Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost . The Holy Spirit—that Spirit of prophecy, so often mentioned in the Old Testament—seizes her, and she salutes her young kinswoman, Mary, as the mother of the coming Messiah. read more
And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women (see 5:24 ). The words which clothed the thoughts in these ecstatic expressions of intense joy and thankfulness on the part of the two favored women, Mary and Elisabeth, are in great measure drawn from hymn and song contained in the Old Testament Scriptures. The song of Hannah, the hymn of Deborah, many of the psalms, the songs of the Canticles, the more glorious of the prophetic utterances, had been ever familiar... read more
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost - The meaning of this seems to be that she was filled with joy; with a disposition to praise God; with a prophetic spirit, or a knowledge of the character of the child that should be born of her. All these were produced by the Holy Spirit. read more
Blessed art thou among women - She here repeated nearly the words of the angel to Mary, esteeming it to be the highest honor among mothers to be the mother of the Messiah. See the notes at Luke 1:28. read more
Luke 1:39-45. Mary arose in those days That is, soon after the time that she had received the extraordinary message mentioned above; and went into the hill-country Where Elisabeth dwelt, although it was at least seventy miles distant from Nazareth. It is probable she was eager to know the certainty of her cousin’s pregnancy, which the angel had mentioned, to show her the possibility of her own. Into a city of Juda Probably Hebron, which belonged to the house of Aaron, and was situated... read more
4. Mary visits Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-56)With the time drawing near when Elizabeth would give birth, Mary travelled south to visit her. The honour that Elizabeth gave to Mary at their meeting was symbolic of the honour that John would give to Jesus (Luke 1:39-45).Mary’s song of praise reflects her total submission and deep gratitude to God for what he was doing through her. The song (sometimes called the ‘Magnificat’, from the opening words in the Latin version) has many similarities to the song... read more
leaped. Greek. skirtao. Only used in N.T. here, Luke 1:44 , and Luke 6:23 . Compare Genesis 25:22 . Septuagint has the same word. read more
spake out = cried out. Greek. anaphoneo . Occurs only here. A medical word. See Colossians 4:14 . read more
And she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.One may only be astounded at the declaration to the effect that "Elizabeth's exclamation was not unlike uncontrollable ecstatic behavior"![31] Indeed! Indeed! Where is there any evidence of any such thing as that? The loud cry of Elizabeth could have been nothing else except a shout of joy; and, as for the notion that her actions were uncontrollable, such a view is refuted... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 1:39-56
Inspirations amid the hills of Judaea. We already have seen the angel suggesting to Mary the propriety of visiting Elisabeth. We may reasonably believe that she had no mother at this time to whom she could communicate her mighty secret, and that Elisabeth is the most likely person from whom to get the sympathy she now required. For the four days' journey from Nazareth to the priest's city in the south she would need some preparation; but she made her arrangements promptly, going" with... read more