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The Bible has been the most influential text in all of Western culture. It's difficult to understand medieval or early modern or much of modern literature without knowing it...

Prof. Barbara Newman, Northwestern University
from 2006 Bible Literary project

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It's not that it's impossible to read some writers without a Biblical background, but that you would miss a whole dimension to their work.

Prof. Steven Goldsmith, University of California at Berkeley
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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I can only say that if a student doesn't know any Bible literature, he or she will simply not understand whole elements of Shakespeare, Sidney, Spenser, Milton, Pope, Wordsworth

Prof. Robert Kiely, Harvard University
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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...there is truth in the remark. "without Tyndale[Bible translator], no Shakespeare"...

Prof. David Daniell, University College London
from The Bible in English

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You can't really study Western literature intelligently or coherently without starting with the Bible.

Prof. Gerald L. Bruns, University of Notre Dame
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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...a familiar understanding of Christian doctrine in historical perspective thus contributes to a fuller appreciation of Shakespeare's art, but Shakespeare's art

Prof. Roland M. Frye
from Shakespeare and the Christian Doctrine

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In English tradition and also for an American tradition begun by Puritan writers, a knowledge of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament is even more crucial than classical references.

Prof. Ulrich Knoefplmacher, Princeton University
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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There is no book more important for our culture than the Bible, and it is fundametal to the study of English literature and language.

Prof. David Jasper and Prof. Stephen Prickett
from the Bible and literature

Maria

Picture description: Mary and Jesus
Picture copyright: Giovanni Dall’Orto / public domain

Bible Verse

Meaning

The name does not appear in the Bible. It is the Latinate form of the Greek names Μαριαμ (Mariam) and Μαρια (Maria) which were derived from the Hebrew name מִרְיָם (Miryam). The English form of “Maria” is “Mary”, carrying several meanings such as “sea of bitterness”, “rebelliousness” and “wish for a child”. In the New Testament, the most famous bearers of the name “Mary” were the virgin mother of Jesus (Matthew 1:16) and Mary Magdalene (Matthew 27:56), a devoted follower of Jesus and a witness to His crucifixion and resurrection.

Gender

Female

Example

Keywords

Jesus    Magdalene    Maria    Mary    virgin   

Related Information

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