1:55a

as He promised to our fathers: Mary used the phrase our fathers to refer to all the people of Israel who had lived before Mary and Elizabeth were born. Some versions translate this phrase as “our ancestors.” She also used the word our to refer to the ancestors of all the people of Israel. God had promised to all the people of Israel that he would send a Savior. He did not make this promise only to the ancestors of Mary and Elizabeth. So it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

just as he said to the ancestors ⌊of our people⌋

1:55b

to Abraham and his descendants forever: There are two interpretations of the way this clause relates to the context:

(1) Abraham and his descendants are the ones who received God’s mercy that is mentioned in 1:54b. For example:

He has remembered to show mercy to Abraham and to all his descendants forever! (Good News Translation)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, and the majority of commentators)

(2) Abraham and his descendants are the ones who received God’s promise that is mentioned in 1:55b. In this interpretation, Abraham and his descendants has the same meaning as “our fathers” in 1:55b. This means that God spoke a promise to our fathers/ancestors who are Abraham and his descendants. For example:

as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his children forever (New Century Version)

(Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004), New American Standard Bible, New Century Version, King James Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

to Abraham and his descendants: As mentioned above, the phrase Abraham and his descendants is connected to the word “merciful” in 1:54b. God showed his mercy to Abraham and Abraham’s descendants by sending the Messiah. This phrase is another way to refer to Israel, since Abraham was the ancestor of the Israelites.

General Comment on 1:54–55

In some languages it may be helpful to reorder these verses in order to put God’s promise to their ancestors first (1:55b). Here is one way you could do that:

55bGod promised our ancestors that 54ahe would help his servants the Israelites. ⌊Now he has fulfilled his promise.⌋ 54bHe has remembered to be merciful 55ato Abraham and to all of his descendants.

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