Is It ‘He’ Or ‘She’?

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Look, we don’t really need any titles for Mary–do we?–to know how powerful she is.

Christ told us from the Cross: “She is your mother.”

That says as much as we need to know.

Powerful against evil?

Beyond all doubt, we know that also. In countless artistic depictions, as well as during certain historic apparition, the Woman is seen stepping on the head of Satan (the serpent).

Catholic tradition, particularly in the Middle Ages, linked “she” with the Virgin Mary, emphasizing her role in salvation history–thus much of the art. Intriguing it is that Latin Vulgate Variant, quoting Genesis 3:15, still says “She shall crush your head.” (“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.”)

This is the famous “ipsa” (Latin for “herself” or “she”) reading—“she shall crush”—linked to Marian interpretation. It is Saint Jerome’s version.

The Immaculate Conception, Bartolomé Esteban MURILLO | NGV

The Immaculate Conception (Tiepolo) - Wikipedia

Why is Mary depicted standing on a snake?

Hear ye: Is Mary not presented in this fashion on the Miraculous Medal, which was given in a supernatural vision to Saint Catherine Laboure in 1830? (Below original medal:)

This may contain: an antique medal with the image of jesus on it's back and words written in spanish

In her vision, Mary instructed Saint Catherine to have the medal struck with a specific design and promised that those who wear it with confidence would receive great graces.

The front of the medal features Mary standing on an earth with a serpent, with rays of light streaming from her hands. She is shown crushing the head of a serpent under her feet, symbolizing her victory over evil. The reverse side shows a large “M” topped by a cross, with the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary beneath it, all surrounded by twelve stars. We see her close cooperation with her Divine Son!

Yet that doesn’t come, as many believe, from the most versions of the Book of Genesis (Genesis 3:15), including the New American Standard Bible now used by Catholics, which “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

Most modern Catholic Bibles have corrected it to “he,” but older Catholic editions preserved the “she” reading

The feminine pronoun “she” appears to be a later scribal alteration or interpretive decision, because many believe Jerome himself seems to have intended ipse (“he”). The Hebrew (“hū’ yĕshuphkha tosh“) clearly uses he, not she.

Some early Vulgate manuscripts have ipse, others ipsa. Are you confused enough yet?

Modern Catholic Bibles have returned to the Hebrew sense. Catholic Translations Using “He” Instead of “She”: New American Bible (NABRE),
Revised Standard Version–Catholic Edition, New Jerusalem Bible, Christian Community Bible. These all say “he shall crush/strike your head.”

Nearly all Jewish and Protestant translations follow this. To wit: the King James Version, the English Standard Version, the New International Version, the
New Revised Standard Version, and the Jewish Publication Society.

The Douay–Rheims Bible, based on the Latin Vulgate, famously says “she shall crush thy head” and in the 1800s and early 1900s, many English Catholic Bibles of this period followed the Vulgate’s “ipsa” (“ipsa conteret caput tuum”).

In the famous image of Guadalupe, which is celebrated this month (December 12), Mary’s right foot rests on a dark crescent moon. In Aztec symbolism, this crescent represented the god of darkness, night, chaos, and the underworld. The moon’s shape resembled the “serpent’s jaw” in Aztec myth). The moon was not in the original image of Guadalupe, according to scientists (for your discernment) but added to the miraculous “painting” by later artists who embellished it.

Again, does it really matter?

Well, Christ is King. He is the ultimate source of power against evil. When demons are cast out, it is in the Name of Jesus.

But Mary has done quote a job rallying her children to deliverance through the winding centuries, hasn’t (ipsa) she?