consider, wonder (in her mind)

The Greek that is translated as “she wondered” or “she considered (in her mind)” is translated as “her heart said” in Batak Toba or as “she puzzled forth and puzzled back” in Sranan Tongo.

In Mairasi, the translation is “she asked in her thought-place (=in her private thoughts)” (source: Enggavorter 2004).

Annunciation (image)

Image taken from the Wiedmann Bible. For more information about the images and ways to adopt them, see here . For other images of Willy Wiedmann paintings in TIPs, see here.

Following is a contemporary tempera / gouache on leather painting by an unknown Ethiopian artist:

Source: Sacred Art Pilgrim website .

Following is a painting (“Annunciation”) by He Qi:

He Qi © 2021 All Rights Reserved.

Image taken from He Qi Art . For purchasing prints of this and other artworks by He Qi go to heqiart.com . For other images of He Qi art works in TIPs, see here.

Annunciation to Mary (icon)

Following is a Serbian Orthodox icon of the Annunciation to Mary from the 14th century (found in the Church of Theotokos the Perivleptos, Ohrid, today in the National Museum of Serbia).

 

Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )

complete verse (Luke 1:29)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:29:

  • Noongar: “Mary was frightened, hearing the angel, and she questioned everything in her head.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Maria was surprised to hear the words of that angel, and she thought [about] what was the meaning of his greeting.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When Mariyam heard what the angel said, she was really troubled in her mind and she thought-and-thought about as to what the meaning was of what he said.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when Mary heard this, she was very much dumbfounded and she wondered what might be the interpretation of this word of the angel.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Maria was extremely perplexed at what the angel said and she kept-searching as to what perhaps it signified (lit. wanted to say).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When Maria heard, she couldn’t respond, and she was really amazed as to what that which had been said meant.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 1:29

Exegesis:

hē ‘she.’ The article is used here as a personal pronoun (cf. Moule 123).

epi tō logō ‘because of the saying.’ The preposition indicates here that Mary’s bewilderment is due to the angel’s word; hence, Revised Standard Version, cf. à ces mots (Bible de Jérusalem) and “at what he said” (An American Translation).

logos ‘the saying,’ i.e. the words spoken by the angel.

dietarachthē ‘she was (greatly) perplexed,’ probably stronger than etarachthē ‘was perplexed’ (v. 12), cf. L-Sc, s.v. diatarassō.

dielogizeto ‘she stood there wondering’; durative imperfect after the (punctiliar) aorist dietarachthē.

dialogizomai ‘to ponder,’ or ‘to argue,’ here the former.

potapos eiē ho aspasmos houtos, lit.: ‘of what kind (or ‘meaning’) this greeting might be,’ hence: “What this greeting might mean” (New English Bible).

potapos (also 7.39) ‘of what sort,’ always suggesting something extraordinary, either good (cf. 1 Jn. 3.1) or bad (cf. 7.39).

aspasmos ‘greeting,’ always of formal or solemn salutations.

Translation:

But she, or, preferably, ‘thereupon she (or Mary).’ In several languages a better translation is obtained by shifting the prepositional phrase to the head of the sentence, ‘at (or hearing) his word she…,’ or, ‘when Mary heard what the angel was saying, she….’

Some idioms for she was … troubled are, ‘her breath (was) anxious’ (Tboli), ‘her mind was upset’ (Marathi), ‘she had a crumpled heart’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC in 24.38), ‘her members shook’ (Navajo). In Sranan Tongo one has to use an active construction, ‘this word confused her.’

She considered in her mind, or, ‘she was thinking/asking-herself,’ ‘her heart said’ (Batak Toba), ‘she puzzled forth and puzzled back’ (Sranan Tongo). The aspect is inceptive-continuative, for Mary started wondering and continued in that state.

What sort of greeting this might be. Direct discourse is obligatory, or preferable in several cases, e.g. in Sediq, Ekari, Dravidian languages. The clause is in dubitative mood, to be expressed by modal verbal forms or particles, or by adverbial qualifications such as, “possible” (Phillips). Greeting. If no specific verb for ‘to greet (with words)’ exists, an expression can often be used that is built on the word formula of greeting, cf. on “hail” in v. 28; hence e.g., ‘this odi’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘this well-saying’ (Balinese). With some syntactic shifts this may lead to renderings such as, ‘Why does he say (or, What can it possibly mean that he says) “hail” to me?’ Where, however, the language does not possess a common formula of greeting, or the expression for ‘to greet’ refers to gestures, and not to words (cf. on v. 28), the verb may have to be rendered more generically, e.g. ‘to speak (kindly, or, graciously) to’; hence, ‘What in-the-world-is-he-saying-to-me’ (Navajo). To call attention to Gabriel’s unusual behaviour (cf. Exegesis, last entry on v. 28) it may be advisable to use here, ‘to deign to speak (kindly/graciously) to.’

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.