On the Priesthood of Jesus

De sacerdotio Christi

Standard abbreviation: Priest. Jes.

Other titles: Confession of Theodosius, Apology of Theodosius

Clavis numbers: ECCA 995; CANT 54

Category: Infancy Gospels

Related literature: Michael Glycas, Quaest. 54 (S. Eustratiades, ed. Michaèl tou Glykas, Eis tas aporias tès Theias Graphès kephalia [Μιχαὴλ τοῦ Γλυκᾶ. Εἰς τὰς ἀπορίας τῆς Θείας Γραφῆς κεφάλαια] [Alexandria, 1912], 2. 92-107); John of Euboea, In conceptionem Deiparae 18 (PG 96:1489-92)

Compiled by: William Adler ([email protected]).

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Adler, William. “On the Priesthood of Jesus.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/on-the-priesthood-of-jesus/.

Posted January, 2016. Current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

On the Priesthood of Jesus is an example of an embedded apocryphon—meaning, the text comes with a framing story, in this case a dispute between Jews and Christians in the reign of the emperor Justinian I (527-565) during which an account is brought forward that is said to have come from an old codex in Tiberias saved from the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. It is unlikely that this old account actually existed apart from the larger work. But it reveals that, early in the career of Jesus, a position became vacant in the 22-member priesthood. Jesus is put forward as a candidate but the priests must establish that he is a descendant of one of the priestly families. Since Joseph is deceased, they summon his mother, who reveals that Joseph was not Jesus’ earthly father but Jesus is still a suitable candidate because she is descended from the families of Aaron and Judah. As proof of her claim, the priests summon midwives to see if she is still a virgin. Her post partum virginity is established and Jesus is considered worthy of the priesthood. This makes it possible for Jesus to be the priestly messiah mentioned in Psalm 110:4 and provides background to the episode in Luke 4:16–22 where Jesus preaches in the synagogue.

Named historical figures and characters: Aaron, David (king), Gabriel (angel), Holy Spirit, Isaiah (prophet), Jacob (patriarch), Jesus Christ, Joseph (of Nazareth), Judah (patriarch), Justinian (emperor), Levi (patriarch), Luke (evangelist), Mary (Virgin), Melchizedek, Philip (money dealer), Solomon (king), Theodosius (teacher), Uriah.

Geographical locations: Israel, Jerusalem, Judea, Nazareth, temple (Jerusalem), Tiberias.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Arabic (related to the long Greek recension).

Evetts, Basil Thomas Alfred, ed. A. History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria. PO 1.2. Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1948, p. 120–34 (the prologue describes itself as a translation from Coptic.)

3.1.2 Georgian (related to the long Greek recension).

Qubaneišhvili, Solomon Ivlianes-dze, ed. Ẓveli k’art’uli literaturis krestomathia. Tbilisi, 1946 (pp. 20–26).

3.1.3 Greek (BHG 810–812)

A. Long recension (=GrL):

L  Mount Athos, M. Megistes Lavras, Γ 37 (Eustratiades 277), fols. 176^v–187^r (14th cent.) ~ Pinakes

T  Turin, Biblioteca Nazionale, gr. 185, fols. 289^r–294^r (14th cent.)

V  Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 687, fols. 245^r–259^r (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes

Ziffer, Giorgio. “Una versione greca inedita del De Sacerdotio Christi.” Pages 141–73 in Studi per Riccardo Ribuoli. Scritti di filologia, musicologia, storia. Edited by Franco Piperno. Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1986 (edition and Italian translation of GrL based on T and V, pp. 141–73).

B. Suda entry (BHG 811):

Adler, Ada, ed. Suidae Lexicon, s.v. Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ θεὸς ἡμῶν. Leipzig: Teubner, 1933 (vol. 2, pp. 620–25).

