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Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) [ref]He knocks kings off their thrones,
⇔ and praises those who are humble.
OET-LV He_took_down sovereigns from thrones, and exalted the_humble.
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SR-GNT Καθεῖλεν δυνάστας ἀπὸ θρόνων, καὶ ὕψωσεν ταπεινούς. ‡
(Katheilen dunastas apo thronōn, kai hupsōsen tapeinous.)
Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT He has thrown down rulers from their thrones
⇔ and he has raised up the lowly.
UST He has made rulers stop ruling,
⇔ but he has honored people who are lowly.
BSB He has brought down rulers from [their] thrones,
⇔ [but] has exalted [the] humble.
MSB (Same as BSB above)
BLB He has brought down rulers from thrones, and exalted the humble.
AICNT he has brought down rulers from their thrones and exalted the humble;
OEB he has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
⇔ and he uplifts the humble,
WEBBE He has put down princes from their thrones,
⇔ and has exalted the lowly.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position;
LSV He brought down the mighty from thrones,
And He exalted the lowly,
FBV He tears the powerful down from their thrones, and elevates those who are humble.
TCNT He has brought down rulers from their thrones
⇔ and exalted the lowly.
T4T He does not let mighty kings rule [MTY] any more, but he honors people who are oppressed (OR, humble).
LEB • He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly.
BBE He has put down kings from their seats, lifting up on high the men of low degree.
Moff princes he has dethroned and the poor he has uplifted,
Wymth He has cast monarchs down from their thrones, And exalted men of low estate.
ASV He hath put down princes from their thrones,
⇔ And hath exalted them of low degree.
DRA He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.
YLT He brought down the mighty from thrones, And He exalted the lowly,
Drby He has put down rulers from thrones, and exalted the lowly.
RV He hath put down princes from their thrones, And hath exalted them of low degree.
(He hath/has put down princes from their thrones, And hath/has exalted them of low degree. )
SLT He has pulled down the powerful from thrones, and lifted up the.
Wbstr He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
KJB-1769 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
(He hath/has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. )
KJB-1611 He hath put downe the mighty from their seates, and exalted them of low degree.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)
Bshps He hath put downe the myghtie fro their seates, and exalted them of lowe degree.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))
Gnva Hee hath put downe the mighty from their seates, and exalted them of lowe degree.
(He hath/has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. )
Cvdl He putteth downe the mightie from the seate, and exalteth them of lowe degre.
(He putteth/puts down the mighty from the seat, and exalteth them of low degre.)
TNT He putteth doune the myghty from their seates and exalteth them of lowe degre.
(He putteth/puts down the mighty from their seats and exalteth them of low degre. )
Wycl He sette doun myyti men fro sete, and enhaunside meke men.
(He set down mighty men from sete, and enhanced meek men.)
Luth Er stößet die Gewaltigen vom Stuhl und erhebt die Niedrigen.
(He prods/pushes/bumps the mighty_(ones) from_the chair/stool and raises the low/humble_(one).)
ClVg Deposuit potentes de sede, et exaltavit humiles.
(Deposuit powerful from/about sede, and exalted humbles. )
UGNT καθεῖλεν δυνάστας ἀπὸ θρόνων, καὶ ὕψωσεν ταπεινούς.
(katheilen dunastas apo thronōn, kai hupsōsen tapeinous.)
SBL-GNT καθεῖλεν δυνάστας ἀπὸ θρόνων καὶ ὕψωσεν ταπεινούς,
(katheilen dunastas apo thronōn kai hupsōsen tapeinous,)
RP-GNT Καθεῖλεν δυνάστας ἀπὸ θρόνων, καὶ ὕψωσεν ταπεινούς.
(Katheilen dunastas apo thronōn, kai hupsōsen tapeinous.)
TC-GNT Καθεῖλε δυνάστας ἀπὸ θρόνων,
⇔ καὶ ὕψωσε ταπεινούς.
(Katheile dunastas apo thronōn,
⇔ kai hupsōse tapeinous. )
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
1:46-55 Mary’s song is the first of three songs of praise in the birth narrative. It is called the Magnificat (“magnifies”), from the first word in the Latin translation. The song has many parallels to Hannah’s prayer in 1 Sam 2:1-10. The fact that God cares for the oppressed and reverses their fortunes is a common theme throughout Luke’s Gospel. The coming of God’s Kingdom brings salvation to rejected and outcast people.
Praise and Rejoicing in Luke–Acts
Throughout Luke’s Gospel, the recipients of God’s grace praise him for his wonderful deeds (Luke 1:44, 46, 64, 68; 2:13, 38; 5:25-26; 7:16; 13:13; 17:15-18; 18:43; 19:37; 24:53). In Acts, praise accompanies healings (3:8-9; 4:21-22) and the salvation of the Gentiles (Acts 11:18; 13:48; 21:19-20).
This motif of praise is closely linked to a key theme in Luke, that the fulfillment of God’s promise in the coming of Jesus the Messiah is a cause for joy and rejoicing. This theme emerges toward the beginning of the Gospel in the songs of Mary (Luke 1:46-55) and Zechariah (Luke 1:67-79). The Old Testament prophets had predicted that nature itself would break forth in songs of praise when God’s salvation arrived (see Isa 55:12). When Jesus entered Jerusalem at the end of his ministry, his disciples shouted and sang, “praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen” (Luke 19:37). The Pharisees called on Jesus to rebuke his disciples, but he responded, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” (19:37-40). At the end of the Gospel, the disciples “returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God” (24:52-53). The arrival of God’s marvelous salvation is a cause for rejoicing and praise.
