to talk · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
to
πρὸςpros
G4314
a preposition of direction · preposition
our
ἡμῶνhēmōn
G2257
of (or from) us
fathers
πατέραςpateras
G3962
a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — accusative plural masculine
Abraham
ἈβραὰμAbraam
G11
Abraham · noun — dative singular masculine, a proper name
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
to
σπέρματιspermati
G4690
something sown · noun — dative singular neuter
his
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
seed
σπέρμαspérma
G4690
something sown
for
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
ever
αἰῶνα.¶aiōna
G165
properly · noun — accusative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for…
Psalms 105:6-10 O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.
Psalms 132:11-17 The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.
Galatians 3:16-17 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
Genesis 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Genesis 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the…
Romans 11:28-29 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 1:39-56
We have here an interview between the two happy mothers, Elisabeth and Mary: the angel, by intimating to Mary the favour bestowed on her cousin Elisabeth (Luk 1:36), gave occasion for it; and sometimes it may prove a better piece of service that we think to bring good people together, to compare notes. Here is,
I. The visit which Mary made to Elisabeth. Mary was the younger, and younger with child; and therefore, if they must come together, it was fittest that Mary should take the journey, not insisting on the preference which the greater dignity of her conception gave her, Luk 1:39. She arose, and left her affairs, to attend this greater matter: in those days, at that time (as it is commonl…
As he spake to our fathers--The sense requires this clause to be read as a parenthesis. (Compare Mic 7:20; Psa 98:3).
for ever--the perpetuity of Messiah's kingdom, as expressly promised by the angel (Luk 1:33).
Adam Clarke on Luke 1:54
He hath holpen [supported, αντελαβετο] his servant Israel - Israel is here represented as falling, and the Lord comes speedily in and props him up. The house of David was now ready to fall and rise no more; Jesus, being born of the very last branch of the regal line, revived the family, and restored the dominion.
In remembrance of his mercy - By mercy, the covenant which God made with Abraham, Gen 15:18, is intended; which covenant proceeded from God's eternal mercy, as in it salvation was promised to all the nations of the earth. See Gen 17:19, and Gen 22:18, and this promise was, in one form or other, given to all the fathers, Luk 1:55.
This song properly consists of three parts.
1. In the…
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 mercy of a Saviour and Redeemer, and to these he performs it, and will to all generations.
The Church Fathers
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever. The seed of Abraham signifies not the carnal, but the spiritual, that is, not only those born of his flesh, but those who follow his footsteps in faith, whether in circumcision or uncircumcision. For he believed when in uncircumcision, and it was counted to him as righteousness. And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the same faith, so that he might thus become the father of both peoples through faith, as the Apostle most fully explains to the Romans. Therefore, the coming of the Savior was promised to Abraham and his seed forever, that is, to the children of the promise, to whom it is said: "If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise" (Galatians III). It is fitting that the births of either the Lord or John are foretold by mothers prophesying, that just as sin began with women, so too should good begin with women, and that which perished through the deception of one woman, life might be restored to the world through two women proclaiming in agreement.
When blessed Mary was making mention of the memory of the fathers, she properly represented them by naming Abraham in particular. Although many of the fathers and holy ones mystically brought forward testimony of the Lord's incarnation, it was to Abraham that the hidden mysteries of this same Lord's incarnation and of our redemption were first clearly predicted. Also, to him it was specifically said, "And in you all the tribes of the earth will be blessed." None of the faithful doubts that this pertains to the Lord and Savior, who in order to give us an everlasting blessing deigned to come to us from the stock of Abraham. However, "the seed of Abraham" does not refer only to those chosen ones who were brought forth physically from Abraham's lineage, but also to us.… Having been gathered together to Christ from the nations, we are connected by the fellowship of faith to the fathers, from whom we are far separated by the origin of our fleshly bloodline. We too are the seed and children of Abraham since we are reborn by the sacraments of our Redeemer, who assumed his flesh from the race of Abraham.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Hannah — Favour, grace, one of the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel (1 Sam. 1; 2). Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle…
John the Baptist — The “forerunner of our Lord.” We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. He was of priestly descent. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia (1 Chr.…
Mary — Hebrew Miriam. (1.) The wife of Joseph, the mother of Jesus, called the “Virgin Mary,” though never so designated in Scripture (Matt. 2:11; Acts 1:14). Little is known of her personal history. Her…
Songs — Of Moses (Ex. 15; Num. 21:17; Deut. 32; Rev. 15:3), Deborah (Judg. 5), Hannah (1 Sam. 2), David (2 Sam. 22, and Psalms), Mary (Luke 1:46-55), Zacharias (Luke 1:68-79), the angels (Luke 2:13), Simeon…
Elisabeth (Elizabeth) · The wife of Zacharias and the mother of — The wife of Zacharias and the mother of
Jesus, The Christ · .Mary visits El — .Mary visits El
Magnificat · Of Mary — Of Mary
Mary · .Visits her cousin, El — .Visits her cousin, El
Poetry · .Of Mary — .Of Mary
Promises Of God, The · God remembers — God remembers
Psalms · Of Mary — Of Mary
Zacharias (Zechariah) · 2. The father of — 2. The father of
John Calvin on Luke 1:51-55
Luke 1:51-55
Luke 1:51-55
51. He hath done might [55] with his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the thought of their heart. 52. He hath cast down the nobles from their thrones, and hath exalted mean persons. 53. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and hath sent the rich away empty. 54. He hath lifed up his servant Israel, so as to be mindful of his mercy, 55. As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
51. He hath done might This means, "he hath wrought powerfully." The arm of God is contrasted with every other aid: as in Isaiah, "I looked, and there was none to help," (Isaiah 63:5;) "therefore," says he elsewhere,
"his arm brought salvation unto him;
and…
Gabriel’s words in 1:32-33 recalled God’s covenant with David; here Mary alluded to God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen 12:1-3; 17:3-8). • The coming of Jesus brought glory to Israel and salvation to the Gentiles (see Luke 2:32).
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
