Elizabeth (biblical figure) Elizabeth (biblical figure) Elizabeth, also spelled Elisabeth (Greek Ἐλισάβετ) or "Elisheba" (from the Hebrew אֱלִישֶׁבַע / אֱלִישָׁבַע "My God has sworn"; Standard Hebrew Elišévaʿ Elišávaʿ, Tiberian Hebrew ʾĔlîšéḇaʿ ʾĔlîšāḇaʿ; Arabic أليصابات, "Alyassabat"), was the mother of John the Baptist and the wife of Zechariah, according to the Gospel of Luke. According to the Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth was "of the daughters of Aaron" (). She and her husband Zachariah were "righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" (), but childless. While he was in the temple of the Lord (), Zacharias was visited
Simeon (Gospel of Luke) Messiah) born of a virgin. In Christian tradition, the day of a saint's death is often celebrated as the saint's feast day. Under Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was to remain for three and thirty days "in the blood of her purification", which makes a total of 40 days. The Christian Feast of the Purification therefore corresponds to the day on which Mary, according to Jewish law (see ), should have attended a ceremony of ritual purification. The Gospel of Luke relates that Mary was purified