Editing Gospel of James (section)

==Structure and content==
[[File:Russian - Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple and the Virgin of the Burning Bush - Walters 372664.jpg|thumb|The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, an event that only appears in the Gospel of James, depicted on a [[Russian icon]]]]

The narrative is made up of three distinct sections with only slight ties to each other:
# Chapters 1–17: A biography of Mary, dealing with her miraculous birth and holy infancy and childhood, her engagement to Joseph and virginal conception of Jesus
# Chapters 18–21: The birth of Jesus, including proof that Mary continued to be a virgin even after the birth
# Chapters 22–24: The death of [[Zechariah (New Testament figure)|Zacharias]], father of John the Baptist{{sfn|Ehrman|Pleše|2011|p=unpaginated}}

Mary is presented as an extraordinary child destined for great things from the moment of her conception.{{sfn|Gambero|1999|p=35}} Her parents, the wealthy Joachim and his wife Anna (or Anne), are distressed that they have no children, and Joachim goes into the wilderness to pray, leaving Anna to lament her childless state.{{sfn|Betsworth|2015|p=166}} God hears Anna's prayer, angels announce the coming child, and in the seventh month of Anna's pregnancy (underlining the exceptional nature of Mary's future life), she is born.{{sfn|Gambero|1999|p=36}}{{sfn|Betsworth|2015|p=166}} Anna dedicates the child to God and vows that she shall be raised in the Temple.{{sfn|Betsworth|2015|p=166}} Joachim and Anna name the child Mary, and when she is three years old, they [[Presentation of Mary|send her to the Temple]],{{sfn|Betsworth|2015|p=166}} where she is fed each day by an angel.{{sfn|Ehrman|Pleše|2011|p=unpaginated}}

When Mary approaches her 12th year, the priests decide that she can no longer stay in the Temple lest her menstrual blood render it unclean, and God finds a widower, Joseph, to act as her guardian:{{sfn|Betsworth|2015|p=166}} Joseph is depicted as elderly and the father of grown sons; he has no desire for sexual relations with Mary.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=448}} He leaves on business, and Mary is called to the Temple to help weave the temple curtain.  One day while Mary is spinning thread for the curtain, the angel [[Gabriel]]<ref name="Bryn Mawr">{{cite journal|url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2019/2019.07.26/|first=Mary Joan|last=Winn Leith|title= Review of "Late Antique Images of the Virgin Annunciate Spinning: Allotting the Scarlet and the Purple. Texts and studies in Eastern Christianity, 11"|journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review|date=July 26, 2019}}</ref> appears and tells her that she has been chosen to conceive Jesus the Saviour, but that she will not give birth as other women do.{{sfn|Vuong|2019|p=7}} Joseph returns and finds Mary six months pregnant, and rebukes her, fearing that the priests will assume that he is the guilty party.{{sfn|Betsworth|2015|p=167}} They do, but the chastity of both is proven through the "[[Ordeal of the bitter water|test of bitter waters]]".{{sfn|Gambero|1999|p=35-40}}

The [[Census of Quirinius|Roman census]] forces the holy couple to travel to Bethlehem, but Mary's time comes before they can reach the village.{{sfn|Gambero|1999|p=40}} Joseph settles Mary in a cave, where she is guarded by his sons, while he goes in search of a midwife, and for an apocalyptic moment as he searches all creation stands still.{{sfn|Betsworth|2015|p=167}} He returns with a midwife, and as they stand at the mouth of the cave, a cloud overshadows it, an intense light fills it, and suddenly a baby is at Mary's breast.{{sfn|Betsworth|2015|p=167}} Joseph and the midwife marvel at the miracle, but a second midwife named Salome (the first is not given a name) insists on examining Mary, upon which her hand withers as a sign of her lack of faith; Salome prays to God for forgiveness and an angel appears and tells her to touch the Christ Child, upon which her hand is healed.{{sfn|Booton|2004|p=55}}

The gospel concludes with the visit of the [[Three Magi]], the [[Massacre of the Innocents]] in Bethlehem, the martyrdom of the High Priest [[Zechariah (New Testament figure)|Zechariah]] (father of [[John the Baptist]]), the election of his successor Simeon,{{sfn|Gambero|1999|p=40}} and an epilogue telling the circumstances under which the work was supposedly composed.{{sfn|Ehrman|Pleše|2011|p=unpaginated}}