Luke 1:68

Luk_1:68

Visited and redeemed His people

Visited

1.

To visit is the work of one that comes to do a charitable office to a sick person, according to that place (Mat_25:1-46.), I was sick and ye visited Me. So Christ came into this world because it languished of a sore disease.

2. To give a visit to another is a voluntary courtesy, an act of kindness that hath no compulsion or unwillingness in it: for he that visits any place or persons, if he did not like them he might keep away; but you cannot imagine more promptness and readiness in any one than there was in our Saviour, to be humbled to that baseness to take our nature upon him.

3. There is not only willingness, but friendliness in the appellation: no man visits another but in the profession of a friend; therefore St. Paul says upon the Incarnation (Tit_3:4), the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared. (Bishop Hacket.)

Redeemed

1. Now captivity must be presupposed on our part, because we did await and expect redemption.

2. As his goodness is amplified from our captivity, so the redemption is the more valuable, because none else could have plucked us out of those fetters but the Holy One, our Lord and Master.

3. And let it make a third animadversion, that the manner of our redemption doth greatly exaggerate the most meritorious compassion of the Redeemer; there hath been redemption wrought by force and victory, so Moses brought the Israelites with an high hand out of the slavery of Egypt: there is a redemption which is wrought by intercession and supplication; so Nehemiah prevailed with King Cyrus, to dismiss the Jews out of the Babylonish captivity: or thirdly, either gold, or silver, or somewhat more precious is laid down to buy out the freedom of that which is in thraldom; thats the most costly and estimable way when value for value is paid; or fourthly, the body of one is surrendered up for the ransom of another, life for life, blood for blood; and greater charity cannot be shown than to bring redemption to pass by such a compensation. So St. Peter extols that act in our Saviour; says he, Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the blood of Christ, as a lamb undefiled. So out of His own mouth (Mat_20:28).

4. As all mankind that is flesh and blood in every man and woman is honoured by His visitation, so all without exceptions are beholden to His redemption. Zachary the priest with all his innocency, who is said to have been blameless and righteous before God, yet he blesseth God that he was redeemed. Having thus spoken of the benefits of visitation and redemption, I should leave my treatise very imperfect if I should not speak of the receivers; very briefly therefore concerning them upon whom all was conferred, He hath visited and redeemed His people. It is certain that the generations of mankind are meant by this word, the sons and daughters of Adam, and none others. (Bishop Hacket.)

Difficulty of defining redemption

If you should expect from me a discourse in which I should explain redemption, I must follow the example of that philosopher of ancient times who, when some asked a definition of God, said I must first ask for a week to prepare my reply; after that week is passed I must ask a second, and again a third, and so on till I had at last declared that I never could end my demand for time. For the more that philosopher meditated on God, the less was he able to give a definition; and the more I meditate on redemption, the less can I explain it. (Adolphe Monod.)

Realizing redemption

Dean Stanley tells us that Dr. Arnold used to make his boys say, Christ died for me, instead of the more general phrase, Christ died for us. He appeared to me, says one whose intercourse with him never extended beyond these lessons. to be remarkable for his habit of realizing everything that we are told in Scripture. (Life of Dr. Arnold.)

