Where does the Bible state that Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem?

Answer 1

A:Many Christians assume that Mary, being heavily pregnant, simply must have ridden on a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.

John Dominic Crossan (The Birth of Christianity) says that village carpenters were usually among the poorest of the poor, scarcely able to afford the necessities of life. Uta Ranke-Heinemann (Putting Away Childish Things) says that Mary's offering of pigeons in the Temple is clear proof of how poor the couple must have been. On this evidence, it is inconceivable that Joseph and Mary could have owned a donkey or that they could have hired a donkey for the long and dangerous trip to Bethlehem.

Answer 2

A:The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem occurs only in Luke's Gospel, which says that Joseph was required to be in Bethlehem for a census. Nowhere doe the Gospel say that Mary rode on a donkey or ass, but this tradition arose in later centuries because of the obvious inability of a heavily pregnant young woman to walk all this way, in difficult terrain. One of the difficulties of this tradition is that Luke portrays the young couple as so poor that they only sacrificed two pigeons in the Temple, a privilege permitted only for the very poorest in society. Poor people would not have owned a donkey and could not have hired one for such a long and dangerous journey, with the risk that they would never return with the donkey.

Answer 3

The Bible does not specifically mention that Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem. The idea of Mary riding a donkey comes from tradition and cultural depictions rather than direct biblical text.