Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 1:46

"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord," — Luke 1:46 (ASV)

My soul doth magnify the Lord.—We come to the first of the great canticles recorded by St. Luke, which, since the time of Cæsarius of Arles (A.D. 540), who first introduced them into public worship, have formed part of the hymnal treasures of Western Christendom. We may think of the Virgin as having committed to writing at the time, or having remembered afterwards, possibly with some natural modifications, what she then spoke. Here the song of praise is manifestly based on that of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1–10), both in its opening words and in much of its substance, and is, in that respect, indicative of the hopes and, if we may so speak, the studies of the maiden of Nazareth.