Testamentum Domini Nostri in Galilaea
Standard abbreviation: Test. Lord Gal.
Other titles: Testament in Galilee of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Clavis numbers: ECCA 266
Category: Revelatory Dialogues
Related literature: Epistle of the Apostles
Compiled by Tony Burke (York University)
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Testament of Our Lord in Galilee.” Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/testament-of-our-lord-in-galilee/.
Created September 2025.
1. SUMMARY
Test. Lord Gal. forms the opening chapters of the Ethiopic version of the Epistle of the Apostles. It features a post-resurrection discourse set in Galilee. Jesus responds to the apostles’ request to reveal what is coming to the world. He says that sinners, who do not believe and who persecute believers, will be sent to Gehenna. There will be signs and wonders in heaven and on earth but they will be manifest to later generations of Christians. A sound of a trumpet will come from heaven and cataclysms and plagues will commence; so many will die that funerals will cease. Jesus tells the apostles to announce this to Israel and the gentiles so that might they might escape what is to come.
Jesus continues to describe coming tribulations. He says that the angels will take away the fruits, the rivers, the deeps, and the trees, and locusts and other insects will consume people. Then Satan will oppress the four corners of the world. A number of cities are listed who will experience specific tribulations (e.g., Pontus and Bythinia, their youth will fall by the sword). After this, a false Christ will come, described as: “his head is like a flame of fire, his right eye is bloodshot and his left is dead, both the pupils of his eyes are white in his eyelids, his lower lip is enlarged, his feet are deformed, and his fingers and the joints of his feet are twisted.”
In time, God will appear to his beloved with a great sign that only they can see. Particularly praised are those who deny the wealth of the world. In discussing punishment of the wicked, Jesus highlights those “who think that I desire sacrifices and drink offerings of animals, and who pour out blood in my name as an offering for their sins.” This is idolatry which is condemned by the prophets. Bishops and priests are singled out also for leading people astray in pursuit of their own pleasure.
Finally, Jesus delivers another prediction of the persecution of the righteous but God will cast the wicked into the fire. Then all creation will enter the fire and the heavens will be rolled up. All will be judged and the righteous will be given “what eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and they shall rejoice in my kingdom.”
Named Historical Figures and Characters: antichrist, Isaiah, Satan.
Geographical Locations: Babylon, Bythinia, Cappadocia, Cilicia, Galilee, Gehenna, Judah, Lycaonia, Pamphylia, Phoenicia, Phrygia, Pisidia, Pontus, Syria.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Ethiopic
Listed according to the sigla in Hills (2009); folios of Test. Lord Gal. are not separated from Ep. Apos.
Family 1:
A Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 51, fols. 113v–130v (15th/16th cent.)
B Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 90, pp. 100–101 (16th cent.) ~ Gallica
C Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 199, pp. 199–201 (17/18th cent.) ~ Gallica
K London, British Library, Or. 362/Wright no. 362, pp. 275–277 (18th cent.)
N Ambāssal (Wallo), Monastery of Hayq Estifānos, EMML 1945, fols. 38r–54r (18th cent.); ~ HMML; Macomber
O Genner Agar, Monastery of Dabra Bagge, EMML 2358 (16th cent.) ~ HMML; Macomber
T Tānāsee, Kebran Gabriel Monastery, 35, fols. 35r–46r (18th cent.)
Family 2:
L London, British Library, Or. 793/Wright no. 361, pp. 270–275 (18th cent.)
M Addis Ababa, Church of St. Gabriel, EMML 370 , fols. 119r–127v (19th/20th cent.) ~ HMML; Macomber
P EMML 6925 (Hills says 6925) (17/18th cent.) ~ HMML; uncataloged
Q EMML 7021 (19th cent.) ~ uncataloged
R EMML 7204 (18th cent.) ~ uncataloged
S Stuttgart, Landesbibliothek, Or. fol. 49 (15/16th cent.)
V Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cerulli et. 151, p. 108 (20th cent.)
Unassigned:
Tigray, Gunda Gunde Monastery, GG-072, fols. 27r–41r (15th cent.)
Guerrier, Louis, (with Sylvain Grébaut). “Le Testament en Galilée de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ.” PO 9 (1913): 143–232. Repr. Turnhout: Brepols, 1982 (editio princeps with French translation based on K with readings noted for A, B, C, and L, pp. 177–87).
Guerrier, Louis. “Un ‘Testament de Notre-Seigneur et Sauveur Jésus-Christ’ en Galilée.” Revue de l’Orient Chrétien 12 (1907): 1–8 (announcement of discovery of text in A and L).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Watson, Francis. An Apostolic Gospel: The Epistula Apostolorum in Literary Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020 (translation drawing on ABCEGKLS, pp. 267–77).
3.2.2 French
Guerrier, Louis, (with Sylvain Grébaut). “Le Testament en Galilée de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ.” PO 9 (1913): 143–232. Repr. Turnhout: Brepols, 1982 (editio princeps with French translation based on K with readings noted for A, B, C, and L, pp. 177–87).
Pérès, Jacques-Noël. L’Épître des Apôtres et le testament de notre sauveur Jésus-Christ: Présentation et traduction de l’éthiopien. Turnhout: Brepols, 1994 (translation of Guerrier’s edition, pp. 113–24).
3.2.3 German
Schmidt, Carl (with Isaak Wajnberg). Gespräche Jesu mit seinen Jüngern nach der Auferstehung: Ein katholisch-apostolisches Sendschreiben des 2. Jahrhunderts. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1919. Repr. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1967 (German translation, pp. 48*–66*).
3.2.4 Italian
Erbetta, Mario. Gli apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. Italy: Marietti, 1975–1981 (vol. 3, pp. 37–41).
3.3 General Works
Abraha, Tedros and Daniel Assefa. “Apocryphal Gospels in the Ethiopic Tradition.” Pages 639–43 in Jesus in apokryphen Evangelienüberlieferungen. Edited by Jörg Frey and Jens Schröter. WUNT 254. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010.
Baumstark, Anton. “Hippolytos und die außerkanonische Evangelienquelle des äthiopischen Galiläa-Testaments.” ZNW 15 (1914): 332–35.
Hammerschmidt, Ernst. “Das pseudo-apostolische Schrifttum in äthiopischer Überlieferung.” JSJ 9 (1964): 114–21.
James, M. R. The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament: Translation of Early Documents. New York: Macmillan, 1920 (pp. 57–58).
Pérès, Jacques-Noël, ed. and trans. L’Épître des Apôtres. Apocryphes: Collection de poche de l’AELAC 5. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1994 (pp. 28–30).
