Luke 1:28 NABRE

[CalCatholic]

This is only my opinion but eventually–and it may take a number of years–when the NABRE is revised a final time so it can be a study bible and also exactly match the lectionary–when that lectionary and by extension the NABRE Final edition has to be approved by the Holy See in Rome–I predict that Luke 1:28 in the final edition of the NABRE will say “Full of grace”.

If St. Jerome could talk with current scripture scholars who think that “Highly favored” would be a better translation I think that he would still say “Full of Grace”!

It might!

 

[JohnR77]

So what is the conclusion on this guys?

Abu, as usual, is right on all accounts. I truly think he must be a saint as he so humbly and patiently puts up with so much ignorance posted by others.

Rome has officially spoken, and the cause of the others Is Finished.

We used to say at Mass “highly favored” in the 1970’s which had reversed hundreds of years of “full of grace.” There was so much protest that the Vatican looked deeper into the issue and ruled, as Abu pointed out so well, that only “full of grace” was adequate in the English language and so at Mass we now say, once again, “full of grace.”

This is one of the few times that my picture below states it well, symbolically of course.

.

 

[Ilovejesus1234]

So what is the answer then, I am still confused.

 

[clem456]

If you search the forum there is plenty of discussion about this over the years.

The Greek word is kecharitomene, which is the perfect passive participle, indicates a completed action with permanent result. Thus it translates, “completely, perfectly, enduringly endowed with grace.” [In comparison, the word used in Ephesians 1:6 and applied to the saints is charis]. St. Thomas Aquinas, a great medieval doctor of the Church, writes, “The Blessed Virgin Mary is full of grace both with respect to operation and to the avoidance of evil. Second, she was full of grace with respect to the overflow of soul to flesh or body. For it is a great thing for the saints to have enough grace to sanctify their soul; but the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary was so full that from it graces flowed into her body, in order that with it she might conceive the Son of God.”

Since Vatican 2 exhorts the Church to speak to the world and it’s needs in our times, I believe it is important to point out the unique nature of our Blessed Mother Mary. I believe the uniqueness of each human being has been lost in this day and age, and there is a great attempt to whitewash the dignity and uniqueness of humanity, and to make as all “the same”. Mary points us to the unique blessings and vocations God gives to each of us.

The graces she is given are not the same as those given to anyone else. She is wholly unique in God’s eyes. And so are each of us, but not in the same way.

This fact has all kinds of implications for things like abortion, the sanctity of marriage, etc…
John Paul 2’s Redemptoris Mater is a beautiful exposition of this topic.

 

[Ignatius]

The best people to ask would be the editors of the NAB, who are probably reachable via e-mail. Contact information can likely be found on the USCCB website.

Do the Canadians use the NAB as the basis for the lectionary? Just curious.

 

[porthos11]

Do the Canadians use the NAB as the basis for the lectionary? Just curious.

No, we use the NRSV, modified accordingly.

 

[JohnR77]

If you search the forum there is plenty of discussion about this over the years.

Since Vatican 2 exhorts the Church to speak to the world and it’s needs in our times, I believe it is important to point out the unique nature of our Blessed Mother Mary. I believe the uniqueness of each human being has been lost in this day and age, and there is a great attempt to whitewash the dignity and uniqueness of humanity, and to make as all “the same”. Mary points us to the unique blessings and vocations God gives to each of us.

The graces she is given are not the same as those given to anyone else. She is wholly unique in God’s eyes. And so are each of us, but not in the same way.

This fact has all kinds of implications for things like abortion, the sanctity of marriage, etc…
John Paul 2’s Redemptoris Mater is a beautiful exposition of this topic.

Thanks clem456 for the explanation. Good job.

Here is more Bible study on the Greek word in question.

defendingthebride.com/ma2/conception.html

Angel Gabriel speaks to Mary in Luke 1:28. The Angel, a messenger, is not speaking his own words, rather he is delivering God’s message to her. He says in

Luke 1: 28
“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.”

In the Greek the word for “full of grace” is “kecharitōmenē (κεχαριτωμένη)” She is full of grace so there is no room for sin in her.

The word “kecharitōmenē” is a perfect passive participle of the verb “charitoo.”
Some have argued that this says nothing unique about Mary since Saint Stephen, just before he is martyred for the faith, is said to be full of grace in Acts 6:8. However a different word form is used to describe Saint Stephen. In the Greek the conjugated form of “charitoo” that is used to describe him is “charitos” not “kecharitōmenē” that is used in reference to Mary.

Some who oppose the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception have attempted to argue that the use of the verb “charitoo” in Luke 1:28 says nothing special about Mary since this same verb, although in a different form, is used to refer to all Christians in Ephesians 1:6.

However, Luke 1:28 uses a special conjugated form of “charitoo.” It uses “kecharitōmenē,” while Ephesians 1:6 uses “echaritosen,” which is a different form of the verb “charitoo.” Echaritosen means “he graced (bestowed grace.) Echaritosen signifies a momentary action, an action brought to pass. (Blass and DeBrunner, Greek Grammar of the New Testament, p.166.) Whereas, Kecharitōmenē, the perfect passive participle, shows a completeness with a with permanent result.
Kecharitōmenē denotes continuance of a completed action (H. W. Smyth, Greek Grammar (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968 ) 108-109, sec 1852:b also Blass and DeBrunner p.175.

