The Book of the Bee 33 - 35

THE BOOK OF THE BEE

THE SYRIAC TEXT

EDITED FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS IN LONDON, OXFORD, AND MUNICH

CHAPTER XXXIII.

OF THE MESSIANIC GENERATIONS.

GOD created Adam. Adam begat Seth. Seth begat Enos. Enos begat Kain. Kain begat Mahalaleel. Mahalaleel begat Jared. Jared begat Enoch. Enoch begat Methuselah. Methuselah begat Lamech. Lamech begat Noah. Noah begat Shem. Shem begat Arphaxar. Arphaxar begat Kain. Kain begat Shh. Shh begat Eber. Eber begat Peleg. Peleg begat Reu. Reu begat Serug. Serug begat Nahor. Nahor begat Terah. Terah begat Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac. Isaac begat Jacob. Jacob begat Judah. Judah took a Canaanitish wife, whose name was Shuah. And it was very grievous to Jacob, and he said to Judah, 'The God of my fathers will not allow the seed of Canaan to be mingled with our seed, nor his family with our family.' There were born to Judah by the Canaanitish woman three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er took Tamar, the daughter of Merari the son of Levi, to wife, and he lay with her in the Sodomite way and died without children. After him his brother Onan took her, to raise up seed to his brother; he also, when he lay with her, scattered his seed outside of her on the ground, and he too died without children. Because Shelah was a child, Judah kept his daughter-in-law in widowhood, that he might give her to Shelah to raise up seed by her. But Tamar went into her father-in-law by crafty devices, and lay with him, and conceived, and gave birth to twins, Pharez and Zarah. Pharez begat Hezron. Hezron begat Aram. Aram begat Amminadab. Amminadab begat Nahshon. Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, took the sister of Nahshon to wife, and by her begat Phinehas; and the seed of the priesthood was mingled with the royal line. Nahshon begat Salmon. Salmon begat Boaz by Rahab. Boaz begat Obed by Ruth the Moabitess. Obed begat Jesse. Jesse begat David the king by Nahash.

Now two genealogies are handed down from David to Christ; the one from Solomon to Jacob, and the other from Nathan to Heli. David begat Solomon. Solomon begat Rehoboam. Rehoboam begat Abijah. Abijah begat Asa. Asa begat Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat begat Joram. Joram begat Uzziah. Uzziah begat Jotham. Jotham begat Ahaz. Ahaz begat Hezekiah. Hezekiah begat Manasseh. Manasseh begat Amon. Amon begat Josiah. Josiah begat Jeconiah. Jeconiah begat Salathiel. Salathiel begat Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begat Abiud. Abiud begat Eliakim. Eliakim begat Azor. Azor begat Zadok. Zadok begat Achin. Achin begat Eliud. Eliud begat Eleazar. Eleazar begat Matthan. Matthan begat Jacob. Jacob begat Joseph. Or again: David begat Nathan. Nathan begat Mattatha. Mattatha begat Mani. Mani begat Melea. Melea begat Eliakim. Eliakim begat Jonam. Jonam begat Levi. Levi begat Mattha. Mattha begat Jorim. Jorim begat Eliezer. Eliezer begat Jose. Jose begat Er. Er begat Elmodad. Elmodad begat Cosam. Cosam begat Addi. Addi begat Melchi. Melchi begat Neri. Neri begat Salathiel. Salathiel begat Zorobabel. Zorobabel begat Rhesa. Rhesa begat Johannan. Johannan begat Juda. Juda begat Joseph. Joseph begat Semei. Semei begat Mattatha. Mattatha begat Maath. Maath begat Nagge. Nagge begat Esli. Esli begat Nahum. Nahum begat Amos. Amos begat Mattha. Mattha begat Joseph. Joseph begat Janni. Janni begat Melchi. Melchi begat Levi. Levi begat Matthat. Matthat begat Heli. Heli begat Joseph.

Know too, O my brother, that Mattan the son of Eliezer--whose descent was from the family of Solomon--took a wife whose name was Astha (or Essetha) and by her begat Jacob naturally. Mattan died, and Melchi--whose family descended from Nathan the son of David--took her to wife, and begat by her Eli (or Heli); hence Jacob and Heli are brothers, (the sons) of (one) mother. Eli took a wife and died without children. Then Jacob took her to wife, to raise up seed to his brother, according to the command of the law; and he begat by her Joseph, who was the son of Jacob according to nature, but the son of Heli according to the law; so whichever ye choose, whether according to nature, or according to the law, Christ is found to be the son of David. It is moreover right to know that Eliezer begat two sons, Mattan and Jotham. Mattan begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Joseph; Jotham begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Mary. From this it is clear that Joseph's father and Mary's father were cousins.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

OF THE ANNUNCIATlON OF THE ANGEL TO Y (JOACHIM) IN RESPECT OF MARY.

