1:28a
In 1:26 God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary. In this verse, the angel arrived. Connect this verse to the preceding verses in a clear way in your language.
The angel appeared to her and said: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as appeared is literally “entered.” It implies that the angel entered Mary’s house or room. It can also be translated with a more general word such as “came” or “went.” Some ways to translate this part of the verse are:
When he came to her, he said
-or-
The angel arrived and entered the place where she was. He greeted her, saying
1:28b
Greetings: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Greetings literally means “Rejoice!” It was a common greeting and showed that the angel came as a friend. Some ways to translate this are:
• Use a common greeting in your language. It should be a natural way for someone of authority to greet a young woman. For example:
Peace be with you! (Good News Translation)
(That is a common Jewish greeting.)
• Translate the literal meaning of the greeting. For example:
Rejoice!
-or-
Be joyful!
• Mention only the fact that the angel greeted her without putting the greeting in the quotation. For example:
he greeted her and said (God’s Word)
Notice how the God’s Word puts the verb “greeted” before the verb “said” here.
In 1:30a the angel addressed Mary by name. In some languages it may be natural to use her name here also. For example:
Greetings, Mary.
you who are highly favored: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as you who are highly favored is literally “favored [one/person].” The angel used this word as a title to address Mary directly. For example:
Greetings, favored woman! (New Living Translation (2004))
The Greek verb favored is passive. In this context it indicates that God had shown great favor or kindness to Mary. This kindness was that he had chosen her to be the mother of the Christ.
Some ways to translate this are:
God has been very kind to you.
-or-
God has greatly favored you.
-or-
privileged-one
-or-
You are truly blessed! (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
God has given you a great gift/grace.
See grace, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.
1:28c
There is a textual issue in this part of the verse:
(1) The earliest Greek manuscripts have only “The Lord is with you.” For example:
The Lord is with you. (New American Standard Bible)
(Berean Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, English Standard Version, New Living Translation (2004), NET Bible, Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Century Version, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version)
(2) Other Greek manuscripts add “Blessed are you among women.” For example:
…the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (King James Version)
(King James Version)
It is recommended that you follow option (1), as the majority of English versions do. However, if the national language version in your area follows option (2), you may want to mention it in a footnote. For example, the New Living Translation (2004) has this footnote:
Some manuscripts add “Blessed are you among women.”
The Lord is with you: The clause The Lord is with you means that the Lord was present with Mary. He was watching over her to bless her. The word Lord refers to God.
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