What Does Luke 1:35 Mean?
And the messenger answered and said to her, The Set-Apart Breath will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore also that set-apart thing born of you will be called the Son of God.
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
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.THE KEY
The verse names the Spirit as breath and pictures the Highest’s power as a covering, so divine action enters this story through embodied birth.
THE MEANING
Here, divine action comes upon Mary as the Set-Apart Breath, while the Highest’s power covers her. The child born of her is called the Son of God. The verse holds holy origin within embodied birth and leaves the mystery intact.
THE ROOT
πνεῦμα
pneuma
GROWS FROM
πνέω
pneō
to breathe or blow
πνεῦμα belongs to the same word family as πνέω, “to breathe or blow,” and πνοή, “breath.” The Set-Apart Breath comes upon Mary, keeping the language of divine presence joined to breath and embodied life.
ALSO GROWS
pneō: to breathe, blow
πνέω
This verb reveals the breath carried within the word translated “Ghost.”
pnoē: breath, a blowing
πνοή
This related noun makes the breath meaning of the word family explicit.
pneuma: breath, wind, spirit
πνεῦμα
This is the word used in the verse; its range keeps breath and divine presence together.
ἐπισκιάσει
episkia-sei
GROWS FROM
σκιά
skia
shadow or shade
The verb translated “overshadow” contains σκιά, “shadow,” within its form: the Highest’s power is pictured as a covering resting over Mary. The same verb appears when a bright cloud covers the disciples at Jesus’ transfiguration, joining the hidden origin of the Son with his later disclosure.
ALSO GROWS
skia: shadow, shade
σκιά
The noun inside the verb makes the covering image visible in the verse.
episkiazō: to overshadow, cover with a shadow
ἐπισκιάζω
This is the verb’s dictionary form and the same word used for the cloud covering the disciples in Matthew 17:5.
kataskiazō: to overshadow, cast a shadow over
κατασκιάζω
This related compound describes the cherubim shadowing the mercy seat in Hebrews 9:5, another image of sacred covering.
THE PATTERN
Scripture portrays divine presence as a covering that marks a person or dwelling as a site of divine action.
And Moses could not come into the tent of meeting, for the cloud settled upon it, and the weight of the LORD filled the dwelling.While he was still speaking, look, a shining cloud cast its shade over them, and look, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I delight; hear him.And so they carried the sick out into the wide streets and placed them on couches and mats, so that even the shadow of Peter, as he came, might cast its shade upon some of them.THE THREAD
While he was still speaking, look, a shining cloud cast its shade over them, and look, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I delight; hear him.Matthew uses the same Greek verb for “overshadow” as Luke does here. Luke places the covering over Mary as the Son is born; Matthew places it over the disciples as the Son is revealed, linking hidden origin with recognition.
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