Chapter 8.
Now it came to pass, when she was
fourteen1632
years old, and
on this account there was occasion for the
Pharisees’ saying that
it was now a
custom that no
woman of that age should
abide in the
temple of
God, they
fell upon the plan of sending a herald through all the
tribes of
Israel, that on the third day all should come together into the
temple
of the
Lord. And when all the people had come together, Abiathar
the high
priest rose, and mounted on a higher step, that he might be
seen and heard by all the people; and when great
silence had been
obtained, he said: Hear me, O sons of
Israel, and receive my
words into your
ears. Ever since this
temple was built by
Solomon, there have been in it
virgins, the
daughters of kings and the
daughters of
prophets, and of high
priests and
priests; and they were
great, and worthy of admiration. But when they came to the proper
age they were given in
marriage, and followed the course of their
mothers before them, and were pleasing to
God. But a new order of
life has been found out by
Mary alone, who
promises that she will
remain a
virgin to
God. Wherefore it seems to me, that through
our inquiry and the answer of
God we should try to ascertain to whose
keeping she ought to be entrusted. Then these words found favour
with all the
synagogue. And the lot was cast by the
priests upon
the twelve
tribes, and the lot fell upon the
tribe of
Judah. And
the
priest said: To-morrow let every one who has no
wife come,
and bring his
rod in his
hand. Whence it happened that
Joseph1633
| 1633 One of
themss. adds: Seeing that he had not a
wife, and not wishing to slight the order of the high
priest. |
brought his
rod along with the young men. And the
rods having been handed
over to the high
priest, he offered a
sacrifice to the
Lord God, and
inquired of the
Lord. And the
Lord said to him: Put all
their
rods into the holy of holies of
God, and let them remain there,
and order them to come to thee on the morrow to get back their
rods;
and the man from the point of whose
rod a
dove shall come forth, and
fly towards
heaven, and in whose
hand the
rod, when given back, shall
exhibit this sign, to him let
Mary be
delivered to be kept.
On the following day, then, all having assembled
early, and an incense-offering having been made, the high priest went
into the holy of holies, and brought forth the rods. And when he
had distributed the rods,1634
| 1634 One of
themss. inserts: To the number of three
thousand. |
and the
dove
came forth out of none of them, the high
priest put on the twelve
bells
1635
and the sacerdotal
robe; and entering
into the holy of holies, he there made a
burnt-offering, and poured
forth a prayer. And the
angel of the
Lord appeared to him,
saying: There is here the shortest
rod, of which thou hast made
no account: thou didst bring it in with the
rest, but didst not
take it out with them. When thou hast taken it out, and hast
given it him whose it is, in it will appear the sign of which I spoke
to thee. Now that was
Joseph’s
rod; and because he was an
old man, he had been cast off, as it were, that he might not receive
her, but neither did he himself wish to ask back his
rod.
1636
| 1636 Another and more
probable reading is: And this was Joseph’s rod; and he was
of an abject appearance, seeing that he was old, and he would not ask
back his rod, lest perchance he might be forced to receive her. |
And when he was humbly standing
last of all, the high
priest cried out to him with a loud voice,
saying: Come,
Joseph, and receive thy
rod; for we are waiting for
thee. And
Joseph came up trembling, because the high
priest had
called him with a very loud voice. But as soon as he stretched
forth his
hand, and laid hold of his
rod, immediately from the top of
it came forth a
dove whiter than
snow,
beautiful exceedingly, which,
after long flying about the roofs of the
temple, at length
flew towards
the heavens. Then all the people congratulated the old man,
saying: Thou hast been made
blessed in thine old age, O
father
Joseph, seeing that
God hath shown thee to be fit to receive
Mary. And the
priests having said to him, Take her, because of
all the
tribe of
Judah thou alone hast been chosen by
God;
Joseph began
bashfully to address them, saying: I am an old man, and have
children; why do you
hand over to me this
infant, who is younger than
my grandsons? Then Abiathar the high
priest said to him:
Remember,
Joseph, how Dathan and Abiron and Core
perished, because they
despised the will of
God. So will it happen to thee, if thou
despise this which is commanded thee by
God.
Joseph answered
him: I indeed do not
despise the will of
God; but I shall be her
guardian until I can ascertain concerning the will of
God, as to which
of my sons can have her as his
wife. Let some
virgins of her
companions, with whom she may meanwhile spend her time, be given for a
consolation to her. Abiathar the high
priest answered and
said: Five
virgins indeed shall be given her for consolation,
until the
appointed day come in which thou mayst receive her; for to no
other can she be joined in
marriage.
Then Joseph received Mary, with the other five
virgins who were to be with her in Joseph’s house. These
virgins were Rebecca, Sephora, Susanna, Abigea, and Cael; to whom the
high priest gave the silk, and the blue,1637
and the fine linen, and the
scarlet,
and the
purple, and the fine flax. For they cast lots among
themselves what each
virgin should do, and the
purple for the
veil of
the
temple of the
Lord fell to the lot of
Mary. And when she had
got it, those
virgins said to her: Since thou art the last, and
humble, and younger than all, thou hast deserved to receive and obtain
the
purple. And thus saying, as it were in words of annoyance, they began to
call her
queen of
virgins. While, however, they were so doing,
the
angel of the Lord appeared in the midst of them, saying:
These words shall not have been uttered by way of annoyance, but
prophesied as a prophecy most true. They trembled, therefore, at
the sight of the angel, and at his words, and asked her to pardon them,
and pray for them.
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