After an intense discussion about Marcion, it’s time for something different on the occasion of the upcoming Christmas.

The study of the intertextuality of the Synoptic Gospels leads some classical philologists to the conclusion that the idea of incarnation is also present in the Gospel according to Matthew and in the Gospel according to Luke.

Let’s start with Luke.

In the Gospel of Luke, Mary, who is pregnant with Jesus, hurries to a town located in the hill country of Judah, where Zacharias and Elizabeth live. At the sight of Mary, Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cries out:
εὐλογημένη σὺ ἐν γυναιξὶν καὶ εὐλογημένος ὁ καρπὸς τῆς κοιλίας σου(Luke 1:42).

In the Book of Judith, the heroine of Israel returns with the head of Holofernes to Bethulia – another town also located in the hillcountry of Judah. Uzziah, one of the elders of Israel, turns to her saying:
εὐλογητὴ σύ, θύγατερ, τῷ θεῷ τῷ ὑψίστῳ παρὰ πάσας τὰς γυναῖκας τὰς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ εὐλογημένος κύριος ὁ θεός, ὃς ἔκτισεν τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὴν γῆν (Judith 13:18).

Luke 1:42 refers to Judith 13:18.

Luke 1:42 (“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb”) clearly refers to Judith 13:18 (“May you be blessed, my daughter,
by God Most High, beyond all women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth”).

“The fruit of your womb” should be intertextually interpreted as “Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth”.

Few arguments in favor of this interpretation:

Elizabeth speaks her words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: καὶ ἐπλήσθη πνεύματος ἁγίου ἡ Ἐλισάβετ, καὶ ἀνεφώνησεν κραυγῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ εἶπεν (Luke 1:41-42). These are the first words in the Luke-Acts diptych pronounced under the influence of the Holy Spirit, as well as “die erste Christuserkenntnis”. In the whole diptych, the Holy Spirit is the main factor in the recognition of Christ’s divine sonship. Taking this into account, one could expect something more from Elizabeth’s words than simply the statement that Jesus is the “blessed fruit” of Mary’s womb.

In the next sentence (καὶ πόθεν μοι τοῦτο ἵνα ἔλθῃ ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ κυρίου μου πρὸς ἐμέ;), there is the identification of καρπός with κύριος. We can add that the identification of καρπός with κύριος is corroborated by a sophisticated chiastic construction.
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We deal with similar intertextual play in the opening sentence of the Acts, which summarizes the content of the first part of the diptych. Lukesays that his Gospel was περὶ πάντων ὧν ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς ποιεῖν τε καὶ διδάσκειν. Here we have an evident reference to Gen 2:3, where God blessed the seventh day, because on this day He rested ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ, ὧν ἤρξατο ὁ θεὸς ποιῆσαι. Instead of the intertextually expected ὁ θεός in a manner similar to Luke 1:42, ὁ Ἰησοῦς appears. What is interesting is that God appears explicitly as the Creator in both hypotexts!

Based on:

“The Fruit of Your Womb” (Luke 1:42) as “The Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth” (Judith 13:18). An Intertextual Analysis Author: Jan M. Kozłowski