Luke 1:58

Her cousins. That is, her kinsfolk (see on v. 36).

Rejoiced with her. Elisabeth’s neighbors were happy with her. Some translations read “congratulated her,” which her friends and kinsfolk no doubt did; but Luke’s statement here is not so much concerned with congratulations as with a genuine feeling of understanding on the part of the friends of Elisabeth (cf. Luke 15:6, 9; 1 Cor. 12:26).

A genuine sympathetic interest in the joys and sorrows of others is a fundamental Christian virtue. It is, in fact, the basis on which all right relationships with our fellow men rest. Such concern for the well-being of others is the practical result of the operation of the law of God in the heart — of that kind of love that fulfills the law (Matt. 22:39, 40; Rom. 13:10). A man cannot be a follower of the Master unless he is ready and willing to “rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep” (Rom. 12:15). See on Matt. 5:43-48.