Narratio euangelica apocrypha cum homilia contexta in qua Iesum regem creare uolunt
Standard abbreviation: Hom. Life Jesus
Other titles: Ps.-Evodius, On the Passion and the Resurrection 2; Gospel of the Twelve Apostles
Clavis numbers: ECCA 436; CANT 81
Category: Ministry Gospels
Related literature: Homily on the Passion and the Resurrection, by Evodius of Rome; Homily on the Dormition of the Virgin, by Evodius of Rome
Compiled by Timothy Pettipiece, Carleton University ([email protected]).
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Timothy Pettipiece, “Homily on the Life of Jesus and His Love for the Apostles.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/homily-on-the-life-of-jesus-and-his-love-for-the-apostles/.
Created August 2018. Most recent update, June 2020.
1. SUMMARY
The text begins with the homilist exhorting to his “brothers” (no doubt fellow monks) about the love of Jesus for his followers. By way of illustration the canonical episode of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (from Mark 6 and 8 par., and John 6) is presented with emphasis placed on the young man who brought the items to the gathering. Jesus is said to have hid nothing from his apostles and revealed “all the works of his divinity” to them.
What follows is a series of questions posed by Thomas about the nature of the resurrection. Here too a canonical episode is used for illustrative purposes as the raising of Lazarus (John 11) is described in great detail. In this context, Mary and Martha appear as Lazarus gives a testimony to his experience of the underworld, which involved an encounter with Adam himself. This portion bears a number of similarities with another non-canonical text, the Questions of Bartholomew.
The homily’s narrative then shifts its focus to attempts by imperial officials to crown Jesus king of Judea. In particular, an envoy of the Emperor Tiberius, named Carios, champions the cause, much to King Herod’s frustration. Fleeing this unwanted attention, Jesus retreats to the desert with his disciples where there is a long passage highlighting the pre-eminence of “Abba Peter” as prince of the apostles. Here too a canonical episode (Matt 16) receives extensive amplification.
After the spotlight shifts from Peter, further attempts are made to crown Jesus, culminating in a remarkable encounter between Jesus and the apostles with the devil and his fishing demons. John boldly confronts the devil and challenges him to a fishing contest in the desert. What results is the adversary’s inevitable humiliation. The fragmentary text breaks off after a request from Bartholomew to see the adversary.
Named historical figures and characters: Adam (patriarch), Ananias, Andrew (apostle), Bartholomew (apostle), Caiaphas, Carios, Elijah (prophet), Herod Antipas, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, John (son of Zebedee), Joseph of Arimathea, Judas Iscariot, Lazarus, Martha (of Bethany), Mary (of Bethany), Moses (patriarch), Nicodemus, Peter (apostle), Philip (apostle), Philip (tetrach), Pontius Pilate, Satan, Theophilus (official), Thomas (apostle), Tiberius (emperor), Widow of Nain.
Geographical locations: Arimathea, Bethany, Hades, Israel, Jerusalem, Judea, Paradise.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Coptic (CPC 0150; PAThs entry)
The three Hom. Life Jesus manuscripts, all dated ca. tenth century, once belonged to the library of the White Monastery (Dayr Anbā Shinūda) and are now dispersed among various European collections.
Manuscript A:
MONB.DH
Manuscript B (MONB.MY):
fols. 19–20: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Copte 1315, fol. 106
no pagination: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Copte 12918, fol. 92
no pagination: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Copte 12918, fol. 151
fols. 45–46: Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, K 9401
Manuscript C (MONB.MT):
fols. 17–18: Oxford, Bodleian Library, Clarend. b 3 16
fols. 19–24: Vatican, Biblioteca Apostloca Vaticana, Borg. Copt. 109, fasc. 112, fols. 1–3
fols. 27–28: Oxford, Bodleian Library, Clarend. b 3 16
Crum, Walter E. Catalogue of the Coptic Manuscripts in the British Museum. London: British Museum, 1905 (text of British Library, Or. 3581 B [23], pp. 136–37).
Guidi, Ignazio. “Frammenti copti. Nota II.” Rendiconti delle sedute della Reale Accademia dei Lincei ser. 4, 3.2 (1887): 19–36. (Text of Oxford, Clarend. b 3 16, pp. 34–35.); “Frammenti copti. Nota VI.” 368-84 (text of the Vatican fragments, and Oxford, Clarend. b 3 16 [pp. 27–28], pp. 373–84).
