The Woman Behind the Label

Editorial · Culture · Women in History

The Woman Behind the Label

For fourteen centuries, Mary Magdalene was remembered for a past no ancient text gives her. We went back to the original manuscripts to meet the woman they actually describe.

By The Cat House Foundation Editorial TeamPrimary sources onlyAbout 10 minutes

ancient texts, in the New Testament or outside it, that call her a prostitute

591

the year a sermon in Rome first attached that label to her

2016

the year an official decree honored her with the same rank as the apostles

Why this story matters to us

A label can outlive a life

At the Foundation, we spend a lot of time thinking about labels: the ones placed on rescued animals, on families who need a hand, on women whose stories get told by other people. Labels stick. Once a person has been called something, it can take generations to undo.

Mary Magdalene may be history’s clearest example. For most of the last 1,400 years, the Western world knew her as a repentant prostitute. It shaped how she was painted, preached and remembered. Yet when we went looking for where that description came from, we couldn’t find it in any of the earliest sources.

So we set ourselves strict rules. We read the ancient texts only in their original Greek and made our own translations. We included the ancient writings about her that are not in today’s New Testament, each named individually. We left out modern Bible translations, news coverage and opinion, and relied only on manuscripts and official documents. Here is what they say.

What the oldest manuscripts say

Her own story, in her own sources

Our main witness is Codex Sinaiticus, a hand-copied Greek manuscript from the 300s and the oldest complete copy of the Gospels.¹ Even her name tells us something. Μαγδαληνή, “the Magdalene,” means the woman from Magdala, a lakeside town in Galilee whose name comes from the Hebrew and Aramaic word migdal, “tower.”

Luke 8:2
She was healed
ἀφ᾽ ἧς δαιμόνια ἑπτὰ ἐξεληλύθει
“From whom seven demons had gone out.” She had been seriously unwell, and she recovered. The text says nothing about her morals.
Luke 8:3
She supported the work
ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐταῖς
With other women, she provided for Jesus and his followers “from their own resources.” She gave what she had to a cause she believed in.
Mark 15:40 · John 19:25
She stayed
ἦσαν δὲ καὶ γυναῖκες ἀπὸ μακρόθεν θεωροῦσαι
“There were also women watching from a distance.” At the crucifixion, when many had fled, she remained.
Mark 15:47 · Matthew 27:61
She bore witness

She saw where the body was laid, so she could return to care for it.
Mark 16:1 · Matthew 28:1 · Luke 24:10 · John 20:1
She came back at dawn

All four Gospels place her at the empty tomb. She is the one name every account agrees on.
John 20:16–18
She carried the news
Ραββουνι
Called by name, she answers in her own Aramaic, “my teacher,” a word the Greek writer kept as she said it. Then she is sent to tell the others.

A note on the manuscripts. Some printed Bibles also list Mark 16:9 as mentioning her seven demons. That verse is part of a longer ending to Mark that does not appear in Codex Sinaiticus, where the book ends at 16:8, so we have relied on Luke alone.¹

Ἑώρακα τὸν κύριον “I have seen the Lord.” John 20:18 · Codex Sinaiticus · our translation from the Greek

Her description, from the texts alone

A portrait without a face

No surviving ancient text describes her face, hair, age or clothing.

Not one ancient source tells us what Mary Magdalene looked like. Not Matthew, Mark, Luke or John; not the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Thomas, the Dialogue of the Savior, the Sophia of Jesus Christ, the First Apocalypse of James or the Pistis Sophia; not her critic Celsus. There is no hair color, no age, no height, no clothing.

What the texts do give us is a person: where she came from, what she had been through, what she gave, how she spoke, and how others reacted to her. Gathered together, using only what the sources say, this is her description.

