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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Luke 1:54 Commentaries: "He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy,</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newcom.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../vmenus/luke/1-54.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcom/luke/1-54.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="http://biblehub.com/commentaries/">Commentaries</a> > Luke 1:54</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../luke/1-53.htm" title="Luke 1:53">◄</a> Luke 1:54 <a href="../luke/1-55.htm" title="Luke 1:55">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of <i>his</i> mercy;</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/alford/luke/1.htm" title="Henry Alford - Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary">Alford</a> • <a href="/commentaries/barnes/luke/1.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/bengel/luke/1.htm" title="Bengel's Gnomen">Bengel</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/luke/1.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/luke/1.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/calvin/luke/1.htm" title="Calvin's Commentaries">Calvin</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/luke/1.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/luke/1.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/luke/1.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/luke/1.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/luke/1.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/luke/1.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/egt/luke/1.htm" title="Expositor's Greek">Exp Grk</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/luke/1.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/luke/1.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/luke/1.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/luke/1.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/luke/1.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/luke/1.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/luke/2-7.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/luke/1.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/icc/luke/1.htm" title="ICC NT Commentary">ICC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/luke/1.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kelly/luke/1.htm" title="Kelly Commentary">Kelly</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/luke/1.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/luke/1.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/luke/1.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/luke/1.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/luke/1.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/meyer/luke/1.htm" title="Meyer Commentary">Meyer</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/luke/1.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pnt/luke/1.htm" title="People's New Testament">PNT</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/luke/1.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/luke/1.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/luke/1.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/luke/1.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/luke/1.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/vws/luke/1.htm" title="Vincent's Word Studies">VWS</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/luke/1.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/luke/1.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(54) <span class= "bld">He hath holpen his servant Israel.</span>—Up to this point the hymn has been one of personal thanks-giving. Now we find that all the soul of the maiden of Nazareth is with her people. Her joy in the “great things “which God has done for her rests on the fact that they are “great things “for Israel also. The word which she uses for her people is that which expresses their relation to God as “the servant” of Jehovah, who is prominent in the later chapters of Isaiah, and is in <a href="/isaiah/41-8.htm" title="But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.">Isaiah 41:8</a> identified with the nation, as elsewhere with the nation’s Head (<a href="/isaiah/42-1.htm" title="Behold my servant, whom I uphold; my elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit on him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.">Isaiah 42:1</a>). One may see in the utterance of this hope already seen as realised, an indication of the early date of the hymn. At the time when St. Luke wrote, the rejection, not the restoration of Israel, was the dominant thought in men’s minds.<p><span class= "bld">In remembrance.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">in order to remember.</span> He helped Israel, as with the purpose to prove Himself not unmindful of His promised mercy.<p><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/luke/1.