Lament of the Virgin

Homilia de lamentis Mariae

Standard abbreviation: Lam. Vir.

Other titles: Lament of Mary, Homily on the Compassion of Mary at Golgotha and at the Tomb, On the Glory and Compassion of the Holy Virgin; erroneously attributed to a “Gospel of Gamaliel”

Clavis numbers: ECCA 817; CANT 74

Category: Pseudo-Apostolic Memoirs

Related literature: Martyrdom of Pilate

Compiled by Tony Burke, York University

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Lament of the Virgin.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/lament-of-the-virgin/.

Created November 2019. Current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

Lament of the Virgin is a modern title, assigned to the text by Alphonse Mingana; the narrator, identified as Gamaliel (from Acts 5:34–40), sums its contents up as “a discourse on the Virgin and her sweet wailing, and on the death and resurrection of her Son from the dead.” As a pseudo-apostolic memoir, the text opens with a homily by Cyriacus of Behnessa (Oxyrhynchus) justifying Mary’s weeping over the death of Jesus with a comparison to weeping of the patriarch Jacob and the matriarch Rachel. The homilists of the memoirs typically introduce a lost apocryphal work and then reveal its contents; but here there is no break in the narration, though the conclusion reveals that the discourse was written by Gamaliel and Nicodemus and was placed in Jerusalem.

The action of the text begins with Mary in the house of John, the apostle. There she receives news from a messenger of the house of Annas that Jesus is being crucified. Mary utters two laments: the first on the fate of her son and the second on Peter’s denial. John takes Mary to Golgotha to see Jesus. There people from various lands have assembled at the cross: Amgazites, Balakites, Moabites, Kabarites, and Ishmaelites. They all declare that the crucifixion is an injustice, the result of Herod Antipas’s concern over the emperor wanting Jesus to be king (a theme found in Homily on the Life of Jesus and His Love for the Apostles). As in John 19:25–27, Jesus entrusts his mother to John. At first, she refuses to leave Jesus’ side, but Joanna, Mary Magdalene, and Salome lift her up and take her back to John’s house. When she feels the earth quake (Matt 27:51), she knows Jesus has died and utters a third lament.  A fourth lament occurs after Jesus’ burial.

After three days, Mary and Mary Magdalene come to the tomb and see the stone rolled away. Mary utters one final lament, asking who carried the body away? Mention is made here that  Joseph died the same day as Jesus. In the usual manner for Coptic retellings of the resurrection, Jesus appears to his mother, not Mary Magdalene, and she thinks him to be the gardener. Jesus discloses his identity and reveals that he has just liberated the saints from Hades. He then tells Mary to announce his resurrection to the apostles and promises to see them in Jerusalem.

Interwoven in Mary’s story is an account of Pilate’s interactions with the Jewish leaders. Pilate is presented as reluctant to crucify Jesus; he only had him flogged in order to satisfy the Jews. Pilate summons Annas and Caiaphas to publicly accuse the men, saying to them, “May his blood be on you and your children!” (from Matt 27:25). The priests accept responsibility, so Pilate imprisons Caiaphas until he can send him to the emperor. In the meantime, Joseph of Arimathea places Jesus’ body in the tomb and guards are appointed to stand watch. Pilate has a dream in which the risen Jesus directs him to go to the tomb where he will see the wrappings guarded by angels and will witness miracles. Pilate and the Jewish leaders go to the tomb to find out what happened and he sees the discarded wrappings. Great multitudes from all over the world gather at the tomb, just as at the cross. The Jews argue that Jesus’ body was taken by the apostles. Undeterred, Pilate takes the wrappings and uses them to restore the injured eye of a centurion; in gratitude, the centurion declares he will no longer serve a king but only Jesus and throws away his sword.

