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Soon after the angel visited Mary in Galilee, she went to visit her relative Elizabeth. Elizabeth lived in a town in Judea. Mary probably traveled from three to five days to reach there. The Holy Spirit revealed to Elizabeth that Mary was carrying the Christ/Messiah in her womb. This was confirmed also by Elizabeth’s baby, John, who leaped for joy in her womb. Elizabeth declared that Mary was blessed more than all women because God had chosen her for such an honor.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
Elizabeth affirmed that God had blessed Mary
Elizabeth recognized that Mary would be the mother of the Christ
And why am I so honored,
How/why should I be so honored
This is such a blessing to me
I am not worthy of this great privilege/ honor.
And: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that is most often translated as “and,” as in the BSB. Some other English versions, such as the NIV, translate it as “but” to reflect a contrast between Elizabeth’s awareness of the way that God has honored Mary and her sense of her own humble position. Still other English translations do not translate this conjunction. Connect 1:43 to 1:42 in a natural way in your language. In some languages a conjunction may not be needed.
why am I so honored: This is a rhetorical question. The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as why am I so honored is literally “From where this to me?” It expresses amazement. Elizabeth was amazed that the mother of the Messiah had come to visit her, because she felt unworthy of this honor.
Some ways to translate this to express amazement and Elizabeth’s sense of being unworthy are:
As a rhetorical question. For example:
How is it possible…?
But why am I so favored…? (NIV)
Who am I…? (REB)
As a statement. For example:
I do not deserve this honor…!
I feel blessed…. (GW)
Express this amazement in a natural way in your language.
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
that my Lord’s mother visits me!
You(sing) who are my Lord’s mother have come to see me!
the mother of my Lord: The Holy Spirit showed Elizabeth that the baby in Mary’s womb was the Lord. He was the Christ/Messiah, the one God had promised to send to save his people.
Elizabeth was speaking directly to Mary here. In some languages it may be necessary to make this clear by using a form such as “you.” For example:
you who are the mother of my Lord
Lord: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Lord means “master, one who has authority over others.” The word Lord was one of the terms that the Jews used to refer to God.This is not meant to imply that they used kurios when speaking to each other in Hebrew or Aramaic. It is assumed that they might use it when they spoke or wrote in Greek, as Luke was doing here. Here the word Lord refers specifically to the Messiah.
Some other ways to translate Lord are:
Master
Chief
come: In this context, the word come refers to “coming for a visit.” So you can translate the word come as:
come and visit (NET)
visit (REB)
come and see
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
καὶ πόθεν μοι τοῦτο, ἵνα ἔλθῃ ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Κυρίου μου πρὸς ἐμέ?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πόθεν μοί τοῦτο ἵνα ἔλθῃ ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Κυρίου μού πρός μέ)
Elizabeth is not asking for information. She is using a question form to show how surprised and happy she is that Mary has come to visit her. Alternate translation: [How wonderful it is that the mother of my Lord has come to visit me!]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
πόθεν μοι τοῦτο
from_where (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πόθεν μοί τοῦτο ἵνα ἔλθῃ ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Κυρίου μού πρός μέ)
The expression whence is this to me means “where did this come from to me.” It is an idiom for describing something as wonderful and unexpected. Alternate translation (not followed by a comma): [how wonderful it is]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person
ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Κυρίου μου
the mother ˱of˲_the Lord (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί πόθεν μοί τοῦτο ἵνα ἔλθῃ ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Κυρίου μού πρός μέ)
Elizabeth is referring to Mary in the third person. You could make this clear by adding the word “you” in your translation, as UST does.
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.