Name of Mary: Exalted Lifted up

The name Mary in Hebrew Miriam is spelled identical to two other words in the Hebrew bible "bitter ones" and "exalted" (from the word רום , rum meaning lifted up as in Deuteronomy 17:20) the Syrian Christians have favored the latter explanation.. Some have also proposed it means "rebel" (from root meri, מרי meaning "rebellion" as in Numbers 17:25))  rebel and bitter maybe linked since they represent the resentment the Hebrews felt under Egyptian bondage. Bitter herbs were used to represent slavery in Exodus 12's Passover meal. Perhaps if "bitter"/ "rebel" is the meaning she rebelled against those of her time by being obedient to the Law of God, and certainly she rebelled by not letting her son be killed by King Herod!, or perhaps this could be one of those time where Hebrew words sometimes mean the opposite of their primary meaning (many examples in the Hebrew bible exist like "bless/curse" God and die" in Job 2:9, or רנן which means joy in Psalm 132:16 and moan/cry in Lamentations 2:19 ), in which case "rebel" would mean something along the lines of "obedient" "loyal one" or "servant"--the latter the Virgin calls herself when says she is the "handmaid." The Miriam in the Torah seems to be called Miriam from the word "bitter," because we do not see her named until Exodus 15 where the word bitter is used. Exalted seems more reasonable for Mary of the New Testament, it would perhaps fit in with why the Angel Gabriel said "blessed are you among women"--that is she is exalted among women, and be an allusion to her assumption into Heaven. A popular explanation--stella mar [star of the sea] among Latins was popularized by a misreading of St Jerome "stilla maris" which means "drop of the sea." St Jerome took Miriam as being from mar, מר "drop" [only used in Isaiah 40:15 as k'mar, כְּמַר--"as a drop"] and yam, יָם meaning "sea" as in Genesis 14:13 where the "Salt Sea" is referenced.  מר , mar can also mean myrrh as in Exodus 30:23.  Mar in Aramaic is the word for "lord" as in Daniel 4:19  (v16 in some texts), where mari,  מָרִאי or מָרִי is used, "lady"/"mistress" (mistress in the older usage meaning a respectable woman, not the modern expression for a home-wrecker) would probably be a similar word, though never used in any Aramaic biblical text, but is used in the "Jerusalem" Talmud (Sanhedrin 23) in the form מרתה, marta (similar to Martha, like the name in the New Testament).

First for the Hebrew name of Mary we look at Exodus, where Moses' sister Miriam is named:

And Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם] the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.--Exodus 15:20

The spelling מרים (no vowels, with no vav, lammed, etc prefixes) appears 16 times in the Hebrew Bible (not including the 'Deuterocanonicals') in 14 verses. The name Miriam in any form appears 15 times in 13 verses (with and without the vav, lammed 'prefix'). There are 3 meaning its translated as Miriam, bitter ones, and exalted. Here are the appearances of the spelling מרים (no vowels, with no vav, lammed, etc prefixes) in red, underlined are words that are similar or have the some root:

And Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם] the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.  And Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם]  sang unto them: Sing ye to the LORD, for He is highly exalted: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.--Exodus 15:20-21

And when they came to Marah [Maratah, מָרָתָה]  , they could not drink of the waters of Marah [מִמָּרָה, mimmarah] for they were bitter [mirim, מָרִים]. Therefore the name of it was called Marah [marah, מָרָה ].--Exodus 15:23

every one lifting up [mérim, מֵרִים] a heave-offering [t'rumat,  תְּרוּמַת] of silver and brass have brought in the heave-offering [t'rumat,  תְּרוּמַת] of the LORD; and every one with whom hath been found shittim wood for any work of the service brought it in.--Exodus 35:24 Young's Literal Translation (most translations do not literally translate it as "lifting up", also I removed the 'J name')

And Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם] and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman......And the LORD spoke suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם]: 'Come out ye three unto the tent of meeting.' And they three came out.....And when the cloud was removed from over the Tent, behold, Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם] was leprous, as white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם]; and, behold, she was leprous.....And Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם] was shut up without the camp seven days; and the people journeyed not till Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם] was brought in again.--Numbers 12:1, 4, 10, 14

And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם] died there, and was buried there.--Numbers 20:1

 And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם]  their sister.--Numbers 26:59

And the sons of Ezrah: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon. And she bore Miriam [Miryam, מִרְיָם], and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa----1 Chronicles 4:17

The wise shall inherit honour; but as for the fools, they carry away [mérim, מֵרִים]  shame.--Proverbs 3:35

He that is slow to anger is of great understanding; but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth [mérim, מֵרִים] folly.--Proverbs 14:29

and because of the greatness that He gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up [marim, מָרִים] , and whom he would he put down.--Daniel 5:19 (Aramaic text not Hebrew)

For evidence in the New Testament on why Mary's name should be interpreted as "exalted" or "lifted up" we go to Luke 1:

He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly--Luke 1:52

We see here she refers to the lowly being "lifted up", this is related to Mary herself because she a few verses prior she calls herself "lowly":

For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.--Luke 1:48

Now, going back to Luke 1:52 in red I highlighted lifted up because in the Aramaic Texts of Luke 1:51 in both the Old Syriac and the Peshitta text (both of which predate the 6th century at least) the word here is

