In Hebrew Migdal ( מגדל) means "tower", "fortress"; in Aramaic, Magdala means "tower" or "elevated, great, magnificent". Meyer & de Boer 2009, pp.74–96 provide an overview of the source texts excerpted in an essay "Should we all turn and listen to her?': Mary Magdalene in the spotlight" Interpreters since the time of Jerome have suggested that Mary was called Magdalene because of her stature and faith, i.e. because she was like a tower: "Mary Magdalene received the epithet 'fortified with towers' because of her earnestness and strength of faith, and was privileged to see the rising of Christ first even before the apostles" ( Haskins 2005, p.406). Other interpreters have seen Magdalene as referring to a kind of hairstyle. This translation stems from certain passages in uncensored versions of the Talmud, where a woman, esoterically identified as Jesus's mother, is called hamegadela se'ar nasha, which has been translated "Miriam, the dresser of women's hair", possibly a euphemism for "prostitute". See Herford 2006, p.40. The Talmudic passages are at tractate Sanhedrin 67a and tractate Hagigah 4b of the Babylonian Talmud; cf. tractate Shabbat 104b. The English theologian John Lightfoot (1602–1675) noted these passages and commented: "Whence she was called Magdalene, doth not so plainly appear; whether from Magdala, a town on the lake of Gennesaret, or from the word which signifies a plaiting or curling of the hair, a thing usual with harlots."( Lightfoot 1989, p.373)

Levine, Amy-Jill; Allison, Dale C. Jr.; Crossan, John Dominic (October 16, 2006), The Historical Jesus in Context, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-00992-6 Touliatos, Diane (2001). "Kassia". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40895. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription or UK public library membership required) Doyle, Ken (September 11, 2011). "Apostle to the apostles: The story of Mary Magdalene". Catholic Times. Archived from the original on April 16, 2012 . Retrieved November 29, 2016. Because scribes were unsatisfied with the abrupt ending of the Gospel of Mark, they wrote several different alternative endings for it. [82] In the " shorter ending", which is found in very few manuscripts, the women go to "those around Peter" and tell them what they had seen at the tomb, followed by a brief declaration of the gospel being preached from east to west. [82] This "very forced" ending contradicts the last verse of the original gospel, stating that the women "told no one". [82] The " longer ending", which is found in most surviving manuscripts, is an "amalgam of traditions" containing episodes derived from the other gospels. [82] First, it describes an appearance by Jesus to Mary Magdalene alone (as in the Gospel of John), [82] followed by brief descriptions of him appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (as in the Gospel of Luke) and to the eleven remaining disciples (as in the Gospel of Matthew). [82]May, Herbert G; Metzger, Bruce M. (1977). The new Oxford annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-528348-8. We revealed Banksy's name 15 years ago - so why was the arty set still insisting last week that it's a mystery? Is it because it would be harder for a privately educated chap called Robin Gunningham to flog his graffiti for millions? Apostle to the apostles: The story of Mary Magdalene – Catholic Times". March 14, 2012. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. The earliest description of Jesus's post-resurrection appearances is a quotation of a pre-Pauline creed preserved by Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 15:3–8, which was written roughly 20 years before any of the gospels. [66] This passage made no mention of Mary Magdalene, the other women, or the story of the empty tomb, [67] [68] but rather credits Simon Peter with having been the first to see the risen Jesus. [67] [69] [70] Despite this, all four canonical gospels, as well as the apocryphal Gospel of Peter, agreed that Mary Magdalene, either alone or as a member of a group, was the first person to discover that Jesus's tomb was empty. [55] [71] Nonetheless, the details of the accounts differ drastically. [64] Magdalena lugens voce sola cum symphonia, H.343 & H.343 a, motet for 1 voice, 2 treble instruments and continuo (1686–1687).

Marjanen, A. S. (1996). The Woman Jesus Loved: Mary Magdalene in the Nag Hammadi Library and Related Documents. Brill. ISBN 90-04-10658-8. The Gospel of Luke chapter 8 lists Mary Magdalene as one of the women who traveled with Jesus and helped support his ministry "out of their resources", indicating that she was probably wealthy. The same passage also states that seven demons had been driven out of her, a statement which is repeated from Mark 16. In all four canonical gospels, Mary Magdalene is a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus and, in the Synoptic Gospels, she is also present at his burial. All four gospels identify her, either alone or as a member of a larger group of women which includes Jesus's mother, as the first to witness the empty tomb, [1] and, either alone or as a member of a group, as the first to witness Jesus's resurrection. [2] According to Mark 16:1–8, the earliest account of the discovery of the empty tomb, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb just after sunrise, a day and half after Jesus's burial and found that the stone had already been rolled away. [64] [65] [72] They went inside and saw a young man dressed in white, who told them that Jesus had risen from the dead and instructed them to tell the male disciples that he would meet them in Galilee. [63] [64] [65] Instead, the women ran away and told no one, because they were too afraid. [63] [64] [65] The original text of the gospel ends here, without the resurrected Jesus making an appearance to anyone. [63] [65] [73] Casey argues that the reason for this abrupt ending may be because the Gospel of Mark is an unfinished first draft. [63] Burstein, Dan, and Arne J. De Keijzer. Secrets of Mary Magdalene. New York: CDS Books, 2006. ISBN 1-59315-205-1. Hinkle, Mary (2003) [1986], "Mary Magdalene", in Fahlbusch, Erwin; Lochman, Jan Milič; Mbiti, John; Pelikan, Jaroslav; Vischer, Lukas; Bromiley, Geoffrey W.; Barrett, David B. (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Christianity, J–O, vol.3, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Cambridge, England, Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston, Massachusetts: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company and Brill, pp.446–448, ISBN 978-0-8028-2415-8Bradshaw, Peter (February 27, 2018), "Mary Magdalene review – toothless attempt to overturn Sunday school myths: Rooney Mara brings her customary intensity to the title role as Jesus' 'favourite pupil', but the result is a bit too solemn to be a convincing reinvention", The Guardian, archived from the original on June 12, 2018 , retrieved June 8, 2018