Gods great redemption

John Frederick Oberlin put off all earthly comfort to redeem a barren district of France from poverty and ignorance, with his own pick axe beginning the building of a high road from Ban de la Roche up to the city of Strasburg. But here was a highway to be constructed from the squalor of earth to the heights of heaven. Clarkson pleaded before the English Parliament, and the Russian Emperor, against the slave trade. But here was the question of deliverance for a hundred thousand millions of bondmen. Aye! it was the pounding off of an iron chain from the neck of a captive world. I think it was the greatest and most absorbing thought of Gods lifetime. I do not think that there was anything in all the ages of the past, or that there will be in all the ages of the future, anything to equal it, The masterpiece of eternity I There were so many difficulties to be overcome! There were such infinite consequences to be considered! There were such gulfs to bridge, and such heights to scale, and such immensities to compass! If God had been less than omnipotent, He would not have been strong enough; or less than omniscient, I do not think He would have been wise enough; or less loving, would have been sympathetic enough. There might have been a God strong enough to create a universe, and yet too weak to do this. To create the worlds, only a word was necessary; but to do this work required more than a word. It required more than ordinary effort of a God. It required the dying anguish of an Only Son. (Dr. Talmage.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 1:68-70. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel — Who is also the God of the spirits of all flesh: but Zacharias, speaking of the work of redemption calls him only the God of Israel, because to Israel the prophecies, promises, and types of redemption, had hitherto been given, and to them the first offers and proposals of it were now to be made. Israel, as a chosen people, was a type of the people of God to be called out of all nations and ages, whom God had a particular eye to in sending the Saviour. For he hath visited, &c., his people — In sending the Messiah, God made a gracious visit to his people, whom, for many ages, he had seemed to neglect, and be estranged from. He is said to have visited his people in bondage, when he delivered them, Exo 3:16; to have visited them in famine, when he gave them bread, Rth 1:6. He had often sent to them by his prophets, and had kept up a correspondence with them, but now he himself made them a visit, for Christ was Immanuel, God with us, God manifest in the flesh. And redeemed his people — Εποιησε λυτρωσιν τω λαω αυτου. He hath wrought out redemption for his people, complete and illustrious redemption. This was the errand on which Christ came into the world, to redeem those that were sold for sin and sold under sin; even God’s own people, his Israel, need to be redeemed, and are undone if they be not. Christ redeems them by price out of the hands of God’s justice, and redeems them by power out of the hands of Satan’s tyranny, as Israel out of Egypt. And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us — That is, a mighty, victorious, and glorious Saviour, who saves his people with an abundant salvation. The expression is metaphorical, taken from beasts, whose strength, defence, and victory over other animals, lies chiefly in their horns, as also the beauty and glory of several of them; the property likewise of the ancients consisting chiefly in their flocks and herds. Accordingly, the word horn is used in Scripture emblematically, to denote strength or power, Lam 2:3; Lam 2:17; Psa 75:10; also honour and triumph, as, when the horn is exalted, Psa 89:24. From the union of these, it signifies the power of a king or kingdom, Rev 13:1. This is the chief import of the word in this place, the house of David being the regal family, and the word Saviour, implying deliverer, protector, and ruler; the horn of salvation in the house of David denotes the kingdom of Christ. As he spake — That is, as he promised; by his holy prophets, which have been since the world began — Απ’ αιωνος, from the beginning of ages, the promise being made to Adam, Gen 3:15, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head; and to Abraham and the other patriarchs, that in their seed all nations of the earth should be blessed. “It cannot,” however, as Dr. Doddridge justly observes, “certainly be inferred from hence, as some have argued, that there was from the beginning of the world a series of prophets, or that every individual prophet spoke of the Messiah, which can never be proved without doing great violence to the remaining writings of some of them.” The words of Zacharias only amount to this, that the generality of prophecies in all ages refer to this great event. See Act 10:43.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

68-79. The Benedictus, or hymn of Zacharias.

I. Luk_1:68-75. Power and safety of Messiah’s kingdom.

68. Redeemed his people—Namely, the theocracy, that is, the kingdom of God, whether the Jewish Church under the old dispensation, or the Christian Church under the new.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:68 he has visited and redeemed his people: This recalls the exodus from Egypt, when God rescued his people from Pharaoh (Exod 3:7-10, 17-20).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 1:68. Ὅτι, because [for]) Zacharias is especially speaking of Christ, Luk 1:69: and of John only as it were incidentally: see Luk 1:76.—ἐπεσκέψατο, κ.τ.λ., He hath visited and made redemption) i.e. He hath visited so as to make redemption, etc. The same verb occurs in Luk 1:78.—[λύτρωσιν, redemption) However earnestly desired by Zacharias John was, yet the former speaks first concerning Christ, and that, in an especial manner and most fully: he speaks of John only as it were in passing, Luk 1:76.—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.

Luk_1:68 f. Zacharias hymn of praise concerns the great rause, which his new-born son is to servethe Messianic deliverance and blessing of the people, which he now at once looks upon as already accomplished, for in his new-born son there has, in fact, already appeared the preparer of the way for the Messiah (Luk_1:16 f.). Comp. on Luk_1:51. The entire hymn bears the priestly character, which even the apostrophe to the infant, Luk_1:76, does not efface.

εὐλογητὸς κ.τ.λ.] sc. εἴη Comp. Psa_40:14; Psa_72:18; Psa_106:48.

λύτρωσιν (comp. Luk_2:38) applies primarily to the Messianic deliverance under its political aspect Comp. Luk_1:71; Luk_1:51 ff.; Plut. Arat. 11 : λύτρ. αἰχμαλώτων. With this, however, Zacharias knew (comp. also Luk_1:16 f.) that the religious and moral regeneration of the people was inseparably combined, so as to form the one Messianic work, Luk_1:75; Luk_1:77; Luk_1:79.[32] The ἐπεσκέψ. is absolute, as in Sir_32:17 : he has looked to, he has made an inspection. Comp. Act_15:14.

ἤγειρε] still dependent upon ὅτι.

