Exegesis:
idou ‘behold,’ with following nominative. This use of idou is probably a Hebraism and expresses readiness to serve or to listen, cf. 1 Sam. 3.5, 6, 8. Renderings like “I am” (e.g. An American Translation), or “here I am” (New English Bible) make explicit what is implied in the phrase i.e. that the following words refer to Mary herself.
hē doulē kuriou ‘the slave (or, servant) of the Lord.’
doulē (also v. 48) ‘female slave,’ ‘bondmaid,’ like doulos often used when someone of high rank is addressed by somebody of lower rank.
genoito moi ‘let it happen to me.’
genoito ‘let it be,’ expresses Mary’s readiness to serve the Lord.
kata to rēma sou ‘according to your word,’ i.e. ‘according to what you have told me’; sou refers to the angel.
Translation:
Mary said. Just as one may better render ‘said’ by ‘asked’ where it introduces a question (see above on 1.18), thus it may be better to translate it by ‘answered’ where it introduces a sentence that clearly is a reply to a preceding utterance. This change is obligatory in some languages, preferable in others, e.g. in order to strengthen the inner structure of the dialogue. — In honorific languages Mary, in addressing the angel, has to use respectful terms; in Marathi these are honorifics of the highest degree, but not the form used to deity.
Handmaid. Often the word for ‘servant’ (for which see on 12.37) can be used, with indication of feminine sex where required. Because God is the one served the aspects of obedience, devotion, or even worship come to the fore, which may lead to the use of a term or expression meaning ‘devotee’ (Marathi), ‘subject’ (Sundanese, Balinese), cf. also, ‘I am the Lord’s person (i.e. subject)’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘I am under the Lord,’ suggesting the being under God’s command as well as under his protection (Sranan Tongo).
Let it be to me according to your word, or, “as you have spoken, so be it” (New English Bible), ‘may be done to me (or, may I be given) all that you have said,’ ‘let God send (lit. cause-to-proceed to) me that which you have just told me about now’ (Tboli). In Southern Subanen the idiom is, ‘I will allow what you said’; Apache has to use, ‘yes, I say: just-what-you-said it-will-be-done-to-me.’
Departed from her. The Greek uses a term for the departure of ordinary mortals; therefore renderings such as ‘faded-away’ (a term for the disappearance of a supernatural being), or, ‘return to heaven,’ are not advisable: they say more than Luke is saying.
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.