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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Luke C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24
Luke 1 V1 V4 V7 V10 V13 V16 V19 V22 V25 V28 V31 V34 V37 V40 V43 V46 V49 V52 V55 V58 V61 V64 V67 V70 V73 V76 V79
OET (OET-LV) This one will_be great, and will_be_being_called the_son of_the_highest, and the_master the god will_be_giving to_him the throne of_Dawid, the father of_him,
OET (OET-RV) He’ll be very special and will be called ‘the son of the highest one’, and Yahweh God will give him the throne of David, his ancestor.
God sent an angel to tell Mary that she would have a son and that his name would be Jesus. He would be a king forever. This surprised and frightened Mary. She asked the angel how this would happen, as she was a virgin. She had never had sexual relations with a man. The angel said that the power of God would overshadow her and cause her to become pregnant. She would give birth to a son, and he would be called the Son of God. Mary believed God’s message, and she was willing for this to happen to her.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
The angel Gabriel predicts the virgin birth of Jesus the Christ
Angel Gabriel announces to the virgin Mary that God will cause her to give birth to a son
The Birth of Jesus is Announced (GNT)
He will be great
He will have great authority,
He will be a very important person,
He will be great: The Greek word that the BSB translates as great was also used in 1:15a. It refers here to being superior in quality, important, significant, and powerful. In 1:32b–33 the angel explained more about specific ways in which Jesus would be great. He would be great as God’s Son, and he would have great authority over a kingdom that will never end. Use an appropriate word in your language for this context.
and will be called the Son of the Most High.
and he will be known/recognized as the Son of the Most High God.
and he will have the name/title ‘The Son of the one who is higher/greater than all other beings.’
will be called the Son of the Most High: This part of the verse implies that Jesus will be described or addressed with the title Son of the Most High. He will receive this title because he actually is the Son of the Most High.
The verb will be called is passive. The text does not specify who will call Jesus this. Some scholars believe that God is the one who will give this title to Jesus. Other scholars believe that in this context the verb will be called has the same meaning as the verb “will be.”
In some languages, it may not be natural to translate the verb will be called as a passive. If that is true in your language, here are other ways to translate it:
Use a different verb that does not require you to say who will use the title. For example:
he will have the title Son of the Most High
his name will be the Son of the Most High
Focus on the fact that Jesus will be the Son of the Most High. For example:
he will be the Son of the Most High
Son of the Most High: The phrase the Most High is a title that refers to God. This title for God is used two more times in this chapter—in 1:35 and 1:76.It is also used in Mark 5:7, Acts 7:48, and Hebrews 7:1. It indicates that God is greater and more powerful than any other god, being, or power that exists. The title does not refer to literal height or size. In some languages there may be a special way to indicate that a phrase like this is a title. The BSB uses capital letters to indicate this.
Other ways to translate Son of the Most High are:
Son of the Greatest/Highest God
Son of God, the One who is more powerful than all other beings
Son of God, the God who is so great that no one is great like him
Son: The Bible uses the title Son to express the facts that Jesus has the same nature as God and that he comes from God. The title also indicates that the relationship between God and Jesus, his Son, is similar in some way to the relationship of human fathers and sons. God does not have a physical body, and he did not create/produce Jesus the way that a human father produces a son. Jesus has existed eternally as the Son with his Father.
You may wish to include a footnote here and say something like:
God is the Father of Jesus the Son in a different way than human males are fathers of their sons. The Bible uses the word Son to express the fact that Jesus has the same nature as God and that he comes from God. It also indicates that the relationship between God and Jesus, his Son, is similar in some way to the relationship of human fathers and sons.
The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
The Lord God will set him on the throne to rule as his ancestor David did.
The Lord God will make him king over the descendants of Jacob like his ancestor, King David.
