Sunday, October 1, 2023

Eric M. Vanden Eykel on the Provenance of the Protoevangelium of James

  

Provenance

 

In terms of the epilogue’s final claim that the text was written in Jerusalem, most scholars continue to doubt that there is any truth to be found here. Often cited in support of a provenance other than Jerusalem is the author’s lack of familiarity with Palestinian geography in general and the topography of Jerusalem in particular. Against the claim that the author is ignorance of such things, Malcom Lowe has argued (as a resident of Jerusalem) that the author of the Protoevangelium is actually quite accurate in terms of how they describe the geography of Jerusalem. Those who claim otherwise, he argues, are themselves ignorant of the geography of Jerusalem. Lowe’s arguments have failed to gain any serious traction among scholars of this text. In terms of provenance, the most likely candidates are Egypt or Syria. Émile de Strycker suggests Egypt as the more likely option because of the alleged connection between this text and the works of Clement and Origen, as well as what he considers to be the modesty of the author’s Greek and the presence of certain “Coptic elements.” Lily Vuong, by contrast, has made a compelling case for Syria as the more likely place of composition. Citing the author’s interest in varying types of purity and ritual practice, as well as the need to portray Mary as both a perpetual virgin and a mother, Vuong argues persuasively that this text fits what we know of second-century in Syria. (Eric M. Vanden Eykel, “Protoevangelium of James,” in Early New Testament Apocrypha, ed. J. Christopher Edwards [Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies 9; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Academic, 2022], 143-44)