34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

Other Translations of Luke 1:34

King James Version

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

English Standard Version

34 And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"Greek since I do not know a man

The Message

34 Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man."

New King James Version

34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"

New Living Translation

34 Mary asked the angel, "But how can this happen? I am a virgin."

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 1:34

Commentary on Luke 1:26-38

(Read Luke 1:26-38)

We have here an account of the mother of our Lord; though we are not to pray to her, yet we ought to praise God for her. Christ must be born miraculously. The angel's address means only, Hail, thou that art the especially chosen and favoured of the Most High, to attain the honour Jewish mothers have so long desired. This wondrous salutation and appearance troubled Mary. The angel then assured her that she had found favour with God, and would become the mother of a son whose name she should call Jesus, the Son of the Highest, one in a nature and perfection with the Lord God. JESUS! the name that refreshes the fainting spirits of humbled sinners; sweet to speak and sweet to hear, Jesus, a Saviour! We know not his riches and our own poverty, therefore we run not to him; we perceive not that we are lost and perishing, therefore a Saviour is a word of little relish. Were we convinced of the huge mass of guilt that lies upon us, and the wrath that hangs over us for it, ready to fall upon us, it would be our continual thought, Is the Saviour mine? And that we might find him so, we should trample on all that hinders our way to him. Mary's reply to the angel was the language of faith and humble admiration, and she asked no sign for the confirming her faith. Without controversy, great was the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh, 1 Timothy 3:16. Christ's human nature must be produced so, as it was fit that should be which was to be taken into union with the Divine nature. And we must, as Mary here, guide our desires by the word of God. In all conflicts, let us remember that with God nothing is impossible; and as we read and hear his promises, let us turn them into prayers, Behold the willing servant of the Lord; let it be unto me according to thy word.