Martyrdom of Philip (Coptic)

Martyrium Philippi (coptice)

Standard abbreviation: Mart. Phil. (Copt.)

Other titles: Acts of Philip and Peter

Clavis numbers: ECCA 528; CANT 252.2

Category: Apocryphal Acts

Compiled by Tony Burke, York University

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Martyrdom of Philip.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/martyrdom-of-philip/.

Created August 2020. Current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

Philip appears in Phrygia (Africa) and the people ask him about his god Jesus. He gives a brief description of the Trinity and the creation of the universe and humans. The devil, fearing that Philip will turn the people against him, sews wicked thoughts in their hearts, causing them to attack and put him in chains. Suddenly, everyone who had laid hands on him becomes blind; the crowd call for them to stop and Philip is freed.

Philip begins his ministry of preaching, healing and exorcising demons. But the nobles of the city become concerned that the people are turning away from the worship of their gods and worry that the king will come to the city and punish them. So they capture Philip, hang him upside down on a cross, and torture him until he dies. The day of his martyrdom is given as 18 Hathor (Nov. 14). The nobles want to burn his body but are prevented when an angel takes Philip’s body and hides it in a tree in Jerusalem (likely Hierapolis). The people become convinced of Philip’s God and perform many supplications in hopes of seeing Philip again. God sends an angel to tell them about the location of the apostle. They take the body and place it in a sarcophagus, presumably in Phrygia, but the Arabic text gives the location as Carthagena.

Named historical figures and characters: devil, Jesus Christ, Philip (apostle).

Geographical locations: Carthage/Carthagene, Hierapolis, Jerusalem, Phrygia.

2. RESOURCES

2.2 Commemorative Sites

First-century tomb in modern Pamukkale (ancient Hierapolis) identified as an ancient pilgrimage site dedicated to Philip.

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Arabic (BHO 982)

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, 59, fols. 215^r–227^r (19th cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Museum, 60, fols. 144^v–162^r (19th cent.)

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Magl. III 29, fols. 111^v–115^v (ante 1664)

Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, Or. 1067 (Tischendorf 32) (15th cent.)

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 423, fols. 194^r–196^r (1626) ~ unverified

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, arab. 469, fols. 102^r–114^r (13th cent.) ~ unverified

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 539, fols. 118^v–120^v (12th cent.)

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodl. Ar. 541 (Nicoll 49), fols. 43^v–45^r (18th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 81, fols. 74^v–78^r (16th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 147, fols. 142^r–145^v (15th cent.) ~ Gallica

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 4770, fols. 201^r–205^r (19th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Borg. ar. 223 (1729)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 500, fols. 94^r–97^r (15th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 171, fols. 25^r–27^r (17th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 694, fols. 74^v–78^r (14th cent.)

Wadi El-Natrun, Monastery of the Syrians (Dayr al-Suryān), no shelf number, fols. 76^r–79^v (14th cent.)

3.1.1.2 Garšūnī

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 40, fols. 125^v–128^v (ca. 1750)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Syr. 232, fols. 259^v–261^v (17th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 124, fols. 92^v–96^v (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. Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944 (manuscripts listed, vol. 1, p. 260–64).

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 unidentified Deir al-Surian MS, pp. 56–58).

3.1.2 Coptic (CPC 0582; BHO 975–976; PAThs entry)

3.1.2.1 Bohairic

CLM 2879, pp. 401–408, 411–412 (13th cent.)

Evelyn White, Hugh G. The Monasteries of the Wadi ‘n Natrûn. Part 1: New Coptic Texts from the Monastery of Saint Macarius. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1926 (text and English translation of CLM 2879, pp. 40–43).

3.1.2.2 Sahidic (see links for editions)

New York, Morgan Library and Museum, M635 (=MICH.CG), fols. 2^v–4^r(ca. 10th cent.)

MONB.BY, p. ? (ca. 10th cent.)

MONB.DM, pp. 75–77 (10th–12th cent.)

MONB.MR, pp. [49]–50 (ca. 10th cent.)

3.1.3 Ethiopic

3.1.3.1 Martyrdom of Philip (BHO 983)

London, British Library, Or. 678, fols. 59^r–61^r (15th cent.)

London, British Library, Or. 683, fols. 164^v–166^v (17th cent.)

London, British Library, Or. 685, fols. 68^v–70^r (18th cent.)

Manchester, John Rylands University Library, Eth. 6, fols. 59^r–61^r (19th cent.)

Bausi, Alessandro. “Alcune osservazioni sul Gadla ḥawāryāt.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 60–61 (2001–2002): 77–114 (list of 31 manuscripts of the Ethiopic acts collection, pp. 93–97).

Budge, Ernest A. W. Gadla Ḥawâryât: The Contendings of the Apostles, Being the Lives and Martyrdoms and Deaths of the Twelve Apostles and Evangelists. Vol. 1. London: Henry Frowde, 1899 (Ethiopic text based on British Library, Or. 678 and 683, pp. 135–39).

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. Phil. for Nov. 14 (Julian).

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. 1, pp. 259–61).

Colin, Gérard. Le Synaxaire éthiopien: Mois de ẖedār. Patrologia orientalis 44.3. Turnhout: Brepols, 1988 (edition of the summary of the text from the Ethiopic Synaxarion, pp. 328–31).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Budge, E. Wallis. Gadla Ḥawâryât: The Contendings of the Apostles, Being the Lives and Martyrdoms and Deaths of the Twelve Apostles and Evangelists. Vol. 2 (English translations). London: Henry Frowde, 1901 (English translation of the Ethiopic text, pp. 156–62).

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. 66–68).

Malan, Solomon C. The Conflicts of the Holy Apostles, An Apocryphal Book of the Early Eastern Church. London: D. Nutt, 1871 (English translation of the Ethiopic text based on Rylands Eth. 6, pp. 72–76).

3.3 General Works

Lipsius, Richard A. Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden. 2 vols. in 3 parts. Braunschweig, 1883–1890 (see vol. 2.2:46–49).

McDowell, Sean. The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus. Abindgon: Ashgate, 2008. Repr. London and New York: Routledge, 2015 (pp. 193–209).

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 Wilhem Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McLachlan Wilson. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1992 (see pp. 474–76).