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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 58 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In this world of sacred legend, dragons bow to a child and a palm bends to feed a weary family.
The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew begins with Joachim and Anna, a childless couple facing grief and rejection. According to the text, an angel promises them a daughter. The story follows Mary from the temple steps to Joseph’s care, then turns to the birth of Jesus and the danger that drives the family toward Egypt.
This anonymous Latin account brings together Mary’s birth, her temple childhood, the nativity and the wonders of the flight into Egypt. Its stories praise Mary and portray Jesus as divine from infancy. Read it as a window into medieval Christian imagination, where devotion takes shape through angels, wild beasts, bending trees and falling idols.
What you’ll discover
- A promise amid sorrow Meet Joachim and Anna as the narrative turns their longing toward an angel’s promise.
- Mary on the temple steps Follow the account of a childhood shaped by prayer, dedication and a lasting vow.
- Wonder around the manger Explore a nativity scene with a cave, two midwives and an adoring ox and ass.
- The road into Egypt Enter the text’s desert world, where beasts honor Jesus and a palm offers fruit.
- Stories behind familiar images Discover narratives that help explain the Holy Family’s place in medieval art and carols.
Who will love it
For readers who love legends of saints and holy families, medieval devotion, early Christian history, or the way old stories grow to answer the questions that the Gospels leave open.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A childless couple hears an angel's promise
- Mary grows up inside the Temple
- Joseph is chosen by a rod and a dove
- Joseph's anguish is met by a trial and a dream
- A shining cave, doubting midwives and gifts from the east
- On the road to Egypt, creation bows to the child
- What the story is about and how it is built
Who’s who
- JoachimA generous shepherd of Judah who leaves the Temple in shame over his childlessness and waits in the mountains for God to answer.
- AnnaJoachim's wife, who prays under a laurel tree and has promised to give any child she bears to God.
- MaryThe girl raised in the Temple, fed by an angel, who has vowed never to marry and becomes mother of Jesus.
- JosephAn old carpenter chosen by a rod and a dove to guard Mary, troubled by what he finds, and faithful in the end.
- AbiatharThe high priest who guides the choice of Mary's guardian and later puts Joseph and Mary to the trial of the water.
- ZelomiA midwife at the cave who examines Mary and cries out that a virgin has given birth.
- SalomeThe second midwife, who doubts, is struck in her hand, and is healed when she touches the child's cloths.
- JesusThe child who commands dragons, lions and a palm tree, and is carried to Egypt to escape Herod.
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The Gospel of Pseudo- Matthew
by Anonymous
A childless shepherd flees to the mountains while an angel promises his wife a daughter who will change the world.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to readEnglish
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In short
Why is a devout shepherd shamed at the altar in Jerusalem, and why does it matter to the whole Christian story? The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, an anonymous Latin text, begins with that shame.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A childless couple hears an angel's promise
The story opens with Joachim, a shepherd of the tribe of Judah who divides all he owns into three shares. One goes to orphans, widows and the poor, one to those who serve God, and one to his own house. After twenty years of marriage to Anna, he and she still have no child.
At a feast, a priest named Ruben tells Joachim he has no right to stand among those who make offerings, because God has not blessed him with children. Shamed before the crowd, Joachim goes out to his flocks and does not send word home for five months. Anna, alone in her courtyard, sees a sparrow's nest in a laurel tree and prays aloud about every creature that has young. An angel tells her that a child is coming, and the same angel finds Joachim among his sheep.
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A childless shepherd flees to the mountains while an angel promises his wife a daughter who will change the world.
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Details
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- 58 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 86 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Large print hardcover
- 86 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
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Cite this edition
The Gospel of Pseudo- Matthew. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-gospel-of-pseudo-matthew.
The Gospel of Pseudo- Matthew. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-gospel-of-pseudo-matthew
The Gospel of Pseudo- Matthew. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-gospel-of-pseudo-matthew.
@book{anonymous2026gospel,
title = {The Gospel of Pseudo- Matthew},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-gospel-of-pseudo-matthew}
}
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What is the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew about?
It tells of Mary's miraculous birth to Joachim and Anna, her childhood in the Temple, her marriage to Joseph, the birth of Jesus, the flight to Egypt and Jesus's boyhood miracles in Galilee.
Why is it called Pseudo-Matthew?
Scholars agree these claims are false, so the prefix pseudo, meaning false, marks the anonymous real author.
When was the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew written?
Scholars generally date it to between the sixth and ninth centuries, in Latin. It draws on much older Greek sources, the Protevangelium of James from the second century and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.
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