The Jewish leaders declare that the power of the wrappings comes from Beelzebul and that demons continue to work wonders even after a sorcerer’s death. They look for the body of Jesus and go to a well in the garden. They find a body wrapped in a shroud. Joseph and Nicodemus reveal that is is the Good Thief who was crucified with Jesus. To verify their claim, Pilate has the body wrapped in Jesus’ linens and seals it in the tomb. Pilate prays for the thief’s re-animation in order to put the Jews to shame. The thief’s voice is heard from the tomb, demanding to be let out; the Jews run away in panic, shame, and confusion. Pilate orders the soldiers to pursue them and strike them with their swords; many are wounded. The thief reveals that Jesus raised him and tells Pilate that there is a spot in Paradise reserved him. Gamaliel, who had witnessed the activity in the garden, says that he, Joseph, and Nicodemus went to tell the apostles what had happened. Pilate and the crowd went to the house of Annas and Caiaphas and they demolished and plundered it.

The Ethiopic version continues with a correspondence between Pilate and Herod. Pilate informs the king about everything that happened at the tomb but Herod, bribed by the Jewish antagonists of the texts, writes back with a request for Jesus’ burial cloth and an audience with the resurrected thief. The Jewish leaders decapitate the thief and hide his body and kill also the centurion healed by the burial cloths. The souls of the two men are spirited to Pilate on a cloud and a voice from the cloud tells Pilate that he too will be beheaded but promises that Pilate and his wife will be taken to the heavenly Jerusalem. The burial cloths, we are told, were carried up to heaven. The Ethiopic text breaks off here but the Garšūnī preserves the ending of the text: a brief conclusion by Cyriacus stating that the words of the text were written by Gamaliel and Nicodemus and placed in Jerusalem.

Named Historical Figures and Characters: Aaron, Andrew (apostle), Anna (mother of Mary), Annas (scribe/high priest), Bartholomew (apostle), Beelzebub, Caiaphas, Cyriacus of Behnessa, Gamaliel, Dimas/Dysmas/Demas (Good Thief), Elisha (prophet), Herod Antipas, Herod (the Great), Jacob (patriarch), James (son of Zebedee), James (the Righteous), Jesus Christ, Joachim (father of Mary), Joanna, Job, John (son of Zebedee), Joseph (of Nazareth), Joseph of Arimathea, Joseph (patriarch), Judas Iscariot, Magi, Mary Magdalene, Mary (Virgin), Matthew (apostle), Moses (patriarch), Nicodemus, Noah (patriarch), Peter (apostle), Philip (apostle), Pontius Pilate, Rachel (matriarch), Salome (disciple), Satan, Thomas (apostle).

Geographical Locations: Behnessa, Bethlehem, Egypt, Golgotha, Hades, Jerusalem, Judea, Nazareth, Paradise.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Arabic

Aleppo, Fondation Georges et Mathilde Salem, Sbath Fihris 442

Beirut, Université Staint-Joseph, 631, fols. 75^v–135^r

Cairo, Coptic Museum, 64(A), fols. 1^r–1^v (18th cent.) ~ fragmentary

Cairo, Coptic Museum, 25 (Graf 720), fols. 156^r–173^v (1687)

Cairo, Coptic Museum, 6419(A), fols. 3^r–20^r (16th cent.) (CMB8-3A)

Cairo 451, fols. 60^r–84^v (1581)

Cairo 120, fols. 14^r–43^r (17th cent.)

Charfet, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, ar. 2/34, 5 (17th cent.)

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana ar. christ 198 (Add. 269) (ca. 1500) ~ fragment

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana ar. christ 260 (Add. 261), fol. 19^r–28^v (18th cent.)

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana syr. 297, fols. 1^r–9^v (19th cent.)

Leuven, Universitätsbibliothek Löwen, Lefort ar. A.5 (15th cent.), fols. 11^r–151^r

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, arabe 132, fols. 139^r–147^r (1629)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, arabe 150, fol. 111^v–141^r  (1606)

Vatican, Bibloteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. arab. 170 (1719)

Vatican, Bibloteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. arab. 171 (17th cent.), fols. 78^r–87^r

Wadi El Natrun, Dayr Qiddīs Anbā Maqqār, 381, pp. 320–379 (19th cent.) (HMML)

Wadi El Natrun, Dayr Qiddīs Anbā Maqqār, 394 (14th cent.)