Her nameCalled both Μαρία and Μαριάμ, Mariam, the Greek form closest to the Hebrew Miryam.Luke 8:2 · John 20:16

Where she was fromMagdala, in Galilee. She is known by her town, while other women in the same passage are named through husbands or sons, such as “Joanna, wife of Chuza.”Luke 8:2–3

What she had been throughA serious affliction, described as seven demons, from which she was freed. No further detail is given.Luke 8:2

Her meansShe had resources of her own and used them to provide for Jesus and his followers.Luke 8:3

Her languageWhen she recognizes Jesus, she speaks Aramaic: Ραββουνι, “my teacher.”John 20:16

Her loyaltyShe stays at the crucifixion, watches the burial and returns to the tomb at dawn.All four Gospels

Her griefShe stands outside the tomb weeping, κλαίουσα, and at first mistakes the risen Jesus for the gardener.John 20:11–15

How she was described by others“A disciple of the Lord” in the Gospel of Peter; the Lord’s “companion” in the Gospel of Philip; “a hysterical woman” to the critic Celsus.Gospel of Peter 12:50 · Gospel of Philip · Contra Celsum 2.55

Her character in the Gospel of Mary, the Dialogue of the Savior and the Pistis SophiaShe comforts the frightened disciples, answers Peter’s doubts with tears and conviction, asks probing questions, and is praised for her understanding. In the Pistis Sophia she admits that Peter intimidates her, yet keeps speaking.Gospel of Mary · Dialogue of the Savior · Pistis Sophia

Added later, not in any text: long red hair, a scarlet or blue robe, an alabaster jar, a skull, a tear-streaked penitent pose. The jar comes from the anointing scenes of other women in the Gospels. The other details come from later art.

Where the label came from

Three women, one reputation

The Gospels mention several women who anoint Jesus or follow him, and many of them share the name Mary. Over time, three of them were folded into one person.

The first is an unnamed woman in Luke 7:36–50 who weeps at Jesus’ feet during a dinner and anoints them with perfume. The second is Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus, who anoints him in John 12. The third is Mary Magdalene, whom Luke introduces in the very next chapter as someone new. Luke does not connect her with the woman in chapter 7.

Three separate women in the Gospels were merged into one figure in a single sermon.

The merging happened in 591, when Pope Gregory I preached in Latin that the three women were one, and read Mary Magdalene’s seven demons as a sign of all the vices.⁷ The sermon survives, and it offers no earlier source for the idea. Because the unnamed woman of Luke 7 was called a “sinner,” and her sin came to be understood as sexual, the combined figure became the penitent prostitute of later art.

The word that isn’t there

The Greek is clear about what Luke did and did not say.

ἁμαρτωλός

hamartōlos · “sinner”

The word Luke 7:37 uses for the unnamed woman. It is general and can describe any wrongdoing.

πόρνη

pornē · “prostitute”

A word the Gospel writers knew and used elsewhere, as in Matthew 21:31. It is never used for the unnamed woman or for Mary Magdalene.

The Nag Hammadi library and related texts

How early Christians remembered her

Besides Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Mary appears in the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Thomas, the Dialogue of the Savior, the Sophia of Jesus Christ, the First Apocalypse of James and the Pistis Sophia. None of these was included in the New Testament list. Five of them, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Thomas, the Dialogue of the Savior, the Sophia of Jesus Christ and the First Apocalypse of James, were found in 1945, when farmers near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, uncovered a sealed jar of 4th-century books now kept at the Coptic Museum in Cairo.⁴

Most of these works were first written in Greek, but for many of them only a Coptic translation survives. Coptic was the Egyptian language of the time. Each card below shows which language has come down to us and when the text is estimated to have been written. Across all of them, a consistent picture appears: Mary is a respected disciple and a thoughtful questioner, and her standing among the men is sometimes challenged. None of them calls her a prostitute.

How old are these texts?

