Preaching of James, Son of Zebedee

Praedicatio Iacobi Zebedaei

Standard abbreviation: Pre. Jas. Zeb.

Other titles: Acts of Saint James in India, Story of Saint James

Clavis numbers: ECCA 327; CANT 273.1

Category: Apocryphal Acts

Related literature: Acts of Matthew in the City of the Priests; Martyrdom of James, Son of Zebedee

Compiled by: Tony Burke, York University

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Preaching of James, Son of Zebedee.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/preaching-of-james-son-of-zebedee/.

Created September 2020. Current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

The story begins with the commissioning of the apostles. James is appointed “the city of India” (Malan’s Ethiopic text has Lydia) and John to the “city of Asia” (Budge’s Ethiopic text has Dacia). James asks Peter to accompany him to the city. As they journey, Jesus appears to them as a young man and shows them all the righteous men from Adam to John the Baptist who have gone to their rest; the men embrace the apostles in a spiritual kiss and then depart. Jesus encourages James to go about his mission and promises him a great reward.

The two apostles  draw near the city and encounter a blind man, who is healed by James. The people of the city see the miracle and some believe but others call the apostles wizards. They are brought before the magistrates, who, once they hear that the apostles are servants of Jesus, rent their garments and order them to be dragged through the city. But when the guards try to put ropes around their necks, their hands wither and they become like statues. The guards are healed by the apostles and many onlookers become believers.

One of the magistrates is named Theophilus. He brings his son, who suffers from withered feet, to the apostles to be healed. James and Peter pray and command the boy to rise and walk. In gratitude, the magistrate invites the apostles to eat at his home. When they enter, the man’s idols crash to the floor and shatter. Theophilus and his wife bring the apostles goods to distribute to the poor; James tells the man to do it himself and he does. Theophilus and his household are baptized.

The men leave the house to continue preaching. They encounter the magistrates again, and when they see that Theophilus has become a Christian, they become believers too. The crowd follows the apostles to a river in the midst of the city where they are baptized. The apostles command the townspeople to build a church and appoint priests. Once it is completed, James reads the law and prophets and Peter interprets the words into their language. The apostles appoint a bishop and depart.

Named Historical Figures and Characters: Adam (patriarch), James (son of Zebedee), Jesus Christ, John (son of Zebedee), John (the Baptist), Peter (apostle), Theophilus (of Lydia).

Geographical Locations: Dacia, Jerusalem, Lydia.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Arabic (BHO 417)

3.1.1.1 Arabic Script

Beirut, Bibliothèque Orientale de l’Université Saint Joseph, 1426 (1855)  ~ contents unconfirmed

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Graf 472 (18th  cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 1 (13th/14th  cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 2 (14th  cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 3 (1626)

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 6 (not dated) ~ contents unconfirmed

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 7 (14th  cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 16 (15th cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Museum, 59, fols. 205v–209r (19th cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Museum, 60, fols. 128r–134r (19th cent.)

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Magl. III 29, fols. 65v–71v (ante 1664)

Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, Or. 1067 (Tischendorf 32) (15th cent.)

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 402, fols. 126v–131v (1258/1259) ~ identification unconfirmed; LOC

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 403, fols. 303r–309v (1328–1334) ~ identification unconfirmed

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 539, fols. 90v–94v (12th cent.)

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 602, 10 (17th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 81, fols. 31r–36v (16th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 4770, fols. 113r–119r (19th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Borg. ar. 223 (1729)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 500, fols. 61v–66v (15th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 171, fols. 3v–6v (17th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 694, fols. 41v–45v (14th cent.)

Wadi El-Natrun, Monastery of the Syrians (Dayr al-Suryān), no shelf number, fols. 45r–48v (14th cent.)

Bausi, Alessandro. “Alcune osservazioni sul Gadla ḥawāryāt.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 60–61 (2001–2002): 77–114 (list of 31 Arabic manuscripts of the Arabic acts collection, pp. 97–101).

Graf, Georg. Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur. 5 vols. Studi e testi 118, 133, 146–147, 172. Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944–1953 (survey of Arabic manuscripts, vol. 1, pp. 260–63).

Lewis, Agnes Smith, ed. Acta Mythologica Apostolorum, Transcribed from an Arabic Ms. in the Convent of Deyr-es-Suriani, Egypt, and from Mss. in the Convent of St Catherine, on Mount Sinai. Horae Semiticae 3. London: C.J. Clay and Sons, 1904. (Arabic text based on the Dayr al-Suryān manuscript, pp. 26–29).

