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Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah,
Verse 39. This city is generally supposed to be Hebron, a sacerdotal town, (Joshua 21:11) situated in the mountains, to the south of Juda, and about 120 miles from Nazareth. V.
and entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Verse 41. The infant leaped in her womb. [7] According to the general opinion of the interpreters, this motion of the child at the time was not natural: and some think that God gave to Saint John, even in his mother’s womb, a passing knowledge of the presence of his Redeemer. See Saint Augustine in the above cited letter to Dardanus. Witham.
She called out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
Verse 42. In the same words she is pronounced blessed by Elizabeth, and by the angel Gabriel, both inspired by the Holy Ghost, and this not only to the praise of Jesus, but for his sake, to the praise of Mary, calling her blessed, and her fruit blessed; and thus, as Ven. Bede asserts, holding her up to the veneration of both men and angels.
Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Verse 43. The mother of my Lord. A proof that Christ was truly God, and the blessed Virgin Mary truly the mother of God. Witham.—Elizabeth was a just and blessed woman; yet the excellency of the mother of God does so far surpass that of Elizabeth, and of every other woman, as the great luminary outshines the smaller stars. S. Jerom præf. in Sophon.
For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy!
Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!”