Discovery of Paul’s Severed Head

Standard abbreviation: Disc. Paul Head

Other titles: Martyrdom of Paul and the Discovery of His Severed Head

Clavis numbers: ECCA 554

Category: Apocryphal Acts

Related literature: History of Paul; Epistle of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite to Timothy; List of Apostles and Disciples by Pseudo-Eusebius; Golden Legend 90; Book of the Bee 99

Compiled by J. Andrew Doole, University of Innsbruck ([email protected])

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Doole, J. Andrew. “Discovery of Paul’s Severed Head.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/martyrdom-of-paul-the-apostle-and-the-discovery-of-his-severed-head/.

Created November 2020.

1. SUMMARY

The Discovery of Paul’s Severed Head appears in various forms, as part of the Epistle of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite to Timothy in Latin, Georgian and Syriac recensions, and in hagiographical works such as Jacob of Voragine’s Golden Legend, Solomon of Basra’s Book of the Bee, and other Syriac manuscripts. The tradition is connected to the idea that Paul and Peter died on the same day under Nero in Rome. Members of the Christian community in Rome take Peter from the cross and collect Paul’s body but his head has gone missing. After a long time, a shepherd finds the head, places it over his sheep-pen, and sees a fire burning over the head at night. Bishop Sixtus comes to learn of this and proposes a test to determine whether the head is that of Paul, as many claim. The experiment involves an all-night vigil, during which the head and spine miraculously re-connect as though Paul had never been beheaded. Everyone who witnesses this miracle believes it is Paul’s head.

Named historical figures and characters: Mark (evangelist), Luke (evangelist), Nero, Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Sixtus II (Bishop of Rome).

Geographical locations: Rome.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Georgian

The text appears in manuscripts of Epistle of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite to Timothy

3.1.2 Latin

The text appears in manuscripts of Epistle of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite to Timothy

Eastman, David L. The Ancient Martyrdom Accounts of Peter and Paul. WGRW 39. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015 (text and translation Brunet and Quentin’s edition, pp. 362–65).

Mombrizio, Bonino. “Epistola beati Dionisii ariopagite de morte apostolorum Petri et Pauli ad Timotheum.” Pages 354–57, 709–10 in volume 2 of Sanctuarium seu Vitae sanctorum. New edition by Albin Brunet and Henri Quentin. Paris: Fontemoing, 1909.

3.1.3 Syriac (BHO 884, 898)

The text appears in certain recensions of the Epistle of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite to Timothy, List of Apostles and Disciples by Pseudo-Eusebius, and in other hagiographical works and manuscripts.

Charfeh, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, shelf number not provided (1468) ~ a collection of three texts on Paul, the first is Mart. Paul Head taken from Solomon of Basra, Book of the Bee 99

London, British Library, Add. 14642, fol. 10r (7th/8th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Syr. 234, fols. 338r–339v (13th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Syr. 235, fols. 51v–55v (13th cent.) ~ as ch. 6 of the Epistle of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite to Timothy

Budge, Ernest A. W., ed. The Book of the Bee: The Syriac Text Edited from the Manuscripts in London, Oxford, Munich, with an English Translation. Anecdota Oxoniensia, Semitic Series 1 part 2. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1886 (edition [pp. 121–22, Syriac numbering] and translation [pp. 107–108] of the text from Bk. Bee 99).

Doole, J. Andrew. “The Final Acts of Paul: The Miracle of the Apostle’s Re-attaching Head.” Apocrypha 30 (2019): 87–106 (editions and English translations of Ps.-Dionysius from Martin [p. 92], of Bk. Bee 99 from Budge [pp. 94–96], London Add. 14642 [pp. 98–99], and Paris Syr. 234 [pp. 99–101]).

Eastman, David L. The Ancient Martyrdom Accounts of Peter and Paul. WGRW 39. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015 (text and translation of Rahmani’s edition, pp. 208–11).

Martin, Paulin. “Dionysii Areopagitae.” Pages 241–49 in Joannes B. Pitra, Analecta sacra spicilegio solesmensi 4: Patres antenicaeni. Paris: Roger and Chernoviz, 1883 (edition of Ps.-Dionysius based on Paris Syr. 234 and 235).

Nau, François. “Fragments d’une chronique syriaque inédite relatifs surtout à saint Pierre et à saint Paul.” ROC 1 (1896): 396–403 (edition of London Add. 14642 with French translation).

Rahmani, Ignatius Ephrem II, ed. Studia Syriaca seu collectio documentorum hactenus ineditorum ex codicibus syriacis. 5 vols. Monte Libano: Seminario Scharfensi, 1904–1909 (notes, vol. 1, pp. 53–55; text drawn from Bk. Bee 99, pp. 3 [Syriac numbering]; Latin trans., pp. 2–3).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Doole, J. Andrew. “The Final Acts of Paul: The Miracle of the Apostle’s Re-attaching Head.” Apocrypha 30 (2019): 87–106 (editions and English translations of Book of the Bee [pp. 94–98], London Add. 14642 [pp. 98–99], and Paris Syr. 234 [pp. 99–101]).

Eastman, David L. The Ancient Martyrdom Accounts of Peter and Paul. WGRW 39. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015 (text and translation of Rahmani’s edition, pp. 203–17).

3.2.2 French

Macé, Caroline. “La lettre de Denys l’Aréopagite à Timothée sur la mort des apôtres Pierre et Paul: l’apport de la version géorgienne.” Apocrypha 31 (2020): 61–104 (pp. 103–104).

Nau, François. “Fragments d’une chronique syriaque inédite relatifs surtout à saint Pierre et à saint Paul.” ROC 1 (1896): 396–403 (edition of London Add. 14642 with French translation).

3.3 General Works

Baumstark, Anton. Die Petrus- und Paulusacten in der literarischen Überlieferung der syrischen Kirche. Leipzig: Harrassowitz, 1902 (pp. 34–38).

Doole, J. Andrew. “The Final Acts of Paul: The Miracle of the Apostle’s Re-attaching Head.” Apocrypha 30 (2019): 87–106.

Macé, Caroline, and Michael Muthreich. “Latin and Oriental Translations of the Epistola ad Timotheum de morte apostolorum Attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite.” Pages 9–34 in Caught in Translation: Studies on Versions of Late-Antique Literature. Edited by Madalina Toca and Dan Batovici. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2020 (esp. 18–19).

Macé, Caroline. “La lettre de Denys l’Aréopagite à Timothée sur la mort des apôtres Pierre et Paul: l’apport de la version géorgienne.” Apocrypha 31 (2020): 61–104 (pp. 94–97).

Muthreich, Michael. “Bemerkungen zur arabischen und äthiopischen Fassung der ‘Epistula de morte apostolorum Petri et Pauli’ (zugeschrieben dem Dionysius Areopagita).” Philotheos 13 (2013): 166–75.