Paradox in Partu: Verifying Virginity in the Protevangelium of James

Scholars often assume that Salome’s inspection of Mary in Protevangelium of James 19–20 involves an intact hymen that proves Mary’s sexual virginity. I argue that this is an anachronistic reading; notions about hymens and genital examinations to verify virginity were probably not prevalent in the Protevangelium’s cultural context. Instead, Salome’s examination should be understood to convey that Mary is a virgin not only sexually, but also in a “puerperal” sense, spared from the effects of ordinary childbearing. The text thus anticipates the later concept of Mary’s virginity in partu in some ways but not others, while its vision of virginal birth eventually merges with other definitions of virginity in late ancient Christian discourse.