The
Testing of Joseph and Mary in the Protoevangelium
of James as an Adaptation of Numbers 5:11-31
The
Protoevangelium of James, which in PBodmer 5 has the title Birth of
Mary; Apocalypse of James, dates to the latter part of the second century.
In order to confirm the validity of Jesus’ miraculous conception and to defend
against the charge that Mary and Joseph had come together before Jesus’ birth, Proto.
Jac. 15-16 presents the couple as suffering no ill-effects from drinking “the
water of the conviction of the Lord.” Such a means of demonstration has obvious
similarities to both Numbers 5:11-31 and the L[onger]E[nding of Mark].
The
story begins with the scribe Annas’ observation that Mary is pregnant (ωγκωμενη, Prot. Jac. 15.1) and his subsequent reporting
of the scandal to the high priest (15.2). Once the couple is brought to the
temple, first Joseph, and then Mary, is accused of fornication, and each of
them in turn denies the charge (Proto. Jac. 15.2) The priest initially
demands that Joseph “give back the virgin whom you received from the Temple of
the Lord” (Prot. Jac. 16.1a; cf. 8.1-9.2). Perhaps because Joseph then “wept
bitterly,” the priest offers a test to verify whether they are telling the
truth.
ποτιω υμας το υδωρ της ελεγξεως
κυριου, και φανερωσει το αμαρτηματα υμων ων οφθαλμοις υμων.
I will give you the water of the
conviction of the Lord to drink, and it will manifest your sins before your
eyes. (Prot. Jac. 16.1b)
The
test is given first to Joseph and then to Mary:
And
the high priest took [it] and gave [it] to Joseph to drink (ποτιζω) and sent him into the wilderness; and he
came [back] whole (και ηλθεν ολοκληρος).
And he made Mary also drink (ποτιζω),
and sent her into the wilderness; and she [also] came [back] whole (και ηλθεν ολοκληρος). And all the people marveled, because [the
water] had not revealed any sin in them (και εθαυμασεν πας ο λαος οτι αμαρτια ουκ εφανη εν αυτοις). And the high priest said, ‘If the Lord God
has not made manifest your sins, neither do I condemn you.’ And he released
them. And Joseph took Mary and departed to his house, rejoicing and glorifying
the God of Israel. (Prot. Jac. 16.2)
Contrary
to what the scribe Annas, the high priest and others expect before the test,
Joseph and Mary are not harmed by what they drink. As a result, everyone is
persuaded that thye are innocent.
The
trial as depicted in Prot. Jac. 16.2 represents an intriguing adaptation
of Numbers 5:11-31, which stipulates that a woman is to be tested if her
husband is seized by a “spirit of jealous” (רוח-קנאה; πνευμα ζηλωσεως,
Num 5:14, 5:30) and accuses her of infidelity. If the accused has not sinned,
she will not be harmed by the “water of testing (or bitterness) that brings a
curse” (מי המרים המאררים; το υδωρ του ελεγμου του επικαταρωμενου τουτου,
Num 5:18; cf. 5:24). If, however, the woman has been unfaithful, her uterus
will fall out and she will become barren (Num 5:27). Although she would not necessarily
lose her life from such an injury, she would have to endure additional social
ostracism resulting from her subsequent inability to bear children. The passage
also leaves open the possibility that the husband would then have grounds for divorcing
the unfaithful wife, whose fate as an outcast in society would then be sealed.
In
light of the original focus of this test in the Pentateuch, it is surprising to
find in the Protoevangelium of James Joseph, a male, receiving the “water
of the conviction of the Lord.” This is especially so because Numbers 5 does
not specify what to do with the man who may have committed fornication with the
accused wife. The subsequent testing of Mary in Prot. Jac. 16.2,
although somewhat less extraordinary, also does not correspond to the stipulations
of Nub 5:11-31 in that she is not yet married, and her accuses is not Joseph but
the high priest. Had the author of the Protoevangelium of James intended
to adhere more closely to the instructions of the passage in Numbers, he might
have inserted such a testing of Mary after Joseph was astonished to learn that
his betrothed had become pregnant (cf. Prot. Jac.. 13.1-14.1). At this
earlier point in the narrative, the author instead incorporates part of the Gospel
of Matthew’s first chapter to emphasize that the Lord appeared to Joseph and
revealed the divine origin of Mary’s child (Proto. Jac. 14.2; cf. Matt
1.20-24). Accordingly, Prot. Jac. 15.1-16.2 supplements the testimony of
the Matthean passage and provides additional confirmation of the purity of both
Joseph and Mary. (James A. Kelhoffer, Miracle and Mission: The Authentication
of Missionaries and Their Message in the Longer Ending of Mark [Wissenschaftliche
Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament – 2. Reihe 112; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck,
2000], 442-44)
