Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 1:29
And when she saw [him,] she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
29. And when she saw him, she was troubled ] Rather, But she was greatly troubled.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Troubled at his saying – Disturbed or perplexed at what he said. It was so unexpected, so sudden, so extraordinary, and was so high an honor, that she was filled with anxious thoughts, and did not know what to make of it.
Cast in her mind – Thought, or revolved in her mind.
What manner of salutation – What this salutation could mean.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 29. She was troubled at his saying] The glorious appearance of the heavenly messenger filled her with amazement; and she was puzzled to find out the purport of his speech.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It seemeth that she did not only hear a voice, and saw an ordinary appearance, but the appearance of the angel was attended with some manifestation of the glory of God, which affected her, and made her wonder what the meaning of this should be, that God should send an angel to her, and with such a kind of salutation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And when she saw him,…. The Persic version renders it, “when Mary saw the angel”; which expresses the true sense of the words, The Vulgate Latin reads, “when she heard”; i.e. the salutation:
she was troubled at his saying; at his speaking to her; she was surprised at the sight of him, and more at what he said to her;
and cast in her mind, or thought and reasoned within herself,
what manner of salutation this should be; for it was not usual with the Jews for a man to use any salutation to a woman; with them it was not lawful to be done in any shape or form; not by a messenger, nor even by her own husband u; so that Mary might well be thrown into a concern what should be the meaning of this; and especially, that she should be addressed in such language, and saluted as a peculiar favourite of God, and blessed among women.
u T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 70. 1, 2. Maimon. Hilch. Issure Biah, c. 21.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Cast in her mind (). Imperfect indicative. Note aorist . Common verb for reckoning up different reasons. She was both upset and puzzled.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying,” (he de epi to logo dietarachthe) “Then she was greatly disturbed at the saying, word, or statement,” of the angel Gabriel, Luk 1:26-27.
2) “And cast in her mind,” (kai dielogizeto) “And considered or pondered in her mind,” with much uncertainty, in the presence of God’s messenger Gabriel.
3) “What manner of salutation this should be.” (potapos eie ho aspasmos houtos) “Of what sort of greeting this might be,” or just what was the meaning of it all.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
29. When she had seen him, she was agitated Luke does not say that she was agitated by the presence of the angel, but by his address. Why then does he also mention his presence? (24) The reason, I think, is this. Perceiving in the angel something of heavenly glory, she was seized with sudden dread arising out of reverence for God. She was agitated, because she felt that she had received a salutation, not from a mortal man, but from an angel of God. But Luke does not say that she was so agitated as to have lost recollection. On the contrary, he mentions an indication of an attentive and composed mind; for he afterwards adds, and was considering what that salutation would be: that is, what was its object, and what was its meaning. It instantly occurred to her that the angel had not been sent for a trifling purpose. This example reminds us, first, that we ought not to be careless observers of the works of God; and, secondly, that our consideration of them ought to be regulated by fear and reverence.
(24) “ Cur ergo aspectus etiam meminit ?” Calvin’s allusion is brought out more clearly in his own vernacular. “ Pourquoy donc dit-il, Quand elle l’eut veu ?” — “Why then does he say, When she had seen him?”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(29) she was troubled at his saying.The same word is used as had been used of Zacharias. With Mary, as with him, the first feeling was one of natural terror. Who was the strange visitor, and what did the strange greeting mean?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
29. Saw him The phrase, when she saw him, being absent from many manuscripts, is of doubtful authenticity, but the angel’s visibility seems to be implied.
Troubled at his saying There is a meek composure in the words of Mary, quite in contrast with the hasty language of Zacharias. She utters no bold word demanding test or proof; and she closes with complete submission to her trial and to her destiny of honour.
Cast in her mind Conjectured, debated in her mind.
What manner What the nature.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be.’
The words of Gabriel ‘greatly troubled’ her. The word is stronger than that used in Luk 1:12. His words clearly signified that something great and wonderful would be expected of her, and possibly her mind flashed back to others who had had angelic visitations, Sara the prospective mother of Isaac who had had to be rebuked because she had not believed (Gen 18:10-15), and the wife of Manoah (Jdg 13:3-5; Jdg 13:9), with all, of both joy and sorrow, that had resulted from her experience. Every woman in Israel knew of these great women of the past and what they had undergone. And she did not feel that she was worthy or able to face up to the demands that might be made on her. After all she was merely a village girl in her mid-teens. Desperately worried she sought in her mind for what the angel might be expecting of her. After all there was little that she could do, except be a good mother.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 1:29. She was troubled, &c. She was disturbed at his discourse, and reasoned with herself, or revolved in her mind, what this salutation should mean. Heylin, and Doddridge.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
29 And when she saw him , she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
Ver. 29. She was troubled at his saying ] Affect not the vain praises of men, saith one. The blessed Virgin was troubled when truly praised by an angel. They shall be praised by angels in heaven who have eschewed the praises of men on earth.
