Luke 1:34-38

1:34 Mary ¹  said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with ²  a man?” 1:35 The angel replied, ³  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow ⁴  you. Therefore the child ⁵  to be born ⁶  will be holy; ⁷  he will be called the Son of God.

1:36 “And look, ⁸  your relative ⁹  Elizabeth has also become pregnant with ¹⁰  a son in her old age – although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! ¹¹  1:37 For nothing ¹²  will be impossible with God.” 1:38 So ¹³  Mary said, “Yes, ¹⁴  I am a servant ¹⁵  of the Lord; let this happen to me ¹⁶  according to your word.” ¹⁷  Then ¹⁸  the angel departed from her.

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

[1:34]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ sn The phrase will overshadow is a reference to God’s glorious presence at work (Exod 40:34-35; Ps 91:4).

[1:35]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Grk “behold.”

[1:36]  ⁹ tn Some translations render the word συγγενίς (sungeni") as “cousin” (so Phillips) but the term is not necessarily this specific.

[1:36]  ¹⁰ tn Or “has conceived.”

[1:36]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[1:38]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “behold.”

[1:38]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “let this be to me.”

[1:38]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.