The Virgin Mary's Vifit to Elizabeth.

40 And entered into the Houfe of Zacharias, and fa

luted Elizabeth.

41 And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard

the Salutation of Mary, the Babe leaped in her Womb: and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.

42 And she spake out with a loud Voice, and said, Bleffed art thou among Women, and bleffed is the Fruit

of thy Womb.

43 And whence is this to me, that the Mother of my

Lord fhould come to me?

44 For lo, as foon as the Voice of thy Salutation founded in mine Ears, the Babe leaped in my Womb

for Joy.

27

to a City of Judah, where Zacharias dwelt, SECT. 5.
with a comfortable Expectation, that this
Luke I. 39.
Vifit might tend, both to confirm her Faith,
and vindicate her Character. And accord-
ingly fhe entered into the House of her Kinf-
man Zacharias, and to the pleafing Surprize
of her Friend faluted Elizabeth.

4.0

And it came to pass, that as foon as Eli- 41
zabeth heard the Salutation of Mary, the In-
fant in her Womb did with a moft unusual
Emotion leap for Joy; as fenfible of the Ap-
proach of him, whofe Forerunner he was
appointed to be. And Elizabeth was di-
rected to confider it in this View; for she
was immediately filled with an extraordinary
Degree of Divine Inspiration, by the Influ-
ences of the Holy Spirit. And far from 42
envying the fuperior Honour of her young
Coufin, fhe in very exalted Language con-
gratulated her on the Occafion; and crying
out with a loud Voice, as in a facred Kind of
Transport, she said, in the very Words which
Gabriel had before used to the Virgin:

Moft blessed art thou, O Mary, among all
the Women in the whole World; and moft
blessed is the facred and miraculous Fruit of
thy Womb. And indeed, when I confider 43
the Matter attentively, I cannot but cry out
in Amazement, Whence is this Honour done
to me, that she who is fo highly honoured,
as to be the Mother of that wonderful and
Divine Child, whom I would with all Hu-
mility own as my Lord, fould come unto me
as a Guest under my Roof, to whom I should
rather have hastened to pay my Homage?
And that he, of whom thou art now preg- 44
nant, is indeed my Lord the Meffiah, I cer-
tainly know by what I have now felt; for,
behold, as foon as the firft Voice of thy Salu-
tation founded in mine Ears, as thou waft
entering into the House, the very Infant
D 2
within

45

28 SECT. 5. within me leaped in my Womb for Joy, with a Vigour and Sprightliness unknown before; Luke I. 44. which I am taught to interpret, as a Homage done to him, before whofe Face he is to go, to prepare his Way. And when I confider the whole Affair in all its Variety of Circumstances, I have Reafon to fay, Happy is fhe, that so readily believed (b) what to Sense appeared fo utterly incredible, without fo much as requiring any miraculous Sign of it; for surely there shall be a very faithful, and an exact Accomplishment, of all thofe Things, which have been spoken to her from the Lord.

Elizabeth's Reception of Mary.

46

47

48

of

45 And bleffed is fhe that Performance ofthofe Things, believed: for there shall be a which were told her from the Lord.

46 And Mary faid, My

Then Mary alfo was filled with a Tranfport of holy Joy; and under the Direction Soul doth magnify the Lord, of the fame Spirit, as well as in many those Words which fhe had learnt from the Sacred Oracles, fhe in the Warmth of her Devotion faid (c), "My very Soul doth most affectionately magnify, and extol the Lord, "And my Spirit, with all its most exalted Saviour "Powers, rejoiceth in GOD as my "who I trust is granting me my own Share "in that Gofpel, which by the Appearance "of this his dear Son he is fending to so many others. For notwithstanding all "the Meanness of my Circumftances, and "the obfcure Condition in which I live, yet

r

be

47 And my Spirit hath rejoiced in GoD my Saviour.

48 For he hath regarded the low Eftate. of his Handmaiden;

(b) Happy is she that believed, &c.] I doubt not but here is an oblique Reference to the Unhappiness of Zacharias, who had not immediately believed the Promise of GoD to him, and thereby had incurred fo fenfible a Mark of the Divine Displeasure. I have gently touched upon it in the Paraphrafe; but I was cautious of being too express, left I should violate that great Decorum, which the Spirit of God, as well as the Rules of Modesty and Piety, taught her to obferve, when the Faults of a Hufband were in Question.-It may be added, that thefe Words fhewed her Knowledge of. Mary's immediate Belief of the Promise made to her: A Knowledge, which fhe could only gain by Divine Revelation, and which therefore would be a mutual Confirmation of the Faith of both.

