Acta Thomae abbreuiata
Standard abbreviation: Acts Thom. Skin
Other titles: Acta Thomae minora, Preaching of Saint Thomas in India, Preaching of Thomas
Clavis numbers: ECCA 504; CANT 246
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Acts of Thomas, Acts and Martyrdom of Bartholomew, Martyrdom of Bartholomew
Compiled by Jonathan Holste, University of Virginia ([email protected])
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Holste, Jonathan. “Acts of Thomas and His Wonderworking Skin.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/acts-of-thomas-and-his-wonderworking-skin.
Created June 2019. Most recent update November 2020.
1. SUMMARY
The Acts of Thomas and His Wonderworking Skin relates the travels and work of the apostle Thomas in India. The text is in some ways similar to the more famous Acts of Thomas, and has been called the Acta Thomae minora or Acta Thomae abbreviata. Nevertheless, Acts Thom. Skin differs significantly in content from Acts Thom. and is not an abbreviated version of that work. The story of Acts Thom. Skin comprises three parts. The first narrates the divisio apostolorum, Thomas’s movement to India, and his enslavement to King Condiphorus. In the second, Thomas converts Arsenoë and her husband Leucius. He successfully establishes a church in their city, but not before being flayed. Third, Thomas establishes a church in Kentēra before leaving on a cloud with Jesus to join the other apostles. Of these, only the first section is clearly parallel to Acts Thom., but even here the two Acta diverge in both language and narrative detail. The remaining stories of Acts Thom. Skin are distinct.
The opening scene of Acts Thom. Skin finds Jesus leading the apostles in dividing the world by lot. When the apostles receive their missionary assignments, Thomas objects because he has heard the people of India are like “wild beasts.” Jesus reassures Thomas by sending Peter and Matthew with him to India. Upon arrival, an agent of King Condiphorus approaches the three apostles seeking to purchase a slave. Jesus appears and sells Thomas to the agent. The agent travels back with Thomas, learning along the way that the apostle is a skilled doctor and builder. After they arrive, King Condiphorus assigns Thomas to build his palace. Leucius the governor receives Thomas and gives him funds for the building. Soon, however, Leucius goes off to war and Thomas distributes the money to the poor.
While Leucius is away, Thomas preaches to his wife Arsenoë and through prayer, destroys her idols, evicting their unclean spirits. Arsenoë and her household convert and give away their possessions while Thomas remains in the city healing and teaching the people. When Leucius returns from war, his transformed household disturbs him. His disagreeable homecoming culminates in Arsenoë’s refusal to renew their sexual relationship. An angry Leucius interrogates Thomas and orders him to be flayed. When Arsenoë hears this, she hurls herself from a roof and dies. Thomas’s suffering continues until Christ appears and instructs him to rise and work miracles before proceeding to Kentēra. Thomas then raises Arsenoë from the dead by placing his flayed skin over her. When Leucius subsequently repents, Thomas baptizes him and makes him a priest. The apostle then goes to Kentēra carrying his skin.
The final section of Acts Thom. Skin begins with Thomas meeting an old man on the edge of Kentēra. He tells Thomas that all six of his sons were killed by the governor when his eldest broke off his engagement to the governor’s daughter. The son had converted to Christianity through a vision instructing him not to marry but to remain chaste. After hearing this, Thomas proceeds to the sons’ tomb and tells the gathered crowd to lay his flayed skin on the grave. Through this act, the sons and nine additional dead people come back to life. The crowd hurries to tell the priest of the idols what Thomas has done, but the priest claims that Jesus and the apostles are deceptive magicians. They return together and attempt to stone Thomas, but they are frozen in place until they ask for mercy. Then Thomas prays for them and asks Jesus to lift up the priest in the air miraculously for all to see. When the priest converts, Thomas baptizes everyone and makes the priest bishop of the church in Kentēra. After three years, Jesus returns and glues Thomas’s skin back on his body. They travel together on a cloud to be with the other disciples, Paul, and Mary as they share stories about all their deeds.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Arsenoë, Condiphorus (Gundaphorus), David (king), devil, Habakkuk (prophet), Holy Spirit, Jesus, Leucius (governor), Matthew (apostle), Olbanus, Peter (apostle), Thomas (apostle).
