Luke 1:58

Luk 1:58. Μετʼ αὐτῆς, had showed great mercy upon her [dealt in great mercy with her]) So ἔλεος μετὰ τῶν πατέρων, to perform mercy upon our father [to deal in mercy with our fathers]: ch. Luk 10:37, note.[16]

[16] Hellenistic construction, as in LXX. 2Sa 9:1, etc.—ED. and TRANSL.

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

Luk 1:58 . περίοικοι ( περί , οἶκος ), dwellers around, neighbours, here only in N. T., several times in Sept [11] Named first because nearest; some of the relatives would be farther away and would arrive later. This gathering of neighbours and kinsfolk ( συγγενεῖς ) presents a “gracious tableau of Israelite life,” Godet. μετʼ αὐτῆς : a Hebraism = πρὸς αὐτήν . συνέχαιρον α ., they congratulated her: congratulabantur ei , Vulg [12] ; or, better, they rejoiced with her (Luk 1:14 ).

[11] Septuagint.

[12] Vulgate (Jerome’s revision of old Latin version).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 58. And her neighbours and her cousins - rejoiced with her.] Because sterility was a reproach; and they now rejoiced with their relative, from whom that reproach was now rolled away. To rejoice with those whom God has favoured, and to congratulate them on the advantages which he has granted to them, is a duty which humanity, charity, and religion call upon us to fulfil.

1. It is a duty of humanity, which should be punctually performed. We are all members of each other, and should rejoice in the welfare of the whole. He who rejoices in his neighbour's prosperity increases his neighbour's happiness, and gets an addition to his own.

2. It is a duty which charity or brotherly love requires us to perform with sincerity. In the polite world, there is no duty better fulfilled in word than this is; but sincerity is utterly banished, and the giver and receiver are both convinced that compliments and good wishes mean-nothing. He who does not endeavour to take a sincere part in his neighbour's prosperity will soon feel ample punishment in the spirit of jealousy and envy.

3. It is a duty of religion, which should be fulfilled with piety. These neighbours and relatives saw that God had magnified his mercy towards Elisabeth, and they acknowledged his hand in the work. God is the dispenser of all good-he distributes his favours in mercy, judgment, and justice. Let us honour him in his gifts; and honour those, for his sake, who are objects of his favour. The society of believers are but one body; the talents, c., of every individual are profitable to the whole community at least none ate deprived of a share in the general welfare, but those who, through jealousy or envy, refuse to rejoice with him towards whom God hath magnified his mercy.

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

(58) Her neighbours and her cousins.—Better, her kindred, as including a wider range of relations than that which comes within our definition of cousinship. The words imply that they had heard something of the vision in the Temple, and of what had been foretold of the future greatness of the child then born.

Had shewed great mercy upon her.—Literally, had magnified His mercy. The verb is the same as that which opens the Magnificat, and may well be looked upon as a kind of echo of it. The phrase is essentially a Hebrew one. (Comp. 1Sa_12:24.)

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

And her neighbours, and her cousins,.... That lived in Hebron, and the parts adjacent, whether of the house of Aaron, or of the tribe of Judah; to both which she was related, and who dwelt near her, the priests in the city of Hebron, and the children of Judah in the places about it:

heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her; or "had magnified his mercy with her"; see Gen 19:19 in removing her barrenness, and so taking away her reproach from among men; in giving her strength to conceive, and bring forth a son, that was to be so great, as the prophet of the Highest; and more than a prophet, and greater than any born of women:

and they rejoiced with her: as the angel had foretold they should, Luk 1:14 The Persic version reads, "with him, Zacharias"; having rendered the other clause thus, though wrongly, "hearing that God had poured out his mercy on the house of Zacharias"; see Rom 12:15.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.

Ver. 58. The Lord had showed great mercy] And the greater, because in her old age. Births, with those that are much older, are with greater danger; so is the new birth in old sinners.

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.

How the Lord had showed great mercy upon her. No doubt the vision of Zacharias in the temple, and his subsequent dumbness, had excited no little inquiry. That the reproach of Elisabeth should be taken away, no doubt few really believed. The birth of her son, however, set a seal upon the reality of the priest"s vision. The rejoicings of her family were due to more than the birth of her boy. The story of the angel"s message, coupled with the unusual birth, set men thinking and asking what then would be the destiny of this child. Could it be that he was the promised Messiah?