(c) Mary alfo faid.] It is obfervable, that most of these Phrases are borrowed from the Old Testament, with which the pious Virgin seems to have been very converfant ; especially from the Song of Hannah, in which there were fo many Paffages remarkably fuitable to her own Cafe. Compare 1 Sam. ii. 1,-10. Gen. xxx. 13. Pfal. ciii. 17. xcviii, 1. lxxxix. 10. cvii. 9. and Mich. vii. 20.

(d) Shalt

Mary breaks out into a Song of Praise.

29

maiden; for behold, from " he hath looked with a distinguishing Re- SECT. 5.

henceforth all Generations fhall call me blessed..

'

gard, and most surprising Condefcenfion, ~ "upon the low Eftate of his Handmaid; for Luke I. 48. "behold, he hath conferred fuch an Honour

upon me, that I am fully perfuaded, according to his Word by the Angel, that "not only the prefent Age, but all future "Generations fhall call me happy (d), and "fhall admire the peculiar Grace and Favour 49 For he that is mighty" that the Lord hath shewn me. For he 49 hath done to me great Things, and holy is his Name:

"who is powerful beyond all our Concep-
"tions, even the Almighty God, to whom
"this strange Event is not only poffible, but
easy, hath done these great and unheard of
Things for me; and his Name, and Nature
[is] fo holy, that I cannot suspect the Ac-
complishment of any Thing that he hath
promised. His Mercy alfo hath in every 50
Age been the Hope and Confidence of his
People; and I well know, that it [is] from
"Generation to Generation, on them that fear
" him. He hath often wrought the most

glorious Difplays of Strength by his irre"fiftible Arm: He hath often difperfed the Haughty Sinners, that exalt themselves against him, and confounded them in "thofe Schemes which were the most la"boured Imagination of their own Hearts(e).

He

(d) Shall call me happy, panagizol,] I think there are feveral other Texts, where Managios fhould rather be rendered happy, than bleffed, which is the proper Signification of Euxonos: (See 1 Tim. i. 11. vi. 15. and Rev. xx. 6.) Yet I cannot fay, that the Distinction is always material, nor do I always observe it in the following Verfion.

(e) He hath difperfed the Haughty, &c. διεσκορπισεν υπερηφανες διανοια καρδιας αύζων.] I know this may be render'd, He hath fcattered those that prided themfelves in the Imagination, or Thought, of their Hearts: But I apprehended, the Words would well bear the yet more emphatical Senfe, I have here given them. And thus they are peculiarly applicable to the Gospel; in which GoD doth not only caft down Imaginations, and every high Thing, &c. (2 Cor. x, 5.) by the humbling Scheme of his recovering Grace, but hath remarkably confounded his most infolent Enemies in their own most elaborate Projects, and established his facred Caufe by the violent Attempts they have made to fupprefs it: (Compare Pfal. ii. 1,-3.) A Triumph of Divine Wisdom, of which fucceeding Ages furnish out memorable and frequent Inftances at home and abroad.

(f) Sent

30

SECT. 5.

Luke I. 52.

53

54

55

tr

cr

Mary's Song of Praife.

"He hath often brought down mighty Poten-
" tates from their Thrones of Dignity and
Power, and by fome fingular Interpofition
"of his Providence, bath exalted the Lowly
"from their obfcureft State, as he is now
doing with refpect to me. He hath
" often filled the Hungry with a Variety of
good Things, and hath fent away the Rich
"and luxurious Sinner empty (f), having
stripped him of all his Plenty, and turned
"him out of all thofe Poffeffions, in which
" he was once fo confident. And as a
glorious Inftance of his Condefcenfion and
"his Power, tho' our Condition be fo low,
"in Comparison of what it once was, he
"hath now fuccoured Ifrael (g), and taken
"him as his Child into paternal Protection:
"And all this he hath graciously done in
"Remembrance of his Everlasting Mercy (b),
"Even as he long ago fpoke to cur Fathers,
"and promifed it to Abraham, and to his
Seed, throughout all Generations: And
"we the Heirs of thofe Promises, shall now
"Behold them happily fulfilled, in all the
"Fulnefs of their Extent and Glory."

