Texts in Conversation
In 1 Samuel, Hannah sings a song of praise after dedicating Samuel to God. The Protoevangelium of James echoes this scene with Anna, who sings a song of praise after Mary’s birth, following the Hebrew Bible’s pattern of formerly barren mothers.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Samuel 2:1
Hebrew Bible
1 Hannah prayed, “My heart has rejoiced in the Lord; my horn has been raised high because of the Lord. I have loudly denounced my enemies. Indeed, I rejoice in your deliverance. 2 No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one other than you! There is no rock like our God!
Protoevangelium of James 6
Gospel of James
Pseudepigrapha
6 The child grew stronger every day, and when she was six months old, her mother set her on the ground to see if she could stand. She took seven steps and walked back into her mother’s arms. Her mother quickly picked her up, saying, “As surely as the Lord my God lives, you won’t walk on this earth until I bring you to the temple of the Lord.” She created a special place in her bedroom and kept everything unclean or common away. She gathered the pure daughters of the Hebrews, and they led her astray. When she turned a year old, Joachim threw a big feast, inviting the priests, scribes, elders, and all the people of Israel. Joachim brought the child to the priests, and they blessed her, saying, “O God of our ancestors, bless this child and give her a name that will be remembered for generations.” Everyone said, “Amen, amen.” He then brought her to the chief priests, and they blessed her, saying, “O God most high, look upon this child and bless her with a lasting blessing.” Her mother picked her up again, took her to the sanctuary in her room, and nursed her. Anna then sang a song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord my God, for He has seen me and removed my shame. The Lord has given me the fruit of His righteousness, one of a kind, richly blessed in His sight. Who will tell the sons of Reuben that Anna is nursing? Listen, listen, you twelve tribes of Israel, Anna is nursing!” She laid the child to rest in the sanctuary of her room and went out to serve her guests. When the meal was over, they left, rejoicing and praising the God of Israel.
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Notes and References
... While elements of the Abraham–Sarah story can be detected in the Protevangelium, without doubt it is the story of Hannah conceiving Samuel that shapes the legend of the birth of Mary. ... Anna sings two songs in the opening section. The first is a lament, totally different in tone to Hannah’s joyful song. Yet later Anna sings her second song in the narrative, no longer of mourning but an outpouring of praise. Here is the more direct parallel to the song of Hannah contained in 1 Samuel 2, and simultaneously the counterpoint to Anna’s own earlier lament (Protevangelium of James 3.2–8). There is little doubt that the author of the Protevangelium, in light of the absence of historical source material for the birth of Mary, chose to give his narrative a biblical flavour by basing it on the story of Samuel’s birth. ...
Foster, Paul
The Apocryphal Gospels: A Very Short Introduction
(pp. 77-78) Oxford University Press, 2009
* 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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