Exegesis:
anephōnēsen kraugē megalē ‘she exclaimed with a loud cry,’ showing the strong feeling of Elizabeth.
anaphōneō ‘to cry out,’ ‘to shout.’
kraugē ‘screaming,’ ‘loud cry.’
kai eipen ‘and she said,’ identical action with anephōnēsen kraugē megalē and hence sometimes not rendered distinctly (cf. Revised Standard Version).
eulogēmenē su en gunaixin ‘blessed (are) you among women.’ The phrase may be understood as a wish or as a statement, preferably the latter, cf. Revised Standard Version. The construction with en is a Hebraistic periphrasis for the superlative (cf. An American Translation).
eulogeō ‘to praise,’ or, ‘to bless’ in the sense of calling God’s gracious power upon somebody, or of providing with benefits; the last meaning either in the active with God or Christ as subject or in the passive as here and in the next clause, and then indicating a person that has received God’s blessing.
karpos ‘offspring’; the phrase karpos tēs koilias is a Hebraism, cf. Gen. 30.2, and the reference may be to the embryo in her womb or the child she will bear in due time, preferably the latter. Hence the phrase should be taken as referring to the future, ‘blessed will be….’
Translation:
She exclaimed with a loud cry, usually will require adaptation, cf. “gave a great cry” (An American Translation), ‘shouted with-power’ (Apache), ‘making a high tone she loudly spoke’ (Marathi), ‘the sound of her mouth (lit. oral-cavity) cried and was loud’ (Tae’), or somewhat simplified, ‘loud her-words’ (Tboli, where ‘cry’ or ‘shout’ can be used only with reference to pain, fear, or anger); cf. also on “cried out with a loud voice” in 4.33.
Blessed are you among women, preferably, ‘blessed are you above (or more than) all women,’ ‘the most blessed of women you are.’ The clause form should be that of an exclamation expressing strong emotion. A shift may be necessary to the active voice, taking as agent ‘God,’ or a reference to the supernatural (Navajo); or to constructions such as, ‘you get/receive a (great) blessing’ (Kannada, Sranan Tongo, Batak Toba, Thai), “God’s blessing is on you” (New English Bible). The verb to bless has various uses. (1) Here, in 24.50f, and probably in 18.15, it is used, with God or Christ as agent, in the sense of ‘to provide a person with benefits,’ ‘to confer prosperity or happiness on a person’; as such it has been rendered e.g. ‘to bestow favour upon,’ ‘to favour’ (for which see on vv. 28, 30), ‘to think well of’ (San Blas Kuna), ‘to speak good to’ (Amganad Ifugao), ‘to make happy’ (Pohnpeian), ‘to-cause-to-live-as-a-chief’ (Zulu), ‘to sprinkle with a propitious (lit. cool) face,’ a poetic expression occurring in the priests’ language (Toraja-Sa’dan). When the participle is used in an exclamatory phrase, as is the case here, its meaning comes close to that of Gr. makarios ‘happy,’ for which see on v. 45. (2) With man as agent and God or Christ as object the verb means ‘to praise’ (see 1.64; 2.28; 24.53), and has been rendered e.g. ‘cast the (praised person’s) name abroad’ (Ngäbere); cf. also on “praising” in 2.13. With this meaning too the participle is used in an exclamatory phrase (see 1.68; 13.35; 19.38). (3) With man as agent, again, the verb can be used in the sense of ‘to invoke divine care and favour for a person’ (see 2.34; 6.28), and has been rendered e.g. ‘request happiness/peace/well-being for’ (cf. Toraja-Sa’dan, Balinese). Finally (4), with Jesus as agent, the verb can have the meaning of ‘to say/call a blessing over something,’ ‘to invoke divine power on, or to consecrate, something (by word)’ (see 9.16; 24.30). Possible renderings of the verb in this sense are, ‘to arrange well in the heart’ (Piro), ‘to speak good over’ (Ngäbere), ‘to say sweet things concerning’ (Yucateco), ‘to put one’s mind on it to the father’ (San Blas Kuna), ‘to request strength for’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘to request merta for’ (Balinese, the term merta, etym. related to skr. amṛta ‘nectar/water-of-life,’ referring to a vital force, e.g. the sprouting force of rice). — Women (passim), always referring to adult females, usually ones who are, or have been married.
You … your again may require a decision about honorifics. Marathi here has the familiar pronoun used to juniors; Balinese uses ‘younger sister’ (which is in accordance with family relationship and age), but combines this with honorific terms, thus trying also to express Elizabeth’s respect for the mother of her Lord.
The fruit of your womb, or, ‘that-which-will-be-born out-of your-womb’ (Navajo), ‘the blossom (literary for, offspring) from your womb’ (Uab Meto), ‘the one who will be born from you’ (Southern Subanen), ‘the child you will give birth to,’ or simply, ‘your child’ (An American Translation, Phillips). Taken as a reference to the still unborn child the rendering of the phrase may be identical to that of ‘babe in the womb’ (v. 41) or synonymous to it.
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.