Texts in Conversation
Luke describes Gabriel striking Zechariah mute for doubting the promise of a son. The Protoevangelium of James places this detail in a different scene, noting Zechariah's silence during the casting of lots for spinning the temple veil.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Luke 1:20
New Testament
19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold61 because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will be silent, unable to speak, until the day these things take place.” 21 Now the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they began to wonder why he was delayed in the Holy Place. 22 When he came out, he was not able to speak to them. They realized that he had seen a vision in the Holy Place because he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was over, he went to his home.
Protoevangelium of James 10
Gospel of James
Pseudepigrapha
10 The priests gathered and said, “Let’s make a new veil for the temple of the Lord.” The priest instructed, “Bring me the pure, undefiled virgins from the family of David.” The officers went out, found seven virgins, and the priest remembered the child Mary, knowing she was from the family of David and pure before God. The officers went and brought her too. They all entered the temple of the Lord. The priest said, “Let’s draw lots to decide who will spin the gold, the white, the fine linen, the silk, the blue, the scarlet, and the true purple”. The lot for the true purple and scarlet fell to Mary, and she took them and returned to her house. At that time, Zacharias was mute, and Samuel was filling in for him until Zacharias could speak again. Mary took the scarlet and began spinning it.
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Notes and References
“... This is the first of two interpolations by the Redactor of materials taken from the Gospel of Luke by which he intends to identify the unnamed priest in the GenMar as Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist. Protoevangelium of James 10:08 breaks the continuity of the narrative in the Composer-enhanced text and is completely alien to the context in which it now resides, that is, Mary’s obtaining and spinning thread for the temple veil. The Redactor derived this Zachariah material in Protoevangelium of James 10:08 from the account of the silence and renewed speech of Zachariah in Luke 1:5-22 and 59-64. These interpolations of textual materials from the canonical Gospels, especially Luke, into the Composer-enhanced text of the GenMar constitute a principle identifying characteristic of the Redactor’s work ...”
Zervos, George
The Protevangelium of James: Greek Text and English Translation with a Critical Introduction (Volume 1)
(pp. 38-39) T&T Clark, 2019
* 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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