Was Mary full of grace?

[tonychanyt]

NIV, Lk 1:

28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

But then, ESV:

And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

Strong's Greek: 5487. χαριτόω (charitoó) — 2 Occurrences

κεχαριτωμένη (kecharitōmenē)
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Vocative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5487: To favor, bestow freely on. From charis; to grace, i.e. Indue with special honor.

Which translation is right?

G5487 was infrequent and ambiguous. BDAG:

to cause to be the recipient of a benefit, bestow favor on, favor highly, bless

Let's see the context. Berean Literal Bible, Lk 1:

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

BYZ and TR include Blessed are you among women!

The Lord was with Mary. She was favored and blessed.

29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Strong's Greek: 5485. χάρις (charis) — 157 Occurrences

This was a different but related Greek word for 'favor'. χάρις was a noun. κεχαριτωμένη was a vocative verb. There was a special emphasis on the person of Mary: she was personally favored.

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

This was the virgin birth, an extraordinary and unprecedented favor. She was personally, unusually, and highly favored (G5487). This was not one of the usual G5485-favor. The context supported the intensified meaning.

Which translation is right?

Both the NIV and ESV translations are justified. Lexically, G5487 could mean favored or highly favored. Given the context, I will choose NIV's 'highly favored'. ESV's translators for this verse were a bit too conservative. On Biblehub, 11 versions used 'highly'; 15 didn't.

This combination of G5487 and G5485 appeared in Ep 1:

5 [God] predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace [G5485], which he has freely given [G5487] us in the One he loves.

We are highly favored as well in Christ in the sense of adoption.

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace [G5485].

Was Mary full of Grace according to Lk 1:28?

Jerome translated it as "gratia plena" (full of grace) in the Latin Vulgate. Catholic Public Domain Version, Lk 1:

28a And upon entering, the Angel said to her: “Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with you.”

The "full of grace" was not justified by the Greek G5487. If Mary was full of grace, then other believers too were full of grace according to Ep 1:6.

If anyone was full of grace, it was Stephen. Ac 6:

8 Now Stephen, who was full of grace [G5485] and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

full
πλήρης (plērēs)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4134: Full, abounding in, complete, completely occupied with. From pletho; replete, or covered over; by analogy, complete.

Mary was highly favored in that she was chosen to give birth to Jesus, and believers were highly favored in the sense that we were chosen to be the adopted sons of God. Scripture did not say that Mary was full of grace; Jerome said that. The Bible said that Stephen was full of grace—and power.