47
When Mary visited Elizabeth what did she do?
Luke: She uttered a hymn of praise (i, 46–55).
Had Mary uttered such a hymn we would suppose that it would have been original and inspired by the Almighty Father of her unborn child. Yet the hymn which Luke puts into her mouth was borrowed from the song of Hannah.
| Hannah. | Mary. |
| “My heart rejoiceth in the Lord” (1 Sam. ii, 1). | “My spirit hath rejoiced in God” (Luke i, 47). |
| “If thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid” (i, 11). | “For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden” (48). |
| “Talk no more so exceeding proudly” (ii, 3). | “He hath scattered the proud” (51). |
| “The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength (4). | “He hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree” (52). |
| “They that were full hath hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased” (5). | “He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away” (53). |