Recently I was sent a comment by the anti-Catholic fundamentalist Daniel Sapia where he stated that according to the Bible the Virgin Mary was not “Full of grace”. As far as I can understand from the fragment of the article in question, Sapia alleges that the Luke passage lexically states that the Blessed Virgin was “quite full” but never 100% full. To analyze this argument, this brief study.

What is the argument exactly?

The argument in question is this:

The expression translated by most Catholic versions as “full of grace” (Luke 1:28) corresponds to the Greek original “kecharitomene”, which actually means “[very] graceful” – “[very] favored.” This is how it is translated, for example, by the version of the Latin American Catholic Bible “Rejoice, you, the Beloved and Favored; the Lord is with you..” or the also Catholic version of Mateos-Schökel “Rejoice, favored one, the Lord is with you..” (both versions with their corresponding approval of the ecclesiastical censorship). If this text is so important when looking for some biblical foundation for Mary’s exemption from sin, it is striking that these 2 well-known Catholic versions do not conform to the necessary “grace-filled” translation that Rome encourages.

Furthermore: the word “FULL” does not appear in the original Greek, but was “interpreted” that way in most Catholic translations. Where the expression “FULL OF GRACE” DOES appear textually is in John 1:14 (referring to Jesus) and in Acts 6:8 (referring to Stephen). Therefore, it is for Stephen that Scripture affirms a condition truly “full of grace”, but it does not do so for Mary (but – as we saw – as “very graced”, “very favored”), no matter how much the Magisterium of Rome forces Luke 1:28 to try to justify it.

The conclusion of the Catholic argument is that “if Mary was FULL of grace (full-complete), then there was no place for sin and that guarantees her immaculate condition, because where there is fullness of grace there is no place for sin…”. If this were true, then Stephen would also deserve to be considered “Immaculate.” But beyond that, while Stephen is exhaustively recognized in Scripture as FULL (textual of the Greek “PLERES”) WITH GRACE, Mary is recognized as VERY graceful-favored, and “very” in no case means “100% fullness” (as would be the case with “full”), with which the Catholic argument supported in Luke 1:28 loses all effectiveness.

The first mistake our friend makes is to affirm that for κεχαριτομένη (kecharitomene) better translation is “very graceful” instead of “full of grace.” Let’s see what several reputable Greek dictionaries say:

W. Radl thus explains the verb χαριτόω which in the case of Mary is κεχαριτομένη

(Exegetical Dictionary of the NT, Vol. II, Sígueme, Salamanca, 1998) 2065.

χαριτόω

In the NT it refers to divine grace: Eph 1:6 εις επαινον δοξης της χαριτος αυτου ης εχαριτωσεν ημας (“…of his grace, which he has freely bestowed upon us”). In Lk 1:28, in the greeting of the angel Gabriel to Mary, the Greek formula of greeting χαιρε (Homer, Odyssey 1.123; cf. Mk 15:28; Mt 26:49; 27:29; Jn 19:3) was combined directly with χαριτόω: χαιρε κεχαριτομενη: “I greet you, O graced one!” (Vg. gratia plena; Luther: du Holdselige [“O highly favored one”]). Lk 1:30 explains the reason why Mary was troubled and at the same time explains the meaning of the angelic greeting: ευρες γαρ χαριν παρα τω Θεω (you have found grace before God).

The Lexicon Graecum Novi Testamenti states:

Lexicon Graecum Novi Testamenti on Lk 1:28 (Rome, 1990, col. 1440): gratiae divinae plenus: κεχαριτομένη: Lk 1:28 Vulg, syr. Cpt. “gratia plena”; goth “gratia beata” (arm eth. “laetificata” ac si a χαρα derivetur) hebraice prob. bat hen.

*Translation: “full of divine grace: κεχαριτομένη: Lk 1,28: the Vulgate, Syriac and Coptic versions translate “full of grace”, the Gothic version: “blissful by grace” (the Armenian and Ethiopian versions translate “filled with joy”, as if derived from χαρα (joy); the term in Hebrew was probably bat hen (“daughter of grace”).

The Greek-Spanish Manual Dictionary, by José M. Pabón Urbina, former professor of Greek Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Madrid. Editorial Bibliograf 1969 says:

The Greek-Spanish Manual Dictionary, by José M. Pabón Urbina

χαριτόω — to fill with divine grace. PASS. to be full of grace.

The word κεχαριτομένη is made up of three elements: χαριτόω (charitoo), μένη (mene) and κε (ke). χαριτόω (charitoo) means “grace”; κε (ke) is a prefix of χαριτόω indicating that the word is in the perfect tense. This indicates a present state resulting from an action completed in the past. μένη (mene) makes it a passive participle. “Passive” means that the action is performed upon the subject (in our case, the Virgin Mary) by another person (in our case, God). In summary, Mary’s word κεχαριτομένη is a passive participle of χαριτόω (charitoo): God is the author of her state of grace: filled, endowed with grace.

When the angel Gabriel uses κεχαριτομένη To refer to Mary, he uses the word as a pronoun (a pronoun takes the place of a name or title), which represents the identity of the person being talked about. Thus Mary is identified with a simple term, which is not her name (Mary),

This means the angel is not saying that Mary is full of grace (at that moment) but is referring to her as the “full of grace”. Now, this state being the product of a past action (because it is a perfect passive participle) indicates a perfection of grace that is intensive and extensive. Mary’s state is a state of a past action of God towards her where he has filled her with grace, thus being identified. (It should be noted that this word with which the angel identifies Mary is only used for her throughout Scripture).

