Expert: Fr. Michael - 6/5/2005

Question
And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.


How can Mary have remained a virgin in light of this verse?

Joe


Answer
You are using an English paraphrase of the passage.  The Bible was not written in English.  The word that is inaccurately rendered "until" here (Greek:  heos) does not imply that the situation changed after the event; it speaks only of what happened before the event.  There are several examples of this usage in Scripture.

English is, unfortunately, is a rather inaccurate and unsubtle language for philosophical and theological use.  That is why the philosophy and theology of the Church is almost exclusively written in Greek and Latin.

There is really no such thing as a "translation."  All one can do to render one language into another is an approximation.  We would encourage you, if your interested in the linguistic details of Scripture is so strong, to take the time to study Latin and Greek.  It will be time well spent.