Luke 1:46

Mary’s Hymn of Praise

1:46 And Mary ¹  said, ² 

“My soul exalts ³  the Lord, ⁴ 

Luke 1:67-68

Zechariah’s Praise and Prediction

1:67 Then ⁵  his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, ⁶ 

1:68 “Blessed ⁷  be the Lord God of Israel,

because he has come to help ⁸  and has redeemed ⁹  his people.

¹ tc A few witnesses, especially Latin mss, (a b l* Ir^arm Or^lat mss Nic) read “Elizabeth” here, since she was just speaking, but the ms evidence overwhelmingly supports “Mary” as the speaker.

² sn The following passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

³ tn Or “lifts up the Lord in praise.”

⁴ sn This psalm (vv. 46-55) is one of the few praise psalms in the NT. Mary praises God and then tells why both in terms of his care for her (vv. 46-49) and for others, including Israel (vv. 50-55). Its traditional name, the “Magnificat,” comes from the Latin for the phrase My soul magnifies the Lord at the hymn’s start.

⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁶ tn Grk “and he prophesied, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

⁷ sn The traditional name of this psalm, the “Benedictus,” comes from the Latin wording of the start of the hymn (“Blessed be…”).

⁸ sn The verb come to help can refer to a visit, but can also connote concern or assistance (L&N 85.11).

⁹ tn Or “has delivered”; Grk “has accomplished redemption.”