“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.
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