Ḥunayn, Girgis. Kitāb mayāmir wa-ʻajāʼib al-sayyidah al-ʻadhrā Maryam. Cairo: Maṭbaʻat ʼal-Hilāl, 1902 (edition from an unidentified manuscript, pp. 95–114). Second edition by ‘Abd al-Masīh Sulaimān. Cairo: ‘Ayn Shams Press, 1927.

3.1.2 Coptic (Sahidic) (CPC 0987; PAThs entry)

London, British Library, Or. 7027, fol. 75 (prior to 1004) ~ text corresponds to pp. 192–93 of Mingana’s edition

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Copte 129¹⁷, fols. 37–38

Strasbourg, Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire, Copte. 530 ~ Suciu (“British Library Fragment,” p. 64) reports that the fragment has text similar to Mingana, p. 196, but “may be from a slightly different recension.”

Budge, E. A. W. Miscellaneous Coptic Texts in the Dialect of Upper Egypt. London: British Museum, 1915 (partial transcription of London Or. 7027, p. xxxviii–xxxix).

Lacau, Pierre. Fragments d’apocryphes coptes. Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 9. Cairo: Imprimerie de l’IFAO, Paris : Firmin Didot, 1904 (text of Paris Copte 129¹⁷, pp. 15–18, trans. pp. 19–22).

Revillout, Eugène. Les apocryphes coptes. Première partie: Les Évangiles des douze apôtres et de saint Barthélemy. PO 2/2. Paris: Firmin Didot, 1904 (text and translation of Paris Copte 129¹⁷, pp. 54–58).

Suciu, Alin. “A British Library Fragment from a Homily on the Lament of Mary and the So-Called Gospel of Gamaliel.” Aethiopica 15 (2012): 53–71 (photographs, text, and translation of London Or. 7027, pp. 64–67).

3.1.3 Ethiopic

A  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 80, fols. 62^r–71^v (15th cent.)

B  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 91, fols. 1^r–28^v (15th cent.)

C  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 158, fols. 71^r–84^v (18th cent.)

D  Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. et. 151, fols. 1^r–58^v (17th cent.) ~ some folios placed out-of-order (correct: 9, 11, 12, 10, 15, 13, 14, 16)

E  Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éth. 104, fols. 39^v–101^v (16th cent.)

Z  London, British Library, Or. 601, fols. 113^r–120^v (18th cent.)

Däbrä Tabor, Bethlehem Church, no shelf number, pp. 230–270 (1398–1408)

Additional manuscripts (most are contained in Ritual for Passion Week, Mäshafä Gebrä hemāmāt):

Addis Ababa, Church of St. Mark, EMML 12, fols. 85^v–95^v (20th cent.)

Addis Ababa, Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, EMML 242 fols. 141^r–148^r (1924)

Addis Ababa, Church of the Nativity, EMML 411, fols. 133^r–140^v (20th cent.)

Addis Ababa, Church of the Savior of the World, EMML 543, fols. 201^r–208^r (1965)

Addis Ababa, Church of St. George, EMML 660, fols. 122^v–134^r (18th/19th cent.)

Addis Ababa, Church of the Savior of the World, EMML 753, fols. 213^r–219^v (20th cent.)

Addis Ababa, Church of the Apostles, EMML 807, fols. 177^v–269^v (20th cent.) ~ divided into separate readings

Addis Ababa, Trinity Church, EMML 857, fols. 192^v–205^v (1958)

Addis Ababa, Church of our Lady of Mount Quesquam, EMML 884, fols. 147^r–157^v (1930)

Addis Ababa, Church of St. George, EMML 945, fols. 144^r–208^v (1959/1970) ~ divided into separate readings

Addis Ababa, Church of St. George, EMML 999, fols. 217^r–232^r (1908/1909)

Addis Ababa, Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, EMML 1607, fols. 152^v–162^r (20th cent.)

Addis Ababa, Patriarchate Library, EMML 680, fols. 266^r–270^v (ca. 1959–1970)

Ambāssal (Wallo), Monastery of Hayq Estifānos, EMML 1765, fols. 151^r–179^v (15th cent.)

