Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/520

 VIRGIN

464 b

VIRGIN

mlryam is not a compound word consisting of two nouns, or a noun and an adjective, or a noun and a pronominal suffix, but it is a simple though derivative noun; the noun is not formed by means of a prefix (m), but by the addition of a suffix (am). Pre- supposing these principles, the name mlryam may be derived either from marah, to be rebellious, or from mara', to be well nourished. Etymology does not decide which of these derivations is to be preferred; but it is hardly probable that the name of a young girl should be connected with the idea of rebellion, while Orientals consider the idea of being well nour- ished as synonymous with beauty and bodily per- fection, so that they would be apt to give their daughters a name derived from mara'. Mary means therefore The beautiful or The perfect one.

II. Mary in the Old Test.\ment. — In general, the theology and history of Mary the Mother of God follow the chronological order of their respective sources, i. e. the Old Testament, the New Testa- ment, the early Christian and Jewish witnesses. The Old Testament refers to Our Blessed Lady both in its prophecies and its types or figures.

A. Prophecies. — The first prophecy referring to Mary is found in the very opening chapters of the Book of Genesis (iii, 15); "I wiU put enmities be- tween thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." This rendering appears to differ in two respects from the original Hebrew text: first, the Hebrew text employs the same verb for the two renderings "she shall crush" and "thou shalt lie in wait"; the Septuagint renders the verb both times by rrjpetv, to he in wait ; Aquila, Symmachus, the Syriac and the Samaritan translators, interpret the Hebrew verb by expressions which mean to crush, to bruise; the Itala renders the verb rrioeiv employed in the Septuagint by the Latin "servare", to guard; St. Jerome (Qusest. hebr. in Gen., P. L., XXIII, col. 943) maintains that the Hebrew verb has the meaning of "crushing" or "bruising" rather than of "lying in wait", "guarding". Still in his own work, which became the Latin Vulgate, the saint employs the verb "to crush" (conterere) in the first place, and "to lie in wait" (insidiari) in the second. Hence the punishment inflicted on the serpent and the ser- pent's retaliation are expressed by the same verb: but the wound of the serpent is mortal, since it affects his head, while the wound inflicted by the serpent is not mortal, being inflicted on the heel. The second point of difference between the Hebrew text and our version concerns the agent who is to inflict the mortal wound on the serpent: our version agrees with the present Vulgate text in reading "she" (ipsa) which refers to the woman, while the Hebrew text reads hix' (oi5t6s, ipse) which refers to the seed of the woman. According to our version and the Vulgate reading, the woman herself will win the victory; according to the Hebrew text, she will be victorious through her seed. In this sen.se does the Bull "Ineffabilis" ascribe the victory to Our Blessed Lady. The reading "she" (ipsa) is neither an intentional corruption of the original text, nor is it an accidental error; it is rather an explanatory version expressing ex-plicitly the fact of Our Lady's part in the victory over the serpent, which is contained implicitly in the Hebrew original. The strength of the Christian tradition .as to Mary's share in this victory may be inferred from the retention of "she" in St. Jerome's version in spite of his acquaintance with the original text and with the reading "he" (ipse) in the old Latin version.

As it is quite commonly admitted that the Divine judgment is directed not so much against the serpent as against the originator of sin, the seed of the serpent denotes the followers of the serpent, the "brood of vipers", the "generation of vipers", those whose father is the Devil, the children of evil, imilando,

nan nascendo (Aug.); cf. Wis., ii, 25; Matt., iii, 7; xxiii, 33; John, viii, 44; I, John, iii, 8-12. One may be tempted to understand the seed of the woman in a, similar collective sense, embracing all who are born of God. But seed not only may denote a particular person, but has such a meaning usually, if the context allows it. St. Paul (Gal., iii, 16) gives this explanation of the word "seed" as it occurs in the patriarchal promises: "To Abraham were the promises made and to his seed. He saith not, and to his seeds, as of many; but as of one. And to his seed, which is Christ". Finally, the expression "the woman" in the clause "I will put enmities between thee and the woman" is a literal version of the Hebrew text. The Hebrew Grammar of Gese- nius-Kautzsch (Hebriiische Grammatik, 26th edit., 402) establishes the rule: Peculiar to the Hebrew is the use of the article in order to indicate a person or thing, not yet knowTi and not yet to be more clearly described, either as present or as to be taken into account under the contextual conditions. Since our indefinite article serves this purpose, we may translate: "I will put enmities between thee and a woman". Hence the prophecy promises a woman, Our Blessed Lady, who will be the enemy of the ser- pent to a marked degree; besides, the same woman will be victorious over the Devil, at least through her offspring. The comjileteness of the victorj' is em- phasized by the contextual phrase "earth shalt thou eat", which is according to Winckler (Der alte Orient und die Geschichtsforschung, 30) a common old- oriental expression denoting the deepest humihation (cf. Jeremias, Das Alte Testament im Lichte des alt en Orients, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1906, 216; Himpel, Messianische Weissagungen im Pentateuch, Tiibinger theologische Quartalschrift, 1859; Maas, Christ in Type and Prophecy, I, 199 sqq., New York, 1893; Flunck, Zeitschrift ftir kathohsche Theologie, 1904, 641 sqq.; St. Justin, dial. c. Tryph., 100 (P.G.,VI, 712); St. Iren., adv. hser.. Ill, 23 (P. G., VII, 964); St. Cypr., test. c. Jud., II, 9 (P. L., IV, 704); St. Epiph., hser.. Ill, ii, 18 (P.G., XLII, 729).

The second prophecy referring to ^Iary is found in Is., vii, 1-17. Critics have endeavoured to represent this passage as a combination of occurrences and sayings from the fife of the prophet written down by an unknown hand (Lagarde, Guthe, Giesebrecht, Cheyne, Wilke). The credibihty of the contents is not necessarily affected by this theory, since pro- phetic traditions may be recorded by any WTiter with- out losing their credibility. But even Duhm con- siders the theory as an apparent attempt on the part of the critics to find out what the readers are wiUing to bear patiently; he believes it is a real misfortune for criticism itself that it has found a mere compilation in a passage which so graphically describes the birth- hour of faith.

According to IV Kings, xvi, 1-4, and II Par., xx^-iii, 1-8, Achaz, who began his reign 736 b. c, openly professed idolatry, so that God gave him into the hands of the kings of Syria and Israel. It appears (hat an alliance had been concluded between Phacee, King of Israel, and Rasin, King of Damascus, for the purpose of opposing a barrier to the Assyrian aggres- sions. Achaz, who cherished Assyrian proclivities, did not join the coalition; the allies invaded his territory, intending to substitute for Achaz a more subservient ruler, a certain son of Tabeel. While Hasin was occupied in reconquering the maritime city Elath, Phacee alone proceeded against Juda, "but they could not prevail". After Elath had fallen, Rasin joined his forces with tho.se of Phacee; "Svria hath rested upon Ephraim", whereupon "his (Achaz') heart was moved, and the heart of hia people, as the trees of the woods are moved with the w'ind". Immediate preparations must be made for a protracted siege, and Achaz is busily engaged near