The Careful Account
The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Luke 1:28 · Berean Standard Bible
The angel comes to her and says, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.'
Before asking anything of her, God tells Mary who she is: favored, chosen, and accompanied by His presence. He defines her identity before He reveals her calling.
Gabriel greets Mary with an extraordinary declaration.
Before she knows what's coming, God affirms who she is. You are favored. I am with you. God always establishes your identity before He reveals your assignment.
Gabriel greets Mary as kecharitomene (highly favored/graced one), using the perfect passive participle indicating a state of grace already bestowed, and declares 'ho Kurios meta sou' (the Lord is with you).
Kecharitomene is a rare form suggesting Mary has been endowed with special divine grace. The greeting 'the Lord is with you' echoes commissions of great figures like Gideon (Judges 6:12).
Gabriel delivers the initial greeting to Mary.
Gabriel's greeting to Mary is extraordinary: she is addressed as one already specially favored by God, accompanied by the divine presence formula used for Israel's greatest leaders.
26In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
27to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
28The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
30So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Read all of Luke 1 — A physician writes the most detailed account of Jesus' life. Luke notices the people others overlook — the poor, the outcast, the women, the forgotten.
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