Excerpts of the Suda entry:

London, British Library, Harley 5556, fols. 25^r–28^v (1714)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1164, fols. 349^r–354^r (15th/16th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1409, fols. 141^v–144^r (14th cent.) ~ BNF

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Suppl. gr. 64, fols. 1^r–5^v (15th–17th cent.) ~ BNF

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Suppl. gr. 78, fols. 196^v–200^r (1714)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Suppl. gr. 689, fols. 113^v–118^r (12th–18th cent.) ~ BNF

Vassiliev includes readings from the following witnesses in the notes to his Suda text:

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Barberini 344 (olim III, 63), fols. 239–243 (1628)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. gr. 364, fols. 164^v–166^r (15th cent.) ~ a very short text without known parallel

A short recension similar to the Suda entry (BHG 812):

Jerusalem, Patriarchikē bibliothēkē, Hagios Saba 259, fols. 78^r–83^v (11th cent.)

London, British Library, Add. 34060, fols. 557^v–560^r ( (15th cent.) ~ BL

Moscow, Russian State Library, gr. 443, fols. 85^r–88^r (12th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 987, fols. 48^r–54^v (16th cent.) ~ BNF

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1315, fols. 59^v–69^r (15th/16th cent.) ~ BNF

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, theol. gr. 307,  fols. 77^v–80^r (1290–1310)

Vassiliev, Athanasius, ed. “Quomodo Iesus Christus sacerdos factus sit.” Pages xxv–xxvii and 58–72 in Anecdota graeco-byzantina, vol. 1. Moscow: Imperial University, 1893 (edition of the Moscow manuscript in parallel with the Suda entry, pp. 60–72).

C. Short recension (=GrS) (BHG 810):

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ott. gr. 408, fols. 170^r–172^v (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes

Ziffer, Giorgio. “‘La Confessione di Teodosio’ nella sua tradizione orientale.” MA thesis, Rome: La Sapienza, Facolta di lettere e filosofia, 1985 (contains an edition of the short recension).

Vassiliev, Athanasius, ed. “Quomodo Iesus Christus sacerdos factus sit.” Pages xxv–xxvii and 58–72 in Anecdota graeco-byzantina, vol. 1. Moscow: Imperial University, 1893 (edition of Vatican, Ott. gr. 408, pp. 58–60).

Vassiliev (pp. xxvi–xxvii) lists the following additional, unedited witnesses:

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 3437

Two unidentified manuscripts from Vienna mentioned by Johann Albert Fabricius (Codex apocryphus Novi Testamenti. 2 vols. Hamburg: Benjamin Schiller, 1703, 1:372).

Additional unassigned manuscripts:

Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut. 6.18, fols. 14^v–15^r (13th cent.) ~ a very short text without known parallel

Paphos, Monē Panagias tou Kukkou, 25, fols. 151^v–155^r (1659) ~ Pinakes

Patmos, Monē tou Hagiou Iōannou tou Theologou, 46, fols. 73^v–74^r (10th/11th cent.)

Thessaloniki, Panepistēmion, Spoudastērion Philologikēs Scholēs, 44, fols. 299^r–303^r (1635) ~ Pinakes

Unassigned manuscripts listed by Ziffer:

Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 3 (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes

Escorial, Real Biblioteca, Ω. IV. 30 (Andrés 582), fols. 24^v, 26^v, 7–9 (14th cent.)

Jerusalem, Patriarchikē bibliothēkē, Hagios Saba 281, fols. 88^r–95^r (13th cent.) ~ Pinakes; Library of Congress

London, British Library, Add. 25881, fols. 260–266, 380–386 (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes

Mount Sinia, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, gr. 2125, fols. 58^r–63^r (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes; Library of Congress

Naples, Biblioteca nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III, II A 19, fols. 101^r–106^v (15th cent.)

