The Book of the Bee (chapters 43. Of the Passover of Our Lord–60.)

The Book of the Bee

continued

Chapter 43. Of the Passover of Our Lord

1 When the time of the Passover came, He sent two of His disciples to a man with whom they were not acquainted, saying, 'When ye enter the city, behold, there will meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water; follow him, and wheresoever he entereth, say ye to the master of the house, "Our Master saith, Where is the guest-chamber, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples? and behold, he will shew you a large upper chamber made ready and prepared; there make ye ready for us.' And because at that time crowds of people were flocking thickly into Jerusalem to keep the feast of the Passover, so that all the houses of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were filled with people by reason of the great crowd which was resorting thither, our Lord, by the power of His Godhead, worked upon the master of the house to make ready a large upper chamber without his being aware for whom he was preparing it, but he thought that perhaps some great man among the nobles and grandees of the Jews was about to come to him, and that it was right to keep a room for him furnished with all things (needful); because all those who came from other places to Jerusalem were received into their houses by the people of the city, and whatsoever they required for the use of the feast of the Passover they supplied.

2 Hence the master of the house made ready that upper chamber with all things (needful), and permitted no man to enter therein, being restrained by the power of our Lord. Because a mystical thing was about to be done in it, it was not meet for Him to perform the hidden mystery when others were near. [mɒ] Mâr Basil says: 'On the eve of the Passion, after the disciples had received the body and blood of our Lord, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of His disciples; this was baptism to the apostles. They were not all made perfect, because they were not all pure, for Judas, the son of perdition, was not sanctified; and because that basin of washing was in truth baptism, as our Lord said to Simon Peter, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me," that is to say, "If I baptise thee not, thou art not able to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, every one who is not baptised by the priests, and receives not the body and blood of Christ our Lord, enters not into the kingdom of heaven.' Mâr Dâd-ishô' says in his commentary on Abbâ Isaiah: 'When our Lord at the Passover had washed the feet of His disciples, He kissed the knees of Judas, and wiped the soles of his feet with the napkin which was girt round His loins, like a common slave;

3 for everything which our Lord did, He did for our teaching.' Mâr Basil in his 'Questions' advises Christians to eat oil, drink wine, and break their fast on this evening; for in it was the old covenant finished, and the new one inaugurated; and in it was the (chosen) people stripped of holiness, and the nations were sanctified and pardoned. Although this saint permits (this), yet the other fathers do not give leave (to do) this, neither do we, nor those of our confession. [

Chapter 44. Of the Passion of Our Lord

1 Three years and three months after His baptism, Judas Iscariot the son of Simon betrayed his Lord to death. He was called Iscariot (Sēkhariōṭā) from the name of his town (Sēkhariōṭ), and he had the sixth place among the disciples before he betrayed our Lord. Our Lord was crucified at the third hour of Friday, the ninth of Nisan. Caiaphas, who condemned our Lord, is Josephus. The name of Bar-Abbā was Jesus. The name of the soldier who pierced our Lord with the spear, and spat in His face, and smote Him on His cheek, was Longinus; it was he who lay upon a sick bed for thirty-eight years, and our Lord healed him, and said to him, 'Behold, thou art healed; sin no more, lest something worse than the first befall thee.' The watchers at the grave were five, and these are their names: Issachar, Gad, Matthias, Barnabas and Simon; but others say they were fifteen, three centurions and their Roman and Jewish soldiers. Some men have a tradition that the stone which was laid upon the grave of our Lord was the stone which poured out water for the children of Israel in the wilderness. The grave in which our Redeemer was laid was prepared for Joshua the son of Nun, and was carefully guarded by the Divine will for the burial of our Lord. The purple which they put on our Lord mockingly, [ was given in a present to the Maccabees by the emperors of the Greeks;

2 and they handed it over to the priests for dressing the temple. The priests took it and brought it to Pilate, testifying and saying, 'See the purple which He prepared when He thought to become king.' The garment which the soldiers divided into four parts indicates the passibility of His body. The robe without seam at the upper end which was not rent, is the mystery of the Godhead which cannot admit suffering. As touching the blood and water which came forth from His side, John the son of Zebedee was deemed worthy to see that vivifying flow from the life-giving fountain. Mâr John Chrysostom says: 'When His side was rent by the soldiers with the spear, there came forth immediately water and blood. The water is a type of baptism, and the blood is the mystery of His precious blood, for baptism was given first, and then the cup of redemption. But in the gospel it is written, "There went forth blood and water."' As to the tree upon which our Redeemer was crucified, some have said that He was crucified upon those bars with which they carried the ark of the covenant; and others that it was upon the wood of the tree on which Abraham offered up the ram as an offering instead of Isaac. His hands were nailed upon the wood of the fig-tree of which Adam ate, and behold, we have mentioned its history with that of Moses' rod.