Ambāssal (Wallo), Monastery of Hayq Estifānos, EMML 1956, fols. 5^r–17^v, 62^r–63^v, 25^r–41^v, 18^r–24^v, 42^r–52^v (ca. 1400)

Ambāssal (Wallo), Monastery of Hayq Estifānos, EMML 2044, fols. 124^r–133^v (1746)

Angolalā (Shoa), Church of Angolalā Kidāna Mehrat, EMML 4340, fol. 146^r–165^r (ca. 1813–1847)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Mitāq Amānu͗el, EMML 2338, fols. 212^v–222^v (ca. 1813–1847)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Ankobarr Mikā͗el, EMML 2362, fols. 129^v–146^v (1949)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Afar Bāynē Takla Hāymānot, EMML 2407, fols. 130^v–153^v (ca/ 1813–1847)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Ankobarr Madhānē ͑Alam, EMML 2425, fols. 118^r–141^v (1865/1867)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Ankobarr Māryām, EMML 2461, fols.  324^r–335^v (1842)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Ankobarr Māryām, EMML 2464, fols. 119^r–141^r (ca. 1779–1800)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Astit Kidāna Mehrat, EMML 2515, fols. 102^r–122^r (ca. 1779–1800)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Dibbut Kidāna Mehrat, EMML 2902, fols. 36^r–64^r (17th/18th cent.)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Harr Ambā Mikā͗el, EMML 2998, fols. 219^r–230^r (1913)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Ankobarr Mikā͗el, EMML 3510, fol. 167^r–175^v (ca. 1775–1769)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Dobbā Abbo, EMML 3625, fol. 76^r–94^r (1930)

Ankobarr (Shoa), Church of Ankobarr Māryām, EMML 3873, fols. 171^r–183^r (1899)

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Tānāsee 10

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Tānāsee 23

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Tānāsee 64

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Tānāsee 96

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin–Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Ath. 156

Dabra Berhān (Shoa), Church of Dabra Berhān Sellāsē, EMML 1878, fols. 120^r–137^r (1712)

Dasē (Wallo), Church of Dasē Mādhanē ‘Ālam, EMML 4794, fols. 154^v–164^v (1906/1907)

Dasē (Wallo), Church of Gannata Giyorgis, EMML 4856, fols. 122^v–187^r (20th cent.) ~ dispersed readings

Dasē (Wallo), Church of Dabra Bētēl Sellāsē, EMML 4898, fols. 164^v–176^r (20th cent.)

Dasē (Wallo), Church of Manbara Zahay Hāymānot, EMML 4967, fols. 130^v–141^v (ca. 1917–1930)

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Magl. Cl. III Cod. 1, fols. 65^v–83^v (1664–1666)

Genner Agar (Shoa), Monastery of Dabra Bagge͑, EMML 2348, fols. 130^v–157^v (19th cent.)

Gojjam Province, Martula Maryam Monastery, EMDA 00048, fols. 1^r–33^v (19th cent.) (HMML)

Gubālāfto (Wallo), Church of Damtā Giyorgis, EMML 1626, fols. 152^v–162^r (ca. 1930–1974)

London, British Library, Or. 598, fols. 147^v–161^v (1708–1711)

London, British Library, Or. 604, fols. 125^r–136^v (1716)

London, British Library, Or. 605, fols. 133^v–148^v (18th cent.)

London, British Library, Or. 767, fols. 137^r–165^v (18th cent.)

London, British Library, Or. 775, fols. 183^r–207^r (18th cent.)

Mogā and Wadarrā (Shoa), Church of Sallā Dengāy, EMML 4440, fol. 119^v–179^v (1884/1885) ~ dispersed readings

Morat (Shoa), Church of Garbā Giyorgis, EMML 3875, fols. 166^r–178^r (ca. 1779–1800)

Tigray, Gunda Gunde Monastery, GG-072, fols. 1^r–26^v (15th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 1 ~ listed by Bausi, unconfirmed

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Griaule 376 ~ listed by Bausi, unconfirmed

Manchester, John Rylands Library, Ethiopian MS 6

Tahulladarē (Wallo), Church of Boru Sellāsē, EMML 4775, fols. 1^r–31^r (19th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. et. 252

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. et. 268

Yaggu (Wallo), Church of Waldeyā Gabre’ēl, EMML 3391, fols. 150^v–179^r (18th cent.)

