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The Protevangelium of James

Anonymous

Section 3

About this work

An influential infancy narrative attributed pseudonymously to James, telling of Mary’s birth and upbringing, her guardianship by Joseph, Jesus’s birth, and events surrounding Herod’s violence.

Author: Anonymous
Traditional attribution: James, brother of the Lord
Date: Mid-to-late 2nd century
Origin: Eastern Mediterranean (uncertain)
Genre: Infancy Gospel

The author is not James; date and provenance are approximate, and the textual tradition contains significant variation.

3. And gazing towards the heaven, she

‹ Section 2 Section 4 ›

saw

a

sparrow’s

nest

in

the

laurel

,

and

made

a

lamentation

in

herself

,

saying

:

Alas

!

who

begot

me

?

and

what

womb

produced

me

?

because

I

have

become

a

curse

in

the

presence

of

the

sons

of

Israel

,

and

I

have

been

reproached

,

and

they

have

driven

me

in

derision

out

of

the

temple

of

the

Lord

.

Alas

!

to

what

have

I

been

likened

?

I

am

not

like

the

fowls

of

the

heaven

,

because

even

the

fowls

of

the

heaven

are

productive

before

Thee

,

O

Lord

.

Alas

!

to

what

have

I

been

likened

?

I

am

not

like

the

beasts

of

the

earth

,

because

even

the

beasts

of

the

earth

are

productive

before

Thee

,

O

Lord

.

Alas

!

to

what

have

I

been

likened

?

I

am

not

like

these

waters

,

because

even

these

waters

are

productive

before

Thee

,

O

Lord

.

Alas

!

to

what

have

I

been

likened

?

I

am

not

like

this

earth

,

because

even

the

earth

bringeth

forth

its

fruits

in

season

,

and

blesseth

Thee

,

O

Lord

.

Notes

14
Tobit ii. 10.
15
Many of themss. here add: Alas! to what have I been likened? I am not like the waves of the sea, because even the waves of the sea, in calm and storm, and the fishes in them, bless Thee, O Lord.