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Updated: 2013.09.20
MiꞋrᵊyâm (Aramaic, same spelling; cf. Shᵊm•otꞋ 15.23), anglicized to "Miriam."
In the NT, it is transliterated into Greek as Μαριαμ, Hellenized to Μαρια, then anglicized to "Marian" – and "Mary".
The Aramaic name so often associated with her, îÇøÀúÈÌà, may well derive from the adverb îÈøÈúÈä, in this same verse (15.23).
The etymology of her name is unclear. Some mistakenly connect her name with the incident of îÈøÄéí, interpreting her name as some form of "bitter." However, MoshꞋëh is in excess of 80 years old at this point and MiꞋrᵊyâm 12 years older than him. She had her name more than 90 years before this incident. More likely, her name derives from the root verb øåÌí, the same root from which Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋu derived. Thus, MiꞋrᵊyâm more likely has the connotation of lifting-up or exalting.
Four times—in Papyrus 45 (ca. 255 C.E.), Papyrus 66 (ca. 200 C.E.) and Codex Sinaiticus mss. of "John" 11 (v. 19, 28, 31, 45), as well as in the Codex Vaticanus ms. of "Romans" (16.6), Μαριαμ (Mariam) is corrupted to Μαριαν (Marian). The confluence of Μαριαμ (Mariam) and Μαριαν (Marian), led to yet another variant, Μαριαμη (Mariamæ), a sui generis, mainly associated with translations of Josephus' accounts (apparently not found in the original Greek) of the Herod family, being corrupted to "Mariamne." (Neither Mariamæ nor "Mariamne" is found in the NT.)
At the request of Prof. James Tabor (UNC Charlotte), the University of California at Irvine executed a search of their Thesaurus Linguae Graecae for the various variants of these names containing a ν (nu; "n"). Prof. Tabor reports (2008.06.01) the results as somewhat astonishing, finding that, contrary to what appear to be countless post-4th-century corruptions, these "popped up in only two works—the [4th-century C.E.] Acts of Philip and [3rd-century C.E.] Hippolytus, Refutation of all Heresies, and in both works the reference was to the woman named Mary Magdalene in our Gospels."
Thus, there appear no other instances outside of the 1st-century Nᵊtzâr•imꞋ community. At the very least, it would appear that the variant spelling with a ν (nu; "n") tracks back uniquely to the 1st-century Nᵊtzâr•imꞋ community.
Μαριαμ (Mariam) is identified as Μαγδαληνη (Magdalænæ [corrupted to "Magdalene"]; "of Mi•gᵊdâlꞋ," on the westernmost shore of Yâm Ki•nërꞋët) in The Nᵊtzârim Reconstruction of Hebrew Matitᵊyâhu (NHM, in English)
27.61 & 28.1 (both later redacted to Μαρια, Maria). The reverse is also true. Μαρια (Maria) is identified as Μαγδαληνη (Magdalænæ; "of Mi•gᵊdâlꞋ") in NHM 27.56 (later redacted to Μαριαμ, Mariam). Both names are applied to the MiꞋrᵊyâm from Mi•gᵊdâlꞋ. Therefore, the controversy over the reading of the "Mariamne" ossuary of the Talpiot tomb, whether Μαριαμ (Mariam) or Μαρια (Maria), is a pedantic straw man that cannot rule out Μαγδαληνη—whichever variant becomes the eventual reading!
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