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Early Christian tradition in the Protoevangelium of James describes Anna, Mary’s mother, being criticized by her servant for being childless, echoing a moment in Tobit where Sarah is insulted by her maid after repeated failed marriages.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 3:7
Deuterocanon
7 On this day it happened to Sarah the daughter of Raguel who was in Ecbatana of Media, that she also heard reproaches by one of her father’s maidservants; 8 because that she had been given to seven husbands, and Asmodaeus the evil demon had slain them, before they had been with her as it is appointed for women. And the maidservant said to her, It is you that slay your husbands; behold you have already been given to seven husbands, and you have not been named of one of them. 9 Why do you scourge us on account of your husbands because they have died? Go your -o ways with them and let us see neither son nor daughter of yours for ever.
Protoevangelium of James 2
Gospel of James
Early Christian
2 And his wife, Anna, mourned with two kinds of grief and lamented with two types of sorrow, saying: “I will weep for my widowhood; I will weep for my childlessness.” The great day of the Lord was approaching, and Judith, her maidservant, said: “How long will you torment yourself? Look, the great day of the Lord is near, and it is unlawful for you to mourn. Take this headband, which was given to me by the woman who made it. It is not fitting for me to wear because I am a maidservant, and it has a royal look to it.” But Anna replied: “Leave me alone; I have not done such things, and the Lord has humbled me greatly. I fear that some wicked person has given it to you, and now you’ve come to make me share in your sin.” Judith answered: “Why should I curse you when the Lord has closed your womb, preventing you from bearing fruit in Israel?” Anna, deeply grieved, took off her mourning clothes, cleaned her head, and put on her wedding garments. Around the ninth hour, she went down to the garden to take a walk. She saw a laurel tree, sat under it, and prayed to the Lord, saying: “God of our ancestors, bless me and hear my prayer, just as You blessed the womb of Sarah and gave her a son, Isaac.”
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Notes and References
"... An often overlooked narrative reception of Tobit can be seen in the Protevangelium of James (end of second century?) whose story about the maiden Judith blaming Anna for her childlessness (Protevangelium of James 2:2–4) strongly reminds of Tobit’s story about Sarah being slandered by her maidens (Tobit 3:7–10) ..."
Nicklas, Tobias
"The Apocrypha in the History of Early Christianity" in Oegema, Gerbern S. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha
(pp. 52-73) Oxford University Press, 2021
* 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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