And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And Mary said - Two copies of the Itala, and some books mentioned by Origen, give this song to Elisabeth. It is a counterpart of the song of Hannah, as related in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.
This is allowed by many to be the first piece of poetry in the New Testament; but the address of the angel to Zacharias, Luke 1:13-17, is delivered in the same way; so is that to the virgin, Luke 1:30-33, and so also is Elisabeth's answer to Mary, Luke 1:42-45. All these portions are easily reducible to the hemistich form in which the Hebrew poetry of the Old Testament is found in many MSS., and in which Dr. Kennicott has arranged the Psalms, and other poetical parts of the Sacred Writings. See his Hebrew Bible.
My soul doth magnify the Lord - The verb μεγαλυνειν, Kypke has proved, signifies to celebrate with words, to extol with praises. This is the only way in which God can be magnified, or made great; for, strictly speaking, nothing can be added to God, for he is infinite and eternal; therefore the way to magnify him is to show forth and celebrate those acts in which he has manifested his greatness.