The Introduction of Salome

According to the Gospel of James (also known as the Protevangelium of James), a well-known apocryphal text, Salome was a witness of the miraculous birth of Jesus. In canonized scripture she is first mentioned in the New Testament as a disciple of Jesus. She is sometimes identified as the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James and John, two of the Apostles of Jesus, However, her name appears more frequently in apocryphal writings associated with the Savior’s birth. Since Salome is believed to have been present at both the Savior’s birth and death, it is important to know who this woman was and the role she played as a witness of Jesus’s divinity.

The early Church of Jesus Christ was a family affair in many ways. John the Baptist was a cousin to Jesus, and the original Quorum of the Twelve included at least two sets of brothers and probably three: Peter and Andrew, James and John, and probably Matthew and James, who was nicknamed “the Less” to distinguish him for James the Son of Zebedee (Mark 2:14; Mathew 10:3). Therefore, it is probable that Salome was related to either Mary or Joseph. However, when she is mentioned as a “sister of Mary”, it may have reference to their “sisterhood”, and not blood sisters. However, very little is known of Mary’s family and her upbringing.

In the Gospel of James, Salome is identified as the midwife that was to be present at the birth of Jesus but was late in arriving. She is also identified as the midwife of James the Just, Jesus’ brother. In chapters XVIII – XX of the Gospel of James it reads:

XVIII. I And he [Joseph] found a cave there and brought her [Mary] into it, and set his sons by her: and he went forth and sought for a midwife of the Hebrews in the country of Bethlehem. 2 Now I Joseph was walking and I walked not. And I looked up to the air and saw the air in amazement. And I looked up unto the pole of the heaven and saw it standing still, and the fowls of the heaven without motion. And I looked upon the earth and saw a dish set, and workmen lying by it, and their hands were in the dish: and they that were chewing chewed not, and they that were lifting the food lifted it not, and they that put it to their mouth put it not thereto, but the faces of all of them were looking upward. And behold there were sheep being driven, and they went not forward but stood still; and the shepherd lifted his hand to smite them with his staff, and his hand remained up. And I looked upon the stream of the river and saw the mouths of the kids upon the water and they drank not. And of a sudden all things moved onward in their course.

XIX. I And behold a woman coming down from the hill country, and she said to me: Man, whither goest thou? And I said: I seek a midwife of the Hebrews. And she answered and said unto me: Art thou of Israel? And I said unto her: Yea. And she said: And who is she that bringeth forth in the cave? And I said: She that is betrothed unto me. And she said to me: Is she not thy wife? And I said to her: It is Mary that was nurtured up in the temple of the Lord: and I received her to wife by lot: and she is not my wife, but she hath conception by the Holy Ghost. And the midwife said unto him: Is this the truth? And Joseph said unto her: Come hither and see. And the midwife went with him. 2 And they stood in the place of the cave: and behold a bright cloud overshadowing the cave. And the midwife said: My soul is magnified this day, because mine eyes have seen marvelous things: for salvation is born unto Israel. And immediately the cloud withdrew itself out of the cave, and a great light appeared in the cave so that our eyes could not endure it. And by little and little that light withdrew itself until the young child appeared: and it went and took the breast of its mother Mary.

And the midwife cried aloud and said: Great unto me to-day is this day, in that I have seen this new sight. 3 And the midwife went forth of the cave and Salome met her. And she said to her: Salome, Salome, a new sight have I to tell thee. A virgin hath brought forth, which her nature alloweth not. And Salome said: As the Lord my God liveth, if I make not trial and prove her nature I will not believe that a virgin hath brought forth.

XX. 1 And the midwife went in and said unto Mary: Order thyself, for there is no small contention arisen concerning thee. Arid Salome made trial and cried out and said: Woe unto mine iniquity and mine unbelief, because I have tempted the living God, and lo, my hand falleth away from me in fire. And she bowed her knees unto the Lord, saying: O God of my fathers, remember that I am the seed of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob: make me not a public example unto the children of Israel, but restore me unto the poor, for thou knowest, Lord, that in thy name did I perform my cures, and did receive my hire of thee. 3 And lo, an angel of the Lord appeared, saying unto her: Salome, Salome, the Lord hath hearkened to thee: bring thine hand near unto the young child and take him up, and there shall be unto thee salvation and joy. 4 And Salome came near and took him up, saying: I will do him worship, for a great king is born unto Israel. And behold immediately Salome was healed: and she went forth of the cave justified. And Lo, a voice saying: Salome, Salome, tell none of the marvels which thou hast seen, until the child enters into Jerusalem.”

