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“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
(Romans
8:2)
Elizabeth
– Mother of John the Baptist - Wikipedia
Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saint
Elizabeth
Righteous
Born 1st century BC
One of the hills of Judea
Died 1st century BC
(or early AD)
Venerated in
Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Oriental Orthodox Church
Lutheran Church
Anglican Communion
Islam
Canonized Pre-Congregation
Feast
23 September (Roman Catholic, current), 5 November (Roman
Catholic, older calendar)
5 September (Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican)
Patronage Pregnant
women
Elizabeth[a] was the mother of John the Baptist, the wife
of Zechariah and a relative of Mary, mother of Jesus, according to the Gospel
of Luke. She was past normal child-bearing age when she conceived and gave
birth to John. She is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic, Eastern
Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheran churches, in addition to being a
highly respected figure in Islam.
Biblical narrative
According to the Gospel of Luke chapter 1, Elizabeth was
"of the daughters of Aaron". She and her husband Zechariah were
"righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of
the Lord blameless", but Elizabeth was barren and therefore they were
childless.[1] While he was in the temple of the Lord (1:8–12), Zechariah was
visited by the angel Gabriel:
But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid,
Zechariah; your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him
John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his
birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine
or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even
before he is born."
— Luke 1:13–15
The date on which this occurred, according to theologian
Adam C. English, is September 24, based on computations from the Jewish
calendar in accordance with Leviticus 23 regarding the Day of Atonement.[2]
Zechariah doubted how the angel could know this since both
he and his wife were old. The angel identified himself as Gabriel and told
Zechariah that he would be "dumb, and not able to speak" until the
words were fulfilled, because he did not believe. When the days of his ministry
were complete, he returned to his house (Luke 1:16–23).
After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five
months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she
said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace
among the people."
— Luke 1:24–25
According to the account, the angel Gabriel was then sent
to Nazareth in Galilee to her relative[3] Mary, a virgin, betrothed to a man
called Joseph, and informed her that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and
bring forth a son to be called Jesus. Mary was also informed that her
"relative Elizabeth" had begun her sixth month of pregnancy, and Mary
travelled to "a town in the hill country of Judah", to visit
Elizabeth (Luke 1:26–40).
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in
her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she
exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy
womb. But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As
soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped
for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his
promises to her!"
— Luke 1:41–45
15th century depiction of the Nativity of St. John the
Baptist, with Elizabeth on the left
Matthew Henry comments, "Mary knew that Elizabeth was
with child, but it does not appear that Elizabeth had been told anything of her
relative Mary's being designed for the mother of the Messiah; and therefore
what knowledge she appears to have had of it must have come by a revelation,
which would be a great encouragement to Mary."[4] After Mary heard
Elizabeth's blessing, she spoke the words now known as the Magnificat (Luke
1:46–55).
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then
returned home.
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave
birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her
great mercy, and they shared her joy.
On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and
they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up
and said, "No! He is to be called John."
They said to her, "There is no one among your
relatives who has that name."
Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he
would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s
astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." Immediately his mouth was
opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
— Luke 1:56–64
That is the last mention of Elizabeth, who is not mentioned
in any other chapter in the Bible. The chapter continues with the prophecy of
Zechariah (known as the Benedictus) and ends with the note that John
"grew, and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts" until his
ministry to Israel began; so it is unknown how long Elizabeth and her husband
lived after that (Luke 1:65–80).
Since the Medieval era, Elizabeth's greeting, "Blessed
are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb," has formed the
second part of the Hail Mary prayer.[5]
Apocrypha
Elizabeth is mentioned in several books of the Apocrypha,
most prominently in the Gospel of James, in which the birth of her son, the
subsequent murder of her husband, as well as her and John's miraculous escape
during the Massacre of the Innocents are chronicled.
Sainthood
Elizabeth is revered as a saint in the Roman Catholic
Church on 5 November, and in the Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican traditions on
5 September, on the same day with her husband Zacharias/Zechariah. She is
commemorated as a matriarch in the Calendar of Saints (5 September) of the
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and Zacharias is commemorated as a prophet.[6]
She is also commemorated on 30 March in Eastern Orthodox
Church (Visitation).[7][8]
Islam
Elizabeth (Arabic: أليصابات),
the wife of Zechariah, the mother of John the Baptist, is an honored woman in
Islam.[9] Although Zechariah himself is frequently mentioned by name in the
Qur'an, Elizabeth, while not mentioned by name, is referenced. She is revered
by Muslims as a wise, pious and believing person who, like her relative Mary,
was exalted by God to a high station.[9]
According to the Quran Zechariah and his wife were both
devout and steadfast in their duties. They were, however, both very old and
they had no son. Therefore, Zechariah would frequently pray to God for a
son.[10] This was not only out of the desire to have a son but also because he
wanted someone to carry on the services of the Temple of prayer and to continue
the preaching of the Lord's message to the children of Israel before his death.
God cured Elizabeth's barrenness and granted Zechariah a son, John, who became
a prophet.[11] God thus granted the wishes of the couple because of their
faith, trust and love for God. In the Qur'an, God speaks of Zechariah, his
wife, and John, and describes the three as being humble servants of the Lord:
So We answered his prayer, granted him John, and made his
wife fertile. Indeed, they used to race in doing good, and call upon Us with
hope and fear, totally humbling themselves before Us.
— Surah
Al-Anbiya 21:90
In Sunni Islamic reports of al-Tabari and al-Masudi,
Elizabeth is said to have been a daughter of Imran, and thus, a sister of Mary.
Therefore, their children Jesus and John are believed to have been cousins. In
other accounts, Elizabeth is said to be a daughter of Fakudh, and a sister of
Imran's wife Hannah.[12]
In Shia hadith she is named Hananah, and is identified as a
sister of Mary's mother Hannah. Abu Basir recorded that Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq,
the great grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, had stated: "Anne, the
wife of Imran, and Hananah, the wife of Zechariah, were sisters. He goes on to
say that Mary was born from Hannah and John was born from Hananah. Mary gave
birth to Jesus and he was the son of the daughter of John's aunt. John was the
son of the aunt of Mary, and the aunt of one's mother is like one's
aunt."[13]
Mandaeism
In Mandaeism, Enišbai (Classical Mandaic: ࡏࡍࡉࡔࡁࡀࡉ,
romanized: ʿnišbai, Modern Mandaic pronunciation: [ʕiˈniʃβei][14])
is the Mandaic name for Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Enišbai is
mentioned in chapters 18, 21, and 32 of the Mandaean Book of John.[15][16]