From the general thanksgiving for Divine mercy the song turns to the special cause of gladness afforded by the birth of John. σὺ, παιδίον : this address supposes the Baptist to be still a child, and all that is said of him is a prophetic forecast of the future, in literary form. ὑψίστου : once more, for God. In the circle which produced this hymn, and these early records, the idea of Divine transcendency characteristic of later Judaism seems to have prevailed.

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Old Testament