History of Joseph the Carpenter

Historia Iosephi fabri lignarii

Standard abbreviations: Hist. Jos. Carp.

Other titles: none

Clavis numbers: ECCA 468; CANT 60

VIAF: 4125148523902920970002

Category: Pseudo-Apostolic Memoirs

Related Literature: Protevangelium of James, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Investiture of Abbaton

Compiled by: Tony Burke, York University

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “History of Joseph the Carpenter.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR.  https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/history-of-joseph-the-carpenter/.

Created February 2019. current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

The story of Joseph is framed by a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples on the Mount of Olives. The apostles ask Jesus about the death of Joseph and what he reveals to them is written in this text, which, following the common motif, the apostles deposited in the Library at Jerusalem. As the aged Joseph, now 111 years old, lies on his deathbed, several details are revealed about his life. As in the Protevangelium of James, Joseph was chosen by lot to be the caretaker of Mary and the brothers and sisters of Jesus are said to be children from Joseph’s previous marriage. But we learn now that Jesus’ stepsisters are named Lysia and Lydia, and further details are given about their mother, who is not named but is said to have died when James was young. Joseph married at 40 and was widowed 49 years later. At this time, Mary was in the temple, and the text presents a summary of her experiences based on the Protevangelium of James and the canonical infancy narratives, from her meeting with Joseph, through the conception and birth of Jesus, to the Flight to Egypt.

The core of the text focuses on the death of Joseph. He becomes sick with the same illness as his wife and, after praying at the temple for a peaceful death, he returns home to die in the comfort of his family. He tells Jesus of his initial doubt of Mary and Gabriel’s visit, and then he recounts when Jesus healed a boy from a snake bite (recalling elements of Infancy Gospel of Thomas 9 and 16) and Joseph’s scolding of him (Inf. Gos. Thom. 5).

Then Death arrives with Amente, the devil, and other demonic figures. Jesus reprimands them and they flee. Jesus then prays for the soul of Joseph, asking God to send Gabriel and Michael to steward Joseph’s soul across the seven eons of Darkness, the narrow paths, and the river of fire. The Sahidic version then features an expanded account of Death taking Joseph’s soul. Jesus goes outside and tells Death to do what he must. Here Death is called Abbaton, mentioned in Revelation 9:11 and identified as the Angel of Death in Coptic literature and iconography. He takes the soul and then Michael and Gabriel accept it and wrap it in a package. Jesus tells his family Joseph is dead and all Nazareth mourns his passing. He then prepares Joseph’s body and declares that it will not decay. Jesus promises also to reward with blessings all who properly venerate Joseph by providing an offering and depositing it in his shrine on his memorial day (26 of Epiphi; July 20), as well as for good deeds done in his name, for naming a child Joseph, and for copying this text.

When the framing narrative resumes, the disciples ask why Jesus could not place Joseph on a chariot and have him go body and soul to heaven like Enoch and Elijah. He responds that they too will die some day. They will be killed by the Antichrist.

Named historical figures and characters: Abbaton (angel), Adam (patriarch), Amente, Antichrist, Archelaus, Augustus (emperor), Benjamin (patriarch), David (king), Death, devil, Elijah (prophet), Enoch (patriarch), Eve (matriarch), Gabriel (angel), Herod (the Great), “Holy Members” (the Apostles), Holy Spirit, Jacob (father of Joseph), Jacob (patriarch), James (the Righteous), Jesus Christ, John (the Baptist), Joseph (of Nazareth), Joseph (patriarch), Joses (brother of Jesus),  Judah (patriarch), Judas (brother of Jesus), Lydia (sister of Jesus), Lysia (sister of Jesus), Mary (Virgin), Michael (angel), Moses (patriarch), Paraclete, Rachel (matriarch), Salome (midwife), Satan, Simon (brother of Jesus).

Geographical locations: Bethlehem, Egypt, Galilee, Israel, Library of Jerusalem, Mount of Olives, Nazareth.

2. RESOURCES

2.1 Web Sites

“History of Joseph the Carpenter.” Wikipedia.

Jacobs, Philip W. “The Other Person in the Picture: Portrayal and Interpretation of Joseph the Carpenter (A Six-Part Lecture Series).” YouTube. Posted 3 October 2015 (link is to the first lecture).

