New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 3: More Noncanonical Scriptures

By Tony Burke

An expansive compilation of New Testament apocrypha in English translation, featuring fascinating but heretofore unpublished texts. 
 
New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 3, continues to unearth the vast diversity of Christian Scripture outside of the traditional canon. This new collection encompasses a broad range of languages—Greek, Church Slavic, Old English, Coptic, and more—and spans centuries, from the formation of the canonical New Testament to the high Middle Ages.   
  
The selections here represent some of the least studied apocryphal texts, many of which have not previously received an English translation or a critical edition. Notable newly edited and translated selections include The Martyrdom of Zechariah, The Decapitation of John the Forerunner, The Birth of John, The Revelation about the Lord’s Prayer, and The Dialogue of Mary and Christ on the Departure of the Soul.
  
Each text is accompanied by a robust introduction, bibliography, and notes. Scholars of apocrypha, Scripture, and hagiography from a breadth of disciplines will find this an indispensable reference for their research and teaching.

Contributors:

Carson Bay, Mark Glen Bilby, Rick Brannan, Christian H. Bull, Slavomir Čéplö, Alexander D’Alisera, J. Gregory Given, Nathan J. Hardy, Brandon W. Hawk, Stephen C. E. Hopkins, Alexander Kocar, Brent Landau, Jacob A. Lollar, Christine Luckritz Marquis, Ivan Miroshnikov, Tobias Nicklas, Samuel Osborn, Stephen Pelle, Bradley Rice, Julia A. Snyder, Janet E. Spittler, James Toma, Péter Tóth, Sarah Veale, J. Edward Walters, Charles D. Wright, Lorne R. Zelyck

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Release date: May 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781467466844

Book preview

I. Gospels and Related Traditions of New Testament Figures

The Hospitality and Perfume of the Bandit

A translation and introduction

by Mark Glen Bilby

The Hospitality and Perfume of the Bandit (Hosp. Perf. Band.; CANT 78.3) is a short story interpolated into at least two manuscripts of the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew. The title is not found in either manuscript. It is instead proposed to accent this story’s distinctiveness vis-à-vis other apocryphal narratives about the good bandit (or bon larron or gute Schächer). Though one of several medieval backstories about the repentant criminal of Luke 23:40–43, Hosp. Perf. Band. is unique in the way it connects the bandit’s hospitality shown to the Holy Family during their exile in Egypt to the conversion of Mary Magdalene and her anointing of the feet of Jesus.

Contents

The interpolated story appears in certain manuscripts of Ps.-Mt. just after chapter 17, which follows the Gospel of Matthew in relating Herod’s infanticidal command (Matt 2:16) and the angelic warning to Joseph to flee (2:13). The Holy Family encounter the bandit as they travel through the desert on their way to Egypt (v. 1). The bandit is under orders to kill any passersby as a condition for his own survival. The story next details the bandit’s internal dialogue as he puzzles over the dilemma between breaking his bandit gang’s murder pact and killing an old man, a mother, and an infant (2). The bandit finally decides to show them covert sanctuary in his own home. When he first addresses them, he inquires as to their plans, quickly offers them hospitality, and then guides them back to his house where he lives with his wife (3). As the bandit’s wife prepares to bathe their leprous son, the bandit insists instead that the infant Jesus be bathed first; their son’s subsequent bath in the leftover water results in his miraculous healing, leading the bandit to worship Jesus (4). The next day the bandit guides the family as far as a fountain, where Mary washes the garments of the infant Jesus, wringing from them into an alabaster jar a most precious and fragrant perfume, which she gives to the bandit as a reward for his hospitality (5). Later, when the bandit’s family falls into poverty, he sells the perfume at great cost to Mary Magdalene, who is reputed to be a connoisseuse of perfumes (6). When the Magdalene anoints herself with the perfume, it cleanses her body and soul; she uses it subsequently to anoint Jesus in preparation for his death, bringing the ointment’s journey full circle back to Jesus (7). The short story closes with a direct link between the hospitable desert bandit and the criminal who spoke to Jesus on the cross (Luke 23:39–43). Ps.-Mt. 18 then recommences the account of the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt with Jesus taming a cave of dragons.

Manuscripts and Editions

Hosp. Perf. Band. appears as an episode in manuscripts of Ps.-Mt., a highly popular and diffuse set of stories for which some two hundred manuscripts survive. Jan Gijsel’s exhaustive conspectus of manuscripts identifies several textual families of Ps.-Mt. and their earliest witnesses: A (9th cent.), P (9th cent.), Q (12th–13th cent.), and R (13th–14th cent.).¹ Another tale of the good bandit, the Rebellion of Dimas, appears in a single manuscript of the oldest branch (A¹a);² Hosp. Perf. Band. appears in two exemplars of the Q³ subfamily (14th–15th cent.):³ London, British Library, Harley 3199 (12th–14th/15th cent.; Gijsel’s Q³a⁵, here L); and Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 6300 (15th and 17th cent.; Gijsel’s Q³a⁷, here V). The good bandit interpolations appear in fols. 104v–106r of the fourteenth- or early fifteenth-century portion of the Harley manuscript and in fols. 118r–119r of the fifteenth-century portion of the Vatican manuscript. In both manuscripts, the texts of Ps.-Mt. continue on to the pars altera (portions of the Latin translation of Inf. Gos. Thom.). When Geerard in 1997 published his diplomatic edition of Hosp. Perf. Band., he knew the story only from the Harley manuscript.⁴ Close study of the two manuscripts reveals that they both rely on an earlier textual tradition—that is, that V does not depend directly on L. The L manuscript is not only chronologically earlier than V but also more faithful textually to their common ancestor. Even across a relatively brief story, clear editorial tendencies emerge in V.⁵

Literary and Theological Importance

Hosp. Perf. Band. is one of at least five stories about the so-called good bandit that were interpolated into major apocryphal texts and compilations.⁶

1.Reb. Dimas (= CANT 78.2, also found within Ps.-Mt., between chapters 19 and 20 in Namur, Seminary Library, Lat. 80, fols. 13v–15v and 17r–17v): a twelfth-century Latin story featuring the bandit as a procurator’s son and border guard who defies his father by allowing the Holy Family to escape Israel and flee to Egypt.⁷

2.Hosp. Dysmas (= CANT 78.4, found within manuscripts of the M2 and M3 families of manuscripts of Acts of Pilate): a late twelfth- to early fourteenth-century Byzantine Greek account of the Egyptian bandit showing hospitality to the Holy Family, resulting in the healing of his leprous child and his future blessing by Jesus on the cross.⁸

3.Hosp. Oint. Band. (= CANT 78.1, found within the Arundel form of Book about the Birth of the Savior 111–25): a twelfth- to fourteenth-century Latin story describing how the hospitable Egyptian bandit received healing and wealth from the magical bathwater of Jesus.⁹

4.Leabhar Breac 131–32 (Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 23 P 16 [1230]): this famous ca. 1408–1411 manuscript features a brief story about the bandit as a child encountering the infant Jesus in Egypt, a story quite similar to that summarized in Aelred of Rievaulx’s De institutione inclusarum 30.¹⁰

