For those of you who are reading these debates for the first time, the issue at stake is Mary's Perpetual Virginity. It is Svendsen's claim that, since heos hou, by all accounting of the use of the phrase in the time period between 100BC and 100AD, does not serve to continue the celibate relationship of Joseph and Mary, then, ipso facto, Mary gave birth to other children besides Jesus.

Courtesy of John Pacheco, my illustrious colleagues were given evidence to countermand Svendsen's claims. Pacheco discovered a usage of heos hou in Svendsen's arbitray time period that did indeed show the meaning of heos hou which would allow for the continuation of the celibate state of Joseph and Mary, at least by the reckoning of most twentieth century scholars, with only one or two dissenting voices. Of course, Svendsen was not satisfied with this evidence, because of the one or two dissenting voices.

In further study of this matter, Jacob Michael and I began to examine more closely the deuterocanonical books written closest to the first century. The books of the Maccabees are very important in this regard, since most of them were written in the crucial period Svendsen has posed for his thesis (i.e., 100BC to 100AD).

Our research discovered the only usage of heos hou in the Maccabeean literature, namely, 4 Maccabees 7:3, which is included in most versions of the LXX, even the critical editions. It is a non-canonical book both by Catholic and Protestant standards, but this makes little difference, since Svendsen's research includes non-canonical usages of heos hou. Again, it is Svendsen's claim that the meaning of heos hou that continues the action of the main clause of a Greek sentence does not exist in Koine Greek between the years 100BC to 100AD.

Lo and behold, when we examined 4 Maccabees 7:3, we saw immediately that the use of heos hou does indeed continue the action of the main clause.

Starting from verse 1, the passage reads:

For like a most skillful pilot, the reason of our father Eleazar steered the ship of religion over the sea of the emotions, and though buffeted by the storms of the tyrant and overwhelmed by the mighty waves of tortures, in no way did he turn the rudder of religion UNTIL [heos hou] he sailed into the haven of immortal victory.

As you can see, the main clause and its subordinate clause of verse 3 are: "in no way did he turn the rudder of religion UNTIL [heos hou] he sailed into the haven of immortal victory." It can be clearly seen that the use of heos hou continues the action of the main clause ("in no way did he turn the rudder of religion") for we could not say that once Eleazar reached the "haven of immortal victory" he decided to "turn the rudder of religion" away from its appointed direction.

In fact, this is the same way heos hou continues the action of a number of instances in the LXX. For example, in Genesis 8:5 it states:

The water decreased steadily UNTIL [heos hou] the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

Obviously, heos hou does not intend to cease the action of the main clause ("the water decreased steadily"), rather it allows that the water continued to decrease even after the tenth month. Otherwise, the earth would still be flooded.

Another example is 2 Samuel 6:23:

Michal the daughter of Saul had no child UNTIL [heos hou] the day of her death.

Obviously, heos hou does not intend to say that Michal had children after her death, and thus we describe such cases as heos hou continuing the action of the main clause ("Michal...had no child").

We also have heos hou appearing in more poetical types of passages, such as the Psalms and Song of Solomon. For examples, Psalm 72:7 (LXX is 71:7):

In his days may the righteous flourish, And abundance of peace UNTIL [heos hou] the moon is no more.

Certainly, peace will not end when the moon is no more, rather, it will continue just as tranquil after the moon ceases its existence. In fact, this passage is quite useful in understanding the meaning of heos hou in 4 Maccabees 7:3, since both passages are speaking of the lasting quality of peace and contentment up to and beyond the end of time.

Or Psalm 94:13 (LXX 93:13):

That You may grant him relief from the days of adversity, UNTIL [heos hou] a pit is dug for the wicked.

Obviously, the man's relief from adversity is not going to stop when a pit is dug for the wicked, rather, his relief will continue long after the pit is dug.

Another poetic passage which uses heos hou to signify continuation of action is found in the Song of Solomon 3:4:

"Scarcely had I passed them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until [heos hou] I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me."

Here we have another instance of heos hou and continuation of the verb, in this case, "held." The Beloved clearly intends to say here that she held on to her Lover, never to let him go. The verses preceding this instance (vv 1-3) show how the Beloved searches long and hard into the night to find her Lover, restless until she finds him. In that context, it is clear that vs. 4 is not speaking of the Beloved as some kind of taxi service, taking her Lover to "my mother's house" in order to leave him there alone. In the romantic and very sexual context of this book, it is certain that, once the couple arrives "into the chamber of her that conceived me," they will continue to hold each other for an indefinite period of time.

Another such instance is found earlier in Song of Solomon 2:17:

UNTIL [heos hou] the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle, or a young stag upon rugged mountains.

While briefly passing over the sexual nature of this verse, and without getting into too much detail, heos hou intends to continue the action of the clause for an indefinite period of time. Colloquially, the passage is saying "love me all night long." We could not say that the Beloved intends to mean, "when the day DOES break and the shadows DO flee, then be like an old stag, crippled and weak." Rather, she wishes her Lover to remain like a gazelle, like a young stag, strong and energetic. Another way we might rephrase this, in our own jargon, would be to say, "I'm going to love you until the cows come home." When we use this phrase, we do not mean that WHEN the cows come home, we intend to stop loving. It's a metaphorical way of saying that we intend to continue the action of the verb for a long, indefinite period of time.

In each case, whether in prose or poetry, "UNTIL" is used to signify the long period of time the action of the main clause continues, and, in fact, it is so long that the action of the main clause never really stops at all. Thus we say that heos hou, in these instances "continues the action of the main clause."

It just so happens that, unlike his oversight of not including the use of heos hou in the story of Joseph and Aseneth, Eric Svendsen was careful to include 4 Maccabees 7:3 in his dissertation. But although he included it, he did his best to dissuade the reader from concluding that heos hou continues the action of the main clause.

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