Martyrium Iacobi
Standard abbreviation: Mart Jas.
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 116; CANT 276.2
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: (First) Revelation of James; (Second) Revelation of James; Preaching of James, Brother of the Lord; Hegesippus, Hypomnemata 5 (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.23. see also 2.1.4–5); Pseudo-Clementines (Recognition 1:66–70)
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Martyrdom of James, Brother of the Lord.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/martyrdom-of-james-brother-of-the-lord/.
Created November 2020. Current as of January 2023.
1. SUMMARY
James returns to Jerusalem and performs miracles and healings. Many come to believe in Christ and James becomes bishop of the community. The governor of the city (named, only in the Ethiopic text, as ’Ammânyôs, perhaps meaning Ananus), was a great lover of money and hated James. Because of his sins, God was preventing him from conceiving a child; meanwhile, his wife Theopistē (Eth.: Têryôbastâ or Piobsata) was imploring God for a child and giving alms to the churches without her husband’s knowledge. When Theopistē hears of James’ renown, she comes to him and tells him how she has waited 20 years for a child. James tells her that if she believes in Christ she will bear a child, and after some time she gives birth to a boy, who she names after the apostle. Theopistē brings the boy to James for blessing; when her husband finds out he is angry. He gathers the nobles and tells them James is corrupting the city and leading the people astray. They decide to watch for him in the temple.
The author of the text then presents some information about James, derived from the Hypomnemata of Hegesippus, as preserved by Eusebius (Hist. eccl. 2.23): God chose him from his mother’s womb like Jeremiah; he drank no wine, nor ate non-kosher food; he did not cut his hair nor take hot baths; he never wore a coat; and was always in the temple praying so that God might forgive the sins of the nation, until his feet became swollen from much standing and worshipping. James was the youngest of the sons of Joseph and his first wife; together they had four sons and two daughters, and of these only James was not married.
The story resumes, again following Hegesippus, with the leaders in Jerusalem hearing that people are saying that Jesus (Ar.: James) is the Christ. The leaders ask James to go up to the pinnacle of temple and tell the people gathered for Passover that Jesus is the son of Joseph and that James is his brother. Instead, James proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God. Angered, the Jewish leaders throw James from the pinnacle and stone him. James gets to his knees and asks God to forgive them, but they continue to stone him. One of the priests, a son of Ahab (Rechab in Eusebius), calls for mercy; and in the chaos, a fuller (one who beats clothes) takes a piece of wood and strikes James on the head. The apostle dies on 18 Abīb (Julian 12 July) and is buried beneath the walls of temple. Finally, it is said that the siege of Jerusalem by Vespasian was due to the murder of James.
Named historical figures and characters: Ahab/Rechab, ’Ammânyôs (Ananus), David (king), Isaiah (prophet), James (the Righteous), Jeremiah (prophet), Jesus Christ, Joseph (of Nazareth), Mary (Virgin), Stephen (martyr), Theopistē, Vespasian.
Geographical locations: Jerusalem, temple (Jerusalem).
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Arabic (BHO 402)
3.1.1.1 Arabic Script
Beirut, Bibliothèque Orientale de l’Université Saint Joseph, 1426 (1855) ~ contents unconfirmed
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Graf 472 (18th cent.)
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 1 (13th/14th cent.)
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 2 (14th cent.)
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 3 (1626)
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 6 (not dated) ~ contents unconfirmed
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 7 (14th cent.)
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 16 (15th cent.)
Cairo, Coptic Museum, 60, fols. 246v–252r (19th cent.)
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Christ. Arab. 84, fols. 42r–44v (ca. 1780)
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Christ Arab. 87b, fols. 61v–65r (ca. 1600 and 1700)
Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, Or. 1067 (Tischendorf 32) (15th cent.)
Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 423, fols. 152r–158r (1626)
Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 539, fols. 197r–200v (12th cent.)
Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodl. Ar. 541 (Nicoll 49), fols. 78v–80v (18th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 81, fols. 163r–168r (16th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 4770,fols. 329r–334r (19th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Borg. ar. 223 (1729)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 500, fols. 179v–184r (15th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 171, fols. 69r–69v (17th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 694, fols. 148v–152r (14th cent.)
3.1.1.2 Garšūnī
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 40, fols. 199r–203v (ca. 1750)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Syr. 232, fols. 302r–304r (17th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 124, fols. 177v–181r (16th cent.)
Bausi, Alessandro. “Alcune osservazioni sul Gadla ḥawāryāt.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 60–61 (2001–2002): 77–114 (list of 31 Arabic manuscripts of the Arabic acts collection, pp. 97–101).
Graf, Georg. Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur. 5 vols. Studi e testi 118, 133, 146–147, 172. Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944–1953 (survey of Arabic manuscripts of the Arabic acts collection, vol. 1, pp. 260–62).
