De miraculis sancti Thomae apostoli
Standard abbreviation: Mir. Thom.
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 295
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Acts of Thomas, Passion of Thomas
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Miracles of Thomas.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/miracles-of-thomas/.
Created April 2024.
1. SUMMARY
Mir. Thom. is a Latin translation of the Greek Acts of Thomas, though with a section that is paralleled in the Passion of Thomas (likely a later interpolation) and some notable omissions (Acts 3–4, many of the speeches and prayers, and the talking asses of Acts 8). The story begins with a mention of Jesus giving Thomas the name Didymus, which means “twin,” and of Thomas sending Thaddaeus to Edessa to heal King Abgar. Thomas himself is sent to India. The narrative is interrupted by an anonymous author’s voice stating that he remembered reading stories about Thomas in India and though their reliability is suspect, he will tell what he remembers but leaving out “useless things.”
Then follows the contents of Acts Thom. 1 (the sale of Thomas to Abban and their activities at the wedding in Andrapolis; added here is that the father of the bride, a king, becomes a deacon), Acts Thom. 2 (the building of Gundaphorus’ heavenly palace), Acts Thom. 5 (the exorcism of a woman), Acts Thom. 6 (the young man who killed his adulterous wife), Acts Thom. 7–8 (the healing of Siphor’s wife and daughter), and Acts Thom. 9–12 (the conversion of Mygdonia and Thomas’ imprisonment by King Misdaeus). The scene of Misdaeus’ torture of Thomas is expanded with a sequence from Pass. Thom. in which the king follows up his command to Thomas to walk on hot plates with imprisoning Thomas in a furnace and then forcing him to sacrifice to a statue of the sun god. The statue melts and Thomas is returned to prison.
Then follows material from Acts Thom. 13: Vazan, the son of Misdaeus, asks Thomas to heal his wife Mnesara, and then the entire troupe (Vizan, Mnesara, Siphor and his family, Mygdonia, and Narkia) assemble for a eucharistic meal in the house of Siphor. On the way back to their respective prisons, Thomas delivers his final message to his followers. King Misdaeus realizes he does not have the power to hold Thomas and decides to execute him. Four soldiers take Thomas out of the city and pierce him with spears. His followers bury him in a royal tomb. Siphor and Vazan remain at the tomb until Thomas appears to them and urges them to return to the city. The torture of Tertia and Mygdonia continues until their husbands reconcile themselves with the fact that they will not return to their beds. The text comes to a close, like Acts Thom., with Misdaeus’ attempt to locate the bones of Thomas so that he can heal his son. Alas the body had been moved to Edessa, but dust from the floor of the tomb heals the boy and Misdaeus becomes a believer.
Named historical figures and characters: Abban, Abgar, Charisius, Gad (brother of king Gundaphorus), Gundaphorus, Misdaeus, Mnesara, Mygdonia, Narkia, Siphor, Tertia, Thaddaeus (apostle), Thomas (apostle), Vazan.
Geographical locations: Andrapolis (Sandaruk), Edessa, India, Jerusalem, Syria.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Latin (BHL 8140)
Sigla are based on Zelzer 1977; additional manuscripts listed in Zelzer, pp. xlv–xlviii.
A Angers, Bibliothèque municipale, 281, fols. 84v–99r (11th cent.)
D Dublin, Trinity College, 737 (olim G.04.16), fols. 79v–99v (9th and 12th/13th cent.)
F Orleans, Bibliothèque municipale, 197 (174), pp. 95–117 (10th cent.)
G Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale, 975, fols. 48r–51v (938?)
P Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 5301, fols. 279v–293r (10th cent.) ~ Bonnet P; IMAGES
S Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 534 (Hist. eccl. 121), fols. 151r–171v (9th cent.)
V Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 455 (Hist. eccl. 71), fols. 91r–113v (9th cent.)
W Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek Weissenburg, 48, fols. 84r–101v (9th cent.) ~ Bonnet W
Additional Manuscripts:
Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek Bamberg, Msc. Hist. 139 (12th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 4554, fols. 22v–31r (8th/9th cent.)
