Luke

1:39-56

The mission of the Messiah, 1:5-9:50

1. Prophecies about the coming messiah, 1:5-2:40

iii] The prophecy of Mary

Synopsis

Luke now records Mary's visit with Elizabeth, v39-45, and Mary's psalm of thanksgiving, the Magnificat, v46-56. Mary, who is now pregnant, visits the home of Zechariah and stays with the family for some three months. Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth, is also pregnant, and not only is she filled with joy on meeting Mary, her child leaps in the womb. In Mary's song, she gives thanks to God for turning her humiliation into exaltation by realising in her his promise to Abraham - the coming of God's long-awaited messianic king.

 
Teaching

In fulfilment to his promise to Abraham, God has "manifested his supreme strength" in the provision to his servant Israel of a messianic deliverer, a saviour, and this at the hand of a peasant maid.

 
Issues

i] Context: See 1:5-25. The Prophecy of Mary is the third of six episodes covering the dawn of the messianic age, 1:5-2:40.

 

ii] Structure: The prophecy of Mary:

Setting, v39-40:

Mary's meeting with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's prophecy, v41-42;

"Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"

Mary's response, v43-44;

Elizabeth's blessing, v45:

"Blessed is she who believed that

the Lord would fulfil his promise to her!"

Mary's song / prophecy, v46-56.

 

iii] Interpretation:

In this third prophecy, Luke has Mary speaking of Israel's deliverance. God "has manifested his supreme strength" to redeem "his servant" Israel, and this in the terms of the promise made to Abraham: "I will give to you and to your descendants..... the land...... for an everlasting possession." Mary rejoices because she is to share in this deliverance, yet even more so, because God has chosen her as the mother of the Deliverer.

Mary is an object of God's grace, which fact Elizabeth makes clear. She is blessed, not because of her own person, but because she believed God; she rested in faith on God's word to her.

 

The Song of Mary: In the opening verses, v46-49, Mary expresses her gratitude for the outpouring of God's special favour upon her.

Then, in v50, she affirms that God's kindness extends to all who reverence him. The word "fear" means respect rather than scared. Fear of God is "the Old Testament description of piety", Plummer.

In v51-53, Mary declares that the coming of the kingdom serves to reverse the perceived standing of mankind before God. Those favoured with power, wealth, status, the seemingly righteous before God, .... they will be brought low ("put down"). The "humble", lost, broken, "poor", the outcasts from God's mercy, .... they are lifted up ("exalted"). This great reversal, a reversal which achieves the redemption of the lost, is best taken as a present reality. In typical prophetic style, God's future intentions are proclaimed as already accomplished; God's Word is as good as done. We must take care that we don't read this passage as if it were a social-justice manifesto. The language used of Israel's deliverance from oppression is typical of the Old Testament. The New Testament writers happily use Old Testament imagery, but see deliverance in terms of an eternal redemption, a redemption inaugurated now, but realised at the second coming of Christ.

Finally, in v54-55, Mary ends by linking the deliverance of Israel to the promise made to Abraham by God. The New Testament writers see this promise fulfilled in Jesus, the "servant Israel." Those who are "in Christ" become the "servant Israel", children of Abraham through faith, rather than natural descent.

 

iv] Source: The Song of Mary.

The ongoing debate on source may be of interest, but adds little of substance. Bock lists the main sources suggested by scholars:

iThe hymn is a free composition by Luke;

iThe hymn is an adaptation of a Jewish hymn of praise;

iThe hymn is an adaptation from a source that concentrated on the Baptist;

iThe hymn comes from a Jewish-Christian source;

iThe hymn goes back to Mary, either uttered in this situation or composed later to reflect a poetic description of what she thought and said in this situation; See Machin, The Virgin Birth, 1930, rep. 1965.

 

iv] Exposition: A simple exposition of this passage may be found in the linked pew-level Sermon Notes.

 
Text - 1:39

Mary's visit with Elizabeth, v39-45. i] The Lord has revealed to Mary the wondrous blessing visited upon her relative and so, in response, she rushes off to witness God's word realised in Elizabeth, as well as to tell Elizabeth of her own joy (wonder, shock, horror, ....!). Mary and Elizabeth demonstrate a close friendship. They may well have been neighbours. As was typical of the time, priests tend to live outside of Jerusalem, so Mary heads off to a Judean town in the hill country. Her "greeting" to Elizabeth is a traditional formal address containing a statement about the person, eg. "Hail, King of the Jews!"

