Blessed Women

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Gen. 3:15, NIV

Immediately after Mary receives the news that she is to bear Jesus, she goes to see Elizabeth, who greets her with “blessed are you among women.” This phrase wasn’t just an outpouring of Elizabeth’s joy at Mary’s news; it was title used for powerful women before and a declaration of victory. At the Fall, God places enmity between woman and serpent and declares that the woman’s offspring will, in the end, crush the head of the serpent. This is prefigured several times as women, despite their second-class status in society, rise up and save their people against a powerful adversary. “Blessed are you among women” is given to women in Scripture who will smash the heads of Israel’s greatest enemies. So why would Elizabeth say that to Mary? What do women warriors Jael and Judith have in common with docile Mary?

Deborah is one of the most powerful women in Jewish history—she is the only female judge over the tribes of Israel, and only one of two judges who is also a prophet. Men seek her advise and military leadership. In Judges 4:9, she prophesies that Israel will defeat the Canaanites in battle, but that  “the Lord will sell [Canaanite general] Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Sisera escapes the battle and seeks refuge in the tent of Jael. She gives him milk, and once he is asleep, takes a tent peg and strikes it through his temple into the ground. Deborah and Barak, the Israelite general, proclaim, “Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed” (Judges 5:24).

Judith is a widow living in Jerusalem under Assyrian rule. The commander Holofernes wants to destroy the Temple and make the people worship the king. The city is under siege and about to surrender. Judith rebukes the Israelite leaders who are about surrender. She says, “Listen to me! I will perform a deed that will go down from generation to generation among our descendants. Stand at the city gate tonight to let me pass through with my maid; and within the days you have specified before you will surrender the city to our enemies, the Lord will deliver Israel by my hand” (Judith 8:32-33). She sneaks into Holofernes’ camp, deceives him into thinking she is being seduced, and when alone with him, cuts off his head with his own sword. She returns to the Israelites, and the leader Uzziah proclaims,  “O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, who created the heavens and the earth, who has guided you to strike the head of the leader of our enemies” (Judith 13:18).

Pope Benedict XVI refers to Jael and Judith as “two women warriors who do their utmost to save Israel.” He then draws a comparison to Mary, “a peaceful young woman who is about to bring the Savior into the world.” By cooperating with God’s plan, Mary is also a warrior, paving the path for the ultimate victory over Satan and save mankind.

Both of these stories from the Old Testament involve deception and violent means of stopping an enemy. So how are they similar to the virginal Mary conceiving a child? Elizabeth proclaims to Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:42). But the previous times women are called “blessed among women,” it is immediately after crushing the head of an enemy. Through Mary, God becomes incarnate into the world and ultimately defeat death and crush Satan. The Holy Spirit moves Elizabeth (and John in her womb) to recognize the momentous power within Mary. Before her is her young, pregnant cousin. But she sees the new Eve, the new Ark of the Covenant, the salvation of not just Israel, but all mankind.

Revelation tells of a woman whose offspring defeats a dragon: “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. When the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne” (Revelation 12:1-5). From the Fall to the apocalypse, Scripture tells of woman destined to battle the enemy. By her hands, victory will come.