(4) A much stronger argument calls attention to _the similarity between Mary’s question and that of Zacharias (Lk. i. 18), and the difference with which they are treated by the angel_. “Mary’s speech expresses doubt of the truth of the angel’s message, and yet she is not so much as blamed, whilst Zacharias is actually punished for a like doubt (i. 20)”.(40) The presumption is that the two cases do not emanate from the same cycle of tradition. The force of this argument depends, of course, upon the way in which we interpret Lk. i. 34. It is true that we have no indication of the tone in which the question is asked, beyond the words themselves and the sentences which follow; but quite sufficient is given to indicate the presence of doubt. The point is not merely one of subjective valuation. This will appear if we consider Plummer’s view, which is quite different from Schmiedel’s. “She does not ask for _proof_, as Zacharias did (ver. 18); and only in the form of the words does she ask as to the mode of accomplishment. Her utterance is little more than an involuntary expression of amazement.... It is clear that she does not doubt the fact promised, nor for a moment suppose that her child is to be the child of Joseph” (op. cit., p. 24). In weighing this opinion, it should be noticed that it refers only to the words, Πῶς ἔσται τοῦτο? We may readily agree that if all that Mary had said were, “How shall this be?”, we should be unable to contest this view. But to divide Mary’s question in this way is not permissible. The second part, “seeing I know not a man”, clearly determines the first, and debars us from viewing it as merely “an involuntary expression of amazement”. The presence of doubt, we think, must be conceded, though it is less marked than in the case of Zacharias. This view, moreover, is supported by the fact that, in the narrative as it stands, an explanation follows, which is also confirmed by a sign. Since, as Plummer says, Mary, unlike Zacharias, does not ask for proof, we need not object that she is not “punished.” And it is just possible that we make the parallelism too rigid if we lay stress on the fact that “she is not so much as blamed”. It is rather the “eulogium” of Lk. i. 45 (“Blessed is she that believed”) which presents the difficulty. It is true that, in the narrative as we have it now, Mary believes ultimately (verse 38), but Lk. i. 45 seems rather to belong to a narrative in which Mary believes from the first. We conclude that the present argument gives real support to the view that Lk. i. 34 f. belongs to a source distinct from its context.