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The Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour

Unknown

Section 48

About this work

Author: Unknown

48. There was, moreover, at Jerusalem,

‹ Section 47 Section 49 ›

a

certain

man

named

Zacchæus

,

who

taught

boys

.

He

said

to

Joseph

:

Why

,

O

Joseph

,

dost

thou

not

bring

Jesus

to

the

to

learn

his

letters

?

Joseph

agreed

to

do

so

,

and

reported

the

matter

to

the

Lady

Mary

.

They

therefore

took

Him

to

the

master

;

and

he

,

as

soon

as

he

saw

Him

,

wrote

out

the

alphabet

for

Him

,

and

told

Him

to

say

Aleph

.

And

when

He

had

said

Aleph

,

the

master

ordered

Him

to

pronounce

Beth

.

And

the

Lord

Jesus

said

to

him

:

Tell

me

first

the

meaning

of

the

letter

Aleph

,

and

then

I

shall

pronounce

Beth

.

And

when

the

master

threatened

to

flog

Him

,

the

Lord

Jesus

explained

to

him

the

meanings

of

the

letters

Aleph

and

Beth

;

also

which

figures

of

the

letter

were

straight

,

which

crooked

,

which

drawn

round

into

a

spiral

,

which

marked

with

points

,

which

without

them

,

why

one

letter

went

before

another

;

and

many

other

things

He

began

to

recount

and

to

elucidate

which

the

master

himself

had

never

either

heard

or

read

in

any

book

.

The

Lord

Jesus

,

moreover

,

said

to

the

master

:

Listen

,

and

I

shall

say

them

to

thee

.

And

He

began

clearly

and

distinctly

to

repeat

Aleph

,

Beth

,

Gimel

,

Daleth

,

on

to

Tau

.

And

the

master

was

astonished

,

and

said

:

I

think

that

this

boy

was

born

before

Noah

.

And

turning

to

Joseph

,

he

said

:

Thou

hast

brought

to

me

to

be

taught

a

boy

more

learned

than

all

the

masters

.

To

the

Lady

Mary

also

he

said

:

This

son

of

thine

has

no

need

of

instruction

.