Yaggu (Wallo), Church of Gāllā Giyorgis, EMML 3414, fols. 101^v–110^v (19th cent.)

Yaggu (Wallo), Church of Waldeyā͗ Mikā͗el, EMML 3802, fols. 176^r–192^r (19th/20th cent.)

Yaggu (Wallo), Church of Waldeyā͗ Mikā͗el, EMML 3803, fols. 138^v–149^r (19th/20th cent.)

Baker, A. “Some Account of an Ancient Manuscript.” Newbery House Magazine 7.6 (1892): 641–46 (facsimile and English translation—by M. R. James—of a single sheet from an uncataloged Ethiopic manuscript from Magdala, pp. 642–43).

Bausi, Alessandro. “I manoscritti etiopici di J. M. Wansleben nella Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze.” RSE 33 (1989): 5–33 (detailed description of the Florence manuscript, pp. 14–20 with additional Ethiopic manuscripts noted p. 19).

Bombeck, Stefan. Die Geschichte der heiligen Maria in einer alten äthiopischen Handschrift. 2 vols. Dortmund: Praxiswissen, 2004 and 2010 (facsimile of Däbrä Tabor manuscript, vol. 1, German translation, vol. 2).

Oudenrijn, Marcus-Antonius van den. Gamaliel. Äthiopische Texte zur Pilatusliteratur. Spicilegium Friburgense 4. Freiburg: Universitätsverlag, 1959 (Ethiopic edition based on A–E and Z, with German translation, pp. 2–83).

3.1.4 Garšūnī

Aleppo, Syrian Catholic Archdiocese of Aleppo, Ar 5/66, fols. 1^r–34^r (18th cent.) HMML

Charfet, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, syr. 11/19, 4 (1605)

Charfet, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, syr. 11/26, I, 4 (1670)

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 87, fols. 103^r–117^v (ca. 1450)

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 127, fols. 82^r–125^r (1683)

Jerusalem, Monastery of Saint Mark, 201, fols. 1^v–8^r (1903)

Mardin, Church of the Forty Martyrs, 104, fols. 496^r–502^v (18th cent.) (HMML)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, syr. 232,  fols. 472^v–493^r (17th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, syr. 233, fols. 37^v–76^v (16th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. syr. 408, fols. 115^r–139^v (1549)

Mingana, Alphonse. “The Lament of the Virgin.” Pages 178–240 in Woodbrooke Studies. Vol. 2. Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons, 1928 (edition based on Syr. 87 with variants from Syr. 127 in the footnotes; translation pp. 182–210, text pp. 211–40; translation of Paris Copte 129¹⁷, pp. 179–81).

Graf, Georg. Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur. 5 vols. Studi e testi 118, 133, 146–147, 172. Vatican: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944–1953 (additional witnesses listed in vol 1:248).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Layton, Bentley. Catalogue of Coptic Literary Manuscripts in the British Library Acquired Since the Year 1906. London: British Library, 1987 (partial translation of London Or. 7027, pp.  111–12).

Mingana, Alphonse. “The Lament of the Virgin.” Pages 178–240 in Woodbrooke Studies. Vol. 2. Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons, 1928 (edition based on Syr. 87 with variants from Syr. 127 in the footnotes; translation pp. 182–210, text pp. 211–40; translation of Paris Copte 129¹⁷, pp. 179–81).

3.2.2 German

Schenke, Hans-Martin. “Die koptischen Fragmente des Gamalielevangelium.” Pages 1310–13 in vol. 1 of Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung. 2 vols. AcA I/1-2. Edited by Christoph Markschies and Jens Schröter. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012 (German translation of the Coptic fragments).

