Section 1:39–45
Mary visited Elizabeth
Soon after the angel visited Mary in Galilee, she went to visit her relative Elizabeth. Elizabeth lived in a town in Judea. Mary probably traveled from three to five days to reach there. The Holy Spirit revealed to Elizabeth that Mary was carrying the Christ/Messiah in her womb. This was confirmed also by Elizabeth’s baby, John, who leaped for joy in her womb. Elizabeth declared that Mary was blessed more than all women because God had chosen her for such an honor.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
Elizabeth affirmed that God had blessed Mary
-or-
Elizabeth recognized that Mary would be the mother of the Christ
Paragraph 1:39–45
1:39a
In those days: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as In those days means “at that time.” The word “days” is an idiom for a time period; it does not refer to specific days. After the angel left Mary, she was probably eager to see Elizabeth. She probably left as soon as she could prepare for the journey. Perhaps only a few days passed.
Some other ways to translate this are:
Soon afterward (God’s Word)
-or-
A few days later (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
A short time later (Contemporary English Version)
Mary got ready and hurried: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Mary got ready and hurried is literally “rising up, Mary went with haste.” Luke often used the verb “rising up” to describe beginning an action or preparing for it. Here it does not refer literally to standing up. Some ways to translate it in this context are:
Mary set out and hurried away (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Mary prepared ⌊for a trip⌋ and hurried
In some languages it may not be necessary to translate this idea explicitly. For example:
Mary hurried to a town (Contemporary English Version)
1:39b
to a town in the hill country of Judah: This town was where Elizabeth and Zechariah lived. Luke did not give the name of the town. The distance from Nazareth to that town in the hill country was between 100 and 150 kilometers (70–100 miles). Mary would have walked or traveled by donkey.
Judah: Judah was one of the provinces or districts that Rome ruled. It was one of the areas where Jews lived.
The word Judah occurs both here and in 1:65b, but it is spelled differently in Greek. Some English versions, including the Berean Standard Bible, show the difference in spelling and transliterate this word as “Judah” here and “Judea” in 1:65b. However, since both spellings refer to the same province, it is recommended that you spell it the same way in both places.
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