Christ born. THE PROTEVANGELION. Salome's unbelief seen surprising things, and salva- | among the children of Israel, but tion is brought forth to Israel. 11 But on a sudden the cloud became a great light in the cave, so that their eyes could not bear it. 12. But the light gradually decreased, until the infant appeared, and sucked the breast of his mother Mary. 13. Then the midwife cried out, and said, How glorious a day is this, wherein mine eyes have seen this extraordinary sight! 14 And the midwife went out from the cave, and Salome met her. 15 And the midwife said to her, Salome, Salome, I will tell you a most surprising thing which I saw, 16 A virgin hath brought forth, which is a thing contrary to nature. 17 To which Salome replied, As the Lord my God liveth, unless I receive particular proof of this matter, I will not believe that a virgin hath brought forth. 18 Then Salome went in, and the midwife said, Mary, shew thyself, for a great controversy is risen concerning thee. 19 And Salome received satisfaction. 20 But her hand was withered, and she groaned bitterly. 21 And said, Woe to me, be-1 cause of mine iniquity; for I have tempted the living God, and my hand is ready to drop off. 22 Then Salome made her supplication to the Lord, and said, O God of my fathers, remember me, for I am of the seed of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. 23 Make me not a reproach restore me sound to my parents. 24 For thou well knowest, O Lord that I have performed many offices of charity in thy name, and have received my reward from thee. 25 Upon this an angel of the Lord stood by Salome, and said, The Lord God hath heard thy prayer, reach forth thy hand to the child, and carry him, and by that means thou shalt be restored. 26 Salome, filled with exceeding joy, went to the child, and said, I will touch him : 27 And she purposed to wor ship him, for she said, This is a great king which is born in Israel. 28 And straightway Salome was cured. 29 Then the midwife went out of the cave, being approved by God. 30 And lo a voice came to Salome, Declare not the strange things which thou hast seen, till the child shall come to Jerusalem. 31 So Salome also departed, approved by God. THE HEN Joseph was preparing to go away, because there arose a great disorder in Bethlehem by the coming of some wise men from the east, Matt. ii. 1, &c. The wise men. THE PROTEVANGELION. 2 Who said, Where is the king of the Jews born? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod heard this, he was exceedingly troubled, and sent messengers to the wise men, and to the priests, and enquired of them in the town-hall, 4 And said unto them, Where have you it written concerning Christ the king, or where should he be born? 5 Then they say unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa; for thus it is written: And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judalı, art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a ruler, who shall rule my people Israel. 6 And having sent away the chief priests, he inquired of the wise men in the town-hall, and said unto them, What sign was it ye saw concerning the king that is born? 7 They answered him, We saw an extraordinary large star shining among the stars of heaven, and so out-shined all the other stars, as that they became not visible, and we knew thereby that a great king was born in Israel, and therefore we are come to worship him. 8 Then said Herod to them, Go and make diligent inquiry; and if ye find the child, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 So the wise men went forth, and behold, the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over the cave where the young child was with Mary his mother. 10 Then they brought forth out of their treasures, and offered Star in the East. unto him gold and frankincense, and myrrh. 11 And being warned in dream by an angel, that they should not return to Herod through Judæa, they departed into their own country by another way. CHAP. XVI. 1 Ilerod enraged, orders the infants in Bethlehem to be slain. 2 Mary puts her infant in an ox-manger. 3 Eliza beth flees with her son John to the mountains. 6 A mountain miraculously divides and receives them. 9 Herod incensed at the escape of John, causes Zacharias to be murdered at the altar, 23 the roofs of the temple rent, the body miraculously conveyed, and the blood petrified. 25 Israel mourns for him. 27 Simeon chosen his suc cessor by lot. T HEN Herod' perceiving that he was mocked by the wise men, and being very angry, com manded certain men to go and to kill all the children that were in Bethlehem, from two years old and under. 2 But Mary hearing that the children were to be killed, being under much fear, took the child, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in an oxmanger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 3 Elizabeth also, hearing that her son John was about to be searched for, took him and went up unto the mountains, and looked around for a place to hid● him; 4 And there was no secret place to be found. 5 Then she groaned within herself, and said, O mountain of the Lord, receive the mother with the child. up. 6 For Elizabeth could not climb 'Matt. ii. 16. 'Luke ii. 7, is alluded to, though misapplied as to time. Herod's cruelty. THE PROTEVANGELION. 7 And instantly the mountain was divided and received them. 8 And there appeared to them an angel of the Lord, to preserve them. 9 But Herod made search After John, and sent servants to Zacharias, when he was (ministering) at the altar, and said unto him, Where hast thou hid thy son? 10 He replied to them, I am a minister of God, and a servant at the altar; how should I know where my son is? 11 So the servants went back, and told Herod the whole; at which he was incensed, and said, Is not this son of his like to be king in Israel? 12 He sent therefore again his servants to Zacharias, saying, Tell u the truth, where is thy son, for you know that your life is in my hand. 13 So the servants went and told him all this: 14 But Zacharias replied to them, I am a martyr for God, and if he shed my blood, the Lord will receive my soul. 15 Besides know that ye shed innocent blood. 16 However Zacharias was murdered in the entrance of the temple and altar, and about the partition; Zachs. murdered. 17 But the children of Israel knew not when he was killed. 