Luke recounts the story with an eye to the Old Testament. The three months may allude to Numbers 10:35, while the story of Hannah most likely runs in the background, cf., 2Sam.6. Of course, the baby leaping in the womb may allude to Rebekah's experience, Gen.25:22 - the same Gk. word is used in the LXX.

en + dat. "at [that time]" - [and] in [those days]. Temporal. For Luke, possibly a connective, or just expressing a short interval, "not long after this", Weymouth.

anastasa (anisthmi) aor. part. "got ready" - having arisen. Attendant circumstance participle identifying action accompanying the main verb "went"; "got up ...... and went ....". There are numerous possibilities, since the word is often used to express the commencement of an action, eg., "set out", NJB, although literally, "got up", Williams. Virtually redundant, so "a short time later, Mary hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea", CEV.

meta + gen. "and hurried" - [mary] with [haste]. Adverbial use of the preposition, modal, expressing manner; "went as quickly as she could", NJB; "with eagerness", Nolland.

eiV "to" - [travelled] into. Spatial, indicating the direction of the action and arrival at. Used three times in v39-40, with the spatial sense increasingly specific.

Iouda (aV ou) gen. "of judea" - [the hill country, into a town] of judea. The genitive is adjectival, partitive, or idiomatic / locative; "a town located in Judea." The destination is unknown. A variant indicates an actual town, but the text is corrupted.

 
v40

Zacariou (aV ou) gen. "Zechariah's [home]" - [and she entered into the house] of zechariah [and greeted elizabeth]. The genitive is adjectival, possessive.

 
v41

ii] Elizabeth's prophecy, v41-42: The greeting caused a movement of Elizabeth's foetus and so served as a confirmation that the Holy Spirit was involved, not only in Mary's pregnancy, but her own. The phrase, "filled with the Holy Spirit", is common to Luke. It is used in the Old Testament sense of someone empowered by God to perform a special task, often a prophetic one. The Spirit comes upon the prophet and he speaks. Such a "filling" is for the task at hand and is not necessarily ongoing. It is true to say that all mothers are "blessed", but Mary has received a unique blessing. Mary is "fortunate" in that God has "favoured" her as the mother of the messiah.

kai egeneto "-" - and it came to pass. Transitional; see 1:8.

wJV "when" - when. Temporal conjunction introducing a temporal clause.

hkousen (akouw) aor. + acc. "heard" - [elizabeth] heard [the greeting]. "Heard" with the accusative refers to the thing spoken, as here; with the genitive, "heard" would refer to the speaker.

thV MariaV (a) gen. "Mary's" - of mary. The genitive is adjectival, possessive, the possession of a derivative characteristic, "Mary's greeting", or verbal, subjective, "the greeting given by Mary."

eskirthsen (skirtaw) aor. "leaped" - [the baby] leaped, jumped, sprung. There is nothing unusual in fetal movement, but Elizabeth takes it as a sign, given that her unborn child has sensed the presence of Mary, God's "blessed" one. "The baby stirred in her womb", Barclay.

en dat. "in" - in [the womb of her]. Local, expressing space.

eplhsqh (pimplhmi) aor. pas. "was filled" - [and elizabeth] was filled. The aorist indicating immediate action. As is typical of Luke / Acts, the act of a person being filled with the Spirit is a associated with proclamation. This very much reflects a momentary divine empowering for prophetic utterance, a "filling" common to the Old Testament. A regenerative filling of the Spirit is not intended.

pneumatoV aJgiou gen. "with the Holy Spirit" - of the holy spirit. The genitive is adjectival, idiomatic / content, "filled full of the Holy Spirit."

 
v42

kraugh/ megalh/ dat. "in a loud voice" - [and she cried out, called out aloud] in a cry loud. Instrumental dative, "with a loud cry". Possibly Elizabeth's words are in the form of a hymn, but more likely an enthusiastic declaration. "Burst into speech", Barclay.

euloghmenh (eulogew) perf. pas. part. "blessed" - [and said] having been blessed [are you]. The predicate nominative participle (Wallace 618) may express a wish, but more likely a statement of fact. The perfect tense expressing a past action with ongoing consequences. Possibly in a state of divine grace, but more likely having been divinely favoured, in this case, given the honour to bear the messiah. A similar sense for "the child" as well; divinely favoured = set apart as the messiah - the divine Son.

en + dat. "among" - in [women]. Expressing association; "in the company with, with." A Hebraic superlative may be intended, although a comparative is possible. "You are the most favoured of women", Goodspeed.