Geographical Locations: Galilee, India, Jerusalem, Judea, Kentēra.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Arabic (BHO 1213)
3.1.1.1 Arabic Script
Beirut, Bibliothèque Orientale de l’Université Saint Joseph, 624, fols. 1r–26v (1658) ~ perhaps also incorporating the Martyrdom of Thomas
Beirut, Bibliothèque Orientale de l’Université Saint Joseph, 625, pp. 224–237 (17th cent.)
Beirut, Bibliothèque Orientale de l’Université Saint Joseph, 1426 (1855) ~ contents unconfirmed
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Graf 23, fols. 145r–171v (17th cent.)
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, 60, fols. 175r–192r (19th cent.)
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Christ. Arab. 84, fols. 19v–30r (ca. 1780)
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Christ Arab. 87b, fols. 33r–45r (ca. 1600 and 1700)
Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Magl. III 29, fols. 128r–145r (ante 1664)
Gotha, Universitätsbibliothek Erfurt, ar. 2882, fols. 37r–38v (14th cent.)
Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, Or. 1067 (Tischendorf 32) (15th cent.)
Louvain, Bibliothèque de l’Université, Lefort ar. A 2 (14th cent.) ~ fragments; identification uncertain
Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 539, fols. 129v–154r (12th cent.)
Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodl. Ar. 541 (Nicoll 49), fols. 50r–57r (18th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 75, fols. 55r–72r (16th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 81, fols. 90r–107v (16th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 258, fols. 207r–215r (15th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 4770, fols. 218v–240r (19th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Borg. ar. 223 (1729)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 500, Martyrdom, fols. 109r–132v (15th cent.) ~ pagination includes the Martyrdom of Thomas
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 171, fols. 33v–40v (17th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 694, fols. 88r–103r (14th cent.)
Wadi El-Natrun, Monastery of the Syrians (Dayr al-Suryān), no shelf number, fols. 89r–102r (14th cent.)
3.1.1.2 Garšūnī Script
Aleppo, Syriac-Orthodox Archdiocese, 52 K, fols. 116v–128r (17th cent.)
Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, Syriac Add. 2881, fols. 53v–103v (1484) ~ identification uncertain
Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, Add. 2885, fols. 35r–66v (1771) ~ identification uncertain
Charfet, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, ar. 6/12, 4 (17th cent.)
Charfet, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, syr. 11/6, 17 (17th cent.)
Diyarbakir, Library of the Chaldean Archdiocese, 145, 17 (15th cent.)
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 40, fols. 128v–147r (ca. 1750)
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 146, fols. 119v–133r (ca. 1700) ~ pagination includes Martyrdom of Thomas
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 543, fols. 1r–30r (ca. 1780) – identification uncertain
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 446, fols. 189r–200v (ca. 1750)
Jerusalem, Monastery of Saint Mark, 19, fols. 203v–217r (1553) ~ unconfirmed
Mardin, Chaldean Cathedral, 3, fols. 134v–156r (19th cent.) ~ HMML
Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hunt. Donat. 32 (Payne Smith 149), fols. 189r–222r (1549) ~ catalog
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, syr. 232, fols. 268r–277r (Preaching) (17th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, syr. 237, fols. 265r–293v (1553)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 124, fols. 109v–126r (16th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 125 + Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 88, fols. 7r–13v (1440)
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 collection, pp. 97–101).
Graf, Georg. Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur. 5 vols. Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944 (manuscripts listed, vol. 1, pp. 258–67).
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 from an unnamed manuscript from Deir al-Surian, pp. 67–78).