Passages for Further Study
Isa 55:12; Luke 1:44-47, 64, 68; 2:13-14, 38; 5:25-26; 7:16; 13:13; 17:15-18; 18:43; 19:37-40; 24:51-53; Acts 2:47; 3:8-9; 4:21; 11:18; 13:48; 21:20
In this section Mary spoke a poem or song of praise to God.Many of the lines in this song of praise are echoes of other songs of praise in the Old Testament. In fact, one scholar points out that of the ten verses of Mary’s song, eight are very similar to Old Testament verses. For example, in 1:47 Mary said that “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Compare this with Habakkuk 3:18, “I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.” Mary may have had these thoughts stored in her mind because she had heard people read the Scriptures many times in synagogue services. However, in her song, Mary combined the thoughts of Old Testament songs in her own original way. In 1:46–49 she praised God for blessing her personally. In 1:50 she praised God because he is merciful to all people who fear him. In 1:51–53 she spoke of the way God had rejected the proud, the powerful, and the rich. She spoke of the way he had instead chosen to bless those who are poor and lowly. In 1:54–55 she praised God for helping the people of Israel.
When Mary talked about what God had done, she was not just talking about the past. She was talking about what God was doing at that time and about what he would continue to do through the Messiah. By choosing Mary to be the mother of the Messiah, God had shown mercy to her as a poor and lowly person. He had also shown mercy to the people of Israel, because the Messiah would save them. This was similar to the way he had worked in the past, showing mercy to his people and helping them against their enemies.
It may be good to write this song (1:46–55) as poetry in your translation, using separate lines at appropriate places. For examples, see 1:46–55 in the RSV, NIV, and GNT. There may be special phrases in your language that are appropriate to use in poetry that you do not use in ordinary conversation. Because this song is poetry, you may be able to use those phrases here.
Some other possible headings for this section are:The name of Mary’s song in Latin, the Magnificat, is well-known in some areas of the world. If this is true in your area, you may be able to use this name as your heading or as part of the heading. For example, the NLT has “The Magnificat: Mary’s Song of Praise.”
Mary’s song of praise to God
Mary praised God for the kindness he was showing to Israel and to her
He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
He has taken/pulled down rulers from their thrones,
He has taken away the power of kings,
He has removed powerful leaders from their place of authority,
He has brought down rulers from their thrones: The clause He has brought down rulers from their thrones is a figure of speech. It indicates that the Lord has removed rulers from their positions of authority. In this verse, the word thrones represents the authority that kings have. Therefore, this expression means that God has caused people who were kings to be kings no longer.
In some languages, people may not understand this figure of speech. If that is true in your language, here are other ways to translate it:
Use the figure of speech and also make the meaning explicit. For example:
He has pulled kings from their thrones and taken their kingship from them
Use a similar figure of speech in your language. For example:
He has taken the kings’ staffs of office from them
Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:
He has removed kings from their positions of authority
He has taken away the power of kings
but has exalted the humble.
but he has raised up humble people.
and he has made lowly people important.
and he has exalted/honored insignificant people.
but: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as but is often translated as “and.” It connects two ways in which God showed his power: He has brought down rulers from their thrones (1:52a), and he has lifted up humble people (1:52b). These two actions contrast with each other, so but is natural in English. Connect these parts of the verse in a natural way in your language. In some languages a conjunction may not be needed.
has exalted the humble: The verb that the BSB translates as exalted here has the figurative meaning of “to give a high position to.” It has the opposite meaning of the verb “brought down” in 1:52a. The phrase the humble refers to people who were poor and also humble in spirit.
Mary and Elizabeth were examples of humble people whom God exalted. God exalted Mary by giving her the honor of becoming the mother of the Messiah. He exalted Elizabeth by making her the mother of John, who prepared people for the Messiah.
Some other ways to translate exalted the humble are:
exalted the lowly (NLT96)
honored humble people (GW)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
καθεῖλεν δυνάστας ἀπὸ θρόνων
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καθεῖλεν δυνάστας ἀπό θρόνων καί ὕψωσεν ταπεινούς)
A “throne” is a chair that a ruler sits on, and it is a symbol associated with authority. If rulers are brought down from their thrones, that means they no longer have the authority to reign. Alternate translation: [He has deposed rulers]
Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast
καὶ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καθεῖλεν δυνάστας ἀπό θρόνων καί ὕψωσεν ταπεινούς)
The word and indicates a contrast between what this phrase describes and what the previous phrase described. Try to make the contrast between these opposite actions clear in your translation. Alternate translation: [but]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ὕψωσεν ταπεινούς
exalted ˓the˒_humble
In this word picture, people who are more important are depicted as higher up than people who are less important. Alternate translation: [he has given important roles to humble people]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
ταπεινούς
˓the˒_humble
Mary is using this adjective as a noun in order to indicate a group of people. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this with a noun phrase. Alternate translation: [humble people]