LiTKRATPRE. -Schiirer, ffyp ii. i. pp. 174-184, 195-206, and ' Die ctpziiffs iin NT • m SK, 1872, pp. 593-657 ; Edersheim, Life and Times ofJemt the Metsiah, i. p. 322 f. ; Ewald, BI vii p 479 ff. ; Hastinsts' J)B, artt. ' Priests and Levitcs ' and ■ Priest in NT'; Hauck-HerzoK, PliE\ art. 'Hoher Priester'; Jetmsh Encvc art. ' High Priest." J. Q L,\MBERT.
CHILDHOOD.J— i. The Childhood of Jesus.— In the Lukan narratives of the Infancy and Child- hood our Lord is described both as tA iraiSlov 'ItjitoDs
iVeif JL esiamem, renaers tcpxt'-p'-if ' nign pi
has also been adopted b.v the editor of Tlie Correcteil Fmilisl
Sew Testament (1905).
t When ifx'iti'! ore mentioned in the NT along witli yfxuux- TE7r and itpt^^v-ripci^ they almost invariably occupy the first
t For the Greek terms relating to the period of childhood, see following article.
in His earliest years (Lk 2"- *' : so also in Mt 2 throughout), and as 'IjjiroDs 6 ttois when twelve years old. Beyond, however, the brief stories of Mt 2 and Lk 2 we seek in vain for any information having any authority whatever concerning the early years of Jesus, or, for that matter, any part of His life prior to the Ministry. And what small fragments these beautiful stories are ! This dearth of in- formation for which so great a craving has been felt has repeatedly been remarked on : yet, after all, need we wonder very much at the silence of the Evangelical narratives concerning these matters? The early life of Jesus appears not to have come within their scope ; for tlie purpose of the Evan- gelical compilation was not to furnish a ' Life ' in the modern sense, but to set forth a gospel. Their interest in Jesus in this respect begins pre-emi- nently with His baptism, as the simple exordium of St. Mark's Gospel indicates — ' The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.' Even in the case of St. Luke's Gospel, with its peculiar stock of early narratives in clis. 1. 2, the preface to the Acts indicates that its great concern was with the things that Jesus did and taught (Ac 1'). What- ever may be our views as to the source and au- thority of what is recorded in Mt 1. 2, and whether we care to use the term ' envelope ' (see Bacon, Introd. p. 198) or not in speaking of this portion of the Gospel, it is clear that these two chapters are something superadded to the main body of the Synoptic tradition ; and it is the same with Lk 1. 2. The main narrative begins in the case of each of these Gospels at ch. 3, where parallels with St. Mark also begin to be furnished.
All that we have in the Canonical Gospels con- cerning the childhood of Jesus, strictly speaking, is found in Lk 2^»-'2. The first twelve years are covered by v.*, whilst v.'- has to suffice for all the remaining years up to the commencement of the Ministry. The writer has nothin" to tell save the story of the Visit to the Temple, and contents himself for the rest with simple general statements in Hebraic phraseology that irresistibly reminds us of what is said of ' the child Samuel '(IS 2^^- =«). He has used practically the same formula to cover years of John the Baptist's history (1*"). As for the story of the Visit to the Temple, there is that about it which carries conviction that we have here a genuine and delightful glimpse of our Lord in His childhood— one only glimpse, which, however, suffices to show us what manner of child He was, on the principle of ex uno discc onincs. It is to be noted that there is no hint that He was regarded as a prodigy by His parents and the neighbours with whom He travelled up to Jerusalem. The element of the merely marvellous is at a minimum. The wonder that does show itself is in the region of the spirit, and appears in the beautiful intelli- gence and rare spiritual gleams (vv.■"-^)-^vllich the Boy displayed, astonishing alike to the Rabbis and to His bewildered parents.
The silence and restraint of the Canonical Gospels on this subject are best appreciated when viewed against the background which the Apocryphal Gospels supply. Perhaps the most valuable ser- vice that the latter writings render is that com- parison with them so strongly brings out the intrinsic value and superiority ' of our Canonical Gospels. They show us conclusively what men with a free hand could and would do. This is conspicuously the case with reference to the early years of Jesus. The extravagant and miraculous stories told concerning His infancy and childhood, taken by themselves, would suffice to crush out the historicity of Jesus and consign Him to the region of the mythical. We seek in vain in these AVTitings for anything like a sober account of our Lord's growth and general history during this
CHILDHOOD
CHILDHOOD
299
period : we hnd nothing bnt a congeries of grotesque wonder-tales concerning the doings of the Boy. His miraculous powers prove to be of singular advantage to Joseph, for when a beam or plank has been cut too short Jesus rectifies the mistake by merely pulling it out to the required length. He changes boys into kids, and anon restores them to their former condition. He carries both fire and water quite easily in His cloak. When play- ing with other boys and making figures of various beasts and birds, Jesus makes those He had formed •walk and fly, and eat and drink. Wonderful works of healing are also ascribed to the Child ; and some of them take strange forms, in curious contrast to the stories of the works of Jesus found in our Gospels. E.fi. Simon the Cananaean as a boy is nigh to death through having been bitten by a serpent. Jesus makes the serpent itself come and suck out all the poison from the wound ; then He curses it, and immediately the creature bursts asunder. Tlie cure of demoniacs, of lepers, of the blind and maimed and sick, and the raising of the dead, are all ascribed to the Child Jesus, and always with more or less grotesqueness of cir- cumstance. Strangest thing of all, a whole series of vindictive and destructive miracles are given which offer the most flagrant contrast to all that we know of our Lord, and wliich, if true, would have made Him a veritable terror to all with whom He came into contact. Boys who thwart Him in play are immediately struck dead: others wlio take action against Him are blinded. It is true the mischief is usually repaired by Him in re- sponse to earnest entreaty ; but the vengeful malevolence is conspicuous throughout. In the stories, again, relating to His early education, Jesus is represented as being nn enfant terrible to more than one master to whom He was sent to learn His letters. But a comparison of the story of the Visit to the Temple, as told in the Arabic Gospel of the Itifanq/ and other such writ- ings, with the narrative as we have it in Lk 2, serves as well as possible to .show the untrust- worthy character of the Apocryphal Gospels, whatever curious interest may attach to them. For the simple and natural statement of St. Luke, that 'all that heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers,' we find Him represented as not only getting the upper hand of the great Rabbis in relation to the knowledge of the Torah, but as giving profound instruction to philosophers in astronomy, natural science, and medicine, explaining to them 'physics and meta- physics, hyperphysics and hypophysics,' and many other things.