ܣܲܚܸܦܼ ܬܿܲܩܼܝܦܼܸܐ̈ ܡܸܢ ܟܿܘܼܪܣܲܘܵܬܼܵܐ̈܂ ܘܲܐܪܼܝܡ   ܡܲܟܼܿܝܟܼܸܐ̈܂ --Luke 1:52 Peshitta Text

 He has put down the mighty from their seats, and he has lifted up the meek--Luke 1:52 Lamsa

ܘܐܢܚܬ ܬܩܝܦܐ ܡܢ ܟܘܪܣܘܬܗܘܢ ܘܐܪܝܡ   ܡܟܝܟܐ--Luke 1:52 Old Syriac Syriac Sinaiticus (4th century manuscript)

 And he has brought the mighty down from their seats and exalted the lowly--Luke 1:52 from The Old Syriac Gospels: Luke and John, Old Syriac Syriac Sinaiticus

  The red word ܘܐܪܝܡ waruym (I am not sure if I have the vowels correct), the spelling I do know is waw-alap-resh-yod-meem

 For more information see Catholic Encyclopedia "Name of Mary"

ADDENDUM:

Here is an example of a Syrian Christian that insisted the name of Mary means "exalted"

And Dinah his wife conceived, and brought forth Mary; and from that day she was called Hannah (Anna) instead of Dinah, for the Lord had had compassion upon her. Now the name 'Mary' (Maryam or Miriam) is interpreted 'lifted up,' 'exalted;' and they rejoiced in her exceedingly--Book of the Bee, Chapter 34, Solomon of Aklat, Nestorian Bishop of Basra, AD 1222

Christ was born December 25

In recent times liberals, atheists, anti christians, and Christians of anticatholic persuasion have sought to attack Christmas by asserting it is nothing more than a pagan holiday of a pagan deity's birth that the Catholic Church simply converted into Christ's birthday. Whether or not pagan deity was said to have been born December 25 is irrelevant, in fact most of the datings of the 25th seems to have existed after Christians first appeared.


The dating of Christmas is not pagan or arbitrary. The early church father St Ephraim the Syrian, writing in the mid 4th century, states in his Rythm the 4th concerning Christ's conception:

"Moses shut up a lamb in the month Nisan on the tenth day; a type this of the Son that came into the womb and shut Himself"--St Ephraim the Syrian, Rhythm the fourth (p.27)

The significance of this is that the 10th of Nisan can fall in either early April or late March. The 10th according to the torah in Exodus 12 was the day the passover lamb was to be selected.

"That
 "This month shall be to you the beginning of months: it shall be the first in the months of the year.  Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and say to them: On the tenth day of this month let every man take a lamb by their families and houses."

Now this year, 2010, the 10th of Nisan fell on the 25th of March, (Here is a link to the Hebrew-Gregorian Calendar converter, a Jewish website.) this is the feast of the Annunciation on the Church Calendar. The Feast of the Annunciation is the celebration of the Incarnation, when Christ was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
 
Now assuming Christ went thru the standard gestation period of almost nine months, as most humans do, then he would have been born on or around December 25, if we are to use our modern calendar his gestation would be about 275 days, which is only 9 days longer than average, but still within a reasonable time frame for birth.

Now some believe that since there were shepherds in the fields when Christ was born that therefore He was not born in December, reasoning it would be foolish to keep a flock out in the winter. However, according to the 19th century convert from Judaism, Alfred Edersheim in his book "The life and times of Jesus the Messiah, Volume 1" pages 186-7 he states:

the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, was a settled conviction. Equally so was the belief, that He was to be revealed from Migdal Eder, ' the tower of the flock.'a This Migdal Eder was not the watch-tower for the ordinary flocks which pastured on the barren sheep-ground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the town, on the road to Jerusalem.A passage in the Mishnah leads to the conclusion, that the flocks, which pastured there, were destined for Templesacrifices, and, accordingly, that the shepherds, who watched over them, were not ordinary shepherds. The latter were under the ban of Rabbinism,' on account of their necessary isolation from religious ordinances, and their manner of life, which rendered strict legal observance unlikely, if not absolutely impossible. The same Mishnic passage also leads us to infer, that these flocks lay out all the year round, since they are spoken of as in the fields thirty days before the Passover—that is, in the month of February, when in Palestine the average rainfall is nearly greatest. Thus, Jewish tradition in some dim manner apprehended the first revelation of the Messiah from that Migdal Eder, where shepherds watched the Temple-flocks all the year round. Of the deep symbolic significance of such a coincidence, it is needless to speak. It was, then, on that 'wintry night' of the 25th of December, that shepherds watched the flocks destined for sacrificial services, in the very place consecrated by tradition as that where the Messiah was to be first revealed."

 
He further notes that:
 

 "There is no adequate reason for questioning the historical accuracy of this date. The objections generally made rest on grounds, which seem to me historically untenable. The subject has been fully discussed in an article by Cassel in Herzog's Real. Ency. xvii. pp. 588-594. But a curious piece of evidence comes to us from a Jewish source. In the addition to the Megillath Taanith (ed. Warsh. p. 20 a), the 9th Tebet is marked as a fast day, and it is added, that the reason for this is not stated. Now, Jewish chronologists have fixed on that day as that of Christ's birth, and it is remarkable that, between the years 500 and 816 A.d. the 25th of December fell no less than twelve times on the 9th Tebet. If the 9th Tebet, or 25th December, was regarded as the birthday of Christ, we can understand the concealment about it. Comp. Zunz, Ritus d. Synag. Gottesd. p. 126."