Luke 1:43 (WEB)
Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Luke 1:43 (KJV)
And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Key words
- πόθεν μοι τοῦτοpothen moi touto · Greek
- 'whence is this to me' — echoing David's 'How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?' (2 Samuel 6:9).
- ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ κυρίου μουhē mētēr tou kyriou mou · Greek
- 'the mother of my Lord.' In the Davidic court 'my lord the king' is the royal address (1 Kings 1:31); 'mother of my Lord' is the queen mother's title. Kyrios is also the Septuagint's name for God.
Why it matters
Elizabeth asks why the mother of her Lord should come to her. Pitre finds two of the book's themes in one line. The sentence mirrors David's awestruck question before the ark, so Mary is the new ark; and 'mother of my Lord' is the title of the queen mother, so Mary is the gebirah of the Davidic Messiah. Because 'Lord' is the divine name, the Fathers also heard here the root of 'Mother of God.'