Sauget, Joseph-Marie. “Reconstitution d’un manuscrit double originaire du Tūr ’Abdīn et actuellement dépecé: Sbath 125 + Mingana syriaque 88.” Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei 378 (1976): 358–439.
3.1.2 Church Slavic
Lviv, Ivan Franko University of Lviv, I F.15, fols. 269–73 (16th cent.), published by Ivan Franko.
Moscow, Russian State Library, V. I. Grigorovič, Pergamentsbornik 22, fols. 1–4 (14th cent.), published by Vatroslav Jagič.
Belgrade, Narodna Biblioteka, 196 (828), fols. 216–235 (1409), unpublished.
Moscow, Russian State Library, V. M. Undol’skij 543, fols. 224v–29v (16th cent.), unpublished.
St. Petersburg, Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 21.3.3 (Nov. 982), fols. 36v–40v (15th/16th cent.), unpublished.
Otero, Aurelio de Santos. Die handschriftliche Überlieferung der altslavischen Apokryphen. 2 vols. PTS 20 and 23. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1978–1981 (manuscript listings, vol. 1 pp. 84–96).
3.1.3 Coptic
3.1.3.1 Acts Thom. Skin (CPC 0545; PAThs entry; see individual links for editions)
MONB.QY, pp. ?–121 (10th cent.)
MONB.DM, pp. 110–? (10th–12th cent.)
MONB.MS, pp. ?-? (10th–12th cent.)
Poirier, Paul-Hubert. La version copte de la Prédication et du Martyre de Thomas. Subsidia Hagiographica 67. Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1984 (Coptic edition from all three Sahidic manuscripts with French translation).
3.1.3.2 Copto-Arabic Synaxarion
The Copto-Arabic Synaxarion includes a summary of the text in the entry on Thomas for May 21 (26 Bashans).
Basset, René. “Le Synaxaire arabe jacobite: Les de Barmahat, Barmoudah, et Bachons.” Patrologia orientalis 16 (1922): 186–424 (edition and French translation, pp. 413–15).
3.1.4 Ethiopic
3.1.4.1 Acts Thom. Skin (BHO 1214)
London, British Library, Or. 678, fols. 119r–129v (15th cent.)
London, British Library, Or. 683, fols. 231v–241v (17th cent.)
London, British Library, Or. 685, fols. 130r–139v (18th cent.)
Manchester, John Rylands University Library, Eth. 6, fols. 188v–211r (19th cent.)
Bausi, Alessandro. “Alcune osservazioni sul Gadla ḥawāryāt.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 60–61 (2001–2002): 77–114 (list of 31 Ethiopic manuscripts of the collection, pp. 93–97).
Budge, Ernest A. W. Gadla Ḥawâryât: The Contendings of the Apostles, Being the Lives and Martyrdoms and Deaths of the Twelve Apostles and Evangelists. Vol. 1. London: Henry Frowde, 1899 (Ethiopic text based on British Library, Or. 678 and 683, pp. 265–86).
James, Montague Rhodes. Apocrypha Anecdota 2. TS 5.1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1897. (Introduction, pp. xxxii–xliv; Greek text from M, pp. 28–45, English translation, pp. 29–63; reprint of Malan’s translation of the Ethiopic, pp. 46–63.)
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).
3.1.4.2 Ethiopic Synaxarion
The Ethiopian Synaxarion (first recension) includes a summary of the text for May 21 (26 Ginbot).
Budge, E. A. Wallis. The Book of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928 English translation of the Ethiopian Synaxarion, vol. 2, pp. 933–35).
3.1.5 Greek (BHG 1833, 1834, 1834c)
M London, British Museum, Add. 10073, fols. 128r–142v and 147–153v (16th cent.)
C Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Chig. R. VI. 39, fols. 106v–115r (12th cent.)
N Rome, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele II, Gr. 20, fols. 39r–56v (15th cent.)
