ELIZABETH

(E·lizʹa·beth) [Gr., E·lei·saʹbet from Heb., ʼE·li·sheʹvaʽ, meaning “My God Is Plenty; God of Plenty”].

The God-fearing wife of the priest Zechariah and the mother of John the Baptizer. Elizabeth herself was of the priestly family of Aaron the Levite. Both she and her husband were well along in years when the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah in the Holy of the temple and announced that Elizabeth would give birth to a son who was to be called John. Upon becoming pregnant, Elizabeth kept herself secluded for five months. In the sixth month of her pregnancy she was visited by her relative Mary. On that occasion the unborn John leaped in his mother’s womb, and Elizabeth, filled with holy spirit, blessed Mary and the fruit of her womb, calling her “the mother of my Lord.”​—Lu 1:5-7, 11-13, 24, 39-43.