Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 1:54
He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of [his] mercy;
54. hath holpen ] Literally, “took by the hand.” Isa 41:8-9, LXX. The proper punctuation of the following words is to remember His mercy ( even as He spake to ( ) our fathers) to ( ) Abraham and his seed for ever. Mic 7:20, “Thou wilt perform the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” Gal 3:16, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hath holpen – Hath helped or assisted. The word rendered holpen denotes properly, to take hold of one, to help him up when he is in danger of falling, and here means that God had succored his people when they were feeble, and were in danger of falling or being overthrown.
His servant Israel – His people the Israelites, or those who truly revered him and kept His commandments. See Isa 41:8-9; Hos 11:1.
In remembrance of his mercy – Or that His mercy may be remembered.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 54. He hath holpen [supported, ] his servant Israel] Israel is here represented as falling, and the Lord comes speedily in and props him up. The house of David was now ready to fall and rise no more; Jesus, being born of the very last branch of the regal line, revived the family, and restored the dominion.
In remembrance of his mercy] By mercy, the covenant which God made with Abraham, Ge 15:18, is intended; which covenant proceeded from God’s eternal mercy, as in it salvation was promised to all the nations of the earth. See Ge 17:19, and Ge 22:18, and this promise was, in one form or other, given to all the fathers, Lu 1:55.
This song properly consists of three parts.
1. In the first part Mary praises God for what he had done for herself, Lu 1:46-50.
2. In the second, she praises him for what he had done, and would do, against the oppressors of his people, Lu 1:51-53.
3. In the third, she praises him for what he had done, and would do, for his Church, Lu 1:53-56.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In these verses the blessed virgin celebrates Gods mercy together with his truth, withal she hath here a respect to Gods particular goodness and mercy in the sending of the Redeemer. The word which we here translate
hath holpen, signifieth he hath sustained, or as it were lifted up with his hand,
his servant Israel, or his child Israel. He calleth Ephraim his dear son, his pleasant child, Jer 31:20; but by Israel he meaneth believers, those of Abrahams seed that lived in the faith, hope, and expectation of the Messiah; the children of the promise, Rom 9:8; those who are Jews inwardly, Rom 2:29; the true circumcision, Phi 3:3; Israelites indeed, Joh 1:47. This, she saith, God had done, not in remembrance of their merits, but his own mercy, Eze 36:32; of his own free goodness and mercy, and in the fulfilling of his promise made to Abraham, Gen 17:15; the extent of which promise is declared Rom 9:6-9; and that seed of Abraham, his seed as the father of the faithful, shall be for ever, and the virtue of the promise shall hold to them for ever.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
54. holpenCompare Ps89:19, “I have laid help on One that is mighty.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He hath holpen his servant Israel,…. Meaning, not the natural posterity of Jacob, or Israel in general, but the elect of God among them; for all were not Israel, who were of Israel; and not them only, but also the chosen ones among the Gentiles; who, with the former, make up the whole Israel of God, in a spiritual and mystical sense: these are the Israel, God has chosen, redeemed, and calls by his grace, and are here styled his “servant”, as Israel is frequently called, Isa 41:8. The word signifies a “child”, as well as a “servant”: and may design, either the weak and helpless condition God’s elect are in by nature, which calls for, and requires divine help and assistance; or the relation they stand in to him, being his adopted children, and which is the reason of his helping them: and which signifies to take them by the hand, and lift them up, and support and uphold them; and supposes them to have been fallen down, and unable to raise themselves up; but God having laid help for them on one that is mighty, sent him to take upon him their nature; and by obeying, suffering, and dying for them, to help them out of their state of sin and misery; and to uphold them with the right hand of his righteousness, and bring them safe to glory; and all this,
in remembrance of his mercy; which he had in his heart towards them, and had promised in his covenant to them: the mercy of God, is the spring and source of redemption; mercy provided a Redeemer, and a ransom; and it is owing to it, that the Redeemer came; and he, in his love and pity, performed the work: and therefore salvation is to be ascribed, not to works of righteousness done by men, but to the abundant mercy of God our Saviour.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Hath holpen (). Second aorist middle indicative. A very common verb. It means to lay hold of with a view to help or succour.
