The Christmas Story/Stories as Early Jewish Narrative(s): Some Highlights

The Christmas story in Luke's Gospel emerges as a sophisticated early Jewish narrative that skillfully weaves together Mediterranean cultural motifs - from virgin births to shepherd-kings - with Jewish messianic hopes. Through familiar symbols and themes, Luke crafts a politically charged message about divine justice that would resonate with both Jewish and Greco-Roman audiences.

In German nativity plays and representations, the quite different accounts of Jesus's birth are often merged together - Herod the child-killer, the shepherds in the field who later meet the three wise men. Here, we'll focus specifically on Luke's version of the Christmas story.

In our project (the Digital Corpus Judaeo-Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti), we work from the premise that the writings of early Jesus followers were part of ancient Jewish discourse. The so-called "parting of the ways" between Jesus followers and their parent religion occurred gradually, varied by region, and wasn't complete until the middle of the second century. We're very mindful that ancient Judaism was highly diverse and deeply intertwined with both Hellenistic culture and regional characteristics, both in its homeland and throughout the diaspora.

In preparation for a radio interview, we've been exploring our sources, including the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) and other early Jewish texts, looking for motifs and themes that appear in the Christmas story. Here are some highlights...

Mary, the virgin

The virgin birth is controversial today. In antiquity, however, supernatural conception and/or birth was a common marker of exceptional individuals. According to legend, Alexander the Great was said to descend from Hercules. Ancient Near Eastern rulers viewed themselves as sons of gods (beginning with Gilgamesh, who was supposedly two-thirds divine in origin). Jewish people were familiar with similar stories about the matriarchs like Sarah, Rachel, and Rebecca, who were miraculously freed from childlessness by God in their old age and gave birth to children who would later play crucial roles in Jewish history.

Divine conception and virgin birth were therefore not unusual concepts for people living around the Mediterranean in antiquity. Luke likely included the virgin narrative for several reasons. The most important was the quotation from Isaiah 7:14 in the Septuagint (LXX):

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Emmanuel."

Unlike the Hebrew word ʿalmah (עַלְמָה), which can simply mean "young woman," the Greek translation is unambiguous, using parthenos (παρθένος) - meaning specifically "virgin."

Image Description: A nativity scene from British Library manuscript Or. 481, folio 100v. Against a blue background, various colorful figures are depicted: angels in the upper portion, an ox, a donkey, and two sheep distributed throughout the image. Mary lies in the center of the image, while Joseph is positioned in the lower left corner, scratching his beard. Jesus appears twice in the image: once lying in the center, and once in the arms of a woman who stands with another woman next to Joseph. These are likely the two midwives who appear in the Protoevangelium of James. Dating: Second half of the 17th century.

In our corpus, such a virgin birth appears only one other time: Melchizedek, in the 2nd Book of Enoch (also called Slavonic Enoch, Chapter 71), is born to a virgin named Sopanima. She is married to a priest who has never touched her. In her old age, shortly before her death, she miraculously becomes pregnant and hides herself out of shame. We recognize this motif from Mary's story, who stays with her cousin Elizabeth for three months. When Sopanima's husband learns of her pregnancy just before the birth, he becomes very angry. Sopanima dies in his presence. Her husband Nir and Noah secretly prepare everything for the burial. During this time, a small boy emerges from Sopanima. He is already like a three-year-old, fully clothed and able to speak. The boy becomes the mystical founder of a new priesthood, which explains why his birth is told with such elaborate embellishments.

Virgins also play a significant role in non-Jewish literature. In the first century, a text by Virgil was very famous - the Fourth Eclogue from his Pastoral Poems (Bucolica). Virgil wasn't alone in writing such pastoral poetry; Seneca and Calpurnius Siculus did as well. These were typically commissioned works meant to praise Roman emperors, who were said to have ushered in a Golden Age. This Golden Age was supposedly a time before humans killed each other in wars driven by the desire for power - an era of natural abundance, justice, and peace.