Outside of these five interpolations, comparable legends also circulated in several other texts:

5.The Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea: a late fourth- to early fifth-century Greek narrative likely composed in Palestine that greatly expands the backstories of both bandits, blames the death of Jesus on the good bandit’s righteous theft of relics from the Jerusalem temple, narrates dialogues and correspondence between Jesus and Demas, and describes Demas as the cross-bearer (staurophylax) who accompanies Jesus when he appears to Joseph of Arimathea.¹¹

6.CPG 4877 (De cruce et passione): a fourth/fifth-century Palestinian or Syrian Greek sermon/story falsely attributed to John Chrysostom wherein the bandit is a gentile (indeed a relative of Pilate!) and has a vision in the desert leading to his conversion.¹²

7.CPG 4145.22 (In sabbatum sanctum, in passionem domini nostri et latronem) / 4162.3 (De satana et morte): a fifth/sixth-century Palestinian sermon/story in Arabic and Georgian with many connections to CPG 4877, but here the bandit’s conversion stems from hearing Jesus preach.¹³

6.The Vision of Theophilus: a sixth-century Coptic text featuring a story in which the good bandit (who is Egyptian) and the evil bandit (who is Jewish) steal the Holy Family’s clothes only later to repent and return them.¹⁴

7.Homily on the Church of the Rock 31–32 (Coptic/Arabic; 17–18 in the Ethiopic recension): originally created around the sixth century, this story is highly similar to and in the same historical neighborhood as Vis. Theo., except that it narrates the evil bandit stealing the infant Jesus along with the Holy Family’s clothes!¹⁵

8.Syriac History of the Virgin, and its retelling in (Arab.) Gos. Inf. 23: a ca. eighth-century text with a story of the good bandit (here called Titus) bribing the evil bandit (here Dumachus) to prevent the robbery of the Holy Family in Egypt.¹⁶

9.Arabic Apocryphal Gospel of John 10:1–4 and its translation in the Ethiopic Miracles of Jesus 7:1–4: an originally ca. tenth/eleventh-century story evidencing a selective combination of elements from Hist. Vir. and Vis. Theo., in which the Ethiopic version notably varies from its Arabic predecessor by adding a third bandit character due to a mistranslation.¹⁷

Among the nine legends detailed above, Hosp. Dysmas and Hosp. Oint. Band. show the closest similarities to Hosp. Perf. Band. All three of these short stories share three key elements: they focus on the bandit showing the Holy Family hospitality in his home, they note that he has a wife and a child (little children in Hosp. Oint. Band. at Birth Sav. 114), and they call attention to one or more miraculous healings resulting from a bath taken by Jesus.¹⁸

The Latin Hosp. Perf. Band. should be located literarily and historically just between the earlier Byzantine Greek Hosp. Dysmas and the later Latin Hosp. Oint. Band. From Hosp. Dysmas, Hosp. Perf. Band. borrows the plot of the bandit exemplifying hospitality and having a leprous child healed by Jesus’s leftover bathwater. To Hosp. Oint. Band., Hosp. Perf. Band. lends the idea of the bandit receiving a sacred, relic-like ointment of great financial benefit,¹⁹ as well as the parallel between dangerous bandits and dangerous dragons all being subdued by the infant Jesus.²⁰ The composition of Birth. Sav., drawing on Ps.-Mt. and other infancy traditions, goes back at least to the eighth century.²¹ It was apparently sometime in the thirteenth or fourteenth century that the Arundel form of Birth. Sav. developed its story (Hosp. Oint. Band.) based on the one newly interpolated into Ps.-Mt. (Hosp. Perf. Band.).

The appearance or omission of other themes evident among the legends of the good bandit further elucidates the unique combination of characteristics on display in Hosp. Perf. Band. Quite in keeping with the Byzantine Greek Hosp. Dysmas and most medieval Latin stories of the bandit, but quite apart from its Coptic and Ethiopic predecessors listed above, Hosp. Perf. Band. makes no mention of the bandit actually engaging in banditry, perhaps in an effort to elevate the cult of Dysmas. Like Hosp. Dysmas and earlier Eastern traditions such as (Arab.) Gos. Inf., Hosp. Perf. Band. pictures the infant Jesus as a holy object and instrument with which Mary the Mother dispenses miracles. That said, Hosp. Perf. Band. does stand apart from Hosp. Dysmas and other earlier traditions in that no miraculous motivation, either from Jesus or Mary, is noted as the reason for his compassion. It is instead his own internal reflection and dialogue, his own weighing of various courses of actions, and his own sense of right and wrong that lead him to aid the family. The bandit in Hosp. Perf. Band. reflects morally—perhaps even philosophically—endeavoring to do what is right for its own sake. Hosp. Perf. Band. may share with Reb. Dimas, Leabhar Breac, and Aelred of Rievaulx’s De institutione inclusarum the theme of the bandit being a righteous rebel, but here it is rebellion not against his father but instead against his fellow bandits. Another somewhat similar feature between these texts is that Hosp. Perf. Band., like Reb. Dimas and Leabhar Breac, locates the bandit’s encounter with the Holy Family en route between Judea and Egypt.

Original Language, Date, and Provenance

The only two sources for Hosp. Perf. Band. are Latin manuscripts, and there is no reason to think the story’s original language was anything other than Latin. The earliest manuscript, L, was created in the fourteenth century, providing a firm terminus ad quem. The two sources for Hosp. Oint. Band., which appears to be an adaptation of Hosp. Perf. Band., also are dated to the fourteenth century. A late twelfth-century terminus post quem is reasonable on the basis of the dependence of Hosp. Perf. Band. on Hosp. Dysmas, which may well have circulated around this time when the M2 recension of Acts Pil. first appeared in the manuscript record.²² An interpolation during this time frame nicely fits broader trends in Ps.-Mt. manuscripts in France, most especially the addition of the pars altera, as for example in BnF Lat. 11867 (13th cent., Marmoutier). The theme of the bandit as a righteous rebel is certainly already well in evidence by the twelfth century in Aelred of Rievaulx’s De institutione inclusarum, and Reb. Dimas and Leabhar Breac also attest to this theme around the same time. Still, while this thematic connection shows a certain historical proximity, it does not currently allow for firmer historical conclusions, given the lack of clear evidence of dependence in either direction between Hosp. Perf. Band. and these three texts.

According to the British Library catalog record, the portion of L containing Ps.-Mt. (fols. 95r–126v) comes from France or England, and the remaining pages (fols. 2r–94v) are probably from France.²³ The French songs concluding the fifteenth-century portion of V suggest an original French provenance, even though that manuscript made its way to Rome and was supplemented with a speech given there at the Accademia degli Humoristi in 1616, as noted in the manuscript dedication. The preponderance of evidence points to an originally French provenance for the story.

Translation

To date, Hosp. Perf. Band. has appeared only in Geerard’s Latin edition of L. This translation, the first in any modern language, is based on my forthcoming edition, the first collated critical edition using both manuscripts currently known. Erroneous readings by Geerard are indicated in the notes. The text is here divided into seven verses for ease of reading and citation.

