ACC ~ Luke 1 v24 - 25

WHY ELIZABETH HID HERSELF

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Elizabeth hid herself because of Zechariah’s grief. Or alternatively, she hid herself because she was ashamed on account of the fact that she had resumed intercourse. So it was because of her old age that Elizabeth hid herself. But see, Moses did not write in relation to Sarah that she hid herself, when at the age of ninety she carried Isaac, nor with regard to Rebecca, who was pregnant with twins. Elizabeth hid herself for five months, until her infant would be sufficiently formed in his members to exult before his Lord, [1] and because Mary was about to receive the annunciation. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 1.24. [2]

[1] Lk 1:41.

[2] ECTD 52*.

ELIZABETH’S MODESTY

AMBROSE: Elizabeth, who undoubtedly desired sons, hid herself for five months. What was the reason for this concealment if not modesty? For there is a prescribed age for each duty, and what is fitting at one time is unseemly at another, and a change of age often changes the nature of every act. … She, who once hid because she had conceived a son, began to carry herself with confidence because she bore a prophet—she who blushed before was blessed, she who doubted before was strengthened. “For, behold,” she said, “as soon as the voice of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” [1] Therefore she cried out with a loud voice when she perceived the coming of the Lord, because she believed in the divine birth. There was no cause for shame when she accepted the birth of the prophet as a given, not a desired, generation. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 1.43, 46. [2]

[1] Lk 1:44.

[2] EHG 29-31*; CSEL 32 4:38, 40.