Josua, Maria, and Friedman Eißler. “Die arabische Fassung des Gamalielevangelium.” Pages 1313–35 in vol. 1 of Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung. 2 vols. AcA I/1-2. Edited by Christoph Markschies and Jens Schröter. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012 (translation of the Garšūnī edition by Mingana).

Burtea, Bogdan. “Die äthiopische Fassung des Gamalielevangelium.” Pages 1336–47 in vol. 1 of Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung. 2 vols. AcA I/1-2. Edited by Christoph Markschies and Jens Schröter. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012 (translation of edition by van den Oudenrijn).

3.2.3 Italian

Erbetta, Mario. Gli apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. Italy: Marietti, 1975–1981 (translation of Ethiopic, vol. 1.2:344–66).

Gharib, Georges et al., eds. Testi mariani del primo millenio. Vol. 4: Pardi e altri autori orientali. Rome: Città Nuova, 1991 (pp. 755–63).

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 Ethiopic with variant from Paris Copte 129¹⁷, vol. 1:655–82).

3.3 General Works

Abraha, Tedros and Daniel Assefa. “Apocryphal Gospels in the Ethiopic Tradition.” Pages 639–43 in Jesus in apokryphen Evangelienüberlieferungen. Edited by Jörg Frey and Jens Schröter. WUNT 254. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010 (see pp. 643–45).

Baumstark, Anton. Review of Eugène Revillout, Les apocryphes coptes. Revue biblique 3 (1906): 245–65 (esp. 253–59).

Beylot, Robert. “Bref aperçu des principaux textes éthiopiens dérivés des Acta Pilati.” Langues orientales anciennes, philologie et lingustique 1 (1988): 181–95.

Cerulli, Enrico. “Tiberius and Pontius Pilatus in the Ethiopian Tradition and Poetry.” Proceedings of the British Academy 59 (1975): 141–58.

Clemen, Carl. “Notiz über ein neugefundenes Fragment einer bisher unbekannten Pilatuslegende.” Theologische Studien und Kritiken 4 (1894): 757–68 (commentary and German translation of Ethiopic manuscript published by A. Baker).

Coquin, René-Georges. “Cyriacus.” Pages 669–71 in vol. 3 of The Coptic Encyclopedia. Edited by in Aziz S. Atiya. 8 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1991.

Elliott, James Keith, ed. and trans. The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993 (pp. 159–60).

Haase, Felix. Literarkritische Untersuchungen zur orientalisch-apokryphen Evangelienliteratur. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1913 (see pp. 11–22).

Hammerschmidt, Ernst. Review of Marcus-Antonius van den Oudenrijn, Gamaliel. Äthiopische Texte zur Pilatusliteratur. OLZ 61 (1966): 378–85.

Horn, Cornelia B. “Apocryphal Gospels in Arabic, or Some Complications on the Road to Traditions about Jesus.” Pages 583–609 in Jesus in apokryphen Evangelienüberlieferungen. Edited by Jörg Frey and Jens Schröter. WUNT 254. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010 (pp. 602–604).

James, M. R. The Apocryphal New Testament. 1924. Repr., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953 (pp. 151–52).

Ladeuze, Paulin. “Apocryphes évangéliques coptes. Pseudo-Gamaliel; Évangile de Barthélemy.” RHE 7 (1906): 245–68.

van den Oudenrijn, Marcus-Antonius. “Das Gamalielevangelium.” Pages 441–43 in Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung, Bd. 1. Evangelien und Verwandtes. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. 6th ed. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1990. English translation: “The Gospel of Gamaliel.” Pages 558–60 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.

Schenke, Hans-Martin, Maria Josua, Friedman Eißler, and Bogdan Burtea. “Das Gamalielevangelium.” Pages 1307–47 in vol. 1 of Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung. 2 vols. AcA I/1-2. Edited by Christoph Markschies and Jens Schröter. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012.

Suciu, Alin. The Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon: A Coptic Apostolic Memoir. WUNT 370. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017 (see pp. 85–88).

Weninger, Stefan. “Laha Maryam.” Encyclopedia Aethiopica. Edited by Siegbert Uhlig. 5 vols. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2007 (vol. 3, p. 477a–b).