Sigla

Bibliography

EDITIONS AND TRANSLATIONS

Geerard, Maurice. Gute Schächer: Ein neues unediertes Apokryphon. Pages 85–89 in La spiritualité de l’univers byzantin dans le verbe et l’image. Edited by Kristoffel Demoen and Jeannine Vereecken. Instrumenta Patristica 30. Steenbrugis: In Abbatia S. Petri; Turnhout: Brepols, 1997. (Diplomatic edition based on L.)

STUDIES

Bilby, Mark G. As the Bandit Will I Confess You: Luke 23, 39–43 in Early Christian Interpretation. Turnhout: Brepols; Strasbourg: University of Strasbourg, 2013. (Further bibliography may be found here.)

Billiard, Carine. Présentation et description du manuscrit 80 (Grand Séminaire Salzinnes-Namur). 2 vols. Mémoire de licence en histoire, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1984.

Esbroeck, Michel van. Une homélie inédite éphrémienne sur le bon larron en grec, géorgien et arabe. AnBoll 101 (1983): 327–62.

Geerard, Maurice. Le bon larron, un apocryphe inédit. Pages 355–63 in Philologia Sacra: Biblische und patristische Studien für Hermann J. Frede und Walter Thiele zu ihrem siebzigsten Geburtstag, Band 2, Apocryphen, Kirchenväter, Verschiedenes. Edited by Roger Gryson. GLB 24.2. Freiburg: Herder, 1993.

Gijsel, Jan. Libri de nativitate Mariae: Pseudo-Matthaei Evangelium, textus et commentarius, Libellus de nativitate sanctae Mariae, textus et commentarius. CCSA 9. Turnhout: Brepols, 1997.

Gounelle, Rémi. "Une légende apocryphe relatant la rencontre du bon larron et de la sainte famille en Égypte (BHG 2119y)." AnBoll 121 (2003): 241–72.

Kretzenbacher, Leopold. St. Dismas, der rechte Schächter: Legenden, Kultstätten und Verehrungsformen in Innerösterreich. Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereines für Steiermark 42 (1951): 119–39.

Philippart, Guy. Le Pseudo-Matthieu au risque de la critique textuelle. Scriptorium 38, no. 1 (1984): 121–31.

1. Gijsel, Libri de nativitate Mariae, 71–97; additional manuscripts are listed in Gijsel, Nouveaux témoins du pseudo-Matthieu, Sacris erudiri 41 (2002): 273–300.

2. Geerard, Le bon larron, un apocryphe inédit, 360. My translation of Reb. Dimas appears in MNTA 2:13–22.

3. Gijsel, Libri de nativitate Mariae, 163–65.

4. Geerard, Gute Schächer.

5. My forthcoming critical edition provides full notes and corrects nine errors in Geerard’s diplomatic edition of L. V shows a tendency to make spelling corrections (e.g., line 13 possitis L : positis V; line 31 alabanstri L : alabastri V), grammar normalizations (e.g., lines 8–9 interficiam and interfecero L : interficio V), terminological standardizations (e.g., lines 22–23 infantem and filium L : infantulum V), and pious emendations (e.g., line 21 pulcer L : pulcrior V).

6. For a comparable overview of the sources, see Bilby, MNTA 1:41–44. A correction should be noted here: that Hosp. Perf. Band. is not, like Reb. Dimas, placed "immediately after the Ps.-Mt. account of the palm tree" (ibid., 43), but a few paragraphs before, between Ps.-Mt. 17 and 18. Thus the connection between the prostrating bandit and the bending date palm in Ps.-Mt. 20 apparent in Reb. Dimas may not be in mind in Hosp. Perf. Band.

7. Introduction and translation by Bilby in MNTA 2:13–22.

8. Introduction and translation by Bilby in MNTA 1:39–51.

9. Text and translation in Ehrman and Pleše, AG 147–55.

10. The Irish text and English translation appear in Martin McNamara et al., Apocrypha Hiberniae I. Evangelia Infantiae, CCSA 13 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2001), 404–7; for the summation of the similar tale by Aelred of Rievaulx, see Anselm Hoste and Charles H. Talbot, eds., Aelredi Rievallensis Opera omnia 1: Opera ascetica, CCCM 1 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1971), 664.

11. The Greek text based on four manuscripts is found in Constantin Tischendorf, Evangelia Apocrypha (2nd ed.; Leipzig: Mendelssohn, 1876), 459–70, and an English translation by Ehrman and Pleše of the Tischendorf edition appears in AG, 572–85. Rémi Gounelle is preparing a new critical edition of this text for CCSA.

12. Introduction and edition in Michel van Esbroeck, Une homélie inédite éphrémienne sur le bon larron en grec, géorgien et arabe, AnBoll 101 (1983): 327–62.

13. Also presented in van Esbroeck, Une homélie inédite éphrémienne.

14. Alphonse Mingana, "Woodbrook Studies 5: Vision of Theophilus," BJRL 13 (1929): 383–474 (repr. in Woodbrooke Studies: Christian Documents in Syriac, Arabic and Garshūni, vol. 3 [Cambridge: Heffer & Sons, 1931], 1–92). For the story of the bandit, see pp. 19–20, 26–29.

15. Anne Boud’hors and Ramez Boutros, L’homélie sur l’Église du Rocher, PO 49.1 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2001), 38–47 (Coptic text and translation), 132–37 (Arabic text and translation). The Ethiopic text and translation appear in Gérard Colin, L’homélie sur l’Église du Rocher, PO 49.2 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2001), 248–53.

16. The relevant section is translated into English in Elliott, ANT, 105. The precursor to (Arab.) Gos. Inf, the Syriac Hist. Vir., appears in Ernest A. W. Budge, The History of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the History of the Likeness of Christ (London: Luzac, 1899). For the story of the bandit, see pp. 59–60.

17. For the Arabic (Apocr.) Gos. John, the precursor to the Miracles of Jesus, see the edition of Giovanni Galbiati, Iohannis Evangelium apocryphum arabice (Milan: In aedibus Mondadorianis, 1957), 52–55 (the page numbers apply to both the Arabic text and the Latin translation). For the text and translation of the Ethiopic Miracles of Jesus, see Sylvain Grébaut, Les Miracles de Jésus, PO 12.4 (Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1919), 618–23. The Ethiopic version introduces a number of significant errors and changes. Most notable for our purposes is the addition of the third bandit character (Gamhour) because of a mistranslation of the Arabic word for multitude (gamhur).

18. Bilby, MNTA 1:43.

19. Hosp. Oint. Band. (Birth Sav.) 123–24.

20. The parallel is explicit in Hosp. Oint. Band. (Birth Sav.) 116; see Ehrman and Pleše, AG, 148–49. It is implicit in Hosp. Perf. Band. in the placement of the bandit’s short story just before the episode of the cave of dragons (Ps.-Mt. 18).

21. The earliest known manuscript is Montpellier, Bibliothèque de la Faculté de medicine, 55 (ca. 800) (= Gijsel Ja1 [M¹]). See Gijsel, Libri de nativitate Mariae, 213.

