A young woman holds a baby in her arms. The child is hers, even though she is a virgin. But the young woman in this case is not Mary of Nazareth, but an unnamed daughter of an Egyptian Pharaoh (Exod 2:6-10). True, she is an adoptive mother, not a biological one. She seems to be unmarried, since she is identified only with reference to her father. And the birth story of Moses has suspicious resemblances to the much older birth legend of Sargon. Nevertheless, the parallels the gospels set up between Jesus and Moses make it interesting that in Moses' background is a strange tale of virginal motherhood.
A few contemporary writings to Isaiah 7 that are interesting:
• Akkadian-Sumerian psalm to Assur (broken) may refer to the Assyrian King Tukulti-Ninurta I being “begotten by the god Enlil and placed in a maiden”. Hard to say for certain as it’s broken.
• Sumerian literature claiming that the god Ningirsu implanted the King of Lagash, Eannatum, in his mothers womb
Also interesting is that there’s an exact Ugaritic equivalent to Isaiah 7 saying “behold, the young woman will bear a son”. In that text it’s referring to the Canaanite moon-goddess Nikkal giving birth, and the baby remains unnamed, but it’s fascinating that this rhetoric was present, and generally concerning royalty.
It’s hard to say how aware Matthew would have been of 5-10th century BCE sign-birth patterns outside of the Hebrew Bible, but he almost subverts the pattern in that the “king” being announced has no earthly royalty or political power.
A young woman holds a baby in her arms. The child is hers, even though she is a virgin. But the young woman in this case is not Mary of Nazareth, but an unnamed daughter of an Egyptian Pharaoh (Exod 2:6-10). True, she is an adoptive mother, not a biological one. She seems to be unmarried, since she is identified only with reference to her father. And the birth story of Moses has suspicious resemblances to the much older birth legend of Sargon. Nevertheless, the parallels the gospels set up between Jesus and Moses make it interesting that in Moses' background is a strange tale of virginal motherhood.
Absolutely fascinating, as ever, Darek. I had not noticed this connection before!
This is a great read!
A few contemporary writings to Isaiah 7 that are interesting:
• Akkadian-Sumerian psalm to Assur (broken) may refer to the Assyrian King Tukulti-Ninurta I being “begotten by the god Enlil and placed in a maiden”. Hard to say for certain as it’s broken.
• Sumerian literature claiming that the god Ningirsu implanted the King of Lagash, Eannatum, in his mothers womb
Also interesting is that there’s an exact Ugaritic equivalent to Isaiah 7 saying “behold, the young woman will bear a son”. In that text it’s referring to the Canaanite moon-goddess Nikkal giving birth, and the baby remains unnamed, but it’s fascinating that this rhetoric was present, and generally concerning royalty.
It’s hard to say how aware Matthew would have been of 5-10th century BCE sign-birth patterns outside of the Hebrew Bible, but he almost subverts the pattern in that the “king” being announced has no earthly royalty or political power.