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Arabic (BHO 532)

Manuscripts utilized by Battista and Bagatti:

H  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 177, fols. 133^v–145^v (14th cent.) ~ copied from a manuscript from Monastery of Saint Anthony (=G) made in 1289; Gallica

I  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 69, fols. 1^r–79^v (1344) ~ Gallica

J  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 275, fols. 83^r–92^r (1683)

L  Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate, 631, fols. 41^v–48^r (1689)

M  Archive of Church of the Virgin Harah az-Zuyla, 18, fols. 117^r–135^v (1707)

N  Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate, 651, fols. 184^v–201^v (1737)

O  Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate, 616, fols. 77^v–92^v (18th cent.)

P  Cairo, Coptic Museum, 6425, fols. 2^r–12^r (17th cent.)

Q  Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate, 60 (272), fols. 138^r–147^v (17th cent.)

R  Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 447, 3 (15th cent.) ~ LOC

S  Gotha, Universitätsbibliothek Erfurt, ar. 2879 (Garšūnī), fols. 49^v–63^r

Additional manuscripts listed by Graf:

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate,  490,  fols. 77^v–103^r (18th cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate, 706, III (17th cent.)

Charfet, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, Ancien fonds ar. 6/12, 1 (17th cent.) ~ this is a different text; see translation in Battista and Bagatti, pp. 259–78

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. sir. 159, fols. 346^v–348^v (Garšūnī) ~ this is a different text; see translation in Battista and Bagatti, pp. 251–58

Wadi El Natrun, Dayr Qiddīs Anbā Maqqār, 404, pp. 347–379 (15th cent.)

Wadi El Natrun, Dayr Qiddīs Anbā Maqqār, Hag. 47, pp. 329–362 (13th/14th cent.) ~ HMML

Additional manuscripts:

Cairo, Coptic Museum, 6624(B), fols. 38^r–48^v (16/17th cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Museum, 6425+6427(C), fols. 1^r–12^v, 17^r–18^r (16/17th cent.)

Battista, Antonio and Bagatti, Bellarmino. Edizione critica del testo arabo della Historia Iosephi fabri lignarii e ricerche sulla sua origine. SBFCMi 20. Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press, 1975 (edition and translation of M [with N and P], pp. 23–62; I, pp. 74–99; HJLOQ decribed, pp. 100–25; reprint of Isolani’s Latin translation, pp. 130–34).

Giles, J. A. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti: The Uncanonical Gospels and Other Writings. London: D. Nutt, 1852 (Wallin’s Arabic text, pp. 1–11).

Graf, Georg. Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur. 5 vols. Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944 (Arabic manuscripts listed, vol. 1: 234–36).

Thilo, Ioannis Caroli. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti. Lipsius: Vogel, 1832 (Wallin’s Latin translation and Arabic text with revisions by Emil Rödiger, pp. 1–61).

Wallin, Georg. Qissat Yusuf an-naggar, sive historia Josephi fabri lignarii. Leipzig: Andrea Zeidler, 1722 (editio princeps based on Paris, BNF, ar. 177).

3.1.2 Coptic (Bohairic) (BHO 533; PAThs entry)

MACA.DE, pp.  1–36 (9th–11th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. Borg. copt. 25 (18th cent.) ~ copy of Vat. copt. 66, 11 made by Raffaele Tuki

Manchester, John Rylands Library, 440 (Crawford no. 39) (undated) ~ comprising 2:4–4:4; 10–13:4 (PAThs entry)

3.1.3 Coptic (Sahidic) (BHO 533; CC 0037)

Codex A

White Monastery, MONB.DI (10th cent.)

Codex B (11th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Copte 129¹⁷, fol. 12 ~ comprising 7:1–9:1

Codex C (11th cent.; PAThs entry)

London, British Library, Or. 3581B, fol. 14 ~ comprising 13:6–15:2

Codex D (11th cent.; PAThs entry)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Borg. copt. 109 fasc. 121~ comprising 14:1–24:1

Zoega, Georgio. Catalogus codicum Copticorum manuscriptorum. Rome: Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, 1810. Rep. Hildesheim: Olms, 1973 (pp. 225–27).