3 The thirty pieces of silver (zûzê) which Judas received, and for which he sold his Lord, were thirty pieces according to the weight of the sanctuary, and were equal to six hundred pieces according to the weight of our country. [ Terah made these pieces for Abraham his son; Abraham gave them to Isaac; Isaac bought a village with them; the owner of the village carried them to Pharaoh; Pharaoh sent them to Solomon the son of David for the building of his temple; and Solomon took them and placed them round about the door of the altar. When Nebuchadnezzar came and took captive the children of Israel, and went into Solomon's temple and saw that these pieces were beautiful, he took them, and brought them to Babylon with the captives of the children of Israel. There were some Persian youths there as hostages, and when Nebuchadnezzar came from Jerusalem, they sent to him everything that was meet for kings and rulers. And since gifts and presents had been sent by the Persians, he released their sons and gave them gifts and presents, among which were those pieces of silver about which we have spoken; and they carried them to their parents. When Christ was born and they saw the star, they arose and took those pieces of silver and gold and myrrh and frankincense, and set out on the journey; and they came to the neighbourhood of Edessa, and these kings fell asleep by the roadside.

4 And they arose and left the pieces behind them, and did not remember them, but forgot that anything of theirs remained behind. And certain merchants came and found them, and took these pieces, and came to the neighbourhood of Edessa, and sat down by a well of water. On that very day an angel came to the shepherds, and gave them the garment without seam at the upper end, woven throughout. And he said to them, 'Take this garment, in which is the life of mankind.' And the shepherds took the garment, and came to the well of water by the side of which were those merchants. They said to them, 'We have a garment without seam at the upper end; will ye buy it?' The merchants said to them, 'Bring it here.' When they saw the garment, they marvelled and said to the shepherds: 'We have thirty pieces of silver which are meet for kings;

5 take them and give us this garment.' When the merchants had taken the garment, and had gone into the city of Edessa, Abgar the king sent to them and said, 'Have ye anything meet for kings, that I may buy it from you?' The merchants said to him, 'We have a garment without seam at the upper end.' When the king saw the garment, he said to them, 'Whence have ye this garment?' They said to him, 'We came to a well by the gate of thy city, and we saw it in the hands of some shepherds, and we bought it from them for thirty pieces of stamped silver, which were also meet for kings like thyself.' The king sent for the shepherds, and took the pieces from them, and sent them together with the garment to Christ for the good that He had done him in healing his sickness. When Christ saw the garment and the pieces, He kept the garment by Him, but He sent the pieces to the Jewish treasury. When Judas Iscariot came to the chief priests and said to them, 'What will ye give me that I may deliver Him to you?' [: the priests arose and brought those pieces, and gave them to Judas Iscariot; and when he repented, he returned them to the Jews, and went and hanged himself. And the priests took them and bought with them a field for a burial-place for strangers.

6 earth, but the angels carried her to Paradise, and angels bore her bier. On the day of her death all the apostles were gathered together, and they prayed over her and were blessed by her. Thomas was in India, and an angel took him up and brought him, and he found the angels carrying her bier through the air; and they brought it nigh to Thomas, and he also prayed and was blessed by her. A.D. 82-3). At the Annunciation she was thirty years old, and she lived also the [thirty]-three years of the Dispensation; and after the Crucifixion she lived fifty-eight years. The years which she lived were one hundred and twenty-one.' Matthew says. Eighthly, upon the sea of Tiberias, as John says. The reason that Simon Peter did not recognise Him was because he had denied Him, and was ashamed to look upon Him; but John, because of his frank intimacy with our Lord, immediately that he saw Him, knew Him. Ninthly, when He was taken up to heaven from the Mount of Olives, as Mark and Luke say. Tenthly, to the five hundred at once, who had risen from the dead, as Paul says. After His Ascension, He appeared to Paul on the way to Damascus, when He blinded his eyes; and also to Stephen, the martyr and deacon, when he was stoned.

Chapter 46. Of the Ascension of Our Lord to Heaven

1 After our Redeemer had risen from the grave, and had gone about in the world forty days, He appeared to His disciples ten times, and ate and drank with them by the side of the Sea of Tiberias. At this point the heathen say to us, that if our Lord really ate and drank after His resurrection, there will certainly be eating and drinking after (our) resurrection; but if He did not really eat and drink, then all the actions of Christ are mere phantasms. To these we make answer, that this [ world is a world of need for food; therefore He ate and drank, that it might not be thought He was a phantom; and because many who have risen from the dead have eaten and drunk in (this) world until they departed and died, as, for example, the dead (child) whom Elisha raised, and the dead whom our Lord raised. Our Lord did not eat after His resurrection because He needed food, but only to make certain His humanity: for, behold He once remained in the desert forty days without food, and was not injured by hunger. Some say that after His resurrection our Lord ate food like unto that which the angels ate in the house of Abraham, and that the food was dissipated and consumed by the Divine Power, just as fire licks up oil without any of it entering into its substance.

