spends her childhood at the sacred Jerusalem temple, nurtured like a dove and fed by a heavenly angel (8:2).
Mary’s Adolescent Years: From Girlhood to Womanhood
After a nine-year time lapse, Mary’s approaching twelfth birthday sets the scene for the second part of the narrative. However, unlike the banquet celebration of her first birthday, this anniversary is marked by the fear of the priests that Mary’s transition from childhood to womanhood might “defile the temple of the Lord our God” (8:4). Concerned for both the sanctity of the temple and Mary’s well-being, the priests have Zechariah, the high priest, pray for guidance (8:5). Zechariah’s prayer is answered when an angel of the Lord appears and instructs him to gather all the widowers in town to determine by lot who should be chosen to guard Mary (8:7–9). Leaving Mary’s fate to God, the priest pays heed to the instructions, facilitating the arrival of Joseph on the scene, who is depicted differently and more fully than the canonical Gospels—he is old and already a father of sons (9:8). Reminiscent of Num 17:1–9 where Aaron’s staff buds to signal the selection of the proper priestly line, Joseph is chosen by God’s will when a dove springs from his rod and then lands on his head (9:5–6). Though resistant to the selection at first, Joseph is warned of the consequences when God’s intentions are disregarded and takes Mary (now described as the Virgin of the Lord) home under his guardianship (9:11–12).
The Annunciation and Mary as the Lord’s Virgin
Immediately after returning home, Joseph departs to build houses, leaving Mary under the watch of the Lord alone (9:12); Mary is soon summoned back to the temple to help weave the temple curtain. Reinforcing Mary’s royal lineage, the high priest remembers to include her among the other virgins found from the tribe of David to spin (10:1–6). By lot, Mary is given the scarlet and pure purple threads (10:7), symbolic of virtuousness and royalty, respectively. While working on her part of the curtain, one day Mary ventures out to a public space to draw some water (from a well or a spring)—a drastic contrast to the previous depiction of her private and enclosed childhood bedroom chambers and her stay at the temple. Only in this outdoor space is Mary first called upon by a bodiless voice that offers her greetings and blessings. Unable to locate the voice’s source, Mary returns to her house frightened (11:1–4). Perhaps to distract herself, Mary returns to her spinning only to be physically approached by an angel of the Lord who tells her not to fear because she is favored by the Lord and has been chosen to “conceive from his Word” (11:5). As in the Annunciation scene in Luke, but in a more creative manner and with additional details, Mary converses with the angel over how this conception will transpire given her status as a virgin. After the angel explains that she will not give birth like other women and that the power of God will overshadow her, she is instructed to name her child Jesus because “he will save his people from their sins” (11:7).
After fully consenting to her new role, Mary presents her part of the curtain to the high priest who blesses Mary’s work and says she will be “blessed among all the generations of the earth” (12:2). Mary then visits her kinswoman, Elizabeth. Miraculously expecting a child herself (the future John the Baptist), Elizabeth, much like her depiction in Luke, acknowledges Mary’s present state as significant and remarkable so much so that the child inside her has sprung up to bless her (12:5). However, unlike Luke’s depiction, Elizabeth does not offer praise of Mary for believing in the divine word nor does Mary respond with a song of praise (cf. the Magnificat of Luke 1:46–56). Instead, and oddly enough, Mary has actually forgotten the exchange she had with the angel Gabriel and again questions why she is the recipient of all these blessings. This exchange is not commented on further; instead, Mary is said to have simply stayed with Elizabeth for three months while her belly grew. Frightened and still unclear of how her situation came to be, the visibly pregnant Mary, now sixteen years of age, decides to return home to hide her condition from the “children of Israel” (12:6–9).
Joseph Returns Home to Mary at Six Months Pregnant
After three months have passed, Joseph returns home to find Mary six months pregnant and unable to explain her condition (cf. Matt 1:18). Breaking into a despairing lament over Mary’s pregnancy and his own failure to keep her safe, Joseph evokes an Adam and Eve analogy: just as Eve was deceived and defiled while alone, the same too has happened to Mary. Assuming that Mary is guilty of adultery, Joseph’s initial reaction of fright turns into an aggressive and accusatory questioning of his wife: “You who have been cared for by God —why have you done this? Have you forgotten the Lord your God? Why have you shamed your soul . . . ?” (13:6–7). After weeping bitterly, Mary responds to Joseph’s questions confidently and directly: “I am pure and have not known a man [sexually],” but is still unable to explain how she is pregnant (13:8–10). Joseph’s anger subsides, but he returns to a state of fear as he contemplates what he should do with her. Afraid that keeping the situation secret will get him into trouble with the law, but also that revealing it will result in an innocent death, Joseph contemplates divorcing her quietly (14:2–4; cf. Matt 1:19). Resolution comes when an angel appears to Joseph in a dream explaining to him that the child inside Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit and that he will be responsible for “sav[ing] his people from their sins” (14:6 cf. Matt 1:20–23). After finding out the truth about Mary’s situation, Joseph glorifies God and recommits to his task of guarding the Virgin of the Lord.
Mary’s and Joseph’s Purity Tested
When Joseph’s absence at the council is noticed, Annas the scribe decides to inquire about his whereabouts only to find the temple virgin they put under his care is now pregnant (15:1–3). Joseph’s role as Mary’s protector or guardian is tested again. This time, however, the results are positive and Joseph stays loyal to Mary and stands trial for the accusations made by the temple priests (15:10–12, 14–15). Both Mary and Joseph are questioned harshly over the pregnancy and accused of humiliating themselves and lying—ironically, much in the same tone that Joseph used when he first questioned Mary. Both Mary and Joseph assert their innocence in the matter (15:13, 15). Unconvinced by their testimony, the high priest decides to leave it to God’s will to determine their fate by having them both undergo a test involving the drinking of bitter water and being sent into the wilderness (Num 5:11–31; and m. Sotah 5.1). After Mary and Joseph pass the test by returning safely, they are cleared of any charges and sent home.
Mary Gives Birth to Jesus
After some unspecified time has passed, but while Mary is still pregnant, a census ordered by King Augustus for all of Judea (cf. Luke 2:1, where the census is for the entire world) requires Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem to register (17:1). The basic story line proceeds with other scenes from canonical Gospel accounts, including the birth of Jesus, the visit from the Magi, and King Herod’s attempt to locate and kill Jesus who has been prophesied to unseat him. The Protevangelium’s repackaging of the account, however, sets the scenes on a new and more vivid stage. While preparing for their travels Joseph contemplates how he should enroll Mary, underscoring their untraditional relationship: “How shall I register her? As my wife? I’m too ashamed to do that. As my daughter? The children of Israel know that she is not my daughter” (17:2–3). With both the appearance of his son Samuel (17:5) as a reminder that Joseph already has children and the repeated references to Mary as a child (17:2), Joseph’s role as guardian rather than husband is again highlighted. While en route to Bethlehem, Mary undergoes a prophetic experience in which she sees two peoples, one lamenting and the other rejoicing, most likely representing those who will not accept Jesus’ role in salvation history (i.e., the Jews) and those who will (i.e., “Christians”) (17:9). Whereas Luke’s infancy narrative has Mary give birth in Bethlehem, in the Protevangelium Mary starts experiencing contractions before they reach the town, thus forcing her to give birth in a cave outside of Bethlehem. After leaving his sons to guard and care for her, Joseph ventures out to locate a Hebrew midwife to help with the delivery. At this point in the narrative a major shift occurs not only in content, but also in writing style: Joseph experiences and relays in the first person a vision in which everything is suspended in time: “I . . . was walking, and yet I was not walking” (18:3); “the