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>1:39-56 It is very good for those who have the work of grace begun in their souls, to communicate one to another. On Mary's arrival, Elisabeth was conscious of the approach of her who was to be the mother of the great Redeemer. At the same time she was filled with the Holy Ghost, and under his influence declared that Mary and her expected child were most blessed and happy, as peculiarly honoured of and dear to the Most High God. Mary, animated by Elisabeth's address, and being also under the influence of the Holy Ghost, broke out into joy, admiration, and gratitude. She knew herself to be a sinner who needed a Saviour, and that she could no otherwise rejoice in God than as interested in his salvation through the promised Messiah. Those who see their need of Christ, and are desirous of righteousness and life in him, he fills with good things, with the best things; and they are abundantly satisfied with the blessings he gives. He will satisfy the desires of the poor in spirit who long for spiritual blessings, while the self-sufficient shall be sent empty away.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/luke/1.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>Hath holpen - Hath helped or assisted. The word rendered "holpen" denotes properly, "to take hold of one, to help him up when he is in danger of falling," and here means that God had succored his people when they were feeble, and were in danger of falling or being overthrown.<p>His servant Israel - His people the Israelites, or those who truly revered him and kept His commandments. See <a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/41-8.htm">Isaiah 41:8-9</a>; <a href="/hosea/11-1.htm">Hosea 11:1</a>.<p>In remembrance of his mercy - Or that His mercy may be remembered. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/luke/1.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>54. holpen—Compare Ps 89:19, "I have laid help on One that is mighty."<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/luke/1.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div>Ver. 54,55. In these verses the blessed virgin celebrates God’s mercy together with his truth, withal she hath here a respect to God’s particular goodness and mercy in the sending of the Redeemer. The word which we here translate <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">hath holpen, </span> signifieth he hath sustained, or as it were lifted up with his hand, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">his servant Israel, </span> or his child Israel. He calleth <span class="ital">Ephraim</span> his <span class="ital">dear son, </span> his <span class="ital">pleasant child, </span><span class="bldvs"> <a href="/jeremiah/31-20.htm" title="Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy on him, said the LORD.">Jeremiah 31:20</a></span>; but by <span class="ital">Israel</span> he meaneth believers, those of Abraham’s seed that lived in the faith, hope, and expectation of the Messiah; <span class="ital">the children of the promise, </span><span class="bldvs"> <a href="/romans/9-8.htm" title="That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.">Romans 9:8</a></span>; those who are Jews <span class="ital">inwardly, </span><span class="bldvs"> <a href="/romans/2-29.htm" title="But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.">Romans 2:29</a></span>; <span class="ital">the true circumcision, </span><span class="bldvs"> <a href="/philippians/3-3.htm" title="For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.">Philippians 3:3</a></span>; <span class="ital">Israelites indeed, </span><span class="bldvs"> <a href="/john/1-47.htm" title="Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!">John 1:47</a></span>. This, she saith, God had done, not <span class="ital">in remembrance of</span> their merits, but <span class="ital">his</span> own <span class="ital">mercy, </span><span class="bldvs"> <a href="/ezekiel/36-32.htm" title="Not for your sakes do I this, said the Lord GOD, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.">Ezekiel 36:32</a></span>; of his own free goodness and mercy, and in the fulfilling of his promise made to Abraham, <span class="bld"><a href="/genesis/17-15.htm" title="And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.">Genesis 17:15</a></span>; the extent of which promise is declared <span class="bld"><a href="/context/romans/9-6.htm" title="Not as though the word of God has taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:...">Romans 9:6-9</a></span>; and that <span class="ital">seed of Abraham, </span> his seed as the father of the faithful, shall be for ever, and the virtue of the promise shall hold to them for ever. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/luke/1.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>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 the Israel, God has chosen, redeemed, and calls by his grace, and are here styled his "servant", as Israel is frequently called, <a href="/isaiah/41-8.htm">Isaiah 41:8</a>. The word signifies a "child", as well as a "servant": and may design, either the weak and helpless condition God's elect are in by nature, which calls for, and requires divine help and assistance; or the relation they stand in to him, being his adopted children, and which is the reason of his helping them: and which signifies to take them by the hand, and lift them up, and support and uphold them; and supposes them to have been fallen down, and unable to raise themselves up; but God having laid help for them on one that is mighty, sent him to take upon him their nature; and by obeying, suffering, and dying for them, to help them out of their state of sin and misery; and to uphold them with the right hand of his righteousness, and bring them safe to glory; and all this, <p>in remembrance of his mercy; which he had in his heart towards them, and had promised in his covenant to them: the mercy of God, is the spring and source of redemption; mercy provided a Redeemer, and a ransom; and it is owing to it, that the Redeemer came; and he, in his love and pity, performed the work: and therefore salvation is to be ascribed, not to works of righteousness done by men, but to the abundant mercy of God our Saviour. <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/luke/1.