The New Testament list did not exist yet. The earliest surviving list matching today’s 27 New Testament books is in Athanasius of Alexandria’s Festal Letter 39, written in 367.¹⁰ Every text on these cards was written and read before that list existed.
The surviving copies are the same age. The Nag Hammadi codices were copied in the 4th century, the same century as Codex Sinaiticus, the manuscript used here for Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
No text carries its own date. The “written” dates on each card are scholarly estimates based on language, ideas and quotation by other authors. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are generally dated to the 1st century. The Gospel of Thomas is debated, with estimates ranging from the mid-1st to the 2nd century.
The oldest surviving pages: a fragment of John, P.Ryl. III 457, 2nd century;¹¹ the Gospel of Thomas, P.Oxy. 1, about 200; the Gospel of Mary, P.Ryl. III 463, 3rd century.³

Greek survivesWritten: est. 2nd century

Gospel of Peter

Describing the women’s visit to the tomb, it calls her Μαριὰμ ἡ Μαγδαληνή, μαθήτρια τοῦ κυρίου: “Mariam the Magdalene, a disciple of the Lord.”²

Akhmim codex, Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Greek fragmentsCopticWritten: est. 2nd century

Gospel of Mary

After the Savior departs, Mary comforts the frightened disciples and shares a teaching he gave her privately. Peter and Andrew doubt that he would confide in a woman, and Levi speaks up in her defense.³

Greek: Manchester and Oxford · Coptic: Berlin

Coptic onlyWritten: est. late 2nd–3rd century

Gospel of Philip

Calls her the Lord’s “companion,” using the Greek loanword κοινωνός, in a work that uses marriage as a symbol of spiritual union. A damaged passage says he loved her more than the other disciples.⁴

Nag Hammadi Codex II, Cairo

Coptic onlyWritten: debated, est. mid-1st–2nd century

Gospel of Thomas

In saying 114, Peter asks that Mary leave the group. Jesus refuses and answers in the text’s symbolic language about spiritual transformation, and she remains.⁴

Nag Hammadi Codex II, Cairo

Coptic onlyWritten: est. 2nd century

Dialogue of the Savior

Mary is one of three main questioners of the risen Savior. She asks about the world, the path and knowledge, and her insight is praised.⁴

Nag Hammadi Codex III, Cairo

CopticGreek fragmentWritten: est. 2nd century

Sophia of Jesus Christ

She is among the disciples who question the Savior about the origins of the world and salvation, and is treated as a knowledgeable follower.⁴

Nag Hammadi Codex III and Berlin

Coptic onlyWritten: est. 3rd century

Pistis Sophia

Mary leads this long dialogue, asking more questions than all the other disciples together. Peter eventually complains that she is speaking too much.⁵

Askew Codex, British Library, London

GreekWritten c. 178

A critic’s words: Celsus

A 2nd-century Greek philosopher who wrote against Christianity described the main witness of the resurrection as γυνὴ πάροιστρος, “a hysterical woman.” His criticism does not call her a prostitute.⁶

Preserved in Origen, Contra Celsum 2.55

She is also named among those receiving instruction in the First Apocalypse of James (Nag Hammadi Codex V), and is mentioned in the Manichaean Psalm-Book, a Coptic collection of hymns.⁴

Being honest about the evidence

What we can know, and what we can’t

Good history means saying “we don’t know” when the record runs out. Here is where each common claim stands.

Confirmed by the sources

She traveled with JesusLuke 8:1–3
She helped fund the work from her own meansLuke 8:3
She was present at the crucifixionMark, Matthew, John
She found the empty tombAll four Gospels
She is the first witness of the resurrection in John’s accountJohn 20:14–18

Not supported

She was a prostituteNo ancient source says so; the idea traces to 591
She was the unnamed woman of Luke 7Luke introduces them separately
Her “seven demons” were sinsA 6th-century interpretation
She wrote the Gospel of MaryScholars date its composition to the 2nd century, after her lifetime

Cannot be determined

Whether she was marriedNo early evidence; Philip’s language is symbolic
The nature of her illnessThe text gives no details
Her age, family and deathNo surviving record
Later journeys, such as to FranceFirst recorded in medieval sources, centuries later

The correction

Setting the record straight, slowly

The Greek-speaking churches of the East never adopted the merged figure. Their liturgical tradition honors her as ἰσαπόστολος, “equal to the apostles.” In the West, correction came through official documents.

