3 Apocryphal Apocalypse of John

3 Apocalypsis Iohannis apocrypha

Standard abbreviation: 3 Apocr. Apoc. John

Other titles: none

Clavis numbers: ECCA 324

Category: Apocalypses

Compiled by: Tony Burke, York University

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “3 Apocryphal Apocalypse of John.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/3-apocryphal-apocalypse-of-john/.

Created June 2018. Current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

3 Apocr. Apoc. John is extant in two Greek manuscripts of varying contents, with sections absent in each due to damage or, perhaps, the sensitivities and interests of the copyists. Additional manuscripts exist in modern Bulgarian and Church Slavonic. The text opens with Jesus and his apostles gathered on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus eats and drinks with the apostles for forty days before ascending to heaven. Jesus has been to Hades, where he liberated the patriarchs. Abraham was brought out specifically to divide the righteous from the damned (chap. 1). Before Jesus’ departure, Peter asks him when the end of the world will occur (chap. 2), an exchange that echoes a scene from the Synoptic apocalypse (Mark 13:4–12 par.).

Jesus ascends and his mother Mary is taken to Paradise (an allusion to the Dormition traditions). Then the apostles gather with Abraham, and John asks him a series of questions about the afterlife (chaps. 3–13). Many of the answers are drawn from Scripture, particularly the Psalms. The questions include: will the Jews find mercy? Will the impious be judged with Christians? Will the righteous be separated from their family and friends? Do deceased children go to heaven? Does the soul reunite with the body? What form do the righteous take in heaven? Will we be married in the resurrection? What is the food of the righteous? And will the baptized person who sins every day receive mercy?

Some of the questions and answers deal with the conduct of priests and other church officers. Abraham is asked about the succession of priests (which is traced back to Melchizedek), about the proper honor due to priests, about whether misbehaving church officers will receive mercy (particular attention is paid here to the issue of monks living apart from their hegumens/abbots), and who will speak for whom on judgment day (bishops speak for priests, priests for people, and hegumens speak for the monks).

The text includes also discussion of relief for sinners (chap. 8). Abraham reveals that if the sinner’s family and friends perform services for them, they will reside temporarily in Paradise from the Maundy Thursday to Pentecost. This period of mercy is commonplace in late antique apocalypses, though the length of time varies.

Named Historical Figures and Characters: Abraham (patriarch), Adam (patriarch), David (king), Eve (matriarch), Jesus Christ, John (son of Zebedee), Mary (Virgin), Melchizedek, Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Simeon, Solomon (king), Zechariah (priest).

Geographical Locations: Hades, Mount of Olives, Paradise.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Bulgarian

Kraków, Biblioteka Jagiellońska, Fol. 36, fols. 342^r–354^v (end of 18th cent.) ~ manuscript nicknamed “Berlin damaskin”

Mount Athos, Monē Chilandariou, 193, fols. 24^v–41^v (prior to 1766)

Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, slav. 710, fols. 222^v–231^r (1720s) – manuscript nicknamed “Triavna damaskin”

Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, slav. 1070, fols. 54^r–62^v (1789)

Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, slav. 1083, fols. 79^v–83^v (1821)

Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, slav. 1190, fols. 1^v–10^v (without ending) (18th cent.)

Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, slav. 1191 (18th/19th cent.) ~ now lost

Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, slav. 1195, fols. 92^v–96^r (19th cent.)

Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, slav. 1338, fols 9^r–15^v (19th cent.)

Veliko Tŭrnovo, Regionalna narodna biblioteka “P.R. Slaveĭkov”, No.7, fols. 25^r–34^v (1800-1825)

Szymański, Tadeusz. Studium z bulgarskiej dialektologii historycznej. Z historii dialektu okolic miasta Ruse. Kraków: Universitas, 1995 (edition of the text from Sofia slav. 1070 in modern Bulgarian, pp. 333–41.)

3.1.2 Church Slavic

Belgrade, Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church, 100, fols. 95^v–102^r (1628)

Belgrade, Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church, 320, fols. 142^r–148^r (1640–1650)

Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, P. S. Srećković, fols. 1^r–10^r (14th cent.)

Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, 38, fols. 76^v–78^r (16th cent.)

Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, 53, fols. 105^r–118^r (16th cent.)

Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, 205 (I. 365), fols. 8^r–15^r (16th/17th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 3)

Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, 321, fols. 261^v–265^v (16th/17th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 1) ~ destroyed by fire

Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, 632, fols. 1^r–56^r (13th cent.)

Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, 651, fols. 6^r–10^v (13th cent.)

Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, 760, fols. 148^r–160^v (1500–1510)

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin–Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Slav. Wuk 48, fols. 59^v–69^r (13th/14th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 5)

Bijelo Polje (Montenegro), Nikoljac Monastery, 52, fols. 153^r–157^v (1485/1495)

Moscow, Central State Archive of the City of Moscow, 3 (387), fols. 205^r–208^r (15th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 22)

Moscow, Russian State Library, 96, fols. 91^r–95^v (16th cent.; =de Santos Otero 31)

Moscow, Russian State Library, 157 (521), fols. 69^r–75^v (16th cent.; =de Santos Otero 26)

Moscow, Russian State Library, 166 (535), fols. 115^r–118^v (16th cent.)

Moscow, Russian State Library, 183 (566), fols. 273^v–275^v (16th cent.; =de Santos Otero 28/61)

Moscow, State Historical Museum, 330 (682), fols. 330^r–330^v (16th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 24)

Moscow, Russian State Library, V. M. Undol’skij, Cod. 637, fols. 8^r– ? (17th cent.)

Moscow, Russian State Library, V. M. Undol’skij, 1268, fols. 82^r–92^r (16th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 30)

Moscow, Russian State Library (F. 299), N. S. Tichonravov 18, fols. 63^v–73^r (17th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 43)

Moscow, State Historical Museum, A. I. Chludov 108, fols. 228^r– ? (17th cent.)

Moscow, State Historical Museum, A. I. Chludov 241, fols. 154^v–155^v (ca. 1451) (=de Santos Otero 34)

Saint Petersburg, Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Codex Tek. post. Nr. 140, fols. 64^r–70^v (17th/18th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 14)

Saint Petersburg, Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 242 (664), fols. 185^v–193^v (15th/16th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 10)

Saint Petersburg, Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Jacimirskij 13.6.13, fols. 37^v–40^v (15th cent.)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, F-1-258, fols. 217^v–224^r (17th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 15)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, 889, fols. 159, 160^v–165^v (17th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 16)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia (f. 536), Obščestvo ljubitelej drenej pis’mennosti, Sbornik Edomskogo (24ff.), fols. 17^v–20^v (17th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 60)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Cod. Q-1-312, fols. 251^r– ? (15th cent.)

Sofia, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 79, fols. 144^r–148^r (14th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 46)

Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, 326 (509), fols. 74^r–79^v (17/18th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 49)

Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, 433 (Panagjurište Miscellany), fols. 117^r–125^v, 159^v–166^v (16th cent.; =de Santos Otero 48) ~ contains two versions of the text

Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, 1056, fols. 6^v–13^v (18th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 51)

Vienna, Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Slav. 149, fols. 131^r–137^r (16th cent.)

Zagreb, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, II.a.43, fols. 176^v–185^v (16th cent.; =de Santos Otero 56)

Zagreb, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, IV.a.120 (glag.), fols. 27^r–40^r (16th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 57)

Unidentified Bosnian-Serbian manuscript known to Močul’skij, fols. 106^v– ? (18th cent.)

Barsukov, N. Sbornik Edomskogo. St. Petersburg, 1889 (edition of Leningrad, Sbornik Edomskogo, pp. 27–29).

Miltenova, Anissava. “Apocalypsis Johannis apocrypha quarta (4 Ap. Apoc. John) in the Slavonic Tradition.” Pages 686–717 in The Embroidered Bible: Studies in Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Honour of Michael E. Stone. Edited by Lorenzo DiTommaso, Matthias Henze, and William Adler. Leiden: Brill, 2018 (edition and translation of 3 Apocr. Apoc. John based on SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, slav. 433, pp. 704–17).