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2"><span class="cverse3">{b}</span> He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of <i>his</i> mercy;</span><p>(b) He has helped Israel up with his arm, who had been completely cast down.</div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/meyer/luke/1.htm">Meyer's NT Commentary</a></div><a href="/luke/1-54.htm" title="He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;">Luke 1:54</a> ff. What was expressed <span class="ital">descriptively</span> in <a href="/context/luke/1-51.htm" title="He has showed strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts....">Luke 1:51-53</a>, and that by means of antitheses, is now definitely and particularly condensed in <span class="greekheb">ἀντελάβετο Ἰσραὴλ παιδὸς αὐτοῦ</span> (comp. <a href="/isaiah/41-8.htm" title="But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.">Isaiah 41:8</a> f.), which is the <span class="ital">summary</span> of what has been previously said. The <span class="ital">aorist</span> is to be taken quite like the previous aorists.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">ἀντελάβετο</span>] <span class="ital">He has interested Himself for Israel His servant</span> (<span class="greekheb">עֶבֶד</span>). Comp. on <span class="greekheb">ἀντελάβ</span>., <a href="/acts/20-35.htm" title="I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.">Acts 20:35</a>; Thuc. iii. 22; Diod. Sic. xi. 13. Euthymius Zigabenus explains it: <span class="greekheb">ἐπεσκέψατο τὸν Ἰσραηλιτικὸν λαὸν</span>, <span class="greekheb">τὸν δοῦλον αὐτοῦ</span>. Others, including Paulus, Glöckler, Kuinoel, take <span class="greekheb">παιδός</span> as filii (comp. <a href="/exodus/4-22.htm" title="And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus said the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:">Exodus 4:22</a>; <a href="/hosea/11-1.htm" title="When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.">Hosea 11:1</a>). But the theocratic notion of sonship is never expressed by <span class="greekheb">παῖς</span> (not even in <a href="/acts/3-13.htm" title="The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Son Jesus; whom you delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.">Acts 3:13</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">μνησθῆναι ἐλέους</span>] not: “ita ut perpetuo memor sit,” etc. (Kuinoel, Bleek), but: in order to be mindful of mercy. We have to note the connection with the <span class="greekheb">ἕως αἰῶνος</span> emphatically put at the end. God has interested Himself for Israel, in order to be mindful of mercy even to eternity, in order never again to forget mercy.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">καθὼς ἐλαλ</span>. <span class="greekheb">πρὸς τ</span>. <span class="greekheb">πατ</span>. <span class="greekheb">ἡμ</span>.] not indeed a parenthesis, but an inserted clause, which makes one feel that the telic <span class="greekheb">μνησθῆναι ἐλέους</span> takes place in consequence of the divine truthfulness.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">τῷ Ἀβραὰμ κ</span>. <span class="greekheb">τ</span>. <span class="greekheb">σπέρμ</span>. <span class="greekheb">αὐτ</span>.] Dativus commodi to <span class="greekheb">μνησθῆναι</span>. Comp. <a href="/psalms/98-3.htm" title="He has remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.">Psalm 98:3</a>; Xen. Cyr. i. 4. 12; Bornemann, Schol. p. 14 f. It might belong to <span class="greekheb">ἐλάλησε</span> (Euthymius Zigabenus, Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Beza, Kuinoel), since <span class="greekheb">λαλεῖν</span> may be joined as well with <span class="greekheb">πρός</span> as with a dative; but against this may be urged <span class="greekheb">κ</span>. <span class="greekheb">τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ</span>, which denotes[31] the whole posterity of Abraham without limitation, and therefore cannot be included in apposition to <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΠΡῸς ΤΟῪς ΠΑΤΈΡΑς ἩΜῶΝ</span></span></span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Observe, moreover, that here (comp. <a href="/luke/1-72.htm" title="To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;">Luke 1:72</a>) Abraham, the progenitor of the race, is conceived of as jointly affected by and interested in the destiny of his descendants; <a href="/isaiah/29-22.htm" title="Therefore thus said the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.">Isaiah 29:22</a> f.; <a href="/micah/7-20.htm" title="You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.">Micah 7:20</a>. Comp. <a href="/john/8-56.htm" title="Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.">John 8:56</a>; <span class="ital">Test. XII. Patr.</span> p. 587. Abraham <span class="ital">liveth</span> unto God, <a href="/luke/20-38.htm" title="For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live to him.">Luke 20:38</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">ἔμεινε δὲ κ</span>.