fills John in the womb (1:15) and has been the means of Mary’s pregnancy (1:35). He now inspires the prophetic utterance of Elizabeth, as he will also those of Zechariah (1:67) and Simeon (2:25, 27). So these words of Elizabeth are not simply an enthusiastic family greeting; they are a prophecy about Mary’s role and status in the drama of salvation, as “the mother of my Lord.” 1:45 Blessed is she who has believed. The customary English rendering “blessed” obscures the fact that two different Greek