I passed along a couple of books including one of Todd Bennett's books on "Names" to a friend of mine. He asked me what was Mary's real (Hebrew) name? I thought I'd post the question here.

Thanks.

Shalom All,

According to The Comprehensive Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names: from the Hebrew, meaning "sea of bitterness, sorrow," or from the Chaldaic, meaning "mistress of the sea." Masculine Hebrew equivalents are Moshe, Peleg, Silon.

Catholics fondly refer to her as Queen of the Oceans and we now know that that connotation has Chaldean pagan roots (though never explained to me when I was a child), and more interestingly the masculine version is Moshe, from the Hebrew meaning "drawn out (of the water)," or from Egyptian meaning "son, child." Go figure. Miriam is also the name of Moshe's elder sister who guarded him in the river until he was picked by Pharoah's daughter, and who would have been very sad to have lost him, just as Yahushua's mother.

Oh, sorry... (sheepish grin)... Miryam is commonly used in The Scriptures but there are other variations and Miriam is one of them. I suppose it is Mir-Yam and not Mi-Riam if the etymology is correct.

From http://holyspirit-shekin...st_holy_name_of_mary.htm

The hallowed title, "Star of the Sea," dates back to St. Jerome [+420]. It has been said that the great Doctor had originally used the phrase Stilla Maris to describe Mary as a "drop of the sea," the sea being God. A copyist's error, then, could have resulted in stilla [drop] being written down as stella [star]. Of course, the hallowed title, "Star of the Sea," suits Our Lady perfectly.

Throughout the centuries, Saints and scholars have put forth different interpretations for the name "Mary." A mixture of etymology and devotion has combined to produce an interesting array of meanings:

"God the Father gathered all the waters together and called them the seas or maria [Latin, seas]. He gathered all His grace together and called it Mary or Maria . . .This immense treasury is none other than Mary whom the Saints call the 'treasury of the Lord.' From Her fullness all men are made rich;" [St. Louis de Montfort +1716]

"Mary means enlightener, because She brought forth the Light of the world. In the Syriac tongue, Mary signifies Lady." [St. Isidore of Seville +636]

"Let me say something concerning this name also, which is interpreted to mean Star of the sea, and admirably suits the Virgin Mother." [St. Bernard +1153]

"Mary means Star of the sea, for as mariners are guided to port by the ocean star, so Christians attain to glory through Mary's maternal intercession." [St. Thomas Aquinas +1274]

Now, with all of the above and plenty more traditions stemming from this, it is quite easy to see where from a copyists' error one thing leads to another until everyone goes off track believing themselves wiser in the depth of their understanding. Who was it who said that "they built a house from the roof down?"