The Meaning of Luke 1:32 Explained

Luke 1:32

KJV: He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

YLT: he shall be great, and Son of the Highest he shall be called, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father,

Darby: He shall be great, and shall be called Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father;

ASV: 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 his father David:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He  shall be  great,  and  shall be called  the Son  of the Highest:  and  the Lord  God  shall give  unto him  the throne  of his  father  David: 

What does Luke 1:32 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 1:26-38 - The Promised Messiah
The narrative is artlessly simple and natural and is its own complete vindication. No human genius could have invented it. Compare it, for instance, with all the ornate and fantastic pictures of the Annunciation by the great masters! That little children and wise men alike appreciate this story bespeaks its humanness and its divineness.
It is to the humble and childlike maiden that the supreme honor of womanhood is given. The choice was one of pure grace. The Creator-Spirit Himself wrought this divine miracle. The appearance of our Savior among mankind was the direct and immediate act of Deity, so far as His body was concerned, but as to His spirit, it was the voluntary emptying on His own part, of which Paul speaks, Philippians 2:7. "The word became flesh." It was not a transient assumption of the appearance of humanity, but a real fusion of the divine and the human in that holy thing which was to be born. Here was the beginning of a new humanity, to be reproduced in all that believe, till the earth is filled with the "sons of God," Romans 8:14. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 1

1  The preface of Luke to his whole gospel
5  The conception of John the Baptist;
26  and of Jesus
39  The prophecy of Elisabeth and of Mary, concerning Jesus
57  The nativity and circumcision of John
67  The prophecy of Zachariah, both of Jesus,
76  and of John

Greek Commentary for Luke 1:32

The Son of the Most High [υιος υπσιστου]
There is no article in the Greek, but the use of Most High in Luke 1:35 clearly of God as here. In Luke 6:35 we find “sons of the Most High” (υιοι υπσιστου — huioi Hupsistou) so that we cannot insist on deity here, though that is possible. The language of 2 Samuel 7:14; Isaiah 9:7 is combined here. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 1:32

Luke 6:35 Sons of the Most High [υοι υπσιστου]
In Luke 1:32 Jesus is called “Son of the Highest” and here all real children or sons of God (Luke 20:36) are so termed. See also Luke 1:35, Luke 1:76 for the use of “the Highest” of God. He means the same thing that we see in Matthew 5:45, Matthew 5:48 by “your Father.”Toward the unthankful and evil (επι τους αχαριστους και πονηρους — epi tous acharistous kai ponērous). God the Father is kind towards the unkind and wicked. Note the one article with both adjectives. [source]
Luke 8:28 The Most High God [του τεου του υπσιστου]
Uncertain whether του τεου — tou theou genuine or not. But “the Most High” clearly means God as already seen (Luke 1:32, Luke 1:35, Luke 1:36; Luke 6:35). The phrase is common among heathen (Numbers 24:16; Micah 6:6; Isaiah 14:14). The demoniac may have been a Gentile, but it is the demon here speaking. See note on Mark 5:7; note on Matthew 8:29 for the Greek idiom “What have I to do with thee?” See there also for “Torment me not.” [source]
Acts 15:15 To this agree [τουτωι συμπωνουσιν]
Associative instrumental case (τουτωι — toutōi) after συμπωνουσιν — sumphōnousin (voice together with, symphony with, harmonize with), from συμπωνεω — sumphōneō old verb seen already in Matthew 18:19; Luke 5:36; Acts 5:9 which see. James cites only Amos 9:11, Amos 9:12 from the lxx as an example of “the words of the prophets” (οι λογοι των προπητων — hoi logoi tōn prophētōn) to which he refers on this point. The somewhat free quotation runs here through Acts 15:16-18 of Acts 15 and is exceedingly pertinent. The Jewish rabbis often failed to understand the prophets as Jesus showed. The passage in Amos refers primarily to the restoration of the Davidic empire, but also the Messiah‘s Kingdom (the throne of David his father,” Luke 1:32). [source]
Revelation 2:13 Seat [θρόνος]
Rev., rightly, throne, which is a transcript of the Greek word. Better than seat, because it is intended to represent Satan as exercising dominion there. The word is used in the New Testament of a kingly throne (Luke 1:32, Luke 1:52; Acts 2:30): of the judicial tribunal or bench (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30): of the seats of the elders (Revelation 4:4; Revelation 11:16). Also, by metonymy, of one who exercises authority, so, in the plural, of angels (Colossians 1:16), thrones belonging to the highest grade of angelic beings whose place is in the immediate presence of God. [source]
Revelation 2:13 Where [πουοπου]
οπου — Pou is interrogative adverb used here in an indirect question as in John 1:39. που — Hopou is relative adverb referring to ο τρονος του Σατανα — pou Satan‘s throne Satan not simply resided in Pergamum, but his “throne” or seat of power of king or judge (Matthew 19:28; Luke 1:32, Luke 1:52). The symbol of Asklepios was the serpent as it is of Satan (Revelation 12:9; Revelation 20:2). There was, besides, a great throne altar to Zeus cut on the Acropolis rock, symbol of “rampant paganism” (Swete) and the new Caesar-worship with the recent martyrdom of Antipas made Pergamum indeed a very throne of Satan. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 1:32 mean?

He will be great and Son of [the] Most High He will be called will give Him [the] Lord - God the throne of David of the father of Him
οὗτος ἔσται μέγας καὶ Υἱὸς Ὑψίστου κληθήσεται δώσει αὐτῷ Κύριος Θεὸς τὸν θρόνον Δαυὶδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ

ἔσται  will  be 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
μέγας  great 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: μέγας  
Sense: great.
Υἱὸς  Son 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: υἱός  
Sense: a son.
Ὑψίστου  of  [the]  Most  High 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Masculine Singular, Superlative
Root: ὕψιστος  
Sense: highest, most high.
κληθήσεται  He  will  be  called 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: καλέω  
Sense: to call.
δώσει  will  give 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: διδῶ 
Sense: to give.
Κύριος  [the]  Lord 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: κύριος  
Sense: he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεὸς  God 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
θρόνον  throne 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: θρόνος  
Sense: a throne seat.
Δαυὶδ  of  David 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: Δαβίδ 
Sense: second king of Israel, and ancestor of Jesus Christ.
τοῦ  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
πατρὸς  father 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
αὐτοῦ  of  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.