Luke 1:51 kjv
He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
Luke 1:51 nkjv
He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
Luke 1:51 niv
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
Luke 1:51 esv
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
Luke 1:51 nlt
His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
Luke 1 51 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sam 2:3 | "Boast no more so very proudly, let no arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed." | God opposes arrogance and tests deeds. |
| 1 Sam 2:7-8 | "The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low, He also exalts. He raises the poor from the dust..." | God's power in humbling and exalting. |
| Ps 18:27 | "For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down." | God saves the humble, humbles the proud. |
| Ps 75:7 | "but it is God who judges; he brings one down, he exalts another." | God is the ultimate judge, determining fates. |
| Ps 89:10 | "You crushed Rahab like a carcass; with your mighty arm you scattered your enemies." | God's arm scatters enemies/proud nations. |
| Ps 98:1 | "O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory." | God's arm achieves salvation/victory. |
| Ps 107:40 | "He pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in a trackless waste." | God humbles those in positions of power. |
| Prov 16:18 | "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." | Inevitable fall of the proud. |
| Prov 29:23 | "One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor." | Pride leads to humiliation; humility to honor. |
| Isa 2:11 | "The haughty eyes of man will be humbled, and the pride of men will be brought low; and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day." | Prophecy of God humbling all human pride. |
| Isa 13:11 | "I will punish the world for its evil... I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant..." | God's judgment includes punishing human pride. |
| Isa 51:9 | "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the days of old..." | Call for God's active, powerful intervention. |
| Isa 52:10 | "The Lord has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God." | God's arm reveals His salvation globally. |
| Gen 6:5 | "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great... and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." | The depravity of human "imagination of hearts." |
| Gen 8:21 | "...the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth..." | The human heart's innate inclination to evil. |
| Lk 1:52-53 | "He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted the humble and oppressed. He has filled the hungry with good things..." | Immediate continuation of God's great reversal. |
| Lk 14:11 | "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." | Jesus' teaching on humbling and exalting. |
| Lk 18:14 | "...For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." | Reinforces the principle through a parable. |
| Jas 4:6 | "But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'" | Direct New Testament echo: God resists the proud. |
| 1 Pet 5:5 | "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." | Another clear statement on God's opposition. |
| 1 Cor 1:27-28 | "But God has chosen the foolish things... and the weak things... and the base things... to nullify the things that are..." | God uses the humble to nullify the proud. |
| Zech 10:11 | "And He will pass through the sea in distress and will strike the waves of the sea, so that all the depths of the Nile will be dried up; and the pride of Assyria will be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt will depart." | God humbles nations through powerful acts. |
Luke 1 verses
Luke 1 51 Meaning
Luke 1:51 proclaims God's powerful action in human history. It describes His decisive intervention to reverse worldly standards, specifically demonstrating His immense strength to humble the proud and arrogant. God does not just observe but actively disperses those who devise and execute their own self-exalting schemes from the deep recesses of their hearts, revealing His sovereign opposition to human pride.
Luke 1 51 Context
Luke 1:51 is part of Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), a song of praise she utters after her cousin Elizabeth affirms her divine calling as the mother of the Lord. The Magnificat deeply echoes Old Testament themes and structures, particularly Hannah's song in 1 Samuel 2:1-10, demonstrating God’s consistent character and salvific pattern throughout history. Mary's song is a prophetic proclamation, articulating the kingdom reversal that the Messiah, soon to be born, will embody and inaugurate. Historically and culturally, this declaration directly challenged the established powers of the Roman Empire and any religious hierarchy based on self-importance or oppression, presenting a vision of God's justice that champions the marginalized and confronts the arrogance of the mighty.
Luke 1 51 Word analysis
- He has shown (ἐποίησεν - epoiēsen): From the Greek verb ποιέω (poieō), meaning "to do, make, or perform." The aorist tense (past simple, but with ongoing or continuous implication in this prophetic context) highlights God’s decisive and accomplished actions, not merely a promise for the future. It signifies divine effectiveness and intervention in history.
