Luke 1:42

And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(42) Blessed art thou among women.—The language, like that of most of the utterances in these chapters, is taken from the poetry of the older Scriptures, but there is a singular contrast between its application there to the murderess Jael (Judges 5:24), and here to the mother of the Lord.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:39-56 It is very good for those who have the work of grace begun in their souls, to communicate one to another. On Mary's arrival, Elisabeth was conscious of the approach of her who was to be the mother of the great Redeemer. At the same time she was filled with the Holy Ghost, and under his influence declared that Mary and her expected child were most blessed and happy, as peculiarly honoured of and dear to the Most High God. Mary, animated by Elisabeth's address, and being also under the influence of the Holy Ghost, broke out into joy, admiration, and gratitude. She knew herself to be a sinner who needed a Saviour, and that she could no otherwise rejoice in God than as interested in his salvation through the promised Messiah. Those who see their need of Christ, and are desirous of righteousness and life in him, he fills with good things, with the best things; and they are abundantly satisfied with the blessings he gives. He will satisfy the desires of the poor in spirit who long for spiritual blessings, while the self-sufficient shall be sent empty away.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Blessed art thou among women - She here repeated nearly the words of the angel to Mary, esteeming it to be the highest honor among mothers to be the mother of the Messiah. See the notes at Luke 1:28.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

42-44. What beautiful superiority to envy have we here! High as was the distinction conferred upon herself, Elisabeth loses sight of it altogether, in presence of one more honored still; upon whom, with her unborn Babe, in an ecstasy of inspiration, she pronounces a benediction, feeling it to be a wonder unaccountable that "the mother of her Lord should come to her." "Turn this as we will, we shall never be able to see the propriety of calling an unborn child "Lord," but by supposing Elisabeth, like the prophets of old, enlightened to perceive the Messiah's Divine nature" [Olshausen].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Elisabeth useth the same words to Mary which the angel had used for her, Luke 1:28; that is, thou art an exceedingly happy woman, not only renowned, but one whom God hath greatly favoured and exceedingly blessed and made happy.

And blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Though the same word be used, yet it is not to be understood of the same degree of blessing. Christ was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, and blessed in another sense and after another manner, than any creature can be said to be blessed, for the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And she spake out with a loud voice,.... So as that all in the house might hear; she spake with great vehemency of soul, and strength of affection, being under a very powerful impression of the Spirit of God: and said,

blessed art thou among women; the same words that the angel had said to her before, Luke 1:28.

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb: this is a reason why she is called blessed, because her child was blessed; being in union with a divine person, who is God over all, blessed for ever; and who has all spiritual blessings in him, and is that seed, in which all nations of the earth were to be blessed; and so is both blessed in himself, and the source of all blessedness to others. The Jews say (h), that the six measures of barley, Boaz gave to Ruth, Ruth 3:15 signified, that six righteous men should spring from her, and among, them the Messiah; who should be blessed with six blessings, and they are these; the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and of might, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord; see Isaiah 11:2.

(h) Targum & R. Sol. Jarchi in loc.

Geneva Study Bible

And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and {p} blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

(p) Christ is blessed with respect to his humanity.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Luke 1:42 f. Ἀνεφώνησε] She cried out (only occurring here in the N. T.; comp. 1 Chronicles 15:28; 1 Chronicles 16:5; 2 Chronicles 5:12; Polyb. iii. 33. 4; frequent in Plutarch), expressing the outburst of the being filled by the Spirit.

ὁ καρπὸς τ. κοιλ. σου] Designation of the embryo, that Mary bears in her womb. For the expression, comp. Genesis 30:2; Lamentations 2:20.

καὶ πόθεν κ.τ.λ.] sc. γέγονεν. After the first outburst now follows a certain reflection, a humble pondering, from what cause (πόθεν, comp. on Mark 12:37) she was deemed worthy of this great happiness: ἀναξίαν ἑαυτὴν τῆς τοιαύτης ἐπιδημίας τῆς δεσποίνης ὁμολογεῖ, Euthymius Zigabenus.

