Gesta falso sermone conscripsit, hic liber editus, non ædificationi sed destructioni materiam exhibuerit; et quod talis probaretur in synodo, cui merito aures ecclesiæ non paterent. Cessent nunc oblatrantium morsus; non istum libellum canonicis superaddimus scripturis, sed ad detegendam hæreseos fallaciam, apostoli atque evangelista scripta transferimus; in quo opere non tam piis jubentibus episcopis obtemperamus, quam impiis hæreticis obviamus. Amor igitur est Christi cui satisfacimus, credentes quod nos suis orationibus adjuvent, qui ad Servatoris nostri infantiam sanctam per nostram potuerint obedientiam pervenire. is, that this book was published by a certain disciple of the Manichees, named Seleucus, [who also composed a spurious history of the Acts of the Apostles], and it rather tends to the ruin than the interest of religion, and was judged to be such in a certain synod, as the church should justly disregard. Let not therefore any one reproach or censure [my translation]. For I am not about to make any addition of a book to the canonical scriptures, but, by translating the [pretended] writings of an apostle and evangelist, to lay open the tricks of the heretics. So that in this work I do not so much obey the holy bishops' command, as oppose the impious heretics. It is therefore the love of Christ by which I am influenced, hoping I shall receive the benefit of their prayers, who by means of my labour arrive to the knowledge of the holy infancy of our Saviour. Besides the two preceding Epistles relating to this Gospel, there follows in Jerome's works another ascribed to him, which is a sort of preface or introduction to his translation of it, and is as follows: Petitis a me, ut vobis rescribam, quid mihi de quodam libello videatur, qui de nativitate S. Mariæ a nonnullis habetur; et ideo scire vos volo multa in eo falsa inveniri. Quidam namque Seleucus, qui Passiones Apostolorum conscripsit, hunc libellum composuit. Et sicut de virtutibus eorum et miraculis per eos factis vera dixit, de doctrina vero eorum plura mentitus est; ita et hic You desire that I would write to you my sentiments concerning that little book which some have concerning the Nativity of St. Mary; in which I assure you there are many false accounts. For a certain person named Seleucus, who wrote the history of the Apostles' Sufferings, was also the author of this small tract. And as [in that] he has related many true things concerning the multa non vera de corde suo confinxit. Proinde ut in Hebræo habetur, verbum ex verbo transferre curabo; siquidem sanctum evangelistam Matthæum eundem libellum liquet composuisse, et in capite evangelii sui Hebraicis literis obsignatum apposuisse ; quod an verum sit, auctori præfationis et fidei scriptoris committo: ipse enim ut hæc dubia esse pronuncio, ita liquido falsa non affirmo. Illud autem libere dico, quod fidelium neminem negaturum puto, sive hæc vera sint, sive ab aliquo conficta, sacrosancta Sanctæ Mariæ magna miracula præcessisse, maxima consecuta fuisse; et idcirco salva fide ab his qui Deum ista facere posse credunt, sine periculo animæ suæ credi et legi posse. Denique, in quantum recordari possum, sensum non verba scriptoris sequens, et nunc eadem semita non iisdem vestigiis incedens, nunc quibusdam diverticulis ad eandem viam recurrens, sic narrationis stylum tentabo, et non alia dicam, quam quæ aut scripta sunt ibi, aut consequenter scribi potuerunt. mighty works and miracles done by them, but at the same time gave very false accounts of their doctrine; so in this he has forged many false accounts out of his own imagination. However I will endeavour to translate it word for word, as it is in the Hebrew, because it is pretended that this same book was composed by the holy evangelist Matthew, and placed, written in Hebrew characters, at the beginning of his Gospel; but as to the truth of this, I leave it to the author of the preface, and the credit of the writer; for as I declare these things to be uncertain, so I will not positively affirm them to be false. But this I am not afraid to assert, which I suppose no Christian will deny, viz. that, whether these things be true or false, there were great