Ohrid, Naroden Muzej, 18 (Mošin 82) (13th/14th cent.) ~ Pinakes

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 395, fols. 122^r–126^v (15th/16th cent.) ~ Neophytus (BNF)

Turin, Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria, gr. 200

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1190, fols. 427^r–429^v (16th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1951, fols. 27^r–29^r (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes; BAV

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 952, fols. 128^r–133^r (15th cent.) ~ Pinakes; DigiVatLib

Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, gr. 498 (coll. 432), fols. 282^v–288^r (14th cent.) ~ Pinakes

Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, gr. III. 12, fols. 203^v–204^v (15th cent.)

Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, gr. VII. 18, fols. 229^r–231^v (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes

Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, gr. VII. 33 (coll. 1367), fols. 72^r–78^v (15th cent.) ~ Pinakes

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, hist. gr. 63,  fols. 65^v–68^v (1319) ~ Pinakes

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, theol. gr. 199,  fols. 206^r–209^v (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes

3.1.4 Latin (translation of the Suda entry)

De Keyser, Jeroen. “Early Modern Latin Translations of the Apocryphal ‘De Sacerdotio Christi.’” Lias: Journal of Early Modern Intellectual Culture and its Sources, 40.1(2013): 29–82 (includes the Suda lemma, six editions of Latin translations of the Suda text, and an inventory of manuscript witnesses).

3.1.5 Slavonic (two versions related to the shorter Greek recension).

Slav I:

Moscow, Russian State Library, P. I. Sevast’janov 37 (1468), fol. 124 (15th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 7)

Slav II (from John of Euboea; numerous additional manuscripts not listed):

St. Petersurg, National Library of Russia, Soloveckij Monastery, 637 (804), fols. 414^v–415 (15th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 3)

Moscow, State Historical Museum, Uspenskij, 784 (986), fols. 210^r–210^v (16th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 5)

Slav III (from Jeremiah, Historia de ligno crucis)

Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, 632, fols. 172–174 (14th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 1)

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin–Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Codex Wuk 48, fols. 89–91 (14th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 2)

Moscow, State Historical Museum, A. I. Chludov 30, fols. 49^v–60^r (14th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 6)

Moscow, Russian State Library, Troice-Segieva Lavra 734 (1914), fol. 35 (1747) (=de Santos Otero 8)

Sofia, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 41, fols. 290–292v (15th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 10)

Vrbnick, Ostavina Petriš – Župni ured, Petrisov Zbornik, Codex glagoliticus a. 1468, fols. 215^v–224 (=de Santos Otero 11)

Slav IV (abridged version of Suda entry)

Moscow, Russian State Library, Troice-Segieva Lavra 663 (405), fol. 83^v (not dated) (=de Santos Otero 9)

St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Soloveckij Monastery, 636 (811), fols. 223–226 (16th/17th cent.) (=de Santos Otero 4)

Jagić, V. “Novi prilozi za literaturu biblijskih apokrifa.” Starine 5 (1873): 92–93 (edition of Codex Wuk 48).

_________. “Prilozi k historiji knjizevnosti naroda hrvatskoga i srbskoga.” In Arkiv za povjestnicu jugoslavensku, knj. IX. Zagreb, 1868 (edition of Vrbnik 1468, pp. 92–97).

Sokolov, M. Materialy i zametki . . . vypusk pervyj. Moscow, 1888 (edition of Belgrade, Narodna Biblioteka, 632, pp. 102–104).

Santos Otero, Aurelio de. Die handscriftliche Überlieferung der altslavischen Apokryphen. 2 vols. PTS 20 and 23. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1977 (discussion of the Slavonic tradition, vol. 2, pp. 152–55).

Thomson, Francis J. Review of Aurelio de Santos Otero, Die handscriftliche Überlieferung der altslavischen Apokryphen, vol. 2. Slavonic and East European Review 63.1 [1985]: 73–98 at 88 (with corrections to de Santos Otero).

Tichonravov, Nikolai S. Pamjatniki otrečennoj russkoj literatury. 2 vols. Moscow: Obščestv. Pol’za, 1863 (Editions of the Moscow manuscripts of Slav I, pp. 164–71; Slav II, pp. 172–73).

