Luke 1:29-30

1:29 But ¹  she was greatly troubled ²  by his words and began to wonder about the meaning of this greeting. ³  1:30 So ⁴  the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, ⁵  Mary, for you have found favor ⁶  with God!

Luke 1:65

1:65 All ⁷  their neighbors were filled with fear, and throughout the entire hill country of Judea all these things were talked about.

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¹ 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.

² sn On the phrase greatly troubled see 1:12. Mary’s reaction was like Zechariah’s response.

³ 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).

⁴ 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.

⁵ sn Do not be afraid. See 1:13 for a similar statement to Zechariah.

⁶ tn Or “grace.”

sn The expression found favor is a Semitism, common in the OT (Gen 6:8; 18:3; 43:14; 2 Sam 15:25). God has chosen to act on this person’s behalf.

⁷ tn Grk “And all.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

sn Fear is the emotion that comes when one recognizes something unusual, even supernatural, has taken place.