Lewis, Agnes Smith, ed. Acta Mythologica Apostolorum, Transcribed from an Arabic Ms. in the Convent of Deyr-es-Suriani, Egypt, and from Mss. in the Convent of St Catherine, on Mount Sinai. Horae Semiticae 3. London: C.J. Clay and Sons, 1904. (Arabic text based on Vat. ar. 694, pp. 122–25).
3.1.2 Coptic
3.1.2.1 Sahidic (CPC 0590; BHO 404; PAThs entry; see individual links for editions)
New York, Morgan Library and Museum, M635 (=MICH.CG), fols. 20r–24r (10th cent.)
MONB.DM, pp. 163–164 (10th–12th cent.)
3.1.2.2 Copto-Arabic Synaxarion
The Copto-Arabic Synaxarion includes some details of the story for July 12 (18 Abīb).
Basset, René. “Le Synaxaire arabe jacobite (rédaction copte) V: les mois de Baounah, Abib, Mésoré et jours complémentaires.” Patrologia orientalis 17 (1923): 525–782 (edition and translation of the summary of the text in the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion, pp. 662–63).
3.1.3 Ethiopic
3.1.3.1 Martyrdom of James (BHO 403)
London, British Library, Or. 678, fols. 30v–33v (15th cent.)
London, British Library, Or. 683, fols. 115v–131v (17th cent.)
London, British Library, Or. 685, fols. 31v–34r (18th cent.)
Manchester, John Rylands University Library, Eth. 6, fols. 28v–33r (19th cent.)
Bausi, Alessandro. “Alcune osservazioni sul Gadla ḥawāryāt.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 60–61 (2001–2002): 77–114 (list of 31 Arabic manuscripts of the Ethiopic acts collection, pp. 73–76).
Budge, E. A. Wallis. Gadla Ḥawâryât: The Contendings of the Apostles, Being the Lives and Martyrdoms and Deaths of the Twelve Apostles and Evangelists. 2 vols. London: Frowde, 1899–1901 (Ethiopic text based on British Library, Or. 678 and 683, vol. 1, pp. 76–82).
Pisani, Vitagrazia. “The apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: unknown witnesses from East Tәgray.” Pages 75–93 in Essays in Ethiopian Manuscript Studies. Proceedings of the International Conference Manuscripts and Texts, Languages and Contexts: the Transmission of Knowledge in the Horn of Africa. Hamburg, 17–19 July 2014. Edited by Alessandro Bausi, Alessandro Gori, and Denis Nosnitsin. Supplements to Aethiopica 4. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2015 (descriptions of ten Ethiopic manuscripts cataloged for the Ethio-SPaRe project).
3.1.3.2 Ethiopic Synaxarion
The Ethiopian Synaxarion includes a summary of Mart. Jas. for July 12 (18 Hamle).
Budge, Ernest A. W. The Book of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928 (English translation of summary of the text from the Ethiopic Synaxarion, vol. 4, pp. 1125–27).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Budge, E. A. Wallis. The Contendings of the Apostles. 2 vols. London: Frowde, 1899–1901 (translation of the Ethiopic text, vol. 2, pp. 82–89).
Lewis, Agnes Smith. The Mythological Acts of the Apostles, Translated from an Arabic Ms. in the Convent of Deyr-es-Suriani, Egypt, and from Mss. in the Convent of St Catherine on Mount Sinai and in the Vatican Library. Horae Semiticae 4. London: C.J. Clay and Sons, 1904 (English translation of the Arabic text, pp. 143–46).
Malan, Solomon C. The Conflicts of the Holy Apostles: An Apocryphal Book of the Early Eastern Churches. London: Nutt, 1871 (English translation of the Ethiopic text based on Rylands Eth. 6, pp. 18–24).
3.2.2 Italian
Guidi, Ignazio. “Gli Atti apocrifi degli Apostoli nei testi copti, arabi ed etiopici.” Giornale della Società asiatica italiana 2 (1888): 1–66 (translation of Coptic text from the Vatican fragments of MONB.DM, p. 20).
3.3 General Works
Jones, Stanley. “The Martyrdom of James in Hegesippus, Clement of Alexandria, and Christian Apocrypha, Including Nag Hammadi: A Study of Textual Relations.” Pages 322–35 in Society of Biblical Literature: 1990 Seminar Papers. Edited by David J. Lull. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990.
Lipsius, Richard A. Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden. 2 vols. in 3. Braunschweig: Schwetschke und Sohn, 1883–1887 (see vol. 2.2:229–57).
McDowell, Sean. The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus. Abingdon: Ashgate, 2008. Repr. London and New York: Routledge, 2015 (pp. 115–34).
Otero, Aurelio de Santos. “Later Acts of Apostles.” Pages 426–82 in New Testament Apocrypha. Vol. 2: Writings Relating to the Apostles; Apocalypses and Related Subjects. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McLachlan Wilson. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1992 (see p. 478–79).
Pratscher, Whilhelm. Der Herrenbruder Jakobus und die Jakobustradition. FRLANT 139. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1987.