κέρας σωτηρίας] a horn of deliverance (genitive of apposition), i.e. a strong, mighty deliverance, according to the figurative use of the Hebrew קֶרֶן, 1Sa_2:10; Psa_18:3; Psa_89:18; Psa_132:16 f., Psa_148:14; Sir_47:5; Sir_47:7; Sir_47:11, al.; Gesenius, Thes. III. p. 1238; Grimm on 1Ma_2:48. See Rabbinical passages in Schöttgen, Hor. p. 258 f. ΚΈΡΑς· Ἡ ἸΣΧῪς ΠΑΡᾺ Τῇ ΘΕΊᾼ ΓΡΑΦῇ, ἘΚ ΜΕΤΑΦΟΡᾶς ΤῶΝ ΖΏΩΝ ΤῶΝ ΚΑΘΩΠΛΙΣΜΈΝΩΝ ΤΟῖς ΚΈΡΑΣΙ ΚΑῚ ΤΟΎΤΟΙς ἈΜΥΝΟΜΈΝΩΝ, Suidas. Comp. the Latin cornua addere, cornua sumere, and the like. It is true that Jensius (Ferc. lit. p. 34), Fischer (de vit. Lex. p. 214), and Paulus find the reference in the horns of the altar of burnt-offering which served as an asylum (1Ki_1:50; 1Ki_2:28 ff.; Bähr, Symbol. I p. 473 f.; Knobel on Exo_27:2). But apart from the inappropriate relation to the frequent use of the O. T. figure elsewhere, how inadequate for the due and distinct expression of the Messianic idea would be the conception of the mere protection, which was afforded by the laying hold of the horns of the altar!

ἤγειρε] excitavit, i.e. according to the context, he has made to grow up (ἐξανατελῶ, Psa_132:17).

τοῦ παιδὸς αὐτοῦ] Act_4:25.

[32] Hofmann appropriately remarks, Weissag. u. Erfüll. II. p. 253 (in opposition to Olshausen), that the purity of the Messianic views of Zacharias consists in the unadulterated reproduction of Old Testament knowledge.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 1:68 . ἐπεσκέψατο , visited graciously ( vide on Mat 25:36 ), occasionally used in Sept [14] in the sense of judicial visitation (Psa 89:33 ). Note the use of the aorist there, which runs through Luk 1:68-75 , in Luk 1:76-79 futures occur. The object of ἐπεσκέψατο is latent in τῷ λαῷ ( τὸν λαὸν , cf. Luk 7:16 ; λαός applied to Israel as the chosen people, ἔθνος to the other nations).

[14] Septuagint.

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

Hath paid the ransom, that is to say, the price of our redemption.

That he hath showed himself mindful of his people, insomuch that he came down from heaven himself, to visit us in person, and to redeem us.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

There is not a word in this noble burst of divine song about his own child; like Elisabeth losing sight entirely of self, in the glory of a Greater than both.

Lord God of Israel--the ancient covenant God of the peculiar people.

visited and redeemed--that is, in order to redeem: returned after long absence, and broken His long silence (see Mat 15:31). In the Old Testament, God is said to "visit" chiefly for judgment, in the New Testament for mercy. Zacharias would, as yet, have but imperfect views of such "visiting and redeeming," "saving from and delivering out of the hand of enemies" (Luk 1:71, Luk 1:74). But this Old Testament phraseology, used at first with a lower reference, is, when viewed in the light of a loftier and more comprehensive kingdom of God, equally adapted to express the most spiritual conceptions of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

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

Verse 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for, c.] Zacharias praises God for two grand benefits which he had granted to his people. 1. He has visited them. 2. He has ransomed them.

1. He speaks by the spirit of prophecy, which calls things that are not, as though they were because they are absolutely determined by the Most High, and shall be all fulfilled in their season. God visits his people in the incarnation of Jesus Christ; therefore this Christ is called by him, κυριοςοθεος, Jehovah the God of Israel. Here the highest and most glorious character of the Supreme Being is given to Christ.

2. This God redeems his people: it is for this end that he visits them. His soul is about to be made a sacrifice for sin: he becomes flesh, that he may suffer and die for the sin of the world. God, by taking upon him the nature of man, has redeemed that nature from eternal ruin.

He hath-redeemed] εποιησε λυτρωσιν, he hath made a ransom - laid down the ransom price. λυτροω signifies particularly to ransom a captive from the enemy, by paying a price. The following remarkable passage from Josephus, Ant. b. xiv. c. 14, sect. 1, fully illustrates this meaning of the original. "Herod, not knowing what had happened to his brother, hastened λυτρωσασθαι, to ransom him from the enemy, and was willing to pay λυτρον υπερ αυτου, a ransom for him, to the amount of three hundred talents." Sinners are fallen into the hands of their enemies, and are captives to sin and death. Jesus ransoms them by his own blood, and restores them to life, liberty, and happiness. this truth the whole Bible teaches: this truth God has shown in certain measures, even to those nations who have not been favoured with the light of his written word: for Christ is that true light, which enlightens every man that cometh into the world.