2 Our Lord remained upon the earth forty days, even as He had fasted forty days, and as Elijah fasted forty days, and as Moses fasted forty days at two several times, and as the rain continued for forty days during the flood, and as God admonished the Ninevites for forty days, and as the spies remained (absent) for forty days, and as the children of Israel wandered about in the wilderness for forty years, and like the child whose fashioning in the womb is completed in forty days. After forty days, our Lord took up His disciples to the Mount of Olives, and laid His hand upon them, and blessed them, and commanded them concerning the preaching and teaching of the nations. And it came to pass that while He was blessing them, He was separated from them, and went up to heaven; and they worshipped Him. And there appeared to them angels, encouraging them and saying, 'This Jesus, who has been taken up from you to heaven, is about to come again even as ye have seen Him go up to heaven.' Then they returned to that upper chamber where they were, and stayed there ten days, until they received the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire. Simon Peter said to his fellow-disciples, 'It is right for us to put some one in the place of Judas to complete the number of twelve;' and they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

3 As concerning the manner in which our Lord entered heaven without cleaving it, some say that He went in as He did through the closed doors; and as He came forth from the virgin womb, and Mary's virginity returned to its former state; and like the sweat from the body; and as water is taken up by the roots of the olive and other trees, and reaches in the twinkling of an eye the leaves, flowers and fruits, as if through certain ducts, without holes or channels being pierced in them. Thus by an infinite and ineffable miracle our Lord entered into heaven without cleaving it. And if the bodies of us who are accustomed to drink water and wine pour out sweat without our flesh being rent or our skin pierced, how very much easier is it for the Divine Power to go in through closed doors and within the firmament of heaven without rending or cleaving it?

4 His disciples in the upper chamber, John the son of Zebedee hid a part of his portion until our Lord rose from the dead. And when our Lord appeared to His disciples and to Thomas with them, He said to Thomas, 'Hither with thy finger and lay it on My side, and be not unbelieving, but believing.' Thomas put his finger near to our Lord's side, and it rested upon the mark of the spear, and the disciples saw the blood from the marks of the spear and nails. And John took that piece of consecrated bread, and wiped up that blood with it; and the Easterns, Mâr Addai and Mâr Mârî, took that piece, and with it they sanctified this unleavened bread which has been handed down among us. The other disciples did not take any of it, because they said, 'We will consecrate for ourselves whenever we wish.' As for the oil of baptism, some say that it was part of the oil with which they anointed the kings; others say that it was part of the unguent wherewith they embalmed our Lord; and many agree with this (statement). Others again say that when John took that piece of consecrated bread of the Passover in his hand, it burst into flame and burnt in the palm of his hand, and the palm of his hand sweated, and he took that sweat and hid it for the sign of the cross of baptism. This account we have heard by ear from the mouth of a recluse and visitor, and we have not received it from Scripture. The word Pentecost is interpreted 'the completion of fifty days.'

Chapter 48. Of the Teaching of the Apostles, and of the Places of Each One of Them, and of their Deaths

1 Next we write the excellent discourse composed by Mâr Eusebius of Caesarea upon the places and families of the holy apostles. Know then that the apostles were twelve and seventy. When the apostles had received the gift of the Holy Spirit, on the day following they fasted this feast of the apostles (which we keep); but the Malkāyē (Melchites) say that the apostles fasted eight days after. Their names are as follows. Simon, the chief of the apostles, was from Bethsaida, of the tribe of Naphtali. He first preached in Antioch, and built there the first of all churches, which was in the house of Cassianus, whose son he restored to life. He remained there one year, and there the disciples were called Christians. From thence he went to Rome, where he remained for twenty-seven years; and in the three hundred and seventy-sixth year of the Greeks, the wicked Nero crucified him head downwards.

2 Andrew his brother preached in Scythia and Nicomedia and Achaia. He built a church in Byzantium, and there he died and was buried. John the son of Zebedee (Zabhdai) was also from Bethsaida, of the tribe of Zebulun. He first preached in Asia (Ephesus), and was afterwards cast into exile in the island of Patmos by Tiberius Caesar. He then went to Ephesus, and built in it a church. Three of his disciples went with him: Ignatius, who was afterwards bishop of Antioch, and who was thrown to the beasts in Rome; Polycarp, who was afterwards bishop of Smyrna, and was crowned by fire; and John, to whom he committed the priesthood and the bishopric after him. When John had lived a long time, he died and was buried at Ephesus; and John, the Ser. Gr., vol. 43, col. 393 foll.; Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclés., Paris, 1701, 4to; Lipsius, Die Apokryphen Apostelgeschichten, Braunschweig, 1884; and Brit. Mus. Add. 14,601, fol. 163 b.

3 disciple of the Evangelist, who became bishop of Ephesus, buried him; for he commanded them that no one should know the place of his burial. The graves of both of them are in Ephesus; the hidden one of the Evangelist, and the other of his disciple John, the author of the Revelation; he said that everything he had written down, he had heard from John the Evangelist. James, the brother of John, preached in his city Bethsaida, and built a church there. Herod Agrippas slew him with the sword one year after the Ascension of our Lord. He was laid in Âkâr, a city of Marmârikâ. [ Philip also was from Bethsaida, of the tribe of Asher. He preached in Phrygia, Pamphylia and Pisidia; he built a church in Pisidia, and died and was buried there. He lived twenty-seven years as an apostle. Thomas was from Jerusalem, of the tribe of Judah. He taught the Parthians, Medes and Indians; and because he baptised the daughter of the king of the Indians, he stabbed him with a spear and he died. Ḥabbân the merchant brought his body, and laid it in Edessa, the blessed city of Christ our Lord. Others say that he was buried in Maḥlûph, a city in the land of the Indians.

4 Matthew the Evangelist was from Nazareth, of the tribe of Issachar. He preached in Palestine, Tyre and Sidon, and went as far as Gabbûlâ. He died and was buried in Antioch, a city of Pisidia. Bartholomew was from Endor, of the tribe of Issachar. He preached in inner Armenia, Ardeshîr, Kêṭarbôl, Radbîn, and Prûharmân. After he had lived thirty years as an apostle, Hûrstî the king of the Armenians crucified him, and he was buried in the church which he built in Armenia. Jude, the son of James, who was surnamed Thaddaeus (Taddai), who is also Lebbaeus (Lebbai), was from Jerusalem, of the tribe of Judah. He preached in Laodicea and in Antaradus and Arwâd. He was stoned in Arwâd, and died and was buried there. Simon Zelôtes was from Galilee, of the tribe of Ephraim. He preached in Shêmêshât (Samosâta), Pârîn (Perrhê), Zeugma, Hâlâb (Aleppo), Mabbôg (Manbig), and Kenneshrîn (Kinnesrîn). He built a church in Kyrrhos, and died and was buried there.

5 James, the son of Alphaeus (Ḥalphai), was from the Jordan, of the tribe of Manasseh. He preached in Tadmor (Palmyra), Kirkêsion (Kirkisiyâ), and Callinicos (ar-Rakkah), and came to Batnân of Serûg (Sarûg), where he built a church, and died and was buried there. Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, was from the town of Sĕkharyût, of the tribe of Gad, though some say that he was of the tribe of Dan. He was like unto the serpent that acts deceitfully towards its master, because like a serpent, he dealt craftily with his Lord. Matthias, of the tribe of Reuben, came in in his stead. He preached in Hellas, and in Sicily, where he built a church, and died and was buried in it. While James the brother of our Lord was teaching the Jews in Jerusalem, they cast him down from a pinnacle of the temple; and while his life was yet in him, a fuller of cloth smote him upon the head with a club and beat it in; and afterwards they stoned him with stones.

6 John the Baptist was of the tribe of Levi. Herod the tetrarch slew him, and his body was laid in Sebastia. Ananias (Hananyâ) the disciple of the Baptist taught in Damascus and Arbĕl. He was slain by Pôl, the general of the army of Aretas, and was laid in the church which he built at Arbĕl (Irbil). 7 Paul of Tarsus was a Pharisee by sect, of the tribe of Ephraim. When he had been baptised by Ananias, he wrought many miracles, and taught great cities, and bore and suffered dangers not a few for the name of Christ. Afterwards he went to Peter at Rome. When they divided the world between them, and the heathen fell to Paul's lot, and the Jewish nation to Peter, and they had turned many to the truth of Christ, Nero commanded that they should both die a cruel death. Then Simon asked to be crucified head downwards, that he might kiss that part of the cross where the heels of his Master had been. As they were going forth to be slain, they gave the laying on of hands of the priesthood to their disciples, Peter to Mark, and Paul to Luke. When Peter had been crucified, and Paul slain, together with many of those who had become their disciples, Mark and Luke went forth by night, and brought their bodies into the city. Now Paul's head was lost among the slain, and could not be found. Some time after, when a shepherd was passing by the spot where the slain were buried, he found Paul's head, and took it upon the top of his staff, and laid it by his sheep-fold. At night he saw a fire blazing over it, and he went in (to the city) and informed the holy bishop Xystus (Sixtus) and the clergy of the church; and they all recognised that it was Paul's head.