Servant (). Here it means “servant,” not “son” or “child,” its usual meaning.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Hath holpen [] . The verb means to lay hold on : thence to grasp helpfully or to help. To lay hold in the sense of partaking (1Ti 6:2), carries us back to the primitive meaning of the word according to its composition : to receive instead of, or in return [] , and suggests the old phrase to take up for, espouse the cause of. Wyc., has took up, but probably not in this sense.
Servant [] . Often child, son or daughter, but here servant, in allusion to Isa 41:8. Meyer truthfully says that the theocratic notion of sonship is never expressed by paiv. See Rev., Act 3:13, 26; Act 4:27, 30.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “He hath holpen his servant Israel,” (antelabeto Israel paidos autou) “He helped his servant Israel,” laid hold with a view to help, sustained, aided, succoured her (Israel) even in choosing Mary of “low-estate,” to be the mother (virgin mother) of the Redeemer, who might redeem all Israel, even his own mother, Mary, who was His servant and His hand maid, Luk 1:38; 1Ti 2:15.
2) “In remembrance of his mercy;” (mnesthenai eleous) “To remember mercy to her, continually,” in faithful remembrance of His covenant of mercy, Gen 17:7-8; Psa 98:3; Jer 31:3; Jer 31:20; Psa 103:11; Psa 145:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
54. He hath lifted up his servant Israel In this last clause the general statements are applied by Mary to the present occasion. The meaning is, God has now granted the salvation which he had formerly promised to the holy fathers. And first, the verb ἀντιλαμζάνεσθαι , to lift up, contains an elegant metaphor: (61) for the state of the nation was so fallen, that its entire restoration could not be expected on ordinary principles. And then God is said to have lifted up Israel, because he stretched out his hand, and lifted him up when lying prostrate. Religion had been polluted in innumerable ways. The public instruction retained almost nothing pure. The government of the Church was in the greatest confusion, and breathed nothing but shocking barbarity. The order of civil society no longer subsisted. The great body of the people were torn like wild beasts by the Romans and Herod. So much the more glorious was the restoration, which a state of affairs so desperate did not allow them to expect. Παιδὸς may here be taken either for child or for servant: but the latter signification is more appropriate. Israel is called, in this as in many other places, the servant of God, because he had been received into the family of God.
So as to be mindful Mary assigns the reason why the nation, when verging to ruin, was received by God; or rather, why God lifted it up when already fallen. It was to give an illustration of his mercy in its preservation. She expressly mentions that God had remembered his mercy, which he might appear in some sort to have forgotten, when he permitted his people to be so fearfully distressed and afflicted. It is customary to ascribe affections to God, as men conclude from the event itself, that he is offended with them, or that he is reconciled. Now, as the human mind forms no conception of the divine mercy, except so far as it is presented and declared in his own word, Mary directs her own attention and that of others to the promises, (62) and shows that, in the accomplishment of them, God has been true and faithful. In this sense, Scripture makes frequent mention of God’s mercy and truth, (Mic 7:20😉 because we shall never be convinced of his fatherly kindness toward us, unless his word, by which he hath bound himself to us, be present to our recollection, and unless it occupy, as it were, an interterm is here, as at Act 20:35, and often in the classical writers, used metaphorically in the sense of to protect, support.” — Bloomfield. mediate position between us, to link the goodness of God with our own individual salvation. By these words Mary shows, that the covenant which God had made with the fathers was of free grace; for she traces the salvation promised in it to the fountain of unmixed mercy Hence too we infer, that she was well acquainted with the doctrine of Scripture. The expectation of the Messiah was at that time, indeed, very general, but few had their faith established on so pure a knowledge of Scripture.