Močul’skij, Vasilij N. Sledy narodnoj biblii v slavjanskoj i drevnerusskoj pis ‘mennosti. Odessa, 1893 (edition of 3 Apocr. Apoc. John based on Zagreb, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, II.a.43, pp. 270–75).

Santos Otero, Aurelio de. Die handscriftliche Überlieferung der altslavischen Apokryphen. 2 vols. PTS 20 and 23. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1977 (discussion of the Slavonic tradition, vol. 1 pp. 197–209, vol. 2 pp. 253–54).

Tichonravov, Nikolai S. Pamjatniki otrečennoj russkoj literatury. 2 vols. Moscow: Obščestv. Pol’za, 1863 (editio princeps of 3 Apocr. Apoc. John, pp. 197–212 based on Moscow codd. 96, 157, and 183).

3.1.3 Greek (BHG 922k)

Athens, Ethnikē Bibliothēkē tēs Hellados, gr. 1007, fols. 171^r–176^r (17th cent.)

Mount Athos, Monē Koutloumousiou, 176, fols. 179^v–183^v (1438–1439)

Bonar, Chance E., and Tony Burke. “3 Apocryphal Apocalypse of John: A Byzantine Question-and-Answer Dialogue.” Mus 133.3–4 (2020): 397–454.

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Bonar, Chance E., Tony Burke, and Slavomír Čéplö. “3 Apocryphal Apocalypse of John.” Pages 423–60 in New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Volume 2. Edited by Tony Burke. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020.

3.2.2 Serbian

Jovanović, Tomislav. Apokrifi starozavetni prema srpskim prepisima Apokrifi novozavetni. 2 vols. Belgrade: Prosveta, 2005 (Serbian translation of 3 Apocr. Apoc. John based on Močul’skij’s edition with variants from three additional manuscripts, pp. 352–66).

3.3 General Works

Bratu-Minott, Anca. “From the Bosom of Abraham to the Beatific Vision: On Some Medieval Images of the Soul’s Journey to Heaven.” Pages 189–218 in Death and Dying in the Middle Ages. Edited by Edelgard E. DuBruck and Barbara I. Gusick. New York: Peter Lang, 1999.

Constas, Nicholas, “‘To Sleep, Perchance to Dream’: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature.” DOP 55 (2001): 91-124.

_________. “Death and Dying in Byzantium.” Pages 125–45 in A People’s History of Christianity. Vol. 3: Byzantine Christianity. Edited by Derek Krueger. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006.

Cooper, Adam. “‘In the Bosom of Abraham’: Identity and Formation of Christians as ‘Sons of Abraham’ in the Early Church.” Lutheran Theological Journal 34.3 (2000): 116–26.

Court, John M. The Book of Revelation and the Johannine Apocalyptic Tradition. JSNTS 190. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 2000.

Kaestli, Jean-Daniel, and Jean-Claude Picard. “Première Apocalypse Apocryphe de Jean.” Pages 983–90 in volume 2 of Écrits Apocryphes Chrétiens. Edited by Pierre Geoltrain and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 516. Paris: Gallimard, 2005 (discussion pp. 988–89).

Lof, L. J. van der. “Abraham’s Bosom in the Wirings of Irenaeus, Tertullian and Augustine.” AugStud 26.2 (1995): 109–23.

Mladenova, Olga M. “An Early Modern Bulgarian Vernacular Version of St. John the Theologian’s Questions to Abraham.” (forthcoming).

O’Kane, Martin. “‘The Bosom of Abraham’ (Luke 16:22): Father Abraham in the Visual Imagination.” BibInt 15 (2007): 485–518.

Petkov, Julian. Altslavische Eschatologie: Texte und Studien zur apokalyptischen Literatur in kirchenslavischer Überlieferung. TANZ 59. Tübingen: Narr Frankce Attempto, 2016 (see pp. 174–80).

Tóth, Péter. “New Wine in Old Wineskin: Byzantine Reuses of the Apocryphal Revelation Dialogue.” Pages 77–93 in Dialogues and Debates from Late Antiquity to Late Byzantium. Edited by Averil Cameron and Niels Gaul. New York: Routledge, 2017.

Williams, Guy. “Abraham in the Christian Tradition.” ScrB 38 (2007): 15–24.