναιξίν (euloghmenh su en gunaixin, “blessed are you among women”) which also appears in 1:42 (where it is textually certain). This has the earmarks of a scribal addition for balance; the shorter reading, attested by the most important witnesses and several others (א B L W Ψ Ë¹ 565 579 700 1241 pc co), is thus preferred.

[1:29]  ³³ tc Most mss (A C Θ 0130 ˹³ Ï lat sy) have ἰδοῦσα (idousa, “when [she] saw [the angel]”) here as well, making Mary’s concern the appearance of the angel. This construction is harder than the shorter reading since it adds a transitive verb without an explicit object. However, the shorter reading has significant support (א B D L W Ψ Ë¹ 565 579 1241 sa) and on balance should probably be considered authentic.

[1:29]  ³⁴ sn On the phrase greatly troubled see 1:12. Mary’s reaction was like Zechariah’s response.

[1:29]  ³⁵ tn Grk “to wonder what kind of greeting this might be.” Luke often uses the optative this way to reveal a figure’s thinking (3:15; 8:9; 18:36; 22:23).

[1:30]  ³⁶ 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.

[1:30]  ³⁷ sn Do not be afraid. See 1:13 for a similar statement to Zechariah.

[1:30]  ³⁸ tn Or “grace.”

[1:31]  ³⁹ tn Grk “And behold.”

[1:31]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “you will conceive in your womb.”

[1:31]  ⁴¹ tn Or “and bear.”

[1:31]  ⁴² tn Grk “you will call his name.”

[1:31]  ⁴³ tn See v. 13 for a similar construction.

[1:32]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “this one.”

[1:32]  ⁴⁵ sn Compare the description of Jesus as great here with 1:15, “great before the Lord.” Jesus is greater than John, since he is Messiah compared to a prophet. Great is stated absolutely without qualification to make the point.

[1:32]  ⁴⁶ sn The expression Most High is a way to refer to God without naming him. Such avoiding of direct reference to God was common in 1st century Judaism out of reverence for the divine name.

[1:32]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “ancestor.”

[1:33]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. A new sentence is begun here in the translation because of the length of the sentence in Greek.

[1:33]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “over Israel.”

[1:34]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “And Mary.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:34]  ⁵¹ 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.

[1:35]  ⁵² tn Grk “And the angel said to her.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. The pronoun αὐτῇ (auth, “to her”) has not been included in the translation since it is redundant in contemporary English.

[1:35]  ⁵³ sn The phrase will overshadow is a reference to God’s glorious presence at work (Exod 40:34-35; Ps 91:4).

[1:35]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “the one born holy will be called the Son of God.” The wording of this phrase depends on whether the adjective is a predicate adjective, as in the text, or is an adjective modifying the participle serving as the subject. The absence of an article with the adjective speaks for a predicate position. Other less appealing options supply a verb for “holy”; thus “the one who is born will be holy”; or argue that both “holy” and “Son of God” are predicates, so “The one who is born will be called holy, the Son of God.”

[1:35]  ⁵⁵ tc A few mss (C* Θ Ë¹ 33 pc) add “by you” here. This looks like a scribal addition to bring symmetry to the first three clauses of the angel’s message (note the second person pronoun in the previous two clauses), and is too poorly supported to be seriously considered as authentic.

[1:35]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “Therefore the holy child to be born will be called the Son of God.” There are two ways to understand the Greek phrase τὸ γεννώμενον ἅγιον (to gennwmenon {agion) here. First, τὸ γεννώμενον could be considered a substantival participle with ἅγιον as an adjective in the second predicate position, thus making a complete sentence; this interpretation is reflected in the translation above. Second, τὸ ἅγιον could be considered a substantival adjective with γεννώμενον acting as an adjectival participle, thus making the phrase the subject of the verb κληθήσεται (klhqhsetai); this interpretation is reflected in the alternative reading. Treating the participle γεννώμενον as adjectival is a bit unnatural for the very reason that it forces one to understand ἅγιον as substantival; this introduces a new idea in the text with ἅγιον when an already new topic is being introduced with γεννώμενον. Semantically this would overload the new subject introduced at this point. For this reason the first interpretation is preferred.

[1:36]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “behold.”

[1:36]  ⁵⁸ tn Some translations render the word συγγενίς (sungeni") as “cousin” (so Phillips) but the term is not necessarily this specific.

[1:36]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “has conceived.”

[1:36]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren.” Yet another note on Elizabeth’s loss of reproach also becomes a sign of the truth of the angel’s declaration.

[1:37]  ⁶¹ tn In Greek, the phrase πᾶν ῥῆμα (pan rJhma, “nothing”) has an emphatic position, giving it emphasis as the lesson in the entire discussion. The remark is a call for faith.

[1:38]  ⁶² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[1:38]  ⁶³ tn Grk “behold.”

[1:38]  ⁶⁴ tn Traditionally, “handmaid”; Grk “slave woman.” Though δούλη (doulh) is normally translated “woman servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free woman serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v. δοῦλος). The most accurate translation is “bondservant,” sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος (doulos), in that it often indicates one who sells himself or herself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:38]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “let this be to me.”

[1:38]  ⁶⁶ sn The remark according to your word is a sign of Mary’s total submission to God’s will, a response that makes her exemplary.

[1:38]  ⁶⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.