Luke 1:46-56
Mary’s response to Gabriel’s message and to Elisabeth’s blessing came in the form of praise, or a song, as she was filled with wonder at the power of God. It reads like a handful of the songs in the Psalter as well as that of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2. Mary’s is the first song of the incarnation, and probably the greatest. Others would soon follow: the praise of Zacharias (Luk 1:67-79), the united praise of angels (2:13-14), and the blessing of Simeon (vv28-32).
Not a few scholars have attributed the song in Luke 1:46-56 to Elisabeth, based on a few Latin manuscripts from the fourth to eighth centuries, as well as one manuscript each from Irenaeus and Origen. However, verse 46 attributes the song to Mary and preserves the chiastic structure of Luke 1, which appears as follows:
a Gabriel’s Message to Zacharias (1:5-25)
b Gabriel’s Message to Mary (1:26-38)
b′ Song of Mary (1:46-56)
a′ Song of Zacharias (1:67-80)2
The song of Mary is often referred to as The Magnificat, which is Latin for “My soul doth magnify” (1:46).3 When we magnify, we enlarge upon something. Mary magnified the Lord, expanding and expounding His marvelous character and mighty acts. Let us notice, then, six things about Mary’s marvelous song.
The Composition of Her Song
There are three sections, or movements, within her beautiful hymn. Mary gives thanks for the blessings God brings (vv46-49), the pattern God follows (vv50-53), and the covenant God keeps (vv54-55). She begins by offering praise for the blessings the Lord has brought to her personally, then moves to praise God for always granting blessing to “them that fear him from generation to generation” (v50), and finally exalts the Lord because He is always faithful to His promises, mentioning, in particular, what “he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed” (v55). These promises were about to find their fulfillment in the Child within her womb.
The Center of Her Song
The reason Mary’s song sounds like some of those within the Scriptures is because she had saturated her mind with Scripture. In fact, her song is almost entirely made up of Old Testament quotations and allusions. In just 10 verses, Mary refers to no less than 20 passages from Genesis, Deuteronomy, 1 Samuel, Isaiah, Micah, Habakkuk and, particularly, the Psalms. How refreshing to meet with a young woman in her mid to late teens who had spent so much time immersed in Holy Scripture.
We might wonder, as Mary begins her song, if she is about to reveal anything new about her encounter with Gabriel or what it was like to be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. But we don’t really learn anything new about Mary’s circumstances. She was more interested in telling us about her Lord. Although she does use the first-person singular pronoun, especially at the beginning of her song, her favorite pronoun is the third-person singular: He, His, Him. The center of her song is the Lord – His might, His holiness, His mercy, His greatness, His faithfulness. Taken together, then, her praise was firmly grounded in Scripture and focused on the majesty of her glorious Lord. What a lesson this is to us, who have been chosen to offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually (Heb 13:15). Let us remember to keep our prayers and praises Scripture-centered and God-focused. In doing so, we will indeed be magnifying the Lord, enabling others to see how great He is.
The Course of Her Song
Mary begins by speaking of what God had done for her personally: “For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden … he that is mighty hath done to me great things” (Luk 1:48-49). But she quickly transitioned to speaking of what God had done for others and to others, referring to “them that fear him,” “the proud,” “the mighty,” “them of low degree,” “the hungry,” “the rich” and “his servant Israel” (vv50-54). The expansion continued, for by mentioning the promise made to Abraham in verse 55, the course of Mary’s song has moved from an individual (herself) to a nation (Israel) to all the nations of the earth (think Genesis 12:3 here – “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed”).
The Confidence in Her Song
Mary not only praised God for His works in the past but for what would happen in days to come. She looked into the future while exclaiming, “From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (v48). There was still no highchair in their kitchen nor crib for Him to sleep in, but Mary was confident that the child God promised them would be born exactly as He had said, and that all future generations would call her “blessed” because of it.
