Preaching of Bartholomew

Praedicatio Bartholomaei

Standard abbreviation: Pre. Bart.

Other titles: Preaching of Bartholomew and Peter in the Oasis, Preaching of St. Bartholomew in the Oasis

Clavis numbers: ECCA 316; CANT 261

Category: Apocryphal Acts

Related literature: Martyrdom of Bartholomew

Compiled by Tony Burke, York University

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

Created October 2020. Current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

Pre. Bart. begins with the apostles gathered for the Great Commission. The lot is drawn for Bartholomew to go to the country of the Oasis (possibly Behnessa). Worried because he has never been there before and does not know their language, Bartholomew asks Peter to accompany him. Peter responds that he has been commanded by the Lord to bring each of the apostles to their appointed city.

Peter and Bartholomew travel through the desert and come upon a rich man with his caravan of slaves and camels. Peter asks the rich man to bring them to the city. When he learns that Peter is a follower of Jesus, the man tells him that he will not be allowed to enter the city because they have heard that the apostles lead people astray and separate women from their husbands; this is based on the teaching that a man cannot see God unless he lives a life of purity. Other apostles had come with the same message to the city of the rich man’s friend and the friend’s wife had forsaken him.

Bartholomew suggests to Peter that they disguise themselves and then come back to the rich man and tell him that Peter wishes to go to the city to sell his slave, Bartholomew. The rich man buys Bartholomew for 30 staters, but Peter tells him to give the money to a needy person. Peter departs and the caravan moves on toward the city. After some time, they stray from the path and some of the camels die of thirst. The rich man thinks Bartholomew might be a curse. Bartholomew prays “in his heart” (so that his identity is not revealed) and the camels are restored to life. The men are astonished but do not know how the miracle was accomplished.

The caravan reaches the city where they encounter a blind man at the gate. The Holy Spirit descends on him and he calls out to Bartholomew, the disciple of Jesus, to heal him. The rich man asks Bartholomew if he a Christian but the apostle tells him that he will not say until he has shown him the wonders he will accomplish in the city. To the blind man, Bartholomew says that he who commanded him to speak will give him sight; the blind man is healed and the men of the caravan are astonished. Bartholomew is appointed manager of the rich man’s vineyard. For forty days he works the vines and then teaches in the city at night, though without success. He prays for a miracle as a demonstration for the people and tells the blind man to bring the city’s magistrates and others to the vineyard. There Bartholomew places three roots on canes and immediately they bear fruit.

While gathering more canes for Bartholomew, the rich man is bitten by a snake and dies. The apostle prays for the serpent to return and take the poison from the man’s body. Cured, the man rises and declares himself a believer of Barthomolew’s god. He destroys the vineyard and builds a church. Then the apostle gathers the people of the city, baptizes them, and performs a Eucharist liturgy. The rich man is ordained a presbyter, and Bartholomew appoints deacons. He stays with them for three months, teaching and healing the sick, and then departs for Nindos (Arabic: Andinûs; Eth: Naidas).

Named historical figures and characters: Bartholomew (apostle), Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Peter (apostle), Satan.

Geographical locations: Behnessa, Country of the Oasis, Nindos (Naidas/Andinûs).

2. RESOURCES

2.1 Online Resources

“Bartholomew the Apostle.” Wikipedia.

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Arabic (BHO 152)

3.1.1.1 Arabic Script

Beirut, Bibliothèque Orientale de l’Université Saint Joseph, 625, pp. 216–223 (17th cent.)

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. 227^r–232^r (19th cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Museum, 60, fols. 162^r–171^r (19th cent.)

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Christ. Arab. 84, fols. 15^r–19^v (ca. 1780) ~ pagination includes Martyrdom of Bartholomew)

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Christ Arab. 87b, fols. 26^r–33^r (ca. 1600 and 1700) ~ pagination includes Martyrdom of Bartholomew)

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Magl. III 29, fols. 116^r–124^r (ante 1664)

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

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, arab. 405, fols. 140^v–148^r (1334/1335)

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 406, fols. 148^r–155^v ( (1258/1259) ~ LOC

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 539, fols. 120^v–126^v (12th cent.)

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodl. Ar. 541 (Nicoll 49), fols. 45^r–48^r (18th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 81, fols. 78^v–86^r (16th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 4770, fols. 205^r–214^r (19th cent.)

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

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 500, fols. 97^r–105^r (15th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 171, fols. 27^r–31^v (17th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 536, fols. 55^r–64^r (15th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 694 (14th cent.)

