Isa in the Cradle
- philhoraia
- Dec 31, 2022
- 2 min read
S 3:45-46 When the angels said: Maryam, Allah gives you good news of a word from him. His name is The Messiah Isa Son Of Maryam, a dignitary in the dunya and the hereafter and of the Muqarrabun. /And he speaks to people in the cradle and in middle age and is among the righteous.
'Middle age'. The historical Jesus died in his early 30s, and not in middle age. The word I've translated "in middle age" has also been understood to signify 'in extreme old age'.
S 19:29-33 Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we speak to one who was in the cradle, a boy? /He said: I am Allah’s slave. He has given me the Book and made me a prophet /And made me blessed wherever I was and enjoined upon me salat and zakat as long as I was alive /And pious towards my mother and he has not made me a tyrant, naughty /And peace is upon me a day I was born and a day I die and a day I am raised alive.
The notion of a talking baby Jesus was picked up by the author, the 'Ear'. From the Arabic Infancy Gospel:
1. “We find what follows in the book of Joseph the high priest, who lived in the time of Christ. Some say that he is Caiaphas. He has said that Jesus spoke, and, indeed, when He was lying in His cradle said to Mary His mother: I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Logos, whom thou hast brought forth, as the Angel Gabriel announced to thee; and my Father has sent me for the salvation of the world.”
As we can see, what the child in the 'gospel' says is markedly different from what the child in the Quran says.
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