Luke 1:27

To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. TO A VIRGIN ESPOUSED [RATHER 'BETROTHED' memneesteumeneen (G3423 )] TO A MAN WHOSE NAME WAS JOSEPH, OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID. See the note at Matthew 1:16. AND THE VIRGIN'S NAME WAS MARY, [ Maryaam (H4813)] - equivalent to "Miriam" in the Old Testament....

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 o...

Verse 27. _TO A VIRGIN ESPOUSED_, c.] See Clarke on Matthew 1:18 Matthew 1:23. The reflections of pious father _Quesnel_ on this subject are worthy of serious regard. At length the moment is come which is to give a _son_ to a _virgin_, a _saviour_ to the _world_, a _pattern_ to _mankind_, a _sacrifice_ to _sinners_, a _temple_ to the _Divinity_, and a _new_ principle to the _new_ world. This angel is sent from God, not to the palaces of the _great_, but to a _poor maid_, the wife of a _carpenter_. The Son of God comes to humble the proud, and to honour _poverty, weakness_, and _contempt_. He chooses an _obscure_ place for the mystery which is most glorious to his humanity, its union with the Divinity, and for...

TO A VIRGIN ESPOUSED ... - See the notes at Matthew 1:18. Compare the notes at Isaiah 7:14. HOUSE OF DAVID - Family of David, or descendants of David....

EXPOSITION THE origin of the Gospels—the four histories which relate in detail the circumstances of the foundation of Christianity—will ever be an interesting study. Here we shall never know the exact truth of the compilation of these writings, the foundation-stones of all our hopes and fears; a reverent, scholarly speculation is all that can be offered to the student of the Divine memoirs. The speculation, however, probably in this case comes very near the truth. After the Ascension and the events of the first Pentecost, which quickly followed their Master's return to heaven, the twelve and a few others who had walked in the company which followed Jesus during the years of his public ministry no doubt often met together and talked over the teaching and the acts of their risen and now glorified Master. As time passed on, a certain number of these acts, a certain number of the public and...

TO A VIRGIN,.... A pure virgin, that never knew man; Luke 1:34 and yet ESPOUSED TO A MAN WHOSE NAME WAS JOSEPH; but they were not come together, nor had he taken her for his wife, and home to his house, nor had they cohabited: OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID; which, according to the grammatical construction of the words, may be connected either with the virgin, or with Joseph, to whom she was espoused; and is true of both; for they both were of the house and lineage of David: and this shows what a low condition David's family was in, that the persons that were the nearest allied to it were a carpenter, and a poor virgin; and both residing in so despicable a place as Nazareth in Galilee: AND THE VIRGIN'S NAME WAS MARY; a name frequent among the Jews, and the same with Miriam; of which name was the sister of Moses and Aaron....

Luke 1:5. _There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless._ There have been some good people who have lived in very bad times; never was there a worse reign than that of Herod; seldom or never a better man and woman than Zacharias and Elisabeth. Let no man excuse himself for sinning because of the times in which he lives. You may be rich in grace when others around you have none, even as Gideon's fleece was wet with dew when the whole floor was dry. God help us, in these evil days, to be «righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless»!...

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE Analysis and Annotations I. The Birth and Childhood -- Chapter 1-2:52 CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The Introduction. (Luke 1:1)_ 2. Zacharias and Elizabeth; the Vision. (Luke 1:5) 3. John the Baptist, his birth and ministry announced. (Luke 1:13) 4. Zacharias' Unbelief and Punishment. (Luke 1:18) 5. The Angel's Announcement to the Virgin Mary. (Luke 1:27) 6. Mary's Question and the Answer. (Luke 1:34) 7. Mary Visits Elizabeth ...

PREDICTION OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS. Lk. alone gives this narrative. Three or four months before _the birth of Elisabeth's_ child, Gabriel comes to Nazareth and announces to Mary, a virgin betrothed to one Joseph, a descendant of David, that she stands high in Yahweh's favour. After dispelling her fear he announces that she shall bear a son Jesus (= Joshua, saviour) who shall be called Son of the Most High (_i.e._ God), and fulfil the popular Messianic expectation. Mary displays some astonishment at the thought of bearing any child, and Gabriel gives further details. The Holy Spirit, the power of God, is to beget the child, and (_mg.)_ the holy thing which is to be born shall be called the Son of God; the term is here used in the ordinary sense, not Messianic as in Luke 1:32. The angel tells Mary about Elisabeth her kinswoman, and says that nothing is impossible with God. Mary accepts h

AN HISTORIAN'S INTRODUCTION (Luke 1:1-4)...