thV koiliaV (a) gen. "[the child you] will bear" - [and having been blessed is the fruit] of the womb [of you]. The genitive is ablative, source / origin.

 
v43

iii] Mary's response, v43-44: She asks why she is blessed.

toqen "why" - [and] from where, where / why. Interrogative adverb of cause / reason, "because why?" Possibly introducing a question, as NIV, or expressing surprise, "what an honour it is to have the mother of my Lord come to see me", Phillips.

moi dat. pro. "am I [so favoured]" - [this] to me. Dative of interest, advantage.

iJna + subj. "that" - that. Here epexegetic (less likely, purpose or consequence) specifying touto, "this", "why this favour to me, namely that to me the mother of my Lord should come?"

tou kuriou (oV) gen. "[my] Lord" - [should come the mother] of the lord, master [of me]. The genitive is adjectival, relational, while mou,"of me", is adjectival, possessive, "my Lord", or idiomatic / subordination, "Lord over me." Expressing respect, not divine status, so "mother of the messiah."

proV eme "to me?" - toward me? Emphatic by position. The preposition is spatial, expressing movement toward.

 
v44

gar "-" - because. Introducing a causal clause explaining why Elizabeth is amazed.

idou "-" - behold. Serving to introduce an important statement. "I tell you", REB.

wJV "as soon as" - when. Temporal use of the conjunction serving to introduce a temporal clause; "when the sound of your greeting came", ESV.

tou aspasmou (oV) gen. "of [your] greeting" - [the sound] of the greeting. The genitive is ablative, source / origin, or adjectival, epexegetic, "the sound, namely your greeting, ...". Mary's voice stirred the foetus, not the greeting itself.

sou gen. pro. "your" - of you [came into the ears of me]. The genitive is adjectival, possessive / verbal, subjective.

en + dat. "for [joy]" - [the baby in the womb of me leaped] in [extreme gladness, exultation]. The preposition here is adverbial, modal, expressing manner; "in joy" = "joyfully", or causal, "because of joy." Interestingly, this emotion is attributed to the foetus, rather than the mother. This has prompted debate as to whether the baby has knowingly responded to Mary's presence.

 
v45

iv] Elizabeth's blessing, v45. Elizabeth gives the answer: because she took the Lord at his word ("believed")

makaria adj. "blessed" - blessed, happy. Predicate adjective of an assumed verb to-be; "the one having believed is blessed." Favoured, "fortunate", Nolland.

hJ pisteusasa (pisteuw) aor. part. "she who has believed" - the one having believed. The participle serves as a substantive. Referring to Mary's response as an example of faith, of taking God at his word.

oJti "that" - that. Possibly introducing the reason for her present "blessed" state, ie., causal, "because", but better taken to introduce a dependent statement of perception expressing what she believed, namely "that fulfilment will come", Bock.

teleiwsiV (iV ewV) " fulfil" - [there will be] a fulfilment (as in the execution of a plan), completion (as in nothing need be added, or of something finished). "Because you believed that he will keep his promise", CEV.

toiV lalalhmenoiV (lalew) perf. pas. part. "promises" - to the things having been spoken. The participle serves as a substantive, dative of reference; "with respect to the things that have been spoken to her."

auth/ dat. pro. "to her" - to her. Dative of indirect object.

para + gen. "" - from, by [the lord]. Here expressing source, "from the Lord", or agency, "by the Lord."

 
v46

The Magnificat, v46-55. The Song of Mary is in the form of a psalm / hymn of praise directed to God for his kindness toward Mary, with particular reference to remnant Israel. The Song of Mary, titled the Magnificat in the Latin Vulgate of the medieval church, is a lyrical poem similar to the Psalms. It has a special affinity with the Song of Hannah, 1Sam.2:1-10.

megalunei (megalunw) pres. "glorifies" - [and mary said, the soul of me] exalts, magnifies, glorifies, proclaims the greatness of [the lord]. This clause serves as a technical statement of praise that emerges from deep within one's being. Following Hebrew parallelism, the thought is repeated in v47. "With my heart I praise the Lord, and am glad", CEV.

 
v47

hgalliasen (agalliaw) aor. "rejoices" - [and the spirit of me] rejoiced. Unlike "glorifies", v46, which takes the present tense, the verb here is aorist and therefore possibly gnomic, expressing a timeless sense, so Fitzmyer, or better, ingressive, where the emphasis falls on the beginning of the action; "my spirit has begun to delight", Nolland. Possibly perfective, "has rejoiced", NASB. Note that "soul" and "spirit" are synonymous here.

