In the second instance (Lk 12'*) Christ seems to warn against a litigious spirit, and to commend that ' sweet reasonableness ' which is one of the gifts of His own Spirit, and which may obviate the necessity of going before a magistrate. This does not condemn as un -Christian all reference to a magistrate, but Christ hints that to agree with an adversary quickly may prove to be the highest prudence as well as" the most Christian-like con- duct. The advice is sometimes spiritualized to mean that the sinner ought to settle accounts with God quickly. R. M. Adamsox.
MAGNIFICAT.— Our primary- interest in the hymn Magnificat (Lk l'^"*'^) is centred in the ques-
tion of (1) its authoiship, upon which must largely depend the scope of (2) its interpretation. Then (3) the history of its liturgical u.se may be briefly summarized.
1. Authorship. — Opinions are divided as to the source from which St. Luke derived the materials of his first chapter. Volter suggests that it is ba.sed on an Aj^ocnli/pse of Zacharias, a Je\\"ish document which has been edited bv a Christian, who found the Magnificat attributei."i to Elisabeth, and trans- ferred it to' Mary, ^^'eizsacker thinks that St. Luke simply inserted an early Christian hymn. A more satisfactoiy view is that of Sanday (Hastings" DB ii. 639, 644), who suggests that St. Luke was sup- plied with a special (written) source, through one of the women mentioned in Lk 8^ 24'^', possibly Joanna, who, being the wife of Herod's steward, may also have supplied information alxmt the court of Herod. We know fi-om Jn 19^ (cf. Ac 1'^) that the Virgin Maiy was brought into contact with this group. Ramsay (Was Christ born at Bethlehem f p. 88) calls attention to ' a womanly spirit in the whole narrative, which seems incon- sistent with the transmission from man to man, and which, moreover, is an indication of Lukes character ; he had a marked sympathy with women.' On the supposition that St. Luke used an Aramaic tradition or document, it is possible to account for all the characteristics of .style by which Harnack (see below) seeks to prove that he was the author l)oth of the Magnificat and of the Benedict us.
Having described the visit of the Virgin Mary to Elisabeth, and Elisabeth's salutation, the TR has Kal elirep ['MapLafx] with the variant reading 'EXwd,ieT. Then follows the hymn, the text of which has been excellently preserved, the only other doubtful reading being fxeydXa, for which we should probably read /jLeyaXeia.
'Slapid/j. is the reading of all Greek MSS, of the great majority of Latin MSS, and of innumerable Patristic testimonies, back to the 2nd cent., when Tertullian wrote (dcAninm, 26): 'Exsultat Elisaljet, Johannes intus impulerat, glorificat dominum Maria, Christus intus instinxerat.'
'EXto-d;3eT is the reading of three Old Latin MSS. a (Vercellensis, s'ec. iv. ), b (Veronensis, swc. v.), rhc (Rhedigeranus-Vratislaviensis, seec.fere vii. ), in Burkitt's phrase 'a typical European group,' to which maj- be added the testimony of Niceta of Remesiana, (fc Psalnwdirc Bono, c. 9 : ' Xec Elisa- beth, dill sterilis, editode repromissione filio, Deiim de ipsa anima magniticare cessat ; c. 11 : Cum Elisabeth Dominum anima nostra magnificat."
So also Origen, or his translator Jerome, in the 5th Homihj on Lk. 5 (Lommatzsch. t. v. p. 108 f.): ' Inuenitur beata Maria, sicut in aliquantis exem- plaribus reperimus, iirophetare ; non enim ignor- amus, quod secundum alios codices et hfec uerlja Elisabet uaticinetur Spiritu itauiie sancto tunc repleta est Maria,' etc. Harnack thinks that Jerome, if he had l>een responsible for this refer- ence, would have mentioned whether the reading was in Latin or Greek MSS. But as Jerome was Miiting in Latin, and the evidence of Niceta shows that the reading Elisabeth was more persistent and widespread in the verv district from which Jerome came. — having been born in Pannonia. not a great distance from Remesiana, — it must be considered still possible that he inter]iolated the reference.
Lastlj' we come to Trenanis, iv. 7. 1 {Cod. Clarom. ct Voss. ) : ' sed et Elisabet ait : Magnificat anima mea dominum,' etc. Cod. Arund. 'Maria." In iii. 10. 1 : ' Propter quod exnltans Maria clamabat pro ecclesia prophetans : Magnificat anima mea dominum,' etc. Here the context proves that Irenipus intended to write 'Maria.'* Thus it
* In iii. 14. 3, Irenjeus refers to Lk l-»2-45 as exelamatio Elisabet.
102
MAGXIFICAT
MAGNIFICAT
seems probable that it was the translator of Irenajus, or a copyist, A\ho introduced the reading Elisahct from his Old Latin Bible, and we may safelj- carry it back to the 3rd century.*
How then are we to account for the reading? Bardenhewer thinks that, Maptd/x having dropped out, 'EXicrd/3er was supplied by a copyist. But most critics (Bui'kitt, Harnack, ^^ ordsworth) agree that the original text must have been \-ai elirev without either name. Burkitt jnits it concisely : '"Mary"' Mas read \>y Tertullian as well as bj* all Greek and Syriac texts. This is fatal to ' ' Elisabeth " ; yet, if "ilary" were genuine, the actual occurrence of "Elisabeth" in the European branch of the Old Latin would be inexplicable. But if the original text of the Gospel had nai elrrev 'MeyaXvi'ei, k.t.X., without either name, all the evidence falls into line.'
On the question, which is the right gloss, critics are divided. Harnack and Burkitt argue for ' Elisabeth,' "Wordsworth and Spitta for ' Mary.' (1) Harnack does not think that tlie exclamation of yy 42-43 covers all that is implied in v.^i Kai iir\ri<Td-q irvev/JiaTos ayiov ij 'EXLaajSer. In v.^' similar words are used about Zacharias, and aie followed by the Bcncdictus. Nothing is said about ]Mary being tilled with the prophetic spirit. It does not seem necessary, on the other hand, to resort to the extreme remedy of S^jitta, who refuses to consider that the Bcncdictus supplies a parallel case, be- cause he thinks that it has been interjjolated at this point. The ' glo\\ ing words ' of Elisabeth's address need some reply. ' Could St. ^lary, mIio answered so freely and so bravely, j^et so humbly, to the angel, have been silent at such a moment when addressed by one whom she knew so well?' (Wordsworth). Though undoubtedly she is kept, or more probablj' keeps herself, in the background of this history, and is not spoken of as ' lilled with the Holy Ghost,' there is no question of deepest communing Avith God (Gottinnlglccit, Spitta), and this suffices to explain the outpouring in devotion and faith of a nund stored with OT phrases.