Das Magnificat Lc I, 46—55 Lobgesang der Maria oder der Elisabeth?

TL;DR

Köstlin intervenes in the turn-of-the-century debate over whether the Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55) was originally sung by Mary or by Elizabeth, proposing to add liturgical considerations to arguments already advanced by Harnack, Bardenhewer, Jacobé and Durand. He stresses that in the Western liturgy, since Gregory the Great and St. Benedict, the Magnificat is assigned to Vespers and understood as the *canticum beatae Mariae virginis*.

Key findings

• The paper reports A. Harnack's 1901 Berlin Academy treatise ("Das Magnificat der Elisabeth, Lc i, 46—55," S. 538–556), in which Harnack argued with decision that Luke himself placed the Magnificat in Elizabeth's mouth, conjecturing that Luke originally wrote only "καὶ εἶπεν" in v. 46, later expanded by copyists with either "Maria" or "Elisabeth."
• O. Bardenhewer opposed Harnack ("Ist Elisabeth die Sängerin des Magnificat?", Biblische Studien VI, 1901, H. 1 u. 2), as did A. Durand, S.J. ("L'origine du Magnificat," Revue Biblique VII, 1898, S. 74–77), who defended the traditional attribution.
• Fr. Jacobé (A. Loisy?), "L'origine du Magnificat," Revue d'histoire et de littérature religieuse (1897), S. 424–432, concluded that attributing the Magnificat to Elizabeth, though recommended by "une quantité respectable de témoins anciens," raises a textual-critical and exegetical problem deserving attention; his discussion was prompted by G. Morin's re-edition of the tractate *De Psalmodiae bono* ascribed to Bishop Nicetas of Remesiana (turn of the 4th century), which contains two passages ("Nec Elisabeth diu sterilis edito de repromissione filio de ipsa anima magnificare cessavit"; "Cum Elisabeth Dominum anima nostra magnificat") making Elizabeth, not Mary, the singer.
• Köstlin's own liturgical observation: the Western church, since Gregory the Great and St. Benedict, assigned the Magnificat to Vespers, where it stands between the hymn and the Preces, is framed by an antiphon and the Gloria patri, and is classed as a "Psalm" — a *psalmus major*, a New Testament psalm, taking the place of honour immediately before the Preces; for Catholic liturgical understanding Mary is the singer.

Methods

• A discussion/reply essay rather than an empirical study: Köstlin states he wishes to add "einige Erwägungen liturgischer Art" to the arguments and counter-arguments already put forward by the named scholars, and to submit them modestly to discussion.
• Evidence adduced is liturgical and historical: the position of the Magnificat in the Vespers office, its antiphon and Gloria patri, the versicle "Dirigatur, Domine, oratio mea…", the incensation of the altar during the Magnificat, and the citation of Thalhofer's *Handbuch der kathol. Liturgik* II (1890), S. 478.
• No data, sample, or statistical analysis is reported.

Limitations

• The supplied text is a truncated fragment (pages 142–143, breaking off mid-sentence in the middle of the liturgical argument); the author's own conclusion on the Mary/Elizabeth question is not present in the text provided.
• The paper itself presents its contribution as a modest addition to an ongoing discussion ("bescheidentlich zur Discussion zu stellen") rather than a definitive resolution.
• Köstlin himself flags a difficulty in the liturgical reading he is exploring: it "will nicht recht einleuchten" why a distinct praise-prayer is needed alongside the hymn and Preces, and he raises as a question whether the Magnificat's placement and incensation might instead reflect an invocation of Mary as the highest intercessor — a point he poses interrogatively rather than settles.