Luke 1:24

And after these days, Elisabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.

This contrasts dramatically with the conception by the virgin, that Luke is about to relate. Here, there is no suggestion of anything out of the ordinary, except in view of the age of both and the barrenness of Elizabeth. Though the power to conceive a son under such circumstances was, in a very genuine sense, from God, it was nonetheless a far different thing from the case of the conception of Jesus.

Hid herself five months ... No good explanation of this seems to be available. Perhaps it was the natural embarrassment that came to a person of such age undergoing such an experience, or it may be that she deliberately waited until any doubt of her condition had been removed. This is another stark Lukan detail that could have come only from a personal interview with a member of the family, such as Mary.

The Lord ... looked upon me ... The Hebrew thought viewed God's looking upon his servants as an indication of God's intention of helping them. "Behold the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear him" (Psalms 33:18).

To take away my reproach among men ... This was not a mere euphemism among the Hebrews. Childlessness was viewed as a curse of God, or, at least, as a sign of God's utmost displeasure; and the mores of that society were such that Elizabeth would indeed have suffered all kinds of reproach from her family, possibly even from her husband, and certainly from her community. Her gratitude at the lifting of such a reproach is beautiful and touching. If she had suffered a number of miscarriages in the past, it would have accounted for her period of hiding for five months.