Shalom lakh Miryam

Folks, recently I was perusing some publications stored in the Association of Hebrew Catholic's website, when I stumbled upon the Hail Mary in Hebrew. As I read through the transliteration I was struck by its inner rhythm and coherence. It's poetic and beautiful. It is, in fact, probably as close as we are going to get to what the Archangel Gabriel actually said to the Blessed Mother – provided he didn't speak to her in Aramaic, which he probably did.

There's a sense of primitive awe in these words, of expectancy, like the one a child feels early Christmas morning. The words conspire, as it were, to enfold us into the quiet, tender mystery of a God who pulled a mere creature so close to Him that she began to irradiate, just as Moses did when he talked to Him, centuries before. There's a sweetness and a silence surrounding the salutation — Shalom lakh Miryam or Peace with you, Mary! — as if Eternity had stopped for just a second, as God subsumed the young Virgin unto his Love and asked her a question, and then sudden start of time starting to flow wing again after she said her "Yes."

The word kadosh sounds like the "shh" we say when commanding silence and hakdoshah, is more than an adjective, it's an invitation to contemplate in awe-filled silence the delicate mystery of God loving Woman and becoming Man for love of Mankind. Neither God, nor Woman, nor Man, nor Mankind emerged unchanged from the Encounter. Our salvation was made possible by that Encounter. We've all been marked by the love flowing from the tender, silent Encounter that one day culminated on the Cross.

And here it is in Syriac - the Aramaic language spoken by our Blessed Mother.

Transliteration

Shlom lekh bthoolto Mariam.

Maliath taibootho

moran a'amekh

mbarakhto at bneshey

wambarakhoo feero dabkharsekh yeshue

O qadeeshto Mariam

yoldath aloho

saloy hlofain hatoyeh

hosho wabsho'ath mawtan.

Amin.

I was wondering if either you or someone else in this forum could help me get a fuller understanding of the meaning of term ‘full of grace’. In the Greek N.T. those words come out of the word ‘kecharitomene’ as used by St. Luke which was rendered as ‘gratia plena’ in Latin by St. Jerome. The Latin literally means “graced filled” or “favor filled”

I see this translated as ‘m’leah khesed’ in Hebrew.

What interests me specifically is the word ‘hesed’ - often rendered as steadfast, loving kindness in English - especially in the Psalms. It has, as I understand, the meaning of a social superior gratuitously bending down with gentle and merciful kindness toward a social inferior to raise that latter up. But like many Hebrew words ‘hesed’ is too rich to be rendered with just a few English words.

Some render the word as ‘favor’ or ‘grace’ which still does not get at the heart of the word.

If Mary is full of ‘hesed’ it says much.

Could you help me? Thanks!

Wow, in a sense, you've gone deeper than any one of by your rendering of the Hebrew ‘m’leah khesed’. That was actually very impressive and I wasn't aware of the use of the word "hesed" in this context. So, you have taught me something new.

The Greek "kecharitomene" is a special proper noun which only ocurrs once. It is pretty unique and only applied to the BVM. It is a compound word, where the word we use for "grace" and "charism" ("charis") forms the root. The noun is how the angel sees Mary --angels, by nature, see things as they are and call them as they see them--as filled with grace, God's favor, as any human can be.

In may lay opinion, Jerome's translation was accurate and verbatim from the Greek. Later in the Middle Ages, when "grace" was "quantified," "gratia plena" became "full with all actual and santifying graces." Not quite what the text means, but not in disagreement with it.

Incidentally, the salutation "kaire" ("shalom," "salve," "hail") was often accompanied by:

- Falling on the neck and kissing (Genesis 33:4; 45:14,15; Luke 15:20)
- Laying hold of the bear with the right hand (2 Samuel 20:9)
- Bowing frequently to the ground (Genesis 33:3)
- Embracing and kissing the feet (Matthew 28:9; Luke 7:38,45)
- Touching the hem of the garment (Matthew 14:36)
- Falling prostrate on the ground (Esther 8:3; Matthew 2:11; Luke 8:41)
- Kissing the dust (Psalms 72:9; Isaiah 49:23)

No wonder was she astonished as the angels words! What every Annunciation skit in movies and Christmas plays have failed to do is to capture what the angel DID as he delivered the message.