Codex E (11th cent.)

Durham, Duke University Rubenstein Library, P. Duk. inv. 239 (11th cent.) ~ comprising 25:5–28:2

Suciu, Alin. “A Coptic Fragment from the History of Joseph the Carpenter in the Collection of Duke University Library.” HTR 106.1 (2013): 93–104 (edition and translation of E).

__________. “New Fragments from the Sahidic Version of the Historia Josephi Fabri Lignarii.” Mus 122 (2009): 279–89 (edition and translation of Paris, BNF, 131⁸ and 132²).

Lagarde, Paul de. Ægyptiaca. Göttingen: D. A. Hoter, 1883 (edition based on new examination of Vat. copt. 66, 11 with Wallin’s Arabic and D).

Lefort, Louis-Théophile. “À propos de ‘L’Histoire de Joseph le Charpentier.’” Mus 66 (1953): 201–23 (editions of B and additional leaves from A).

Morenz, Siegfried. Geschichte von Joseph dem Zimmermann. TUGAL 56/1. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1951 (edition and German translation based on de Lagarde).

Revillout, Eugène. Apocryphes coptes du Nouveau Testament. Vol. 1: Textes. Études Égyptologiques 7. Paris: F. Vieweg, 1876 (editio princeps and Latin translation based on Vat. copt. 66, 11 from an imperfect transcription and Vat. Borg. 109 fasc. 116 and 121, pp. 43–71).

Robinson, Forbes. Coptic Apocryphal Gospels. Translations Together with the Texts of Some of Them. TS 4.2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1896 (translation of Vat. copt. 66, 11, pp. 130–47; edition and translation of Vat. Borg. 109 fasc. 116, pp. 146–49; edition and translation of C, pp. 148–49; translation of D, pp. 152–59; and readings from John Rylands 440 in notes, pp. 221–35).

3.2. Concordances and Synopses

Elliott, J. K. A Synopsis of the Apocryphal Nativity and Infancy Narratives. NTTS 34. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2006.

3.3 Modern Translations

3.3.1 English

Cowper, B. Harris. The Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ. 4th ed. 1867. London: Frederic Norgate, 1874 (based on the Latin translation of the Arabic text, pp. 99–127, introduction, pp. lxiii–lxviii).

Ehrman, Bart D. and Zlatko Pleše. The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (text and translation based on de Lagarde, pp. 157–93).

Elliott, J. K. The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993 (introduction and summary of the Bohairic version, pp. 111–17).

James, Montague Rhodes. The Apocryphal New Testament: Being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses. Oxford: Clarendon, 1924; corrected edition, 1953 (summary of Wallin’s Arabic text, pp. 84–86).

Walker, Alexander. Apocryphal Gospels, Acts and Revelations. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1873. Repr. as vol. 16 of The Ante-Nicene Christian Library. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. 24 vols. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1867–1883 (based on the Latin translation of the Arabic text from Tischendorf, pp. 62–67).

3.3.2 French

Boud’hors, Anne. “Histoire de l’Enfance de Jésus.” Pages 25–59 in vol. 2 of Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Edited by Pierre Geoltrain and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Paris: Gallimard, 2005 (based on de Lagarde’s edition).

Dulaurier, Édouard. Fragments des révélations apocryphes de saint Barthélemy et de l’histoire des communautés religieuses de saint Packhôme. Paris: Imprimerie royale, 1835 (from D, pp. 23–29).

Migne, Jacques-Paul. Dictionnaire des Apocryphes. 2 vols. 1856. Repr., Turnhout: Brepols, 1989 (translation of the Arabic text, vol. 1:1027–44).

Peeters, Paul. “Histoire de Joseph le charpentier. Rédactiones copte et arabe.” Pages 192–245 in vol. 1 of Évangiles apocryphes. Edited by Charles Michel and Paul Peeters. 2 vols. Textes et documents pour l’étude historique du Christianisme 13, 18. Paris: Librairie Alphonse Picard & Fils, 1911–1914 (translation of Arabic and Bohairic versions, with D in the appendix, pp. 244–46).

3.3.3 German

Klameth, Gustav. “Über die Herkunft der apokryphen Geschichte Josephs dem Zimmermans.” Angelos 3 (1928): 6–31 (chs. 19–24 of Lagarde’s Sahidic and Bohairic).

