THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
Mary's Song of Praise: Lk 1,46-55
In the two parts of the Magnificat, Mary first proclaims what God has done for her (1,46-50) and she then widens this to show what God has done or will do for the world at large (1,51-55).
Both halves end with a proclamation of God's mercy (1,50 and 1,54-55).
The first part opens by praising God and this is then followed by the reason for this praise, the "for" at the beginning of verses 48 and 49. Praise followed by a "for" giving the reasons for this praise is the classic hymn style found in the Psalms. The Magnificat is also a typical hymn because it begins with two lines in verses 46b-47 which say the same thing in different ways. This is known as parallelism and is also found frequently in the psalms.
I gave the shortest of all the psalms, Ps 117, as an example. Its first verse is a repeated call to praise God and then the second stanza opens with the reason, also in parallel: "for great is his steadfast love towards us...." (NRSV).
Translators have a tendency to omit connecting particles but this does have an effect on what is being said. The Magnificat gives us a good example.
Thus verses 48 and 49 both open with "for" as in NRSV, highlighting the blessed status of Mary herself and then highlighting what God has done for her. Omitting the second "for" as in NABRE makes verse 49 into a statement which lacks its purpose.
In the same way, we can note that verses 49b and verse 50 both open with "and" thereby linking God's holiness with his mercy. The second "and" is often omitted in translation (NRSV). RNJB scores well in these verses except for verse 48 where "for" has become "since".
The second part of the Magnificat (1,51-55) then gives three examples of reversal of fortunes which will occur at the end of time. The first is religious, the overthrow of human self-sufficency (verse 51). The second is political (verse 52) and the third is social (verse 53). With these reversals, God's promises of salvation to Israel (verses 54-55) will finally be fulfilled.
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The Old Testament
The main source for these references was the NAB revised edition.
These references show more than anything else an atmosphere or an attitude which permeates the whole biblical attitude towards God.
In verse 47, Mary addresses God as her saviour. We will be exploring the importance of salvation later in the chapter.
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