How astonishing is the following invocation of the Supreme Being, (translated from the original Sanscreet by Dr. C. WILKINS,) still existing on a stone, in a cave near she ancient city of Gya, in the East Indies!

"The Deity, who is the Lord, the possessor of all, appeared in this ocean of natural beings, at the beginning of the Kalee Yoog (the age of contention and baseness.) He who is omnipresent and everlastingly to be contemplated, the Supreme Being, the Eternal One, the Divinity worthy to be adored-APPEARED here with a PORTION of his DIVINE NATURE. Reverence be unto thee in the form of (a) Bood-dha! Reverence be unto the Lord of the earth! Reverence be unto thee, an INCARNATION of the Deity, and the Eternal One! Reverence be unto thee, O God, in the form of the God of mercy; the dispeller of pain and trouble, the Lord of all things, the Deity who overcometh the sins of the Kalee Yoog; the guardian of the universe, the emblem of mercy toward those who serve thee - (b) O'M! the possessor of all things in VITAL FORM! Thou art (c) Brahma, Veeshnoo, and Mahesa! Thou art Lord of the universe! Thou art under the form of all things, movable and immovable, the possessor of the whole! and thus I adore thee. Reverence be unto the BESTOWER OF SALVATION, and the Ruler of the faculties! Reverence be unto thee, the DESTROYER of the EVIL SPIRIT! O Damordara, (d) show me favour! I adore thee, who art celebrated by a thousand names, and under various forms, in the shape of Bood-dha, the God of MERCY! Be propitious, O Most High God!"-ASIATIC RESEARCHES, vol. i. pp. 284, 285.

(a) Bood-dha. The name of the Deity, as author of happiness.

(b) O'M. A mystic emblem of the Deity, forbidden to be pronounced but in silence. It is a syllable formed of the Sanscreet letters a, o o, which in composition coalesce, and make o, and the nasal consonant m. The first letter stands for the Creator, the second for the Preserver and the third for the Destroyer. It is the same among the Hindoos as יהוה Yehovah is among the Hebrews.

(c) Brahma, the Deity in his creative quality. Veeshnoo, he who filleth all space, the Deity in his preserving quality. Mahesa, the Deity in his destroying quality. This is properly the Hindoo Trinity: for these three names belong to the same Being. See the notes to the Bhagvat Geeta.

(d) Damordara, or Darmadeve, the Indian God of Virtue.

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

(68) Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.—The whole hymn is, like the Magnificat, pre-eminently Hebrew in character, almost every phrase having its counterpart in Psalm or Prophet; and, like it, has come to take a prominent place in the devotions of the western Churches. Its first appearance, as so used, is in Gaul, under Cæsarius of Aries.

Visited.—Better, looked upon, regarded. The four centuries that had passed since the last of the prophets are thought of as a time during which the “face of the Lord” had been turned away from Israel. Now He looked on it again, not to visit them (as we more commonly use the word) for their offences, but to deliver.

Redeemed his people.—Better, wrought redemption for His people. The noun is formed from that which is translated “ransom” in Mat_20:28, where see Note. Its occurrence here is noticeable as showing how large an element the thought of deliverance through a ransom was in all the Messianic expectations of the time. (Comp. Luk_2:38.) The past tense (in the Greek the aorist) is used by Zacharias as, in the joy of prophetic foresight, seeing the end of what had been begun. The next verse shows that he looked for this redemption as coming not through the child that had been born to him, but through the Son, as yet unborn, of Mary.

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

68. Blessed] This hymn of praise is hence called the Benedictus. It has been in use in Christian worship perhaps as far back as the days of St Benedict in the sixth century, and it was early recognised that it is the last Prophecy of the Old Dispensation, and the first of the New, and furnishes a kind of key to the evangelical interpretation of all prophecies. It is also a continual acknowledgment of the Communion of Saints under the two dispensations; for it praises God for the salvation which has been raised up for all ages out of the house of His servant David, and according to the ancient covenant which He made with Abraham (see Rom_4:11; Gal_3:29). Blunt, Annotated Prayer Book, p. 16.

the Lord God] Rather, the Lord, the God.

redeemed] Literally, “made a ransom for.” Tit_2:14.

