Bible Strands
Luke 1:34
“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Mary addresses the angel following his announcement that the child will reign eternally. Her question arises immediately before the angel explains the mechanism of the conception.
The words — πῶς (pōs) means "How" and ἔσται (estai) means "will be," forming the literal Greek query "How will this be?"
The thread — The pattern of a divine messenger delivering a directive and a recipient responding with a procedural question appears in Judges 13:8 and Acts 9:6.
Why it lands — The text records a direct inquiry into the feasibility of a supernatural claim before any explanation is given. It requires the reader to examine how a promise is received when human capacity cannot account for its fulfillment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
Cross-references
- Judges 13:8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to be born.”
- Acts 9:6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”