↑ Matthew:1:23. The name Jesus is the Biblical Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua meaning "God, our salvation". No explanation is given in the Gospels as to why this name is used.
↑ The dates vary slightly between churches and calendars - see the respective articles. In particular, the Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate the visit of the Magi, as well as the Nativity, on December 25th of their Julian calendar, which is January 7th of the usual Gregorian calendar
↑ The subject only emerges in the second half of the fourteenth century. Schiller:124. In some Orthodox traditions the older boy is the one who protects Joseph from the "shepherd-tempter" in the main Nativity scene.
↑ Schiller:117-123. The date palm incident is also in the Quran. There are two different falling statue legends, one related to the arrival of the family at the Egyptian city of Sotina, and the other usually shown in open country. Sometimes both are shown.
↑ See, for example, Leonardo's “Virgin of the Rocks”
↑ Schiller:60. In fact this sense of the Habakkuk is found in the Hebrew and Greek Bibles, but Jerome's Latin Vulgate, followed by the Authorised Version, translates differently:"O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known" in the AV
↑ The mountain follows Scriptural verses such as Habakkuk 3.3 "God [came] from Mount Paran", and the title of Mary as "Holy mountain". Schiller:63
↑ partly reflecting the arrangement in the Church of the Nativity, where pilgrims already peered under an altar into the actual cave (now the altar is much higher). The actual altar is sometimes shown. Schiller:63
↑ Schiller:66 Though when addressing Joseph he has sometimes been regarded as the "Tempter" (the "shepherd-tempter"), the Orthodox term for Satan, who is encouraging Joseph to doubt the Virgin Birth. In later works a young man may fend the tempter off. See: Léonid Ouspensky, The Meaning of Icons, p.160, 1982, St Vladimir's Seminary, ISBN 0-913836-99-0. In pp.157-160 there is a full account of the later Orthodox iconography of the Nativity.
↑ Lloyd, Christopher, The Queen's Pictures, Royal Collectors through the centuries, p.226, National Gallery Publications, 1991, ISBN 0-947645-89-6. In fact the Basilica was built in the 4th century. Some later painters used the remains as a basis for their depictions.