<span class="greekheb">τ</span>.<span class="greekheb">λ</span>.] but not until the delivery of Elizabeth (in opposition to Calvin, Maldonatus, and others); see <a href="/luke/1-57.htm" title="Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.">Luke 1:57</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[31] In what manner it was the <span class="greekheb">σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ</span> that actually received the compassion (Romans 4, Galatians 4), was not here the question.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>REMARK 1.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>The harmonizers, even the most recent, have adopted very different ways for the fitting of this history into the narrative of Matthew. According to Lange, <span class="ital">L. J.</span> II. 1, p. 84 ff., Mary is driven to Elizabeth by her grief at being Ebionitically misjudged and discarded by Joseph; according to Hug, <span class="ital">Gutacht.</span> I. p. 85, Ebrard, Riggenbach, and others, she made the journey immediately after her marriage, which took place a few days after the beginning of her pregnancy! Luke says and knows nothing of either view.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>REMARK 2.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>The historical character of the Visitation of Mary stands or falls with that of the Annunciation. But the psychological and moral impossibility, that Mary, after the certainty as to her condition acquired while she was with Elizabeth, and after the theocratic inspiration with which she declares herself blessed on account of that condition, should not have made any communication at all to Joseph on the subject (as must nevertheless, according to Matthew, be assumed, so that thus our narrative and that of <a href="/matthew/1-18.htm" title="Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.">Matthew 1:18</a> ff. exclude one another); further, the utter want of any trace elsewhere of such an intimate and confidential relation as, according to our history, must have subsisted between the two holy families; moreover, the design of the narrative to invest Jesus with a singular glory, according to which even the yet unborn John signifies his rejoicing homage before the Messiah when but just conceived in His mother’s womb; the circumstance, not to be explained away (see the untenable suggestion of Lange, p. 92), that it is only after the leaping of the babe that Elizabeth receives the Holy Spirit, and by means of this Spirit recognises from that leaping the mother of the Messiah as such; the hymnic scene annexed thereto, the <span class="ital">poetic</span> splendour and truth of which lifts it out of the <span class="ital">historical</span> sphere, in which subsequently the house of Mary was not the abode of the faith that is here proclaimed from the mouth of the Virgin with so lofty a triumph (<a href="/mark/3-31.htm" title="There came then his brothers and his mother, and, standing without, sent to him, calling him.">Mark 3:31</a>; <a href="/john/7-3.htm" title="His brothers therefore said to him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that your disciples also may see the works that you do.">John 7:3</a>),—all this is not adapted to support or to uphold its historical character, even apart from the fact that tradition has not even conveyed to Luke the name of the mountain-town. The apocryphal poor and pale copy of the Annunciation and the Visitation may be seen in the <span class="ital">Protevang. Jacobi</span>, c. xi., xii.; according to which, moreover,—quite differently from the course followed by the modern Harmonists,—it is not till after the visitation, only in the sixth month of pregnancy, when Mary is recognised as in this condition and called to account by Joseph, that she asserts her innocence, and then the dream-revelation of the angel is imparted to Joseph (ch. xiii. f.).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/egt/luke/1.htm">Expositor's Greek Testament</a></div><a href="/luke/1-54.htm" title="He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;">Luke 1:54</a>. <span class="greekheb">ἀντελάβετο</span>: laid hold: of with a view to help, as in <a href="/context/isaiah/41-8.htm" title="But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend....">Isaiah 41:8-9</a>, <a href="/acts/20-35.htm" title="I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.">Acts 20:35</a>, <a href="/1_timothy/6-2.htm" title="And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brothers; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.">1 Timothy 6:2</a>. <span class="ital">cf.</span> <span class="greekheb">ἰπιλαμβάνεται</span>, <a href="/hebrews/2-16.htm" title="For truly he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.">Hebrews 2:16</a>.—<span class="greekheb">μνησθῆναι ἐλέους</span>, <span class="greekheb">καθὼς ἐλάλησεν</span>: what is about to happen is presented as fulfilling a promise made to the Fathers long, long ago, but not forgotten by God, to whom 1000 years, so far as remembering and being interested in promises are concerned, are as one day.