#bible fandom

one of the things that I love about Mary the most is her name. like it's so contradicting in itself, yet perfectly sums up her character. whilst it means "beloved/blessed" in its original derivated Egyptian language (Mr), it could also mean "bitterness" if we're looking at the original hebrew name מרים (Maryam), as it includes the hebrew word מר (mar), which means bitter. this really shows how her being blessed by God to give birth to the incarnation is actually a curse, as all her life will be afflicted with suffering;not to mention that מר could also be interpreted as meaning "rebellious". although prescribing this word to describe Mary directly contradicts her passive nature, it doesn't necessarily mischaracterizes her, as her canticle (the magnificat) is described as the most radical song in the entire bible, and was banned by oppressive regimes.

asides from the contradictions, another beautiful thing about her name is its connotations to the marine, or to the ocean;the hebrew word מר (mar) could mean a literal drop of water, and the remaining half of her hebrew name ים (yam), which means sea leads to Maryam being interpreted as "Drop of the sea". the ocean itself is already an ethereal concept, with all the marine life swimming in it and its rich history (not to mention the scenery), but consider the fact that it also encapsulates Mary's character. it is sometimes tranquil and calm, yet holds immense power behind the waves that thrashes on the shore. just like how Mary is shown to be quiet and passive all the time, yet has the power to canonically one shot satan and demons, and of course, to sing the magnificat.

if you piece the translation of one half of her hebrew name as "bitter" and the other half of her name as "sea", her name could also mean "ocean of bitterness". now consider that many revelations and apparitions in the church that involves Mary involves her crying tears, e.g., our lady of salette (France) , our lady of tears (Brazil), the crying statues of Mary seen once in a while. therefore, this could also allude to her name symbolizing her tears, over humanity's sins (including mine), all gathered up in a sea full of despair.

finally, her hebrew name could also mean "star of the sea". whilst this was mostly due to a typo in saint Jerome's translation, it could be true if the hebrew word  מאור (ma'or) meaning "star", a similiar sounding word, was used in place of מר, albeit this is loose translation. it really does evoke the sense of Mary's exalted status in christianity, as well as the fact she was a treasure found within large acres of water (in reference to Elizabeth's proclamation that she was "blessed amongst women").

and the fact that all the above things I have written about the etymology of her name is only the things that is derived from the language used in her name. there is also a whole bunch of theology in relation to god's grace and her name, which would took me a whole another post to analyze. I actually despise the fact that Mary as a character is considered very obscure in fandoms and modern internet spaces, and that so many of her artwork in both traditional and modern spaces is limited to iconography and fictional characters using her iconography, as if a girl with such deep lore and characterization is reduced to only something to use for Pinterest references, and as simply "a mom".