epi + dat. "in [God my Saviour]" - in [god the saviour of me]. Here with a causal sense, rather than spatial; "on the basis of / because of."

 
v48

oJti "for" - because. Introducing a causal clause explaining why Mary rejoices in the Lord, "because" he has looked graciously upon her.

epebleyen (epiblepw) aor. "he has been mindful" - he looked on with care. Used of a loving preference toward another person, so another way of saying that God has favoured Mary.

epi + acc. "-" - upon. Spatial; "he has looked on / upon". A stylistic repetition of the epi prefix of the verb "to look upon. "

thn tapeinwsin (iV ewV) "the humble state" - humiliation, lowliness, afflicted state. Here probably of Mary's low social position - she was favoured despite her social position. Of course, humiliation my be intended, in that she is with child while only engaged to be married, and Joseph is not the biological father.

thV doulhV (oV) gen. "[his] servant" - of the bondmaid [of him]. The genitive may be treated as verbal, subjective, or adjectival, attributed; "his humble servant." Further underlining Mary's lowly state. "He took notice of his servant girl", Berkeley.

gar "-" - for. More reason than cause, it "strengthens the point being made and reiterates Mary's sense of her blessedness", Thompson.

apo tou nun "from now on" - from the now. Temporal prepositional phrase. The article tou turns the adverb nun, "now" into a substantive; "from this time onward", Cassirer.

makariousin (makarizw) fut. "will call [me] blessed" - [all generations] will consider blessed [me]. Mary "will be considered favoured by God" because of the "great things" done by God through her, v49.

 
v49

oJti "for" - because. Introducing a causal clause explaining the second reason why Mary rejoices in the Lord; "because" "he who is mighty has done great things for me", ESV.

megala adj. "the Mighty One" - the mighty one. The adjective serves as a substantive, accusative direct object of the verb "to do." The God of the impossible; "the one who is able", Nolland.

moi dat. "for me" - [did great things] to = for me. Dative of interest, advantage.

autou gen. pro. "his" - [and the name] of him [ is holy]. The genitive is adjectival, possessive. The verb to-be is assumed, and its predicate is the adjective "holy". God is a unique God, a set-apart God. "He whose name is holy", TH / Brouwer.

 
v50

An allusion to Psalm 103:17.

to eleoV (oV) "mercy" - [and] the compassion, pity, mercy [of him is]. Nominative subject of an assumed verb to-be. Reflecting the Old Testament sense of God's covenant loyalty and loving kindness toward Israel, his hesed, Heb., "his faithful love", NJB.

toiV foboumenoiV (fobew) dat. pres. pas. part. "to those who fear" - to the ones fearing [him]. The participle serves as a substantive, dative of interest, advantage. The word "fear" does not mean "scared", but rather is used of those who "acknowledge God's position and authority", Bock. "Respect / reverence."

eiV "from" - into [generations and generations]. The preposition is adverbial, possibly temporal, as NIV, "for ages and ages", but Culy also suggests advantage, "his mercy benefits all generations", or goal, "his mercy extends to all people in all ages."

 
v51

Verses 51-52 most likely refer to Israel's enemies.

epoihsen (poiew) aor. "he has performed" - he did, made [might, power, strength]. The aorist tense here, as with the ones that follow in v51-54, has been interpreted variously:

ipast (referring to God's past actions);

ignomic (expressing a universal truth) - always acts this way;

iparallel to the Heb. iterative perfect (the weight is on the past action rather than the present state) - has acted and continues to act this way;

iprophetic (referring to divine action in the last day, although in typical prophetic style, God's salvation is "now", just as much as it is "not yet"), cf. Bock 154 - acts and will act this way; this seems best.

So, best translated with a present tense (although rarely so). Probably "performed", as NIV, but "displayed" / "shown", Phillips, is possible. "He acts mightily with the strength of his arm."

en + dat. "with" - in = by. The dative is instrumental.

bracioni (wn onoV) "arm" - the arm [of him]. Of course, a figurative use (an anthropomorphism) is intended, so simply, "he performs mighty deeds."

dieskorpisen (diaskorpizw) aor. "scattered" - he scattered. Most likely referring to the scattering of Israel's enemies.

uJperhfanouV adj. "those who are proud" - the haughty, arrogant, proud, presumptuous. Those "confident in their own achievements", Nolland.