Vers. 58, 66, 67. Joy and awe at a human birth.

When John was born his mother"s heart was filled with great joy, and her neighbors rejoiced with her. And when the little child, a week old, was introduced into the Jewish commonwealth, a feeling of awe filled the hearts of those present, and there was much wonderment concerning him. "Fear came on them all," and every one was asking, "What manner of child shall this be?" No doubt the exceptional character of the circumstances attending his birth and his circumcision accounted for the joy and also for the fear; but apart from all that was unusual, there was reason enough ibr both sentiments to be felt and shown. At any ordinary human birth there is

I OCCASION FOR HOPEFULNESS AND GLADNESS OF HEART. "The mother remembereth no more her anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world," said our Lord. (Joh_16:21) And why rejoice on this occasion? Because of:

1. The love which the little child will cherish. Not, indeed, to be manifested in its very earliest days, but to be felt and shown before long the beautiful, clinging, whole-hearted love of childhood; a love which it is fair to see and most precious to receive.

2. The love which the little child will call forth the love which is parental, fraternal; the love of those who serve as well as that of kindred and friends, this, too, is one of the most goodly sights on which the eye of purity and wisdom rests; it is one of the sweetest and most wholesome ingredients in the cup of earthly good.

3. The discipline which the coming of the child will involve. All parents have an invaluable privilege, from which they ought to derive the greatest benefit. They may be so slow to learn, so unimpressionable, so obdurate, that they are none the wiser or better for their parentage; and in that case they will be something or even much the worse. But if the "little child" does not "lead" us, it is our own fault and folly. The child"s dependency on his parent, trustfulness in his parent, obedience to his parent, do these not speak eloquently of our dependence upon, our trustfulness in, our obedience to our heavenly Father? The love we feel for our little child, the care we take of him, the profound regret we should feel if he went astray, the sacrifice we are ready to make for his recovery, does not all this summon us, with touching and even thrilling voice, to realize the love God has for us his human children, the care he has taken of us day and night through all our years, the profound Divine regret with which he has seen us go astray from himself, the wonderful sacrifice he made for us when he spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all, in order to restore us to himself and reinstate us in our heritage? And the labor we are necessitated to bestow, the patience to exercise, and the self-denial and sacrifice to show, these are essential factors in the forming of our character. We should not choose them, but we may well be most thankful for them. The excellency to which he may attain; it may be that

a. of physical beauty, or

b. of intellectual ability, or

c. of spiritual worth, or

d. of valuable service.

Who can tell what lies latent in that helpless infant? what sources of power and blessing are in that little cradle?

II OCCASION FOR REVERENT AWE. It may well be that "fear" comes on all those who hold their own children in their arms. For they who are entrusted with a little child receive therewith a most grave responsibility. It is true that nothing can remove the accountableness of each soul to its Creator for what it has become; but it is also true that parents are very seriously responsible for the character and career of their children. Our children will believe what we teach them, will form the habits in which we train them, will follow the example we set them, will imbibe the spirit which we are breathing in their presence. What shall this child be? That depends on ourselves. If we are only true and wise and kind, our children will almost certainly become what we ourselves are what we long and pray that they may be. Joy and awe are therefore the two appropriate sentiments at every human birth. When a child is born into the home, there enters that which may be the source of the greatest gladness to the heart; there also enters that which should make life a far more serious and solemn thing. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

58. οἱ συγγενεῖς αὐτῆς. Rather, ‘her kinsfolk,’ which was the original meaning of the word cousins (con-sobrini). See Luk 1:36.

ἐμεγάλυνεν … μετ’ αὐτῆς. A Hebraism (Luk 1:72; 1Sa 12:24. LXX[39]), but an expressive one. ‘God magnified (comp. μεγαλύνει in the Magnificat) His mercy with her.’

[39] LXX. Septuagint.

“I say not God Himself can make man’s best

Without best men to help Him.”

G. ELLIOT, Stradivarius.

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.

Had shewed great mercy upon her [εμεγαλυνεν το ελεος αυτου μετ αυτης] . Lit., magnified his mercy with her. So Wyc. A Hebrew expression. See 1Sa 12:24, Sept.

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