A further note is needed on verses 51-53 and the verbs used, all in the aorist tense. It is possible that these are prophetic aorists, describing events linked with the Lord Jesus’ final victory. These coming events are so certain that they can be portrayed as past realities (this occurs frequently in the Old Testament prophets). This view would tie in nicely with the covenant promises made in verses 54-55. If so, Mary is confident that God will again manifest His power, overthrow the wicked and vindicate His people, but this time by the actions of the Messiah she would bring forth. Mary was confident of final and complete victory. She likely did not see (nor did Israel) that there would be two phases of the Messiah’s coming, and that His first coming would not bring these promises to pass. But she still believed there would “be a performance of those things” God had pledged (cf. v45). We believe it still!
The Climax of Her Song
Musicians will spend hours, maybe even days, working to get the proper ending for a song. We do not know how long it took Mary to compose her song, but it has a tremendous climax: “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever” (vv54-55 ESV). She does not mention the Mosaic Covenant, which was conditional and dependent upon the obedience of the nation. She referred to Abraham, likely thinking of the unconditional covenant the Lord made, promising him, among other things, land, descendants and an offspring which would bring blessing to all the nations of the earth. By mentioning Abraham and not mentioning Moses or the Law, Mary exalted the grace of God as she brought her song to a magnificent conclusion.
The last words of Mary’s Magnificat in Greek are eis ton aiona, meaning “into the age,” referring to the Messianic age of deliverance, an age which has already brought blessing upon this entire world. After all, every Christian is a spiritual descendant of Abraham by faith (Rom 4) and is now blessed “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph 1:3 ESV). And we have only seen a small glimpse of Messianic blessing in our world. When Mary’s Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, returns in power and great glory to establish His earthly kingdom, blessing will flow to every part of land and sea.
The Consolation of Her Song
There is no indication of any time gap between verses 45 and 46. It appears, therefore, that Mary’s praise was spoken in the presence of Elisabeth. Her words undoubtedly served as an encouragement to Elisabeth just as Elisabeth’s praise provided consolation to Mary. Praise accomplishes even more than honoring the Lord; it can also build up His people as they hear it being offered (see Psa 40:3).
Modeling Mary’s Magnificat
Blessing God was nothing new to Mary. She was no praise novice. Mary had learned that praise involves the entire person, as she referred to both her “soul” (Luk 1:46) and “spirit” (v47) in her song. And she was ready to offer thanksgiving quickly after her visit with Elisabeth. It seemed to be the habit of her life. Like David, she could say, “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psa 34:1).
But Mary offers us a number of additional praise pointers we should emulate as we bring this article to a close. Some of what we hear today in the “Praise & Worship” genre models Mary’s Magnificat perfectly. But some of it misses the mark.
First, note how Mary referred to herself. She saw herself as God’s “servant” (v48 ESV) and one of “low estate,” meaning a low social position. She knew she was a sinner for she spoke of “God my Savior” (v47). Seeing ourselves properly causes us to marvel, as Mary did, that the Lord would do “great things” (v49) for us also. Our gratitude will be fuller and our praise richer when we remind ourselves of our true position before God.
Second, look at how Mary referred to her people. She not only spoke of herself as a servant, but rejoiced that God had helped “his servant Israel” (v54). Within her praise is a reminder to her own people not to think too highly of themselves. But we should also point out how her praise broadened to include thinking of her own people. She could see how God had worked for them also, expanding her vision far beyond her own experiences. Modeling this in our praise causes us to wonder at the great power of God, who is able to do so much for so many.
Third, observe how Mary referred to her Bible. Her praise is thoroughly infused with and informed by Holy Scripture. Let us challenge ourselves to praise God with words and hymns which include the best possible lyrics of all – God’s sacred Word!
Finally, notice how Mary referred to her Lord. Over and over again she magnified Him, allowing us to see more and more of God’s character – His grace, mercy, holiness, strength, goodness, faithfulness. By the time she was finished, we almost forget whose song it is, lost in wonder at the majesty of our great God. Like Mary, let us lose ourselves in our songs, magnifying our blessed Lord and Savior. He is worthy! “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving” (Psa 69:30).
1 James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Luke (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2015), 55.
2 Adapted from Darrell L. Bock, Luke: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1996), 1:145.
3 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV unless otherwise noted.
