10 Fun Facts About Mary Magdalene

For Christians, she’s been a low prostitute. For Bible scholars, she’s a feminist pioneer.

She’s in the Jesus story, and Christians didn’t really know why. Why is a woman—much less a prostitute—in the sacred book?

As I’ve been catching up on Bible scholarship about Mary Magdalene, I have to laugh. She’s a spiritual quester, a feminist role model, a visionary. But Christians were too addled by misogyny to see her.

1. Her name tells the story of an independent, visionary woman

Say her name: Mary Magdalene. Notice what you’re not saying: a man’s name. She isn’t being defined in reference to a male family member. As Joan E. Taylor notes in a 2014 paper, her name speaks of a Mary who is “an independent woman with no connection to a man.”

Mary Magdalene is the story of a woman who is herself—and who is oddly close to Jesus. Christianity falsified Bible verses about her, and made up an impossible backstory. The name ‘Magdalene’ was said to refer to a town called ‘Magdala’ — that didn’t even exist.

The gospels don’t call her Mary from Magdala. She’s “Mary called Magdalene” or “the Magdalene Mary.” As Taylor notes, this seems to be a nickname. ‘Magdalene’ means ‘the Tower’ in Aramaic.

Jesus is often giving nicknames to his followers. As Peter was “the Rock,” it seems Mary was “the Tower”—as suggests an ability to see farther.

2. She was socially important and wealthy

Christianity basically ignored all the details given about Mary. As in Luke 8:2–3, she’s listed, with Joanna and Susanna, as foremost among Jesus’ female followers. They’re said to have funded his ministry. Nothing more is said about this subject, so we assume the women paying the bills handled everything without any issues.

That wouldn’t be true of the male disciples. Their money was handled by Judas, who stole it (cf. Jn 12:6). When thinking of Mary, we think of a woman who’s generous with her money, and responsible with it.

So where did women get money? There’s some evidence that Joanna was the granddaughter of a High Priest named Theophilus. Mary is listed ahead of Joanna, so she may even more prominent. Some scholars suggest she could be the ‘Mariamne’ who was a daughter of the High Priest Boethus.

3. Mary had a battle with evil powers

As per Luke 8:2–3, Jesus seems to have met his female followers in the course of freeing them from dark spirits. Demons were haunting the land, but a key point: Jewish priests seem not to have had any power over them.

That was awkward. So then women who were demon possessed were freed by Jesus, and became his followers. That seems to be the story.

Mary is said to have been possessed by “seven devils.” That seems to be worse than even what others endured. When a demon had been exorcised, it was said to want to return and bring seven more.

As the scholar Grenville J. Kent notes, this might suggest that Mary’s story was one of “being freed from her possession, then falling back into possession even more severely.”

This is a woman who’s seen darkness, and now throws herself with incredible force into the pursuit of the light.

4. Mary was not a prostitute

The only “fact” most Christians know about Mary Magdalene is that she was a prostitute. This idea results from a perceived connection to the “sinful woman” of Luke 7 who is unnamed.

The “sinful woman” might be Mary, but it’s not possible that she was a prostitute—an idea generated by Christian men who just assumed that “sin” was “sex.” Except, in the Old Testament, prostitution is totally legal! Prostitutes are referenced throughout the Bible (cf. 1 Ki 3:16–28, etc.), with no suggestion they’re bad. Rahab the Harlot was a huge heroine!

Mary might’ve been the sinful woman, but the woman’s sin likely resulted from demon possession—the detail which Christianity has so often ignored. She’d be seen as deeply religiously damaged until Jesus freed her, and probably even after.

5. Mary Magdalene can seem to be many women

The narratives of the gospels can become like puzzles, and Mary can seem to be found in a few female figures. Could she be the woman of Luke 7? Maybe.

Mary Magdalene could also be Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha, who’s seen especially in the fourth gospel. To identify the two was common in early Christianity. And scholars, like Grenville J. Kent and Mary Ann Beavis, think it’s likely.

Why would such narrative cloaking be used? We’d keep in mind that Jesus’ followers were hunted, so the earliest gospels to be written might’ve tried to protect the identities of key figures. Then, in the fourth gospel, the names could be revealed at last.

