(46) My soul doth magnify the Lord.--We come to the first of the great canticles recorded by St. Luke, which, since the time of Caesarius of Arles (A.D. 540), who first introduced them into public worship, have formed part of the hymnal treasures of Western Christendom. We may think of the Virgin as having committed to writing at the time, or having remembered afterwards, possibly with some natural modifications, what she then spoke. Here the song of praise is manifestly based upon that of Hannah (1Samuel 2:1-10), both in its opening words and in much of its substance, and is so far significant of the hopes, and, if we may so speak, studies, of the maiden of Nazareth.

Verse 46-56. - The hymn of Mary, commonly called the Magnificat. Verse 46a. - And Mary said. There is a great contrast between the behavior of the two women when they met in Elisabeth's house. The elder was full of a new strange ecstatic joy. "She was filled with the Holy Ghost" (verse 42), and spoke her words of lofty congratulation with "a loud voice" (verse 42). Mary, on the other hand, was not conscious evidently, on this occasion, of any special presence of the Holy Spirit. Since the hour of the annunciation and her own meek faithful acceptance of the Lord's purpose, she had been dwelling, so to speak, under the immediate influence of the Spirit of the Lord. Her cousin's inspiration seems to have been momentary and transitory, while hers, during that strange blessed season which immediately preceded the Incarnation, was enduring. Hence the quiet introduction to her hymn, "And Mary said." It is, of course, possible that she had committed the beautiful thoughts to writing; but perhaps, in giving them to Luke or Paul, she needed no parchment scroll, but softly repeated to the chronicler of the Divine story the old song in which she had first told her deep imaginings to Elisabeth, and afterwards often had murmur the same bright words of joy and faith over the holy Babe as he lay in his cradle at Bethlehem, in Egypt, or in Nazareth. The "Virgin's Hymn" for nearly fourteen centuries has been used in the public liturgies of Christendom. We find it first in the ethics of Lauds in the Rule of St. Caesarius of Aries (A.D. 507).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Then
Καὶ (Kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

Mary
Μαριάμ (Mariam)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3137: Or Mariam of Hebrew origin; Maria or Mariam, the name of six Christian females.

said:
εἶπεν (eipen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

“My
μου (mou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

soul
ψυχή (psychē)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5590: From psucho; breath, i.e. spirit, abstractly or concretely.

magnifies
Μεγαλύνει (Megalynei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3170: (a) I enlarge, lengthen, (b) I increase, magnify, extol. From megas; to make great, i.e. Increase or extol.

the
τὸν (ton)
Article - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Lord,
Κύριον (Kyrion)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2962: Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master.


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NT Gospels: Luke 1:46 Mary said My soul magnifies the Lord (Luke Lu Lk)