18 Then at the hour of salutation the priests went into the temple, but Zacharias did not according to custom meet them and bless them; 19 Yet they still continued waiting for him to salute them ; 20 And when they found he did not in a long time come, one of them ventured into the holy place where the altar was, and he saw blood lying upon the ground congealed; 21 When, behold, a voice from heaven said, Zacharias is murdered, and his blood shall not be wiped away, until the revenger of his blood come. 22 But when he heard this, he was afraid, and went forth and told the priests what he had seen and heard, and they all went in, and saw the fact. 23 Then the roofs of the temple howled, and were rent from the top to the bottom : 24 And they could not find the body, but only blood made hard like stone. 25 And they went away, and told the people, that Zacharias was murdered, and all the tribes of Israel heard thereof, and mourned for him, and lamented three days.' There is a story both in the Jerusalem and Babylonish Talmud very similar to this. It is cited by Dr. Lightfoot, Talmud, Hierosol, in Taannith fol. 69; and Talmud, Babyl. in Sanhedr., fol. 96. "Rabbi Jochanan said, Eighty thousand priests were slain for the blood of Zacharias. Rabbi Judas asked Rabbi Achan, Where did they kill Zacharias? Was it in the woman's court, or in the court of Israel? He answered; Neither in the court of Israel, nor in the court of women, but in the court of the priests; and they did not treat his blood in the same manner as they were wont to treat the blood of a ram or a young goat. For of these it is written, He shall pour out his blood, and cover it with dust. But it is written here, The blood is in the midst of her she set it upon the top of a rock she poured it not upon the ground. (Ezek. xxiv. 7.) But why was this? That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance: I have set his blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered. They committed seven evils that day they murdered a priest, a prophet, and : Simeon succeeds THE PROTEVANGELION. 26 Then the priests took counsel together concerning a person to succeed him. 27 And Simeon and the other priests cast lots, and the lot fell upon Simeon. 28 For he had been assured by the Holy Spirit, that he should not die, till he had seen Christ come in the flesh.' Zacharias, G I James wrote this History in Jerusalem: and when the disturbance was I retired into a desert place, until the death of Herod. And the disturb ance ceased at Jerusalem. That which remains is, that I glorify God that he hath given me such wisdom to write unto you who are spiritual, and who love God: to whom (be ascribed) glory and dominion | for ever und ever, Amen. king; they shed the blood of the innocent: they polluted the court: that day was the Sabbath: and the day of expiation, When therefore Nebuzaradan came there (viz. Jerusalem,) he saw his blood bubbling, and said to them, What meaneth this? They answered, It is the blood of calves, lambs, and rams, which we have offered upon the altar. He commanded then, that they should bring calves, and lambs, and rams, and said I will try whether this be their blood: accordingly they brought and slew them, but the blood of (Zacharias) still bubbled, but the blood of these did not bubble. Then he said, Declare to me the truth of this matter, or else I will comb your flesh with iron combs. Then said they to him, He was a priest, prophet, and judge, who prophesied to Israel all these calamities which we have suffered from you; but we arose against hin., and slew him. Then, said he, I will appease him: then he took the rabbins and slew them upon his (viz Zacharias's) blood, and he was not yet appeased. Next he took the young boys from the schools, and slew them upon his blood, and yet it bubbled. Then he brought the young priests and slew them in the same place, and yet it still bubbled. So he slew at length ninety-four thousand persons upon his blood, and it did not as yet cease bubbling. Then he drew near to it, and said, O Zacharias, Zacharias, thou hast occasioned the death of the chief of thy countrymen; shall I slay them all? then the blood ceased, and did bubble no more.' Luke i zu 87 The first Gospel of the INFANCY of JESUS CHRIST. [Mr. Henry Sike, Professor of Oriental Languages at Cambridge, first translated and published this Gospel in 1697. It was received by the Gnostics, a sect of Christians in the second century; and several of its relations were credited in the following ages by other Christians, viz., Eusebius, Athanasius, Epiphanius, Chrysostom, &c. Sozomen says, he was told by many, and he credits the relations, of the idols in Egypt falling down on Joseph, and Mary's flight thither with Christ; and of Christ making a well to wash his clothes in a sycamore tree, from whence balsam afterwards proceeded. These stories are from this Gospel. Chemnitius, out of Stipulensis, who had it from Peter Martyr, Bishop of Alexandria, in the third century, says, that the place in Egypt where Christ was banished is now called Matarea, about ten miles beyond Cairo; that the inhabitants constantly burn a lamp in remembrance of it; and that there is a garden of trees yielding a balsam, which were planted by Christ when a boy. M. La Crosse cites a synod at Angamala, in the mountains of Malabar, A.D. 1599, which condemns this Gospel as commonly read by the Nestorians in that country. Ahmed Ibu Idris, a Mahometan divine, says, it was used by some Christians in common with the other four Gospels; and Ocobius de Castro mentions a Gospel of Thomas, which he says, he saw and had translated to him by an Armenian Archbishop at Amsterdam, that was read in very many churches of Asia and Africa, as the only rule of their faith. Fabricius takes it to be this Gospel. It has been supposed, that Mahomet and his coadjutors used it in compiling the Koran. There are several stories believed of Christ proceeding from this Gospel; as that which Mr. Sike relates out of La Brosse's Persic Lexicon, that Christ practised the trade of a dyer, and his working a miracle with the colours; from whence the Persian dyers honour him as their patron, and call a dye-house the shop of Christ. Sir John Chardin mentions Persian legends concerning Christ's dispute with his schoolmaster about his A B C; and his lengthening the cedarboard which Joseph sawed too short.] |