Mary in the Old Testament, the prefigurations of the Virgin in the Hebrew Scriptures

The presence of Mary in the Old Testament

The Old Testament does not mention Mary by name, but the Christian typological tradition identified in it numerous prefigurations and prophecies that anticipate her mission. This reading, called typology, is not a later projection but a hermeneutic that the New Testament itself inaugurates: Luke 1:28-55 is saturated with references to the OT, and Matthew 1:22-23 explicitly cites Isaiah 7:14 as a prophecy fulfilled in Mary. Lumen Gentium nos. 55-59 devotes a specific section to “Mary in the divine plan of salvation,” analyzing the OT texts that anticipate her.

Genesis 3:15, the Protoevangelium

The fundamental text is Gen 3:15: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers. She shall strike your head, and you shall strike her heel.” The patristic tradition sees here the “Woman” as Mary and the “offspring” as Christ. The Latin version of the Vulgate (she shall strike you = ipsa conteret) popularized the Mariological reading, although the Hebrew uses the masculine (hu’, “he”). Regardless of the pronoun, the tradition is unanimous: the antagonism between the woman and the serpent prefigures the enmity between Mary and sin.

Isaiah 7:14, the Virgin who will conceive

Isaiah 7:14: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and she shall call him Emmanuel.” Matthew 1:22-23 explicitly cites this verse as a prophecy fulfilled in Mary. The Hebrew word used by Isaiah is ‘almah, “a young woman of marriageable age,” not necessarily “virgin” (which would be betulah). The Greek translation of the Seventy (LXX) used parthenos, “virgin,” and it is this translation that Matthew cites. The prophetic sense points to the extraordinary sign of an unusual birth, which in the New Testament is identified with the virginal conception of Jesus by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Marian types: Ark, Eve, Deborah, and Judith

Ark of the Covenant: the narratives of 2 Sam 6:2-11 and Lk 1:39-56 are parallel: David asks “How shall the Ark of the Lord come to me?” (2 Sam 6:9) and Elizabeth exclaims “Whence does this come to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43). The Ark contained the Torah, the manna, and the rod of Aaron. Mary contains the incarnate Word, the Bread of life, and the High Priest. Eve: the Eve-Mary typology is central from Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century) onward. Deborah (Judg 5) and Judith (Jdt 13:14): women who save Israel are read as types of Mary, who cooperates in salvation. Queen Mother: the gebirah (queen mother) of the kingdom of Judah (cf. 1 Kgs 2:19) is a type of Mary as Queen.

The Song of Songs and the profile of the Bride

The Song of Songs was read allegorically as an expression of the love between God and Israel (the rabbinic tradition) and between Christ and the Church (Origen, Bernard). A parallel Marian reading sees in the Bride of the Song a prefiguration of Mary: “you are all beautiful, my beloved, without blemish” (Song 4:7), a text cited in the liturgy of the Immaculate Conception. “I am dark, but beautiful” (Song 1:5) was applied to the Black Madonnas. “Who is this who comes up from the desert?” (Song 3:6, 8:5) was interpreted as the Assumption of Mary.

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