BVM and ST Elizabeth relationship

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JLP:
Was Mary St Elizabeth’s 1st cousin? If so, how?
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JLP,

Uhh … presumably they had a set of grandparents in common.

Luke 1:36 speaks of Gabriel telling Mary that Elizabeth, her relative, is expecting a baby. Other translations may possibly render the word as “cousin.”

There is a tradition that Mary was born to Joachim and Anna when they were very old. This would account for the disparity in age between Mary and her cousin.
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Hi JLP,

The Greek original uses “syggenis”, which means “relative”.

There is a Greek word for “cousin” : “anepsios”.

That does not mean that Elizabeth was not her cousin, first or removed. But she could have been an aunt. They seem to have been rather close, since the Gospel says that Mary “rushed” to her relative.

Robert
 
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Verbum:
Hi JLP,

The Greek original uses “syggenis”, which means “relative”.

There is a Greek word for “cousin” : “anepsios”.

That does not mean that Elizabeth was not her cousin, first or removed. But she could have been an aunt. They seem to have been rather close, since the Gospel says that Mary “rushed” to her relative.

Robert
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So, we rely on tradition to tell us that it is indeed her cousin?
 
Family relationships are not as strictly defined in the Bible as we do today…We do not know if they were 1st cousins, just that they were cousins.
I have some knowledge of this, only because keeping track of my own family can be enough to make your eyes cross. (I have 52 1st cousins, 8 of whom are :confused: also my 2nd cousins, for starters). As a result, I tend to feel quite at ease with the idea that Mary & Elizabeth’s exact degree of relationship is unknown.
Just as we read of the “Lord’s brethren”, & recognize that this does not mean literal full brothers, we can safely trust that Mary & Elizabeth can be kin to one another, without understanding fully what that exact relation may be.
 
All we know is that St. Elizabeth was a relative of Mary. She could have been a cousin of St. Anne or St. Joachim. Anti-Catholics try to use the visitation to prove that there was a Greek word for “cousin” in the Bible. But as stated before in this thread, “relative” or “kinsman” would be a better translation.
 
HI JLP,

Neither tradition nor Tradition nor Scripture says they were cousins. We just don’t know.

Verbum
 
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