The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 38
CH. 3 ĀL-E-‘IMRĀN the name Yoshhim or Yoshim (Jarir & Kathir). Thus this ‘Imrān is different from the ‘Imrān who was the father of Moses and whose own father was Kohath (Exod. 6:18-20). The fact that Hanna's husband, or for that matter Mary's father, has been named Joachim in the Christian scriptures (Gospel of the Birth of Mary and the Enc. Brit. under Mary) should not perplex us as Joachim is the same as Yoshim mentioned by Ibn Jarir as the father of ‘Imrān. The Christian scriptures give the name of the grandfather instead of the father, which is not an uncommon practice. Besides, there are instances in the Bible of one person being known by two names. Gideon, for instance, was also called Jerubbaal (Judg. 7:1). So there should be no surprise if the second name of Joachim happened to be 'Imrān. like individuals, Moreover, families, too, are sometimes known after the names of their distinguished ancestors. In the Bible, the name Israel sometimes stands for the Israelites (Deut. 6:3, 4) and Kedar for the Ishmaelites (Isa. 21:16; 42:11). Similarly, Jesus has been called the son of David (Matt. 1:1). So the words may also mean عم i. e. a woman from the family of 'Imran, or a perfect woman from the family of 'Imrān. This explanation finds further strength from the fact that the words (family of 'Imran) have been used by the Quran only two verses before the present one. So the word J (family) was 478 PT. 3 dropped here owing to the nearness of reference. And it is admitted that Hanna, the mother of Mary, who was the cousin of Elisabeth (John's mother) belonged to the House of Aaron and through him to that of 'Imrān (Luke 1:5, 36). The vow of Mary's mother seems to have been taken under the influence of the Essenes who were generally held in high esteem by the people of that time, and who practised celibacy and excluded women from their membership, and dedicated their lives to the service of religion and their fellow beings (Enc. Bib. and Jew. Enc. ). It is remarkable that the teachings of the Gospels have much in common with those of the Essenes. It is also clear from the meaning of the word as given under Important Words above, that Mary's mother had vowed the dedication of her child's life to the service of the temple, and as such she intended the child never to marry, which shows that Mary was meant to belong to the priestly class. This is why, elsewhere in the Quran, she is called the sister of Aaron and not of Moses (19:29) though both were real brothers, for whereas Moses was the founder of the Jewish Law, Aaron was the head of the Jewish priestly class (Enc. Bib. and Enc. Brit. under Aaron). Thus Mary, mother of Jesus, was the sister of Aaron not in the sense that she was his real sister but in the sense that, like Aaron, she belonged to the priestly order.