Luke 1:51-53

A much more strongly marked poetical parallelism characterizes this strophe. Mary here describes with a thrill of emotion, of which even her language partakes, the great Messianic revolution, the commencement of which she was beholding at that very time. In the choice God had made of two persons of such humble condition in life as herself and her cousin, she saw at a glance the great principle which would regulate the impending renewal of all things. It is to be a complete reversal of the human notions of greatness and meanness.

The poor and the hungry are evidently the Israelites fearing God of Luke 1:50. Such expressions cannot apply to Israel as a whole to the proud Pharisees and rich Sadducees, for example. The line of demarcation which she draws in these words passes, therefore, not between the Jews and Gentiles, but between the pious Israelites and all that exalt themselves against God, whether in or beyond Israel. The proud, the mighty, and the rich, denote Herod and his court, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, as well as the foreign oppressors, Caesar and his armies, and all the powers of heathendom. The aorists of these three verses indicate, according to Bleek, the repetition of the act; so he translates them by the present. I rather think that to Mary's eyes the catastrophe presents itself as already consummated in the act which God had just accomplished. Does not this act contain the principle of the rejection of all that is exalted in the world, and of the choice of whatever in human estimation is brought low? All these divine acts which are about to follow, one after another, will only be a further application of the same principle. They are virtually contained in that which Mary celebrates. Consequently the aorists are properly translated by the past.

The first proposition of Luke 1:51 applies to the righteous and wicked alike. Still the former of these two applications predominates (Luke 1:50). The arm is the symbol of force. The expression ποιεῖν κράτος, to make strength, is a Hebraism, עשָׂה † ָחיִל ׃ ¢ (ֹ Psa 118:15). The LXX. translate it by ποιεῖν δύναμιν. If it was Luke who translated the Hebrew document into Greek, it is evident that he kept his version independent of the LXX.

The favour God shows to the righteous has its necessary counterpart in the overthrow of the wicked. This is the connection of the second proposition. The expression ὑπερηφάνους διανοίᾳ, proud in thought, answers to לֵב £ בּירֵי ¢ אַ (ִ Psa 76:6); the LXX. translate this expression by ἀσύνετοι τῇ καρδίᾳ. The dative διανοίᾳ defines the adjective: “the proud in thought, who exalt themselves in their thoughts.” Mary represents all these as forming an opposing host to men that fear God; hence the expression scatter. With the reading διανοίας, ὑπερηφάνους is the epithet of the substantive, proud thoughts. This reading is evidently a mistake.