(61) “ ᾿Αντιλαμβάνεσθαι , denotes properly to lay hold of any thing, or person, by the hand, in order to support it when it is likely to fall; but the
(62) “ Marie se propose les promesses, et nous ramene tous a la consideration d’icelles.” — “Mary presents to herself the promises, and leads us all to the consideration of them.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(54) He hath holpen his servant Israel.Up to this point the hymn has been one of personal thanks-giving. Now we find that all the soul of the maiden of Nazareth is with her people. Her joy in the great things which God has done for her rests on the fact that they are great things for Israel also. The word which she uses for her people is that which expresses their relation to God as the servant of Jehovah, who is prominent in the later chapters of Isaiah, and is in Isa. 41:8 identified with the nation, as elsewhere with the nations Head (Isa. 42:1). One may see in the utterance of this hope already seen as realised, an indication of the early date of the hymn. At the time when St. Luke wrote, the rejection, not the restoration of Israel, was the dominant thought in mens minds.
In remembrance.Literally, in order to remember. He helped Israel, as with the purpose to prove Himself not unmindful of His promised mercy.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
III. So God shall exalt his humble Israel.
54, 55. And this law of wondrous vicissitudes and reverses is now accruing to the behalf of Israel. Sad has been his humiliation; from a high to a low estate has he been brought; but the time of his re-exaltation has now arrived, and the old Abrahamic covenant is now come to its fulfilment.
Holpen Old English for helped.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Luk 1:54-55. He hath holpen ‘, here translated He hath holpen, signifies properly “supporting a thing that is falling, by taking hold of it on the falling side.” The virgin’s meaning therefore was, that God had now remarkably supported the Jewish nation, andhindered it from utterly falling, by raising up the Messiah among them, the matchless renown of whose undertaking would reflect infinite honour on the nation which gave him birth. Or rather, by his servant Israel, she meant, or at least the Holy Ghost meant, all those who are spiritually so called. It is indeed in remembrance of his mercy. When men remember things which they want to perform, they commonly perform them, if no object lies in their way. For some such reason as this, the Scriptures say that God remembers his attributes, when he exerts them in a signal manner; and his promises, when he fulfils them in spite of all opposition. So he is said to forget a thing, when he acts outwardly as men do when they have forgotten; yet, properly speaking, forgetting and remembering are both of them absolutely inconsistent with the perfection of God, to whose view all things past, present, and to come are ever open. Mary adds, Luk 1:55 as he spake or promised to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed, that is to say, to all his seed, Gentiles as well as Jews: for though the virgin might not have a distinct conception of what she uttered, understood in this extensive view; yet as she spoke by inspiration, there is nothing to hinder us from affixing such a meaning to her words, especially as the construction of the sentence will scarcely admit of any other. It might therefore be better translated thus: In remembrance of his mercy to Abraham, and to his seed for ever, as he spake to our fathers.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 1:54 ff. What was expressed descriptively in Luk 1:51-53 , and that by means of antitheses, is now definitely and particularly condensed in (comp. Isa 41:8 f.), which is the summary of what has been previously said. The aorist is to be taken quite like the previous aorists.
] He has interested Himself for Israel His servant ( ). Comp. on ., Act 20:35 ; Thuc. iii. 22; Diod. Sic. xi. 13. Euthymius Zigabenus explains it: , . Others, including Paulus, Glckler, Kuinoel, take as filii (comp. Exo 4:22 ; Hos 11:1 ). But the theocratic notion of sonship is never expressed by (not even in Act 3:13 ).
] not: “ita ut perpetuo memor sit,” etc. (Kuinoel, Bleek), but: in order to be mindful of mercy. We have to note the connection with the emphatically put at the end. God has interested Himself for Israel, in order to be mindful of mercy even to eternity, in order never again to forget mercy.
. . . .] not indeed a parenthesis, but an inserted clause, which makes one feel that the telic takes place in consequence of the divine truthfulness.
. . . .] Dativus commodi to . Comp. Psa 98:3 ; Xen. Cyr. i. 4. 12; Bornemann, Schol. p. 14 f. It might belong to (Euthymius Zigabenus, Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Beza, Kuinoel), since may be joined as well with as with a dative; but against this may be urged . , which denotes [31] the whole posterity of Abraham without limitation, and therefore cannot be included in apposition to .
