Thread by @S_Coughlin_DC

1 of 11) Today, for a change of pace. Some things simply don’t translate, or at least not elegantly. On this day, let’s take a phrase from the ancient Greek, “Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη!”

2) In Luke 1:28, the Angel Gabriel says something to Mary recorded in ancient Greek that doesn’t easily translate. He says “Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη!” – or - "Chaire, kecharitomene!" Chaire means “hail” or “rejoice.” Easy enough. But “kecharitomene” needs more explaining.

3) First, it’s the only place in the Bible the term used in either the Old (Septuagint) or New Testament. The core term of “kecharitomene,” is – κεχαριτω (kharito) - from the word χᾰρῐτόω (kharitóō), but more on that later.

4) “κε-” (ke) at the beginning of the word indicates perfect tense, i.e., the present state of a completed action.
“-μένη” (mene) at the end of the word is a passive participle. Passive: the action is performed on the subject by someone or something else.

5) For example, She is (currently) licensed (by the bar that licensed her back then) to practice law (today).
So, when Gabriel “hailed” Mary, she was in an ongoing perfect (tense) state of a completed action done by someone or something else (passive).

6) χᾰρῐτόω (kharitóō) [en.wiktionary.org/wiki/χαριτόω] “means to show grace to, to bestow favor upon” and in its passive form “to be highly favored, to be shown grace, to have grace or favor shown upon, to be full of grace.”

7) This means that when Gabriel “hailed” Mary, she was already in a perfect state of grace, or completely favored (they had all the grace or favor available) by someone who had already given it to her when giving her the full measure.

8) Hence the full translation should look something like this:

Hail, “(the one who has been already) (fully) graced (by God)” / Hail, “(the one who has been already) (completely) favored (by God)”

9) It turns out that “kecharitomene” packs a lot in one word. Latin requires 2 words to try to capture it, “gratia plena.” English tries with 3, “full of grace.” To minimally capture this in English, it requires 7(9) words, “Full of grace which was given you (from God).”

10) But there is one other thing. Gabriel’s “Chaire, kecharitomene!” is a salutation (“Hail”) followed by a direct address. Direct addresses are usually a name or title of the person who is hailed.

11) Gabriel did not hail Mary by name, but by her title, the one that had already been given her by God. Hence, Kecharitomene should be capitalized. So, what is today? There are other things that don’t translate conveniently. “Daily bread?”