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 12641 (12th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 5563 (11th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 11624 (11th cent.) ~ Bonnet Q; IMAGES
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 12602 (12th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 12604, fols. 49v–60r (12th cent.) ~ Bonnet R
Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, lat. 560 (12th/13th cent.)
Wolfenbüttel, Universitätsbibliothek Helmstedt, 497 (11th cent.) ~ IMAGES
Uncertain:
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 5327, fol. 188v (10th cent.)
Bernard, Philippe. “Un passage perdu dans Acta Thomae latins conservé dans une anaphore mérovingienne.” RBén 107:1–2 (1997): 24–39.
Bonnet, Max, ed. Acta Thomae graece partim cum novis codicibus contulit partim primus edidit, latine recensuit. Supplementum Codicis Apocryphi 1. Lipsiae: Hermann Mendelssohn, 1883 (edition based on Bonnet WPQR, pp. 96–132).
Fabricius, Johann Karl. Codex apocryphus Novi Testamenti. 2 vols. Hamburg: Benjamin Schiller, 1703 (vol. 1, pp. 687–736 [Miracles], 819–28 [fragments and citations]).
Giles, J. A. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti: The Uncanonical Gospels and Other Writings. London: D. Nutt, 1852 (reproduction of Fabricius, pp. 421–53).
Lazius, Wolfgang. Abdiae Babyloniae episcopi et apostolorum discipuli de historia certaminis apostolici libri decem. Bale, 1552 (Repr. Paris: Guillard & Belot, 1566; reprint by Jean Lefèvre in 1560) (based on ONB 455 and 534 but with some editorial glosses at the beginning of the texts, pp. 102v–121v).
Nausea, Friedrich. Anonymi Pilalethi Eusebiani in vitas, miracula passionesque apostolorum rhapsodiae. Cologne: Peter Quentel, 1531 (edition based on unidentified source, pp. 41r–52v).
Zelzer, Klaus. Die alten Lateinischen Thomasakten. TUGAL 122. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1977 (edition based on ADFGPSVW, pp. 45–77).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 French
Migne, Jacques-Paul. Dictionnaire des Apocryphes. 2 vols. 1856. Repr., Turnhout: Brepols, 1989 (vol. 2, cols. 937–1015).
3.3.2 German
Borberg, Karl Friedrich. Bibliothek der neutestamentlichen Apokryphen, gesammelt, übersetzt, und erläutert. Stuttgart: Literatur-Comptoir, 1841 (vol. 1, pp. 673–716).
3.3.3 Italian
Erbetta, Mario. Gli apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. Italy: Marietti, 1975–1981 (vol. 2, pp. 375–91).
Moraldi, Luigi. Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 2 vols. Classici delle religioni, Sezione quarta, La religione cattolica 24. Turin: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 1971 (vol. 2, pp. 1577–1603).
3.3 General Works
Lifshitz, Felice. Religious Women in Early Carolingian Francia. A Study of Manuscript Transmission and Monastic Culture. New York: Fordham University Press, 2014 (pp. 42, 44).
Otero, Aurelio de Santos. “Later Acts of the Apostles.” Pages 426–82 in New Testament Apocrypha. Vol. 2: Writings Related to the Apostles, Apocalypses and Related Subjects. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McLachlan Wilson. 6th ed. 2 vols. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1992 (see p. 455).
Rose, Els. “Provinciae et civitates ecclesiis plenae. Transformation of the civitates Indorum in the Apocryphal Acts and the Liturgical Commemoration of the Apostle Thomas.” Pages 103–22 in Sanctifying Texts, Transforming Rituals: Encounters in Liturgical Studies. Edited by Paul van Geest, Marcel Poorthuis, and Els Rose. Brill’s Studies in Catholic Theology 5. Leiden: Brill, 2017 (see pp. 105–107).
__________. “Thomas Peregrinus. The Apostle as Stranger in the Latin Apocryphal Acts of Thomas.” Apocrypha 27 (2016): 161–75.
Zelzer, Klaus. “Zu den lateinischen Fassungen der Thomasakten.” Wiener Studien 84 (1971): 161–79; 85 (1972): 185–212.
__________. “Zu Datierung und Verfasserfrage der lateinischen Thomasakten.” Studia Patristica 13 (1975): 190–94.