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LUKE 1:68 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Luke 1:67Luke 1:69
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them — the Benedictus opens with the standard blessing formula (eulogētos, blessed) applied to the God of Israel for coming and redeeming. He has come (epeskepsato, visited with care) is the divine visitation language of Exodus 3:16 and 4:31 — the same verb as God visiting Sarah and Hannah. Redeemed (elytrōsin, achieved redemption) is in the aorist: the redemption is accomplished in principle even before the child who accomplishes it has been born.

Church Fathers on Luke 1:68

God in His mercy and readiness to pardon our sins, not only restores to us what He has taken away, but grants us favors even beyond our expectations. Let no one then distrust Him, let no one from consciousness of past sins despair of the Divine blessing. God knows how to change His sentence, if you have known how to correct your sin, seeing he that was long silent prophesies; as it is said, And Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ambrose · 4th century

That is, “with the working of the Holy Spirit;” for he had obtained the grace of the Holy Spirit, not in any manner, but fully; and the gift of prophecy shone forth in trim; as it follows, And he prophesied.

Chrysostom · 4th century

Now Zacharias being filled with the Holy Spirit utters two prophecies, the first relating to Christ, the second to John. And this is plainly proved by those words in which he speaks of the Savior as present and already going about in the world, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited, &c.

Origen · 3rd century
Read all 5 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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