Please, why is Elisabeth greeting Mary so (Lk 1, 42)

peter2 · May 14, 2026

I' m just a little puzzled why Elisabeth doesn't just tell Mary she's blessed. Why does she add : "among women" ? Why does it seem needed ?
My first thought is indeed : why does she distinguish her from the other women ?
May be is it not for a distinction, but i fail to see another motivation

Maria Billingsley · May 14, 2026

peter2 said:
I' m just a little puzzled why Elisabeth doesn't just tell Mary she's blessed. Why does she add : "among women" ? Why does it seem needed ?
My first thought is indeed : why does she distinguish her from the other women ?
May be is it not for a distinction, but i fail to see another motivation

She is carrying the Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Many women carried Prophets and even Elizabeth herself carried a very important individual. But Mary as we know carried God in the flesh. Wouldn't you say among all these women she is by far the most blessed?

David Lamb · May 15, 2026

Maria Billingsley said:
She is carrying the Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Many women carried Prophets and even Elizabeth herself carried a very important individual. But Mary as we know carried God in the flesh. Wouldn't you say among all these women she is by far the most blessed?

Agreed, and we notice that it is "among women" not "above women."

peter2 · May 17, 2026

Maria Billingsley said:
She is carrying the Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Many women carried Prophets and even Elizabeth herself carried a very important individual. But Mary as we know carried God in the flesh. Wouldn't you say among all these women she is by far the most blessed?

Thank you, and sorry for my late reply.
i was not suggesting Elizabeth could have been lying, and i would add this piece of information is valuable, of course..
But i remain perplexed yet : Doesn't it point to the hypothesis she embodies something absolute, while other women, some more relative realities ?
Could we assume then she reaches here, through Elizabeth's speech, an absolute status, while she's yet a mere creature ?

peter2 · May 17, 2026

David Lamb said:
Agreed, and we notice that it is "among women" not "above women."

Idem, Mr Lamb, sorry also for my late answer.
If we consider what i just wrote Mrs Billingsley, i hardly see some significative difference between "among" and "above"

peter2 · May 17, 2026

Maria Billingsley said:
and even Elizabeth herself carried a very important individual.

Yes, Mrs Billingsley, i read too quickly your message, and missed this quote :
A reason why she told "among women" could likely be Elizabeth was mother of the precursor, and her fame had already spread in the country. She was likely just passing on the torch.
You gave me a good clue

DragonFox91 · May 17, 2026

David Lamb said:
Agreed, and we notice that it is "among women" not "above women."

Yep, & so it stresses Mary's humanity.

peter2 · May 18, 2026

DragonFox91 said:
Yep, & so it stresses Mary's humanity.

i think no need to stress Mary is human.. She is a creature with or without Elizabeth's saying, namely : independently

jamiec · Jun 9, 2026

Why ? Because the Son of Mary is the Ark of the Covenant, and Elizabeth was married to a descendant of Levi & maybe was one herself.

Since Jesus is also King, the apantēsis or meeting between Mary & Elizabeth can also be seen as Elizabeth meeting & receiving her King. It foreshadows 1 Thessalonians 4.16-17, when the King’s people will receive Him at His coming. See also Matthew 25:1-6 & Acts 28:15.

It is worth noting that St Luke‘s Gospel has a lot to say about the Jerusalem & its cultus. The coming of Jesus the Ark of the Covenant shows that the old familiar Temple worship is about to end.

jamiec · Jun 9, 2026

David Lamb said:
Agreed, and we notice that it is "among women" not "above women."

“Among women” means “more than any other woman”. She is special, because her Son, without Whom she is nothing, is special.

David Lamb · Jun 10, 2026

jamiec said:
“Among women” means “more than any other woman”. She is special, because her Son, without Whom she is nothing, is special.

Yes, Mary had a special calling by God. But we need to balance that with what Jesus said when He was told that His mother and brothers were outside:

(Luk 8:21) But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."

prodromos · Jun 10, 2026

David Lamb said:
Yes, Mary had a special calling by God. But we need to balance that with what Jesus said when He was told that His mother and brothers were outside:

(Luk 8:21) But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."

In which Mary excelled.

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

concretecamper · Jun 11, 2026

peter2 said:
I' m just a little puzzled why Elisabeth doesn't just tell Mary she's blessed. Why does she add : "among women" ? Why does it seem needed ?
My first thought is indeed : why does she distinguish her from the other women ?
May be is it not for a distinction, but i fail to see another motivation

There so much going on here. Remember, it is unlikely that Elizabeth could have know Mary was pregnant.

1. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit.
2. John, even though in the womb, recognized the voice of Mary and lept for joy. Think back to David leaping for joy on the presence of the Ark of the Old Covenant.
3. She calls Mary the "Mother of my Lord"

And then Mary's magnificat, truly amazing

Bob Crowley · Friday at 7:07 AM

There is a full treatment here in this Catholic Answer's essay which deals exactly with the expression.

The Awesome Meaning Behind ‘Blessed Are You Among Women’

Blessed are you among women. It’s a strange blessing: why “among women”? It might strike our modern ears as either an odd bit of feminist agitprop or, alternati...

www.catholic.com

This excerpt illustrates the importance of the term -

The woman, the child, and the serpent

And so we see that Mary is welcomed with the “blessed are you among women” greeting given in Scripture only to those women who will smash the heads of Israel’s greatest enemies. She’s given this greeting as she’s fulfilling what’s foreshadowed in David’s sojourn with the Ark of the Covenant. Satan has every reason to be afraid.

The expression was only used three times in the Bible. The other two references were to Jael and Judith.

First is Jael ...

After the Israelites defeated the Canaanites in battle, Sisera hid in the tent of Heber and Jael, a couple belonging to the neutral Kenite tribe. Jael brought him milk and gave him a place to rest, but after he fell asleep, she “took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground, as he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died” (Judg. 4:21). Deborah praises her:

Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed. He asked water and she gave him milk, she brought him curds in a lordly bowl. She put her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen’s mallet; she struck Sisera a blow, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple (Judg. 5:24-26, emphasis added).

Second is Judith ...

Next, there’s Judith. This time, the Israelites are under the thumb of the Assyrians, led by the general Holofernes. Judith poses as a fleeing civilian and is taken in by the Assyrians. Holofernes is smitten by her and lets his guard down. Eventually, he throws a banquet at which he gets drunk and passes out. Judith then takes a sword, grabs Holofernes by the hair, decapitates him, and then “went out, and gave Holofernes’ head to her maid, who placed it in her food bag” (Jud. 13:9-10).

When she returns triumphantly to Israel, the magistrate Uzziah proclaims, “O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, who created the heavens and the earth, who has guided you to strike the head of the leader of our enemies” (Jth. 13:18).

Third, and most important is Mary ...

So too the devil is unable to defeat the woman, but it’s not because of Mary’s power apart from God. Just as Scripture can accurately speak of the Ark of the Covenant slaying the Philistines (1 Sam. 5: 11) or God slaying the Philistines (1 Sam. 5:9), we can likewise speak accurately of both Mary and Jesus crushing Satan’s head.

The phrase "Blessed be thou among women" is there for a reason.

Please, why is Elisabeth greeting Mary so (Lk 1, 42)

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