Encomium in Iohannem Baptistam
Standard abbreviation: Encom. Bapt.
Other titles: Panegyric on John the Baptist
Clavis numbers: ECCA 543; CANT 185
Category: Pseudo-Apostolic Memoirs
Related literature: Encomium on the Four Bodiless Creatures by Ps.-John Chrysostom
Compiled by Tony Burke ([email protected]), based upon work by Philip L. Tite.
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Encominum of John the Baptist.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/encomium-on-john-the-baptist/.
Created March 2020.
1. SUMMARY
Encom. Bapt. is a Coptic pseudo-apostolic memoir attributed to John Chrysostom. It begins as a homily praising John the Baptist. Here the author draws on material about John from the canonical Gospels: the naming of John (Luke 1:5–25, 59–63), and his death (Matt 14:6–12//Mark 19:21–29). Then follows the sequel in Matthew where Jesus hears of John’s death, goes into the wilderness and there feeds the crowds (Matt 14:13–21 par); the author interprets the meal as a “love-feast” and “eucharist” for John. The author then explicates the pericope of Jesus’ response to questions from John’s disciples (Matt 11:2–6; cf. Luke 7:18–23) adding to Jesus’ words additional statements about John from elsewhere in the Gospels. And finally, the homilist expounds upon Jesus’ description of John as a “reed blown about by the wind” (Matt 11:7//Luke 7:24) . Then comes a transitional section with a variety of traditions: how Jesus stood on the skull of Adam, the commissioning of the apostles, and the story of John and Elizabeth’s flight to the desert (from Prot. Jas. 22).
Ps.-Chrysostom then tells of his discovery of a book in an old church in Jerusalem written by the apostles. The remaining portion of the text is the contents of this book. It begins with the apostles speaking to the resurrected Jesus on the mount of Olives. They ask Jesus to tell them more about John the Baptist before they go out preaching. Jesus brings them up on a cloud of light to as far as the seventh heaven and then back to the third; there they see John and his parents dressed in splendid clothes. Jesus says all of the pleasurable things in heaven could be granted as gifts by John to any who remember him while on earth. Then the narrative voice shifts to James, the brother of Jesus, who promises to reveal everything he sees in the third heaven.
The apostles are joined by Paul, Luke, Mark, and the seven archangels. Jesus tells them he has given the third heaven to John a a gift and promises that anyone who remembers John with an offering or a love-feast or by giving charity to the poor will be rewarded by being brought to the third heaven after death. He says that John will carry them over the river of fire in a boat. The apostles ask about the river of fire and Jesus gives its dimensions; all must cross the river of fire, the righteous and sinners, but once they reach the shore, the righteous will be baptized in the river, though it will feel like hot bath water.
Jesus proceeds to give the apostles a tour of the third heaven and they ask questions about its fields of fruit. Jesus promises that those who remember John will inherit these fruits. Peter returns to the topic of John’s boat, asking about the purpose of its oars and lampstands. Jesus responds, saying that anyone who kindles a lamp at “the place of the holy John” (presumably a church known to the author) or before his image will be ferried across the river. The tour concluded, Jesus brings the apostles back to the Mount Olives and departs. The homiletic frame resumes with Ps.-Chrysostom exhorting his readers/listeners to acts of charity in John’s name and remembrances, and calls for repentance from sin.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Adam (patriarch), Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Dimas/Dysmas/Demas (Good Thief), Elizabeth, Ezekiel (prophet), Gabriel (angel), Herod Antipas, Herod (the Great), Herodias, Holy Spirit, Innocent I (Pope), James (the Righteous), Jesus Christ, John Chrysostom, John the Baptist, Joseph (of Nazareth), Luke (evangelist), Mark (evangelist), Mary (Virgin), Matthaias (apostle), Matthew (apostle), Michael (angel), Noah (patriarch), Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Sedekiel (angel), Theophilus (bishop), Zechariah (prophet).
Geographical Locations: Amente, Bethlehem, Egypt, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Mount of Olives, Paradise, Third Heaven.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Arabic (not verified)
Cairo, Coptic Patriarchate, Graf 634 (1696)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, arabe 264, fols. 55r–63r (1594) ~ Gallica
Wadi El Natrun, Dayr Qiddīs Anbā Maqqār, 379 (Hag. 13) (1550)
Graf, Georg. Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur. 5 vols. Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944–1953 (list of manuscripts, vol. 2, p. 492).
3.1.2 Coptic (CPC 0170; Sahidic; PAThs entry)
London, British Library, Or. 7024, fols. 1r–17v (987; =MERC.AR; PAThs entry)
MONB.DB, pp. [?]–[?], 11–14 (10th cent.) ~ portions of 6–8, 13–17
Budge, E. A. Wallis. Coptic Apocrypha in the Dialect of Upper Egypt. Oxford: Longman and Co., 1913 (text, pp. 128–145, translation, pp. 335–51).
Winstedt, Eric O. “A Coptic Fragment Attributed to James the Brother of the Lord.” JTS 8 (1907): 240–48 (edition and translation of the Paris fragment).
3.2.3 Ethiopic
Ambāssal (Wallo), Monastery of Hayq Estifānos, EMML 1960, fols. 82v–101v (18th cent.)
London, British Library, Or. 687, fols. 1r–4r (18th cent.)
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Budge, E. A. Wallis. Coptic Apocrypha in the Dialect of Upper Egypt. London: Oxford University Press, 1913 (translation of the London manuscript, pp. 335–51).
Tite, Philip L. “Encomium on John the Baptist.” Pages 217–46 vol. 1 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016 (introduction with translation).
3.2.1 French
Boud’hors, Anne. “Éloge de Jean-Baptiste.” Pages 1555–78 in in vol. 1 of Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Edited by François Bovon and Pierre Geoltrain. Paris: Gallimard, 1997.
3.2.2 German
Till, Walter C. “Johannes der Taüfer in der koptischen Literatur.” Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo 15 (1958): 310–32 (translation of the London manuscript, pp. 322–32).
3.3 General Works
Barry, Phillips. “The Magic Boat.” Journal of American Folklore 28.108 (1915): 195–98.
Neyrey, Jerome H. “Encomium versus Vituperation: Contrasting Portraits of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel.” JBL 126.3 (2007): 529–52.
Smith, Mark. Traversing Eternity: Texts for the Afterlife from Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Suciu, Alin. The Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon: A Coptic Apostolic Memoir. WUNT 370. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017 (esp. pp. 81–82).
Tite, Philip L. “Body Parts Abound! The Soteriological Significance of Adam’s Traveling Head in the Coptic Encomium of John the Baptist,” paper presented at the AAR/SBL Pacific Northwest Regional meeting, Seattle University, Seattle WA, 2013.