Bible Study Series: Luke 1:46-56. Mary’s song fits within the flow of OT biblical salvation. It reviews OT themes and major themes of Luke’s Gospel.
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I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 1:46-56
46 And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior
48 Because he has looked upon his servant girl’s low status.
For look! From now on all generations will consider me blessed,
49 because the Almighty has done great things for me—
Holy is his name!
50 For generation after generation his mercy is on those who reverence him.
51 He exercised power with his arm;
He has scattered the arrogant in the thought of their heart;
52 He has brought down rulers from thrones and raised up the lowly;
53 He has filled up the hungry with good things
And sent away the rich empty.
54 He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
Remembering mercy,
55 –Just as he spoke to our ancestors—to Abraham and his descendants, forever.”
56 Mary stayed with her for about three months and then returned to her home. (Luke 1:46-56)
Comments:
The background to Mary’s song / poem / hymn is Hannah’s song:
Then Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
in the Lord my horn is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
2 “There is no one holy like the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the Lord is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry are hungry no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
8 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
“For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;
on them he has set the world.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.
“It is not by strength that one prevails;
10 those who oppose the Lord will be broken.
The Most High will thunder from heaven;
the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.” (1 Sam. 2:1-10, NIV)
Note how many reversals there are. The Very Important Persons will be lowered and humbled, while the lowly people will be exalted. Hannah may not have seen the Messiah in her vision (as far as we know) but Mary saw Hannah’s poem. The reversals began with Jesus’s ministry and will continue, mostly invisibly, until the Second Coming. Then the reversals will be final and complete and everlasting.
Commentator Morris teaches us that Mary may have thought about its content on her four days’ journey to Elizabeth’s house. She “brooded” over the story of Hannah and then spoke her own inspired song (p. 92).
The infancy narratives are not rooted in Greco-Roman or ancient paganism, but in Scripture.
Luke’s Birth Narrative: Pagan Myth or Sacred Story?
It is not clear that Mary sang this hymn / song / poem, for the Greek says, “Mary said” (not sang). But it is poetic, as it moves from one thought to the next. She did at least recite it out loud.
Mary’s whole poem expresses the Great Reversals, the major theme in Luke’s Gospel, so look for it throughout. Consider:
Unjust Condition or Status:
Mary’s low status.
Reversal:
All generations will consider her blessed because the Almighty has done great things for her.
Implied Unjust Condition or Status (not stated, but it is clear from context):
Many generations ignore God.
Reversal:
His mercy is on those who reverence or fear him.
Unjust Condition or Status:
The arrogant and rulers were exalted and the lowly debased.
Reversal:
He brought down the arrogant and the rulers and raised up the lowly.
Implied Unjust Condition or Status:
The rich were getting fat on good things to the exclusion of the poor.
Reversal:
He sent the rich away empty and filled up the hungry with good things.
Implied Unjust Condition or Status:
Israel has been oppressed by Roman rule.
Reversal:
He has come to help Israel and remembered mercy on Abraham and his descendants. Mary’s song or poem is (mostly) in the past tense, but the future sense is implied because her Son will accomplish the reversal throughout his earthly ministry and even today, as he is seated at the right hand of his Father.
This fulfills the Great Reversal. We will see that Luke 2:34 says that Jesus would cause the fall of the mighty and the rise of the needy, and the rich would be lowered, and the poor raised up. It is the down elevator and up elevator. Those at the top will take the down elevator, and those at the bottom will take the up elevator.
46-47:
Mary’s soul and spirit praised God for the good promises that he gave her. She believed it with her heart.
“soul”: it can mean, depending on the context: “soul, life” and it is hard to draw a firm line between the two. “Breath, life principle, soul”; “earthly life”; “the soul as seat and center of the inner life of man in its many and varied aspects, desires, feelings, emotions”; “self’; or “that which possesses life, a soul, creature, person.”
A little theology:
Most Renewalists believe in the three parts of humanity: body, soul and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23 and Heb. 4:12 and other verses). Other Renewalists believe that we are two parts: body and soul / spirit (2 Cor. 4:16). Spirit and soul are just synonyms, like heart and spirit / soul are synonyms. Surely there are not now four parts, are there (body, soul, spirit, heart)?
Here in this verse it means soul.
Systematic theology again:
Word Study on Spirit, Soul, and Body
48:
“servant girl”: many translations omit “girl,” because it is implied from the context, but I like to reflect the Greek feminine for “servant.” She was God’s servant girl. See Luke 1:38 for more comments. “Low status” refers to her humble social position. She does not belong to the Jewish aristocracy (Liefeld and Pao, comment on v. 48).
“all generations will consider me blessed.” The Greek literally says, “all generations will bless me.”
Why did Luke go from the present tense (my soul magnifies) to the past (my spirit has rejoiced)? It is probable that Luke was not very fussy or precise about this, as professional grammarians are. Mary was in a continuous state of gratitude, from her angelic promise to her journey to Elizabeth’s house and her return home, until the birth—throughout her life.
“look!”: see my comments on L:uke 1:20. It updates the older translation “behold!” It makes the reader or listener sit up and take notice.
