Facts about Elizabeth
Elizabeth, also spelled Elisabeth (Hebrew Elisheva, ???????????—"An oath to my God") was the mother of John the Baptist and the wife of Zechariah, according to the Gospel of Luke.
Later in the story, we are told that both Zechariah and Elizabeth survived until after John began his public ministry.
After this, Elizabeth gave birth to a son, and when the extended family, not including Mary, gathered for his circumcision eight days later, she named him John.
The Pistis Sophia later explains that John and Elizabeth represent "Truth," while Mary and Jesus represent "Grace."
Elizabeth is revered as a saint in the Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican traditions.
Later, Elizabeth hides her infant son John from the agents of Herod the Great, who seek not only to kill Jesus but John as well.
St. Hippolytus of Rome affirmed that Mary's mother (Saint Anne) and Elizabeth's mother (Sobe) were sisters.
Elizabeth acted prophetically in greeting Mary by sensing that her young cousin would be "the mother of my Lord."
Like several other providential women in the Bible, Elizabeth was barren.
Elizabeth and Zechariah then provided hospitality to Mary for three months, but as the time for Elizabeth to give birth neared, Mary returned to Nazareth.
Modern scholarship questions the historicity of Elizabeth's relationship to Mary, asserting that the New Testament appropriated a once independent source about John the Baptist's family.
Nevertheless, after Zechariah returned to their home in the hill country of Judea, both he and Elizabeth proved equal to the task.
Unificationism has a unique take on Elizabeth, seeing Elizabeth and Mary as standing in the position of elder sister and younger sister, attempting to restore the situation of Jacob's wives, Leah and Rachel.
Luke reports that Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron the priest (Luke 1:5).
Elizabeth's responsibility was to foster unity between herself and Mary, and to encourage her husband, Zechariah, to protect Mary and her unborn child.
Elizabeth is mentioned in the New Testament only in the Gospel of Luke.
Elizabeth was Queen of England, Ireland and Wales from 1558 to 1603. She gave her name to the 'Elizabethan Age'. It was an exciting time in English history. This was the age of William Shakespeare's plays, Francis Drake's voyages, and the sea battles against the Spanish Armada.