Sunday/Mary, Jael, and Judith

 

Sunday/Mary, Jael, and Judith

Today's gospel is the meeting of Mary with Elizabeth. Both the cousins are pregnant, Elizabeth with John the Baptist. Elizabeth meets Mary with the famous 'Hail [Mary], full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. And blessed is the fruit of thy womb.'

The bible is remarkably clever and has to be read cautiously. As often occurs, there are several references to the Old Testament; they are not accidental, and they are demanding. The first is 'Blessed art thou among women.'

There are two other women described this way in the Old Testament, Judith and Jael. Both are assassins. Both kill, brutally, old enemies of Isreal.
Jael (or Yael) delivered Israel from the army of King Jabin of Canaan in the Book of Judges. Sisera was a warlord for Jabin, the king of Canaan who had been oppressing the Israelites for years. But under the leadership of Barak and Deborah, the Israelites finally succeed in defeating Jabin's army. Sisera flees and seeks refuge in the tent of Jael who hammers a tent spike through his head.
In the Book of Judith, the beautiful widow seduces and beheads Holofernes, the general of Israel's ancient enemy, the Assyrian King Nebuchadnezzar.

How does Mary fit in here? Perhaps as a pivotal woman in the rescue of Israel and the world.

And the 'fruit' of the womb? Most think it's a reversal of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.