22. Gounelle, Une légende apocryphe, 247–48; see also Bilby, MNTA 1:44–45.

23. Online at http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Harley_MS_3199.

The Hospitality and Perfume of the Bandit

How Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt with Jesus and about the bandit whom they encountered in the desert.a

Introduction

¹(17.3a) At the time when blessed Mary and Joseph headed through the desert, they encountered a bandit who was hiding in a forest. To him it had been commanded by the other bandits, if he encountered anyone, to kill him immediately and bring them the spoils takenb from him. Otherwise, he could not live with them.

Matt 2:14

(Arab.) Gos. Inf. 23; Birth Sav. 111

The bandit ponders his plan

²(17.3b) Whenc it happened that Joseph and the blessed Mary encountered him on the desert road, when that bandit saw them,d he reflected intensively within himself and said,e O Lord God, what shall I do? I have sworn to kill all men whom I discoverf in this desert. If I forswear,g it is wrong. If I kill this old man, what benefit is it to me? If I kill the boy’s mother and the boy, it is even worse. Buth what will I do? I will lead them covertly to my house, and I will show love toward them, because they will not find hospitalityi in a desert.

The bandit inquires and offers hospitality

³(17.3c) And he said to them, "Brothers,j why do you head through this desert with this lady and withk this boy and with this family—in a place where you will not find a place or houses where you can rest with this infant and with your animals? Where are you going? Where are you headed? Joseph responded to him and said, Our journey is to Egypt. The bandit responded to him, My brothers,a I ask,b if it pleases you, to come with me to my hospitality at this late hour and be guests with me. For long is the roadc and harsh through this desert." And they left with him and entered into a certain small house in which hed and his wife was living.e

Hosp. Dysmas 3; Birth Sav. 117

Hosp. Dysmas 4

The healing of the bandit’s child

⁴(17.3d) From this wife he had a little son, butf he was quite leprous, indeed scabby. But since the hour for bathing his son had now approached, the bandit said to his wife, Allow this infant to be bathed first, because he is beautiful,g and you can bathe our infant afterward, because he is scabby and quite leprous. But after the blessed Mary had bathed her sonh Jesus, as the bandit’s son was bathed in the same water, immediately he was totally cleansed from all filth and from every infirmity. And the bandit said to his wife, Truly this is the Son of God. And he fell prostrate on the ground and worshiped him.

Hosp. Dysmas 5

Birth Sav. 117

(Arab.) Gos. Inf. 17–18, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33

Matt 14:33; 27:54; Mark 15:39

The bandit’s protection and Mary’s reward

⁵(17.3e) As is proper, on the next day they rose up and left. And the bandit likewise went with them to show them the way and to help them until midday until they came to a certain fountain. Buti after they reached the fountain, they stayed there. And there the blessed Mary washed the little garments of her boyj Jesus, and from the water she wrung from them she filled one vessel of alabaster. And immediately this water produced a precious and exceedingly fragrant perfume, whose aroma no one can narrate in the least. Afterward, the blessed Mary took this vessel and said to the bandit, Brothers,k take this vessel, because to us you exhibited great service. Though we do not have gold or silver to give you, I give you this great vessel because you are able to present what is inside it as if it were gold assayed in the market.

Hosp. Dysmas 8

(Arab.) Gos. Inf. 24; Birth Sav. 117

Mark 14:3 par.

Acts 3:6

The bandit sells the perfume to Mary Magdalene

⁶(17.3f) Thenl the bandit received it from the hands of the blessed Mary and it served him on many occasions, such as when the time came that he and his wife fell into great and terrible poverty. Yet at that time, he was reminded of the word that the blessed Mary had spoken to him about the vessel that she had given him. Then he went and took it and carried it to a castle where Mary Magdalene was ata that time making a living from sin. And he said, There is in this countryb no other person who uses preciousc perfumes more than Mary Magdalene. I will go and I will sell it for as much as I can. And he went to her and sold itd for a lot of money.

Birth Sav. 123–24

Conclusion: The aftermath of the perfume in the Gospels

⁷(17.3g) And immediately when Mary Magdalene anointed herself withe the aforementioned perfume, all bodily pollution and desire for sinning left her.f What was left over she kept for later, until the time when she was converted and anointed the feet of the Lord and Savior at the time of the passion. And this was the bandit whom the Jews crucified with Jesus our Lord, the one who said, "Remember me, Lord, wheng you come into your kingdom."

Luke 8:2; Mark 16:9

Mark 14:3–9 par.

Luke 23:42; Hosp. Dysmas 9

a. L starts the narrative on a new page and places this title in red at the top right of fol. 105v. The interpolation in V is seamlessly interwoven into Ps.-Mt. without title.

b. V: taken immediately.

c. V: Next.

d. L lacks them.

e. V: he thought intensively and said within himself.

f. V: I might discover.

g. V: swear by God.

h. G omits but (sed), present in L and V.

i. V: any other hospitality.

j. G reads brother (frater), but L and V have the plural (fratres). The plural in this interpolation may foreshadow Ps.-Mt. 18, where three male servants and one maidservant are mentioned as traveling companions.

k. V lacks with.

a. G again erroneously reads brother.

b. V: ask you.

c. V: the road is long.

d. V: the bandit.

e. V: were living.

f. V: and.

g. V: more beautiful.

h. V: infant.

i. V: and.

j. V: son.

k. V: Brother.

l. V: Whereupon.

a. V: in.

b. G reads province (prouincia), but V and L have country (patria).

c. V: more precious.

d. V: the same perfume.

e. V: from.

f. It should be noted that the woman in Luke 7:36–50 is not identified as Mary Magdalene.

g. L: as.

The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles

A new translation and introduction

by James Toma

The Gospel of the Twelve Holy Apostles Together with Each of Their Revelations (Gos. Twelve [Syr.]) is a late seventh-century apocalyptic text in Syriac written in the context of early Islam during the second fitna (i.e., major civil war). The work is divided into four sections: the gospel itself, recounting the birth, life, and resurrection of Jesus, followed by three subsequent revelations—to Simeon Cephas (Peter), James son of Zebedee, and his brother John the Little. As a whole, Gos. Twelve is a reinforcement of the monophysite faith that attempts to affirm its supremacy (anti-Chalcedonian) and reproach apostates for converting to Islam. The significance of the work is that it shows the suffering and issues Syriac-speaking Christians (mainly the Western Syrians or Jacobite Church) experienced as their conquerors invaded their lands and levied burdensome taxes, leading many to eventually convert to Islam in order to flee persecution and the brutish forms of sustainability. The Syriac Gos. Twelve is to be distinguished from a Gospel of the Twelve known to Origen (in Hom. Luc. 1) and echoed in a number of later writers, as well as other texts by the same title thought to be in use by the Ebionites, Kukeans, and the Manicheans.¹ Eugène Revillout published a group of Coptic fragments under the title Gospel of the Twelve, but most of these fragments belong to a Homily on the Life of Jesus and His Love of the Apostles.²

Contents

Gos. Twelve survives in Estrangelo Syriac, though its title claims it was translated first from Hebrew into Greek and then into Syriac. Likely this is a fiction created to lend the work some antiquity. The gospel (chaps. 1–4) opens with a scene of the annunciation from the canonical gospels (Matt 1:18) and dates the event to the year 309 of Alexander son of Philip (Seleucid calendar). Then follows a recounting of the nativity of Jesus, the flight and return of the Holy Family from Egypt (1:2–11), Jesus’s ministerial activity (2:1–13), crucifixion (2:15–18), resurrection (2:18–23), and ascension (3:14). Two additional postresurrection appearances of Jesus are included. In the first, the apostles gather together and pray to God, requesting the ability to speak in different languages in order to spread the word of God across the four quarters. The apostles’ prayers are answered, and they are each able to understand different languages (chap. 3). The second appearance of Jesus takes place when the apostles have another request before they begin to evangelize, which is to be able to know what may occur in the end times (chap. 4). A voice commands them to go to the mountain of the transfiguration, and after a seven-day journey of prayer and fasting, they reach the mountain and three of the twelve apostles receive the apocalyptic revelations.