8 Xystus said to them, 'Let us watch and pray the whole night, and let us bring out the body and lay the head at its feet; and if it joins again to its neck, it will be certain that it is Paul's.' And when they had done so, the whole body was restored, and the head was joined to its neck as if the vertebrae had never been severed; and those who saw it were amazed and glorified God. From his call to the end of his life was thirty-five years; he went about in every place for thirty-one years; for two years he was in prison at Caesarea, and for two years at Rome. He was martyred in the thirty-sixth year after the Passion of our Lord, and was laid with great honour in the magnificent royal catacombs in Rome. They celebrate every year the day of his commemoration on the twenty-ninth of the month of Tammûz.

9 Luke the physician and Evangelist was first of all a disciple of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, and was afterwards baptised by Philip in the city of Beroea. He was crowned with the sword by Hôros, the judge (or governor) of the emperor Tiberius, while he was preaching in Alexandria, and was buried there. Mark the Evangelist preached in Rome, and died and was buried there. Some say that he was the son of Simon Peter's wife, others that he was the son of Simon; and Rhoda was his sister. He was first called John, but the Apostles changed his name and called him Mark, that there might not be two Evangelists of one name. Addai was from Paneas, and he preached in Edessa and in Mesopotamia in the days of Abgar the king; and he built a church in Edessa. After Abgar died, Herod Abgar's son slew him in the fortress of Aggêl. His body was afterwards taken and carried to Rome; but some say that he was laid in Edessa.

10 Aggai his disciple was first of all a maker of silks for Abgar, and became a disciple. After Abgar's death, his son reigned, and he required of Aggai to weave silks for him; and when he consented not, saying, 'I cannot forsake teaching and preaching to return to weaving,' he smote him with a club upon his legs and brake them, and he died. Thaddaeus (Taddai) came after him at Edessa, and Herod, the son of Abgar, slew him also; he was buried at Edessa. Zacchaeus (Zaccai) the publican and the young man whom our Lord brought to life were both slain together while they were preaching in Mount Hôrôn. The Jews smote Simon the leper while he was teaching in Ramah, and he died (there). Joseph the Senator taught in Galilee and Decapolis; he was buried in his town of Ramah. Nicodemus the Pharisee, the friend of our Lord, received and honoured the Apostles in Jerusalem; and he died and was buried there.

11 Nathaniel was stoned while he was teaching in Mount Hôrôn, and died. Simon the Cyrenian was slain while he was teaching in the island of Chios. Simon the son of Cleopas became bishop of Jerusalem. When he was an old man, one hundred years of age, Irenaeus the chiliarch crucified him. Stephen the martyr was stoned with stones at Jerusalem, and his body was laid in the village of Kêphar Gamlâ. Mark, who was surnamed John, taught at Nyssa and Nazianzus. He built a church at Nazianzus, and died and was buried there. Some say that he is the Evangelist, as we have mentioned. Cephas, whom Paul mentions, taught in Baalbec, Hîms (Emesa) and Nathrôn (Batharûn). He died and was buried in Shîrâz. Barnabas taught in Italy and in Kûrâ; he died and was buried in Samos. they died, they were buried by the side of Nicodemus in Kêphar Gamlâ, where Stephen was buried. Many years after (about A. D. 415), God revealed their place of burial to one of the saints (Lucian), and they sought for the remains of the bodies by digging, and found them; and there they built a church. Foll. 187 b, 188 a. See also Migne, Biog. Chrét., ii. 73; Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., iii, p. 1047, i. 8.

12 Titus taught in Crete, and there he died and was buried. Sosthenes taught in the country of Pontus and Asia. He was thrown into the sea by the command of Nonnus the prefect. Criscus (Crescens) taught in Dalmatia; he was imprisoned in Alexandria, where he died of hunger and was buried. Justus taught in Tiberias and in Caesarea, where he died and was buried. Andronicus taught in Illyricum, where he died and was buried. The people of Zeugma slew Rufus while he was teaching in Zeugma. Patrobas taught in Chalcedon, and he died and was buried there. Hermas the shepherd taught in Antioch, and he died and was buried there. Narcissus taught in Hellas, and he died and was buried there. Asyncritus went to Beth-Hûzâyê (Khûzistân) and there he died and was buried. Aristobulus taught in Isauria, and there he died and was buried. [ Onesimus was the slave of Philemon, and he fled from him and went to Paul, while he was in prison; because of this Paul calls him 'the son whom I have begotten in my bonds.' His legs were broken in Rome.