It might help to consider other instances of the perfect tense being used.
Another example of a verb used in the perfect tense is the word “is” in

John 19:30
“It is finished.”

The work of the redemption is complete and forever enduring.
Examples of the perfect participle are the following:

The word “beloved” in
Ephesians 1:6
“… for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.” Jesus is perfectly and enduringly loved by His Father.

The word “Blessed” in
Luke 1:42
“… Blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Jesus is perfectly and endlessly blessed by God the Father.

Therefore, Luke 1:28 points to Mary being filled perfectly and complete with grace, so much so, that there is no room for sin in her.

.

 

[Mystophilus]

Why does the NABRE say “Hail, favored one” not “Hail Mary full of grace” I always thought this was kind of weird…

“Full of grace” is an English rendering of the Latin, not the Greek: plena gratia.
“Favoured One” is an English rendering of the Greek: κεχαριτωμενη.

The Latin, because it is simply adjectival, expresses no time, and thus lends itself to the doctrine of Mary’s continued sinlessness. The Greek, because it is a perfect participle, connects the narrative moment (when Gabriel speaks) with an earlier point: “You possess Grace now because someone gave you Grace before”. The Greek perfect, like the English perfect (“have done”), is non-affirmative (i.e. says nothing) about anything after the narrative moment.

So, the NABRE is just following the Greek more closely.

 

[Mystophilus]

Whereas, Kecharitōmenē, the perfect passive participle, shows a completeness with a with permanent result.
Kecharitōmenē denotes continuance of a completed action (H. W. Smyth, Greek Grammar (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968 ) 108-109, sec 1852:b also Blass and DeBrunner p.175.

Sorry, I know that this is a common claim, but Greek just doesn’t work like that. Luke 11:21 has a perfect passive participle, exactly the same grammatical form, καθωπλισμενος (‘having been armed’), and yet that state is overturned in the very next verse. Luke 12:2 has a perfect passive participle, συγκεκαλυμμενον (‘having been hidden’), and yet the same verse says that the state will end. Luke 24:2 has a perfect participle, αποκεκυλισμενον (‘having been rolled away’), and there is absolutely nothing in the text to suggest that the stone could not be rolled back. I could go on, but I trust that you get the point.

The Greek perfect, like the English perfect (“have done”), connects a point in the narrative time to a point at an *earlier *time, and just does not say anything at all about subsequent time. It could thus refer to a state which is subsequently permanent, or to a state which is not subsequently permanent: the idea of permanence is not a grammatical function of the perfect form.

 

[porthos11]

Sorry, I know that this is a common claim, but Greek just doesn’t work like that. Luke 11:21 has a perfect passive participle, exactly the same grammatical form, καθωπλισμενος (‘having been armed’), and yet that state is overturned in the very next verse. Luke 12:2 has a perfect passive participle, συγκεκαλυμμενον (‘having been hidden’), and yet the same verse says that the state will end. Luke 24:2 has a perfect participle, αποκεκυλισμενον (‘having been rolled away’), and there is absolutely nothing in the text to suggest that the stone could not be rolled back. I could go on, but I trust that you get the point.

The Greek perfect, like the English perfect (“have done”), connects a point in the narrative time to a point at an *earlier *time, and just does not say anything at all about subsequent time. It could thus refer to a state which is subsequently permanent, or to a state which is not subsequently permanent: the idea of permanence is not a grammatical function of the perfect form.

This is correct, and armchair Catholic apologists ought to know this. Kecharitomene, while supporting Mary’s graced state, is not a proof-text of the Immaculate Conception or Mary’s perfect sinlessness in her life. The perfect tense simply tells us that the verb’s effect took place in the past, and this effect has continued into the present. It implies nothing as to how far back in the past (i.e. from Mary’s conception), or permanence (the perfect is good only up to the present; it does not imply anything about the future).

That the perfect was combined with the passive voice and vocative case does lend a strong support to Mary’s graced state as being inherent to her, and on that basis, the Immaculate Conception can be supported (but not proven). But we should not make the mistake of reading into the Greek what the Greek actually does not say.

 

[Ilovejesus1234]

I am still confused

 

[Mystophilus]

I am still confused

Sorry, let me see if I can break it down a bit better.

In the Greek manuscripts of Lk 1:28, Gabriel addresses Mary with κεχαριτωμενη, roughly “favoured one”.

The churches of the western end of the Roman world did not read Greek, but Latin, and so they used Latin translations of the Bible. The most predominant of those was Jerome’s Vulgate, in which Gabriel addresses Mary with plena gratia, roughly “full of grace”. This phrase became the traditional form in use in the West, and thus the traditional Catholic form.

So, in using “full of grace” rather than “favoured one”, the NABRE has chosen the more-original over the more-familiar.

Is that less confusing?

Which one you use in mass I’m afraid I do not know.

 

[CountrySteve]

I am still confused

One must remember also whether we read it as full of grace or favored one, it does not change the meaning of the Scripture. As Catholics we read the Scriptures in accord with the analogy of faith. So the same Spirit which inspired the Sacred Scriptures is the same Spirit who has and always will guard the doctrine and teaching authority of Christ’s one true Church. the Catholic Church.

Pax,

The Lord is Risen!