Observe, moreover, that here (comp. Luk 1:72 ) Abraham, the progenitor of the race, is conceived of as jointly affected by and interested in the destiny of his descendants; Isa 29:22 f.; Mic 7:20 . Comp. Joh 8:56 ; Test. XII. Patr. p. 587. Abraham liveth unto God, Luk 20:38 .
. . .] but not until the delivery of Elizabeth (in opposition to Calvin, Maldonatus, and others); see Luk 1:57 .
[31] In what manner it was the that actually received the compassion (Rom 4 , Gal 4 ), was not here the question.
REMARK 1.
The harmonizers, even the most recent, have adopted very different ways for the fitting of this history into the narrative of Matthew. According to Lange, L. J. II. 1, p. 84 ff., Mary is driven to Elizabeth by her grief at being Ebionitically misjudged and discarded by Joseph; according to Hug, Gutacht. I. p. 85, Ebrard, Riggenbach, and others, she made the journey immediately after her marriage, which took place a few days after the beginning of her pregnancy! Luke says and knows nothing of either view.
REMARK 2.
The historical character of the Visitation of Mary stands or falls with that of the Annunciation. But the psychological and moral impossibility, that Mary, after the certainty as to her condition acquired while she was with Elizabeth, and after the theocratic inspiration with which she declares herself blessed on account of that condition, should not have made any communication at all to Joseph on the subject (as must nevertheless, according to Matthew, be assumed, so that thus our narrative and that of Mat 1:18 ff. exclude one another); further, the utter want of any trace elsewhere of such an intimate and confidential relation as, according to our history, must have subsisted between the two holy families; moreover, the design of the narrative to invest Jesus with a singular glory, according to which even the yet unborn John signifies his rejoicing homage before the Messiah when but just conceived in His mother’s womb; the circumstance, not to be explained away (see the untenable suggestion of Lange, p. 92), that it is only after the leaping of the babe that Elizabeth receives the Holy Spirit, and by means of this Spirit recognises from that leaping the mother of the Messiah as such; the hymnic scene annexed thereto, the poetic splendour and truth of which lifts it out of the historical sphere, in which subsequently the house of Mary was not the abode of the faith that is here proclaimed from the mouth of the Virgin with so lofty a triumph (Mar 3:31 ; Joh 7:3 ), all this is not adapted to support or to uphold its historical character, even apart from the fact that tradition has not even conveyed to Luke the name of the mountain-town. The apocryphal poor and pale copy of the Annunciation and the Visitation may be seen in the Protevang. Jacobi , c. xi., xii.; according to which, moreover, quite differently from the course followed by the modern Harmonists, it is not till after the visitation, only in the sixth month of pregnancy, when Mary is recognised as in this condition and called to account by Joseph, that she asserts her innocence, and then the dream-revelation of the angel is imparted to Joseph (ch. xiii. f.).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
Ver. 54. He hath holpen his servant ] He hath put under his hand, and raised him prostrate, taken him up at his feet, . This he will not do for an evil doer: he taketh not the ungodly by the hand, Job 8:20 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Luk 1:54 . : laid hold: of with a view to help, as in Isa 41:8-9 , Act 20:35 , 1Ti 6:2 . cf. , Heb 2:16 . , : what is about to happen is presented as fulfilling a promise made to the Fathers long, long ago, but not forgotten by God, to whom 1000 years, so far as remembering and being interested in promises are concerned, are as one day. . . The construction is a little doubtful, and has been differently understood. It is perhaps simplest to take ., etc., as the dative of advantage = to remember mercy for the benefit of Abraham and his seed. The passage is an echo of Mic 7:20 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
holpen = laid hold of [for help], or taken by the hand. Compare Isa 41:8, Isa 41:9.
