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OET (OET-LV) And answering the messenger said to_her:
The_ holy _spirit will_be_coming_over on you, and the_power of_the_highest will_be_overshadowing on_you, therefore also the holy child being_born will_be_being_called, son of_god.
OET (OET-RV) “The holy spirit will come over you,” answered the messenger, “and the power of the highest one will overshadow you, and so the holy child that’ll be born will be called God’s son.
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)
The two parts of this verse are very similar in meaning. The phrases “The Holy Spirit” and “the power of the Most High” are similar. The phrases “will come upon you” and “will overshadow you” are similar.
In some languages, it may be confusing to repeat the same meaning in different words here. It may imply that the angel was making two separate statements that had different meanings. If that is true in your language, you may need to translate the parts of the verse in a different way. See the General Comment on 1:35a–b at the end of the notes on 1:35b for a suggestion.
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
¶ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come to you.(sing)
¶ The angel said to Mary, “It will happen in this way: the Holy Spirit of God will surround you.(sing)
¶ The angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come and work powerfully within you,
The angel replied: These words introduce the answer to the question that Mary asked in 1:34a. In some languages it may be necessary to make this clear by repeating part of Mary’s question in the angel’s answer. For example:
The angel answered, “It will happen in this way:….”
angel: See the note at 1:11a for suggestions about how to translate the word angel. See also angel, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.
The Holy Spirit will come upon you: The Greek expression that the BSB translates as The Holy Spirit will come upon you means here that the Holy Spirit would come to Mary. He would do a powerful miracle in her body. He would cause her to become pregnant. Use a natural way in your language to speak about God or a spirit coming to do good in a person. Not all languages will use the expression “come upon.” Some other ways to express the idea are:
The Holy Spirit will come to you (GW)
The Holy Spirit will surround/ envelop you
In some languages there is an expression for an evil spirit coming to control someone for an evil purpose. Do not use an expression like that here if it would imply that the Holy Spirit would come for an evil purpose. The expression should not imply that the Holy Spirit would rape Mary or have sexual relations with her.
The Holy Spirit: The term Holy Spirit also occurs in 1:15c. See the note there for help in how to translate this term.
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
The power of the Most High God will cover you(sing) like a shadow, and
God, who is higher/greater than all things, will powerfully/mightily work in you.
and the power of God, the One who is Supreme, will be present with you to cause you to conceive.
the power of the Most High will overshadow you: The phrase the power of the Most High will overshadow you has almost the same meaning as “the Holy Spirit will come upon you” in 1:35a. The verb overshadow is used here in a figurative way. It literally means “to cast a shadow over” or “to shade.”For example, Mark 9:7 in the CEV says: “The shadow of a cloud passed over and covered them.” In this context it indicates that God will powerfully work in Mary to cause her to conceive Jesus.Many scholars see here an allusion to the cloud that led the Israelites in the time of the Exodus and filled the Tent of Meeting with the glory of God (see Exodus 40:35 and Numbers 9:18). In other OT passages, the word means “cover” and speaks of the protecting presence of God (see Psalm 91:4 and Psalm 139:8). But in this context, God’s presence does not come to protect Mary so much as to work the miracle of the virgin conception and birth. It speaks of God’s power surrounding Mary the way a cloud covers or surrounds something.
Some ways to translate this are:
Use an expression based on the figurative meaning of this verb. For example:
the power of the Most High God will cover you
God, who is greater than all gods, will completely surround you with his power the way a cloud shades the earth
Translate the meaning without the figurative language. For example:
the power of the Most High will be present with you
God’s power will completely surround/envelop you
the Most High will be present with you and his power will work in you
You may also want to make explicit what God’s power and presence would accomplish in Mary. For example:
the power of the Most High will be present with you and cause you to become pregnant
The power of the Greatest/Highest God will come over you to cause you to conceive
the Most High: The expression the Most High is a title for God. Some ways to translate this are:
the One who is higher than all things
the One who is the greatest
the Most High God
God , the One who is the Most High
See the note on 1:32b for a more complete discussion of the Most High.
The clauses in 1:35a and 1:35b have similar meanings. In some languages it may be necessary to make this clear by arranging the information in a different way. For example:
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit of the Most High God will come to you and work powerfully within you.…”
So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
therefore the holy child to whom you(sing) will give birth will be called ‘Son of God.’
For that reason they will call your holy son the Son of God.
So the child who will be born will be holy and will be recognized/known as the Son of God.
So: The Greek word that the BSB translates as So here introduces the result of God’s work. 1:35c is the result of 1:35a–b. Another way to translate this is:
For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God. (GNT)
the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God: There is a textual issue here. A few Greek manuscripts have “being born from you.” The earliest and best Greek manuscripts do not include the words “from you.” The manuscripts that include these words have later dates. However, in some languages it may be natural to include these words, for example, if the passive verb “be born” is translated as active. The Greek expression that the BSB translates as the Holy One to be born refers to the holy child to whom Mary would give birth. There are different ways to express the Greek structure of 1:35c in English:
the holy child to be born will be called Son of God (REB)
the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God (RSV)
the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God (NRSV)
The meaning of these three examples is almost the same. Jesus would be holy, and he would be the Son of God, so people would also call him holy and “the Son of God". Some other ways to translate this are:
the holy child who will be born will be called “Son of God”
the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God (NLT)
Holy One: Here the phrase Holy One refers to the fact that Jesus is divine and has the same nature as God. He is perfect in every way and is completely pure and sinless. Because of these qualities, he is worthy of awe. Some ways to translate this are:
the divine/holy child
the pure one from God
See the word holy, sense A2, in KBT.
will be called the Son of God: The phrase will be called the Son of God is similar to “will be called the Son of the Most High” in 1:32b. See the note there. It implies that Jesus will be described or addressed with the title the Son of God. He will receive this title because he actually is the Son of God.
