Luke 1:47-48 translation comparison

A bit of a departure from the GROW method, but there was a suggestion in the Luke study  I am working on to review Luke 1:47-48 in different translations and note the variances. Let's see if we can fit it into the GROW method anyway...

Go to God in Prayer

Read Luke 1:47-48

Observations

Many years ago I was studying a verse and the book I was working from kept talking about how powerful the verse was. If I remember correctly the specific word in the translation that I was reading from was "rock" and that just did not seem very powerful.  I pulled out another Bible translation and that word was now "fortress" and I could instantly visualize the power in that passage.  I think I ran out and bought a Parallel Bible that very day!

Ever since then I have been fascinated by comparing verses in different translations, so this activity instantly interested me.

And gotta love technology!  The Biblegateway.com actually has an option to view Parallel translations!

I took a screenshot and highlighted the similar words to compare:

All the versions are quite similar but have slight variations:

1. looked/mindful/regarded - I thought mindful and regarded added more context to God simply looking
2. Only the Holman version added that He looked with favor which I think is getting more to the same description as mindful or regarded
3. humble condition/humble state/lowly state/humble estate - the difference here could be in how you are interpreting or reading this: her state of mind or her physical condition.  The key here is to remember this is Mary speaking.  
4. slave/servant/maidservant
5. Surely/For behold

I was a bit stumped by the 3rd point here and went to the Blue Letter Bible for help.  In the KJV the phrase "low estate" only appears in two other places:

In Psalm 136:23 it is again God seeing us in this state.  And the repeating phrase in the Praise Psalm is "for his mercy endureth forever"

In Romans 12:16 it is a direction to not be proud but instead associate with the humble.  

Write the Lesson

So that was fun!  Nothing really jumped out at me to make one version stand out more than the others, instead it was a simple two word phrase that is so rarely used in the Bible that we can only come to the conclusion that we need God's mercy because of our lowly state and a reminder to remain focused on Him so that we don't become proud and venture out of being humble.  Stay humble and GROW.