For those of you who’ve always wanted to know how to say the Hail Mary in Hebrew . . .
The image was originally a Facebook post, but proved so popular I chose to post it to the blog so there’d be a handy link anytime someone’s interested:
Speaking of interest, here are the words with transcription:
.שָלוֹם לָךְ, מִרְיָם, מְלֵאַת הַחֶסֶד, ה׳ עִמָּךְ
Shalom lakh, Miryam, m’leas HaḤesed, Adonai imakh.
.בְּרוּכָה אַתְּ בַּנָשִׁים, וּבָרוּךְ פְּרִי בֵּטְנֵךְ יֵשׁוּעַ
Berukhah at banashim, uvarukh p’ri betnekh Yeshua.
,מִרְיָם הַקְּדוֹשָׁה, אֵם הָאֱלהִים, הִתְפַּלְלִי בַּעֲדֵנוּ הַחוֹטְאִים
.עַתָּה, וּבִשְׁעַת מוֹתֵנוּ. אָמֵן
Miryam hakedoshah, Em HaElohim, hispeleli ba’adenu haḥotim,
atah, uvishas mosenu. Amen.
This is the standard version of the prayer as used by Hebrew-speaking Catholics, attested at HolyMary.info, at WikiSource, and at this video, which in turn was linked from the St. James Vicariate for Hebrew-Speaking Catholics in Israel. The only difference is that their transcription reflects standard Sefardi pronunciation, whereas mine recognizes Sav as a letter.
Now if you’re asking why I don’t use Sefardi like most of the internet, it’s because there’s a tradition regarding Hebrew pronunciation: you use the pronunciation of your parents or of your teacher. How my parent’s Jewish friends pronounced the words became how my parents pronounced them, and after seven years working for a Jewish-owned business where the owner (my best friend’s dad) used the same pronunciation, Ashkenazi is what I’m used to hearing.
When I posted to Facebook, some folks commented on the word “Ḥesed” being used for “grace,” followed by a discussion about how that was an “interesting” word-choice seeing it might better be translated as “Ḥen” (חֵן). My own sense is that whoever originally translated the prayer into Hebrew thought of God’s grace as being synonymous with God’s mercy. This can lead to a conversation of different models of “grace” as forgiveness, as gift, as energy, as favor, and so on, or perhaps a different emphasis on one aspect of grace over the others.
For those interested in such a conversation, I present the Hail Mary in Greek (source link), the original language of Luke’s Gospel where the prayer is found:
Χαίρε Μαρία, κεχαριτωμένη, ó Κύριος είναι μετά Σου, ευλογημένη Εσύ μεταξύ των γυναικών, (Luc 1:28) και ευλογημένος ο καρπός της κοιλίας Σου, ó Ιησούς. (Luc 1:42)
Αγία Μαρία, Θεοτόκε, παρακαλει για μας τους αμαρτωλούς, τώρα και στην ώρα του θανάτου μας. Αμήν.
[NOTE: Other versions of the prayer in both Koine and Modern Greek and be found over at WikiSource. ]
Note the word for “full of grace” here, “κεχαριτωμένη,” which the Vulgate gives “gratia plena,” the Hebrew “m’leas haḤesed,” and the King James “highly favored.” Consider that the Greek root word here would be either χάρη or χάρις, from which comes the English word “charisma,” and the conversation can be fun.
THAVMA: Christian Occultism and Magic in General 
B’ruch HaShem
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I do not know how to explain it but we say ( hail mary full of grace ) full of grace is the translation chosen, when actually Mary is Grace itself ,I do not know what language it was translated from. I have been told there is no word in the English language to depict (mary as grace itself ) can anyone enlighten me
Phillip
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That’s because Mary is not Grace itself. She’s simply a human woman whom God chose to be the Mother of God the Son.
The source for this part of the prayer is Luke 1:28, where original Greek says «κεχαριτωμένη,» which literally translates “highly favored” or “filled with favor,” with “grace” being a synonym for “God’s favor.” St. Jerome translated this into Latin as «gratia plena,» which becomes our “full of grace.”
I hope this helps. If I may ask though, what’s the source where the idea of “Mary is Grace itself” comes from?
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Mary is not the grace itself. It would even more be difficult to understand in Thomistic understanding regarding God’s simplicity. God’s grace is god himself. Putting Mary is the grace is dangerous to blasphemy.
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OMG, stop bastardizing Arch Angel Gabriel‘s salutation to the Mother of God, Mary, in the flesh! The Greek word for Full of Grace ( without sin ) is kecharitomene, “ without sin “ in French. It is” Chaire Kecharitomene, “ the Highest Chair of the human race given by God. I own a Protestant 1599 Geneva Bible, and the print says,” FULL OF GRACE.” The King James Bible, 1611 said. Full of Grace. The highly favored one came later during the conversation. You Protestants can be as anti-Catholic as you desire, but learn the truth and accuracy. Mary is the Mother of God; let that sink in—the God of All Creation. I’d be careful if I were you, for that borders on blasphemy.
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I am neither Protestant, nor bastardizing. The truth is that Mary is full of grace and conceived without sin, full stop. A musing over the wording used in a given text does not constitute a theological assertion.
I was unaware the Geneva and original 1611 King Jim both said “full of grace” though. Interesting, as it would give the lie to the Calvinist position, from the pens of the Calvinists themselves.
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Dear friend, Your Protestant scholar, Tyndale, did not doubt that Mary is and was full of grace. The Bible, for the first 1500 years, praised Mary as without sin and full of grace. Only in the last 60 years has all our Bibles been compromised. The Truth is in the fragments; learn them. I’m amazed that you doubt me because my words are new to your ears. Pontius Pilot asked Christ about Truth; in Quantum Science, all the miracles are in the smallest of the smallest particles. Pray to move the Heart of Jesus, that He may bless you with discernment.
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Again, I am not Protestant and never have been. I also never said I doubted you, and am uncertain how you got that from my words. I said only that the information you provided was new to me. I am not in the habit of studying Protestant Bibles.
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God bless you and thank you for your courtesy and indulgence. ❤️ Sometimes, it’s difficult to have patience when other theologies reference one’s beloved beliefs as “ Occult. “
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