Luke 1:39
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In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah,
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
VISIT OF MARY TO ELISABETH. (Luke 1:39-56) hill country--the mountainous tract running along the middle of Judea, from north to south [WEBSTER and WILKINSON]. with haste--transported with the announcement to herself and with the tidings, now first made known to her, of Elisabeth's condition. a city of Juda--probably Hebron (see Jos 20:7; Jos 21:11).
Open source ↗We have here an interview between the two happy mothers, Elisabeth and Mary: the angel, by intimating to Mary the favour bestowed on her cousin Elisabeth (Luk 1:36), gave occasion for it; and sometimes it may prove a better piece of service that we think to bring good people together, to compare notes. Here is, I. The visit which Mary made to Elisabeth. Mary was the younger, and younger with child; and therefore, if they must come together, it was fittest that Mary should take the journey, not insisting on the preference which the greater dignity of her conception gave her, Luk 1:39. She arose, and left her affairs, to attend this greater matter: in those days, at that time (as it is commonly explained, Jer 33:15; Jer 50:4), in a day or two after the angel had visited her, taking some time first, as it is supposed, for her devotion, or rather hastening away to her cousin's, where she would have more leisure, and better help, in the family of a priest. She went, meta spoudēs - with care, diligence, and expedition; not as young people commonly go abroad and visit their friends, to divert herself, but to inform herself: she went to a city of Judah in the hill-country; it is not named, but by comparing the description of it here with Jos 21:10, Jos 21:11, it appears to be Hebron, for that is there said to be in the hill-country of Judah, and to belong to the priests, the sons of Aaron; thither Mary hastened, though it was a long journey, some scores of miles. 1. Dr. Lightfoot offers a conjecture that she was to conceive our Saviour there at Hebron, and perhaps had so much intimated to her by the angel, or some other way; and therefore she made such haste thither. He thinks it probable that Shiloh, of the tribe of Judah, and the seed of David, should be conceived in a city…
Open source ↗1:39 The hill country of Judea was 80–100 miles away from Nazareth, at least a four-day journey.
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
All their neighbors were filled with awe, and people throughout the hill country of Judea were talking about these events.
So Joshua conquered the whole region—the hill country, the Negev, the foothills, and the slopes, together with all their kings—leaving no survivors. He devoted to destruction everything that breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.
So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.