The New Age

Judaism also knew of such an era. They had adopted the concept of a paradise-like state from Mesopotamian culture. In that tradition, the time before the flood was considered a golden age of longevity and closeness to God, which ended with the fall of the angels. The angels, seduced by the beautiful women of humankind, descended from heaven and taught humans the art of warfare, women's cosmetics, and other celestial secrets. This story appears in the 1st Book of Enoch in the Book of the Watchers (also called Ethiopian Enoch, Chapters 6-9).

Virgil celebrates the beginning of the new world age in his Fourth Eclogue:

The final age that the Sibylline prophecy foretold has now arrived... A great order rises from the centuries. The virgin returns, and Saturn's reign returns; a new race of people descends from the heights of heaven. During the birth of this boy, who will bring an end to the Iron Age and usher in a Golden Age across the world, pure Lucina, shine favorably...

The young boy in Virgil's poem was interpreted to be Augustus. The virgin mentioned is likely Astraea, Zeus's virgin daughter, who ascended to heaven in disappointment over human injustice. She embodies Justice itself. The evangelist Luke found here a perfect opportunity to convey Jewish motifs (the narrative interpretation of Isaiah 7:14 LXX) to Greeks and Romans as a hope shared across the ancient world.

At the same time, Luke criticizes the imperial cult by having the divine child born to a Jewish woman in a stable in a distant Roman province. He has this woman declare beforehand:

"He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever." (Luke 1:51-55)

Here, Luke concentrates a hope that we find in many places throughout our sources. For example, in Psalm of Solomon 17, a messianic psalm from a Septuagint collection:

"Look, O Lord, and raise up for them their king, the son of David, at the time you have chosen for him to reign over Israel, your servant. Strengthen him with power to destroy the unrighteous rulers, to purify Jerusalem from the gentiles who trample her down to destruction."

A people oppressed not only by Roman occupiers but also by their own rulers and priests hopes for deliverance from this terrible situation. This salvation is to be brought by a king by God's grace from the line of David - hence the significance of Bethlehem, where the new king is born. This was also the city where David spent his youth.

Shepherds

In nativity plays, shepherds are typically portrayed as society's poorest members. While not incorrect from an ancient perspective, this interpretation misses what would have been an obvious allusion to ancient audiences. In antiquity, the shepherd was a symbol for kings and emperors. This symbolism dates back to the Epic of Gilgamesh, where Gilgamesh is depicted as the shepherd of Uruk, the city of sheepfolds. Similarly, David, Israel's ideal king, was first a shepherd and then became the shepherd of his people.

We find an extended treatment of rulers as shepherds in Ezekiel chapter 34. This complex text begins with criticism of the shepherds (rulers) of Israel, then transitions to hope that God will shepherd his sheep personally, ushering in an era of salvation. This hope is temporarily clouded by the prospect of judgment (verse "Behold, I will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep") before returning to the arrival of the "other shepherd" (verse 23), associated with David. The sheep - the people of Israel - will then dwell in their homeland, freed from slavery and living in peace.

Luke's shepherds, sitting in darkness at night, are therefore metaphors for rulers who are ignorant of God's power. They receive what appears to be a message of salvation, but is actually a challenge to their authority.

In this way, Luke weaves together criticism of rulers with hope for the people of Israel. This people awaits a divine savior - whether priest, prophet (like Moses or Elijah), or king, ideally all three combined (as hoped for by the Qumran community). The royal motif is unmistakable in Luke's birth narrative. The priestly aspect appears only peripherally, with the birth stories of John and Jesus beginning with the priest Zechariah and ending with circumcision and temple offering on the eighth day. The prophetic component then runs through the rest of the Gospel, with Jesus preaching and performing miracles like Elijah.

The Christmas Story/Stories as Early Jewish Narrative(s): Some Highlights

Mary, the virgin

The New Age

Shepherds

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