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.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,.... This was a form of blessing of long standing, Psa 72:18 and very likely was in use, more or less, ever since Israel was distinguished from other nations, became a body politic, and were settled in the land of Canaan, in the enjoyment of peculiar privileges, both civil and religious; see other forms before it in Gen 9:26 and now, this was very near being antiquated, and out of date; for upon the birth of Christ, the Son of God manifest in the flesh, the New Testament form of blessing runs, as in Co2 1:3 The reason of its being now made use of might be, because the Messiah, the principal subject of this song, was peculiarly promised unto Israel, was raised up for them, and sent unto them. To bless God, is not to invoke a blessing on him; for there is none greater than he to ask one of; nor does he stand in need of any, being the Creator, who is blessed for ever in himself, and is the fountain of blessedness to his creatures: and therefore, also, cannot signify to confer a blessing on him, but to praise and glorify him, on account of the perfections of his nature, and the works of his hands; and to give thanks unto him for all mercies, spiritual and temporal; and especially for Jesus Christ, his mission, incarnation, and salvation by him, which are the things the God of Israel is blessed for in this song:

for he hath visited, and redeemed his people; as he did Israel of old, Exo 3:16 when the Lord looked upon them, and delivered them out of the bondage of Egypt, and which was a type and resemblance of redemption by Christ; and to which reference here seems to be had. The "people" here said to be visited, and redeemed, design all the elect of God, not only among the Jews, but Gentiles also; all those whom God has chosen to be his people, and has in his covenant taken and declared to be such; whom he has given to Christ, as his people and portion; for whose sins he was stricken, and made reconciliation, and whom he saves from their sins. The act of "visiting" them, as previous to redemption, may include God's look of love upon them from everlasting; his choice of them in Christ unto salvation; the appointment and provision of a Saviour for them; the covenant of grace made with them in Christ, the foundation and security of their salvation; and particularly the mission of Christ in human nature, in consequence of the council, covenant, and promise of God: or it designs his incarnation, for he was now actually conceived in the womb of the virgin: so that God had visited, and looked upon his people, and remembered his love and mercy, his covenant and promise to them: and the "redemption" of them, which was now said to be made, or done, because Christ was now sent to do it, and because it was as sure, as if it was done, intends the spiritual and eternal redemption of them by the price of his blood, from the slavery of sin, the bondage of the law, and curse of it, and the captivity of Satan, and a deliverance out of the hands of every enemy; a redemption which reaches both to soul and body, and secures from all condemnation and wrath to come; and includes every blessing in it, as justification, forgiveness of sins, adoption, sanctification, and eternal life; and is a plenteous, full, complete, and everlasting one.

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

68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

Ver. 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel] This is Hymnus Evangelicissimus, say both Bucer and Pellican. A most evangelical canticle.

Redeemed his people] From the wrath of God over them; the guilt and power of sin within them; from Satan and the punishment of sin without them.

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.

Blessed - See the notes at Mat 5:3.

Hath visited - The word here rendered “visited” means properly “to look upon;” then to look upon in order “to know the state of anyone;” then to visit for the purpose of “aiding those who need aid,” or alleviating misery. Compare Mat 25:43. In this sense it is used here. God “looked upon” the world - he saw it miserable - he came to relieve it, and brought salvation.

And redeemed - That is, was “about to redeem,” or had given the pledge that he “would redeem.” This was spoken under the belief that the Messiah, “the Redeemer,” was about to appear, and would certainly accomplish his work. The literal translation of this passage is, “He hath made a “ransom” for his people. A “ransom” was the “price” paid to deliver a captive taken in war. A is a prisoner taken in war by B. B has a right to detain him as a prisoner by the laws of war, but C offers B a “price” if he will release A and suffer him to go at liberty. The price which he pays, and which must be “satisfactory” to B - that is, be a “reason” to B why he should release him is called a “price” or “ransom.” Men are sinners. They are bound over to just punishment by the law. The law is holy, and God, as a just governor, must see that the law is honored and the wicked punished; but if anything can be done which will have the same “good effect” as the punishment of the sinner, or which will be an “equivalent” for it - that is, be of equal value to the universe - God may consistently release him.

If he can show the same hatred of sin, and deter others from sinning, and secure the purity of the sinner, the sinner may be released. Whatever will accomplish “this” is called a “ransom,” because it is, in the eye of God, a sufficient “reason” why the sinner should not be punished; it is an equivalent for his sufferings, and God is satisfied. The “blood of Jesus” - that is, his death in the place of sinners constitutes such a ransom. It is in their stead. It is for them. It is equivalent to their punishment. It is not itself a “punishment,” for that always supposes “personal crime,” but it is what God is pleased to accept in the place of the eternal sufferings of the sinner. The king of the “Locrians” made a law that an adulterer should be punished with the loss of his eyes. His “son” was the first offender, and the father decreed that his son should lose one eye, and he himself one also. This was the “ransom.” He showed his “love,” his regard for the honor of his law, and the determination that the guilty should not escape. So God gave his Son a “ransom” to show his love, his regard to justice, and his willingness to save people; and his Son, in his death, was a ransom. He is often so called in the New Testament, Mat 20:28; Mar 10:45; Tit 2:14; Heb 9:12. For a fuller view of the nature of a ransom, see the notes at Rom 3:24-25.