Schneider, Gerhard. Apokryphe Kindheitsevangelien. New York: Herder, 1995 (pp. 272–83).

Stern, Ludwig. “Das Leben Josephs des Zimmermanns aus dem Koptischen übersetzt.” ZWT 26 (1883): 267–94 (translation of Revillout’s Sahidic and Boharic with corrections).

3.3.4 Italian

Erbetta, Mario. Gli Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. in 4. Turin: Marietti, 1966–1981 (summary of the Bohairic text, vol. 1.2:186–205).

Moraldi, Luigi. Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 2 vols. Classici delle religioni, Sezione quarta, La religione cattolica 24. Turin: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 1971 (translations of the Arabic and Bohairic versions, vol. 1:313–52).

3.3.5 Latin

Fabricius, Johann Albert. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti. 2 vols. Hamburg: Schiller, 1703 (Wallin’s Latin translation, vol. 2:309–36).

Isolani, Isidoro. En lector ingenue, nouum opus ac pluribus incognitum sæculis…; est opus summa in quator secta partes, de donis sancti Ioseph sponsi beatissimae virginis Mariae ac patris putatiui Christi Iesu Dei immortalis. Pavia: Impressa apud Iacob Paucidrapium, 1522 (translation “from Hebrew” of an unidentified manuscript, 97b–100a).

Tischendorf, Constantin von, ed. Evangelia Apocrypha. Leipzig: Mendelssohn, 1853; 2nd ed. 1876. (Wallin’s Latin translation, pp. 115–33).

3.3.6 Spanish

de Santos Otero, Aurelio. Los Evangelios Apócrifos. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Christianos, 1956 (translation of Morenz’s edition of the Bohairic, pp. 358–78).

González-Blanco, Edmundo, ed. Los Evangelio Apócrifos. 3 vols. Madrid: Bergua, 1934 (from the Coptic, vol. 1:385–406; Arabic vol. 1:407 ff.).

3.4 General Works

Aranda Perez, G. “Joseph the Carpenter.” Pages 1371–74 in vol. 5 of The Coptic Encylopedia. Edited by A. S. Atiya. New York and Toronto: MacMillan, 1991.

Bienert, Wolfgang A. “Kindheistevangelien.” Pages 330–72 in Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung, Bd. 1. Evangelien und Verwandtes. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. 6th ed. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1990. English translation: “The Relatives of Jesus.” Pages 470–88 in New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1, Gospels and Related Writings. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McL. Wilson. Rev. ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1991 (see pp. 483–85).

Boud’hors, Anne. “Origine et portée du récit apocryphe copte intitulé Histoire de Joseph le Charpentier.” Pages 139–54 in Marie dans les récits apocryphes chrétiens 1. Bulletin de la Société française d’études mariales. Paris: Mediaspaul, 2004.

Giamberardini, Gabriele. San Giuseppe nella tradizione copta. Cairo: Centro Francescano di Studi Orientali, 1966. (Translated into French as Saint Joseph dans la tradition copte. Cahiers de Joséphologie 17. Montreal: Centre de Recherche et de Documentation, 1969).

Jacobs, Philip W. Joseph the Carpenter: his Reception in Literature and Art from the Second to the Ninth Century. History of Biblical Interpretation 5. Dorset: Deo, 2016 (esp. pp. 111–25).

__________. “The Reception History and Interpretation of the New Testament Portrayals of Joseph the Carpenter in Nativity and Infancy Portrayals in Early Christian and Early Medieval Narratives and Art from the Second Century to the Ninth Century CE.” PhD diss., Bangor University, 2013 (esp. pp. 131–51).

Klameth, Gustav. “Über die Herkunft der apokryphen Geschichte Josephs dem Zimmermans.” Angelos 3 (1928): 6–31.

Manns, Frédéric. “Le portrait de Joseph dans l’Histoire de Joseph le Charpentier.” Pages 94–105 in Essais sur le Judéo-Christianisme. Jerusalem: Franciscan Print. Press, 1977.

Nagel, Peter. “Joseph II (Zimmermann).” RAC 18: 749–61. Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1977.