Death of Elizabeth 

Elizabeth was a Jewish priestess, the mother of John the Baptist, a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the wife of Zacharias, who was also a priest. She had no children until a celestial being, Gabriel, appeared before her to announce she was pregnant. Gabriel also said the child would be the forerunner and herald of a great man whose mother was her cousin Mary. This came as a shock to her and her husband since they both believed Elizabeth was barren. But Gabriel’s prediction came true, and John was born on March 25, 7 CE. She and Zacharias raised John in the city of Judah, a few miles west of Jerusalem, and he fulfilled Gabriel’s other prediction as well. But before he became a preacher and herald of Jesus, when John was twenty-eight, his mother suddenly died.

Elizabeth died suddenly on August 17, 22 CE. Her only child, John the Baptist, was a Nazarite and this religious sect forbade contact with the dead. Elizabeth’s friends knew this and made all arrangements for the burial of Elizabeth before sending for John who was, at that time, a shepherd living at Engedi. When he received word of the death of his mother, he turned his flock over to a friend and started for Hebron. After attending her funeral, John began thinking about his life’s mission and Gabriel’s prediction that he had heard his mother so often recite. On January 14, 26 CE, while preaching and baptizing at the Jordan River, John baptized Jesus and continued to preach until his own death in prison.

Elizabeth was a remarkable woman, a devout person who counseled and comforted her cousin Mary. She and Mary were the only ones visited by Gabriel. Her name appears eleven times in chapter one of the Bible’s New Testament gospel of Luke. She was a “daughter of Aaron” and famous for saying to Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” She was sainted by the Roman Catholic Church and is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Lutheran Church, and Anglican Communion. She is also honored in Islam along with her son, John, and her husband Zacharias.