c. 30She witnesses the empty tomb
591A sermon in Rome merges three women into one
1969The official Latin calendar separates her from the “sinful woman”⁸
2016A Vatican decree raises her day to a feast, the rank of the apostles⁹

The 2016 decree, dated June 3, raised her July 22 memorial to a feast. The official announcement describes her as the first witness of the risen Christ and the first to announce the resurrection to the apostles, and recalls her historic Latin title, Apostolorum Apostola, “Apostle of the Apostles.”⁹

Our verdict is that the prostitute label is not supported by any ancient source. No historian can establish every detail of a person’s private life two thousand years ago. What the record shows is that this claim has no ancient source and a documented later origin.

Take it with you

Read the source, not just the story

Mary Magdalene’s story is an invitation to slow down before we repeat what we’ve heard about anyone. A few habits that help:

Ask where it comes from. Trace a claim back to its earliest source, not the most recent retelling.
Notice when the story changed. If a detail first appears centuries later, note when and where it began.
Watch the exact words. “Sinner” and “prostitute” are not the same word. Small shifts in language can reshape a reputation.
Leave room for “unknown.” Filling gaps with assumptions is how labels are born.
Remember there’s a person underneath. Every label we place on someone, whatever their past or their work, has a real life behind it.

For book clubs, classrooms and community groups

Questions to talk over

Question 1Why do you think the merged “penitent sinner” image was so popular for so long?

Question 2The early texts describe her as a disciple, a supporter and a witness. Which of these surprised you most?

Question 3Several texts show male disciples questioning her authority. What does that suggest about the debates of the time?

Question 4Can you think of a label in your own community that has stuck to someone longer than it should have?

The woman in the oldest sources is healed, generous, steadfast and trusted. That is the Mary Magdalene worth remembering.

#ModelingForHumanity #CatHouseFoundation #WomenInHistory #MaryMagdalene #ReadTheSource #Dignity

How we sourced this story

Ancient texts read in their original Greek, with our own translations. Aramaic and Hebrew words are noted where the Greek preserves them; no text about her survives in Aramaic or Hebrew.
Texts not in today’s New Testament are included, named individually. Where the Greek original is lost, the surviving Coptic translation is the only witness, and each card says so.
No modern Bible translations, news outlets, opinion pieces or US-based sources. Later history comes only from the original documents themselves.

Verify it yourself: every text and where to find it

Each text cited in this article, the language it survives in, the manuscript and catalogue number, the institution that holds it, and where it has been published.