The verb will be called is passive. The text does not specify who will call Jesus this. In some languages, it may not be natural to translate the verb will be called as 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 God
his name will be the Son of God
Focus on the fact that Jesus will be the Son of God. For example:
he will be the Son of God
If you must say who would call the child the Son of God, try to make the subject as general as possible. For example:
they will call him the Son of God
the Son of God: See the note on Son in 1:32b for advice about how to translate “Son” when it refers to Jesus as the Son of God.
In languages where there is no single word for Son, many translators have used a more general expression, such as:
child of God
Other verses will usually make clear that Jesus was a male child. If you use a descriptive phrase such as “male child of God,” be sure that this expression does not imply that God had another child who was female.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / hendiadys
ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν αὐτῇ Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπί σέ καί δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοί διό καί τό γεννώμενον Ἅγιον κληθήσεται Υἱός Θεοῦ)
Together the words answering and said mean that the angel responded to the question that Mary asked. Alternate translation: [the angel responded]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism
Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σέ, καὶ δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι
˓the˒_Spirit Holy ˓will_be˒_coming_over (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν αὐτῇ Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπί σέ καί δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοί διό καί τό γεννώμενον Ἅγιον κληθήσεται Υἱός Θεοῦ)
These two phrases mean similar things. Once again Gabriel is speaking in a form much like Hebrew poetry. It would be good here as well to show this to your readers by including both phrases in your translation rather than combining them. However, if the repetition might be confusing, you could connect the phrases with a term other than and, in order to show that the second phrase is repeating and clarifying the meaning of the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: [The Holy Spirit will come to you, yes, the power of God will cover you like a shadow]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι
˓the˒_power ˱of˲_˓the˒_Highest ˓will_be˒_overshadowing (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν αὐτῇ Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπί σέ καί δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοί διό καί τό γεννώμενον Ἅγιον κληθήσεται Υἱός Θεοῦ)
It was the power of God that would supernaturally cause Mary to become pregnant even while she still remained a virgin. It is not clear exactly how this happened, since Gabriel speaks as if God’s power had a shadow in order to describe it. But make sure that your translation does not imply that there was any physical or sexual union involved. This was a miracle. It might work well to retain Gabriel’s language and change the metaphor to a simile. Alternate translation: [the power of the Most High will cover you like a shadow]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
Ὑψίστου
˱of˲_˓the˒_Highest
See how you translated the expression the Most High in [1:32](../01/32.md). Alternate translation: [the Most High God]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
διὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον Ἅγιον κληθήσεται, Υἱὸς Θεοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν αὐτῇ Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπί σέ καί δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοί διό καί τό γεννώμενον Ἅγιον κληθήσεται Υἱός Θεοῦ)
As in [1:32](../01/32.md), to be called is an idiom that means “to be.” Alternate translation: [Therefore, this holy baby will be the Son of God]
Note 6 topic: guidelines-sonofgodprinciples
διὸ καὶ τὸ γεννώμενον Ἅγιον κληθήσεται, Υἱὸς Θεοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν αὐτῇ Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπί σέ καί δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοί διό καί τό γεννώμενον Ἅγιον κληθήσεται Υἱός Θεοῦ)
Gabriel is not saying only that Son of God is a title by which Jesus will be known. Instead, this is a further statement that Jesus would be the divine Son of a divine Father. (Gabriel says Therefore, indicating that this will be the result of the process he has just described.) You may want to show this by employing capitalization or whatever other convention your language uses to indicate divinity. Alternate translation: [Therefore, this holy baby will be the Son of God]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
τὸ γεννώμενον Ἅγιον κληθήσεται, Υἱὸς Θεοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν αὐτῇ Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπί σέ καί δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοί διό καί τό γεννώμενον Ἅγιον κληθήσεται Υἱός Θεοῦ)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express these two passive forms by stating the meaning of each with an active form. Alternate translation: [people will call this holy baby whom you will bear the Son of God]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism
τὸ γεννώμενον Ἅγιον κληθήσεται, Υἱὸς Θεοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἀποκριθείς ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν αὐτῇ Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπί σέ καί δύναμις Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοί διό καί τό γεννώμενον Ἅγιον κληθήσεται Υἱός Θεοῦ)
Depending on how the Greek is understood, this could be another parallel statement. Alternate translation: [The one who will be born will be holy. Yes, he will be the Son of God]
OET (OET-LV) And answering the messenger said to_her:
The_ holy _spirit will_be_coming_over on you, and the_power of_the_highest will_be_overshadowing on_you, therefore also the holy child being_born will_be_being_called, son of_god.
OET (OET-RV) “The holy spirit will come over you,” answered the messenger, “and the power of the highest one will overshadow you, and so the holy child that’ll be born will be called God’s son.
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.