The King James Version of the Bible, which is the version used by the Mormons, is a Protestant Bible. It is a version written over a thousand years after the canon was completed. Where that version may translate that passage using the words “highly favoured”, other translations will render it “full of Grace”, and indeed this is the beginning of a rather well known prayer. “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.”
I don’t know what kind of Bible you are using. According to as many translations of the Bible I could find, all but one (including Catholic ones) translate it “highly favored,” or something equivalent:
Luke 1:28
New International Version (NIV)
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are
highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings,
favored one! The Lord is with you.”
Amplified Bible (AMP)
And he came to her and said, Hail,
O favored one [endued with grace]! The Lord is with you!
Blessed (favored of God) are you before all other women! {P.S. Square brackets means words added, not in the original}
New Living Translation (NLT)
Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings,
favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
English Standard Version (ESV)
And he came to her and said, “Greetings,
O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
The angel greeted Mary and said, “
You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you.”
New King James Version (NKJV)
And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice,
highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
21st Century King James Version (KJ21)
And the angel came in unto her and said, “Hail, thou that art
highly favored, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.”
American Standard Version (ASV)
And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art
highly favored, the Lord is with thee.
Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)
And the messenger having come in unto her, said, ‘Hail,
favoured one, the Lord [is] with thee; blessed [art] thou among women;’
Darby Translation (DARBY)
And the angel came in to her, and said, Hail, [thou]
favoured one! the Lord [is] with thee: [blessed art
thou amongst women].
New Life Version (NLV)
The angel came to her and said, “You are honored very much. You are a
favored woman. The Lord is with you. *You are chosen from among many women.”
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
And [the angel] came to her and said, “Rejoice,
favored woman! The Lord is with you.”
New International Reader’s Version (NIRV)
The angel greeted her and said, “The Lord has given you
special favor. He is with you.”
Wycliffe New Testament (WYC)
And the angel entered to her, and said, Hail,
full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed be thou among women.
Worldwide English (New Testament) (WE)
The angel went into the house and said to her, ‘Be happy! God has
blessed you more than other women. The Lord is with you!’
New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
The angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are
highly favoured! The Lord is with you.
Today’s New International Version (TNIV)
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are
highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
The New Jerusalem Bible
He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, you who ***enjoy God’s favor! ***The Lord be with you.’
The last one (New Jerusalem Bible) is a Catholic Bible, and is imprimatured. The only one that renders it “full of grace” is a very old, outdated, unscholarly translation made by Wycliffe, who was considered by the Catholic Church as a heretic whose books were banned, and most of it were destroyed during or after his death. In fact, the Catholics hated him so much that after his death they ordered his bones to be dug up out of his grave and burned!
At the Roman Catholic Council of Constance, which met between 1415 and 1418, John Wycliffe was condemned and his bones were ordered dug up and burned. This is the same Catholic council that burned John Huss and Jerome of Prague.
Source.
Are you proud of your Catholic history, by the way?
There are other threads on this forum that go into this with much more depth. The phrase “highly favoured” does not begin to express, in English, the meaning of the original Greek word used in this passage, a word that was used only once in all of scripture, so unique was the individual to which it was applied. An analysis of the original Greek supports the “grace filled” explanation that po18guy is referring to. But for a more complete understanding of the word used there, read the thread that analyzes the word. We have a few Greek scholars here.
I know of no threads. Are to show us some?
zerinus
