Dialogue between Jesus and the Devil

Iesu contentio cum diabolo

Standard abbreviation: Dial. Devil

Other titles: Dispute between Jesus and Satan on the Mount of Olives, Discourse of our Lord Jesus Christ regarding the dispute with the devil, Narration of the dispute of the devil with our Lord Jesus Christ

Clavis numbers: ECCA 395; CANT 84

Category: Revelatory Dialogues

Related literature: 1 Apocryphal Apocalypse of John, Questions of Bartholomew, Greek Apocalypse of Daniel, Narration of Zosimus, Revelation of Matthew about the End Times

Compiled by: Chance Bonar, PhD candidate, Tufts University ([email protected])

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Bonar, Chance. “Dialogue between Jesus and the Devil.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/dialogue-between-Jesus-and-the-devil/.

Created Sept. 2019. Current as of August 2023.

1. SUMMARY

The Dialogue between Jesus and the Devil  takes place amidst the temptation account of Matthew 4:1–11 and Luke 4:1–13, though here Jesus has already gathered his disciples and reference is made later in the text to the death of John the Baptist, which takes place after the temptation in the canonical accounts. In the Greek manuscripts, the text is known as the “Discourse of our Lord Jesus Christ regarding the dispute with the devil” and the “Narration of the dispute of the devil with our Lord Jesus Christ.” This apocryphal text has been given relatively little attention by scholars because of its general lack of translation into modern languages and the lack of a critical edition(s) of all known Greek and Slavonic manuscripts. There are two Greek recensions (A and B) and two published Slavonic recensions (Tichonravov R1 and R2). Dial. Devil provides a glimpse into Byzantine dialogue traditions, as well as the development of the character of Satan in the late ancient and medieval Christian world, that are often overlooked in the history of Christianity. The four recensions preserve different––although overlapping––accounts of their dispute.

Greek recension A opens with Jesus and his disciples arriving at a mountain and fasting for forty days, thereby emplotting the characters within the temptation narrative. The devil appears and questions Jesus about why he came down to earth, to which Jesus explains that he descended to overthrow the devil and his accomplices (chap. 1). Jesus then goes on to clarify who the accomplices of the devil actually are through a vice list, as well as why he needed to be born in order to save humanity. The devil questions the fate of those who do or do not repent before the end of their lives, and Jesus provides details on what type of death such people will face (chap. 2). At this point, the devil summons his horde of demons and plans to kill Jesus, rushing at Jesus and his disciples in a demonic cloud of dust (chap. 3). Jesus transfigures, traps the devil in a cloud, and suspends him upside down until the devil agrees to stop warring against humanity (chap. 4). Once let down, the devil attempts to overpower Jesus and declares himself the Antichrist. The devil then announces his plan to persuade Annas and Caiaphas to kill Jesus, but claims that he did not cause John the Baptist to be killed by Herod (chap. 5). The narrative ends with Jesus transfiguring once more, opening a fissure in the earth, and elucidating for the devil his fate. He is told to remain in the abyss until his three-year reign after he is born from the woman Perdition, and that in the end, he will go to Gouze in Egypt, where he will be killed by the Virgin Mary, Elijah, and Enoch before being thrown into the eternal fire (chap. 6).

Other recensions have Michael and Temeluchus intervening in the fates of the repentant and unrepentant sinners (Greek B; R1), John the Baptist killing the devil as revenge for his own death (Greek B), the devil being born from Eudokia in the land of Daphne (Greek B), a trinitarian formula (R1; R2), and a more direct retelling of the narratives of Luke 4 and Matthew 4 (R2).

Named historical figures and characters: Andrew (apostle), Elijah (prophet), Enoch (patriarch), Eudokia, James (son of Zebedee), Jesus Christ, John (son of Zebedee), John (the Baptist), Mary (Virgin), Michael (angel), Peter (apostle),  Philip (apostle), Thomas (apostle), Satan,  Temeluchus.

Geographical locations: Daphne (Egypt), Egypt, Gouze, Judean desert.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Church Slavic

Group α

J1  Kyiv, National Academy of Sciences, Institute for Literature, 4713, fols. 83–88 (16th/17th cent.; =Otero 4)

J2 Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia (F. 784), F. A. Tolstoj, Otd. II, 229 (Q. XVII, 82), fols. 41–45 (1602=Otero 3)

L  Lemberg (?), manuscript owned by Father Jaremecǐkij-Bîlachevič, fols. 87–91 (16th/17th cent.; =Otero 5)

M Moscow, State Historical Museum, A. S. Uvarov 66 (18th cent.; =Otero 6)

Group β

A  Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, Slav. 34, fols. 72r–77r (12th/13th cent.; =Otero 14) ~ LOC

B  Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Slav. 137, fols. 177r–178v (14th cent.; =Otero 10)

C  Nikojac monastery, near Bijelo Polje, Montenegro, 52, fols. 66r–71r (15th cent.)

Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, 433 (629), fols. 101r–105v (16th cent.; =Otero 9) ~ online edition

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Slav. 149, fols. 113r–117v (16th cent.; Otero 11)

Belgrade, Museum of Serbian Orthodox Church, 100, fols. 84r–87v (1628)

G  Sofia, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, 326 (509), fols. 41r–44r (17th/18th cent.; =Otero 8)

H Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, 273, fols. 137v–143r (16th/17th cent.; =Otero 1) ~  destroyed in WWII

I  Prague, National Museum, IX.H.16 (Šafařík Collection 19), fols. 227r–231r (1646; =Otero 7)

Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, 760, fols. 61r–68v (16th cent.)

O  Cavtat (Croatia), Archive of Baltazar Bogišić, 2a, fols. 35r–38v (16th/17th cent.)

Group γ

K1  Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia (F. 67), I. Bercic 5, fols. 62–64 (15th cent.; =Otero 2)

K2 Zagreb, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, IV.a.48, fols. 93r–94v (15th cent.; =Otero 12)

K3  Zagreb, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Cod. glagoliticus VII a 30, fols. 1–3 (16th cent.; =Otero 13)

K4  Oxford, Bodleian Library, M. S. Can. Lit. 414, fols. 50r–51v (15th. cent.)

K5  Zagreb, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Fragm. glagol. 80, several disjointed lines (14th cent.)

Franko, Ivan. Apokrifi î legendy z ukraïnsǐkich rukopisiv. 5 vols. Lviv: Nakladom Naukovoho Tovaristva îmeni Ševčenka, 1896–1910 (publication of J1 [vol. 2, pp. 196–200] and L [vol. 2, pp. 200–203).

Ivanov, Jordan. Bogomilski knigi i legendi. Sofia: Pridvorna Pečatnica, 1925. Repr. Izdat. Nauka i Izkustvo, 1970 (edition of Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, slav. 137, pp. 249–53).

Jovanović, Tomislav. “The Devil’s Argument with Jesus Christ in a Serbian Copy Dating from the End of the 15th Century” (in Serbian). Godisnjak 16 (2021): 85–115 (edition based on C with readings from GHIN, pp. 96–115).

Miltenova, Anissava. “Slavonic Apocrypha: New Discoveries, New Perusals: The Cases of the Dispute between Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Antichrist and the Story about Beautiful Joseph.” Scrinium 14.1 (2018): 273–88 (revised list of Slavonic MSS, pp. 273–82).

Novaković, Stojan. “Apokrif o prepiranju Isusa Hrista sa djavolom.” Starine 16 (1884): 86–89 (edition of Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, 273).

Polivka, Jiri. “Opisi i izvodi iz nekoliko jugoslavenskih rukopisa u Pragu.” Starine 22 (1890): 200–203 (edition of Prague, National Museum, IX.H.16).

Pypin, Alexander N. Ložnyia i otrečennyja knigi russkoj stariny. Pamjatniki starinnoj russkoj literatury 3. St. Petersburg: Tipografîja P.A. Kuliša, 1862 (edition of St. Petersburg, F. A. Tolstoj, Otd. II, 229, pp. 86–88).

Radčenko, K. F. “Zametki o pergamennom sbornike XIV veka Venskoi Prodvornoi Biblioteki.” Pages 196–98 in Sbornik otdelenija russkogo jazyka i slovesnosti VIII/4. St. Petersburg, 1903 (edition of Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, slav. 137).

Santos Otero, Aurelio de. Die handscriftliche Überlieferung der altslavischen Apokryphen. 2 vols. PTS 20 and 23. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1977 (discussion of the Slavonic tradition, vol. 2 pp. 156–60).

Štefanić, V. Glagoljski rukopisi Jugoslavenske Akademije. 2 vols. Zagreb, 1969–1970 (edition of Zagreb, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Cod. glagoliticus VII 30, vol. 1:50–51).

Strohal, Rudolf. Stare hrvatske apokrifne priče i legendi. Sabrao iz starih hrvatskih glagolskih rukopisa od 14–18 vijeka Rudolf Strohal. Bjelovar: Tisak i naklada Lav. Weiss-a, 1917 (edition of Zagreb, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, IV.a.48, pp. 54–56).

Thomson, Francis J. Review of Aurelio de Santos Otero, Die handscriftliche Überlieferung der altslavischen Apokryphen, vol. 2. Slavonic and East European Review 63.1 [1985]: 73–98 at 88-89 (with corrections to de Santos Otero).

