1 Sam. i. 11, &c.PRESENTATION. By this Word is generally understood the Presentation made by the Parents, of their First-born Children to the Lord in the Temple; or that which they made of their Children, or of any other thing, that they had vowed to present to the Lord. Thus Samuel the Son of Elkanah, and of Hannah, was presented to the Lord on these two Accounts, both as the First-born of Hannah, and as vow’d by her to the Lord. As the First-born, he might have been redeem’d and restor’d to Lev. xxvii. 6.his Parents for the Sum of five Shekels: But having been vow’d to the Lord, to be employ’d in his Service all the Days of his Life, he continued at the Tabernacle from the Age of three Years, where he perform’d all the Services he was capable of.
The Holy Virgin presented our Saviour at the Temple, on the Day of her Purification, Luke ii. 22, &c.because he was her First-born; and she redeem’d him, according to the Law, for the Sum of five Shekels. The same obtain’d as to all the First-born in Israel.
Lastly, there is an antient Tradition in the Church, delivered in very antient Monuments, Protevang. Jacobi n. 7, 8, 9, 10.though but little credited because of some Circumstances found therein which are false and uncertain, that the Virgin Mary was devoted to the Temple by her Parents; that she was presented there at the Age of two Years; that she abode there, and was fed by the Hand of an Angel, till she was twelve Years old. Then the Priests said to the High-Priest Zachariah, ‘Tis time to place out Mary, for fear the Temple of the Lord should be defiled. Betake yourself therefore to Prayer, and we will perform whatever the Lord shall reveal to you. Zachariah having put on the sacred Habit, enter’d into the Sanctuary; and as he was at Prayer, the Angel of the Lord said to him; Assemble the Elders of the People, and let each of them bring a Wand, and he shall be appointed for Mary’s Husband, by whose Wand God shall perform a Miracle. All the Elders of Israel met therefore at the Temple, and each of them gave in his Wand, which they received again the next Day, without any thing extraordinary appearing. But when the High-priest gave Joseph his Wand again, a Dove arose from it, and lighted upon Joseph’s Head. Then the High-priest gave him to Wife Mary, the Daughter of Joachim and Ann.
Evangel. de Nativ. Mariæ. n. 6, 7, 8.The Gospel of the Birth of the Virgin, says much the same thing; That Mary was offer’d at the Temple by her Parents, to be bred up there with the Girls that were there kept. That having arrived to the Age of fourteen Years, the High-priest said to all the Girls of that Age, that they might return to their Parents to be disposed of in Matrimony. But Mary answer’d, that she had been offer’d for ever to the Service of the Lord, and that she had taken a Vow of Virginity. Then the High-priest not knowing what Resolution to take in a Case so extraordinary, betook himself to Prayer with all the People that were then assembled in the Temple, being then a great Festival. The High-priest then heard a Voice from the midst of the Sanctuary, that he should assemble all those that were unmarried of the Family of David, and that Mary should be given to him whose Wand should flourish, and upon whom the Holy Ghost should alight in the Shape of a Dove.
Joseph was therefore convened among the rest, who was now very old. And as at first he did not present his Wand, God did not cause any extraordinary Sign to appear; but the second time having brought his Wand with the others, it flourished and the Holy Ghost alighted upon it in Form of a Dove. So Mary was given to him, that he might be the Guardian of her Virginity. I know that these Legends are of no Authority in the Church; but the principal Fact, to which these Circumstances have been added, is however certain. That is, that the Holy Virgin was presented at the Temple, that she had made a Vow of Virginity, and that she marry’d Joseph, who was to be only the Guardian and the Witness of her Virginity. In the antient Greek Fathers we find some Allusions to these Histories; but these Circumstances in general are not more to be trusted in the Fathers themselves, than in those Originals from whence they have taken them.
Luke ii. 36 Lev. xxvii. 6. Ex. xxxviii. 8. 1 Kings ii. 22.There is no Law in the Old Testament, by which the Parents were obliged to offer their First-born Daughters to the Lord; and we have no Evidence that it was the Custom to breed up young Girls in the Temple. Moses ordains, That if a Girl had been vow’d to the Lord, from the Age of a Month to five Years old, she was redeem’d by giving to the Temple, or to the Priests, the Sum of three Shekels. It is true, there is Mention made in two Places of the Scripture, of devout Women that waited at the Door of the Tabernacle; and St. Luke speaks of the Daughter of Phanuel, who did not stir from the Temple. But there is no Probability that these Persons were dedicated to the Lord from their Infancy, or that they continued always in the Temple, without the Power of quitting it and marrying themselves. On the contrary, it is very probable, that these Persons were under no other Obligation of continuing there, than what their own Devotion or Resolutions had laid upon them.