The Protevangelium of James. Lily C. Vuong

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      When the suspension of time breaks, the narrative returns to Joseph’s search for a midwife. Upon finding one, Joseph engages in an awkward exchange with her over the status and relationship he has with Mary: “Then who is the one who has given birth in a cave? My betrothed . . . Is she not your wife? . . . She is Mary, the one who was brought up in the temple of the Lord . . . I received her by lot as my wife . . . she has conceived by the Holy Spirit . . . ” (19:5–9). The two finally make it back just in time to see a cloud overshadowing the cave, and an intense, bright light within the cave that recedes to reveal Mary with Jesus already nursing at her breast (cf. 5:9 when Anna waits the prescribed days). While the midwife is too late to help with the delivery, she does, however, help with attesting to the miraculous events that unfolded: “My soul has been magnified today because my eyes have seen an incredible sign . . . a virgin has given birth” (19:14–18). When a second midwife named Salome appears on the scene, the first unnamed midwife confesses to all that has transpired, but her testimony does not convince Salome. Requiring physical proof, Salome instructs Mary to position herself for a gynecological examination, in which Salome literally attempts to insert her fingers into Mary (20:2–4). The incompatibility of the sacred (Mary’s genitals) and the profane (Salome’s hand) results in the combustion of Salome’s hand (20:4). Immediately recognizing that this is punishment for her transgression and disbelief in the virgin birth, Salome calls out to the God of her fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and begs for forgiveness (20:5–7). Salome finds relief when an angel appears instructing her to hold the child if she wants to seek not just forgiveness, but also salvation and joy (20:9). After she is healed, Salome leaves the cave a believer, but is told not to report on any of what happened until the child goes to Jerusalem (20:12).

      The Magi Pay Homage to Mary and Jesus

      One of the last sections of the narrative follows the Magi who cause a commotion in Judea with their inquiry about the identity and whereabouts of the new king of the Jews (Matt 2:1–18). Like Matthew’s account, the Protevangelium attests to the Magi seeing a star in the East and following it because they seek the identity of the messiah as prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures (21:2). However, while Matthew reports that the star stopped at a house in Bethlehem “over the place where the child was” (Matt 2:9), the Protevangelium relates that the star from the East led them to the cave (21:10–11). In both accounts, the Magi approach and offer pouches of gold, frankincense-tree, and myrrh before Mary, who is identified in the Protevangelium for the first time as a mother (21:11). Both accounts include advice to Joseph and Mary not to go home via Judea since they will encounter Herod’s wrath; however, this message is sent by dream in Matt 2:12, but delivered by an angel in the Protevangelium (21:12). Herod responds to being tricked by the Magi by sending out his henchmen to kill all children two years old and younger. This element of Matthew’s story is expanded and given a colorful new life in the Protevangelium, where Jesus’ life is saved not by Joseph’s flight into Egypt (Matt 2:13–15), but through Mary’s quick wit and courage to wrap her child in swaddling clothes and hide him in an ox-manger (22:3–4; cf. Luke 2:7).

      Herod’s Wrath, Zechariah, and the Epilogue

      The remainder of the scene has no parallels in the canonical Gospels. Elizabeth’s son John is also in danger because of Herod’s threat. Finding no place to hide her son, Elizabeth heads to the mountains to escape the executioners, but when exhaustion prevents her from continuing on, she calls out to the Lord for help; the Lord responds by splitting open the mountain to conceal her (22:5–9). While Elizabeth is able to escape with her son, the fate of her husband is not so bright. Approached by Herod’s henchmen at the temple where Zechariah serves as a priest, he is questioned about his son’s whereabouts. When Zechariah provides no useful information, he is slain at the altar of the temple and his blood is said to have turned into stone (24:9). The narrative concludes with the priest entering the temple to find only dried blood at the altar but no body, the lamenting of Zechariah’s murder, and the appointment of Simeon as Zechariah’s replacement (24:4–14). A brief epilogue ends the Protevangelium with information about James, the brother of Jesus, the supposed author, and the circumstances surrounding the composition of his account—namely, that he was inspired and given wisdom to write the account during Herod’s reign when there was an uproar in Jerusalem (25:1–4) following Herod’s death and his son Archelaus’s subsequent rise to power.

      Title

      Despite the testimony of the epilogue, the “Protevangelium of James” is neither the original nor the ancient title of the text; over its long and complicated history it has gone by many different names. In 1552, when Guillaume Postel reintroduced the book to the West,12 he called the work, Protevangelium sive de natalibus Jesu Christi et ipsius Matris virginis Mariae, sermo historicus divi Jacobi minoris (The Proto-Gospel or the Births of Jesus Christ and His Virgin Mother Mary, A Historical Discourse of Saint James, the Less), based on a Greek manuscript that has since been lost.13 The Protevangelium Jacobi (or James, as in standard English translation for the Jacobs of the New Testament) is a shortened version of this Latin title. There has been some discussion over whether Postel lifted the title verbatim from the manuscript or whether he simply offered a rendering of it; the latter seems more likely since no other manuscripts attest to this title. The various extant manuscripts only complicate the situation further given that there are a variety of long and confusing titles given to this work. For example, one title reads, “Narrative and History concerning How the Very Holy Mother of God was Born for Our Salvation” (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1454) and another, “Narrative of the Holy Apostle James, the Archbishop of Jerusalem and Brother of God, concerning the Birth of the All Holy Mother of God and the Eternal Virgin Mary” (Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, II, 82).14 The Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex, our earliest manuscript of the text dating from the third or fourth century,15 provides the simple title, “Birth of Mary, Apocalypse of James,”16 and even still, it is doubtful that the second half of the title is original,17 though the attribution to James is fairly common in the manuscript tradition. Several possible early witnesses exist for this text,18 but only one offers a title for the work. In his commentary on Matthew, Origen of Alexandria (ca. 185–254) refers to Jesus’ brother as Joseph’s son from a previous marriage and states that his source is either the “Gospel of Peter” or the “Book of James” (Comm. Matt. 10:17 on Matt 13:55).19 It is possible that the Protevangelium was originally known very plainly as the “Book of James.”

      The Protevangelium of James20 and the Infancy Gospel of James21 or Proto-Gospel of James22 are the most widely used contemporary titles for this work,23 an odd circumstance since neither reference Mary, despite the fact that the text is essentially her biography—all activities and conversations that take place in the narrative are connected to her in some way. More problematic with these two popular titles is that they seem to imply they are something that they are not. The implication of “Protevangelium” is that it is a gospel of sorts. The gospel genre traditionally involves content from the life and ministry of Jesus, which is simply not found in this text. While the pre-script “proto-” is accurate in its suggestion that the text precedes what is found in the canonical gospels, the implication that it is a gospel is still problematic since Jesus appears only at the end of the account and for only brief moments at his birth and infancy. The fully English title, Infancy Gospel of James or the Proto-Gospel of James, runs into similar problems because it implies a similarity in content and style to other writings categorized as infancy gospels, which again are traditionally about Jesus. While Jesus does make an appearance at the end, the crux and overarching concern is for Mary.24 Indeed the birth of Jesus and the minor activities associated with his infancy serve primarily to elevate Mary and her exceptional status and condition.

      While there is a clear case for why the title of our text should be changed, the traditional title in its semi-anglicized form, the Protevangelium of James, will be used here mostly for the sake of convenience; it is popularly and widely used25 and changing it will only contribute to confusion about its already complicated history, which offers no clear indication of its original form.

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