Was Virgin Mary a teenager?
I have heard only two bases to sustain the idea that
Virgin Mary was a fourteen or fifteen year old girl when she received the news
from the angel, and about sixteen when she gave birth to Jesus. The first
argument is based on the wrong idea that in the Jewish culture, girls were
given to marriage, as soon as they turned 13 year old. The second
argument is based on the Catholic myth that Joseph was an 80 or 90 year old
man, and Mary just a girl who continued to be virgin even after the birth of
Jesus. Both of these arguments are wrong. But sadly, this error appeared
in the 1998-99 winter issue of the quarterly "Life and Work
Pursuits".
Is it true that in their culture, Jewish girls were married
when they were teenagers? No, it is not true. I think that some
people confuse the far eastern culture of
A man had to be twenty years old to be considered of age.
When we read the Bible we notice that a male was not considered a man until he
was twenty years old. He didn't enter in the count of the people
(census), he was not considered an adult, until he was twenty ( Ex 30:14; 38:26
). God did not consider accountable anyone who was under twenty ( Nm
32:11). That is why those teenagers were not called to war until they
were twenty, Nm 1:3 & 20. If all this was true with a man, much
less was a teenage girl going to be considered an adult in that culture.
"Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty
years
old and above,
shall give an offering unto the LORD."
( Ex 30: 14 )
"A
bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the
sanctuary, for every one that
went to be numbered, from twenty years old and
upward, for six
hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men"
( Ex 38: 26 )
"Surely
none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old
and upward, shall
see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and
unto Jacob; because they have not
wholly followed me"
( Nm 32:11 )
"From
twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in
"And
the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, by their generations,
after their families, by the
house of their fathers, according to the number of
the names, by their polls, every
male from twenty years old and upward, all
that were able to go forth to
war"
( Nm 1: 20 )
Let's take a look at some of the unmarried ladies mentioned in the Bible, to see if we think they were just 13 year old girls.
Zelophehad's daughters. These five ladies appear in three passages in the Scriptures. In Numbers 26: 2 and 33 their names are given among those who were accounted for, because they were over 20 years old. Therefore it is perfectly logical to think that these ladies were over twenty.
"Take
the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty
years old and upward,
throughout their fathers' house, all that are able to go to
war in Israel." ………
( Nm 26: 2 )
..."And
Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters; and
the names of the daughters of
Zelophehad were: Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah,
Milcah, and Tirzah."
( Nm 26: 33 )
In Numbers 27:1- 4 these five sisters present themselves
before Moses, the princes of
"Then
came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of
Gilead, the son of Machir, the
son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh
the son of Joseph: and these are
the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah,
and Hoglah, and Milcah, and
Tirzah. And they stood before Moses, and before
Eleazar the priest, and before
the princes and all the congregation, by the door
of the tabernacle of the
congregation, saying: Our father died in the wilderness,
and he was not in the company of
them that gathered themselves together against
the LORD in the company of Korah;
but died in his own sin, and had no sons.
Why should the name of our
father be done away from among his family, because
he hath no son? Give unto us
therefore a possession among the brethren of our
father."
( Numbers 27:1- 4 )
The way these ladies performed during those episodes, and
the way they argued for their rights, does not certainly depict a bunch of
immature teenagers, but on the contrary, five adult women.
During all these occurrences, they were all single, as we can
see later, at the end of the third passage. Therefore, it was not
customary, as many people think, that women got married when they were 13, 15
or 17.
"2
The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance
by lot to the children of
the inheritance of Zelophehad our
brother unto his daughters. 3 And if they be
married to any of
the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall
their inheritance be taken from
the inheritance of our fathers6 This is the
thing which the LORD doth command
concerning the daughters of Zelophehad,
saying: Let them marry to
whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe
of their father shall they marry...
10 Even as the LORD commanded Moses,
so did the daughters of
Zelophehad: 11 For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and
Milcah, and Noah, the
daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father's
brothers' sons: And they were
married into the families of the sons of Manasseh
the son of Joseph, and their
inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their
father."
