Historia apostolorum Iohannis et Iacobi
Standard abbreviation: Hist. John Jas.
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 401; CANT 223
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Acts of John by Prochorus; John and the Robber; Passion of James, Son of Zebedee
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “History of John and James.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/history-of-john-and-james/.
Created May 2021. Current as of January 2024.
1. SUMMARY
Hist. John Jas. is a combination of traditions about the two apostles drawn from the New Testament gospels, the Armenian version of the Passion of James, the Acts of John by Prochorus, and the story of John and the Robber. It begins with the mother of John and James asking Jesus to let her sons sit beside him in the kingdom (Matt 20:20–28). In Matthew she is unnamed, but here she is identified as Salome—based on a common conflation of the women at the tomb in Mark 15:40-41 (Salome) and Matthew 27:56 (the mother of Zebedee’s children)—and further described as the sister of Jesus. The first chapter ends with a brief mention of the beheading of James by Herod. This segues into the story of the translation of James’s relics, adapted from the Armenian version of the Passion of James. In the Passion, James’s head remains behind in Jerusalem, but here the apostle’s entire body is brought to Spain, but an angel takes the head back and gives it to John and the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem. They bury the head in the future location of the Armenian Cathedral, which remains standing today.
The text then turns to the career of John, drawing here on the Acts of John by Prochorus. After the death of Mary, Peter assigns him to preach in Asia (Acts John Proch. 4). John is reluctant to go but departs; along the way his ship is destroyed at sea (6–7). After 40 days he washes up in Ephesus where he meets Prochorus (12–13). They work together for a year at a bath house where they encounter a demon who strangles the son of the master of the baths. John raises him back to life and then begins preaching to the Ephesians (26–36). Subsequently, he is exiled to Patmos by the emperor Domitian (Trajan in Acts John Proch. 65–66; but Domitian in Acts John Rome 13) where he writes Revelation and the Fourth Gospel (228–31). After converting the island, John is returned to Ephesus (235) by the emperor Nerva (225; cf. Acts John Rome 14). Once back in Ephesus he has great success in acquiring converts and builds churches. In one town he encounters a beautiful young man; this is the man from the story of John and the Robber. The remainder of the text is a translation of this story.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Domitian, Elijah (prophet), Herod Agrippa, James (son of Zebedee), Jesus Christ, John (son of Zebedee), Joseph (of Nazareth), Mary (Virgin), Moses (patriarch), Nerva, Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Prochorus, Salome (disciple).
Geographical Locations: Asia, Ephesus, Jerusalem, Joppa, Mount Tabor, Patmos, Spain.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Armenian (BHO 424)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arm. 118 (ancien fonds 46/3), fols. 309v–310v (14th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Venice, Biblioteca dei Padri Mechitaristi San Lazzaro degli Armeni, 223 (olim 1447), item 159 (15th cent.)
Venice, Biblioteca dei Padri Mechitaristi San Lazzaro degli Armeni, 234 (olim 569), item 37 (1518)
Tchérakian, Chérubin. Ankanon girkh arakhelakankh: Thankgaran haykakan hin ew nor deprutheankh. Venice: Òazar, 1904 (edition based on Venice 223 with readings from Venice 234, pp. 293–99).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 French
Leloir, Louis. Écrits Apocryphes sur les Apôtres: Traduction de l’édition Arménienne de Venise. Vol. 1: Pierre, Paul, André, Jacques, Jean. CCSA 3. Turnhout: Brepols, 1986 (French translation, pp. 408–16).
3.3 General Works
Calzolari, Valentina. “The Editing of Christian Apocrypha in Armenian: Should We Turn a New Leaf?” Pages 264–91 in Armenian Philology in the Modern Era: From Manuscript to Digital Text. Edited by Valentina Calzolari with Michael E. Stone. Handbook of Oriental Studies/Handbuch der Orientalistik, section 8, vol. 23/1 and History of Armenian Studies 21/1. Leiden & Boston: Brill, 2014.
Hovhanessian, Vahan S. “New Testament Apocrypha and the Armenian Version of the Bible.” Pages 63–87 in The Canon of the Bible and the Apocrypha in the Churches of the East. Edited by Vahan S. Hovhanessian. Bible in the Christian Orthodox Tradition 2. Berlin and New York: Peter Lang, 2012.
Starowieyski, Marek. “La Légende de saint Jacques le Majeur.” Apocrypha 7 (1996): 193–203, esp. 201–203.
Voicu, Sever J. “Gli apocrifi armeni.” Aug 23 (1983): 161–80.