ἵνα κ.τ.λ.] not equivalent to τὸ ἐλθεῖν τὴν μητ. κ.τ.λ., but telic: that the mother of my Lord (the Messiah, comp. Psalm 110:1) should come to me,—this is the τοῦτο, in reference to which she asks πόθεν μοι. Comp. on John 6:29; John 17:3.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 1:42. ἀνεφώνησεν: here only in N. T. The verb, with the following words, κραυγῇ μεγάλῃ, point to an unrestrained utterance under the influence of irrepressible feeling, thoroughly true to feminine nature: “blessed thou among women (a Hebrew superlative), and blessed the fruit of thy womb,” poetic parallelism again, answering to the exalted state of feeling. The reference to the Holy Spirit (in Luke 1:41) implies that Elizabeth spoke by prophetic inspiration.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

42. with a loud voice] For ‘phonç,’ voice, B has the stronger word ‘kraugç,’ cry.

Blessed art thou among women] i. e. preeminently blessed, as “fairest among women,” Song of Solomon 1:8. Similar expressions are used of Ruth (Ruth 3:10), and, on a far lower level of meaning, of Jael (Jdg 5:24), and of Judith. “All the women of Israel blessed her,” Jdg 15:12. In the latter instances the blessing is pronounced by women, but here the word means ‘blessed by God.’

Bengel's Gnomen

Luke 1:42. Ἀνεφώνησε φωνῇ μεγάλῃ) So ἐφώνησε φωνῇ μεγάλῃ Acts 16:28. Others read ἀνεβόησε[13] φωνῇ μεγάλῃ. And so Matthew 27:46; LXX., Genesis 27:38; 1 Samuel 28:12; Isaiah 36:13; Isaiah 11:13, etc. Also 3Ma 5:48 (51); Hist. of Sus. four times; Hist. of the Drag. Luke 1:40 (41). But ἀναφωνεῖν is employed in a very different sense; for instance, of the sounds heard in public worship, as it was duly ordered by David.—καὶ εἶπεν, and said) It was not until after these words which, coming from the Holy Spirit, followed immediately after the salutation of Mary, that Mary reported to Elisabeth what the angel had announced to her.—εὐλογημένη, Blessed) These words, which in the angel’s salutation were last in order, stand first in the salutation of Elisabeth.—καὶ εὐλογημένος, and blessed) This was not added in Luke 1:28.—ὁ καρπὸς, the fruit) Mary therefore was truly the mother of Jesus.

[13] C is the only good authority for ἀνεβόησε. ABD Origen expressly, 4,149ab, read ἀνεφώνησεν. The very strangeness of the use of the latter word is an argument for it not having come from transcribers: ἀνέβοησε was evidently a marginal explanation. Bengel’s own principle, “Præferatur ardua lectioni procliviori,” supports ἀνεφώνησε.—ED. and TRANSL.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 42. - And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women (see Judges 5:24). The words which clothed the thoughts in these ecstatic expressions of intense joy and thankfulness on the part of the two favored women, Mary and Elisabeth, are in great measure drawn from hymn and song contained in the Old Testament Scriptures. The song of Hannah, the hymn of Deborah, many of the psalms, the songs of the Canticles, the more glorious of the prophetic utterances, had been ever familiar to both these true women of the people; and they could find no language so fitting as the words of these loved national songs to express the intense joy, the deep awe and gratitude of their hearts. Think what must have been the feeling of the two - the one finding herself the chosen out of all the thousands of Israel, after so many centuries of weary waiting, to be the mother of the Messiah; the other, long after any reasonable hope of any offspring at all had faded away, to be the mother of Messiah's chosen friend, his herald, and his preacher, the mighty forerunner of the King of whom the prophets had written! Luke 1:42

Vincent's Word Studies

She spake out with a loud voice (ἀνεφώνησε φωνῇ μεγάλῃ)

For φωνῇ, voice, read κραυγῇ, cry: inarticulate, though φωνή may also be used of inarticulate utterance. Rev., rightly, She lifted up her voice with a loud cry; thus rendering in the verb the force of ἀνὰ, up, besides picturing the fact more naturally. Elizabeth's sudden and violent emotion at the appearance of Mary, and the movement of the child, prompted an exclamation which was followed by words (εἶπερ, said). The verb The verb ἀναφωνέω occurs only here in the New Testament. It was a medical term for a certain exercise of the voice.