According to many apologetics, there was no translation for the word “cousin” and if there was, why is it not used to describe “the brothers of Jesus” who were suppose to be his “cousins” or vice versa, describing Elizabeth as Mary’s sister?
This may answer your question. Elizabeth is described as “suggenes”, which, in Greek, means kinswoman or relative. All we can tell from “suggenes” is that Elizabeth was a female relative of Mary; whether she was an aunt, a great-aunt, or indeed a cousin, is not known. There is simply a tradition that she was Mary’s elderly cousin.
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