Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 1:41
And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
41. leaped ] The same word is applied to unborn babes in Gen 25:22, LXX.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 41. Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.] This seems to have been the accomplishment of the promise made by the angel, Lu 1:15, He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. The mother is filled with the Holy Spirit, and the child in her womb becomes sensible of the Divine influence.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The motion of the child in the womb of the mother after her time of quickening is past, and the more than ordinary motion of it upon some extraordinary cause of joy, is no unusual thing with women in those circumstances; but doubtless as this motion was more than ordinary, so it had a more than ordinary cause, being caused from the Holy Spirit of God, and so the best interpreters judge: what is afterward said of Elisabeth, that she
was filled with the Holy Ghost, is expounded in the next words, wherein she prophesieth, of the Spirit of prophecy.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
41. babe leapedFrom Lu1:44 it is plain that this maternal sensation was somethingextraordinarya sympathetic emotion of the unconscious babe, at thepresence of the mother of his Lord.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass that when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary,…. Which might be before she saw her, and at some little distance from her:
the babe leaped in her womb: which motion was not natural, but supernatural; being made at hearing the voice of Mary, who had now conceived the Messiah, whose forerunner this babe, John the Baptist, was to be; and who, by this motion, gave the first notice of his conception, which his mother Elisabeth took from hence; as he afterwards pointed him out by his finger, and by his baptism made him manifest to Israel:
and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost not with the ordinary graces of the Spirit, for these she had been filled with before, but with extraordinary gifts, with a spirit of prophecy; by which she knew that the Messiah was conceived, and that Mary was the mother of her Lord; that many things had been told her; that she had believed them; and there would be a performance of them; and perhaps it was at this time that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost also; see Lu 1:15.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Leaped (). A common enough incident with unborn children (Ge 25:22), but Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit to understand what had happened to Mary.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The babe [ ] . See on 1Pe 2:2.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And it came to pass,” (kai egeneto) “And it occurred,” or happened.
2) “That when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary,” (hos ekousen ton aspasmon tes Marias he Elisabet) “That when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary,” the account of the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary of the coming birth of the Son of God, the Messiah to her.
3) “The babe leaped in her womb;” (eskiptesen to brephos en te koilia autes) “The babe leaped in her womb,” like it had never leaped before, with elation, or joy and gladness, Luk 1:44. This was something like Elizabeth had never experienced before.
4) “And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:” (kai eplesthe pneumatos hagiou he Elisabet) “And Elizabeth was filled with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit.” It appears that she felt her babe, John the Baptist, had empathized with her elation when he heard of the coming birth of the Son of God, of whom he was to be a forerunner, Act 6:3; Eph 5:18. It was by this Holy Spirit that she gave the grand salutation that follows.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
41. When Elisabeth heard It is natural that sudden joy, on the part of a pregnant woman, should cause a motion of the child in her womb; but Luke intended to express an extraordinary occurrence. No good purpose would be served by involving ourselves in intricate questions, if the child was aware of the presence of Christ, or felt an emotion of piety: it is enough for us that the babe started by a secret movement of the Spirit. Luke does not say that the feeling belonged to the child, but rather intimates that this part of the Divine operation took place in the mother herself, that the babe started in her womb The expression, she was filled with the Holy Ghost, means that she was suddenly endued with the gift of prophecy to an unusual extent: for the gifts of the Spirit had not formerly been wanting in her, but their power then appeared more abundant and extraordinary.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(41) The salutation of Mary.The words of the greeting were, we may believe, the usual formula, Peace be with thee, or The Lord be with thee, possibly united with some special words of gratulation on what she had heard from the angel.
Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.What had been predicted of the Child (Luk. 1:15) was now fulfilled ex abundanti in the mother. The fact related, so far as we look to human sources of information, must obviously have come to St. Luke, directly or indirectly, from the Virgin herself.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
41. Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost It would seem that the pure and blessed Spirit rested divinely upon the person of the future mother of the Messiah; and her voice became, as it were, the conductor by the blessed sympathy of that spirit to the body, soul, and spirit of the future mother of the Baptist. Hence the words that Elisabeth now uttered were impregnated with inspiration, and she was enabled to address Mary with prophetic words.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And it came about that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb,’
When Elisabeth heard Mary’s voice, and her greeting, she was aware of an unusual movement within her. It was as though the babe leapt in her womb. He was ‘filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb’ (Luk 1:15), and even now discerned the one who was to be God’s instrument in bringing the Son of God into the world. And Elisabeth was at that moment filled with exaltation in the Spirit and herself spoke inspired words.
For this compare Gen 25:22 where the movement of the babies within was seen as a struggle for supremacy. In this case Elisabeth knew from her husband and his experience that the Messiah was coming, knew something of Mary’s strange experience, and therefore recognised the significance of the movement within her.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘And Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said,’
As a result of a temporary ‘filling (pimplemi) with the Holy Spirit’ Elisabeth became a temporary prophetess. Note the ‘loud cry’ which was evidence of her emotions. She was speaking because she was greatly stirred.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 1:41 . . . .] the greeting of Mary . See Luk 1:40 ; Luk 1:44 . This greeting on the part of Mary (not the communication of the angelic announcement, Luk 1:26 ff., as Kuinoel and others import) caused the leaping of the child (comp. Gen 25:22 ), and that as an exulting expression of the joy of the latter (Luk 1:44 ; Luk 6:23 ) at the presence of the Messiah [30] now in the womb of His mother. Elizabeth immediately through the Holy Spirit recognises the cause of the leaping. Comp. Hofmann, Weissag. u. Erfll. II. p. 251 f. Calvin, Michaelis, Paulus, Olshausen, and many others reverse the matter, holding that the mental agitation of the mother had operated on the child (comp. also Lange, II. 1, p. 86), and that this circumstance had only afterwards, Luk 1:44 , become significant to the mother. Analogous to the conception in our passage is Sohar Ex. f. xxiii. 91 f., xxv. 99: “Omnes Israelitae ad mare rubrum plus viderunt quam Ezechiel propheta; imo etiam embryones, qui in utero matris erant, viderunt id, et Deum S. B. celebrarunt .” A symbolical significance, expressive, namely, of the thought, that at the appearance of a higher Spirit the ideas that lie still unborn in the womb of the spirit of the world and of the people are quickened (Weisse), is foreign to the narrative, a modern abstraction.
[30] Older Lutherans (see Calovius) have wrongly used this passage as a proof of the fides infantum . There is, in fact, here something unique in character and miraculous. The child of Elizabeth has already in the womb the Holy Spirit, ver. 15.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
Ver. 41. The babe leaped in her womb ] Such comfort there is in the presence of Christ (though but in the womb) as it made John to spring. What then shall it be in heaven, think we?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
41. ] The salutation uttered by Elisabeth is clearly implied to have been an inspiration of the Holy Spirit . No intimation had been made to her of the situation of Mary. The movement of the babe in her womb (possibly for the first time: vel nunc primum, vel saltem vehementius, quam pro more , Lightf.) was part of the effect of the same spiritual influence. The known mysterious effects of sympathy in such cases, at least lead us to believe that there may be corresponding effects where the causes are of a kind beyond our common experience .
. ., not ‘ the salutation of Mary (the Annunciation),’ but Mary’s salutation: the former construction is not according to Luke’s usage.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 1:41 . : commentators discuss the connection between the maternal excitement and the quickening of the child which was cause and which effect. Let this and all other questions in reference to the movement denoted be passed over in respectful silence.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
leaped. Greek. skirtao. Only used in N.T. here, Luk 1:44, and Luk 6:23. Compare Gen 25:22. Septuagint has the same word.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
41.] The salutation uttered by Elisabeth is clearly implied to have been an inspiration of the Holy Spirit. No intimation had been made to her of the situation of Mary. The movement of the babe in her womb (possibly for the first time: vel nunc primum, vel saltem vehementius, quam pro more, Lightf.) was part of the effect of the same spiritual influence. The known mysterious effects of sympathy in such cases, at least lead us to believe that there may be corresponding effects where the causes are of a kind beyond our common experience.
