Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 116:464 (Oct 1959)
Article: Mary’s Magnificat
Author: John V. Grier Koontz

BSac 116:464 (Oct 59) p. 336

Mary’s Magnificat

John V. Grier Koontz

[John V. Grier Koontz is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary with a Master of Theology degree, and has served as a pastor and teacher.]

In form and content, the Psalm of Mary as well as the other psalms of Luke 1 and 2 are indistinguishable from the psalms of Israel. Their Old Testament diction, parallelism of construction, regular beat of accent, and arrangement of strophes is such that, as Schaff observes, “They can be literally translated back into Hebrew without losing their beauty.”1 Moreover, what is true of their outward form is supremely true of their inner spirit for they express the same Messianic expectation as Israel’s prophets and are oblivious of any time period between the first and second advents of Messiah. Although these songs of Mary, Zacharias, and Simeon appear in the New Testament canon, they are couched in the language of Old Testament prophecy and give no detailed description of the events of this present age following the coming of the Savior. Nor should these observations seem surprising since the Old Testament dispensation had not ceased when the Gospels began. Did not Christ live His whole life under the law (Gal 4:4) and in obedience to it?

Having indicated that these nativity hymns of Luke’s Gospel could just as well have been written in the Old Testament as far as their advance on prophecy is concerned, we hasten to point out that if such were the case then much of their meaning would be lost, for the time in which a prophecy is spoken is an important factor in determining its interpretation and implications. The words of prophecy cannot be separated from their historical setting. If Elizabeth, Mary, Zacharias, or Simeon had lived in the time of David or Isaiah, before the angel’s annunciation, their utterances would have taken on an entirely different significance. But coming as they do at a time which both marked the peak of Messianic expectation and the “fullness of time” for the sending forth of God’s Son into the world, their ecstasy fits perfectly into

BSac 116:464 (Oct 59) p. 337

the circumstances which called forth their utterance, for with them the kingdom of God was at hand.

In keeping with this historical background, Mary’s song—which derives its title, Magnificat, from the fact that in the Vulgate text of Luke 1:46–58 the opening word is “Magnificat anima mea Dominum”-stands out as unique in the occasion of its utterance and in the character of i...