I have
written before about Pseudo-Matthew and as it is still the season for nativity
stories – epiphany in the West and Christmas for the Orthodox Churches - I have
chosen the story of the palm-tree in the desert from this gospel. As far as I
can see it only occurs in this text, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t have a
wide circulation: many texts have been lost and there is no reason to think
that an older Greek or Aramaic version has not existed. I come to this because in
the Quran Jesus is said to be born under a palm tree. We know that the Quran
has many stories based on Jewish and Christian apocryphal texts, probably
because these stories, though not canonical, were popular amongst Christian communities.
It is unlikely that a story of Mary giving birth in the desert under a palm
tree ever existed in Christian texts, but the following story might well have
given a starting point for developing an alternative version of the birth of
Jesus by Mohammed . Did Mohammed read Latin? No, but if there is some truth in
my assertion, then an Arabic or Aramaic copy must have existed. To be honest I
am not the first to see the parallel, actually I found it on internet (see link
below), but I have not found an explanation of how this story came into the
Quran and if there is a relationship, we have to assume the existence of a version
in a Semitic language.
In the
story of pseudo-Mathew, Mary sees a palm tree in the desert and want to have
some of its fruits, but the tree is too high. Joseph is more concerned about
the lack of water, but little Jesus asks the tree to bow its top to Mary and subsequently
orders water to come from its roots.
This is
the text in the Quran (19 22):
So she
conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place. And the pains of
childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish):
"Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing
forgotten and out of sight!" But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the
(palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath
thee; "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let
fall fresh ripe dates upon thee.
Pseudo-Matthew,
Chapter 20:
Factum
est autem die tertia profectionis suae ut Maria nimio
solis
ardore fatigaretur in eremo, videns arborem palmae dixit ad
Ioseph:
Quiescam paululum sub umbra eius. Ioseph autem festinans
duxit
eam ad palmam et descendere eam fecit de iumento. Cumque
resedisset
Maria, respiciens ad comam palmae vidit eam plenam
pomis,
et dixit ad Ioseph: Desidero, si fieri posset, ut ex istis
fructibus
huius palmae perciperem. Et ait ad eam
Ioseph: Miror te
dicere
hoc, cum videas quantae sit altitudinis palma ista, et quod
tu de
palmae fructibus cogitas edere. Ego magis de aquae penuria
cogito,
quae nobis iam defecit in utribus, et non habemus unde nos
et
iumenta refocillare valeamus. Tunc infantulus Iesus laeto vultu
in sinu
matris suae residens ait ad palmam: Flectere, arbor, et de
fructibus
tuis refice matrem meam. Et confestim ad hanc vocem
inclinavit
palma cacumen suum usque ad plantas Mariae, et
collegerunt
ex ea fructus quibus omnes refecti sunt. Postquam vero
collecta
sunt omnia poma eius, inclinata manebat, expectans ut eius
ad
imperium resurgeret ad cuius imperium fuerat inclinata. Tunc
Iesus
dixit ad eam: Erige te, palma, et confortare, et esto consors
arborum
mearum quae sunt in paradiso patris mei. Aperi autem ex
radicibus
tuis venam quae absconsa est in terra, et fluant ex ea
aquae ad
satietatem nostram. Et statim erecta est palma, et
coeperunt
per radices eius egredi fontes aquarum limpidissimi et
frigidi
et dulcissimi nimis. Videntes autem
fontes aquarum gavisi
sunt
gaudio magno, et satiati sunt cum omnibus iumentis et
hominibus,
gratias agentes deo.
profectio –ionis (f.): departure
nimio: too much, very
arborem palmae: explicative genitive
quiesco quievi quietum: to take a rest
paululum: a little, for a while
festino: to hasten
iumentum: beast of burden
coma: foliage
poma: fruit
percipio percepi perceptum: to seize or better here `receive,
get’ (In Classical Latin it means `to seize completely’, but in vulgar Latin
compounded verbs are often used without a distinction from simplex.)
miror miratus sum: to wonder
edo esi esum: to eat
penuria: need want
uter utris (m.): leather bag
unde: by which
refocillo: te refresh
confestim: immediately
cacumen cacuminis (n.): top. Peak
planta: sole of the foot, foor
reficio refeci refectum: refreshed
eius… cuius: of Jesus
erigo eregi erectum: to raise up
conforto: to become strong
aperio aperui apertum: to open
vena: vein
abscondo abscondi (abscondidi)
absconditum (absconsum): to conceal, hide
satietas satietatem: abundance
limpidus: transparent, limpid, clear
gaudeo gavisus: to rejoice (gavisi sunt gaudio magno is a figura
etymologica: verb and noun having the same root. This is quite common in
Hebrew, though in itself it proves not a Semitic original, as this stylistic figure is common
in the Vulgate.)
This
link also contains a translation of the Latin text
I have
been unable to find details about this stone carving.
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