Vita et passio Iohannis Baptistae
Standard abbreviation: Life Mart. Bapt.
Other titles: Life of John the Baptist by Mark the Evangelist
Clavis numbers: ECCA 740; CANT 181
Category: Hagiographa
Related literature: Decapitation of John the Forerunner, Life and Conduct of John the Baptist, Life of John the Baptist by Serapion, Martyrdom of Zechariah.
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “The Life and Martyrdom of John the Baptist.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/life-and-martyrdom-of-john-the-baptist/.
Created January 2016. Current as of January 2024.
1. SUMMARY
Life Mart. Bapt. draws heavily on the New Testament Gospels for its information about John but adds some details. Little is said about his birth, and nothing about his childhood; the action moves quickly to his adulthood when Gabriel instructs him on his mission of baptism and prepares him for the baptism of Jesus. John goes to the Jordan and gains forty disciples. This draws the interest of Herod Antipas and he orders the prophet to be brought to him. John refuses to go with Herod’s envoy and indicts Herod for sleeping with his brother’s wife. Herod now seeks an opportunity to kill him. After baptizing Jesus, John appears before Herod and formally accuses him. He is imprisoned but John is able to bring in his disciples and leads them in prayer. He tells them of his coming death and tells them to keep to his commandments, which are reminiscent of some of Jesus’ teachings. Herod’s nobles want him to release John or behead him. Herod sends Julian to talk to him but John is unrepentant. The famous feast happens and John is beheaded. One of Herod’s guests is a secret disciple of John and asks for the head and he gives it to six of John’s disciples. They take it to Emesa and hide it in a cave. The author then reveals himself to be an unnamed disciple of John (some manuscripts identify this disciple as Mark the Evangelist).
Named historical figures and characters: Acheilius (noble of Herod Antipas), Acholius (noble of Herod Antipas), Aetius (noble of Herod Antipas), Africanus (noble of Herod Antipas), Alaphius (noble of Herod Antipas), Alypius (noble of Herod Antipas), Antonius (noble of Herod Antipas), Berinus, Cyril (noble of Herod Antipas), Felix (noble of Herod Antipas), Gaius (noble of Herod Antipas), Gabriel (angel), Herod (noble of Herod Antipas), Herod Antipas, Herodias (wife of Herod), Himerius (noble of Herod Antipas), Holy Spirit, Hygnus (noble of Herod Antipas), Iras (noble of Herod Antipas), Jesus Christ, John (the Baptist), Julian I (noble of Herod Antipas), Julian II (noble of Herod Antipas), Lucius (noble of Herod Antipas), Mark (evangelist), Moses (patriarch), Nilus (noble of Herod Antipas), Philip (tetrach), Prochorus (noble of Herod Antipas), Salome/Herodias (daughter of Herodias), Sosipater (noble of Herod Antipas), Tranquillianus (noble of Herod Antipas).
Geographical locations: Ake, Elem, Emesa, Galilee, Jordan River, Judea.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Church Slavic
Lviv, Lviv Historical Museum, 104, fols. 401r–412v (17th cent.)
Mount Athos, Chilandari Monastery, No. 21 (1535)
Moscow, Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 96 (17th cent.) (Great Menaion Reader for August)
Moscow, Russian State Library, Troize-Sergieva Lavra 211, fols. 400–406 (16th cent.)
Moscow, Russian State Library, Troize-Sergieva Lavra 680 (409), fols. 434–444 (16th cent.)
Moscow, Russian State Library, Troize-Sergieva Lavra 681 (410), fols. 768–777 (1627)
Moscow, State Historical Museum, Uspenskij 795 (997), fols. 1135–1138 (1550–1544) (the Tsarist manuscript of the Great Menaion Reader)
St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Grafen Th. A. Tolstoi, F. 1. 286, fols. 22r–39v (16th/17th cent.)
Berendts, Alexander. Die handschriftliche Überlieferung der Zacharias- und Johannes-Apokryphen. TU, N. F. 11/3. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1904 (description of Slavonic sources, pp. 61–63).
3.1.2 Greek (BHG 834)
P Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, suppl. gr. 480 + Chartres, Bibliothèque municipale, 1754, fols. 51v, 52r, 15, 10, 40, 33, 19, 22, 16, 9, 34, 39 (8th cent.); contains chaps. 1–10:1 only; Pinakes
X Jerusalem, Bibliothēkē tou Patriarchou, Hagios Saba 30, fol. 350–354 (10th/11th cent.) ~ Pinakes; Jerusalem
V Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. hist. gr. 45, fols. 309r–310v (11th cent.); contains chaps. 1–7:1 only
G Genova, Biblioteca Franzoniana, Urbani 35, fols. 129–134 (11th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Q Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1608, fols. 156r–163r (14th cent.)
R Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1021, fols. 270r–282v (15th/16th cent.)
Y Jerusalem, Bibliothēkē tou Patriarchou, Timiou Staurou 35, fols. 186v–189r (15th cent.) ~ Pinakes; Jerusalem
Additional manuscripts:
Andros, Monē Hagias (Zōodochou Pēgēs), 28, fols. 231r–231v (17th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Gjirokastër, Bibliothēke tēs Mētropoleōs, 5, fols. 320r–328r (17th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Gjirokastër, Bibliothēke tēs Mētropoleōs, 6, fols. 338v–341v (17th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Krakow, Biblioteka Jagiellońska Berlin, graec. 4°.22 (320) 35v–41v (15th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Meteora, Monē Hagiou Stephanou, 126, fols. 412v–419r (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Athos, Monē Megistes Lauras, H 206 (Eustratiades 861), fols. 317–320 (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Mytilene, Monē tou Hagiou Iōannou tou Theologou Hypsēlou (Antissa), 38, fols. 212r–217v (1591) ~ Pinakes
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Borg. gr. 20, fols. 64–* (15th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. gr. 68, fols. 37r–41v (13th cent.) ~ Pinakes; BAV; Heidelberg
Berendts, Alexander. Die handschriftliche Überlieferung der Zacharias- und Johannes-Apokryphen. TU, N. F. 11/3. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1904 (extensive description of Greek and Slavonic sources).
Nau, François. “Histoire de saint Jean Baptiste attribuée à saint Marc l’Évangéliste.” PO 4 (1908): 521–41 (Greek text and French translation based on P).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Bernhard, Andrew. “The Life and Martyrdom of John the Baptist.” Pages 247–67 in vol. 1 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016.
3.2.2 French
Nau, François. “Histoire de saint Jean Baptiste attribuée à saint Marc l’Évangéliste.” PO 4 (1908): 521–41 (Greek text and French translation).
3.3 General Works
Burke, Tony. “The New Testament and Other Early Christian Traditions in Serapion’s Life of John the Baptist.” Pages 281–99 in Christian Apocrypha: Receptions of the New Testament in Ancient Christian Apocrypha. Edited by Jean-Michel Roessli and Tobias Nicklas. Novum Testamentum Patristicum. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014.
Kazan, Georges. “The Head of St John the Baptist—the Early Evidence.” Paper presented at the “Saint John the Baptist and his Cults” colloquium. Oxford, UK, 24 June 2011.
Nau, François. “Analyse des mss. Grecs palimpsestes: Paris, suppl. 480 et Chartres, 1753 et 1754.” PO 4 (1908): 515–20.