Lacau, Pierre. Fragments d’apocryphes coptes. Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 9. Cairo: Imprimerie de l’IFAO, Paris : Firmin Didot, 1904. (editions and translations of the Paris, Copte 129 fragments, pp. 79–108.)
Lucchesi, Enzo. “Un évangile apocryphe imaginaire.” OLP 28 (1997): 167–78 (text of Paris, Copte 1315).
__________. “L’homélie copte d’Évode de Rome en l’honneur des Apôtres : un feuillet nouveau.” Orientalia 76.4 (2007): 379–84 (text of Vienna, K 9401).
Revillout, Eugène. Apocryphes coptes du Nouveau Testament. Vol. 1: Textes. Études Égyptologiques 7. Paris: F. Vieweg, 1876 (editio princeps of the Vatican fragments, pp. 113–28).
Revillout, Eugène. Les apocryphes coptes. Première partie: Les Évangiles des douze apôtres et de saint Barthélemy. PO 2/2. Paris: Firmin Didot, 1904 (text and translation of the Vatican fragments collated and combined with fragments from Paris and Oxford, pp. 117–98).
Robinson, Forbes. Coptic Apocryphal Gospels. Translations Together with the Texts of Some of Them. TS 4.2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1896 (English translations of the Oxford fragment [only pp. 17–18] and Vat. Borg. 111 and 113, pp. 168–78).
Suciu, Alin. “An Apocryphal Fragment Sold at Sotheby’s (The Pseudo-Gospel of the Twelve Apostles). Alin Suciu. Posted 19 April 2011. Online: https://alinsuciu.com/2011/04/19/an-apocryphal-fragment-sold-at-sothebys-the-pseudo-gospel-of-the-twelve-apostles/ (identification of the Bolaffi fragment, combined with three other fragments from the same leaf).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Pettipiece, Timothy. “Homily on the Life of Jesus and His Love for the Apostles.” Pages 23–40 in New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, vol. 2. Edited by Tony Burke. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2020.
Robinson, Forbes. Coptic Apocryphal Gospels. Translations Together with the Texts of Some of Them. TS 4.2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1896 (English translations of the Oxford fragment, pp. 17–18; and Vat. Borg. 111 and 113, pp. 168–78).
3.2.2 French
Morard, Françoise. “Homélie sur la vie de Jésus et son amour pour les apôtres.” Pages 103–34 in volume 2 of Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Edited by Pierre Geoltrain and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 516. Paris: Gallimard, 2005 (introduction and translation of entire text).
3.2.3 Italian
Erbetta, Mario. Gli Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. in 4. Turin: Marietti, 1966–1981 (Revillout fragments 2 and 4, vol. 1.2: 320–26).
Moraldi, Luigi. Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 2 vols. Classici delle Religioni 24.5. Turin: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 1971 (Revillout fragments 2 and 4, vol. 1:391–405).
3.3 General Works
Markschies, Christoph. “Das Evangelium der zwölf Apostel (ed. Harris)/Das Evangelium der zwölf Apostel (ed. Revillout).” Pages 444–46 in Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung. Vol. 1:1: Evangelien und Verwandtes. Edited by Christoph Markschies and Jens Schröter. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012.
Morard, Françoise. “Homélie copte sur les apôtres au jugement dernier.” Pages 417–30 in Early Christian Voices in Texts, Traditions, and Symbols: Essays in Honor of François Bovon. Edited by David H. Warren, Ann Graham Brock, and David W. Pao. BibInt 66. Boston and Leiden: Brill, 2003.
Orlandi, Tito. “Cycle” (3:666–68); “Evodius of Rome” (4:1078–79) in The Coptic Encyclopedia. Edited by Aziz S. Atiya. 8 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1991.
Sheridan, Mark. “A Homily on the Death of the Virgin Mary attributed to Evodius of Rome.” Pages 135–47 in Mark Sheridan, From the Nile to the Rhone and Beyond: Studies in Early Monastic Literature and Scriptural Interpretation. SA 156. Rome: Editions Sankt Ottilien, 2012. Reprinted from pages 393–406 in vol. 1 of Coptic Studies on the Threshold of a New Millennium. Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Coptic Studies, Leiden 27 Aug.–2 Sept. 2000. 2 vols. Edited by Matt Immerzeel, Jacques van der Vliet, Maarten Kersten, and Carolien van Zoest. OLA 133. Leuven: Peeters, 2004.
Suciu, Alin. The Berlin-Strausbourg Apocryphon: A Coptic Apostolic Memoir. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 370. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017 (pp. 102–105).