The Protoevangelium of James

[This title is taken by Tischendorf from a manuscript of the eleventh century (Paris). At least seventeen other forms exist. The book is variously named by ancient writers. In the decree of Gelasius ( a.d. 495) he condemns it as Evangelium nomine Jacobi minoris apocryphum . The text of Tischendorf, here translated, is somewhat less diffuse than that of Fabricius, and is based on manuscript evidence. The variations are verbal and formal rather than material.—R.]

Susanna i. 4 .

The readings vary, and the sense is doubtful. Thilo thinks that the sense is: What I offer over and above what the law requires is for the benefit of the whole people; but the offering I make for my own forgiveness (according to the law’s requirements) shall be to the Lord, that He may be rendered merciful to me.

The Church of Rome appoints March 20 as the Feast of St. Joachim. His liberality is commemorated in prayers, and the lessons to be read are Wisd. xxxi. and Matt. i .

1 Sam. i. 6, 7; Hos. ix. 14 .

Another reading is: In his last days.

Another reading is: Into the hill-country.

Moses: Ex. xxiv. 18, xxxiv. 28; Deut. ix. 9 . Elijah: 1 Kings xix. 8 . Christ: Matt. iv. 2 .

The 26th day of July is the Feast of St. Anna in the Church of Rome.

Other forms of the name are Juth, Juthin.

Some mss. have: For I am thy maid-servant, and thou hast a regal appearance.

Several mss. insert: Thou hast not listened to my voice; for.

Comp. 1 Sam. i. 9–18 .

Tobit ii. 10 .

Many of the mss. here add: Alas! to what have I been likened? I am not like the waves of the sea, because even the waves of the sea, in calm and storm, and the fishes in them, bless Thee, O Lord.

1 Sam. i. 11 .

One of the mss. : With his shepherds, and sheep, and goats, and oxen.

Ex. xxviii. 36–38 . For traditions about the petalon , see Euseb., H. E ., ii. 23, iii. 31, v. 24; Epiph., Hær ., 78.

Various readings are: Sixth, seventh, eighth.

One of the MSS inserts: On the eighth day.

One of the mss. has nine.

This is the reading of most mss. ; but it is difficult to see any sense in it. One ms. reads: They attended on her. Fabricius proposed: They bathed her.

Two of the mss. add: And they gave her the name of Mary, because her name shall not fade forever. This derivation of the name—from the root mar , fade—is one of a dozen or so.

This is taken to mean: Send someone to us to warn us that we have been too long in paying our vow. One ms. reads, lest the Lord depart from us; another, lest the Lord move away from us.

Or, fourteen. Postel’s Latin version has ten .

Ex. xxviii. 28; Sirach xlv. 9 ; Justin, Tryph ., xlii.

Num. xvi. 31–33 .

Lit., undefiled. It is difficult to say what colour is meant, or if it is a colour at all. The word is once used to mean the sea, but with no reference to colour. It is also the name of a stone of a greenish hue.

Lit., hyacinth.

Ex. xxv. 4 .

Luke i. 28 .

Luke i. 39, 40 .

Other readings are: the wool—what she had in her hand.

Luke i. 34, 44 .

Luke i. 48 .

Six mss. have sixteen ; one, fourteen ; two, fifteen ; and one, seventeen .

The Latin translation has hung down .

Ezek. xxi. 12; Jer. xxxi. 19 .

Two mss. : her .

Another reading is: As Adam was in Paradise, and in the hour of the singing of praise (doxology) to God was with the angels, the serpent, etc.

Matt. i. 19 .

Lit., angelic ; one ms. has holy ; the Latin translation, following a slightly different reading, that it would not be fair to her .

Matt. i. 20 .

Three mss. have high priest .

Num. v. 11 , ff.

Luke ii. 1 .

Or: On this day of the Lord I will do, etc.

Another reading is: And his son Samuel led it, and James and Simon followed.

Bethlehem…used to be overshadowed by a grove of Thammuz, i.e., Adonis; and in the cave where Christ formerly wailed as an infant, they used to mourn for the beloved of Venus ( Jerome to Paulinus ). In his letter to Sabinianus the cave is repeatedly mentioned: “That cave in which the Son of God was born;” “that venerable cave,” etc., “within the door of what was once the Lord’s manger, now the altar.” “Then you run to the place of the shepherds.” There appears also to have been above the altar the figure of an angel, or angels. See also Justin, Tryph ., 78.

Two mss. here add: And thou Bethlehem, etc., from Mic. v. 2 .

Matt. ii. 1–12 . One of the mss. here adds Matt. ii. 13–15 , with two or three slight variations.

Four mss. have all the male children , as in Matt. ii. 16 .

Another reading is: And Herod, enraged at this, ordered him to be slain in the midst of the altar before the dawn, that the slaying of him might not be prevented by the people. [This incident was probably suggested by the reference to “Zacharias the son of Barachias” in Matt. xxiii. 35, Luke xi. 51 ; but comp. 2 Chron. xxiv. 20–22 .—R.]

Lit., the blessing of Zacharias did not come forth, etc.

Or, with prayer.

Another reading is: And was rent from the top, etc.

Luke ii. 26 . One of the mss. here adds Matt. ii. 19–23 , with two or three verbal changes.

[Assuming that this is among the most ancient of the Apocryphal Gospels, it is noteworthy that the writer abstains from elaborating his statements on points fully narrated in the Canonical Gospels. The supplementary character of the earliest of these writings is obvious. But what a contrast between the impressive silence of the New Testament narratives, and the garrulity, not to say indelicacy, of these detailed descriptions of the Nativity!—R.]

The mss. vary much in the doxology.