Praedicatio Iacobi
Standard abbreviation: Pre. Jas.
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 115; CANT 276.1
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Martyrdom of James, Brother of the Lord
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Preaching of James, Brother of the Lord.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/preaching-of-james-brother-of-the-lord/
Created November 2020. Current as of January 2024.
1. SUMMARY
The story begins with the apostles and Jesus assembled at the Mount of Olives, casting lots for their evangelizing missions. James is assigned Jerusalem and its districts. He tells Jesus that he is concerned that the Jews will not listen to him and asks to be sent to the Gentiles like the other apostles. Jesus appoints Peter to help James and tells him that he must become bishop of Jerusalem. Jesus departs and at Peter’s request, the apostles accompany James as far as Jerusalem. James attracts crowds with his preaching, which worries the Jewish authorities who seek to kill him but are prevented by the crowds. The apostle departs the city to visit the villages. Along the way he meets an old man, who agrees to lodge James in his home for the night. As they walk to the old man’s home, they encounter a man possessed by a demon. James casts the demon out of the man. The apostle’s companion is astonished and gathers his people to his home to listen to James preach. Many people are baptized and others come to the house to be healed by him. James appoints a presbyter and deacons for the village and appoints the old man as bishop. He then moves on to other villages before returning to Jerusalem.
Named historical figures and characters: Holy Spirit, James (the Righteous), Jesus Christ, Peter (apostle), Satan.
Geographical locations: Jerusalem, Mount of Olives.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Arabic (BHO 399)
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. 240r–246v (19th cent.)
Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, Or. 1067 (Tischendorf 32) (15th cent.)
Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, arab. 539, fols. 196v–197r (12th cent.)
Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, arab. O (12th/13th cent.) ~ unconfirmed
Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodl. Ar. 541 (Nicoll 49), fols. 77v–78v (18th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 81, fols. 161r–163r (16th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 4770, fols. 326r–329r (19th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Borg. ar. 223 (1729)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 500, fols. 176v–179r (15th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 171, fols. 67v–69r (17th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 694, fols. 146v–148v (14th cent.)
Wadi El-Natrun, Monastery of the Syrians (Dayr al-Suryān), no shelf number, fols. 142r–144r (14th cent.)
3.1.1.1 Garšūnī Script
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 40, fols. 197r–199r (ca. 1750)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, syr. 232, fols. 301v–302r (17th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 124, fols. 175v–177r (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 unidentified Deir al-Surian MS, pp. 120–22).
3.1.2 Coptic
3.1.2.1 Sahidic (CPC 0590; PAThs entry; see individual links for editions)
MONB.QY, pp. ?–? (10th 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 Preaching of James (BHO 400)
London, British Library, Or. 678, fols. 29r–30v (15th cent.)
London, British Library, Or. 683, fols. 114r–115r (17th cent.)
London, British Library, Or. 685, fols. 30r–31v (18th cent.)
Manchester, John Rylands University Library, Eth. 6, fols. 26r–28v (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. 73–76).
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 Pre. 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 version based on British Library, Or. 678 and 683, vol. 2, pp. 78–81).
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. 140–42).
Malan, Solomon C. The Conflicts of the Holy Apostles: An Apocryphal Book of the Early Eastern Churches. London: Nutt, 1871 (translation of the Ethiopic version based on Rylands Eth. 6, pp. 15–18).
3.3 General Works
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).
Pratscher, Whilhelm. Der Herrenbruder Jakobus und die Jakobustradition. FRLANT 139. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1987.