1151 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass that when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary,.... Which might be before she saw her, and at some little distance from her: the babe leaped in her womb: which motion was not natural, but supernatural; being made at hearing the voice of Mary, who had now conceived the Messiah, whose forerunner this babe, John the Baptist, was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she spake out with a loud voice,.... So as that all in the house might hear; she spake with great vehemency of soul, and strength of affection, being under a very powerful impression of the Spirit of God: and said, blessed art thou among women; the same words that the angel had said to her before, Lu 1:28 and blessed is the fruit of thy womb:...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And whence is this to me,..... How comes it to pass, that such notice is taken of me, such an honour is done me; that besides being favoured with a child, who shall be great, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Elisabeth was far from envying the superior honour conferred on her kinswoman, who was both meaner and younger than she; that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears,.... This she mentions, as the signal by which she knew that she was the mother of her Lord; namely, from that unusual and extraordinary motion of the child, she felt within her: the babe leaped in my womb for joy; that the mother of her Lord, and his, was come thither: the Jews...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And blessed is she that believed..... Meaning Mary, a woman, a very young woman, and who had had things very incredible to nature and reason told her; and yet she believed, without objecting thereto, or requiring a sign; tacitly referring to the unbelief of Zacharias, who was a man, a man in years, a priest by office; and yet had been very...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Mary said, my soul doth magnify the Lord. Either Jehovah, the Father, or the Son; who, as he was David's Lord, according to his divine nature, though his son after the flesh, was, in the same sense, Mary's Lord, as well as her son: and by "magnifying" him is meant, not making him great, for he cannot be made greater than he is; but ascribing...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Which also, may be understood, either of God the Father, who was her Saviour, both as the God of nature and providence; so the Persic version renders it, "in God that gives me life"; and who had supported, maintained, and preserved her life; and as the God of grace, who has contrived the scheme of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden,.... Meaning, either her outward temporal estate, which was very low and mean: David's family was now very much reduced, it had its seat not at Jerusalem, but at Nazareth, in Galilee: Mary, of that house, was a poor virgin, and Joseph, of the same, to whom she was betrothed, was a poor...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things,.... With respect to the incarnation of Christ, a new, a great, and unheard of thing; in causing her, though a virgin, to conceive; and also to bear such a Son, who should be called Jesus, a Saviour, Immanuel, God with us; and who was no other than the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And his mercy is on them that fear him,.... Not with slavish fear of hell and damnation, but with reverence and godly fear; with a filial fear, with a reverential love of God, and affection for him; with that fear which springs from the goodness of God, which has that for its object, and is encouraged by it: and though this fear is not the cause...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He hath showed strength with his arm,.... Of almighty power, in the business of the incarnation, and in working out salvation for his people; which is done by his own arm, he being mighty to save, and travelling in the greatness of his strength; see Isaiah 63:1. He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts; whom he always...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He hath put down the mighty from their seats,.... As mighty kings and emperors from their thrones, as he often does, in the course of his providence; setting up one, and putting down another: or the mighty angels, from their seats of bliss and happiness in heaven; who rebelling against God, opposing the incarnation of Christ, taking it ill, that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He hath filled the hungry with good things,.... Such as earnestly desired and longed after the coming of the Messiah, as good old Simeon, and Anna the prophetess; and those that looked for redemption in Israel, to whom she spake: and all such persons as heartily desire salvation by Christ, and breathe after the forgiveness of their sins through...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He hath holpen his servant Israel,.... Meaning, not the natural posterity of Jacob, or Israel in general, but the elect of God among them; for all were not Israel, who were of Israel; and not them only, but also the chosen ones among the Gentiles; who, with the former, make up the whole Israel of God, in a spiritual and mystical sense: these are...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
As he spake to our fathers,.... To David, of whose family Mary was; and to Jacob, or Israel, of whose stock she was; and to Isaac, in whom the seed was to be, called; and particularly, to Abraham and to his seed for ever: not his natural, but his spiritual seed; both among Jews and Gentiles, to the end of the world; to these God promised this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Mary abode with her about three months,.... That is, she continued with Elisabeth, as the Syriac and Persic versions express, about the space of three months; in which time, she had full satisfaction of the truth of the sign the angel had given her; namely, of Elisabeth's conception and pregnancy, for by this time she was ready to give birth;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now Elisabeth's full time came,.... The nine months, which is the full time of a woman's going with child, were now complete; for in the sixth month of Elisabeth's pregnancy, or when she had been gone six months with child, the angel acquainted Mary with it, and she had stayed about three months with her; but now had left her, to shun the company...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And her neighbours, and her cousins,.... That lived in Hebron, and the parts adjacent, whether of the house of Aaron, or of the tribe of Judah; to both which she was related, and who dwelt near her, the priests in the city of Hebron, and the children of Judah in the places about it: heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her; or "had...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass that on the eighth day,.... The precise time fixed in the normal restitution of the ordinance of circumcision, Genesis 17:12 though this was not always attended to, but circumcision was sometimes deferred to another time; yet keeping the exact time was judged most commendable and praiseworthy; [See comments on Philippians 3:5]...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And his mother answered and said,.... That is, Elisabeth: not so, but he shall be called John; knowing that this was the name wherewith the angel said he should be called; either by divine revelation, she being filled with the Holy Ghost, Lu 1:41 or by information of her husband, who, doubtless, in writing, gave her an account of all that the...