The first revelation, to Peter (chap. 5), deals with the church and its faithful who lose their favor by departing from traditional orthodox teachings. Peter sees a period full of offenses and evils and sins and falsehood (5:3) where the majority of people are cunning, crafty, and perverse (5:4) but only a minority call upon the name of Jesus and are believers (5:5). As time passes, belief and true teachings of orthodoxy will gradually decline, and many call out to God and want to perform miracles but will not be able to because of their little faith. A select few among them understand his beloved Son and do not deny the Spirit but face persecution and death for their beliefs (5:6–9). Those who remain will trample on the faith and they will say perverse things and they will divide the Lord (5:11). As a result, the Lord will deliver them into the hands of outside rulers who will pillage their lands and require tribute (5:14). Yet they will continue to blaspheme and sow division and corruption (5:18–23). Relief will come only once they reunite as one true flock and church (5:24).

The second revelation is given to James, the son of Zebedee (chap. 6), and is concerned with the fate of Jerusalem. James sees the destruction of the temple and its city by a man praised in name and fearsome in appearance (6:4), likely Emperor Titus. The people of the city will be killed or banished because they have not known the Son (6:6–7). Another man (likely Constantine) will arise to restore Jerusalem and build sanctuaries to the Lord, but will die after completing the construction of a great and renowned house (6:9–12). His successor will bring peace to the world (6:13–14).

The final and most elaborate revelation is of John the Little, son of Zebedee (chap. 7), who continues the story with a description of the wars in the East and the ascendancy of Islam. John is held in high esteem by the author, who describes a man in white on a horse coming to John and telling him that more than your first fellows, you have known the mystery of the Savior (7:2–4). The angel of God brings him scrolls and places a substance in his mouth that gives him prophetic abilities (7:6–9). John then describes a series of kingdoms that cohere with the cycle from Daniel. First comes a king of the north who subdues all of the peoples by the marvelous sign that appeared to him in heaven (7:13)—again, likely a reference to Constantine—and after him the rise of the kings of the Romans, who fall in battle to the Persians (7:16), who in turn are handed over to the Medes (7:20). A short time later, God will destroy the Medes (7:20) and then suddenly [there] shall be fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel (7:22) as a final empire rises: the kings of the south (i.e., the Arabs). They are described as a hideous people, and their appearance and customs are like those of women; a warrior (likely Muhammad) will rise from among them and they consider him a prophet (7:23), though others mock him and question his words (7:24). Under the direction of God, the kings of the south will reach world domination and overthrow Persia and Rome. These rulers will be wicked and cruel to all the people they rule over, imposing heavy and unbearable tribute, plundering booty, and taking many captives from among the people (7:25–33). But after one great week and a half (7:34, 36), God will turn away from the southern kings because of their immorality and abuse of Christians. He will bring them into severe division, as they become two parties, led by two kings, who battle one another for control (7:42–45). After a period, God will again raise up the kings of the north, who will unite the world against the southern kings, pushing them back to the place from where they came (7:46–48). There they will suffer from evil times and plagues and will no longer be able to wage war (7:51). After a small lacuna in the text, the revelation ends with the angel telling John to hand over his revelation to the other apostles (7:52).

Manuscripts and Editions

Gos. Twelve exists in a single manuscript: Cambridge Mass., Harvard Houghton Library, Syr. 93. fols. 47r–58r, dated paleographically to ca. 750. J. Rendel Harris announced the discovery of the text amongst a pile of Syriac leaves which had arrived from the East in a brief article for the Contemporary Review in 1899; the article includes also a preliminary translation of much of the text (chaps. 1–4 and 7).³ Harris restored the order of the pages to create an edition with detailed commentary and complete English translation in 1900.⁴ Nothing more is known about the origins of the manuscript. The text is inserted in the midst of a collection of monophysite Syriac classics of the seventh century, many of which are erōtapokriseis, or question-and-answer texts, and is followed immediately by an excerpt from the Doctrina Addai. Much of the manuscript is lost (the first two quires, a large portion of the middle, and the last several pages of quires 8 and 9–14), and some portions of the Gos. Twelve folios are damaged in the outer margin (at 4:13, 18–19; 7:23, 29–30, 35, 43–44, 52). A second hand in Serto script has made some emendations to the text and overwritten some of the faded words.

Original Language, Date, and Provenance

The title claims that Gos. Twelve was composed in Hebrew, from where it made its way to Greek and thereafter to Syriac. No Hebrew or Greek versions of the text exist, though there is mention made of a certain Gospel of the Twelve by Origen and scholars have speculated that the gospel that Epiphanius reports as being in use by the Ebionites also went by that name. However, Harris concludes that there is no reason to associate Gos. Twelve with this earlier gospel and offers evidence to suggest that Gos. Twelve is a Syriac composition.⁵

The dating of the text was first proposed by Harris, who claimed that the work was composed during the mid-eighth century and that the codex may even be the autograph copy.⁶ His argument is based on a section within the work which says that twelve renowned kings will rise up from them (i.e., the Arabs), as it is written in the Law, when God spoke to Abraham and said, ‘Behold! Concerning Ishmael your son I have heard you, and it (the south) will produce twelve princes with many others’ (7:27). Harris sees this as a reference to twelve caliphs who ruled after Muhammad, as mentioned in Bukhari, Hadith No. 7222. However, as Han J. W. Drijvers points out, the number twelve held symbolic meaning for both Judaism and Christianity, and this symbolism was carried into Islam as well.⁷ Drijvers and others have settled on a date of composition before 705, the year of the death of ʿAbd al-Malik, the fifth Umayyad caliph.⁸ The revelation of John the Little mentions heavy taxation and tribute imposed on Christians; Drijvers believes this may be due to the tax reforms and census issued during ʿAbd al-Malik’s period of consolidation and recovery after the end of the second civil war (692).⁹

Likely the text originated in Edessa, the center of Syriac literature during the period.¹⁰ The dating method used (year 309 of Alexander [1:2]) follows Syrian conventions, and most of the literature in the codex has links to Edessa, such as the Doctrina Addai and Jacob of Edessa’s theological responses (fols. 1r–45v). Thus, Gos. Twelve is a Syriac composition of Jacobite (West Syrian) origin, likely written in Edessa sometime during the late seventh or early eighth centuries.