The difference between ‘Mary Magdalene’ and ‘Mary of Bethany’ could point to different roles she inhabits: a social role vs. her spiritual self.

6. The scene with Mary, Martha and Jesus is not about “housework”

In Luke 10:38–42, Jesus visits Mary and Martha. As presented by Christianity, the scene has Jesus chiding Martha for doing housework during his visit, instead of sitting listening to him like Mary has been.

This was sheer misogyny. As laid out in Mary Stromer Hanson’s study on the subject, the scene begins by noting that the women “received” Jesus (Lk 10:38). This is the typical term for becoming a follower (cf. Acts 17:7, etc.).

In translations of 10:39, we find Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet, “listening to what he said.” But “sitting at the feet” is a typical term for being the disciple of a teacher (cf. Acts 22:3).

Martha protests to Jesus (in Stromer’s translation):

“Do you not care that my sister regularly leaves me to serve alone?”

Mary has been traveling with Jesus, and her sister is worried. An unmarried woman being out with unmarried men might be the subtext. Jesus says it’s all right—because women being independent is divine.

7. Mary seems to be Jesus’ favorite follower

In John 11:5, we learn of Jesus having a special “love” for all three Bethany siblings. For contrast: he never said he loved his male disciples.

We might start to reflect on Mary being better than the disciples. This was an idea in early Christianity. For Hippolytus of Rome, she and Martha were “apostles to the apostles.”

There’s a lot of extra-canonical texts that mention Mary, and feature her prominently as Jesus’ favorite disciple. Even in the canonical gospels, she seems to be very keyed in to Jesus’ thoughts and intentions. She knows things. She knows where to be, and what to do. She’s anointing Jesus’ feet, and he gives her outrageous praise.

“I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” (Mk 14:9; Mt 26:13)

She’s at the crucifixion, when the male disciples flee. After his resurrection, she goes to find him—when the male disciples are clueless.

8. Mary is a prophet

A scene of anointing is highly specific in the Bible. This is an activity that is done on a king by a prophet. As Richard Bauckham puts it:

“Admittedly, it would no doubt be very surprising for the Messiah to be anointed by a woman, but she might have been seen in the role of a prophet, like Samuel, inspired by God to recognize and designate his Anointed One (cf. 1 Sam 16:1–13).”

To me it’s very clear that Mary is a prophet anointing the Messiah. This is an eerie moment. Without any training, without any tradition guiding her, she has seen his divinity and performs a critical ritual of recognition.

And she does it all while being criticized and attacked by the male disciples—who are doing what men do best.

9. Are Jesus and Mary seen as lovers? Maybe.

In John 20, Mary goes to seek Jesus, and finds him in his resurrected form. She seems to grab him. He replies in v.17:

“Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.”

As Mary Ann Beavis and other scholars detail, the scene of Mary going in search of Jesus, and reaching for him, seems to allude to the Song of Songs—a story of a woman going in search of her lover.

Does Mary expect they’ll be lovers, but then Jesus pushes her away? Maybe. Maybe a conceptual shift occurs: love isn’t meant for two people, but for everyone. As Michael Peppard puts it in a study of the scene:

“Romantic love, which desires to be together alone, is transformed into a familial love that extends relationship to all who believe.”

10. Mary’s special engagement to Jesus continues

In 1896, a text called the Gospel of Mary was found in Egypt. Fragments of two more copies were later found. I don’t know if it’s ‘canonical’, but I love this text, which features Mary and the disciples discussing Jesus after he’s gone.

She speaks of a vision she’s been given by Jesus. It’s like a guide to finding him after he’s gone. She has to navigate past many dark powers, all the forces of mortality. She’ll get confronted and interrogated by each.

I’d focus on her engagement with Desire, a force that includes sex. Desire says to Mary’s soul, barking out its accusations:

“Why are you lying, since you belong to me?”

That’s Desire for you: jealousy, accusations, possession. Desire thinks it owns people. Mary’s soul answers to all that:

“I saw you, but you did not see me or know me. You perceived the garment I was wearing, but you did not recognize me.”

I love Mary Magdalene, that woman trying to be seen, and known, in a Christianity that couldn’t do either because she was a woman.

May we all demand to be seen, and recognized. 🔶