1:54–1:55a

He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful…to Abraham and his descendants forever: The word Israel refers to the same people as Abraham’s descendants. Abraham was the ancestor of Jacob, who was called Israel, for whom the nation of Israel was named. In some languages it may be good to indicate this in some way in your translation. For example:

He has helped…⌊us⌋ Israelites. Yes, he has remembered to be merciful…to ⌊our ancestor⌋ Abraham and to ⌊us⌋ his descendants forever.

remembering to be merciful…to Abraham and his descendants forever: This phrase does not suggest that God might potentially forget something. Rather, it indicates that God will continue to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants in the future. He will never stop being merciful to them.

1:54a

He has helped His servant Israel: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as helped means “to assist, to share in someone’s situation to aid him/her.” God had helped the people of Israel by fulfilling his promise to send the Messiah who would save them. The angel had told Mary that she would give birth to the Messiah.

His servant Israel: The phrase His servant Israel refers to the people of Israel. They are called God’s servant because they serve God and worship him. In some languages it is not natural to use a singular form to speak of the whole nation as God’s servant. If this is true in your language, some other ways to translate it are:

his servants, the people/nation of Israel
-or-
us Israelites, his servants

servant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as servant refers to a slave, but to one whom the master loves. This is a different Greek word than “servant” or “slave” in 1:38a, but the meaning is similar.

1:54b

remembering to be merciful: The phrase remembering to be merciful refers to the same action as the previous phrase “he has helped his servant Israel.” It means that God remembered that he had promised to be merciful to his people, and he fulfilled his promise.

God had not previously forgotten to be merciful. If a literal translation would give this wrong meaning, you may need to say something such as:

God has kept his promise to be merciful.

to be merciful: The phrase to be merciful means “to have compassion” or “to show pity.” It is related to the word that is translated as “mercy” in 1:50. See the note there.

Some other ways to translate it are:

to be kind
-or-
graciously to show compassion

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