- strength (κράτος - kratos): Denotes manifest power, dominion, and effective might. It speaks of inherent and unchallengeable authority and capacity, rather than just raw force. God's strength is not just potential but is actively displayed.
- with His arm (τῷ βραχίονι αὐτοῦ - tō brachiōni autou): "Arm" is a powerful anthropomorphism, a vivid image of God's direct and potent intervention. In biblical tradition (e.g., Exod 6:6, Deut 4:34, Isa 52:10), "the arm of the Lord" signifies His sovereign, saving, and delivering power, particularly evident in the Exodus. It suggests God is personally involved and executes His will with authority and decisive action.
- He has scattered (διεσκόρπισεν - dieskorpisen): From the Greek διασκορπίζω (diaskorpizō), meaning "to scatter abroad, disperse, dissipate, or drive in various directions." This verb conveys the sense of utterly breaking up and dispersing a consolidated force, rendering them powerless. It is a forceful and complete destruction or disruption of their plans and unity.
- the proud (ὑπερηφάνους - hyperēphanous): From ὑπερήφανος (hyperēphanos), meaning "haughty, arrogant, proud, supercilious." This describes those who are conceited, boastful, disdainful of others, and filled with a self-sufficient attitude that implicitly or explicitly resists God. Their pride is often manifest in oppression or self-righteousness. This is the very quality that God consistently opposes throughout Scripture (Jas 4:6, 1 Pet 5:5).
- in the imagination of their hearts (διανοίᾳ καρδίας αὐτῶν - dianoia kardias autōn): This phrase describes the source and nature of their pride.
- imagination (διανοίᾳ - dianoia): Refers not merely to passing thoughts but to the innermost counsel, intention, understanding, or designs of the mind. It signifies their settled thoughts, intentions, and cunning schemes.
- of their hearts (καρδίας αὐτῶν - kardias autōn): In biblical terms, the "heart" (καρδία - kardia) is the center of the person, encompassing their will, emotions, intellect, and moral character. The "imagination of their hearts" thus refers to their deep-seated, self-serving purposes, their proud designs, and the very foundation of their arrogance. God targets the root of their pride – their internal rebellious plots and their arrogant self-conception, rather than merely their outward displays. This means God deals with the core issues of humanity.
Luke 1 51 Bonus section
The language of Mary's Magnificat is infused with Hebrew parallelism and prophetic echoes, reflecting her deep familiarity with the Old Testament. The divine action described in Luke 1:51 ("He has shown strength," "He has scattered") uses the aorist tense in Greek, often translated as a simple past tense, but in a prophetic or hymnic context like this, it can imply a "prophetic aorist" or "constative aorist," indicating that these actions are not just singular past events but describe God's characteristic way of acting throughout history, or a certainty that they will happen as if they already have. This highlights God’s eternal opposition to pride, stretching from ancient Israel's deliverances to the advent of Christ and His final return. This verse is thus not only a historical recounting but also a declaration of ongoing divine principle and a prophetic anticipation of ultimate divine judgment on human arrogance.
Luke 1 51 Commentary
Luke 1:51 profoundly illustrates the consistent character of God revealed throughout the Scriptures: His opposition to human pride and His commitment to justice. This verse from Mary's Magnificat is a theological declaration that anticipates the radical reordering of the world that the Messiah would bring. God does not merely observe human affairs; He actively intervenes with unparalleled might ("His arm") to dismantle the very foundations of human arrogance. The proud, those whose deepest thoughts and schemes are rooted in self-sufficiency and defiance against God or His ways, are precisely the ones whom God utterly disempowers and scatters. This act is not random; it's a precise dismantling of their proud intentions, ensuring that no human authority or self-aggrandizement can stand against His ultimate sovereignty. It highlights God’s preferential option for the humble and His inherent righteous judgment against all forms of pride, setting the stage for the kingdom values of Jesus Christ. Practically, it encourages humility, reminding us that true power and stability rest in God, not in human accomplishments or schemes.