Luke 1:28

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail! highly favoured - a word [ kecharitoomenee (G5487)] only once used elsewhere (Ephesians 1:6, "made accepted"). That our translators have given the right sense of it here seems plain not only from the import of verbs of that termination, but from the next clause,

The Lord is with thee, and Luke 1:30, "Thou hast found favour with God." The Vulgate's mistaken rendering - "full of grace" [gratia plena] - has been taken abundant advantage of by the Romish Church. As the mother of our Lord, she was indeed "the most blessed among women;" but His own reply to the woman who once said this to Himself (see the notes at Luke 11:27) is enough to teach us that this blessedness of His virgin-mother is not to be mixed up or confounded with her personal character-high as no doubt that was.

Blessed art thou among women! This clause is excluded from the text here by Tischendorf, and Tregelles brackets it as of doubtful authority, though admitted to be without question in Luke 1:42. Alford excludes it from his text, and Meyer pronounces against it. But the authority in favour of the clause here also is immensely preponderating. Lachmann inserts it. The expression, "Blessed among women," is Old, Testament language for "Most blessed of women."