Mary’s easily one of the most important people in all of biblical history, and here are ten remarkable facts about her that you may not know.
A whole chapter of the Quran is named after her
Mary is important in Islam as well as in Christianity, and her name appears in the Quran. In fact, chapter 19, known as Maryam, is named after her, and it includes the story of Jesus’s birth, as well as its announcement.
She’s actually one of the most frequently mentioned women in the entire Bible. She’s one of the few religious figures to be important across many different traditions.
John’s Gospel never actually calls her Mary
You might feel that John’s Gospel seems a little weird when it comes to Mary, and that’s because there’s no actual mention of her name. Instead, the Gospel refers to her as simply being the ‘mother of Jesus.’
There are even some moments where John simply calls her a woman. It may seem like a small detail, but it stands out quite a bit when you compare it to the other Gospels that name her directly.
The Bible never records her death
There’s no final scene for Mary anywhere in the Bible, and the last mention of her comes in Acts 1:14, where she’s with the early believers. She then stops appearing in the text. There’s no description of her death or any kind of closure to her story, as she simply vanishes.
Later traditions do try to fill in the gap, but her life fades out in the New Testament without any kind of ending being recorded. We don’t know what may have happened to her.
Early Christians debated where Mary died
Speaking of Mary’s death, there’s never actually been any clear answer about when or where it might’ve happened. A few early traditions suggest that she died in Jerusalem, while others claim she passed away in Ephesus because she lived there with John.
It’s a debate that stuck around for quite some time in early Christian writings and traditions, with both places ending up with long-standing sites connected to Mary. Scholars today still aren’t sure where she passed away.
Mary’s name comes from a Hebrew name with multiple meanings
Mary’s name comes from the name ‘Miriam,’ and people aren’t quite sure what it’s supposed to mean. According to some sources, it means ‘beloved’, while others claim it means ‘bitter’. There are even some sources suggesting that it means ‘rebellious.’
Most religious scholars continue to debate the meaning of her name. Even something as basic as Mary’s own name lacks a fixed definition after all this time.
March 25 used to be New Year’s Day because of Mary
March 25th used to be quite an important date in parts of medieval Europe, as it marked the start of the new year. It was directly connected to something called the Annunciation, which was the day when the Angel Gabriel told Mary that she would give birth to Jesus.
The day itself is called Lady Day. While it’s still important in some places, it’s nowhere near as significant as it once was, as Lady Day used to be the start and end date for rents and contracts.
The earliest detailed story of Mary’s childhood isn’t in the Bible
You won’t find any mentions of Mary’s childhood in the Bible, and the first actual attempt to tell that story came long after it was written. It came in a second-century text called the ‘Protevangelium of James.’
It includes details about how Mary was dedicated at the Temple and raised there, despite the fact that none of these details actually appear in the New Testament.
Her age at the time of Jesus’s birth was likely very young
While the Bible doesn’t actually say how old Mary was, we can use the cultural context of the time to work out how old she likely was. First-century Jewish society dictated that girls would be engaged soon after they hit puberty, usually between the ages of 12 and 14.
Luke describes Mary as being engaged. As such, most historians believe that she would’ve been in that age range at the time when Jesus was born.
She is never described physically anywhere
There’s no actual description of what Mary looked like anywhere in the Bible. Yes, artists may paint her a certain way, but Scripture doesn’t describe her height or hair, there’s no mention of her features at all. All the images we have of her come from art that was created much later.
Throughout the Gospels, we learn about what happened around her, yet there’s never a moment when we find out what she actually looked like.
Mary is never quoted speaking in most of the New Testament
Another thing that’s absent in the Bible is Mary’s own words. She speaks in a few places, mostly in Luke and once in John, but she doesn’t really have many words to say. She’s present in Acts without being quoted, while in the letters, she doesn’t speak at all.
The majority of her appearances in the New Testament included her being in the background or in the scene. However, she has very few recorded words.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
Atheists want religious people to answer 15 important questions
Atheists come up with questions about religion all the time in hopes of finally getting some straight answers to beliefs most follow blindly.
Atheists want religious people to answer 15 important questions