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

God is not the God of Israel only, but of all the nations of the earth also; but he is peculiarly called

the God of Israel, both here and in many other places, Psa 41:13; 72:18; Psa 106:48, &c., in regard of the covenant which he had specially made with them, and the special advantages they had, mentioned by the apostle; to them were committed the oracles of God, Rom 3:2; and to them pertained the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, Rom 9:4. Zacharias pronounces God blessed, and desires that he may be blessed, that is, honoured, and celebrated, and spoken well of, for that he had

visited and redeemed his people. The word may be extended to all God’s deliverances of Israel, but it seemeth to be here more specially restrained by what followeth to the redemption by Christ.

And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us. An horn of salvation signifies a mighty, powerful salvation, by a metaphor taken from beasts, which much exert their power by their horns. The beast’s ten horns, Dan 7:7, are expounded to be ten kings, Luk 1:24; so Psa 75:10, where David saith he will cut off all the horns of the wicked; so Lam 2:3, where God is said to have cut off all the horn of Israel. In the house of his servant David. This agreeth to the prophecy, Jer 30:9, where Christ is called David; They shall serve the Lord their God, and David their King, whom I will rise up unto them; who is also called a righteous Branch raised unto David, Jer 23:5. God is said to have raised up this horn of salvation in the house of David. The house of David was now down, lapsed and decayed. God promises to raise up to the Israelites a mighty salvation from the house of David. This was fulfilled in Christ.

As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began. All the prophets, or many of them at least, prophesied of Christ as the Son of David, and of a great salvation to be raised up to Israel from his house.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 68, 69. He hath visited and redeemed,... and hath raised up. The tenses of the verbs used in these expressions show that in Zacharias"s mind, when he uttered the words of his hymn, the Incarnation, and the glorious deliverance commenced in that stupendous act of mercy, belonged to the past. He hath visited; that is, after some four hundred years of silence and absence, the Holy One of Israel had again come to his people. About four centuries had passed since the voice of Malachi, the last of the prophets, had been heard. A horn of salvation. A metaphor not unknown in classical writings (see Ovid, "Art. Am:," 1:239; Her., "Od.," 3. 21. 18), and a much-used figure in Hebrew literature. (see, among other passages, Eze_29:21 Lam_2:3 Psa_132:17 1Sa_2:10) The reference is not to the horns of the altar, on which criminals seeking sanctuary used to lay hold; nor to the horns with which warriors used to adorn their helmets; but to the horns of a bull in which the chief power of this animal resides. This was a figure especially familiar among an agricultural folk like the Israelites. "A rabbinic writer says that there are ten horns those of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the horn of the Law, of the priesthood, of the temple, and of Israel, and some add of the Messiah. They were all placed on the heads of the Israelites till they sinned, and then they were cut off" and given to the Gentiles" (Schottgen, "Hor. Hebr.," quoted by Dr. Farrar). In the house of his servant David. Clearly Zacharias looked on Mary, as the angel had done (verse 32), as belonging to the royal house of David.

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

redeemed

(See Scofield "Rom 3:24")

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

ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION THE CENTRAL TRUTH OF THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT

68-75. “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, because he hath interposed and wrought redemption for His people, and raised up a horn of salvation to His people in the house of David His son, as He spoke through the mouth of His holy prophets from the beginning, and from the hand of all who hate us, to extend mercy with our father, and remember His holy covenant, which He swore unto Abraham our father: to grant unto us, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, to serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, in His presence, all the days of our life.” The Abrahamic covenant is primary in the movement of God’s mercy in behalf of fallen humanity, and fundamental in the redemptive scheme. This follows a logical sequence, from its identity with the covenant which God made with Christ to redeem the world by His expiatory death. (Gal 3:16.) Hence the covenant with Abraham was no de novo transaction, but a simple reiteration of the covenant of redemption entered into, in the councils of the Uncreated Three, before sin ever entered into this world; as God, forseeing the catastrophe, provided the remedy. It was pertinent, in order to its recognition and appropriation by the human race, that this covenant should be reiterated with Abraham, or some other suitable representative of the human race. In this peculiar representative sense, Abraham is the father of all the faithful, from the simple fact that there is no salvation outside the redemption covenant, of which he is the representative, participant, human defender, and exponent; i.e., Abraham is honored by the Almighty as the recipient of the great covenant of human redemption by His Son, and also the paternal representative of this covenant to the whole human race. Therefore, all who have true faith, in all ages and nations, are honored with a place in the Abrahamic paternity. (Gal 3:7.) Now if we can ascertain the condition of membership in this covenant, we certainly have found out the sure way of salvation. Those conditions and promises are clearly and unmistakably specified in the above Scriptures. Pursuant to this covenant, God promises that, “being delivered out of the hands of our enemies [i.e., all spiritual foes, men and devils without, and evil tempers, unholy passions, vicious appetites, and all the debris of the carnal mind within — i.e., being truly sanctified wholly] we shall serve Him in righteousness and holiness all our days.” Whereas sanctification is the work of the Spirit, by which we are made holy, holiness is the state which supervenes in the heart and life as the result of sanctification. Hence, you see that the only stipulation of the Abrahamic covenant, by which the world is to be saved, is, that we get sanctified wholly, and abide in the same throughout probationary life. The prerequisite of admission into heaven is a state of holiness, resulting from the utter eradication of all sin, actual and original, God positively assuring us that we shall never see His face without this gracious attainment. (Heb 12:14.) Hence, we find perfect harmony throughout the Bible, setting forth holiness as the one condition indispensable to admission into heaven. Life in this world is probationary, giving us all time and opportunity to become sanctified, by the blessed and direct office of the Holy Spirit, applying the redeeming blood and washing away all unrighteousness from our spiritual natures, thus rendering our hearts pure and holy. We see here that this is clearly and unequivocally promised in the Abrahamic covenant. Not only the grace of perfect deliverances — i.e., entire sanctification — but grace to “serve Him, in holiness and righteousness, in His presence, all our days;” i.e., His wonderful keeping power, by His Word, Spirit, and providence, enabling us to keep this holy covenant amid the temptations of this wicked world, thus illustrating to men, angels, and devils our adaptation to the heavenly state, and congeniality to angels unfallen and spirits redeemed. This we are to do here, “in His presence;” i.e., God Himself is our Judge, His omniscient eye seeing all of our thoughts, inclinations, and intentions, His infallible ear hearing all the inaudible utterances of our spirit. What a wonderful responsibility is involved in probationary life! Yet the illimitable resources of Omnipotent Grace are abundantly sufficient to qualify all true hearts for these momentous ordeals; and thus fortified by His precious and infallible Word, illuminated and guided by His blessed Holy Spirit, and environed by His merciful providence, like a wall of fire around us by day and by night, there is a blessed possibility that we may live on earth as safe as in heaven. Glory to God for His unspeakable mercies and superabounding grace!

76-79. “And thou shalt be called the prophet of the Highest.” Things in the Divine order are called what they are. John is not only a prophet, but the greatest of all the prophets, and even the honored harbinger of Jesus: “Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways.” The burden of John’s preaching was repentance, which is fundamental in the plan of salvation. The reason why people are not saved is because they do not receive Jesus; the reason they can not receive Jesus is because they do not repent. John cried constantly, with stentorian Voice, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The King had the kingdom, into which none could enter unless he came by the only door — i.e., repentance; in order to give a knowledge of salvation to His people through the remission of their sins, through the bowels of the mercy of our God. The Jews were the people of God — His by election to the progenitorship of Christ. To them, first, experimental salvation was offered. Many of the Gentiles are the elect of grace, foreknown of God. To them, in the second place, salvation was offered. God knows His own, whether Jews or Gentiles, and reveals to them a knowledge of their own salvation through the remission of sins, in which the “day-spring from on high” has looked down upon us. The wonderful mercy of God in Christ is a day-spring from heaven: “To appear unto those sitting down in darkness and the shadow of death.” The whole world down, easy, careless, and unconcerned, in spiritual darkness, and in the shadow of that dismal night of hopeless, eternal doom, while hell-hounds, bloodthirsty, are on their track, roaring for their prey. “In order to direct our feet in the way of peace:” Instead of sitting down in a careless attitude, we should be up and running for life. The glorious grace of God is here contrasted with the terrible bloody wars raging in the unregenerate heart, and destined to dump us amid the merciless devastations of infuriated devils through all eternity, unless, amid the fleeting opportunities of probationary grace, we may happily exchange the horrific fears of sin and devils for the peace of God in Christ, which is heaven begun in the soul.

80. “The child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and is in the wilderness unto the day of his showing unto Israel.” As a rule, children grow in sin as they increase in physical power. As John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost from his infancy, his spiritual growth and development kept pace with the physical. Jutta, the place of his birth, is not far from the wilderness of Judea. During the slaughter of the infants at Bethlehem, Zacharias and Elizabeth migrated into this wilderness, in order to protect their son from the cruelties of Herod. They return no more to Jutta, but abode in the wilderness the thirty years of John’s minority, and doubtless to the end of their lives; consequently, John enjoyed the signal blessing of an humble, retired home with the poor people of the wilderness. If you have an intimation from the Lord that there is a child of peculiar promise in your home, you should, by all means, get away from the hon tons of society, find a sequested retreat among the poor, where you can bring up your children uncontaminated with the popular and fashionable vices and follies. The Essenes — i.e., the holiness people of the Jewish Church — who are generally poor, abode in the desert; hence, John was fortunate to enjoy their influence during the thirty years of his childhood and youth. Thus he studied in God’s theological college — i.e., the sandy desert where Moses spent forty years preparatory for the leadership of Israel, winding up with the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, as revealed in the burning bush. Brush College sends out brighter and better graduates than all of the metropolitan universities.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

68–75. A horn of salvation.

