Luke 1:34 (DRB)

Passage

And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?

Nearby Context

Luke 1:32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.

Luke 1:33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Luke 1:34 And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?

Luke 1:35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Luke 1:36 And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "mary", "said", "angel", "shall", and "done". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "mary" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 33's "And of his kingdom there shall be..." into verse 35's "And the angel answering said to her...", so "mary" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "mary" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.