Anna and the Conception of Mary
The parents of Mary, Joachim and Anna, had no children, and this caused them great sadness. They are discussed in the first 4 chapters of the Protevangelium. Eventually, each of them received an angelic visitation revealing that Anna will get pregnant. Once Joachim received his angelic visitation, he returned home to Jerusalem from the hill country where he had been in retreat.
The annunciation to Anna shows that she will conceive and ‘bring forth a child and your offspring shall be known throughout the world’. Anna then prophecies, ‘As the Lord my God lives, if I bear a child, whether male or female, I will offer it to the Lord my God, and it shall serve him all the days of its life’ (Protevangelium 4.1).
This is a nazirite vow and it dedicates Anna’s child as a servant of the Lord who is required to follow the holiness law of the temple.
Once Joachim returns to Jerusalem, the narrative demonstrates that this is the time when their child was conceived. Details in the narrative indicate that Mary was conceived on the day of rest, the Sabbath. It is only with her birth that they will discover that the child is a girl. She is named ‘Mary’.
Other biblical prophecies speak of this moment, but the story of Mary is just beginning. The prophetic record becomes increasingly clear as the story progresses. The fundamental moments in the story of Mary are predicted in a number of Isaian prophecies.
For Zion’s sake, I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. … You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:1, 4–5).
For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight (Isaiah 65:17–18).