3.1.1.2 Garšūnī

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 40, fols. 88r–93v (ca. 1750)

Gotha, Herzoglichen Bibliothek zu Gotha, ar. 2878, fols. 87r–96r (undated) ~ identification uncertain; CATALOG

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, syr. 332, fols. 238v–241r (17th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 124, fols. 53v–58v (16th cent.)

3.1.2 Coptic (BHO 415, 416; CPC 0589; PAThs entry; see individual entries for editions)

MONB.DM, pp. 97–108 (10th–12th cent.)

MONB.QY, pp. 65–71 (10th cent.)

Leiden, Universiteit Leiden, Or. 14.331 + Montserrat, Biblioteca de Monsterrat, Roca 323 (10th cent.)

3.1.3 Ethiopic (BHO 418)

London, British Library, Or. 678, fols. 111r114r (15th cent.)

London, British Library, Or. 683, fols. 223v226v (17th cent.)

London, British Library, Or. 685, fols. 119v–123v (18th cent.)

Manchester, John Rylands University Library, Eth. 6, fols. 174r–179v (19th cent.)

Bausi, Alessandro. “Alcune osservazioni sul Gadla ḥawāryāt.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 60–61 (2001–2002): 77–114 (list of 31 Arabic manuscripts of the Ethiopic acts collection, pp. 93–97).

Budge, E. A. Wallis. Gadla Ḥawâryât: The Contendings of the Apostles, Being the Lives and Martyrdoms and Deaths of the Twelve Apostles and Evangelists. 2 vols. London: Frowde, 1899–1901 (Ethiopic text based on British Library, Or. 678 and 683, vol. 1, pp. 247–53).

Pisani, Vitagrazia. “The apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: unknown witnesses from East Tәgray.” Pages 75–93 in Essays in Ethiopian Manuscript Studies. Proceedings of the International Conference Manuscripts and Texts, Languages and Contexts: the Transmission of Knowledge in the Horn of Africa. Hamburg, 17–19 July 2014. Edited by Alessandro Bausi, Alessandro Gori, and Denis Nosnitsin. Supplements to Aethiopica 4. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2015 (descriptions of ten Ethiopic manuscripts cataloged for the Ethio-SPaRe project).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Budge, E. A. Wallis. The Contendings of the Apostles. 2 vols. London: Frowde, 1899–1901 (translation of the Ethiopic version, vol. 2, pp. 295–303).

Lewis, Agnes Smith. The Mythological Acts of the Apostles, Translated from an Arabic Ms. in the Convent of Deyr-es-Suriani, Egypt, and from Mss. in the Convent of St Catherine on Mount Sinai and in the Vatican Library. Horae Semiticae 4. London: C.J. Clay and Sons, 1904 (English translation, pp. 30–34).

Malan, Solomon C. The Conflicts of the Holy Apostles: An Apocryphal Book of the Early Eastern Churches. London: Nutt, 1871 (translation of the Ethiopic version based on Rylands Eth. 6, pp. 172–78).

3.2.2 French

Pérès, Jacques-Noël, and Pierluigi Piovanelli. “Prédication de Jacques fils de Zébédée et Martyre de Jacques fils de Zébédée.” Pages 935–57 in volume 2 of Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Edited by Pierre Geoltrain and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 516. Paris: Gallimard, 2005 (translation from Budges Ethiopic edition, pp. 943–52).

3.2.3 Italian

Guidi, Ignazio. “Gli Atti apocrifi degli Apostoli nei testi copti, arabi ed etiopici.” Giornale della Società asiatica italiana 2 (1888): 1–66 (translation of Coptic text from the Vatican fragments of MONB.DM and MONB.QY, pp. 15–20).

3.3 General Works

Klauck, Hans-Josef. The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: An Introduction. Translated by Brian McNeil; Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2008 (pp. 244–45).

Lipsius, Richard A. Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden. 2 vols. in 3 parts. Braunschweig, 1883–1890 (see vol. 2.2:211–213).

Otero, Aurelio de Santos.  “Later Acts of Apostles.” Pages 426–82  in New Testament Apocrypha. Vol. 2:  Writings Relating to the Apostles; Apocalypses and Related Subjects. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McLachlan Wilson.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1992 (see pp. 476–77).