49:
“Almighty”: that is another title or name of God. There are at least 150 other such names or titles that flow out of his activity. We come to know God by his deeds and also by clear statements of Scripture about his character, like God is good (Pss. 25:8; 119:68, and many others).
Commentator Joel Green says that Mary is calling on God the Warrior, referencing Deut. 10:17-18; Ps. 24:8; Is. 10:20-27; Zeph. 3:17. That imagery is not as clear to me as it is to him, but he is probably right. Make of this what you will.
50:
“reverence”: it has a wide range of meanings, but I decided to translate it as “reverence,” but fear is also correct. See Luke 1:13 for more comments. There is nothing wrong with reverential fear of God in our lives.
51:
“Arm” is a metaphor for power and strength. It makes sense, because the arm exerts power, like hammering or lifting or boxing. (See Exod. 32:11; Deut. 3:24; 4:34; Ps. 70:18; Is. 30:30; 52:10). The proud look down on others without looking up to God, so they are presented as God’s enemies (Ps. 101:5; Prov. 16:5; 29:23; Is. 13:11). The proud person’s understanding work against God and take divine prerogatives only God has (Garland, p. 95).
52:
“thrones”: Rulers sit on their thrones, dishing out unjust sentences and rapaciously taking the resources of the land, but now they are thrown off their high and mighty thrones. Best of all, he raises up the lowly like you and me. This reminds me of Jeremiah’s calling: “See, I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:10, NIV). Jesus was about to have the same ministry, but his fulfillment of this calling has taken and is taking centuries to work out and will be finalized when he finally overthrows all the worldly kingdoms and establishes his own kingdom, visible for all to see, as noted. Study Acts 1:6-7.
53:
The hungry will get good things, and this does not merely mean food, though it includes that. And the rich—the rulers and powerful who sit on thrones—will be dethroned and sent off empty handed. This too takes place in slow motion and will be finalized at the end of the world, when Jesus sets up his own throne and rules with absolutely perfect justice.
And thus in vv. 51-53 Mary introduces the Great Reversal that Jesus and his kingdom bring to the world. The people powerful and high status are brought low, while the humble and low status are raised up. Simeon will prophesy that Jesus is appointed the falling and rising of many (Luke 2:34).
54-55:
“Remembering”: this word is a mental activity, but God is omniscient, so remembering is a poetic way of saying God is keeping and acting on his covenant. God came to the aid of Israel in order to act in his covenant love (see v. 72).
Abraham is a frequent figure in Luke-Acts, appearing twenty-two times.
Yes, God remembered his servant Israel, but the Jewish establishment in Jerusalem will reject their Messiah, by the time Luke’s Gospel ends. God put his judgment on them (Luke 19:41-45; 21:20-24; 23:26-31; Matt. 21:33-45). As it happens, however, after Pentecost came, with the outpouring of the Spirit, many priests converted to the Lordship of Jesus (Acts 6:7) and so did thousands of Jews of Judea and Jerusalem (Acts 2:47; 4:4; 21:20). But the main thrust of God’s plan today is about the Gentiles. Now they are destined to take the gospel to the whole world, including Israel. Messianic Jews (those who have converted to the Messiah) are included in God’s global project of taking the gospel to the world, as well. And the resurrected Jesus guides everything from heaven and by his Spirit in his church, both redeemed or saved Gentiles and redeemed or saved Jews.
“forever”: see Luke 1:33 for more comments.
As noted, Abraham plays a major role in Luke-Acts. “The covenant promises of Mary’s hymn are those of the Abrahamic covenant” (Bock, vol. 1, p. 160): Gen. 12:3; 17:7-8; 18:18; 22:18; 26:3; Exod. 2:24; Mic. 7:20). See v. 73 for how God is responding to the Abrahamic covenant.
56:
Mary must have been a great comfort and encouragement to Elizabeth and Zechariah. She was away from Joseph for a long time. I hope he didn’t mind! He must have been glad when she returned to her home. Elizabeth was pregnant six months (Luke 1:26). And Mary stayed about three months. Why not stay until John was born? Maybe Mary did not want to intrude on God’s call on John. In any case, I trust that in this very charismatic and wonderous atmosphere in Luke 1, God led her to go home.
To conclude ….
The Great Reversal comes to the fore. The poor and outcast, like women, are brought to the front and center of God’s kingdom project to rescue the globe, while the blindly powerful and rich are marginalized in God’s kingdom. Recall that Luke 1:51-53 and 2:34 says that Jesus would cause the fall of the mighty and the rise of the needy, and the rich would be lowered, and the poor raised up. It is the down elevator and up elevator. Those at the top will take the down elevator, and those at the bottom will take the up elevator.
Grow App for Luke 1:46-56
1. How has God worked out reversals in your life? First you were put down, and now you are lifted up. If you cannot remember any time, then please study Eph. 2:6 very carefully. How does this verse about being seated in the heavenly realms apply to your life?
2. Have you ever been gone from home for three months or know someone who has? If you have, how has this been a blessing to you?
3. Or, what could you do to host the spouses of missionaries while they are on short- or long-term trips?
RELATED
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3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
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