Did Mohammad confuse Mary and Miriam?

This was another protracted debate I had with "Kevin". It concerns the apparent conflation of two different biblical figures by the author of the Qur'an.

And Mary the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity; and We breathed into (her body) of Our spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of His Revelations, and was one of the devout (servants).66:12
At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: "O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!
O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!" 19:27-28
 

As a preamble, you presumably accept that Mohammad was consulting with both Jewish and Christian holy men when he was receiving the Revelation, indeed such things are actually referred to in the Qur'an. This of course does not disprove the Qur'an as a sacred text, but it is something we need to bear in mind when considering the arguments that follow.


66:12 and 19:27-28 lead me to suppose that Mohammad confused Miriam (the daugher of Amram (Imram in Arabic) and sister of Aaron and Moses with Mary, the mother of Jesus, because this seems to me the most likely interpretation. I'll try to explain why.


Firstly lets look at the biblical references to Miriam:
Now the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And to Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister. (Numbers 26:59 NET Bible)
Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a hand-drum in her hand, and all the women went out after her with hand-drums and with dances. (Exodus 15:20 NET Bible)
There are also various reports in the non-canonical gospels which could have led Mohammad to conflate the two (apart from the obvious Mary/Miriam confusion in Arabic). Both women are reported as frequenting the temple and dancing before the Lord, for example.


So we have Mary who is called Miriam in Arabic. We have the Miriam in the old Testament with a father called Imram and a brother called Aaron. And we have Mary in the Qur'an with a father called Imram and a brother called Aaron. Now I'll try to summarise your argument:...