Hi all,
i had a conversation with a friend online and he was quick to point that he belives catholics have a wrong idea regarding the blessedness of mary, he said the greek word used to address a believer in verse 28 means ‘supremly blessed’ while d word used for mary thru out scriptures simply means blessed, he argues that d blessednes of mary has nothing special to it as it could be superceeded by a believer. The absence of a good concordance and and commentary made me stall the discussion.
I need all d good greek translations and explanations i can get.
Thanks
Cachonga has already answered the Greek question in terms of grammar as far as it goes.
There is, however, something more to notice. The woman, more or less, is a devil.
Notice where the passage is sandwhiched…
The discussion had been in the generic – about “man”. Jesus had cast out a devil, and then gives a saying regarding demons: "He who is not with me, is against me; … The unclean spirit which has posessed a man…comes back, to find that dewlling swept out, and neatly set in order. There upon it goes out and brings back
seven demons worse than itself … the state of that man is worse than the first
Notice, then, there is a connection made by Luke:
“
When he spoke thus, a woman in the multitude said to him
loudly…”
And notice specifically what she
actually calls attention to:
“womb” and “the breast which you have sucked”.
Nowhere does she actually mention Jesus’ mother. Only those of us not in Jesus’ position nor that of his enemies (wishing to discredit him) would assume innocently that his mother is meant.
This woman is flattering Jesus – not truly aiming at blessing his mother; She specifically calls attention to the kind of woman she herself is – a temptress – by focusing Jesus on things of all women.
She is as much as suggesting – I’d like to be blessed by your use of my parts. Slick…
Jesus immediately defends his reputation and that of his mother, by calling attention to men who obey God. The negative response prevents people from starting to gossip.
As Cachonga notes, the blessing ending in “oi” can also refer to a group of mixed gender by inclusion.
As far as concordance goes, I think you’ll find that the Greek “Makarioi” is often understood as the more general idea “happy”; the translation “blessed” is more of a Latin sensibility but just as valid.