( Nm 36: 1-12 abbreviated )
As we can see, these women were single during all
these occurrences, and being single, they could not be regarded as
teenagers; they showed themselves as adult people. Therefore it is a
mistake to think that women in
Another fact that should be noticed is that women were
not forced to marry against their own will, to whom their parents, grandparents
or uncles wanted. They had some freedom of choice. In fact when Moses said:
"Let them marry to whom they think best", he gave us an
inkling that they had freedom of choice. Moses didn't say: "Let them marry
to whom their grandpa or uncles want". Biblical customs have been
distorted very much by people who equate other cultures to the biblical ones.
Rebecca's marriage. The fact that the family
asked Rebecca's opinion about the marriage does not incline me to think that
she was a 13 or 15 year old girl. It is also evident that marriages
were not just forced upon daughters.
"And
they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth. And
they
called Rebekah, and said unto
her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said,
I will go."
(Gen 24: 57-58)
Female builders of
In my opinion building the walls was not a job for a 13, 15
or 17 year old girl; they most probably were not teenagers, but strong women of
age. Besides, because he had several daughters, evidently there were some
of them that were older than others; and yet, the older ones were not
married. Therefore, the idea that girls were married when they arrived to
13 or 15 years of age is not easy to believe. There are many cases
registered in the Bible of women that were single, and it doesn't seem at all
that they were teenagers.
"And
next unto him repaired Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the
half part of
Philip's daughters. This deacon had four daughters that were known because of their gift of prophecy. If they were already known for such a gift we have to conclude that it was not something that these ladies started to do the day before Paul arrived. If they had that gift for some time, and if there were four, it means that at least one of them, if not all of them, were of age. Not being teenagers, they were still single. It reaffirms the idea that women were not given to marriage when they were 13 or 16 years old.
"And
the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto
Caesarea: and we entered into the
house of Philip the evangelist, which was
one of the seven; and abode with
him. And the same man had four daughters,
virgins, which did prophesy."
(Acts 21:8)
Queen Esther. If we read the book of Esther
and we take note of her behavior, her wisdom, etc., it does not seem that she
was a girl of 13 or 17 years of age when she was taken to king Ahasuerus. It
looks as if she was already of age.
In reading the Bible I cannot find an inkling of the
supposed custom of marrying girls when they were 13 or 17. On the contrary I
find several cases in which you can deem that those unmarried ladies were of
age. That is why I don't believe that Virgin Mary was the exception. I don't
think that she was a teenager when God entrusted her with His son.
Any sensible father knows that a girl is not
physically and psychologically mature until she is in her twenties. Would
you be happy if your daughter wanted to get married when she is only thirteen,
fifteen or seventeen? Will you be jumping for joy if your seventeen year
old girl had a baby? Wouldn't you think that she has started too young,
even when she is not physically nor psychologically prepared for such a
burden? Sadly she has to start taking care of a husband and a family when
she still needs to be taken care of. This is what I have alleged to many
of my friends who think that Mary was a teenager when she married Joseph and
when she had her baby Jesus.
Of course they agreed that they, by no means, would like
such a marriage for their teenage girls, but allege that it was the custom of
the Israelite parents at that time. It is not true, as I have already
demonstrated. Besides, they forget a very important fact: it was not
Mary's parents who determined the age at which she was going to be laid with
that burden, it was God Himself. Are we going to think that God
did what a sensible father wouldn't? It stands to reason that God would
give such a burden to Mary at the age that women are mature enough, both
physically and psychologically, to perform her duties perfectly. Would
God entrust His only begotten son to just a teenager 13, 15 or 17 years
old? Would you?
I have shown several biblical examples of single ladies
that were perfectly adults. Can anyone show biblical examples of teenagers
given in marriage?
Regarding the supposed old age of Joseph it is enough
to say that he took his wife Mary and traveled first to
"I
am this day fourscore years old; and can I discern between good and
evil?
can thy servant taste what I eat
or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of
singing men and singing women?
wherefore then should thy servant be yet a
burden unto my lord the king?"
( II Sam 19: 35 )
The supposed old age of Joseph is another effort, another myth of Romanism to prop up the myth that Mary continued to be virgin her whole life, even after giving birth to Jesus. As Romanism wants to hold Virgin Mary sort of as a goddess, they invent such myths.
As we can see, Mary was not a teenager, nor Joseph an elderly.