¹ 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.

² sn Do not be afraid. See 1:13 for a similar statement to Zechariah.

³ 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.

⁴ tn Grk “And Mary.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁵ 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.

⁶ sn The expression In those days is another general time reference, though the sense of the context is that the visit came shortly after Mary miraculously conceived and shortly after the announcement about Jesus.

⁷ sn The author does not say exactly where Elizabeth stayed. The location is given generally as a town of Judah. Judah is about a three day trip south of Nazareth.

⁸ tn The words “He went” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to begin a new sentence in the translation. The Greek sentence is longer and more complex than normal contemporary English usage.

⁹ tn Traditionally, “Mary, his betrothed.” Although often rendered in contemporary English as “Mary, who was engaged to him,” this may give the modern reader a wrong impression, since Jewish marriages in this period were typically arranged marriages. The term ἐμνηστευμένῃ (emnhsteumenh) may suggest that the marriage is not yet consummated, not necessarily that they are not currently married. Some mss read “the betrothed to him wife”; others, simply “his wife.” These readings, though probably not original, may give the right sense.

¹⁰ tn Or “a feeding trough.”

¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹² tn This reflexive makes it clear that Mary took the initiative in sitting by Jesus.

¹³ sn The description of Mary sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to him makes her sound like a disciple (compare Luke 8:35).

¹⁴ tc Or, with some mss (̳ [א] B C² L 070^vid ˹ 33 [579] pc), “few things are needed – or only one” (as well as other variants). The textual problem here is a difficult one to decide. The shorter reading is normally preferred, but it is not altogether clear how the variants would arise from it. However, the reading followed in the translation has good support (with some internal variations) from a number of witnesses (Ì^45,75 A C* W Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï lat sa).

¹⁵ tn Or “better”; Grk “good.” This is an instance of the positive adjective used in place of the superlative adjective. According to ExSyn 298, this could also be treated as a positive for comparative (“better”).