Observations on πανάμωμος

 “Wholly pure” (πανάμωμος).  In the hymns of the church we often find the Mother God being described as "all-blameless" (πανάμωμος). Is that the best translation?  

Kittel reports that ἄμωμος is used mostly “for physical perfection as a presupposition of cultic use.” I.e., it describes the ideal victim of a sacrifice. He goes on to describe how ἄμωμος is spiritualized by Philo, which leads to the NT use of the word to refer to the “moral blamelessness” of Christians. These facts affect how we translate ἄμωμος or πανάμωμος. The ever-popular “all-immaculate” is out, as the Mother of God is not a sacrificial victim, and, as Cato points out, such a translation appears to lend backhand support to a Catholic heresy.  The DGE, Great Scott and Montie all agree that ἄμωμος is used to mean "pure" in the LXX and Christian literature. “Pure” has the advantages of ambiguity and acceptability of usage, while it avoids the distractions of translationese and Romish overtones.