Historical and Literary Contexts

Gos. Twelve offers insights on some of the earliest Christian encounters with Islam, several centuries prior to Muslim forces reaching mid-Europe. The Islamic conquests throughout the seventh century brought about permanent change to the political environment of the Near East and also of the Mediterranean. The effects that the new ideology had on the preexisting populations and various religious communities were dramatic and quite severe: poll taxes at unprecedented heights were levied onto non-Muslims (i.e., Christians, Jews, Mandaeans, and others), and properties were confiscated and looted, all of which motivated mass conversions to the new faith. The conquests begun under Muhammad were suspended once the third caliph of the Islamic state, ʿUthman, was killed in 646. For the next five years, a period of civil war commenced that severely weakened the Muslims as two factions soon emerged: the followers of Ali (Shiʿites) and the supporters of Muʿawiya (Sunnis).¹¹ After the civil wars came to a pause in 651, order was restored until the death of Muʿawiya and the succession of his son Yazid I in 680, who reignited the leadership contest. The tensions of the second civil war lasted much longer than the first. The Shiʿite leader Husayn, son of Ali, refused to recognize Yazid I. The second civil war came to an end in 692 once ʿAbd al-Malik, the fifth Umayyad caliph, squashed all his opponents and restored order to the Islamic empire.¹² Thereafter, tax reforms and military organization resumed with great intensity, having detrimental effects on the Christian populations along with other religious communities.

ʿAbd al-Malik also financed the construction of the Dome of the Rock, a mosque built on top of the Temple Mount, where the symbolic and holy Christian city of Jerusalem had received a renowned legacy due to Constantine’s construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.¹³ The city transformed into a largely Muslim-controlled location, with its mosque promoting Islam as the succeeding faith both to Judaism and to Christianity.¹⁴ As Robert G. Hoyland writes, Muslims could persuasively argue they were now God’s chosen people, since they reached world domination; however, this taunt strikes some nerve for the Syriac-Christians, who in turn had to react or respond to this problem: by presenting apostasy as all part of God’s plan.¹⁵ In this environment, Gos. Twelve offers a narrative defending the monophysite Christian cause and faith for its community, while attempting to theologically explain the inconvenient and brutish conditions that Islam has brought on them. Many Christians soon began converting to Islam to alleviate their struggles, which Gos. Twelve describes as

he who has will think in those days as though he had not, and he who builds and sells as though he had no gain.… The angel of wrath will descend and kindle evil among them […] between them and within them. They will be lifted up one [against] the other and make and become two parties (i.e., Shiʿites and Sunnis). Each of them will seek to call himself king and there will be war between them. There will be many killings by them and among them, and much blood will be shed among them at the fountain of the waters. (7:32, 43–45)

Thus, Syrian Christians combated the forces of apostasy from within their communities by presenting a polemic that reproached recent apostates and also affirmed the primacy of the righteous and true monophysite doctrine of Christianity. In addition, the threat posed by Islam was addressed through conventions used in apocalyptic literature to find meaning in persecution.

Gos. Twelve was not the first attempt by Christians to counter the growing threat of Islam. Several apocalyptic texts from the seventh century are echoed in Gos. Twelve: the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephrem, Yoḥannan (John) bar Penkaye’s Resh Melle, and the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius. Apoc. Ps.-Ephrem¹⁶ is a pseudepigraphical and apocalyptic Syriac memra (i.e., symmetrical homily) attributed to Ephrem the Syrian. While the date of the text is contested, suggestions range between the late sixth and mid-seventh centuries;¹⁷ however, reflections of the environmental shifts of the Near East in the mid-seventh century place it close to the end of that range. In brief, Apoc. Ps.-Ephrem begins by proclaiming that the end times are approaching and that the righteous ones will suffer indignities and the Assyrians will gain authority over the region of the Romans. In this context, the text describes the Byzantine-Sassanian Wars of 602–629, which led to the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the True Cross being carried off to Ctesiphon.¹⁸ After a reference to the attack on Ctesiphon in 623, Apoc. Ps.-Ephrem predicts that a people will go forth from the desert, the son[s] of Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant (61) and defeat both the Sassanian and the Roman armies.¹⁹ Thereafter, the descendants of Hagar (i.e., Arabs) will soon begin to pillage and exact tribute from the Christians (65). This tragedy that prevails over Christendom is ordained by God in order to punish the Christians for going astray and falling into sin in the world. The Arabs eventually anger God, as they severely persecute the Christians, so he releases the hidden armies that Alexander the Great once pacified. In addition, the armies of Gog and Magog (Ezek 38–39) rise to power and defeat the sons of Hagar. After these events unfold, the antichrist appears, and judgment day transpires, leading to the destruction and end of the world. Apoc. Ps.-Ephrem appears to have been written during the divisions of the first civil war (646–651). It interprets Islam as a temporary force and assumes the conquerors will shortly pass.

Gos. Twelve and Apoc. Ps.-Ephrem share certain features that suggest the gospel was influenced by the apocalypse. First, Apoc. Ps.-Ephrem mentions the rise of the Arabs (raised by God in order to punish the Christians), which is a theme that is adopted by Gos. Twelve, wherein John the Little’s revelation states that the south (the name given to the Arabs based on Daniel’s prophecy) will prosper, and by the hoofs of the horses of their armies, they will trample down Persia and will subdue it and destroy Rome (7:25). Another similarity between the two works is the rise and deliverance of a Western ruler who is sent by God to alleviate the persecution of Christians and defeat the Arabs. As Kenneth Baxter Wolf puts it: One of the most desperate (and at the same time safest) ways to make sense out of the dramatic contraction of the Roman Empire first in the West and then in the East was to think apocalyptically, imagining that one day, at the end of history, a Roman emperor would emerge who would, once and for all, cast out that bona fide ‘Christian world empire’ that Constantine’s conversion had made seem inevitable.²⁰

Yoḥannan (John) bar Penkaye’s Resh Melle (Main Points) was composed in 687. It contains a history of Yoḥannan’s vivid experiences during the first two civil wars but focuses on the events of the second.²¹ The work offers a perspective on Muʿawiya’s reign before the succession of his son Yazid I and states the following: Justice flourished in his time, and there was great peace in the regions under his control.… Once Mʿaway had come to the throne, the peace throughout the world was such that we have never heard, either from our fathers or from our grandparents, or seen that there had ever been any like it.²² However, the situation prior to Muʿawiya’s consolidation of power entailed highly decisive battles and events. The first of Muʿawiya’s rivals was Husayn, the son of Ali, who refused to recognize Yazid’s power. Husayn swiftly conducted his forces against Muʿawiya but perished in the Battle of Karbala (680). The Shiʿite leadership passed to Mukhtar, an associate of Ali, who was exiled to Mecca after Husayn’s death. While in Mecca, Mukhtar joined forces with ʿAbd Allah ibn Zubayr against Yazid. The two rebels would continue to be a problem for Yazid, and the next major revolts continued until their deaths. Many viewed Yazid as impious for killing Husayn, who was Muhammad’s grandson and son-in-law.²³ He lost much of his support from the Hijaz and other provinces, but once the revolts stirred up by Ibn Zubayr intensified, Yazid marched down to Medina and pillaged it during the Battle of Harar (683). In order to suppress resistance further, Mecca was then invaded, and the Kaaba was razed to the ground. In that same year, Yazid died and was succeeded by his son Muʿawiya II, though he died within the year (683). Ibn Zubayr declared himself caliph but was opposed by Marwan, a well-respected leader from the Umayyad family. The two eventually clashed, and the supporters of Ibn Zubayr were defeated at Marj Rahit. Marwan’s acceptance as caliph increased as he advanced his power in Syria and Palestine and also seized Egypt from Ibn Zubayr’s governor in 685. Marwan’s son, ʿAbd al-Malik, succeeded him and marked a secure base for the restoration of the Umayyad dynasty. Mukhtar was able to consolidate his own power once he defeated ʿUbayd Allah ibn Zayid (the killer of Husayn’s cousin) near Mosul in the Battle of Khazir (686). Mukhtar’s control of Iraq and Kufa was challenged by Musʿab ibn Zubayr (brother of Ibn Zubayr) as he attempted to take Kufa. Mukhtar’s forces were defeated at Madhar by Musʿab’s forces; eventually they took Kufa and Mukhtar was killed in 687.

