What Does Luke 1:27 Mean?
To a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.THE KEY
Joseph’s name carries the sense “he adds,” so the verse’s precise naming quietly holds an echo of increase beside Mary and David’s house.
THE MEANING
Here you see Mary named directly within a bond and a lineage that reach beyond her immediate moment. The sentence identifies her as a virgin twice, names Joseph, and places him in David’s house. Personal identity, relationship, and inheritance sit together.
THE ROOT
παρθένον
parthenon
GROWS FROM
παρθεν-
The Greek stem παρθεν- (parthen-) names a virgin or maiden; in this verse it appears twice in inflected forms.
Greek παρθένος can hold both “virgin” and “maiden” in one word. Its repetition around the phrase about betrothal keeps that designation in view as the sentence turns to Mary’s own name.
ALSO GROWS
parthenos: Virgin; maiden.
παρθένος
This is the dictionary form behind both occurrences in the verse, joining the two designations through one Greek stem.
parthenia: Virginity.
παρθενία
This noun preserves the same stem and makes explicit the condition named by παρθένος.
ὄνομα
onoma
GROWS FROM
ὀνομ-
The Greek stem ὀνομ- (onom-) means name or designation.
Luke uses ὄνομα for both Joseph and Mary, giving the sentence two distinct personal names. Read as nature carried in a name, Joseph’s Hebrew name holds the sense “he adds,” while Mary is made visible by name in the same line.
ALSO GROWS
onomazō: To name; to call.
ὀνομάζω
This naming verb grows from the same ὀνομ- stem and shows the action carried by a name.
onomasia: Naming; designation.
ὀνομασία
This noun shares the stem and brings out the act of giving or using a name.
יוסף
Yosef
GROWS FROM
יסף
The Hebrew root יסף (y-s-f) means to add, increase, or continue; יוסף (Yosef) is traditionally read “he adds.”
Joseph’s Hebrew name is built from יסף, “to add,” so the name itself carries increase. Here that echo sits beside Mary and David’s house at the threshold of the next announcement.
ALSO GROWS
yāsaf: He added; he continued.
יָסַף
This verb uses the same root consonants as Yosef and gives the name its sense of addition.
yôsif: He will add; he will increase.
יוֹסִיף
This form keeps the root’s sense of increase in view as an unfolding action.
THE PATTERN
A name in scripture carries a nature that locates a person inside a story still unfolding.
No longer shall your name be called Abram, but Abraham, father of multitudes, for I have set you as a father of many nations.And the nations shall see your alignment, and all kings your weight; and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and you will call his name Jesus.THE THREAD
And she called his name Joseph, may he add, and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.Joseph’s Hebrew name is יוסף (Yosef), from יסף, “to add.” Genesis makes that root audible in the naming itself: Joseph’s name is spoken alongside the hope of addition.
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