In Stephen’s case, by contrast, it is an adjective, “pleres” (full), followed by the genitive “charitos” (χαριτόω) (of grace). Adjectives reflect qualities of subjects, while pronouns replace or identify the subject in a sentence. To establish equality between Mary and Stephen is to ignore that between the two stands the presence of the angel; in Mary’s case, she is called this in view of her mission to be Mother of the Son of God made man, and the agent of the fullness of grace in Mary is God, since this is a divine passive. Not so in Stephen, since it is an adjective. In short, the argument ignores the difference between an adjective and a verb in the passive voice, where it is clear that Stephen’s state at a moment in time is being referred to, whereas in Mary it is a permanent condition.

Sapia, as usual, tries to support his argument by relying on the way they translate two Catholic versions. (He mentions the Latin American and the Mateos-Schökel, despite the vast majority of other Catholic translations also with their respective ecclesiastical license that translate in this way).

At the time of the research we were not able to review all the versions of the Latin American Bible, however the ones we had on hand translate:

“…Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you” Luke 1:28. Latin American Bible, V Edition, Editorial Verbo divino, 1990.

“…Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you” Luke 1:28 Latin American Bible. 56 Edition. Divine Verb Publishing House 1995.

The Latin American Bible on CDROM was also consulted and translated in the same way. From which edition Sapia made this statement? It is impossible to know because it does not specify it.

However, the two Catholic versions translated by Luis Alfonso Schökel, both the New Spanish Bible and the Pilgrim Bible, render it “highly favored.” Why do these Catholic Bibles translate it this way? Because “highly favored” is not an incorrect translation either; nevertheless, both it and “full of grace” only seek to capture the deep meaning contained in κεχαριτομένη. The translator clarifies that “Favored” is one of those passive participles, almost titles, that we know from prophetic literature (Pitied, Hos 2:3; Preferred, Is 62:4). The Lord is with you: “God with us” (Emmanuel) is the name announced in Is 7:14-15 and is an expression proper to important moments (Ex 3:12; Judg 6:12; Jer 1:19). Now the one announced will be called Jesus (= the Lord saves). (Pilgrim Bible, New Testament, pp. 155-156).

“Full of grace” is a much more appropriate translation. Even the Protestant site http://www.biblegateway.com that presents a large number of Protestant translations of the Bible in various languages, including one of the most appreciated by Protestants: The Reina-Valera of 1995, although this translation translates “very favored” it places a note at the foot of the translation clarifying that it literally means: “full of grace.”

Luke 1, Reina-Valera 1995,

Taken from www.biblegateway.com on the next page

Luke 1, 28 The angel entered where she was and said: – Hail, highly favored one! [r] The Lord is with you, blessed are you among women [s]

[r] Hail!: lit. rejoice, which in Greek was a commonly used greeting. Highly favored: lit. full of grace

To finish I share the way in which other translations translate:

The angel entered the place where she was, and said to her: Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you. God Speaks Today, United Bible Societies Text 1994

And the Angel having entered where she was, said to her: May God save you, O full of grace! The Lord is with you: blessed are you among all women… Translated from the Latin Vulgate to Spanish by Félix Torres Amat. Imprimatur with ecclesiastical license dated July 5, 2001, granted by Monsignor Héctor Julio López Hurtado, Bishop of Granada in Colombia

The angel came to her and said to her: “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Latin American Bible. Revised edition 1995. 56 Edition. Verbo Divino Editorial. Nihil Obstat: Alfonso Zimmerman C. ss. R. Imprimatur: Manuel Sánchez B. Archbishop of Concepción – Chile.

“And entering, he said to her: Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you” Luke 1:28 Jerusalem Bible. Edition 1975, under the direction of the Jerusalem Bible School. Nihil Obstat Dr. José Ramón Scheifler Amézaga, S.I. Ecco Censor. Imprimatur Bilbao, November 15, 1975. Dor. Leon Maria Martinez. Vicar General.

The following translations were also consulted:

And the angel having entered where she was, said to her: Hail to you, O full of grace! The Lord is with you; blessed are you among all women. Torres Amat

And entering, he said to her: “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Jerusalem Bible 1976

And, entering, he said to her: “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” New Jerusalem Bible

The angel came to where she was and said to her: -Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Our People’s Bible

And the angel entered where she was and greeted her: “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” Castillian Bible 2003

Et ingressus angelus ad eam dixit: Ave gratia plena: Dominus tecum: benedicta tu in mulieribus. Clementine Vulgate 1598

The Angel entered her house and greeted her, saying: “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” The book of the people of God 1981

And he entered where she was and said to her: – May God save you, full of grace, the Lord is with you. New Testament, University of Navarra Editions

Entering he said to her: Rejoice, full of grace; the Lord is with you.” Nácar-Colunga

The angel entered where she was and said to her: Peace be to you, O full of grace; our Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. Peshitta in Spanish

And the angel entered where she was and greeted her: Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with you, blessed are you among women. Seraphim of Ausejo 1975

He entered where she was and said to her, “Rejoice, full of grace; the Lord is with you.” The Holy Bible of Martín Nieto

And when the angel entered where she was, he said: “Hail, full of grace; the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.” The Holy Gospels, Scío de San Miguel

Source: Various authors