By 687, when Resh Melle was composed, troubles arose in Syria, Hijaz, and Iraq, especially since major contestation among the Muslim leadership began waging large-scale interregional wars. To make matters more complex, the Christian stronghold of Nisibis had been taken by Mukhtar’s regiments. The internal divisions and civil unrest between Muslims soon became interpreted by Yoḥannan and many of his contemporaries as a sign from God that the end of Arab rule was approaching.²⁴ Like Apoc. Ps.-Ephrem, Yoḥannan’s work views the Arabs as a temporary force sent to punish the Christians for their sins and provides further details on the corruption his own church was facing. The Resh Melle calls on his Christian community to repent and ask for forgiveness in order for God to save his people and deliver them from their oppressors.

Resh Melle and Gos. Twelve have much in common. First, they both mention a degenerating clergy. According to Simon’s revelation, in the offices of the church there will be disturbers and slanderers and haters of each other, lovers of money and destroyers of order, and those who do not observe the commandments (5:18). Another similarity includes the division among the Arabs as the cause for their eventual fall, which John the Little’s revelation expresses as God’s wrath being directed against the kings of the south (i.e., Arabs) by dividing them into two parties (7:44). The difference between the two works, however, is the manner in which the political presence of the Arabs is interpreted. For Yoḥannan, the Arabs are viewed more closely to Apoc. Ps.-Ephrem, who sees the conquerors as a temporary oppressor and as a force that will eventually vanish from the land, but not until Christians repent. However, Gos. Twelve acknowledges the conquerors as a presence that will not immediately pass, not until all Christians including Chalcedonian and Nestorian heretics acknowledge the supremacy and conform to the liturgical practices of the monophysite doctrine—when there will be a flock and church and baptism, true and one (5:25).²⁵ Hence, the emphasis is placed not on the decline of the Arabs but on the need for Christians to repent and unite under monophysite Christianity.

Apoc. Ps.-Meth. was produced sometime during the end of the seventh century and became one of the most circulated apocalyptic texts of its time.²⁶ The established date for the work is sometime in 691/692, shortly after the restoration of the Umayyad authority in Mesopotamia and, as Han Drijvers notes, when ʿAbd al-Malik’s tax reforms and census and the recent construction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem caused mass conversions to Islam among the Monophysite population of northern Mesopotamia.²⁷ Apoc. Ps.-Meth. starts by dividing the world into seven ages, with the Arabs (sons of Hagar) appearing in the fifth age. The Arabs, as it prophesizes, will eventually gain power and oppress the Christians, and this occurs for their sins, which God ordains, though only until their oppressors become trampled by the Israelite judge Gideon. The work emphasizes Christian persecution and injustices, as the Christians become victims to enslavement for ten weeks of the year. However, in the final age of time (the seventh), a Western figure with features resembling both Alexander the Great and Emperor Constantine is raised by God, and the Danielic scheme of the four successive empires (interpreted as Macedonia, Rome, Byzantium, and Africa-Rome) is inserted into the narrative. Then doomsday occurs and the antichrist succeeds the final ruler. The final kingdom is Greek (via a connection between Alexander and Ethiopia), not Arab, since Apoc. Ps.-Meth. views the Ishmaelite conquerors as merely scourges sent forth by God in order to correct the behavior of Christians.

The composition of Apoc. Ps.-Meth. is closer to the time of Gos. Twelve, so the similarities between these two works are of particular value. Both use Daniel’s prophecy (see Gos. Twelve 7:22) and include the motif of the emergence of a Western deliverer. In Gos. Twelve, the deliverer is a man from the seed of Constantine (6:13) who leads the kings of the north against the southern spirit, forcing it to return to the place from where it came (7:48). In contrast to Apoc. Ps.-Meth., Gos. Twelve disregards references involved with the Alexander Romance and instead keeps true to the Christian emperor: Constantine the Great. The grand scheme for Apoc. Ps.-Meth. is that it views the Arab conquerors as soon to be defeated by the Byzantines, who will go to war with the Arabs in a period of schism and Islamic political instability. But soon after the text’s composition, ʿAbd al-Malik’s and Justinian II’s armies finally went to war in 692 and the Byzantine forces suffered a horrific loss in Armenia, and this called for a different approach in religious terms.²⁸ This new approach was needed to reaffirm Christian hope, reinterpret the political situation, reproach apostates, and keep the current Christians from following in their footsteps.

Theological Considerations

Each of the revelations granted to the apostles focuses on a theme of concern for late antique Syrian Christians. Peter’s vision holds an anti-dyophysite character and is concerned with monophysite orthodoxy’s miserable state,²⁹ James’s central theme involves the Holy City of Jerusalem as a Christian city,³⁰ and John’s deals directly with the problems experienced by Christians living under Islamic dominance.³¹

The revelation to Peter mentions Christians who divide our Lord (5:11)—perhaps a direct attack against Nestorianism with its claim that Jesus had two natures.³² The orthodox faith will witness severe persecution, Peter says, warning that there will rise up against them bribed judges and also bribed deniers.… After these (things) will have happened, faith will cease from the world and truthfulness will come to an end (5:8, 10). Those who hold to the correct doctrine are separated from the others and, though few in number, ask and are heard, because their hearts speak the truth and know God, and they understand his beloved Son and do not deny the Spirit (5:7). As the persecution continues, the dyophysites will return to monophysite orthodoxy, and all will become a flock and church and baptism, true and one (5:25). The tribulations facing the church will come to an end, and those that call on the Lord will live.³³

