Luke 1:25 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

To take away my reproach among men. — The words express in almost their strongest form the Jewish feeling as to maternity. To have no children was more than a misfortune. It seemed to imply some secret sin which God was punishing with barrenness. So we have Rachel’s cry, “Give me children, or else I die” (Genesis 30:1); and Hannah’s “bitterness of soul” when “her adversary provoked her to make her fret” (1 Samuel 1:6-10).