Recommended Book on Academia / Livre recommandé sur Academia Les Noces de Cana, détail (Véronèse, 1562-1563) Jésus était-il marié ? Extrait de : Thierry Murcia, Marie-Madeleine : l'insoupço...
Your explanation is convincing. However, many scholars say that Jesus was married. But these are the ones, obviously, who are not hampered by orthodoxy or conventional ideas ...
Really? So, show me a single authentic ancient text, whether of Jewish, Christian, Gnostic (exit Mary Magdalene ...), or pagan origin, which claims that Jesus had a wife!
I don’t know any.
Because there is none. The oldest witnesses – Tatian, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Methodius of Olympus ... – are categorical. According to them, Jesus was celibate.
But they are Christian authors. Their testimony is not only late, but also biased.
Maybe. But in the meantime, they are also the witnesses of the oldest tradition! Furthermore, no ancient author – not even among the fiercest opponents of Christianity – has ever thought to question it ...
However, we all agree today that it was then an obligation for all male Jews to take a wife and have children!
You mean “according to rabbinic prescriptions”, I suppose?
Yes. Celibacy was condemned by the rabbis.
You are right, and if it was voluntary, the absence of descendants was regarded as a fault. We also read in the Talmud that a man must marry between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four and, preferably, between the ages of eighteen and twenty. But these prescriptions are also late.
Weren’t they already in force at the time of Jesus?
Not only were these prescriptions not yet in effect at this time, but it is these same rabbinic sources which testify that even after the destruction of the Temple (70 CE), celibacy was still widely practiced within Jewish society. The Talmud is forced to take this into account in its legislation and more than one rabbi, whose names have come down to us, was concerned.
And, according to you, the rabbis did not condemn celibacy?
It depends on what era we are talking about. In Talmudic literature, there are some passages that condemn celibacy as well as some others that praise the merits of the celibate and chaste rabbi. In fact, rabbinic thought, which is heir to Pharisaism, evolved considerably between the time of Jesus and the beginning of the Middle Ages. It is more especially the rabbis of Babylon (who have completed the writing of their own corpus between the sixth century and the end of the eighth century) who seek to discredit celibacy.
And what about at the time of Jesus?
It should first of all be observed that if the “Judaism” we know today is more or less reduced to “Rabbinism”, things were very different in the first century.
Were there several currents of thought?
Yes, there were several. Before the destruction of the Second Temple, Judaism was plural and divided into several “sects”: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Baptists, Therapeutae ... to speak only of the best known. Not only did none of these sects exercise a form of “monopoly”, but most Jews probably did not identify with any of them.
But what about the issue of celibacy?
There was no consensus on this issue. Opinions could differ considerably from one current of thought to another, or even within the same current.
So, perhaps celibacy was criticized and rejected by some of them? ...
I am ready to admit it. But let someone show me at least one document from this era that discredits celibacy!
Are there none?
I don’t know any, anyway. On the contrary, the opposite is observed: in all ancient sources that refer to it, celibacy is honored. See Philo of Alexandria who praises its merits. See the Therapeutae who are presented by the same philosopher as a model of holiness. See the Essenes: most lived in the strictest celibacy and they are still described with admiration by all the ancient writers whether they are Jews or pagans.
That is true. The celibacy of the Essenes is well attested.
But see also the hermit Bannos – of whom Flavius Josephus was for some time a disciple – or even John the Baptist. If I assume that these two ascetics were obviously celibate, will anyone seek to contradict me with these later Talmudic prescriptions that condemn celibacy?
I don’t think so ...
Note that in the first century, the opponents of John the Baptist were in the minority. In the eyes of most of his contemporaries John was “a just and holy man”, believed by many to be a prophet. Jesus even speaks of him as “the greatest among the children of women” and presents him as the “new Elijah”. Now Elijah, just like his disciple Elisha, was known in the ancient tradition for having remained single. And note that, while some Jews of his time wondered if the Baptist would not be the Messiah, none, however, thought of reproaching him for his way of life.
But was it not ultimately the Apostle Paul who introduced celibacy into Christianity?
Paul was affiliated with the Pharisees. He does not introduce anything new. He does not introduce anything new, but recommends a certain way of life already known and practiced in certain Jewish circles. See the author of the Apocalypse who clearly has no connection with Paul. He too, however, clearly praises male virginity. And remember what Jesus himself said, according to Matthew: “There are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.”Such words are clearly indicative of the high esteem in which chastity and continence – and therefore celibacy – were held. Celibacy and chastity were not born from nothing, but were rooted in their time and place. We read in The Wisdom of Solomon, a book written just a few decades before the birth of Christianity: “Better it is to have no children, and to have virtue.”
According to the Gospels, Jesus was followed by a group of women. Why can’t we imagine that one of them was his companion?
Everyone can imagine what they want. But, in that case, she would be an illustrious stranger. For, apart from his own mother, all women who are called by name in the Gospels already have a husband, including Salome. On the contrary, it seems quite clear that the life that Jesus lives then is not compatible with a married life. To the well-known question of Jesus to his disciples: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They answered him bluntly: “Some [say] John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
So what?
And so this passage, which seems unimportant, is actually crucial. It provides us an indirect – but decisive evidence – which has completely escaped the attention of scholars until now ...
Which one?
These three prophets, with whom Jesus is spontaneously identified by his disciples, were not chosen at random. According to common opinion at the time, all three remained single. And so it is with Elisha, and Jesus compares himself to Elisha in another passage of the Gospels.
Maybe it’s a simple ... coincidence?
It is a word that is dear to you!
I am just playing devil’s advocate.
It is obvious that it is the way of life adopted by Jesus that leads to these comparisons! The opinion of his contemporaries is based only on what they themselves witness. How, after the death of John, could a man with family responsibilities have been taken for the risen Baptist? Whether we like it or not, in the first century, the prophetic and messianic atmosphere unquestionably goes hand in hand with celibacy.
So that means that Jesus never had a wife?
All the direct and indirect data we have on this question, as well as the historical and socio-cultural context in which he lived, suggest that Jesus was not married. And this is also what the oldest tradition says. So, even if it is not the only possible option, it is historically the one that seems, for the moment, the most likely. But one last element must be accounted: you could stay single for a long time before taking a wife. As such, the rabbinic texts that say that a man should marry around the age of twenty are the expression of a desire to establish a norm, rather than a reflection of a lived reality. On the contrary, several sources indicate that the ideal age for a man to marry was between thirty and forty years. Thus, in another rabbinic writing, it is said:
It is customary for a man to marry at the age of thirty or forty.
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