An allusion to the Savior. The horn was a symbol of power.

As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets. “Of him have all the prophets borne witness.” “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” “The whole volume of Scripture did prophesy of him. He was the sum and scope of all their predictions. He was Abraham's promised seed, Abraham's Isaac, Jacob's Shiloh, Moses' Great Prophet, Esaias' Immanuel, Ezekiel's Shepherd, Daniel's Holy One, Zechariah's Branch, Malachi's Angel; all of them predictions to foretell his coming. All their types and ceremonies pointed at him. He was Abel's Sacrifice, Noah's Dove, Abraham's First Fruits, Aaron's Rod, the Israelites' Rock, the Patriarchs' Manna, David's Tabernacle, Solomon's Temple; all these prefigured his incarnation. They were the folds and swathing of the this babe Jesus.”—Bishop Brownrig.

From our enemies. The priest is, at the same time the patriot in the best sense of the term, deeply moved by the sight of Roman tyranny.

The oath. This oath is recorded in Gen. 22:16, 17. It was an oath in which God swore by himself, because he could swear by no greater (Heb. 6:13, 14), that he would surely bless Abraham and his posterity; that promise was now to be entirely fulfilled by the coming of the Messiah.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

68. Εὐλογητός. This hymn of praise is hence called the BENEDICTUS. It is expressed (as was natural) almost exclusively in the language of ancient prophecy, Psa 98:3; Psa 105:8-9; Psa 132:17; Isa 9:2; Isa 40:3; Eze 16:60, &c. It has been in use in Christian worship perhaps as far back as the days of St Benedict in the sixth century, and it was early recognised that it is the last Prophecy of the Old Dispensation, and the first of the New, and furnishes a kind of key to the evangelical interpretation of all prophecies. It is also a continual acknowledgement of the Communion of Saints under the two dispensations; for it praises God for the salvation which has been raised up for all ages out of the house of His servant David, and according to the ancient covenant which He made with Abraham (see Rom 4:11; Gal 3:29). Blunt, Annotated Prayer-Book, p. 16.

κύριος ὁ θεός. ‘The Lord (= Jehovah), the God of Israel.’

ἐποίησεν λύτρωσιν. Literally, “made a ransom for.” Tit 2:14.

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.

68-79.] This Hymn of thanksgiving appears to have been uttered at the time of the circumcision of the child (in which case the matters related in vv. 65, 66 are parenthetical and anticipatory)—and, as the Magnificat, under the immediate influence of inspiration of the Holy Ghost. It is entirely Hebrew in its cast and idioms, and might be rendered in that language almost word for word. It serves, besides its own immediate interest to every Christian, to shew to us the exact religious view under which John was educated by his father. “It may be well for the student to read the beginning of this and the following chapter in Hebrew, in which they have been published in translations of the N.T. and in the Book of Common Prayer rendered into that language.” Wordsw.

68.] After ἐπεσκέψατο (for Hebraistic sense of which see reff.) must be understood, as an object, τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, contained in the following dative.

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

68. Εὐλογητὸς κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Not ἐστίν but εἴη is to be supplied. The line is verbatim as Ps. 41:14, Psa 72:18, Psa 106:48, excepting that in LXX τοῦ is omitted. In N.T. εὐλογητός is used of God, but never of men: see on ver. 42. In LXX there are a few exceptions: Deu 7:14; Rth 2:20; 1Sa 15:13, 1Sa 25:33.

ἐπεσκέψατο καὶ ἐποίσεν λύτρωσιν τῷ λαῷ αὐτοῦ. Here, as in Ecclus. 32:17, an acc. is to be supplied after ἐπεσκέψατο; there τὸν ταπεινόν, here τὸν λαόν. See on 7:16. Excepting Heb 2:6, where it is a quotation from Psa 8:5, this verb is used in the Hebrew sense (Exo 4:31) of Divine visitation by Lk. alone in N.T. Comp. Ps. Sol. 3:14. No doubt λύτρωσιν has reference to political redemption (ver. 71), but accompanied by and based upon a moral and spiritual reformation (vv. 75, 77). Comp. Psa 129:7.

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