I was reading Luke 1v28 this morning rendered in my Jerusalem Bible as, 'Rejoice so highly favoured' but in the 1899 Douay-Rheims American version reads 'Hail, full of grace' which then took me down a path of research, as the latter is much more Catholic in nature and which we use in the Hail Mary prayer. Here is the best explanation I came across online for the authentic Catholic interpretation of 'Hail, full of grace'. https://apologeticessay.wordpress.c...erpretation-of-luke-128-chaire-kecharitomene/ The Marian Interpretation of Luke 1:28 “Chaire! Kecharitōmenē". The author of the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts was a gentile Christian and a companion of St. Paul, compared with other authors of the gospels St. Luke was a well educated man in fact he is a physician. Throughout the gospel of Luke we see examples of medical language and his command of the Greek language was excellent. His style and word of choice is superb, as expected of someone who is classically trained and educated in Greek. The epistles of St. Paul frequently mentions Luke as his companion (Col. 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:11 and Philemon 24). Luke was also with Paul in Rome when he [Luke] wrote some passages in the book of Acts in the first person plural (“we’’) (Acts 16:10-17, 20:5, 21:18, 27:1 and 28:16). Tradition as well as writings of the early Church fathers like St. Irenaeus, St. Jerome, Tertullian, Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea and the Muratorian canon all identified Luke as the author of one of the synoptic gospels. However, scripture scholars are not in agreement as to the date of the authorship of the gospel of Luke; some scholars say that it was written in A.D. 70 and others in A.D. 62. Chaire! Kecharitōmenē: Hail Favoured one or Full of Grace? Let us turn our attention to the gospel of Luke particularly in Luke 1:28 where it says in Greek “Chaire! kecharitōmenē”. The Greek word “kecharitōmenē” has no English equivalent that is why translating this in our modern language is somehow problematic. There are currently two schools of thought in the translation of the Greek word “Kecharitomene”. In order to render this passage in English, scripture scholars use the definition of the Greek word “kecharitōmenē” as their basis for translating it. Kecharitomene is derived from the Greek word “Charito” which means grace, and by definition grace means “favor”, hence the translation “Hail, favoured one”. Though this translation is not inherently wrong, yet, it only speaks of Mary as just being favoured for being chosen as the bearer of the son of God. According to New Testament scholar Fr. Raymond Brown, translating Luke 1:28 to “full of grace” is a strong one and would not appeal to the sensibilities of the ecumenical movement. From the earliest days of Christianity Luke 1:28 is always translated as full of grace, in A.D. 383 St. Jerome translated the Greek New Testament in Latin the lingua franca of the people. In his translation, Luke 1:28 is translated as “gratia plena” in which the English equivalent is “Full of grace”. Basing itself on the Latin vulgate the Douay-Rheims version of the English bible also translated it to “full of grace. They preferred this translation of the Greek word kecharitōmenē because it not only describes the blessed virgin Mary as being favoured for being chosen to bear the son of God but also manifests the transformative power of grace. When elucidating its teaching about the blessed virgin Mary the Church always uses the translation “full of grace” in its documents. Kecharitōmenē: A transformative grace Grammatically, “kecharitōmenē” is the perfect passive participle of the Greek word “charito” [grace] which describes an action that began in the past and continues to have its effect in the present. When applied to the blessed virgin Mary it indicates that she was transformed by grace and this grace remains in her and continues to have its effect perpetually. Kecharitōmenē is a causative verb in Greek which means it connotes a transformation to the one acted upon; in this case Mary is the one that is being acted upon by the causative verb kecharitomene. Luke’s use of the causative verb in Luke chapter 2 indicates that he sees Mary not just a favoured being who will bear the Son of God but someone who was transformed and affected by grace. When the angel Gabriel called Mary the “kecharitōmenē” in Luke 1:28, the transformative and saving power of grace already happened to Mary even before the annunciation. Taking into consideration the deeper meaning of kecharitōmenē in the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate conception the Church asserts that Mary was preserved immune from all stain of original sin by the virtue and merits of the foreseeable salvific action of Christ on the cross, it was not because of her own doing nor her personal piety but a privilege accorded to her by God. Luke 1:28 is an important passage for our understanding of Mariology especially in relation to the dogma of the Immaculate conception. The angel’s salutation “Chaire! kecharitōmenē” when read in its context with the aid of divine revelation, the sacred deposit of faith and the magisterium of the Church, the pillar and bulwark of truth, it sheds light into this ancient Christian belief that Mary was redeemed by virtue of preservation from all stains of original sin.