The revelation of James is mainly concerned with Jerusalem and its symbolic relevance for Christianity. He begins with a description of the destruction of the Second Temple, a crisis that he blames on the Jews who blasphemed against the name of our Lord Jesus and crucified and killed (6:3). James moves on to discuss a ruler that will arise: he will establish his edicts, and settle it, and build in it consecrated and renowned sanctuaries to the Lord. They will come from the limits and ends of the world; and all those who hear the name of the Lord and know his praises will worship there the Holy Lord (6:9–10). These venerations appear to be Constantine’s building programs in Jerusalem.³⁴ They will include the construction of yet another temple, with gold of Ophir, and gemstones of Havilah. Its name and renown will go out and be renowned more than all the houses of the world (6:12). Likely these are to be understood as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the showcasing of the True Cross.³⁵ In addition, the same ruler will die before the completion of the temple; however, James’s revelation reveals that from his seed will rise a successor, and will burden the chief men with many evils (6:13). This interest in sacred sites in Jerusalem may be a reaction to the construction of the Dome of the Rock under ʿAbd al-Malik. In doing so, ʿAbd al-Malik was announcing that the religion of the conquerors was to be seen as the successor of both Judaism and Christianity.³⁶ James’s revelation is intended to bring hope to those who witness ʿAbd al-Malik’s project that Christianity will eventually win victory over the Arabs through the heir of Constantine who will have great and mighty authority and the world will be governed in his days with great tranquility (6:13).³⁷ James’s vision at once denies the claims of both Jews and Muslims for supremacy over the Holy City.

The final revelation, of John the Little, delves into the current political environment of Islam and the prophecy of this empire’s decay. John interprets these events through Daniel’s account of the statue made from four minerals (Dan 2:31–45). Daniel’s interpretation of the monarch’s dream views each of the minerals as four distinct empires, usually identified as Babylon, Media, Persia, and Macedonia. The fourth, Daniel says, will crush all of these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever (Dan. 2:44). This prophecy is adapted in Gos. Twelve to suit what is occurring in the author’s day. Here the first empire is the Romans, beginning with the reign of Constantine the Great (a man who subdues all of the peoples by the marvelous sign that appeared to him in heaven [7:13]).³⁸ His successors will commit cruel and evil acts before God, causing them to decline; they are succeeded by the Sassanian Persians (7:14–17). However, the Sassanians will also do evil and be short-lived, so God will raise the Medes, the third empire, who in due time also will be guilty of unruly behavior that causes them to fall (7:18–21). The final empire is the Arab Muslims,³⁹ identified as the kings of the south, a phrase also used in Daniel, though to describe a Syrian king (see Dan 11:5). John’s revelation claims, There will come from it a hideous people whose appearance and customs are like those of women. From among them will rise up a warrior, whom they call a prophet. And they will be brought into his hands (7:22–23). The reference here to the final kingdom is in tune with the rise of Islam and its founder Muhammad.⁴⁰ Their dominance is said to last one great week and a half (7:34), which is ten and a half years.⁴¹ Once the end of their rule approaches, the Muslims will be severely weakened through internal division and become two parties (7:44)—a reference to the conflict between Shiʿites and Sunnis. The weakening of the Muslim rulers will provide an opportunity for a man of the north to step forward and restore peace: Then he will assemble with him all of the peoples of the world, and he will go out against him and destroy and ruin his armies and take captive their sons, daughters, and wives. And there will fall upon them a bitter and evil trembling. The Lord will cause the southern spirit to return to the place from where it came (7:47–48). The rise of the final ruler who brings justice and peace to the world, however, does not require battle with the Muslims, since they will become weak through their own divisions. The eventual decay of the Muslims indicates that the author of Gos. Twelve views the conquerors as a temporary force and his role in writing is to demonstrate to his readers that their foe will soon fade away.

Translation

The following translation is based on Harvard Syr. 93 with an eye to the edition and translation by Harris and to direct examination of the codex. Chapter and verse divisions have been introduced.

Bibliography

EDITIONS AND TRANSLATIONS

Erbetta, Mario. Gli Apocrifi del nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. in 4. Turin: Marietti, 1966–1981. (Italian translation in vol. 3, pp. 431–40).

Harris, J. Rendel. The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles together with the Apocalypses of each one of them. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1900. (Editio princeps, text pp. 1–21 [in Syriac numbering], translation pp. 25–39.)

———. A New Gospel and Some New Apocalypses. Contemporary Review 76 (1899): 802–18. (Includes preliminary translation of chaps. 1–4 and 7.)

Penn, Michael Philip. When Christians First Met Muslims: A Sourcebook of the Earliest Syriac Writings on Islam. Oakland: University of California Press, 2015. (English translation of chap. 7, pp. 150–55.)

STUDIES

Brock, Sebastian P. Gospel of the Twelve Apostles. In Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Edited by Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz, and Lucas Van Rompay. Digital edition prepared by David Michelson, Ute Possekel, and Daniel L. Schwartz. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2011; online ed. Beth Mardutho, 2018. https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Gospel-of-the-Twelve-Apostles.

Donner, Fred McGraw. Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 2012.

Drijvers, Han J. W. Christians, Jews and Muslims in Northern Mesopotamia in Early Islamic Times. The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles and Related Texts. Pages 67–74 in La Syrie de Byzance à l’Islam, VIIe–VIIIe siècles: actes du Colloque international De Byzance à l’islam, Lyon, Maison de l’Orient méditerranéen, Paris, Institut du monde arabe, 11–15 septembre 1990. Edited by Pierre Canivet and Jean-Paul Rey-Coquais. Damas: Institut français de Damas, 1992.

———. The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles. A Syriac Apocalypse from the Early Islamic Period. Pages 189–213 in The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East. Vol. 1, Problems in the Literary Source Material. Edited by Averil Cameron and Lawrence I. Conrad. SLAEI 1. Princeton: Darwin, 1992.

Hoyland, Robert G. Seeing Islam as Others Saw It: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam. SLAEI 13. Princeton: Darwin, 1997.

Puech, Henri-Charles (rev. by Beate Blatz). Other Gnostic Gospels and Related Literature. Pages 354–413 in New Testament Apocrypha. Vol. 1, Gospels and Related Writings. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McL. Wilson. Rev. ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1991.

Reinink, Gerrit J. Early Christian Reactions to the Building of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Khristianskij Vostok 2 (2001): 227–41.

———. From Apocalyptics to Apologetics: Early Syriac Reactions to Islam. Pages 75–87 in Endzeiten: Eschatologie in den monotheistischen Weltreligionen. Edited by Wolfram Brandes and Felicitas Schmieder. Millennium-Studien 16. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2008.

Thomas, David, and Barbara Roggema, eds. Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History. Vol. 1, 600–900. History of Christian-Muslim Relations 11. Leiden: Brill, 2009.

Wolf, Kenneth Baxter. Back to the Future: Constantine and the Last Roman Emperor. Pages 115–32 in The Life and Legacy of Constantine: Traditions through the Ages. Edited by Michael Shene Bjornlie. London: Routledge, 2017.

1. Surveyed in Puech and Blatz, Other Gnostic Gospels, 374–79.

2. Eugène Revillout, Les apocryphes coptes. Première partie: Les Évangiles des douze apôtres et de saint Barthélemy, PO 2/2 (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1904); introduction and translation by Timothy Pettipiece in MNTA 2:23–40.

3. Harris, New Gospel; quotation from 804.

4. Harris, Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, 1–21 (in Syriac numbering; text), 25–39 (trans.).

5. Harris, Gospel