Hail Mary Full of Grace

[rben20]

Hello Catholics,

I have read multiple lines of Luke that give the Angelic salutation but what strikes me is contemporary translations especially those that are protestant say “hail o favored one” or something to that effect. Is the literal translation Full of Grace or is this just a Catholic thing? What is the accurate translation or are denominations just playing games with words? Thanks

 

[JonathonofOhio]

The following articles will answer your question:

catholic.com/library/Mary_Full_of_Grace.asp
catholic.com/library/Immaculate_Conception_and_Assum.asp

From another thread:

The Koine Greek used at the time is different from modern Greek. It is a much more precise language than English. The words used of Jesus in John 1 are Pleres Charis. Pleres means “full” or “lacking nothing” (and is applied also to “truth”). Charis simply means “Grace”.

The word used of Mary in Luke 1 is Kecharitomene. It is a complex participle. The root of this word is Charis, meaning Grace. The prefix ‘Ke’ means that the grace was already perfectly present before the angel appeared. The suffix ‘mene’ means that Mary was the recipient of this grace. In other words Kecharitomene shows that Mary was a recipient of a fullness of Grace. The grace was given to her. The perfect tense indicates that this filling with grace is a continuous event that was ongoing before the angel appeared.

The translations which state “highly favoured” instead of “full of grace”, are largely motivated by a doctrinal desire to downgrade Mary. The first version to use this translation was the King James Version, where the translators noted that “highly favoured” was used instead of “full of Grace” in order to show that Mary was not a source of grace. (Tyndale’s version on which the KJV was largely based, used full of Grace).

Most protestant bibles followed the KJV, (along with some modern Catholic ones)

Now, in modern Greek, which Protestants used to interpret these verses, Charis can be translated simply as “favour”. So “Highly-favoured” could be a conceivable translation - but this would only be acceptable if the word “favour” were used as a translation for “Charis” everywhere else in the New Testament. But THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. Even those bibles which translate “Charis” as Favour" when referring to Mary, translate it as “Grace” everywhere else. This is highly misleading because in the New Testament the word “Grace” has a particular meaning distinct from “Favour”.

In the New Testament “Grace” is a gift of God that saves from sin and its effects. So translating the word any differently is wrong. The correct translation is rightfully “Full of Grace”.

 

[ZDHayden]

The Latin says gratia plena - although there is a Calvinist Latin translation which reads, in translation “O Most Highly Favored One”.

Let’s see . . . what does the Greek say?

καὶ εἰσελθὼν πρὸς αὐτὴν εἶπεν: χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ κύριος μετὰ σοῦ.

κεχαριτωμένη, unless I am much mistaken can mean O Full of Grace, O Lady Full of Grace, You who are full of grace, most graceful one.

I have only ever seen it translated as “highly favored one” by Protestant sources. Then again, I am a Latin scholar, not a Greek scholar (I just picked up my book today to begin down that road though).

The Orthodox also translate κεχαριτωμένη to mean “full of grace”.

 

[Moro_Rock]

Hello Catholics,

I have read multiple lines of Luke that give the Angelic salutation but what strikes me is contemporary translations especially those that are protestant say “hail o favored one” or something to that effect. Is the literal translation Full of Grace or is this just a Catholic thing? What is the accurate translation or are denominations just playing games with words? Thanks

" Full of Grace " is also a reference to Mary’s title " the Immaculate Conception "