. ., not the salutation of Mary (the Annunciation), but Marys salutation: the former construction is not according to Lukes usage.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 1:41. , and was filled) The spiritual motions [and emotions] of the embryo and of the mother were conjoined: Luk 1:15.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the babe: Luk 1:15, Luk 1:44, Gen 25:22, Psa 22:10
was: Luk 1:67, Luk 4:1, Act 2:4, Act 4:8, Act 6:3, Act 7:55, Eph 5:18, Rev 1:10
Reciprocal: 2Ki 22:14 – prophetess 2Ch 34:22 – the prophetess Jer 1:5 – and before Luk 2:25 – Holy Ghost Luk 6:23 – leap Joh 14:26 – Holy Ghost
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
It is usual for an unborn babe at that period to manifest a movement of life, but this was a miraculous instance since it not merely moved but leaped. Besides, it occurred as an immediate result of the voice of Mary acting through the ears of Elizabeth. The explanation is in the closing sentence, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
[The babe leaped in her womb.] So the Seventy, Gen 25:22; the children leaped in her womb. Psa 114:4; the mountains skipped. That which is added by Elizabeth, Luk 1:44; the babe leaped in the womb for joy; signifies the manner of the thing, not the cause: q.d. it leaped with vehement exultation. For John, while he was an embryo in the womb, knew no more what was then done, than Jacob and Esau when they were in Rebekah’s womb knew what was determined concerning them.
“At the Red Sea, even the infants sang in the wombs of their mothers”; as it is said, from the fountain of Israel Psa 68:26; where the Targum, to the same sense, “Exalt the Lord ye infants in the bowels of your mothers; of the seed of Israel.” Let them enjoy their hyperboles.
Questionless, Elizabeth had learned from her husband that the child she went with was designed as the forerunner of the Messiah, but she did not yet know of what sort of woman the Messiah must be born till this leaping of the infant in her womb became some token to her.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 1:41. The salutation of Mary, i.e., Marys salutation as she entered. It does not mean the salutation of the angel Gabriel now told to Elisabeth by Mary.
The babe leaped in her womb. Possibly for the first time. This movement of the babe was evidently regarded by the Evangelist and by Elisabeth, as something extraordinary, as a recognition of the unborn Messiah on the part of the unborn babe (Luk 1:44).
Filled with the Holy Ghost. The order suggests that the movement of the babe came first, and that this influence of the Holy Spirit coming upon Elisabeth enabled her to recognize its meaning. Others think that Elisabeth was first influenced, and that the movement of the babe was sympathetic and almost simultaneous. The whole occurrence transcends ordinary rules. The promise respecting John (Luk 1:15) implies that the unborn infant would be the first to recognize the Lord (even before His birth).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe {o} leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
(o) This was no ordinary or usual type of moving.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Elizabeth was then at least six months pregnant (Luk 1:36). She regarded the fact that John "leaped" in her womb as an indication of his joy that Mary, who would bear the Messiah, had come for a visit. The Holy Spirit also came upon Elizabeth then enabling her to greet Mary as the mother of Messiah. The Spirit evidently gave her intuitive or revelatory understanding of Mary’s role. She uttered her benedictions loudly in joyful praise to God and because of the Spirit’s impelling. "Blessed" means specially privileged because of God’s favor. She evidently meant that Mary was the most blessed among women. She was most blessed because her Son would be most blessed among all people. "Fruit of the womb" is an old figure of speech for a child (cf. Gen 30:2; Deu 28:4).