Madonna del Granduca, Raphael, 1505
WHAT ABOUT JESUS, MARY'S "FIRST-BORN SON" (LUKE 2:7)?
Those who deny Mary's perpetual virginity often point to Luke 2:7, which calls Jesus Mary's "first-born son," as biblical evidence against it. However, in the culture of the Bible "first-born" was merely an honorary title given to the child who opened the womb, regardless of whether he remained an only-child or was followed by siblings. Consider, for instance, that the epitaph of a first-century Jewish woman in Egypt, who died giving birth to her first child, refers to the child as her "first-born" (Michael O'Carroll, Theotokos: A Theological Encyclopedia of the Blessed Virgin Mary [Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, Inc., 1982], p. 49).