Luke 1:41-45 (RSV) And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit [42] and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! [43] And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? [44] For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. [45] And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Luke 1:46-49 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, [47] and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, [48] for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; [49] for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
I got to thinking about the excellent video by my YouTube partner, Kenny Burchard: DEBUNKED! – Does Luke 11:27-28 Forbid Marian Veneration? (6-18-25) and about Mary being called blessed twice by Elizabeth, and then she herself saying, “all generations will call me blessed” — and I wondered if anyone else had this said about them in the Bible. There are plenty of general applications, or “blessed” applied to groups of people who do certain things. But it’s always significant in the Bible and Hebrew thinking when something is applied to one person, as a preeminent example of a particular thing.
The description “blessed” (sometimes, “happy” as a translation of the Greek makarios or makarizó) is used, for instance, to describe those who are “steadfast” (Jas 5:11), “whose iniquities are forgiven” (Rom 4:7), who “see” and “hear” the message of the kingdom (Mt 3:16), and for the one “who endures trial” (Jas 1:12), and people who “know” and “do” the commandments of Jesus (Jn 13:17).
But is “blessed” as a blanket description applied to any other individual created person besides Mary? I started searching in RSV. “call me blessed” never appears anywhere else. “called blessed” occurs once in Psalm 41:2 but it’s a general application, to “he who considers the poor” (41:1). “counted blessed” never appears. Neither “called him blessed” nor “called her blessed” nor “as blessed” ever appear, either. I searched “is blessed” and found two examples in the deuterocanon, which Protestants reject as part of Holy Scripture:
Sirach 45:1-4 From his descendants the Lord brought forth a man of mercy, who found favor in the sight of all flesh and was beloved by God and man, Moses, whose memory is blessed. [2] He made him equal in glory to the holy ones, and made him great in the fears of his enemies. [3] By his words he caused signs to cease; the Lord glorified him in the presence of kings. He gave him commands for his people, and showed him part of his glory. [4] He sanctified him through faithfulness and meekness; he chose him out of all mankind.
1 Maccabees 3:1, 3 Then Judas his son, who was called Maccabeus, took command in his place. . . . [3] He extended the glory of his people. Like a giant he put on his breastplate; . . . [4] He was like a lion in his deeds, like a lion’s cub roaring for prey. . . . [7] . . . he made Jacob glad by his deeds, and his memory is blessed for ever. [8] He went through the cities of Judah; he destroyed the ungodly out of the land; thus he turned away wrath from Israel. [9] He was renowned to the ends of the earth; . . .
Judas Maccabeus (190-160 BC) led the ultimately successful Maccabean Revolt against the Greek Seleucid Empire (167–160 BC). Those too come close but differ in that the “memory” of them is blessed.
I did find in agreed-upon Scripture where Job wrote about himself:
Job 29:10-16 the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. [11] When the ear heard, it called me blessed, and when the eye saw, it approved; [12] because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless who had none to help him. [13] The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. [14] I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. [15] I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. [16] I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
This is significant, as pertains to the analogy of Mary, since the book describes Job as “blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil” (1:1). God himself says to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (1:8; repeated in 2:3). Thus, when we finally find a passage applying the description “blessed” to a specific person, it’s about Job, who is so “blameless” and “upright” and holy that God says “there is none like him on the earth.” That sounds a lot like Mary!
The difference, however, is that he was called blessed by those in his earlier life, but not in perpetuity, as Mary is. Therefore, Mary appears completely unique in terms of it being said about her that she is “blessed . . . among women” and her own “prophecy” that she would be called “blessed” by “all generations.” If we search the term “all generations” — for that matter — we find that it appears 27 times in the Bible, minus the deuterocanon. But who is it usually applied to?:
God the Father
Exodus 3:15 . . . I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
Psalm 102:12 But thou, O LORD, art enthroned for ever; thy name endures to all generations.
Ephesians 3:21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Messiah (Jesus)
Psalm 45:17 I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you for ever and ever.
We don’t find this terminology used of human beings, excepting Mary. Of course, this discovery of unique attributes and veneration of Mary as a creature comes as no surprise to Catholics, who believe — also in essence based on explicit Bible passages — that Mary was immaculately conceived, meaning that she was without original sin as well as actual; making her the greatest and highest of God’s creatures (which might be expected, I submit, of the Mother of God the Incarnate Son): altogether worthy of honor and veneration (not worship or adoration, which is reserved for God).
This is why she is described in such a singular way in Holy Scripture. Some things are so plain and obvious in the Bible that we sort of overlook them or take them for granted or don’t sufficiently ponder their deeper meaning. I did the same thing regarding this theme, until now.
See my related article, Angel Gabriel’s “Hail” (Lk 1:28): Veneration of Mary? [3-8-19]
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