Luke 1:35 (WEB)
The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Luke 1:35 (KJV)
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Key words
- ἐπισκιάσειepiskiasei · Greek
- 'shall overshadow' — from episkiazō, the verb the Septuagint uses for the glory-cloud that 'overshadowed' the tabernacle (Exodus 40:35) and that Luke uses again for the cloud at the Transfiguration (9:34).
- ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σέepeleusetai epi se · Greek
- 'shall come upon thee' — the descent of the Spirit.
- τὸ γεννώμενον ἅγιονto gennōmenon hagion · Greek
- 'that holy thing which shall be born' — literally 'the holy [one] being begotten'; hagion is also the word for the sanctuary.
Why it matters
The power of the Most High will 'overshadow' Mary. Pitre's central New Ark argument turns on this one verb: it is the word for the cloud of glory settling on the tabernacle. Luke is saying that what happened to the sanctuary in the wilderness now happens to Mary — she becomes the dwelling place of God, the new tabernacle and ark.