13 Apollos the elect was burnt with fire by Sparacleus (?), the governor of Gangra. Olympas, Stachys and Stephen were imprisoned in Tarsus, and there they died in prison. Junias was captured in Samos, and there he was slain and died. Theocritus died while teaching in Ilios, and was buried there. Martalus (?) was slain while teaching the barbarians. Niger taught in Antioch, and died and was buried there. They dragged Lucius behind a horse, and thus he ended his life. While Alexander was teaching in Heracleôpolis they threw him into a pit and he died. Milus while he was teaching in Rhodes, was thrown into the sea and drowned. Silvanus and Hêrôdiôn (Rhôdiôn) were slain while they were preaching in the city of Accô. Silas taught in Sarapolis (Hierapolis?), and died and was buried there. Timothy taught in Ephesus, and died and was buried there. Manael was burnt with fire while teaching in Accô, and died.

14 The Eunuch whom Philip baptised, the officer of Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, went to Ethiopia and preached there. Afterwards, while he was preaching in the island of Parparchia (?), they strangled him with a cord. Jason and Sosipatrus were thrown to the wild beasts while they were teaching in Olmius (?). Demas taught in Thessalonica, and there he died and was buried. Omius (Hymenaeus) taught in Melitene, and there he died and was buried. They threw Thraseus into a fiery furnace, while he was teaching at Laodicea. Bistorius (Aristarchus?) taught in the island of Kô and there he died and was buried. Abrios (?) and Môtos (?) went to the country of the Ethiopians, and there they died and were buried. Levi was slain by Charmus while he was teaching in Paneas. Nicetianus (Nicetas) was sawn in two while teaching in Tiberias. While John and Theodorus were preaching in the theatre of Baalbec, they threw them to the beasts.

15 The prefect Methalius (?) slew Euchestion (?) and Simon in Byzantium. Ephraim (Aphrem) taught in Baishân, and he died and was buried there. Justus was slain at Corinth. James taught and preached in Nicomedia, and he died and was buried there. [

Chapter 49. The Names of the Apostles in Order

1 The names of the twelve. Simon Peter; Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John his brother; Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus; Labbaeus, who was surnamed Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite; Judas Iscariot, in whose stead came in Matthias. The names of the seventy. James the son of Joseph; Simon the son of Cleopas; Cleopas his father; Joses; Simon; Judah; Barnabas; Manaeus (?); Ananias, who baptised Paul; Cephas, who preached at Antioch; Joseph the senator; Nicodemus the archon; Nathaniel the chief scribe; Justus, that is Joseph, who is called Barshabbâ; Silas; Judah; John, surnamed Mark; Mnason, who received Paul; Manaël, the foster-brother of Herod; Simon called Niger; Jason, who is (mentioned) in the Acts (of the Apostles); Rufus; Alexander; Simon the Cyrenian, their father; Lucius the Cyrenian; another Judah, who is mentioned in the Acts (of the Apostles); Judah, who is called Simon; Eurion (Orion) the splay-footed; Thórus (?); Thorisus (?); Zabdon; Zakron. These are the seven who were chosen with Stephen: Philip the Evangelist, who had three daughters that used to prophesy; [ Stephen; Prochorus; Nicanor; Timon; Parmenas; Nicolaus, the Antiochian proselyte; Andronicus the Greek; Titus; Timothy.

2 These are the five who were with Peter in Rome: Hermas; Pligtâ; Patrobas; Asyncritus; Hermas. These are the six who came with Peter to Cornelius: Criscus (Crescens); Milichus; Kiriṭôn (Crito); Simon; Gaius, who received Paul; Abrazon (?); Apollos. These are the twelve who were rejected from among the seventy, as Judas Iscariot was from among the twelve, because they absolutely denied our Lord's divinity at the instigation of Cerinthus. Of these Luke said, 'They went out from us, but they were not of us;' and Paul called them 'false apostles and deceitful workers.' Simon; Levi; Bar-Ḳubbâ; Cleon; Hymenaeus; Candarus; Clithon (?); Demas; Narcissus; Slikispus (?); Thaddaeus; Mârûthâ. In their stead there came in these: Luke the physician; Apollos the elect; Ampelius; Urbanus; Stachys; Popillius (or Publius); Aristobulus; Stephen (not the Corinthian); Herodion the son of Narcissus; Olympas; Mark the Evangelist; Addai; Aggai; Mâr Mârî. It is said that each one of the twelve and of the seventy [ wrote a Gospel; but in order that there might be no contention and that the number of 'Acts' might not be multiplied, the apostles adopted a plan and chose two of the seventy, Luke and Mark, and two of the twelve, Matthew and John.

