Queen of Navarre; Elizabeth or Isabelle de Valois, dau. of
Charles of France; Elizabeth or Isabelle de France, dau. of
Philippe le Long, King of France; Elizabeth or Isabelle de
France, Duchess of Milan; Elizabeth or Isabelle, Queen of
Philippe V. of Spain."

WM. DURRANT COOPER.

81. Guildford Street, May 4. 1850.



_Elizabeth--Isabel._--The Greek word [Greek: Elisabet] (Luke, i. 5. &c.)
from which Elizabeth, or _Elisabeth_, must have been adopted as a
Christian name, is used by the LXX. (Exodus, vi. 23.) to express the
Hebrew [Hebrew: Elisheba], the name of Aaron's wife. This at once
directs us to the verb [Hebrew: shaba], or rather to its Niphal,
[Hebrew: nishba], for the _Kal_ form does not occur, _to swear_; for the
combination of letters in [Hebrew: el isshaba], _God will swear_, or
_God sweareth_, is the same as that in the proper name. Now let us
transpose the verb and its nominative case, and we have [Hebrew: ishaba
el], which a Greek translator might soften into [Greek: Isabel].

The use of [Greek: Elisabet] both by the LXX. and the Evangelist, makes
it probable that the mother of John the Baptist, who was _of the
daughters of Aaron_ (Luke, i. 5.), was known amongst her own people by
the recognized and _family_ name of _Elisheba_, as _Anna_ no doubt would
be _Hannah_ ([Hebrew: hanah]), and _Mary, Miriam_ ([Greek: Mariam],
Luke, i. 27.). And this is confirmed by the Syriac version, the
vernacular, or nearly so, of Our Blessed Lord and His disciples, which