Texts in Conversation
Luke says Elizabeth greets Mary as blessed among women, echoing a blessing for heroic women in the Hebrew Bible. Judith continues this pattern when Uzziah praises her above all women, and Judges does the same for Jael after she kills Sisera.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Judith 13:18
Deuterocanon
16 And as the Lord lives, who preserved me in my way that I went, my face deceived him to his destruction, and he didn’t commit sin with me, to defile and shame me.” 17 All the people were exceedingly amazed, and bowed themselves, and worshiped God, and said with one accord, “Blessed are you, O our God, who have this day humiliated the enemies of your people.” 18 Ozias said to her, “Blessed are you, daughter, in the sight of the Most High God, above all the women upon the earth; and blessed is the Lord God, who created the heavens and the earth, who directed you to cut off the head of the prince of our enemies. 19 For your hope will not depart from the heart of men that remember the strength of God forever. 20 May God turn these things to you for a perpetual praise, to visit you with good things, because you didn’t spare your life by reason of the affliction of our race, but prevented our ruin, walking a straight way before our God.” And all the people said, “Amen! Amen!”
Date: 100 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Luke 1:42
New Testament
39 In those days Mary got up and went hurriedly into the hill country, to a town of Judah, 40 and entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 She exclaimed with a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child in your womb! 43 And who am I that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me? 44 For the instant the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
Date: 75–85 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Christian interpreters have long recognized what one finds in the 'Loci citati vel allegati' of Nestle-Aland — that Elizabeth's spirit-filled cry to her relative Mary in Luke 1:42 echoes both Judges 5:24 and Judith 13:1. Elizabeth's greeting, 'Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb,' is strikingly reminiscent of the prophet Deborah's praise of Jael, 'Blessed is Jael among women ... among tent-dwelling women most blessed' and of Uzziah's praise of Judith, 'Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God above all women on earth.' Indeed, Luke 1:42 has played a significant role in causing the church to consider Jael and Judith as types of Mary. Though interpreters, both ancient and modern, have heard Judges 5:24 and Judith 13:18 as echoes, they often emphasize only the continuity between Jael, Judith, and Mary, overlooking the obvious point of discontinuity — namely, that Jael and Judith are blessed for killing enemy commanders whereas Mary is blessed for believing the words of the Lord and bearing a son. If noted at all, this pointed difference is paid only a passing reference without any extensive reflection about how the allusions function within the Lucan text ..."
Brittany E. Wilson, “Pugnacious Precursors and the Bearer of Peace: Jael, Judith, and Mary in Luke 1:42,” CBQ (2006): 436–456.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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