Ziffer, Giorgio. “‘La Confessione di Teodosio’ nella sua tradizione orientale.” MA thesis, Rome: La Sapienza, Facolta di lettere e filosofia, 1985 (contains a re-edition of the Tichonravov manuscripts with Italian translation).

3.1.6 Anglo-Norman (translation of the Suda entry)

Dean, Ruth J. “An Anglo-Norman Version of Grosseteste: Part of his Suidas and Testamenta XII patriarcharum.” PMLA 51 (1936): 607–20.

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Adler, William. “On the Priesthood of Jesus.” Pages 69–108 in vol. 1 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016 (translations of the longer Greek recension, the Suda entry alongside Vassiliev’s edition of the similar text in the Moscow manuscript, Vassiliev’s other manuscript from the Vatican, and a précis of the story by John of Euboea).

3.2.2 French

Migne, J.-P., ed. Dictionnaire des apocryphes; ou, Collection de tous les livres apocryphes relatifs à l’Ancien et au Nouveau Testament. 2 vols. Paris, 1856–1858 (French translation of the Suda text, vol. 2. cols. 383–87).

Nuvolone, Flavio G., trans. “Sur le sacerdoce du Christ ou Confession de Théodose.” Pages 77–99 in Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Edited by Pierre Geoltrain and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Paris: Éditions Gallimard, 2005 (translation of the longer Greek recension).

3.3 General Works

Adler, William. “The Suda and the Priesthood of Jesus.” Pages 1–12 in R. A. Argall, B. A. Bow, and R. A. Werline, eds. For a Later Generation: The Transformation of Tradition in Israel, Early Judaism, and Early Christianity. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity, 2000.

Dagron, Gilbert. “Jésus prêtre du judaïsme: le demi-succès d’une légende.” Pages 10–24 in Leimôn. Studies Presented to Lennart Rydén on His Sixty-Fifth Birthday. Edited by J. O. Rosenqvist. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Studia Byzantina Upsaliensia 6. Uppsala, 1996 (close analysis of the Suda lemma, along with French translation of portion of the text.)

Esbroeck, Michel van. Les plus anciens homéliaires géorgiens: étude descriptive et historique, 201–2 (T. 47), 279. Publications de l’Institut Orientaliste de Louvain, 10. Louvain-la-Neuve: Université catholique de Louvain, Institut orientaliste, 1975.

Gero, Stephen. “Apocryphal Gospels: A Survey of Textual and Literary Problems.” Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.25.5: 3969–91. New York: De Gruyter, 1988 (see pp. 3979–80).

Horst, Pieter W. van der. “Jesus and the Jews according to the Suda.” ZNW 84 (2009): 268–77.

Külzer, Andreas. Disputationes graecae contra Iudaeos. Stuttgart and Leipzig: Teubner, 1999 (inventory of witnesses, and brief summary of  the story, pp. 129–34).

Mercati, Giovanni. Ultimi contributi alla storia degli umanisti. Fasc. 1:70-85. Studi e testi 90–91. Vatican: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1939 (survey of Latin translations of the work).

Nuvolone, Flavio G. “La Légende du Christ, XXIIe et dernier prêtre du temple de Jérusalem: priorité du texte long.” Pages 203–32 in Anthropos Laïkos: mélanges Alexandre Faivre à l’occasion de ses 30 ans d’enseignement. Edited by Marie-Anne Vannier, Otto Wermelinger, Gregor Wurst. Fribourg, Suisse: Éditions Universitaires, 2000.

Speyer, Wolfgang. Bücherfunde in der Glaubenswerbung der Antike. Hypomnemata, Heft 24. Göttingen, Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1970. (pp. 138–39)

Thilo, Ioannis Caroli. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti. Lipsius: Vogel, 1832 (dated, but highly learned discussion of the Levitical lineage of Jesus motif in the Suda text, pp. 375–76).

Ziffer, Giorgio. “Contributo allo studio della tradizione slava della ‘Confessione di Teodosio’.” OCP 54 (1988): 331–51