dianoia/ (a) dat. "in [their inmost] thoughts" - in the thoughts. Dative of reference; "with respect to their thoughts." Deep seated thoughts, therefore an arrogance that is ingrained. "He has swept away the high and mighty", Phillips.

kardiaV (a) gen. "inmost" - of heart [of them]. The genitive is ablative, source / origin; "the thoughts originating in their heart / mind."

 
v52

kaqeilen (kaqairew) aor. "he has brought down" - he brought down, put down, tore down, toppled [powers = rulers from their thrones]. The verb expresses vigorous action.

uJywsen (uJyow) aor. "has lifted up" - lifted up on high. "Exalted."

tapeinouV (oV) "the humble" - those of low estate, humble. Accusative direct object of the verb "to lift up." Clearly the remnant of Israel is in mind. It is they who are oppressed by God's enemies - secular authorities, etc.

 
v53

With regard the reversal motif in this verse, is it an actual or spiritual reversal? Probably we have a typical Jewish motif of national reversal to be realised in the blessings of the promised land, which blessings Jesus reinterprets in eschatological terms, so Danker.

peinwntaV (peinaw) pres. part, "the hungry" - [he filled of good things] the ones hungering. The participle serves as a substantive, accusative direct object of the verb "to fill." The adjective agaqwn, "of good", serves as a substantive, genitive of content, "full of good things"; "with good things", Zerwick.

ploutountaV (ploutew) pres. part. "the rich" - [he sent away] the ones being rich. The participle serves as a substantive.

kenouV acc. adj. "empty" - empty. Accusative complement of the direct object "being rich", standing in a double accusative construction, and stating a fact about the rich.

 
v54

Again, in poetic parallelism, "He has succoured his servant Israel; Mindful of his mercy", Moffatt.

antelabeto (antilambanw) aor. "he has helped" - he helped [israel the servant of him]. Used in the sense of to lay hold of to assist or support. "He has succoured his servant Israel", Moffatt.

mnhsqhnai (mimnhskomai) aor. pas. inf. "remembering" - to remember. This infinitive is handled in a number of different ways by translators:

iAdverbial, introducing a consecutive clause expressing result, "with the result that," BDF, or possibly causal, "because," Marshall, "mindful of his faithful love", RJB, or even final, expressing purpose, "in order that", Nolland, "so as to remember his mercy", Williams.

iPossibly similar to a Hebrew infinitive which expresses a parallel thought, as NIV. Culy classifies this approach as an exegetic infinitive; "he helped Israel .... that is, he remembered mercy."

eleouV (oV) gen. "to be merciful" - of mercy. Genitive of direct object after the infinitive "to remember."

 
v55

A syntactical problem exists in handling the two phrases that make up this verse in the Greek: "just as he spoke to our Fathers, to Abraham and his offspring, into the ages." The NIV views "just as he spoke to our Fathers" as a parenthetical remark concerning those who know of God's intention to remember his people, while "to Abraham and his offspring" identifies the one (the people) whom God remembers. It seems better to take both phrases as appositional / parallel, "as he promised our forefathers - To Abraham and his posterity for ever", Weymouth, also, NRSV, ESV, Fitzmyer, Green. So, v54, the Lord is merciful to Israel, v55 just as (kaqwV, comparative) as he promised the forefathers / Abraham

tw/ Abraam dat. "to Abraham" - [just as he spoke to the fathers of us;] to abraham. Possibly a dative of interest, advantage, but given the appositional nature of the verse, it is best treated as a dative of indirect object after the assumed verb "to speak." "Spoke" is followed by proV with the accusative in the first part of the verse, and by the dative in the second part.

Just as he spoke words to our ancestors;

spoke words to Abraham and his offspring forever.

"Spoke words" in the sense of "promised". The Lord remembers his promises to the remnant elect, Abraham, his servant Israel, forever, and we share this merciful remembering in Christ.

eiV ton aiwna "forever" - [and the offspring of him] into the ages. A common temporal phrase, as NIV.

 
v56

A typical concluding comment rounds off the episode, v56.

de "-" - but/and. Transitional, indicating a step in the narrative, here marking the end of the hymn.

sun + dat. "with [Elizabeth]" - [mary remained] with [her]. Expressing accompaniment / association.

wJV "about" - as = about [three months and she returned to, into the house of her]. Here expressing approximation, followed by the accusative of extent of time "three months". "Approximately" three months, indicating that Mary probably stayed till the birth of John, although Luke doesn't confirm this.

 

Luke Introduction

Exposition

Exegetical Commentaries

 

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