Epistles of Pilate and Herod

Epistulae Pilati et Herodis

Standard abbreviation: Ep. Pil. Herod, Ep. Herod Pil.

Other titles: none

Clavis numbers: ECCA 785; CANT 67

Category: Pilate Cycle

Related literature: Epistles of Pilate and Theodore

Compiled by Tony Burke, York University.

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “The Epistles of Pilate and Herod.” Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/epistles-of-pilate-and-herod/.

Created August 2024.

1. SUMMARY

In Pilate’s letter to Herod, he reminds the king about his role in Jesus’ death: he was asked by Herod to execute him. Then he relates how he learned from the soldiers at the tomb that Jesus had risen from the grave and was seen alive in Galilee (the Greek adds by more than 500 people). Pilate’s wife Procla, described here as a believer, went to Galilee to investigate, taking with her Longinus the centurion and 12 soldiers who watched the tomb. In Galilee, Jesus speaks to her asking if she believes in him and declares teachings about his Second Coming and the resurrection for believers. Procla returns to Pilate weeping. In sorrow, Pilate goes himself to Galillee with 50 soldiers. He hears a voice from heaven and thunder; then the earth trembles and gives off a sweet smell. Pilate and the soldiers fall to the ground. He tells Jesus that Herod compelled him to execute him and asks for mercy. Jesus raises them all up and tells them that they are witnesses to his rise from the grave (Greek adds that “all generations and nations will bless you”).

Herod’s letter to Pilate is unrelated in content. Herod writes in great anxiety, telling Pilate that his daughter has perished. While playing on a frozen pond, the ice broke beneath her and her body sank but her head remained on the surface. As he writes, the girl’s mother is holding her head on her lap and is in deep sorrow. Herod feels he is getting retribution for the killing of John the Baptist and the mocking of Jesus. He asks Pilate to pray for him and mentions also his son Azbonius (Greek Lesbonax) who is near death. As for the parents, Herod is afflicted with dropsy and his wife is blind in her left eye. He warns that great affliction will come upon the Jewish leadership for delivering Jesus to Pilate. Herod attributes this to their failure with God; the Gentiles are now the heirs to the kingdom. He asks Pilate to bury his household with care and sends Pilate his daughter’s ear rings and his own signet ring.

The Greek adds something further on Longinus: he is identified as the man who pierced Jesus with a spear. An angel took him by his head and carried him across the Jordan into the wilderness. He is stretched out in a cave and a lion comes to him at night to destroy his body until dawn and then his body becomes whole again. He will continue to receive this punishment until the Second Coming. The letter finishes with a statement that Nicodemus and Joseph wrote these records down.

The Syriac version adds three testimonia after the epistles: the Epistles of Pilate and Theodore, a testimonium attributed to a certain Justin concerning the ascetic lives of Mary and Joseph, and an excerpt from Josephus on the death of Agrippa (derived from Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.10).

Named Historical Figures and Characters: Azbonius/Lesbonax, Herod Antipas, Herodias, Joseph of Arimathea, Longinus (centurion), Nicodemus, Pontius Pilate, Procla (wife of Pilate), Salome/Herodias (daughter of Herodias).

Geographical Locations: Galilee, Jordan River.

2. RESOURCES

2.1 Web Sites and Other Online Resources

Alcock, Anthony. “Texts relating to the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.” academia.edu (English translation of Rahmani’s Syriac edition).

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Greek (BHG 779q)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 929, pp. 63–71 (15th cent.)

Ehrman, Bart D. and Zlatko Pleše, The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (reproduction of James’s edition with facing English translation, pp. 517–27).

James, Montague Rhodes. Apocrypha Anecdota 2. TS 5.1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1897 (edition based on Paris, BnF, gr. 929, pp. 66–70).

3.1.2 Latin (three MSS; unpublished)

3.1.3 Syriac

A Charfeh, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, Fonds. Patr. 79 (Sony 256), fols. 9^v–11^r (1901 from a 14th cent. manuscript)

B Charfeh, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, Fonds. Patr. 87 (Sony 261), fols. 84^v–87^r (1907 from an 8th cent. manuscript)

C Charfeh, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, Fonds. Patr. 86 (Sony 224), pp. 148 (ca. 1908 from a manuscript dated 1609) ~ Epistle of Herod to Pilate only

H Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard Houghton Library, Syr. 99, fols. 93^v–96^v(1899)

L London, British Library, Add. 14609, fols. 120^r–122^r (6th/7th cent.)

M Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 4, fols. 52^r–53^v(1895)

S Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, syr. 82, fols. 15^v–17^r(1088/1089 cent.)

Mardin, Dayr al-Zaʿfarān, 203 fols. 80^r–82^v(20th cent.)

Midyat, Dayro d-Mor Gabriel, 21, pp. 77–80 (1971)

Midyat, Mar Barṣawmo Library, 16, pp. 138–142 (1972)

Desreumaux, Alain J. “De quelques pièces du dossier syriaque sur Pilate: De la correspondance byzantine à la correspondance médiévale.” Pages 619–34 in Gnose et manichéisme: Entre les oasis d’Égypte et la Route de la Soie: Hommage à Jean-Daniel Dubois. Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes Etudes, Sciences Religieuses 176. Edited by Anna Van den Kerchove and Luciana Gabriela Soares Santoprete. Turnhout: Brepols, 2016 (edition, pp. 629–32, and French translation, pp. 632–34, based on ABCHLMS).

Rahmani, Ignatius E., ed. Studia Syriaca, seu collectio documentorum hactenus ineditorum ex codicibus Syriacis: Apocryphi hypomnemata Domini Nostri, seu, Acta Pilati. 5 vols. Charfeh: Charfeh Patriarchal Seminary, 1908 (text from A in vol. 2, p. 21; Latin translation vol. 2, p. 38).

Wright, William. Contributions to the Apocryphal Literature of the New Testament. London: Williams & Norgate, 1865 (edition based on London, BL Add. 14609, pp. 19–24, with English translation, pp. 12–17).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Cowper, B. Harris. The Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ. 4th ed. 1867. London: Frederic Norgate, 1874 (translation of Wright’s Syriac, pp. 390–97).

Elliott, J. K. The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993 (summary, pp. 222–24).

James, Montague Rhodes. Apocrypha Anecdota 2. TS 5.1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1897 (reprint of Wright’s translation of L, pp. 71–75).

__________. The Apocryphal New Testament: Being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses. Oxford: Clarendon, 1924; corrected edition, 1953 (summaries, pp. 155–56).

Wright, William. Contributions to the Apocryphal Literature of the New Testament. London: Williams & Norgate, 1865 (edition based on L, pp. 19–24, with English translation, pp. 12–17).

3.2.2 French

Desreumaux, Alain J. “De quelques pièces du dossier syriaque sur Pilate: De la correspondance byzantine à la correspondance médiévale.” Pages 619–34 in Gnose et manichéisme: Entre les oasis d’Égypte et la Route de la Soie: Hommage à Jean-Daniel Dubois. Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes Etudes, Sciences Religieuses 176. Edited by Anna Van den Kerchove and Luciana Gabriela Soares Santoprete. Turnhout: Brepols, 2016 (French translation of the reconstructed archetype, pp. 632–33, and the hyparchetype of the modern manuscripts ABCHM, pp. 633–34).

Variot, Jean. Les évangiles apocryphes: Histoire littéraire, forme primitive, transformations. Paris: Berche & Tralin, 1878 ((translation of Wright’s Syriac, pp. 112–16).

3.2.3 Italian

Erbetta, Mario. Gli apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. Italy: Marietti, 1975–1981 (translation of Paris, BnF, gr. 929, 3:127–29).

Moraldi, Luigi. Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 2 vols. Classici delle religioni, Sezione quarta, La religione cattolica 24. Turin: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 1971 (translation of Paris, BnF, gr. 929, 1:703–706).

3.2.4 Spanish

de Santos Otero, Aurelio. Los Evangelios Apócrifos. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Christianos, 1956¹, 1988⁶ (edition and translation of Paris, BnF, gr. 929, pp. 479–83).

3.3 General Works

Elliott, J. K. “The Pilate Cycle.” Pages 129–42 in Early New Testament Apocrypha. Edited by J. Christopher Edwards. Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies 9. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2022 (see p. 134).