The entire 66th chapter of Isaiah speaks of the Second Coming, but verse 7 is an interesting passage that has reference to the first coming of the Savior into the world: “before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.” The birth of Jesus was not in the ordinary manner of men, as his birth appears to be without the accompanying labor pains of birth. Christ, it would appear, came forth through the veil, not from the womb.

The Arabic Gospel of James adds that when the attending mid-wife entered the cave with Joseph that she beheld that it was filled with light more beautiful than gleaming lamps and candles, more splendid than the light of the sun. When the light gradually diminished, the child was seen “shinning just as the dew of the Most High God.” The cloud that overshadowed Mary in the cave is reminiscent of the cloud of Glory that settled on Sinai (Exod. 24:15-17); the cloud of Glory that consecrated the new tabernacle (Exod. 40:34); the cloud that came to consecrate Solomon’s new temple (Kings 8:10-11); the cloud at the transfiguration as expressed by Matthew; and the cloud that guided the children of Israel through the desert in route to the Promised Land. News of the miraculous birth spread—a child born without pain and blood, and to a virgin—before and after the birth.

The apocryphal Book of the Resurrection of Christ, attributed to the apostle Bartholomew, names the women who went to the tomb. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, whom Jesus delivered out of the hand of Satan; Mary who ministered to him; Martha her sister; Joanna (perhaps Susanna) who renounced the marriage bed; and “Salome.”
The Gospel of Thomas found at Nag Hammadi mentions that among the “disciples” of Jesus were two women, Salome and Mary. Most believe that the “Mary” has reference to Mary Magdalene. However, many scholars believe that the Mary mentioned by Thomas could be Salome’s mother (also named Mary), the sister of Elizabeth and Anne (Anne being the mother of Jesus’ mother, Mary). Thus, Salome and Mary, the mother of Jesus, would be cousins.

The Secret Gospel of Mark, referred to and quoted in the Mar Saba Letter ascribed to Clement of Alexandria, contains a further mention of Salome which is not present in the Gospel of Mark but which completes the event ascribed in Mark10:46. Clement quotes the following passage in his letter:

“Then he came to Jericho. And the sister of the young man whom Jesus loved was there with his mother and Salome, but Jesus would not receive them.”

In the early non-canonical Greek Gospel of the Egyptians (early 2nd century), Salome appears again as a disciple of Jesus. She asks Jesus how long death would hold sway, and he says to her, “So long as women bring forth, for I come to end the works of the female.” To this Salome replies, “Then I have done well in not bringing forth.” It would appear from this text that there was an early tradition that Salome was childless, and possibly unmarried, at least when the statement was purported to have been made. However, if genealogical research and records are accurate, my grandmother, Esther Jackson Rudd, is a descendant of Salome and, therefore, Salome was married at some time, and was not childless.

In the Gospel of Thomas there is a reference to Jesus sharing Salome’s couch at a meal, and Salome’s esoteric questioning. “Who are you sir,” she asks him, “that you have taken your place on my couch and eaten from my table?” And Jesus says, “I am he who is from the One, and the things that belong to the Father have been given to me.” Salome replies, “But I am your disciple”, and Jesus answers, “When the disciple is united he will be filled with light, but if he is divided he will be filled with darkness.”

Even non-Christian writers in the 2nd century were aware that some tradition existed of secret teachings passed down from “Salome the disciple.” A sect known as the Carpocratians claimed to have derived some of their tenets from Salome. Celsus, a 2nd century Greek, wrote a True Discourse attacking all Christian sects as a threat to the Roman state. One of the sects he mentions is Harpocratian Christians who trace themselves to Salome.

Salome is the first person, after the attending midwife, to bear witness to the miraculous birth and to recognize Jesus as the Christ. By the Middle Ages, Salome became identified with Mary Salome in the West, the believing midwife. Salome would later marry Zebedee and would be the mother of James and John, the apostles. She would be one of the women at the crucifixion, as well as one of the women who would witness the empty tomb on Resurrection morning and hear the angels declare, “He is risen.”

By: Alan Rudd, President of Beit Lehi Foundation