In the last couple of years the social media apologetic arena has been burning up with the claim that the Bible says Mary was 12 years old and Joseph was 90 years old when they married, and thus Joseph is a pedophile.
[Dear muslims, your arguments are welcome. But please bring sensible ones. This again, is not one of them. And even if it was true, only Jesus is the perfect moral exemplar for the followers of Jesus.]
Why is This Even a Question?
A certain major world religion has a prophet at its center who is considered the highest moral exemplar. Because of the advent of things like search engines and social media, their holy writings have been made available to the masses. Prior to this followers were only allowed to read the Scriptures and writings in the original Arabic and to trust their leaders as to what their holy writings said. But that has changed.
With that came the discovery of the notable and notorious sexual exploits of the prophet. There are many but one observation that has really stood out, and has not been denied by their apologists such as Zakr Naik and Dr. Yasr Qadhi, is something that is hard to swallow. The prophet by their own writings married a 6 year old and then consummated the marriage at age 9 while he himself was 53 years old (here). (More about Aisha’s age – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02Oz1mciHCA). Hundreds of their own resources confirm this, including their most reliable Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari.
In response to these shocking discoveries, the leaders have admitted that this was the case and that it is therefore acceptable for 9 years old to be married off for sex (Zakr Naik – Here). And in some places even today it is an acceptable practice (here).
To deflect, there has to be a pointing to the Bible. Which really doesn’t work for a number of reasons. Mainly that no one is the moral example in the Bible except Jesus. The Bible is very open about the sins of almost every single person in it.
Secondly, because the Bible says nothing about their ages.
Absolutely nothing.
Literally…NOTHING.
[The texts have been added below so you can make that decision too.]
It does not give us the ages of Mary or Joseph. When people say “The Bible says this…” it is totally made up. And if you notice in the videos where it proclaims this, they will not one time quote the Bible. Why?
Because it isn’t there.
But what does the Bible say?
Well as noted previously it says nothing about their ages. At all. Zero. Zilch. We could stop there and those videos would be debunked. But there are some things we can see.
- Woman vs Young Woman.
When Mary goes to visit Elizabeth, Elizabeth says to her, “Blessed are you among women” (Luke 1:42). Elizabeth calls her a woman, – γυναιξίν – gynaixin. This is the traditional word for woman (and yes, I studied Greek for 3 years).
When Jesus comes to a young girl, he says, “Little girl, I say to you get up!” Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old – Mark 5:42). The word here used for little girl is Κοράσιον,korasion
If Mary was twelve years old, they would have used the word that was used for twelve years olds (korasion) like in the book of Luke, but Elizabeth refers to Mary as a gynaixin, a woman.
Even Jesus was still considered a “boy” at the age of 12 – Lk 2:42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. - Late Child Producing Age
If Joseph was 90 years old when they married, he would have been 91 when they started having at least 6+ other children:
Mt 13:55-56 – Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters [implies 2 or more] with us?
Let’s say that Joseph and Mary had kids every year since the time Jesus was born, he would have fathered children up to the age of 97 years old. This does not fit the average life span of the times in which people did not live even close to this age. Additionally it would be against nature that his semen was still potent enough to produce children at this age. - Age of Joseph hurrying to the Temple.
If Joseph was 90, then when Jesus was left behind in the temple at age 12, Joseph would have been 102 years old. Would he really make the long trip to Jerusalem at 102 years old? Not likely. - Apprenticeship at 100?
It says Jesus learned the skills of a carpenter, he probably would have been around 9-10 to start learning that trade from his father. So was his father still be working in carpentry at 100? Perhaps in today’s standards where we have modern health care that could be a possibility, but again in the time of the first century the life span wasn’t 100. It was much, much younger. Joseph getting a full apprenticeship from his father at 100 was unlikely.
Where then do these arguments come from?
[Quoting from Malik’s Book]
“What is quoted is an article from the Catholic Encyclopedia. The article is based on an apocryphal book (variant book) that even the Catholics state, in introducing the article, that
“the non-admittance of these works into the Canon of the Sacred Books casts a strong suspicion upon their contents; and, even granted that some of the facts recorded by them may be founded on trustworthy traditions, it is in most instances next to impossible to discern and sift these particles of history from the fancies with which they are associated.”
It then goes on to say
“It will not be without interest to recall here, unreliable though they are, the lengthy stories concerning St. Joseph’s marriage contained in the apocryphal writing.”
Can the writer of the article from which this falsehood is derived be any more clear? The statements that it is not of the Bible, historically reliable, and just fancies is repeated over and over and over.
This is the article the muslim apologists quote as the Bible, even though it is not the Bible, about the ages of Mary and Joseph. Yet it is clearly and repeatedly introduced as unreliable but of “interest” nonetheless.
The author of the article, not the Bible, has made it so obvious no one reading the article can miss it. Unless you take it out of context. Unless there is a desperate attempt to bring accusation.
It is why Protestant Christianity rejects the apocryphal books as a whole. And it is why even the Catholics reject this article as unreliable and do not include it in their Bible.” (Source: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08504a.htm).
Questions for the Muslims Promoting This
- If Joseph was 90 when he married Mary at 12 then let’s think about this. By the teaching of Quran he never had sexual relations with her and she remained a virgin (Q 21:91 and 66:12). Thus there are no problems. If it is true, he never consummated the marriage according to the Qu’ran.
. - According to the main holy book of his religion, in 3 places it says that “Miriam” which is Mary, the mother of Jesus was married to Moses. ??? Not trying to be offensive here, but that would make Mary a thousand years old per the Quran. And pregnant that whole 1000 years. (Here)
. - Let’s say that she was 12 years old and Joseph was 90, the fact that she could bear children was a sign that her body was capable to do so. This isn’t the case for a 9 year old pre-pubescent little girl. Bur according to Surah 65:1,4 it is ok to marry pre-pubescent girls and have sex with them (cross reference Surah 33:49) https://answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/iddah.html.
. - Let’s say Joseph was 90 and she was 12, we furthermore know that in the Bible Jesus is the moral examplar, NOT Joseph. There are a lot of unpleasant and even things we know about the people of God throughout the Bible, but it was God we all look to for our example, not man. The Bible is full of terrible, sinful people. God alone is righteous.
We actually do need to know what it says and doesn’t say. I encourage you to read the Bible so you can see for yourself the truth.
Go ahead. Read it. I dare you.
Should you persist in this belief, feel free. Many are glad you do. But here are the texts so you can decide for yourself if the Bible says she was 12 years old and that Joseph was 90.
Matthew 1:18-24 – The Birth of Jesus Christ
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Luke 1:39 – 55 – Mary visits Elizabeth
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
Matthew 12:46-50 – Mary and Joseph went on to have other children
46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”