Peregrinationes Petri (syriace)
Standard abbreviation: Trav. Pet. Syr.
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 699
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Acts of Peter
Compiled by J. Edward Walters, Rochester College ([email protected])
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Walters, J. Edward. “Travels of Peter.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/travels-of-peter-syriac/.
Created January 2019.
1. SUMMARY
Trav. Pet. Syr. is a very brief narrative of Peter confronting a baby-killing demon. It is preserved in Syriac and otherwise unattested in Christian literature (though there are literary parallels in hagiographic writings). In the narrative, Peter arrives at an unnamed location and sees a woman struggling in childbirth and a nearby demon waiting to kill the child. Peter then offers to save the child if the woman and her household would convert to Christianity in return. Peter saves the child and then interrogates the demon, who describes the means by which the it disguises itself to kill babies and young children. Finally, Peter banishes the demon.
The demon is unnamed in this text, but the general concept of a baby-killing demon is widely attested in hagiographic narratives about Saint Sisinnios who similarly confronts a demon named Gylou. Likewise, there are similar demons known by various names in ancient near-eastern sources. The pseudepigraphical Testament of Solomon also includes a similar narrative (13:1–7).
It is possible that the Trav. Pet. Syr. originated from a collection of Petrine materials such as the Acts of Peter, but there is no direct evidence to support this claim. It is more likely that the narrative is simply an independently circulating story that was attributed to Peter. It is very difficult to know when this text may have been composed, and the only manuscript witness (BNF Syr. 179) is dated to the late sixteenth century.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Peter (apostle).
Geographical Locations: none.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Syriac (BHO 954; BHS 957)
Paris, Biblothèque nationale de France, syr. 179, fols. 56r–57r (1574/1575)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. sir. 537, fol. 1r–1v (16th cent.)
Nau, François. “Fragment Syriaque des ‘Voyages’ de Saint Pierre.” Review de l’Orient Chrétien 2nd series, 14 (1909): 131–34 (editio princeps based on Paris, BNF syr. 179, pp. 132–33).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Walters, J. Edward. “Travels of Peter: A new translation and introduction.” Pages 288–92 in vol. 2 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Tony Burke. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2020.
3.2.2 French
Nau, François. “Fragment Syriaque des ‘Voyages’ de Saint Pierre.” Revue de l’Orient Chrétien 2nd series, 14 (1909): 131–34 (translation, pp. 133–34).
3.3 General Works