Girls · Hebrew · New Testament · classic · New Testament / Birth narrative
Elizabeth
/eh-LIZ-uh-beth/
אֱלִישֶׁבַע (Hebrew) / Ἐλισάβετ (Greek)
"God is my oath; pledged to God; my God is abundance"
Luke 1:5
RoleWife of Zechariah; mother of John the Baptist; kinswoman of Mary
Etymology
From 'El' (God) and 'sheva' (oath/seven). The root 'sheva' connects both to oath-taking (swearing by seven) and to completeness/abundance. Her name is the same as Aaron's wife Elisheba in the Old Testament.
Who they were
Elizabeth was the wife of a priest named Zechariah, and Luke describes them both as righteous before God, observing all the Lord's commands blamelessly. They had no children, and Elizabeth was now old — a source of deep grief in their culture. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah in the temple and announced that Elizabeth would bear a son who would prepare the way for the Lord, Zechariah doubted and was struck mute until the child was born. Elizabeth conceived and withdrew into seclusion for five months, saying, 'The Lord has done this for me — he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace among the people.' The most extraordinary moment comes when Mary — newly pregnant with Jesus — visited Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary's greeting, the baby in Elizabeth's womb leaped, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She cried out: 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?' Elizabeth was the first person to recognise Jesus as Lord — before he was born, before anyone else, before even his mother had been told by another human being. She recognised what was happening not through theological training but through the Spirit's direct witness. When her son was born and the family wanted to name him Zechariah, Elizabeth insisted: 'No! He is to be called John.' At that moment Zechariah's speech returned and he burst into prophecy.
Family
- Spouse
- Zechariah (priest of the division of Abijah)
- Children
- John the Baptist
Character qualities
- Decades of faithful waiting
- Spiritual perception
- Joy at others' blessings
- Courage to break with convention (naming John)
- Prophetic recognition
Key verse
Luke 1:42-45
Where they appear
Themes
Variants & related forms
Elisabeth · Eliza · Beth · Betsy · Liz · Lisa · Elise · Elspeth · Isabelle · Isabel
Read their story
Elizabeth's story begins in Luke.
The full passage is at Luke 1:5. Any modern translation will do — the NLT and NIV are the most readable; the ESV and NKJV stay close to the wording the church has used for centuries.
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