[PetroniusMaximus]

***The comma after the word soul is indicative of David's prayer to the Lord for His Strength to better help David praise God; it is a request, it is not a description of the state of his soul.***

It is problematic to base a important theological point on the punctuation of a translation of an original text.

There are many such songs of praise in the Bible. One that immediately comes to mind is Hannah's song (which is "a description of the state of her soul"). It begins with very similar wording...


And Hannah prayed and said,

"My heart exults in the LORD;
my strength is exalted in the LORD.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in your salvation.

"There is none holy like the LORD;
there is none besides you;
there is no rock like our God..."


which is very similar to Mary's...


And Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name..."


Point is, between Hannah and David's songs it is clear that this is the common vernacular of praise to God. Magnify (Heb: Gadal) is used numerous time in the OT by people to whom you would not ascribe the position you seek to give Mary.

[wagglebee]

I still contend that the verb "to magnify" is quite different that "to exult." However, there is still the fact that an ANGEL OF THE LORD, proclaimed that Mary was "blessed among women," this sets her apart from every other woman. Can you agree that Eve was created free from sin? And if so, must not Mary (to be most blessed) enjoy the same sinlessness?

Setting all of this aside, why is it so difficult to accept the possibility that God protected Mary from original sin from the moment of her conception? Is it because the Bible doesn't say it, or is it that you don't believe that God could do such a thing? Is it really any harder to believe than the Virgin Birth?

[WriteOn]

Ha ha ha ha. Hannah is type of Mary -- a foreshadowing of her role in the new testament. It merely enriches Mary and therefore Jesus. Your deconstruction leaves the work arid.