Mn Messina, Biblioteca Universitaria, San Salvatoris 30, fols. 63v–70v (1308)
Andros, Monē Hagias (Zōodochou Pēgēs), gr. 046 (65), fols. 123v–140 (15th cent.)
Athens, Ethnikē Bibliothēkē tēs Hellados, gr. 286, fols. 2–14v (1518)
Milan, Biblioteca Ammancinibrosiana, F 144 sup., fols. 25v–30v (10th/11th cent.)
Tyrnavos, Dēmotikē Bibliothēkē, 19, fols. 93r–107v (15/16th cent.)
James, Montague Rhodes. Apocrypha Anecdota 2. TS 5.1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1897. (Introduction, pp. xxxii–xliv; Greek text from M, pp. 28–45; reprint of Malan’s translation of the Ethiopic, pp. 46–63.)
Mancini, Augusto. “Per la critica degli Acta apocrypha Thomae.” Atti della Reale Accademia della scienze di Torino 39 (1904): 743–58 (collation of Mn against Tamilia’s edition).
Tamilia, Donato. “Acta Thomae apocrypha.” Rendiconti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche Serie V, 12 (1903): 387–408 (edition based on M, C, and N).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Budge, Ernest A. W. Gadla Ḥawâryât: The Contendings of the Apostles, Being the Lives and Martyrdoms and Deaths of the Twelve Apostles and Evangelists. Vol. 2. London: Henry Frowde, 1901 (English translation of the Ethiopic text based on British Library, Or. 678 and 683, pp. 319–45).
Holste, Jonathan and Janet E. Spittler. “The Acts of Thomas and His Wonderworking Skin.” Pages 316–39 in volume 2 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Tony Burke. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2020 (English translation of the Greek text).
Lewis, Agnes Smith. 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 and in the Vatican Library. Horae Semiticae 4. London: C.J. Clay and Sons, 1904 (English translation of Arabic text, pp. 80–93).
Malan, Solomon C. The Conflicts of the Holy Apostles, An Apocryphal Book of the Early Eastern Church. London: D. Nutt, 1871 (English translation of the Ethiopic text based on Rylands Eth. 6, pp. 187–206).
3.2.2 French
Poirier, Paul-Hubert. La version copte de la Prédication et du Martyre de Thomas. Subsidia Hagiographica 67. Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1984 (Coptic edition from from all three Sahidic manuscripts with French translation).
3.3 General Works
Bonnet, Maximilien. “Acta Thomae.” Pages xv–xxvii and 99–291 in vol. 2:2 of Acta apostolorum apocrypha. 2 vols. in 3. Edited by Richard A. Lipsius and Maximilien Bonnet. Leipzig: H. Mendelssohn, 1889–1903; repr, Hildesheim: Olms, 1959, 1972.
Devos, Paul. “La prédication et le martyre de S. Thomas en copte.” AnBoll 101 (1983): 386.
Fiaccadori, Gianfranco. “Tommaso in Etiopia.” SCO 34 (1984): 298–307.
Holst, Jonathan D. “Another Tale of Thomas: The Acts of Thomas and His Wonderworking Skin.” Ancient Jew Review. Posted 21 April 2021. Online: https://www.ancientjewreview.com/read/2021/3/20/another-tale-of-thomas-the-acts-of-thomas-and-his-wonderworking-skin.
Otero, Aurelio de Santos. “Later Acts of the Apostles.” Pages 426–82 in New Testament Apocrypha. Vol. 2: Writings Related to the Apostles, Apocalypses and Related Subjects. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McLachlan Wilson. 6th ed. 2 vols. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1992 (see pp. 457–58).
Spittler, Janet E. “Suffering Thomas: Doubt, Pain, and Punishment int he Acts of Thomas and His Wonderworking Skin.” Pages 211–28 in The Narrative Self in Early Christianity: Essays in Honor of Judith Perkins. Edited by Janet E. Spittler. WGRWSup 15. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2019.