Section 1:46–56

Mary praised God

In this section Mary spoke a poem or song of praise to God. In 1:46–49 she praised God for blessing her personally. In 1:50 she praised God because he is merciful to all people who fear him. In 1:51–53 she spoke of the way God had rejected the proud, the powerful, and the rich. She spoke of the way he had instead chosen to bless those who are poor and lowly. In 1:54–55 she praised God for helping the people of Israel.

When Mary talked about what God had done, she was not just talking about the past. She was talking about what God was doing at that time and about what he would continue to do through the Messiah. By choosing Mary to be the mother of the Messiah, God had shown mercy to her as a poor and lowly person. He had also shown mercy to the people of Israel, because the Messiah would save them. This was similar to the way he had worked in the past, showing mercy to his people and helping them against their enemies.

It may be good to write this song (1:46–55) as poetry in your translation, using separate lines at appropriate places. For examples, see 1:46–55 in the Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and Good News Translation. There may be special phrases in your language that are appropriate to use in poetry that you do not use in ordinary conversation. Because this song is poetry, you may be able to use those phrases here.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Mary’s song of praise to God
-or-
Mary praised God for the kindness he was showing to Israel and to her

Paragraph 1:46–56

1:46–47

As in 1:33, in these verses the same meaning is expressed in two different ways. 1:46 is very similar in meaning to 1:47. “My soul” and “my spirit” are similar. “Glorifies” and “rejoices” are similar. “The Lord” and “God my Savior” both refer to the same person. See below how the parallel parts of the verse relate to each other (for example, how “My soul” is similar to “my spirit,” etc.):

46
My soul glorifies the Lord

47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

In some languages it may be confusing to repeat the same meaning in different words here. It may imply that Mary was making two separate statements that had different meanings. If that is true in your language, it may be necessary to combine these statements. For example:

I glorify the Lord God my Savior and rejoice in him.

1:46

Then Mary said: In this verse Mary responded to what Elizabeth said with a poem to praise the Lord. Introduce this poem in a natural way in your language. Some other ways to do this are:

Mary responded (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Then Mary replied ⌊with a song⌋

My soul magnifies the Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as soul refers to the part of a person that thinks and feels emotions. In some languages, people express this meaning with an idiom that uses a part of the body such as the heart, throat, stomach, or liver.

In this context the phrase My soul represents Mary herself. In some languages it may be necessary or clearer to translate this meaning directly. For example:

I glorify the Lord

magnifies: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as magnifies literally means to “make great” or “make large.” Mary was telling how great the Lord is. Some other ways to translate this verse are:

proclaims the greatness of the Lord (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
praises the Lord’s greatness! (God’s Word)
-or-
honors the Lord
-or-
says/sings “The Lord is great!”

the Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Lord here refers to God. See the note on 1:6b for more information. See Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary.

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