Now he [Gabriel] added this Blessed
art thou among women, first, for a sign that by the birth that shall be
from thee the Curses are loosed form human nature, those that have reigned by
the first Curse to Eve; second, that in thee shall all nations be blessed,
according to the promise to Abraham; as Paul also testifies; third, that in
thee they shall be delivered from female nature; as in a mystery, [from] the
pains and pangs which sprung from sin, by the Child which in a virginal manner
thou hast brought forth without labour; and justly, for there is no pangs to a
virgin, who knoweth not a man; for the name of a virgin and the
name of pangs cannot be true together; yet just as a Child is born to us
without a father, thus also a Son is given to us without pangs; and where there
was no desire at the beginning, neither are there any pangs at the end. And
just as the Virgin did not know how that holy body was formed within the womb,
thus neither in His birth did she feel pains. And Prophecy bears witness about
this, saying, Before the pains of labour came, she was delivered, and brought
forth a man child; and just as that woman, who was the mother of Sin, and of
this dying world, brought forth in sorrows and pains, it was right that this
[woman] also, who was the Mother of Life, and of the Virgin Son, who was the
Father of the future, that is, of a virgin world, should begin with joy in
conception, and finish with joy in birth; for there is nothing that pollutes,
where God is. (The Commentaries of Isho'dad of Merv, 3 vols. [trans.
Margaret Dunlop Gibson; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911], 1:150-51)
And the Mother of Jesus was there,
etc. This, What is to Me and to thee, woman? Mine hour is not yet come.
If He call s out involuntarily it gives one sense ; and if intentionally,
another sense. Involuntarily, Why, He says, dost thou incite Me and entreat Me
? these things are great which thou commandest; thy intercession is of no use
on behalf of signs. Do not suppose that I have fixed times of knowledge and of
deeds, like Moses and the Prophets, who according to the need of the
recipients, received power to do something; but My power is continually near
Me, that I act when I wish and how I wish, and even if the need of those who
receive does not require it; therefore whether they believe or do not believe,
there comes to Me now the time and the hour in which I will shew before every
one, the splendour of the natural light which dwells in Me; and will make known
that I am the Creator; intentionally, on the other hand, Thus, He says, the
time has not yet come in which it is suitable for Me to work signs, and to
reveal by their means about the glory of My Godhead; for thou lookest at deeds
in a human manner, but I in a divine one. For this, that until now our Lord had
done no sign, from whence did His mother know that He could do it? From the
things that were administered at his conception, and from the testimony of
John. Mar Ephraim says that she had heard from Him, that He would do a
sign there; and on this account He replied to her, when she exhorted Him that
the wine had failed, What is it to me and to thee, woman? it is not
suitable that I go amongst them in a violent manner, but let them all perceive
that the wine has failed, and let them ask to drink, so that the gift of God
may be magnified in their eyes; and if it be not so, Mine hour is not yet
come. (The Commentaries of Isho'dad of Merv, 3 vols. [trans.
Margaret Dunlop Gibson; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911], 1:224-25)
This, Now there stood by the
Cross His Mother, and His Mother's Sister, Mary the wife of Joseph, and the
mother of James and Jose and of Simeon and of Judah. She was called the sister
of the Blessed One, because of her great love to her. (The Commentaries of
Isho'dad of Merv, 3 vols. [trans. Margaret Dunlop Gibson; Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1911], 1:278)
