Stories and traditions in Transformation: A New Look at the Story of Mary in Qur'ān 19: 15-17 and its Commentary

The persona of Maryam is mentioned twice in the Qur'ān—the first as the sister of Moses and Aaron and the second as Mary, the mother of Jesus. In the Qur'ān and its commentaries (Tafsῑr), what stands out is how the character of Maryam, Aaron's sister and the daughter of Amram, is confused with Mary, the mother of Jesus. Some scholars argued that Muhammad “confused” the two figures. New research on this issue, however, has discarded the “confusion” argument and instead considers the Qur'ānic text, i.e. chapter 19, (Sūrat Maryam) and chapter 3, (sūrat Al Imrān) as dealing only with Mary, the mother of Jesus. In this paper I would like to suggest a new reading for the story of the birth of Jesus in chapter 19. In my view verses 15-17, which are usually read as the opening to the story, are actually a transformation of a biblical story about Miriam, sister of Moses, appearing in Numbers chapter 12. Evidence for this hypothesis can be found also in the Qurʼān commentaries on these verses.