Wonderful analysis. Of course "Hail Full of Grace" is the proper translation. Add to this that Mary was exceedingly troubled and pondered what it could mean. Because she knew the Angel was saying she was filled with God'presence and His Glory. The Angel immediately tells her not to fear because she has found favor with God. Big difference from "highly favored one" Of course the ecumenical spirit( yes spirit) is at work in these translations. Also why cant we stay with "My soul magnifies the Lord" . Because if you are filled with grace of course God is magnified in your soul. But if you are only highly favored then the bland current translation " my soul proclaims the greatness of God" fits right in. Shaking my head. Our Lady is utterly unique. Loved by God as no other human being has been or will be loved. Many heroines of the old testament were highly favored---Esther and Deborah for example. They were never told by the Angel that they were filled with grace. I'm sticking with the Douay Rheims Bible.
I’ve never understood these modern Catholic Biblical “scholars” that are more focused on the Greek than the Latin. After all, it’s the Vulgate which has been declared infallible by the Church. This is why I just read the Douay-Rheims. No watering down in that one.
I know that’s how Luke wrote it in the Greek, but is there any scholarship on what the Angel’s words to Our Lady would have been in her own language? Does Aramaic have an equivalent word to “kecharitōmenē” or was Luke putting an inspired gloss onto the translation?
Luke wrote in Greek. He received his information directly from our Lady according to tradition. I am sure the Greek words completely express what she told him. As direct an expression of the Aramaic as he could express.
I certainly believe that. I’m just a bit of an etymology nerd and was wondering if anybody had tried to work backwards from the Greek to figure out what the words Our Lady would have heard were.
Grammatically, “kecharitōmenē” is the perfect passive participle of the Greek word “charito” [grace] which describes an action that began in the past and continues to have its effect in the present. When applied to the blessed virgin Mary it indicates that she was transformed by grace and this grace remains in her and continues to have its effect perpetually. Kecharitōmenē is a causative verb in Greek which means it connotes a transformation to the one acted upon; in this case Mary is the one that is being acted upon by the causative verb kecharitomene. Luke’s use of the causative verb in Luke chapter 2 indicates that he sees Mary not just a favoured being who will bear the Son of God but someone who was transformed and affected by grace. When the angel Gabriel called Mary the “kecharitōmenē” in Luke 1:28, the transformative and saving power of grace already happened to Mary even before the annunciation. The highlighted above demonstrates why "highly favored one" is a poor translation. Any first time reader of the passage , without knowing the foundational Greek, would assume Mary is highly favored because God selected her to be the mother of His Son. However, “kecharitōmenē” refers to the past unique transforming intervention of God at Mary's conception; it is why she is Immaculate! It is one of the most important verses in the Scriptures! Hail, full of grace conveys the essence of the Greek. Thank you, St. Jerome!
Yes, thank you for this wonderful topic. I just stumbled upon it, after my family was reading Luke 1 and 2 on a car trip yesterday. We use Douay Rheims, as it conveys the meaning of the original texts truthfully. We are foreigners and our kids are young, so we all struggle to understand the old English in the Douay Rheims. However, we are hesitant to use more modern translations, as they often twist the words of Holy Scripture to subtly introduce the reader to the heresy of modernism. I would steer clear of any modernist translations. The most modern Bible version I could perhaps accept is Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, but Douay Rheims is the gold standard, I think. We had a wonderful trip. Reading about all five joyful mysteries of the Rosary in the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke may have helped a bit to open the heart of my wife to follow Christ and His Holy Mother. Hail full of grace! Ave gratia plena!
When my oldest son, Fr. Benjamin, entered religious life, in his first year as a novice he was stationed in Bad Munstereiful, south of Cologne (2007). He is now serving in Detroit, MI.
