dismiss thy servant in peace, according to what thou hast said, for mine eyes have seen thy mercy which thou hast prepared for the salvation of all peoples, a light to all nations, and a glory to thy people Israel. Hannah also, a prophetess, was present there, and came, giving thanks to God, and declaring lady Mary happy.[1]
CHAPTER VII.
And it came to pass when the Lord Jesus was born at Bethlehem of Judah, in the time of Herod the King, behold Magi came from the east to Jerusalem, as Zerdusht had predicted: and they had with them gifts, gold, incense, and myrrh; and they worshipped him and offered unto him their gifts. Then lady Mary took one of his swaddling bands and gave it them for a little reward, and they received it from her with great honour. And the same hour there appeared unto them an angel in the form of the star which had been the guide of their way before; and following the leading of its light they departed, until they reached their own country.[2]
- ↑ Luke ii. 25-38.
- ↑ Matt. ii. 1-12. The mention of Zerdusht or Zoroaster in this chapter accords with an old Christian notion in the East, that he was the same as Balaam, and predicted the rising of the star. Some made him a disciple of Elijah, but an old priest from Oroomiah mentioned the other opinion to me as the true one. See the article Zerdascht in D'Herhelot's Bibliotheque Orientale. Brunet refers to the Biographie Universelle, vol. lii., and Norberg's De Zoroastre Bactriano. See, too, Hettinger's Historia Orientalis, ii. 6, 16; and also the note of Thilo, Codex Apoc., p. 139.