Chapter 50. Of Some Minor Matters

1 These are they who were married among the apostles: Peter, the chief of the apostles; Philip the Evangelist; Paul; Nathaniel, who is Bartholomew; Labbaeus, who is Thaddaeus, who is Judah the son of Jacob; Simon the Cananite, who is Zelotes, who is Judah the son of Simon. The child whom our Lord called and set (in the midst), and said, 'Except ye be converted, and become as children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven,' was Ignatius, who became patriarch of Antioch. He saw in a vision the angels ministering in two bands, and he ordained that (men) should minister in the church in like manner. After some time this order was broken through; and when Diodorus went with his father on an embassy to the land of Persia, and saw that they ministered in two bands, he came to Antioch his country, and re-established the custom of their ministering in two bands.

2 The children whom they brought near to our Lord, that He might lay His hand upon them and pray, were Timothy and Titus, and they were deemed worthy of the office of bishop. The names of the Maries who are mentioned in the Gospels. Mary the Virgin, the mother of our Lord; Mary the wife of Joseph; Mary the mother of Cleopas and Joseph; Mary the wife of Peter, the mother of Mark the Evangelist; and Mary the sister of Lazarus. Some say that Mary the sinner is Mary of Magdala; but others do not agree with this, and say that she was other than the Magdalene. Those who say that she was the Magdalene tell us that she built herself a tower with the wages of fornication; and those who say that she was other than the Magdalene, say that Mary Magdalene was called after the name of her town Magdala, and that she was a pure and holy woman.

Chapter 51. The Names of the Eastern Catholics, the Successors of the Apostles Addai and Mârî

1. Addai was buried in Edessa. 2. Mârî (was buried) in the convent of Kônî. 3. Abrîs, called in Greek A[m]brosius; the place of his grave is unknown; he was of the laying on of hands of Antioch. 4. Abraham was of the laying on of hands of Antioch; he was descended from the family of Jacob the son of Joseph; his grave is in Ctesiphon. 5. James, of the laying on of hands of Antioch, was also of the family of Joseph the husband of Mary; his grave is in Ctesiphon. 6. Aḥâ-dʿabû[hî] was of the laying on of hands of Antioch; his grave is in Ctesiphon. 7. Shahlûphâ was of the laying on of hands of Ctesiphon, and he was buried there. 8. Pâpâ; his grave is at Ctesiphon. 9. Simon bar Ṣabbâʿê was martyred at Shôshân. 10. Shah-dôst was buried in Ctesiphon. 11. Bar-Bé'esh-shémin was martyred and buried in Elam (Khūzistān).

12. Tumarṣa was buried in Ctesiphon. 13. Kayomā was buried in Ctesiphon; he abdicated the patriarchate, and another was put in his place, and was before him until he died. 14. Isaac was buried in Ctesiphon. 15. Aha was buried in Ctesiphon. 16. Yab-alahā was of the school of Mar 'Abdā; he was buried in Ctesiphon. 17. Ma'na dwelt in Persia and was buried there. 18. Dād-ishō' was buried in Hérṭa. In his days the strife between Nestorius and Cyril (of Alexandria) took place. 19. Baboi was martyred and buried in Hertā. 20. AkaK (Acacius) was of the family of Baboi the Catholicus; he was buried in al-Madān. 21. Babai took a wife, and was buried at Ctesiphon. 22. Shila took a wife, and was buried in his convent beside Awana. 23. Paul was buried in Ctesiphon. 24. Mar(i)-aba was buried in Hertā, and was a martyr without bloodshed. 25. Ezekiel was buried in Hertā.

26. Ishó'-yab of Arzón was buried in Hérṭa. [ Sabr-ishó' was buried in Hérṭa. 28. Gregory was buried in 29. Ishó'-yab of Gédalā was buried in 30. Már[i]-emmeh was buried in Kétimiyá (?). 31. Ishó'-yab of Adiabene was buried in Béth-'Abé. 32. George was buried in… 33. John was buried in… 34. Hénán-ishó' was buried in… 35. Sèlibá-zèkhá was buried in Ctesiphon. 36. Pethiôn was buried in Ctesiphon. 37. Már[i]-abá was buried in al-Madáin. 38. Jacob was buried in… 39. Hénán-ishó' was buried in… 40. Timothy was buried in his own convent. 41. Ishó' (Joshua) the son of Nón (Nun) was buried in the convent of Timothy. 42. George was buried in the same convent. 43. Sabr-ishó' 3 was buried in the same convent. 62. 'Abd-ishô' was buried in the Greek Palace. 63. Makkikhâ was buried in the Greek Palace. 64. Elijah (Eliyâ) was buried in the Greek Palace. 65. Bar-ṣaumâ was buried in the Greek Palace. 66. 'Abd-ishô' was buried… 67. Ishô'-yab was buried in the church of Mâr Sabr-ishô'. 68. Elijah (Eliyâ) was buried in the church of Mâr Sabr-ishô'. 69. Yab-alâhâ was buried in the church of Mârt[i] Maryam (my lady Mary). [ Sabr-ishô' was buried in the church of Mârt[i] Maryam. 71. Sabr-ishô' was buried… 72. [Mâr Makkikhâ was buried… 73. Mâr Denḥâ was buried… 74. Mâr Yab-alâhâ the Turk was buried… 75. Mâr Timothy was buried… 76. Mâr Denḥâ was buried… 77. Mâr Simon was buried…

78. Mâr Elijah (Eliyâ) was buried… 79. Mâr Simon of our days, may he live for ever!] The names of the Catholics who were deposed and dismissed (from office): Mâr(i)-bôkht, Narsai, Elisha, Joseph and Sôren.

