Verses of Luke 1
Luke 1:39 Commentary - Whedon's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
§ 5. VISIT OF MARY TO ELISABETH, Luk 1:39-56 .
Elisabeth concealed herself for five months, (Luk 1:24;) and the annunciation was made to Mary in the sixth month, (26;) and Mary visits Elizabeth for three months, making about nine months. The conception of the Messiah, doubtless, took place before Mary’s departure. The revelation of the fact to Joseph took place after her return.
There are many passages in the word of God which modern delicacy desires to avoid, and at which modern scepticism utters its scoffs. But in all such passages, be it noted, the holy word seeks to pander to no impure or sensual passion. On the contrary, the expressions that occur indicate that the sacred writer was unconscious of impurity, and is, as it were, unknowing of the applications and perversions which a depraved heart makes of his words. Its words, therefore, are utterances of highest purity. With the guilty is the guilt. The Holy Spirit need not hesitate to name what the Omnipotent Spirit does not hesitate to create; and that naming and that creating are equally pure.
39. Into the hill country See note on Mat 2:1. See also the map.
With haste The action of eager interest. If we may suppose Hebron to be Elisabeth’s residence, Mary’s journey would be about one hundred miles. Robinson journeyed with camels from Hebron to Jerusalem in an hour and fifteen minutes, and from thence to Nazareth with mules in nearly thirty hours. A camel travels about ten miles an hour; a mule three.
City of Judah The city is by many supposed to be Hebron. In Jos 21:11, is mentioned “Arba,… which is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah.” It was a residence of priests, and so very probably of the priest Zacharias. Modern tradition, traceable back no further, however, than the sixteenth century, finds his residence in Ain Karim. This is a prosperous village within the hill country, where now stands the convent of St. John in the Desert. According to tradition, Mary, in her visit to Elisabeth, found her at Zacharias’s rural abode, one mile from the village, where the interview took place. The place was marked by a chapel built by the Empress Helena, of which the ruins still remain. The spot is called The Visitation. But some of the best scholars suppose that Judah is but a softened name for Juttah, a city mentioned in Jos 15:55; Jos 21:16, and which exists at the present day.
Verses of Luke 1
Consult other comments:
Luke 1:39 - Abbott's Illustrated New Testament
Luke 1:39 - The Greek Testament
Luke 1:39 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Luke 1:39 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Luke 1:39 - Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Luke 1:39 - Calvin's Complete Commentary
Luke 1:39 - The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Luke 1:39 - Adam Clarke's Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Luke 1:39 - Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luke 1:39 - College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Luke 1:39 - Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Luke 1:39 - Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Luke 1:39 - The Expositor’s Greek Testament by Robertson
Luke 1:39 - F.B. Meyer's Through the Bible Commentary
Luke 1:39 - Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
Luke 1:39 - Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Luke 1:39 - McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Luke 1:39 - Geneva Bible Notes
Luke 1:39 - John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Luke 1:39 - Gnomon of the New Testament
Luke 1:39 - Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Luke 1:39 - Henry Alford's Greek Testament
Luke 1:39 - Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Luke 1:39 - Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary
Luke 1:39 - Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Luke 1:39 - Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Luke 1:39 - Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Luke 1:39 - The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Luke 1:39 - A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Luke 1:39 - Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luke 1:39 - Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer's New Testament Commentary
Luke 1:39 - Peake's Commentary on the Bible
Luke 1:39 - Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luke 1:39 - English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Luke 1:39 - The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Luke 1:39 - Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Luke 1:39 - Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament
Luke 1:39 - Ryle's Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Luke 1:39 - A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Luke 1:39 - Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible
Luke 1:39 - John Trapp's Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Luke 1:39 - The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Luke 1:39 - You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Luke 1:39 - Whedon's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Whedon's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Daniel D. Whedon (1808-1885) was a prominent university professor, theologian, and author. He served as Professor of Ancient Languages at Wesleyan University in Connecticut; as Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Michigan; and as editor of the Methodist Quarterly Review from 1856 to1884. He authored numerous books including Commentary on the New Testament (New York: Carlton & Porter, 1860); Commentary on the Old Testament (New York: Nelson & Phillips, 1873); What is Arminianism? (Toronto: W. Briggs, 1879); and Essays, Reviews, and Discourses (New York: Phillips & Hunt, 1887).