56

52 He hath put down the Mighty from their Seats, and exalted them of low Degree:

53 He hath filled the Hungry with good Things, and

the Rich he hath sent empty away.

54 He hath holpen his Servant Ifrael, in Remembrance of his Mercy,

55 As he fpakę to our Fathers, to Abraham, and

to his Seed for ever.

56 And Mary abode with returned to her own House.

Then Mary abode with her Coufin Elizabeth, about three Months, till very near the her about three Months, and Time of her Delivery; and then returned

to

(f) Sent away the Rich empty.] EƐanese ftrictly fignifies, hath sent, or turned them out of Doors, and very beautifully reprefents GOD as the great Proprietor of all, and the greatest of Men as his Tenants at Will, whom he can ftrip, and turn out, whenever he pleases.

(8) He hath fuccoured Ifrael.] That the Word aleλaßero properly fignifies to interpofe in Favour of a Perfon in great Neceffity or extream Danger, Elfner hath abundantly proved, Obferv. vol. i. pag. 175.

(b) In Remembrance of his Everlasting Mercy.] The Beginning of the 55th Verfe fhould, I think, be included in a Parenthefis. It makes an easier and ftronger Senfe, to suppose that this Remembrance of his Mercy for ever refers to his Everlafting Mercies promised to the Patriarchs. Compare Gen. xvii. 19. Ifa. lv. 3. Rom. xi. 29. Yet I acknowledge, thofe Bleffings might be faid, to be promised to them, and their Seed, for ever, which were intailed on their remotest Generations. Compare Gen. xii. 15. xviii. 8, . Care is therefore taken to exprefs both in the Paraphrafe.

(7) Animate

Reflections on the Vifit Mary paid to Elizabeth.

3 I to her own House, and lived privately there; SECT. 5. concealing, but not forgetting, thefe extraor dinary Things, which had fo powerful a TenLuke I. 56. dency to establish and animate her Mind (i).

IMPROVEMENT.

W natural is it for thofe, who have themfelve received Ver. 40. Mercy of the Lord, to communicate their Joy to others, and to seek the Society of their Fellow-Saints, whom he hath honoured with the fignal Manifeftations of his Favour ?-Happy they, whofe Friendship is confirmed, and heightened, by fuch indearing Ties! And thrice happy the humble and generous Souls, who can thus, like Elizabeth, lofe the Thoughts of private Honour and Intereft, in a Ver. 41, 42. cordial Concern for the Glory of GoD, and the Good of Men; rejoicing to fee others, perhaps in fome Refpects their Inferiors, raised to Stations of Service, more diftinguished than their own!

If this pious Matron thought herself fo highly honoured, in receiving a Vifit from the Mother of our Infant-Saviour, how much Ver. 43. more doth it become us to admire the Condefcenfion of our glorious Lord, that he will reprefent himself, as graciously knocking at the Door of our Hearts, and ready not only to make us a tranfient Visit, but to take up his stated Abode with us?

May our Faith, like that of the blessed Virgin, delightfully reft on Ver. 46. all the Promises he makes, as firmly believing that there shall be an Accomplishment of thofe Things which are spoken! And while that Ac- Ver. 45complishment is delayed, may the pleafing Expectation of it tune our Voice, to a Song of Praife like hers!-Let our Souls also magnify the Lord, and our Spirits rejoice in that GOD, whom we hope thro' Grace Ver. 47to be our Saviour; whofe Condefcenfion hath regarded us in fuch low Ver. 48. Circumstances; and whofe Almighty Power, and everlasting Love, have done fuch great Things for us. He hath provided Heavenly Ver. 49. Food, to fatisfy our hungry Souls; and hath raifed us to enjoy the Ver. 53. Mercies, which, in more obfcure Intimations only, he promised to the Ver. 54, 55. pious Patriarchs.-His Mercy is on all that fear him, thro' fucceeding Ver. 50. Generations.-May such distinguished Favours animate our Hearts

with.

(i) Animate her Mind.] Many of the Things which had paffed in this Journey, and especially that rapturous Inspiration, which she had herself experienced, and which till now was probably unknown to her, must elevate her Thoughts to a very fublime Pitch, and enkindle in her attentive reflecting Mind high Expectations, and glorious Hopes. See Luke ii. 19, 51. and compare Note (b), pag. 28.