A Farewell to the Pondering Mary: Lexical, Aspectual and Exegetical Considerations Regarding symballusa in Luke 2:19

A Farewell to the Pondering Mary Lexical, Aspectual and Exegetical Considerations Regarding συμβαλλουσα in Luke 2:19

Almost sixty years ago, W.C. van Unnik demonstrated that the participle συµβάλλουσα in Luke 2:19 does not mean “pondering” but that Mary was “understanding” the heavenly message. The limited reception of his view, especially in anglophone literature and translations of the Bible, stems from misconce...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hoogerwerf, Cornelis 1984- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2023
In: Novum Testamentum
Year: 2023, Volume: 65, Issue: 2, Pages: 175-191
Further subjects:B Feminism
B Christology
B Luke 2:19
B messiahship
B infancy narrative
B Mary
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Summary:Almost sixty years ago, W.C. van Unnik demonstrated that the participle συµβάλλουσα in Luke 2:19 does not mean “pondering” but that Mary was “understanding” the heavenly message. The limited reception of his view, especially in anglophone literature and translations of the Bible, stems from misconceptions about the lexical definition and the imperfective aspect of συµβάλλουσα, as well as from a problematic interpretation of the phrase “to keep matters/words in one’s heart.” The present study proposes that Luke 2:19 means that Mary preserved the message as revealed knowledge of the future and understood its meaning. This interpretation makes better sense within the infancy narrative and the Gospel of Luke as a whole than traditional interpretations and sheds new light on Mary’s image and function.
ISSN:1568-5365
Contains:Enthalten in: Novum Testamentum
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685365-bja10040