THIS Zadok, who was called Y, and Dinah his wife were righteous before God, and were rich in earthly riches and in goods and chattels; but they had neither fruit nor offspring like other people. They were reproached by the people for their barrenness, and they did not allow them to offer up the offering except after every one else, because they had no children among the people of Israel. And Y went out into the desert, and pitched his tent outside the encampment, and he prayed before God with mournful tears, and put on garments of mourning; so also did Dinah his wife. And God heard their prayers and accepted the sacrifices of their tears. The angel of God came to them, and announced to them the conception of Mary, saying, 'Your prayer has been heard before God, and behold, He will give you blessed fruit, a daughter who shall be a sign and a wonder among all the generations of the world; and all families shall be blessed through her.' Then they two praised God, and Zadok returned to his habitation. And Dinah his wife conceived, and brought forth Mary; and from that day she was called Hannah (Anna) instead of Dinah, for the Lord had had compassion upon her. Now the name 'Mary' (Maryam or Miriam) is interpreted 'lifted up,' 'exalted;' and they rejoiced in her exceedingly. And after six months her parents said to one another, 'We will not allow her to walk upon the ground' and they carried her with sacrifices and offerings, and brought her to the temple of the Lord. And they sacrificed oxen and sheep to the Lord, and offered Mary to the high priest. He laid his hand upon her head, and blessed her, saying, 'Blessed shalt thou be among women.' Two years after she was weaned, they brought her to the temple of the Lord, even as they had vowed to the Lord, and delivered her to the high priest. He laid his hand upon her head, and blessed her, and said to her that she should give herself over to the aged women who were there. And she was brought up with the virgins in the temple of the Lord, and performed the service of the temple with joyful heart and godly fervour until she was twelve years old. Because she was beautiful in appearance, the priests and the high priest took counsel and prayed before God that He would reveal to them what they should do with her. And the angel of God appeared unto the high priest and said to him, 'Gather together the staves of the men who have been left widowers by their first wives, and are well known for piety, uprightness, and righteousness, and what God sheweth thee, do.' And they brought many staves and laid them down in the temple; and they prayed before God that day and its night. The chief priest went into the temple and gave to each of them his staff, and when Joseph took his staff in his hand, there went forth from it a white dove, and hovered over the top of the rod, and sat upon it. The chief priest drew near to Joseph and kissed him on his head, and said to him, 'The blessed maiden has fallen to thy lot from the Lord; take her to thee until she arrives at the age for marriage, and (then) make a marriage feast after the manner and custom of men; for it is meet for thee (to do so) more than others, because ye are cousins.' Joseph said to the chief priest, 'I am an old and feeble man, and this is a girl, and unfit for my aged condition; it is better to give her to one of her own age, because I cannot rely upon myself to watch her and guard her.' The chief priest said to him, 'Take heed that thou dost not transgress the command of God, and bring a punishment upon thee.' So Joseph took Mary, and went to his dwelling-place.

Some days after the priests distributed various coloured silken threads to weave for the veil of the sanctuary; and it fell to Mary's lot to weave purple. And while she was in the temple in prayer, having placed incense before the Lord, suddenly the archangel Gabriel appeared to her in the form of a middle-aged man, and a sweet odour was diffused from him; and Mary was terrified at the sight of the angel.

CHAPTER XXXV.

OF THE ANNUNCIATION BY GABRIEL TO MARY OF THE CONCEPTION OF OUR LORD.

AT the ninth hour of the first day of the week, on the twenty-fifth of the month of Adar,--though some say on the first day of the month of Nisan, which is correct,--in the three hundred and seventh year of Alexander the son of Philip, or of Nectanebus, the Macedonian, six months after Elizabeth's conception of John, the archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said to her, 'Peace be to thee, O full of grace! our Lord is with thee, O blessed among women!' As for her, when she saw (him), she was terrified at his words, and was thinking what this salutation was. The angel said to her, 'Fear not Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, "our God is with us." This (child) shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest.' Mary said to the angel, 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to thy word.' And the angel went away from her. In those days Mary arose, and went to Elizabeth het cousin, and she went in and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard Mary's salutation, the babe leaped in her womb, and John in Elizabeth's womb bowed down to our Lord in Mary's womb, as a servant to his master. Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her house. After the lapse of six months, Joseph saw that Mary had conceived, and he was troubled in his mind, and said, 'What answer shall I give to the high priest in respect of this trial which has befallen me?' And because he relied upon the purity of his spouse, he fell into perplexity and doubt, and said to her, 'Whence hast thou this? and who has beguiled thee, O perfect dove? Wast thou not brought up with the pure virgins and venerable matrons in the temple of the Lord?' And she wept, saying, 'As the Lord God liveth, I have never known man nor had connexion with any one;' but she did not speak to him of the angel and the cause of her conception. Then Joseph meditated within himself and said, 'If I reveal this matter before men, I fear lest it may be from God; and if I keep it back and hide it, I fear the rebuke and penalty of the law.' For the Jews did not approach their wives until they made a feast to the high priest, and then they took them. And Joseph thought that he would put her away secretly; and while he was pondering these things in his heart, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, 'Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary thy wife; for that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit.' He spake well when he said 'in her,' and not 'of her.'

And the priests heard of Mary's conception, and they made an accusation against Joseph, as if deceit had been found in him. Joseph said, 'As the Lord liveth, I know not the cause of her conception;' and Mary likewise swore this. There was a custom among the Jews that, when any one of them was accused with an accusation, they made him drink 'the water of trial;' if he were innocent, he was not hurt, but if he were guilty, his belly swelled, and his body became swollen, and the mark of chastisement appeared in him. When they had made Mary and Joseph drink of the water of trial, and they were not hurt, the high priest commanded Joseph to guard her diligently until they saw the end of this matter.