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.
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee (see the note at Matthew 1:18 ), and the power of the Highest (the immediate energy of the Godhead, conveyed by the Holy Spirit), shall overshadow thee. What exquisite delicacy is there in the use of this word, suggesting how gentle, while yet efficacious, would be this power, and its mysterious secrecy too, as if withdrawn by a cloud from human scrutiny-as Calvin hints.
Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born [of thee], х to (G3588) gennoomenon (G1080) hagion (G40)] - an expression denoting the singularity and consequent sanctity of this birth. The words "of thee" х ek (G1537) sou (G4675)] are wanting in the best manuscripts, and even in the received text as printed by Stephens and the Elzevirs.
Shall be called the Son of God. That Christ is the Son of God in His divine and eternal nature is clear from all the New Testament; yet here we see that Sonship efflorescing into human and palpable manifestation by His being born, through "the power of the Highest," an Infant of days. We must neither think of a double Sonship-a divine and a human-as some do, harshly and groundlessly, nor yet deny what is here plainly expressed, the connection between His human birth and His proper personal Sonship.