Wadi El-Natrun, Monastery of the Syrians (Dayr al-Suryān), no shelf number, fols. 80^r–86^r (14th cent.)

3.1.1.2 Garšūnī Script

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 40, fols. 76^v–84^v (ca. 1750)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, syr. 232, fols. 261^v–266^r (17th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 124, fols. 96^v–105^r (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 (discussion and manuscript listing pp. 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. 58–64).

3.1.2 Coptic (CPC 0574; PAThs entry)

3.1.2.1 Bohairic

CLM 2879, pp. 421–428 (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. 43–45).

3.1.2.2 Fayyūmic (BHO 155)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Φ. 920 №№ 46–48 (olim. Cod. Copt. Tischendorfianus VI) fols. 1^r–1^v (10th cent.) (=CLM 2880)

Lemm, Oscar von. “Koptische apokryphe Apostelacten.” Bulletin de l’Académie impériale des sciences de St.-Pétersbourg, ser. 1 (33).4 (1890): 509–81 (edition and translation of CLM 2880, pp. 513–19).

3.1.2.3 Sahidic (see individual manuscript links for editions)

MONB.DM, pp. 77–80 (10th–12th cent.)

MONB.MS, pp. 66–70 (10th–12th cent.)

CLM 1245, pp. 109–110, 113–114 (10th–12th cent.)

3.1.3 Copto-Arabic Synaxarion

The Copto-Arabic Synaxarion includes some details from the text for August 29.

Basset, René. “Le Synaxaire arabe jacobite: Mois de Tout et de Babeh.” Patrologia orientalis 1 (1904): 224–545 (pp. 224–26).

3.1.4 Ethiopic

3.1.4.1 Preaching of Bartholomew (BHO 153)

A Karan (Eritrea), Monstery of Abbā (or Abuna) Sayfa Mikā’ēl, EMML 1482, fols. 44^r–48^r (15th cent.) ~ catalog

B Ambāssal (Wallo), Monastery of Hayq Estifānos, EMML 1767, fols. 30^r–38^r (13th cent.) ~ catalog

C Ambāssal (Wallo), Monastery of Hayq Estifānos, EMML 1825, fols. 21^r–27^r (14th/15th cent.) ~ catalog

F EMML 6839, fols. 29^r–35^r (14th cent.) ~ pagination includes Martyrdom of Bartholomew)

G EMML 7604, fols. 129^r–137^v (14th cent.) ~ pagination includes Martyrdom of Bartholomew)

H Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éth. 52, fols. 35^r–42^r (14th cent.) ~ Gallica

J Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 58, fols. 20^r–25^r (15t/16th cent.) ~ Gallica

K Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 64, fols. 25^r–30^v (16th cent.)

L London, British Library, Or. 678, fols. 33^v–38^r (15th cent.) (=Budge A)

M London, British Library, Or. 683, fols. 132^r–136^v (17th cent.) (=Budge B)

T Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Tānāsee 173 (Kebrān 62), fols. 31^v–42^v (14th/15th cent.)

W Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Magl. III 4, fols. 1^v–17^v (17th cent.) ~ pagination includes Martyrdom of Bartholomew)

London, British Library, Or. 685, fols. 47^r–51^r(18th cent.)

Manchester, John Rylands University Library, Eth. 6, fols. 33^r–39^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 Ethiopic manuscripts of the 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. 83–92).

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).

3.1.4.2 Ethiopian Synaxarion (summary for 1 Meskerem)

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. 1–4).

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, pp. 90–103).

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, pp. 69–75).

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. 29–39).

3.2.2 French

Bausi, Alessandro. “Prédication de Barthélemy dans la ville de l’Oasis et Martyre de Actes de Barthélemy.” Pages 903–32 in Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Vol. 2. Edited by Pierre Geoltrain and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 443. Paris: Gallimard, 2005 (translation based on Ethiopic text manuscripts A–M, pp. 881–93).

3.2.3 German

__________. “Koptische Miszellen LXVIII–LXXII.” Bulletin de l’Académie impériale des sciences de St.-Pétersbourg 4, ser. 6 (1910): 61–86 (edition and German translation of Paris, Copte 129¹⁸, fol. 166 [CLM 1245], pp. 81–82 and discussion, pp. 83–84).

3.3 General Works

Klauck, Hans-Josef. The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: An Introduction. Translated by Brian McNeil; Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2008 (pp. 243–44).

Lipsius, Richard A. Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden. 2 vols. in 3 parts. Braunschweig, 1883–1890 (see vol. 2.2:54–76).

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. 451–52).