The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David: In this context the word throne is used as a figure of speech. It represents the power and authority of the person who sits on the throne and reigns as king. Some ways to translate this are:
State what the throne represents. For example:
the Lord God will give him the right/authority to sit on the throne as king
the Lord God will cause him to sit in the throne and reign/rule
Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:
The Lord God will make him king (CEV)
the Lord God will cause him to reign
Lord God: See Lord, Context 2, and God in the Glossary.
give Him the throne of His father David: The clause give Him the throne of His father David indicates here that God would cause Jesus to be king over Israel as David was.
King David lived about a thousand years before Jesus was born. So in some languages it may be necessary to translate His father David as “his ancestor David.”
Jesus was a descendant of David through his mother Mary and also through his legal father Joseph. If in your language you must say which line of descendants the angel was referring to, you should say his father’s line. This was referred to in 1:27b.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
Υἱὸς Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὗτος ἔσται μέγας καί Υἱός Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται καί δώσει αὐτῷ Κύριος ὁ Θεός τόν θρόνον Δαυίδ τοῦ πατρός αὐτοῦ)
To be called is an idiom that means “to be.” (This idiom occurs three times in this episode and in a few other places in the book, such as [1:76](../01/76.md), [2:23](../02/23.md), and [15:19](../15/19.md).) Alternate translation: [He will be the Son of the Most High]
Note 2 topic: guidelines-sonofgodprinciples
Υἱὸς Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὗτος ἔσται μέγας καί Υἱός Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται καί δώσει αὐτῷ Κύριος ὁ Θεός τόν θρόνον Δαυίδ τοῦ πατρός αὐτοῦ)
Gabriel is not saying only that Son of the Most High is a title by which Jesus will be known. Instead, just as the previous verse described how Jesus was a human son born of a human mother, his statement here indicates that Jesus was also the divine Son of a divine Father. You may want to show this by employing capitalization or whatever other convention your language uses to indicate divinity. Alternate translation: [He will be the Son of the Most High]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
Υἱὸς Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὗτος ἔσται μέγας καί Υἱός Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται καί δώσει αὐτῷ Κύριος ὁ Θεός τόν θρόνον Δαυίδ τοῦ πατρός αὐτοῦ)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this with an active form. Alternate translation: [He will be the Son of the Most High]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
Ὑψίστου
˱of˲_˓the˒_Highest
This is an idiomatic way of referring to God, as the fuller expression “the Most High God” in [8:38](../08/38.md) shows. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate the phrase that way in order to explain its meaning. Or, you could simply reproduce the phrase in the simpler form in which it occurs here in order to show your readers one of the ways in which the people of this time referred to God. Alternate translation: [the Most High God]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
δώσει αὐτῷ & τὸν θρόνον Δαυεὶδ, τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ
˓will_be˒_giving ˱to˲_him & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὗτος ἔσται μέγας καί Υἱός Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται καί δώσει αὐτῷ Κύριος ὁ Θεός τόν θρόνον Δαυίδ τοῦ πατρός αὐτοῦ)
The throne represents a king’s authority to rule. Alternate translation: [will give him authority to rule as king as his ancestor David did]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
δώσει αὐτῷ & τὸν θρόνον Δαυεὶδ, τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ
˓will_be˒_giving ˱to˲_him & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὗτος ἔσται μέγας καί Υἱός Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται καί δώσει αὐτῷ Κύριος ὁ Θεός τόν θρόνον Δαυίδ τοῦ πατρός αὐτοῦ)
Here, the term father means “ancestor,” but since a line of kings is in view, it also indicates that Jesus will be a successor to David. Alternate translation: [will give him authority to rule as a successor to his ancestor David]
1:32-33 These verses echo God’s covenant with David (2 Sam 7:11-16), the foundational promise of the coming Messiah (see also Isa 9:6-7; 11:1-5; Jer 23:5-6; 33:15-16; Ezek 37:24-25).
OET (OET-LV) This one will_be great, and will_be_being_called the_son of_the_highest, and the_master the god will_be_giving to_him the throne of_Dawid, the father of_him,
OET (OET-RV) He’ll be very special and will be called ‘the son of the highest one’, and Yahweh God will give him the throne of David, his ancestor.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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