—<span class="greekheb">τῷ Ἁβραὰμ καὶ τ</span>. <span class="greekheb">σ</span>. <span class="greekheb">α</span> The construction is a little doubtful, and has been differently understood. It is perhaps simplest to take <span class="greekheb">Αβ</span>., etc., as the dative of advantage = to remember mercy for the benefit of Abraham and his seed. The passage is an echo of <a href="/micah/7-20.htm" title="You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.">Micah 7:20</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/luke/1.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div><span class="bld">54</span>. <span class="ital">hath holpen</span>] Literally, “took by the hand.” <a href="/context/isaiah/41-8.htm" title="But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend....">Isaiah 41:8-9</a>, LXX. The proper punctuation of the following words is <span class="bld">to remember His mercy</span>—(<span class="bld">even as He spake to</span> (<span class="greekheb">πρὸς</span>) <span class="bld">our fathers</span>)—<span class="bld">to</span> (<span class="greekheb">τῷ</span>) <span class="bld">Abraham and his seed for ever</span>. <a href="/micah/7-20.htm" title="You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.">Micah 7:20</a>, “Thou wilt perform … the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” <a href="/galatians/3-16.htm" title="Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He said not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to your seed, which is Christ.">Galatians 3:16</a>, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.”<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/bengel/luke/1.htm">Bengel's Gnomen</a></div><a href="/luke/1-54.htm" title="He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;">Luke 1:54</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἀντελάβετο</span>, <span class="ital">He hath helped</span>) in the fact of His sending the Messiah. The same verb is given as the rendering of <span class="greekheb">נשא</span>, <a href="/1_kings/9-11.htm" title="(Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.">1 Kings 9:11</a>.—<span class="greekheb">παιδὸς</span>, servant) So <a href="/luke/1-69.htm" title="And has raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;">Luke 1:69</a>.—<span class="greekheb">μνησθῆναι</span>) for this reason, because He remembered; or else, in order that He might evince Himself mindful, <a href="/luke/1-72.htm" title="To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;">Luke 1:72</a>; <a href="/habakkuk/3-2.htm" title="O LORD, I have heard your speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive your work in the middle of the years, in the middle of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.">Habakkuk 3:2</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/luke/1.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 54, 55.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.</span> Her hymn dies down into a strain of gratitude for the eternal faithfulness to the cause of the chosen people. Had not God in very truth remembered his ancient promise? From one of their daughters, still speaking of the future as of the past, Messiah had been born - a greater Deliverer, too, than the most sanguine Hebrew patriot had ever dreamed of. Luke 1:54<a name="vws" id="vws"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/vws/luke/1.htm">Vincent's Word Studies</a></div>Hath holpen (ἀντελαβέτο)<p>The verb means to lay hold on: thence to grasp helpfully or to help. To lay hold in the sense of partaking (<a href="/1_timothy/6-2.htm">1 Timothy 6:2</a>), carries us back to the primitive meaning of the word according to its composition: to receive instead of, or in return (ἀντὶ), and suggests the old phrase to take up for, espouse the cause of. Wyc., has took up, but probably not in this sense.<p>Servant (παιδὸς)<p>Often child, son or daughter, but here servant, in allusion to <a href="/isaiah/41-8.htm">Isaiah 41:8</a>. Meyer truthfully says that the theocratic notion of sonship is never expressed by παῖς. See Rev., <a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/3-13.htm">Acts 3:13</a>, <a href="/acts/3-26.htm">Acts 3:26</a>; <a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/4-27.htm">Acts 4:27</a>, <a href="/acts/4-30.htm">Acts 4:30</a>. <div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 Interlinear</a><br /><a href="/texts/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 Parallel Texts</a><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/niv/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://bibleapps.com/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 Bible Apps</a><br /><a href="/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 Parallel</a><br /><a href="http://bibliaparalela.com/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="http://holybible.com.cn/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="http://saintebible.com/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 French Bible</a><br /><a href="http://bibeltext.com/luke/1-54.htm">Luke 1:54 German Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td align="center"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="../luke/1-53.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Luke 1:53"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Luke 1:53" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../luke/1-55.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Luke 1:55"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Luke 1:55" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>