in remembrance = [in order] to remember.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Luk 1:54. , He hath helped) in the fact of His sending the Messiah. The same verb is given as the rendering of , 1Ki 9:11.-, servant) So Luk 1:69.-) for this reason, because He remembered; or else, in order that He might evince Himself mindful, Luk 1:72; Hab 3:2.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Luk 1:70-75, Psa 98:3, Isa 44:21, Isa 46:3, Isa 46:4, Isa 49:14-16, Isa 54:6-10, Isa 63:7-16, Jer 31:3, Jer 31:20, Jer 33:24-26, Mic 7:20, Zep 3:14-20, Zec 9:9-11
Reciprocal: Gen 17:7 – And I Exo 6:5 – I have remembered Exo 28:12 – for a memorial Exo 32:13 – Remember Deu 9:5 – that he may 2Sa 7:21 – thy word’s 1Ki 8:15 – hath 1Ki 8:56 – there 2Ki 13:23 – because of his covenant 2Ch 6:14 – mercy Psa 25:6 – Remember Psa 61:7 – prepare Psa 85:10 – Mercy Psa 105:42 – For he Psa 117:2 – General Isa 14:1 – the Lord Isa 63:11 – he remembered Hos 3:1 – according Luk 1:72 – perform Joh 1:17 – grace Act 13:32 – how Rom 9:4 – promises Rom 11:28 – are beloved Rom 15:8 – for the Gal 3:18 – but Tit 3:5 – according
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4
Holpen means helped Israel in remembrance or in view of his wonted mercy.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 1:54. He hath holpen, i.e., helped, Israel his servant. This sums up what had before been described (Luk 1:51-53).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Luk 1:54-55. Mary celebrates in this last strophe the faithfulness of God. That, in fact, is the foundation of the whole Messianic work. If the preceding strophe unveils to us the future developments of this work, this sends us back to its beginning in the remote past. signifies here servant rather than son. It is an allusion to the title of Israel, servant of the Lord (Isa 41:8). The Master sees His well-beloved servant crushed beneath the burden which his pitiless oppressors have imposed, and He takes it upon Himself (middle ) in order to comfort him (). This term, Israel His servant, seems at first sight to apply to the whole people; and doubtless it is this explanation that has led several interpreters to apply the expressions proud, mighty, rich, in the preceding verses, solely to foreign oppressors. If, as we have seen, the latter explanation cannot be maintained, we must conclude that by this Israel, the servant of God, Mary understands the God-fearing Israelites of the fiftieth verse, not as individuals, but as the true representatives of the nation itself. The faithful portion of the nation is identified in this expression with the nation as a whole, because it is its true substance; besides, Mary could not know beforehand how far this true Israel would correspond with the actual people. For her own part, she already sees in hope (aorist ) the normal Israel transformed into the glorified Messianic nation. Would such a view as this have been possible when once the national unbelief had apparently foiled all these Messianic hopes?
There is nothing here to hinder the infinitive of the end, , from preserving its proper meaning. To remember His promises signifies, in order not to be unfaithful.
Erasmus, Calvin, and others regard the datives and as governed by , in apposition with : As He spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed… But this construction is forced and inadmissible. Besides, the last words, for ever, if referred to the verb He spake, would have no meaning. Therefore we must make the proposition, as He spake to our fathers, a parenthesis intended to recall the divine faithfulness, and refer the datives, to Abraham and to his seed, to the verb, to remember His mercy. It is the dative of favour, to remember towards Abraham and…For Abraham, as well as his race, enjoys the mercy which is shown to the latter (comp. Luk 1:17). The words for ever qualify the idea, not to forget His mercy. Divine forgetfulness will never cause the favour promised to Israel to cease. Would any poet have ever put such words into the mouth of Mary, when Jerusalem was in ruins and its people dispersed?
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
1:54 {b} He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of [his] mercy;
(b) He has helped Israel up with his arm, who had been completely cast down.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The last strophe (Luk 1:54-55) recalls God’s mercy to Israel and to Mary (cf. Isa 41:8-9; Isa 42:1; Isa 44:21). He had been consistently faithful to His covenant promises with His people having tempered judgment with mercy (cf. Mic 7:20). God’s past faithfulness gives hope for the future.
"One of the important functions of the Magnificat is to provide an initial characterization of the God whose purpose shapes the following story." [Note: Tannehill, 1:29.]