Texts in Conversation
The Protoevangelium of James directly refers to the narrative of Sarah having a child in her old age in Genesis 18, connecting its own narrative to Israel's patriarchs and matriarchs and drawing on the authority and credibility of the Torah.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 18:14
Hebrew Bible
11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; Sarah had long since passed menopause.) 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, especially when my husband is old too?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child when I am old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” 15 Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.”
Protoevangelium of James 1
Gospel of James
Pseudepigrapha
1 In the records of the twelve tribes of Israel was Joachim, a man of great wealth. He always gave double in his offerings, saying, “There will be plenty from my abundance for everyone, and my offering will be for forgiveness to the Lord, for my atonement.” As the great day of the Lord approached, the sons of Israel were bringing their offerings. Rubim stood across from him and said, “It’s not right for you to offer first, since you haven’t had any children in Israel.” This deeply upset Joachim, and he went to check the records of the twelve tribes, saying, “I’ll see if I’m the only one who hasn’t had children in Israel.” He searched and found that all the righteous people had raised children. He then thought of the patriarch Abraham, who, even in his old age, was given a son, Isaac, by God. Joachim was overcome with distress and didn’t return to his wife, but instead withdrew to the desert. He set up a tent and fasted for forty days and forty nights. He told himself, “I won’t eat or drink until the Lord my God looks upon me; prayer will be my food and drink.”
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Notes and References
"... As clear from the above survey, the scholarly debate about the provenance of the Protevangelium of James is closely related to the debate concerning its connections to Judaism. We have already discussed some cases in which scholars propose the author's lack of knowledge about Judaism, albeit mainly based on a purported lack of knowledge of Palestinian geography. By contrast, van Stempvoort, Cameron, and Smid assume a relationship between the author and Judaism and/or "Jewish-Christianity" based on the text's extensive use of the Septuagint. Above, we noted that the characters of Anna and Joachim in the Protevangelium of James seem to be patterned on Sarah and Abraham in Genesis 18, 20-21 and, perhaps even more closely, on Hannah and Elkannah in 1 Samuel 1-2 ..."
Vuong, Lily
Accessing the Virgin: Gender and Purity in the Protoevangelium of James
(p. 58) McMaster University, 2010
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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