What manner of salutation ] Cuius esset (saith one interpreter) voluit enim probate spiritum. Qualis et quanta, saith another; Id est, quam honorifica et magnifica, ac proinde supra sortem suam posita. What an honourable salutation it was, and more than she could acknowledge.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Luk 1:29 . : assuming that (T.R.) is no part of the true text, Godet thinks that Mary saw nothing, and that it was only the word of the angel that disturbed her. It is certainly the latter that is specified as the cause of trouble. The salutation troubled her because she felt that it meant something important, the precise nature of which ( ) did not appear. And yet on the principle that in supernatural experiences the subjective and the objective correspond, she must have had a guess.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
when she saw him. Omitted by all
the texts. cast in her mind = beganto reason, or was reasoning. Imperfect Tense.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Luk 1:29. , she was troubled) Her being troubled arose from the apparition itself ( , when she saw him). Therefore she does not seem to have been previously accustomed to apparitions. [All things, in the case of the blessed Virgin, both what was foretold to herself, and what ensued subsequently, befel her without her expecting them. But if her conception, as the tradition of several members of the Roman Church represents, had been immaculate, she could have hardly accounted herself, however superlatively modest, in such an ordinary position (so entirely undistinguished from ordinary men and women).-V. g.]- , of what kind may be) The formul themselves, which had been addressed to her, hail, and, the Lord with thee, were ordinary salutations; but from the peculiar and extraordinary titles which the angel added, Mary understood that the formul, especially as being conjoined with these titles, were employed with an extraordinary [distinguishing] and new force. In fact, in all the recorded apparitions of angels, there is no other instance occurs of such a salutation. Mary not only wondered, but also cast in her mind, of what kind might be, what was the meaning, and what the drift of this salutation.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
she was: Luk 1:12, Mar 6:49, Mar 6:50, Mar 16:5, Mar 16:6, Act 10:4
and cast: Luk 1:66, Luk 2:19, Luk 2:51
what: Jdg 6:13-15, 1Sa 9:20, 1Sa 9:21, Act 10:4, Act 10:17
Reciprocal: 2Sa 9:7 – Fear not Job 4:14 – Fear Mar 5:33 – the woman Luk 24:5 – they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9
Troubled means “agitated,” and it was caused by the unexpectedness of the situation, and she was wondering what it all meant.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And when she saw him; she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
[Was troubled, etc.] I. It was very rare and unusual for men to salute any women; at least if that be true in Kiddushin. Rabh Judah, the president of the academy of Pombeditha, went to Rabh Nachman, rector of the academy of Neharde, and after some talk amongst themselves, “Saith Rabh Nachman, Let my daughter Doneg bring some drink, that we may drink together. Saith the other, Samuel saith, We must not use the ministry of a woman. But this is a little girl, saith Nachman. The other answers, But Samuel saith, We ought not to use the ministry of any woman at all. Wilt thou please, saith Nachman, to salute Lelith my wife? But, saith he, Samuel saith, The voice of a woman is filthy nakedness. But, saith Nachman, thou mayest salute her by a messenger. To whom the other; Samuel saith, They do not salute any woman. Thou mayest salute her, saith Nachman, by a proxy her husband. But Samuel saith, saith he again, They do not salute a woman at all.”
II. It was still much more rare and unusual to give such a kind of salutation as this, Hail, thou that art highly favoured; by which title Gabriel had saluted Daniel of old: with this exception, that it was terror enough so much as to see an angel.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 1:29. Greatly troubled; not at the sight of the angel, but at the saying. This is further indicated by the clause: What manner of salutation this might be. Had she been born without sin, she would have been sufficiently conscious of her fellowship with a holy God, to understand such a salutation at once.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Luk 1:29-30. When she saw him she was troubled , disturbed or perplexed; at his saying A salutation so unusual from a being of a superior order (for such his form, which was more than human, bespoke him to be) put Mary into a great perturbation of spirit; and no wonder; for if Zacharias, a venerable and aged minister of God, and one accustomed to have intercourse with heaven, was amazed at the appearance of an angel, how much more might a young virgin be so, her sex peculiarly subjecting her to the passion of fear. And she cast in her mind , she reasoned with herself; what manner of salutation this should be What should be its intention, and from what original it could come. It is not improbable but she suspected that it might possibly proceed from the artifice of some evil spirit, to inspire her with sentiments of vanity and pride. And the angel Speaking with a gentle and smooth accent, in order to remove her doubts, and inspire her with confidence and courage; said, Fear not, Mary Thus preparing her for the reception of his message; for all passions, but particularly that of fear, disquiets the heart, and makes it unfit to receive messages from God. For thou hast found favour with God And I have no other design but to assure thee of it. Observe, reader, those that have found favour with God ought not to give way to disquieting, distrustful fears. Does God favour thee? then fear not, though the world frown upon thee. Is he for thee? then it signifies little who is against thee.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1:29 And when she saw [him], she was {b} troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
(b) Moved at the strangeness of the matter.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The angel’s unexpected appearance in the temple sanctuary had unnerved Zechariah (Luk 1:12), but it was his greeting that troubled Mary. Perhaps he appeared at her door and she mistook him for an ordinary visitor. Gabriel calmed the fears he had aroused with an announcement of a special divine blessing (cf. Luk 1:13) by assuring Mary that God was happy with her (cf. Gen 6:8; 1Jn 4:17-18). Gabriel had come to announce a blessing, not punishment.
"It is necessary here to recall our general impression of Rabbinism: its conception of God, and of the highest good and ultimate object of all things, as concentrated in learned study, pursued in Academies; and then to think of the unmitigated contempt with which they were wont to speak of Galilee, and of the Galileans, whose very patois [dialect] was an offence; of the utter abhorrence with which they regarded the unlettered country-people, in order to realize, how such an household as that of Joseph and Mary would be regarded by the leaders of Israel." [Note: Edersheim, 1:144-45.]