Lawrence R. Farley (Eastern Orthodox): “Rather”:
Jesus knew this to be wrong, and so He said that rather (Gr. menoun; used as a corrective; compare such a use in Rom. 9:20) it
was only those who hear the Word of God
which He was preaching and who keep it
who would be finally blessed. Let
those who saw His works and heard His words acknowledge them as of God, if they
would be blessed! (Lawrence R. Farley, The Gospel of Luke: Good
News for the Poor [The Orthodox Bible Study Companion; Charleston, Ind.:
Ancient Faith Publishing, 2010], 233)
The author, of course, is
quick to defend a high Mariology:
(We note that this passage does not suggest that the Mother of God is not blessed. As a matter of
fact, Luke is emphatic that she did
hear the Word of God and keep it; see 1:45, 48; 2:19, 51. The passage does not
focus on Mary as a person, but on the source of blessedness, be it for Mary or
for anyone else.) (Ibid., 233-34)
Joseph
A. Fitzmyer (Roman Catholic): Corrective: “Yes, but Rather”:
28. rather. The
compound Greek particle menoun (used
only four times in the NT and, against classical usage, at the head of a
sentence) can have three different senses: (a) adversative, “nay, rather,” “on
the contrary”: so commonly in classical Greek (Sophocles, Ajax 1363; Aristophanes, Eccl.
1102) and in the NT (Rom 9:20; 10:18); this would mean that Jesus was rejecting
the woman’s blessing of his mother (it seems to be the sense advocated by T. W.
Manson, I. H. Marshall, M. P. Scott, et al.). (b) affirmative, “indeed,”
expressive of agreement with what was said. See Phil 3:8. (c) corrective, “yes,
but rather,” meaning that what was said is true as far as it goes (Plato, Rep. 489D). M. E. Thrall (Greek Particles in the New Testament,
34–35) points out that for Luke the first two uses are to be eliminated since,
when he wants to express contradiction, he uses ouchi, legō hymin (12:51; 13:3, 5); and for affirmation he employs nai (7:26; 10:21; 11:51; 12:5). Hence,
the last corrective sense is to be preferred. Cf. C. F. D. Moule, Idiom Book, 163–164. (Joseph A.
Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV: Introduction, Translation,
and Noates [AYB 28A; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008], 928-29)
Robert A. Sungenis
(Traditionalist Catholic): “Rather, on the contrary”:
“yea rather”: μενουν, from μενουνγε, meaning: “rather, on
the contrary; indeed, much more” (THR), used 4× in the NT (Rm 9:20; 10:18; Ph
3:8), varying between “yes, but” or “yes, also.” Here affirming a previous
truth but pivots off it to point to an even greater truth. Jesus is affirming
the woman’s statement, a fulfillment of Lk 1:48 (“all generations shall call me
blessed”). (Robert A. Sungenis, Commentary on the Catholic Douay-Rheims New
Testament from the Original Greek and Latin, 4 vols. [State Line, Pa.:
Catholic Apologetics International Publishing, Inc., 2024], 2:207 n. 386)
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