Text	Language	Manuscript	Held at	Edition / access
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John	Greek	Codex Sinaiticus (4th century)	British Library, London; Leipzig University Library; St Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai; National Library of Russia, St Petersburg	Full photographs online: codexsinaiticus.org
Gospel of John (oldest fragment)	Greek	P.Ryl. III 457	John Rylands Library, University of Manchester	Catalogue of the Greek Papyri in the John Rylands Library, vol. III, Manchester, 1938
Gospel of Peter	Greek	Akhmim codex, P.Cair. 10759	Egyptian Museum, Cairo	U. Bouriant, Mémoires de la Mission archéologique française au Caire IX.1, Paris, 1892
Gospel of Mary	Greek	P.Ryl. III 463	John Rylands Library, University of Manchester	Catalogue of the Greek Papyri in the John Rylands Library, vol. III, Manchester, 1938
Gospel of Mary	Greek	P.Oxy. L 3525	Oxyrhynchus Papyri collection, Oxford	The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol. L, Egypt Exploration Society, London, 1983
Gospel of Mary	Coptic	Papyrus Berolinensis 8502, tractate 1	Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin	Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi, Université Laval, Québec
Gospel of Thomas	Coptic	Nag Hammadi Codex II, tractate 2	Coptic Museum, Cairo	The Facsimile Edition of the Nag Hammadi Codices, Brill, Leiden, 1972–1977
Gospel of Thomas	Greek	P.Oxy. 1 and P.Oxy. 654	Bodleian Library, Oxford; British Library, London	The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vols. I and IV, London, 1898 and 1904
Gospel of Philip	Coptic	Nag Hammadi Codex II, tractate 3	Coptic Museum, Cairo	The Facsimile Edition of the Nag Hammadi Codices, Brill, Leiden
Sophia of Jesus Christ	Coptic	Nag Hammadi Codex III, tractate 4; Papyrus Berolinensis 8502, tractate 3	Coptic Museum, Cairo; Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin	The Facsimile Edition of the Nag Hammadi Codices, Brill, Leiden
Sophia of Jesus Christ	Greek	P.Oxy. 1081	Oxyrhynchus Papyri collection	The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol. VIII, London, 1911
Dialogue of the Savior	Coptic	Nag Hammadi Codex III, tractate 5	Coptic Museum, Cairo	The Facsimile Edition of the Nag Hammadi Codices, Brill, Leiden
First Apocalypse of James	Coptic	Nag Hammadi Codex V, tractate 3	Coptic Museum, Cairo	The Facsimile Edition of the Nag Hammadi Codices, Brill, Leiden
Pistis Sophia	Coptic	Askew Codex, Add MS 5114	British Library, London	British Library catalogue, Add MS 5114
*Celsus, The True Word, quoted in Origen, Contra Celsum* 2.55**	Greek	Vaticanus graecus 386	Vatican Apostolic Library	Origen, Contra Celsum, Book 2, chapter 55
Gregory I, Homily 33	Latin	Homiliae in Evangelia, Homily 33 (591)	Text printed in Patrologia Latina	J.-P. Migne, Patrologia Latina vol. 76, Paris
Athanasius, Festal Letter 39	Greek and Coptic	Festal Letter 39 (367)	Text printed in Patrologia Graeca	J.-P. Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 26, Paris
Revised Roman calendar	Latin	Calendarium Romanum (1969)	Vatican City	Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1969
Decree on her feast day	Latin, with official translations	Decree of June 3, 2016	Holy See	press.vatican.va

Sources

Codex Sinaiticus, Greek, 4th century: Luke 7:36–8:3, Mark 15–16, Matthew 27–28, Luke 24, John 19–20. Leaves held by the British Library, Leipzig University Library, St Catherine’s Monastery (Sinai) and the National Library of Russia. codexsinaiticus.org
Gospel of Peter 12:50, Greek, Akhmim codex (P.Cair. 10759), Egyptian Museum, Cairo. First edition: U. Bouriant, Mémoires publiés par les membres de la Mission archéologique française au Caire IX.1, Paris, 1892.
Gospel of Mary. Greek: P.Ryl. III 463 (John Rylands Library, Manchester) and P.Oxy. L 3525 (Oxyrhynchus papyri, Oxford). Coptic: Papyrus Berolinensis 8502, Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin.
Nag Hammadi Codices II (Gospel of Philip, Gospel of Thomas), III (Dialogue of the Savior, Sophia of Jesus Christ) and V (First Apocalypse of James), Coptic, Coptic Museum, Cairo. Sophia of Jesus Christ also in Papyrus Berolinensis 8502 and Greek P.Oxy. 1081. Critical editions with translation: Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi, Université Laval, Québec.
Pistis Sophia, Coptic, Askew Codex, British Library Add MS 5114, London.
Origen of Alexandria, Contra Celsum 2.55, Greek, quoting Celsus, The True Word (c. 178).
Gregory I, Homiliae in Evangelia, Homily 33, Latin, Rome, 591. Text: J.-P. Migne, Patrologia Latina vol. 76, Paris.
Calendarium Romanum, Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, Vatican City, 1969.
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, decree of June 3, 2016, with the official Holy See Press Office bulletin of June 10, 2016. press.vatican.va
Athanasius of Alexandria, Festal Letter 39, 367. Greek and Coptic. Text: J.-P. Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 26, Paris.
P.Ryl. III 457, Gospel of John 18:31–33, 37–38, Greek, 2nd century. John Rylands Library, University of Manchester.

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