If Hail Was The Norm Roman Greeting?

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

Pax domini bretheren,sympathiesers and others...
If Hail was the norm for a roman greeting why than in the biblical context is the greeting to Mary by the angel "Hail," and that all the other times the angels have appeared to prophets and even at the tomb after the resurection or the shepards at the birth of jesus,why is hail not used as the greeting in the other appearances of the angels. This just leads me to think more so that the address given to Mary is that reserved to a person in a postition of authority above the one saying "hail." Or at least to one whom is equal.

Onward christian souls.
JESUS iz LORD.
GOD is GOOD, GOD is LOVE, GOD SAVES

Edited July 2, 2012 by Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

someone said to me that hail was the normal greeting between romans, he said it was ave. This may be so, i don't know. But if we place all the other times the angels have appeared they haven't used such a greeting.

[PhuturePriest]

Tim Staples notes that Mary is troubled at Gabriel's greeting. "If after this show I said "Hey Steve, how are you?" and he was suddenly in fear and replied 'W-w-what do you want?!" we would all think he was nuts! So obviously this wasn't a normal greeting." He also notes "Pay attention to the greeting. The Angel Gabriel says 'Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.' not 'Hail Mary, Full of Grace'. He is giving Mary another name. When this happens in the Bible it means something very significant, such as when Jesus renames Peter, or when God renames Abram Abraham."

Edited July 2, 2012 by FuturePriest387

[beatitude]

Table, remember that the gospels were written in Greek. which the Romans did not use. [i]Chaire [/i](translated as 'hail') sounds formal to our ears, but in those times it was a pretty standard greeting.

[Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam]

Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye, "salve" was the normal Roman greeting and at the same time wished someone good health.

Beatitude, Romans did use Greek and used it often. It was the common commercial language of the empire, since many had different native languages, and most of the upper class spoke Greek well though Latin was the official language. If it wasn't used so commonly throughout the Empire, why then do you think it was such a prudent choice to write the Gospels in Greek? Also, you are right to note that the Latin greeting has very little to do with "Hail, Full of Grace" since the original language of the text is Greek.

Edit**Grammar

Edited July 2, 2012 by Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

[Groo the Wanderer]

...or it was just a way to make small talk by bringing up the weather? ioweno

[timwho]

Ave is a formal greeting to my understanding

[Ed Normile]

Could be the angel was using a greeting that was commonly heard at the time to relate to Mary better. I thought Mary was troubled by the greeting as she knew not she was pregnant at the time.

ed

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

[quote name='Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam' timestamp='1341248486' post='2451499']
Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye, "salve" was the normal Roman greeting and at the same time wished someone good health.

Beatitude, Romans did use Greek and used it often. It was the common commercial language of the empire, since many had different native languages, and most of the upper class spoke Greek well though Latin was the official language. If it wasn't used so commonly throughout the Empire, why then do you think it was such a prudent choice to write the Gospels in Greek? Also, you are right to note that the Latin greeting has very little to do with "Hail, Full of Grace" since the original language of the text is Greek.

Edit**Grammar
[/quote]


Than if it was a common greeting of equals, at the least the angel gabriel saw her as an equal, abraham didn't get that greeting of equality.

Edited July 10, 2012 by Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye