Luke 1:47

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

1 first appearance in the Greek New Testament

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ἠγαλλίασεν

agalliáō

G21

“to rejoice greatly”

Verb, Aorist, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Singular

Appears 11× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 5:12

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from agan (much) and G242

TDNT: 1:19, *

1. to exult, rejoice exceedingly, be exceeding glad

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

11: words
8: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is ἠγαλλίασεν to rejoice greatly G21 — appearing just 11 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

First appearance in Scripture

This word makes its first canonical appearance in the Greek New Testament here:

σωτῆρί savior G4990

Shared distinctive vocabulary

ἠγαλλίασεν to rejoice greatly G21 occurs in 11 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

Words recur within this verse:

τὸ the G3588 ×3
μου I G1473 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 1:47 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Psalms 35:9 My soul shall be joyful in Yahweh. It shall rejoice in his salvation.
1 Timothy 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;
Habakkuk 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
Isaiah 45:21–22 Declare you, and bring [it] forth; yes, let them take counsel together: who has shown this from ancient time? who has declared it of old? Haven't I, Yahweh? and there is no God else besides me, a just God and a Savior; there is no one besides me.
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Luke 2:11 For there is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Titus 2:10 not stealing, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior, in all things.
1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and Christ Jesus our hope;

Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ;
Titus 3:4–6 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared,
Jude 1:25 to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Isaiah 12:2–3 Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation."
Zephaniah 3:14–17 Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem.
Titus 1:3 but in his own time revealed his word in the message with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior;

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Luke 1:47 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

Luk 1:47. Σωτῆρι, Saviour) Preserver. See on Chrys. de Sacerd. pp. 452, 453. This expresses the force of the name, Jesus, as given, Luk 1:31. [Mary, by this mode of expression, reckons herself among those things which had been lost. Even she had her salvation, not from herself, but from Jesus.—V. g.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

my Saviour--Mary, poor heart, never dreamt, we see, of her own "immaculate conception"--in the offensive language of the Romanists--any more than of her own immaculate life.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 47. My spirit hath rejoiced] Exulted. These words are uncommonly emphatical-they show that Mary's whole soul was filled with the Divine influence, and wrapped up in God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(47) In God my Saviour.—We may well believe that this choice of the name was determined by the meaning of the name, implying God’s work of salvation, which she had been told was to be given to her Son.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

47. hath rejoiced] Rather, exults. In the original it is the general, or gnomic aorist.

in God my Saviour] Isa_45:21, “a just God and a Saviour.” Comp. Isa_12:2; Isa_25:9. The expression is also found in the later Epistles of St Paul, “God our Saviour,” 1Ti_1:1; Tit_3:4.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Ver. 47. My spirit rejoiceth] Tripudiat, danceth a galliard (which seemeth to come from the Greek word here used, ηγαλλιασε επι τω θεω, super Deo), danceth Levaltoes in God, or for God my Saviour, as the matter and ground of my joy.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In God my Saviour - God is called “Saviour,” as he saves people from sin and death. He was “Mary’s” Saviour, as he had redeemed her soul and given her a title to eternal life; and she rejoiced for that, and especially for his mercy in honoring her by her being made the mother of the Messiah.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

In God my Saviour, as appears by the Greek text,[8] though literally in Latin, in God my salvation. (Witham)

===============================

[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Salutari meo, Greek: soteri mou, Salvatori meo.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

My spirit hath rejoiced in God my saviour - She seems to turn her thoughts here to Christ himself, who was to be born of her, as the angel had told her, he should be the Son of the Highest, whose name should be Jesus, the saviour. And she rejoiced in hope of salvation through faith in him, which is a blessing common to all true believers, more than in being his mother after the flesh, which was an honour peculiar to her. And certainly she had the same reason to rejoice in God her saviour hat we have: because he had regarded the low estate of his handmaid, in like manner as he regarded our low estate; and vouchsafed to come and save her and us, when we were reduced to the lowest estate of sin and misery.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Scofield Reference Notes

C. I. Scofield

Saviour

(See Scofield "Rom 1:16")

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

47. ἠγαλλίασεν. ‘exults’. In the original it is the general or gnomic aorist.

ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ τῷ σωτῆρί μου. Isa 45:21, “a just God and a Saviour.” Comp. Isa 12:2; Isa 25:9. The expression is also found in the later Epistles of St Paul; “God our Saviour,” 1Ti 1:1; Tit 3:4.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Alford’s Greek Testament

Henry Alford

47.] ψυχὴ—πνεῦμα, the whole inner being: see on 1Th 5:23.

σωτῆρι—not merely ‘Deliverer from degradation, as a daughter of David’—but, in a higher sense, author of that salvation which God’s people expected [among whom the Holy Virgin reckons herself. Only sinners need a Saviour].

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

International Critical Commentary

47. ἠγαλλίασεν. A word formed by Hellenists from ἀγάλλομαι, and freq. in LXX (Ps. 15:9, 47:12, 69:5; Isa 35:2; Jer 49:4). The act. is rare; perhaps only here and Rev 19:7 ; but as v.l. 1Pe 1:8. The aor. may refer to the occasion of the angelic visit. But it is the Greek idiom to use the aor. in many cases in which we use the perf., and then it is misleading to translate the Grk. aor. by the Eng. aor. Moreover, in late Grk. the distinction between aor. and perf. had become less sharp. Simcox, Lang. of N. T. pp. 103-106; Lagarde, Mittheilungen, iii. 374.

τῷ Θεῷ τῷ σωτῆρί μου. He is the Saviour of Mary as well as of her fellows. She probably included the notion of external and political deliverance, but not to the exclusion of spiritual salvation. For the expression comp. 1Ti 1:1, 1Ti 1:2:3; Tit 1:3, Tit 1:2:10, Tit 1:3:4; Jud 1:25; Psa 23:5, Psa 106:21. In the Ps. Sol. we have Ἀλήθεια τῶν δικαίων παρὰ Θεοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτῶν (3:7); and ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐλπιοῦμεν ἐπὶ Θεὸν τὸν σωτῆρα ἡμῶν (17:3). Comp. Ps. Sol. 8:39, 16:4.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

Marvin R. Vincent

God my Savior [τω θεω τω σωτηρι μου] . Note the two articles. "The God who is the or my Savior." The title Savior is often applied to God in the Old Testament. See Septuagint, Deu 32:15; Psa 24:5; Psa 25:5; Psa 95:1.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 11 words (8 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is agalliáō (“to rejoice greatly”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to rejoice greatly” (agalliáō) shape what this verse is saying?
This is the first place “savior” appears in Scripture (first appears here). What does its debut here establish?
How does Matthew 5:12, which shares the word «to rejoice greatly», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “the” (3× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
Compare how Bengel's Gnomon and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

1 word makes its first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
These translations choose different wording for 3 words in this verse.
“the” occurs 3× in this single verse.
8 distinct Greek lemmas span 11 words in this verse.