Virgin Mary under the title of "Warrior Queen"?

Upvote:-2

I have not heard of this title used 'officially', hence we have the warrior queen portrayed in Genesis 3:15 (DRCV), "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and your seed and her seed: she shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for her heel." I can imagine someone calling Mary the Warrior Queen from this and knowledge that the Queen Mother is not the wife but the Mother of the Queen. There is no doubt Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord or Lords, hence is Jesus is the king, Mary is the Queen.

Let's discuss for a moment the challenged translation which reads, "she shall crush." From the RSV2CE notes, we find the following:

3:15, he shall bruise your head: i.e., the seed of the woman, that is, mankind descended from Eve, will eventually gain the victory over the powers of evil. This victory will, of course, be gained through the work of the Messiah who is par excellence the seed of the woman.

The Latin Vulgate has the reading ipsa conteret, “she shall bruise.” Some Old Latin manuscripts have this reading, and it occurs also in St. Augustine, De Genesi contra Manichaeos, II, which is earlier than St. Jerome’s translation. It could be due originally to a copyist’s mistake, which was then seen to contain a genuine meaning—namely, that Mary, too, would have her share in the victory, inasmuch as she was mother of the Savior.

So we see that the 'she' translation comes from the Latin. Interestingly enough, the Hebrew for this, הוּא, is not as clear as expected. So we have a variety of translations including he, she, they and it. Of course, I would argue logically that none of the translations is exclusive. So the he translation does not exclude the participation of she, nor vice versa. Hence, I would think 'they' would be a better rendering. Yet it must be admitted, she is an ancient translation.

The Queen Mother background is clearly identified in the OT in many passages such as Jer 13:18, 1 Kgs 2:20 & Psalm 45:6–9. A list of the Queen Mothers can be found here - see 1 Kings 14:21; 15:1–2, 9–10; 2 Kings 8:25–26; 12:1; 14:1–2; 15:1–2, 32–33; 18:1–2; 21:1, 19; 22:1; 23:31, 36; 24:7–8, 18.

There is a note here to include reputable sources in order to improve this answer. On the contrary, I have quoted a very reputable source, sacred Scripture. I have elucidated clearly the Queen Mother tradition and position in God's people of the OT and have identified the woman (Mary), who would crush the serpent's head. What else do you want?

Upvote:3

I'm not sure about Polish, but one translation of the Kontakion [hymn] for Annunciation describes the Theotokos as a "queen of war":

To thee our captain Queen of war, the battle trophies won, thy people rescued by thine aid from peril, dedicate as our offering of thanksgiving, O Theotokos, as thou hast might which none by war can overcome, from all forms of danger hast thou delivered me, that I may cry unto thee: "Hail, O virgin, unwedded bride."

It is much more common, such as in the akathist hymn to the Theotokos, to translate this as such:

O Victorious Leader of Triumphant Hosts, we Thy servants delivered from evil sing our grateful thanks to Thee O Theotokos: as Thou dost possess invincible might set us free from every calamity, so that we may sing Rejoice, O Unwedded Bride!

From a Catholic perspective, you may also like this article and sermon about Mother Mary, Warrior Queen.

More post

Search Posts

Related post