Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute? What the Bible Actually Says

Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute? No, and the Bible never says she was. Luke says seven demons had gone out of her, and the prostitute label comes from a sermon Pope Gregory the Great preached in AD 591. After Jesus set her free, she followed him, stood near the cross when most of the men had run, and was the first to carry the news that he was alive. Gregory's sermon merged three different women into one, and the Roman Catholic calendar didn't separate them again until 1969. This one answers four questions from my own Bible reading. Why are Matthew, Mark and Luke called the Synoptic Gospels? Is Mary of Bethany the same woman as Mary Magdalene? How many times is Mary Magdalene named in Scripture? And who were the women who followed Jesus and paid for his ministry out of their own money? Read it again this week: Luke 8:1-3, then John 20:1-18. Chapters 0:00 The Mary Magdalene everyone pictures 0:25 Why they're called the Synoptic Gospels 2:00 How many Marys are there? 2:22 Is Mary of Bethany Mary Magdalene? 3:24 Where the prostitute idea came from 4:31 How often she's named in Scripture 5:03 The women who followed Jesus 7:10 The first witnesses 7:55 Mary at the empty tomb 8:42 This week Passages read: Luke 1:1-3, Luke 10:39, Luke 8:1-3, Mark 15:40-41, John 19:25, Luke 24:10, John 20:16 Sources: Richard Bauckham, Gospel Women (2002); Gregory the Great, Homily 33; Josephus, Antiquities 4.219; Darrell Bock, Luke (BECNT); Mark Goodacre, The Synoptic Problem (2001); BDAG on diakoneo and epitropos; HALOT on migdal. Art: James Tissot, Life of Christ watercolors, Brooklyn Museum (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons). Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.