To say that one is "in the state of Grace" is to say that God dwells in one; to say that one is "full of grace" is to say that such a person, carries, as humanly possible, the full imprint of the divine indwelling in that person's soul; to single out one individual among all the actors in the Bible--besides Christ--for such a title, and to have an angel deliver the words--they who see the inner reality of all beings--makes such a human being truly special. Before the Incarnation, before the Passion and the Resurrection ocurred in time, Mary was as full of God's divine indwelling as her human nature allowed, gratuitously, undeservedly, and yet full, even to plenitude. That's what the words mean and the mystery really entails.

I hope this helps.

-Theo

Thanks, Teofilo - it helps some. I’d still like to see something by someone reflecting on the BVM as is filled with ‘hesed’ which is what I believe St. Luke was working from when he wrote his Gospel. The very fact that the word ‘kecharitomene’ is used only one time in the entire Bible shows this. I think that will help many to see how biblical it really is that Our Lady is as the Catholic Church has always taught that she is in view of what she was to be (Mother of God): immaculately conceived and therefore, was also assumed into heaven body and soul. All the titles she has been given then fall into place: Ark of the Covenant; new Paradise (since the new Adam came from her), Seat of Wisdom, and many others.

On your comment on the Hebrew word ‘shalom’, thanks for more enlightenment on that word. I had known for a long time that the Jewish people greeted each other with this word - so full of meaning and suspected that this was the greeting Gabriel gave to Mary (it was most likely in the tongue she spoke, Aramaic, to be technically correct - Aramaic is still related to Hebrew and is very close to it, as you know).

I can see, given what you related, how the Lady might have been troubled with the accompanying actions of the Angel. But I like to reflect on the fact that she was the only creature in the entire Bible who did not react with fear at the sight of an Angel - again this shows how filled she is with ‘hesed/gratia/grace. Even old Zechariah whose experience with Gabriel related a few verses earlier shows he was ‘filled with fear’ which is how my Greek/English N.T. relates it (the better rendering I think is ‘deeply terrified in the depths of one’s being’). The Lady though is merely perplexed - not at the Angel - but at the very greeting/message itself. And that of course can lead to a whole discourse on her humility because it was obviously so co-natural for her to be ‘kecharitomene’ (hesed-filled) that, up until Gabriel’s greeting, she didn’t even give it a thought. I did not come on this reflection on my own, by the way, but from the writings of John Henry Cardinal Newman.

Pope St. Gregory the Great also noted that the term ‘angel’ denotes the mission of the being not the being’s nature. And that mission is to be a messenger of God. That shows me what great vision the Lady had as it was Gabriel’s message that perplexed her - not the spiritual being he is. She too, then, because of her being filled with hesed, saw the angel for what he was. And in fact because she is now glorified can see all of us for what we are. Therefore, we cannot hide ourselves from our true Mother who because she is filled with hesed lovingly (i.e. with agape - giving love) calls us to our true selves - the one we got at our baptism.

As an aside, take note of this interesting observation: it comes from the old T.V. series Star Trek. Leonard Nimoy, who is Jewish and played Mr. Spock, used his heritage in the creation of the now famous line “Live long and prosper” and the response “Peace and long life”. Nimoy I believe deliberately used a succinct expression of the meaning of shalom - as a greeting in the series. I don’t know if he’s religious or not, but he slipped this in so subtlety that years later people still do not know this. Further the famous hand sign given as part of the greeting is actually, from what Nimoy himself said, the first letter in the word ‘Yahweh’. The hand sign I understand is used by Jewish Rabbis - especially on the Day of Atonement.

Thanks again for your reply. Your comment on Angels - holy beings whose nature it is to call’em as they see’em was so appropriate on the Feast of the Archangels.

Mike

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.