Tichonravov, Nikolai S. Pamjatniki otrečennoj russkoj literatury. 2 vols. Moscow: Obščestv. Polǐza, 1863 (editio princeps of Slavic J2 and M, vol. 2, pp. 282–88).

3.1.2 Greek (BHG 812f–g)

Recension A

M  Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, gr. II. 42 (coll. 1123), fols. 255r–257r (12th cent.)

Jerusalem, Patriarchikē bibliothēkē, Panagios Taphos gr. 66, fols. 178r–182r (15th/16th cent.)

Recension B

V  Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, hist. gr. 67 (Lambeck 33), fols. 18r–19v (13th cent.)

Casey, Robert P. and Robert W. Thomson. “A Dialogue between Christ and the Devil.” JTS N.S. 6.1 (1955): 49–65 (editions of Rec. A and B and translations of Slavic J2 and M).

Vassiliev, Athanasius. Anecdota graeco-byzantina, pars prior. Moscow: Imperial University, 1893 (editio princeps of Rec. A and B., pp. 4–10; introduction pp. v–vii).

3.2 Concordances

Fuchs, Albert. Konkordanz zu Gespräch Jesu mit dem Teufel, Version A und B. Linz: Fuchs, 1983.

3.3 Modern Translations

3.3.1 English

Bonar, Chance, and Slavomir Čéplö. “Dialogue between Jesus and the Devil.” Pages 36–64 in vol. 3 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. 3 vols. Edited by Tony Burke. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2023 (translation of the Greek manuscript J and the Church Slavic manuscript A).

Casey, Robert P. and Robert W. Thomson. “A Dialogue between Christ and the Devil.” JTS N.S. 6.1 (1955): 49–65 (translations of R1 and R2).

3.4 General Works

Berger, Klaus. Die greichische Daniel-Diegese: eine altkirchliche Apoclaypse. Leiden: Brill, 1976.

Geller, Florentina Badalanova. “Slavonic Redactions of the Apocryphal Homily of John Chrysostom on How Archangel Michael Defeated Satanail: Some Considerations.” Pages 96–131 in The Embroidered Bible: Studies in Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Honour of Michael E. Stone. Edited by Lorenzo DiTommaso, Matthias Henze, and William Adler. Leiden: Brill, 2018 (see esp. pp. 103–104, which include an excerpt from Sofia, Narodna Biblioteka, 433).

__________. “The Sea of Tiberias: Between Apocryphal Literature and Oral  Tradition.” Pages 13-157 in The Old Testament Apocrypha in the Slavonic Tradition. Edited by Lorenzo DiTommaso and Christfried Böttrich. Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 140. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011. (see esp. pp. 81–85).

Harris, J. Rendel. The Rest of the Words of Baruch: A Christian Apocalypse of the Year 136 A.D. The Text Revised with an Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1889 (detailed description of J, but incomplete and using old folio numbering, pp. 27–29).

Miltenova, Anissava. “Slavonic Apocrypha: New Discoveries, New Perusals: The Cases of the Dispute between Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Antichrist and the Story about Beautiful Joseph.” Scrinium 14.1 (2018): 273–88 (revised list of Church Slavic MSS, pp. 273–82).

———. “Za Sinajskija prepis na ‘Prenie na Iisus Christos s djavola’ i negovija kontekst.” Pages 21–33 in “Slova i zolota vjazǐ. . .” Sbornik statej pamjati Vjačeslava Michajloviča Zagrebina (1942–2004). Edited by Z. L. Levšina. St. Petersburg: Izdatelǐstvo Rossijskaja nacionalǐnaja biblioteka, 2016.

Petkov, Julian. Altslavische Eschatologie: Texte und Studien zur apokalyptischen Literatur in kirchenslavischer Überlieferung. Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempto, 2016 (pp. 163–165).

Radčenko, Konstantin. “Etjudy po bogomilǐstvu.” Pages 29–38 in Izbornik Kievskij posvjaščennyj T. D. Florinskomu. Kyiv: Tip. T. G. Mejnandera, P. A Barskogo, I. I. Čokolova i Kievo-Pečersk. lavry 1904.

Rosenstiehl, Jean-Marc. “Armenian Witnesses of Three Eschatological Motifs.” Pages 254–82 in The Armenian Apocalyptic Tradition: A Comparative Perspective. Edited by Kevork B. Bardakjian and Sergio La Porta. Leiden: Brill, 2014.

Turdeanu, Émil. “Apocryphes bogomiles et apocryphes pseudo-bogomiles.” RHR 138 (1950): 22–52, 176–218 (see pp. 203–13). Reprinted as pages 1–74 in Apocryphes Slaves et Roumains de l’Ancien Testament. Leiden: Brill, 1981.

Van der Vliet, J. “Une Vierge de Daphné: Notes sur un Thème Apocalyptique.” Byzantion 64.2 (1994): 377–90.