miracles both preceding and following [the birth] of St. Mary, and therefore they may very safely, without any hazard of the soul, be both believed and read by those who are persuaded of the power of God to work such miracles. In a word, as far as my memory will serve, I will attempt such a sort of translation, as to say nothing which is not either written there, or may be supposed by consequence to have been written; observing rather the meaning than the words of the author; sometimes walking in the same path with him, though not in the same steps; and though sometimes turning a little aside, returning to the same way again. Whether any other of the ancient writers of Christianity have mentioned this Gospel, or whether these Epistles under the name of Jerome, relating to it, are genuine, I shall not yet inquire, because there still is extant a spurious book, entitled, The Protevangelium, or First Gospel of the Apostle James, containing the greatest part of the preceding one, with several other considerable additions; which (as it is necessary) I will first insert, and then endeavour to give the reader the clearest account I can of both. CHAP. XV. The Protevangelion of St. James, in Greek and English, published out of the Orthodoxographa of Jacobus Grynaus, p. 71. &c. THE same reasons which induced me to insert the preceding Gospel of the Birth of Mary, make it necessary that I should insert this, viz. because there can be no reasonable doubt but that they were of the same original; and as that passed under the name of St. Matthew, so this was ascribed to St. James, and many of its relations received and credited by the ancient Christians. Besides, it has been not only published among those books which go under the pompous character of Orthodoxographa, but its first editor Postellus pleads mightily for its authority, would have it received among the Hagiographa, and tells us, it is publicly read and judged authentic and canonical by the oriental churches. (See below, Chap. XXI.) N. VI. ΠΡΩΤΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ, Ἢ περὶ γεννήσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, "H καὶ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ τῆς ἀει παρθένου Μαρίας, λόγος ἱστο ρικὸς ἁγίου Ἰακώβου τοῦ μείονος, συγγενοῦς τε καὶ ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, ἀποστόλου πρώτου καὶ ἐπισκόπου πρώτου Χριστιανῶν τῶν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ. Ι. ΕΝ ταῖς ἱστορίαις τῶν δώδεκα φύλων τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἦν Ιωακεὶμ πλούσιος σφόδρα, καὶ προσ THE PROTEVANGELION: Birth of Christ, and the perpe- I. IN the history of the twelve tribes of Israel, [we read] there was a certain person called Joa εφέρετο τὰ δῶρα αὑτοῦ διπλᾶ Kuρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ, λέγων ἐν ἑαυτῷ· Ἔσται τὸ τῆς περισσείας παντὶ τῷ λαῷ, καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀφέσεώς μου Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ εἰς ἱλασμὸν ἐμοί. Ἤγγικε δὲ ἡμέρα Κυρίου ἡ με γάλη, καὶ προσέφερον οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τὰ δῶρα αὐτῶν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Ἰωακεὶμ τὰ δῶρα αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἔστη κατέναντι αὐτοῦ Ῥουβεὶμ ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς, λέγων· Οὐκ ἔξεστί σοι προσενέγκειν τὰ δῶρά σου, καθότι σπέρμα οὐκ ἐποίησας ἐν Ἰσραήλ. Καὶ ἐλυπήθη Ἰωακεὶμ σφόδρα, καὶ ἀπίει εἰς τὸ δωδεκάφυλον τοῦ λαοῦ, λέγων ἐν ἑαυτῷ· Εἰ ἐγὼ μόνος οὐκ ἐποίησα σπέρμα ἐν τῷ Ἰσε ραήλ. Ηρεύνησε δὲ καὶ εὗρε πάν τας δικαίους, ὅτι σπέρμα ἀνέστησαν ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ· καὶ ἐμνήσθη τοῦ πατριάρχου ̓Αβραὰμ, ὅτι ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἔδωκεν αὐ τῷ Θεὸς υἱὸν τὸν Ἰσαάκ. Καὶ ἐλυπήθη Ἰωακεὶμ σφόδρα, καὶ οὐκ ἐφάνη τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ· ἀλλ ̓ ἔδω κεν ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸν ἔρημον, καὶ ἔ πηξε τὴν σκηνὴν αὐτοῦ ἐκεῖ, καὶ ἐνήστευσεν ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα καὶ νύκτας τεσσαράκοντα, λέγων ἐν ἑαυτῷ· Οὐ καταβήσομαι, οὔτ ̓ ἐπὶ βρῶμα, οὐτ' ἐπὶ ποτὸν, ἕως ἂν ἐπισκέψηταί με Κύριος ὁ Θεός μου, καὶ ἔσται μοι ἡ εὐχή μου βρῶμα καὶ πῶμα. ΙΙ. Ἡ δὲ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ ̓́Αννα δύο θρήνους ἐθρήνει, καὶ δύο. κοπετοὺς xi. e. gave as much more as he was obliged to give. y In imitation of the forty days and nights fast of Moses, recorded Exod. chim, who being very rich made double offerings to the Lord God, having made this resolution ; " My "substance shall be for the benefit 66 66 of the whole people, and that I may find mercy from the Lord "God for the forgiveness of my "sins." But at a certain great feast of the Lord, when the children of Israel offered their gifts, and Joachim also offered his; Reuben the high priest opposed him, saying, It is not lawful for thee to offer thy gifts, seeing thou hast not begot any issue in Israel. At this Joachim being concerned very much, went away to consult the registries of the twelve tribes, to see whether he was the only person who had begot no issue. But upon inquiry he found, that all the righteous had raised up seed in Israel: then he called to mind the patriarch Abraham, how that God in the end of his life had given him his son Isaac ; upon which he was exceedingly distressed, and would not be seen by his wife, but retired into the Wilderness, and fxed his tent there, and fasted forty days and forty nights, saying to himself, I will not go down either to eat or drink, till the Lord my God shall look down upon me; but prayer shall be my meat and drink. II. In the mean time his wife Anna was distressed and perplex xxiv. 18. xxxiv. 28. Deut. ix. 9.; of Elijah, 1 Kings xix. 8.; and Christ's, Matt. iv. 2. ἐκόπτετο, λέγουσα· Κόψομαι τὴν χηρείαν μου, καὶ κόψομαι τὴν ἀτεκνίαν μου. Ἤγγικε δὲ ἡμέρα Κυρίου ἡ μεγάλη, καὶ εἶπεν Ἰουδὶθ ἡ παιδίσκη αὐτῆς· Ἑώσποτε ταπει νοῖς τὴν ψυχήν σου ; ἤγγικεν ἡμέ ρα Κυρίου, καὶ οὐκ ἐξεστί σοι πενθεῖν. ̓Αλλὰ λάβε τὸ κεφαλοδέσμιον τοῦτο, ὃ ἔδωκέ μοι ἡ κυρία τοῦ ἔργου· ὅτι οὐκ ἔξεστί μοι δήσασθαι αὐτὸ, καθότι παιδίσκη εἰμὶ σὴ, καὶ χαρακτῆρα ἔχεις βασιλικόν. Καὶ εἶπεν 'Αννα ̓Απόστα ἀπ ̓ ἐμοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ ἐποίησα, καὶ ὁ Κύ ριος ἐταπείνωσέ με σφόδρα μή πως πανουργός τις ἔδωκέ σοι τοῦ το, καὶ ἦλθες κοινωνῆσαί με τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ σου.—Καὶ εἶπεν Ἰουδὶθ ἡ παιδίσκη αὐτῇ· Τί ἀράσομαί σοι; μή τι μεῖζον ἀράσομαί σοι, καθότι οὐκ ἤκουσας τῆς φωνῆς μου ; ἀπέκλεισε γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς τὴν μήτραν σου, τοῦ μὴ δοῦναί σοι καρπὸν ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ. Καὶ ἐλυπήθη Αννα σφόδρα, καὶ περιείλατο τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῆς τὰ νυμφικὰ, καὶ περὶ ὥραν ἐννάτην κατέβη ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ αὐτῆς τοῦ περιπατῆσαι. Καὶ εἶδε δαφνιδέαν, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ὑποκάτω αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐλιτάνευε τὸν Δεσπό την, λέγουσα· Ω Θεὸς τῶν πατέ ρων μου, εὐλόγησόν με, καὶ ἐπάκουσόν μου, καθὼς εὐλόγησας τὴν μήτραν τῆς Σάῤῥας, καὶ ἔδωκας αὐτῇ υἱὸν τὸν Ἰσαάκ. * ed on a double account, and said, I will mourn both for my widowhood and my barrenness. Then drew near a great feast of the Lord, and Judith her maid said, How long will you thus afflict your soul? The feast of the Lord is now come, when it is unlawful for any one to mourn. Take therefore this hood which was given me by one who makes such things, for it is not fit that I who am a servant should wear it, but it well suits a person of your greater character. But Anna replied, Depart from me, I am not used to such things; besides, the Lord hath greatly humbled me. I fear some ill-designing person hath given thee this, and thou art come to pollute me with thy sin.-Then Judith her maid answered, What evil shall I wish you, since you will not hearken to me? I cannot wish you a greater curse [than you are under], in that God has shut up your womb, that you should not At this be a mother in Israel. Anna was exceedingly troubled, and having on her wedding garment, went about three o'clock in the afternoon to walk in her garden. And she saw a laureltree, and sat under it, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, “ Ο God z Gen. xxi. 2. |