Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
Young Mary also contrasts with old Zechariah and Elizabeth. Her name, the equivalent of Miriam in the Old Testament, apparently meant "exalted one." [Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 65.] The Greek word parthenos ("virgin") refers to a young, unmarried girl and implies virginity. [Note: J. Massingbyrde Ford, "The Meaning of ’Virgin,’" New Testament Studies 12:3 (1966):293-99.] It clearly means virgin here (cf. Luke 1:34). [Note: See J. Greshem Machen, The Virgin Birth of Christ; James Orr, The Virgin Birth of Christ; Thomas Boslooper, The Virgin Birth; R. E. Brown, The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurection of Jesus; and Robert Gromacki, The Virgin Birth: Doctrine of Deity.] Betrothal often took place shortly after puberty. [Note: Liefeld, p. 830.] Consequently Mary may have been a young teenager at this time. During betrothal a man and a woman were considered husband and wife even though they lived apart and did not have sexual relations. [Note: Jeremias, pp. 364-67.] Only divorce or death could terminate the betrothal, and from then on society considered them widow and or widower.