Chapter 52. The Names of the Kings who Have Reigned in the World from the Flood Until Now

The Median Kings who Reigned in Babylon.

1 Darius the son of Vashtasp (Hystaspes) reigned 24 years. Ahshiresh (Xerxes) his son, 20 years. Artahshisht the long-hand (Artaxerxes Longimanus), 41 years. Daryâwash (Darius) the son of the concubine, 20 years. Artahshisht (Artaxerxes) the ruler, 30 years. Arses the son of Ochus, 4 years. Daryâwash (Darius) the son of Ârsham (Arsânes), 6 years. [als]

The Years of the Egyptian Kings.

2 Alexander the son of Philip, 12 years. Ptolemy the son of Lagôs, 40 years. Ptolemy Philadelphus, 38 years. In his third year the fifth millennium ended. This (king) asked the captive Jews who were in Egypt, and seventy old men translated the Scriptures for him, from Hebrew into Greek, in the island of Pharos. In return for this he set them free, and gave back to them also the vessels of their temple. Their names are these. Josephus, Hezekiah, Zechariah, John, Ezekiel, Elisha; these were of the tribe of Reuben. Judah, Simon, Samuel, Addai, Mattathias, Shalmî; these were of the tribe of Simeon. Nehemiah, Joseph, Theodosius, Bâsâ, Adonijah, Dâkî; these were of the tribe of Levi. Jothan, Abdi, Elisha, Ananias, Zechariah, Hilkiah; these were of the tribe of Judah. Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, Sambâṭ (Sabbateus), Simon, Levi; these were of the tribe of Issachar. Judah, Joseph, Simon, Zechariah, Samuel, Shamli; these were of the tribe of Zebulon. Sambâṭ (Sabbateus), Zedekiah, Jacob, Isaac, Jesse, Matthias; these were of the tribe of Gad. Theodosius, Jason, Joshua, John, Theodotus, Jothan; these were of the tribe of Asher. Abraham, Theophilus, Arsam, Jason, Jeremiah, Daniel; these were of the tribe of Dan. Jeremiah, Eliezer, Zechariah, [ Benaiah, Elisha, Dathi; these were of the tribe of Naphtali. Samuel, Josephus, Judah, Jonathan, Dositheus, Caleb; these were of the tribe of Joseph. Isalus, John, Theodosius, Arsam, Abijah, Ezekiel; these were of the tribe of Benjamin.

3 After Ptolemy Philadelphus arose Ptolemy Euergetes; (he reigned) 26 years. Ptolemy Philopator, 17 years. Ptolemy Epiphanes, 24 years. Ptolemy Philometor, 35 years. The time of the Maccabees extended to this (reign), and in it the old Covenant came to an end. Ptolemy Soter, 17 years. Ptolemy Alexander, 18 years. Ptolemy Dionysius, 30 years.

The Years of the Roman Emperors.

4 Gaius Julius, 4 years. Augustus, 57 years. In the forty-third year of his reign our Lord Christ was born. Tiberius, 23 years. In the fifteenth year of his reign our Lord was baptised; and in the seventeenth year He suffered, died, rose again, and ascended to heaven. Gaius (Caligula), 4 years. Claudius, 14 years. Nero, 14 years. [ Vespasian, 10 years. Immediately after he came to the throne, he sent his son Titus against Jerusalem, and he besieged it for two years, until he uprooted it and destroyed it. Titus, 2 years. Domitian, 15 years. Trajan, 20 years. John, the son of Zebedee, lived until the seventh year of his reign. Hadrian, 20 years. Antoninus, 20 years. Verus, 20 years. Commodus, 14 years. Severus, 20 years. The house of Antoninus. Alexander the son of Mammaea, 13 years. Maximinius and Gordianus, 9 years. Philip and Gallus, 10 years. Valerianus and Gallius (Gallienus), 15 years.

5 Claudius and Tacitus, 16 years. Diocletian and those that were with him, 20 years. Constantine, 33 years. In the fourth year of Constantine Caesar the Victorious, Shâbôr reigned in Persia 70 years. Ardashîr his brother, 20 years. Vahrân (Bahrâm) and Shâbôr, the sons of Ardashîr, 20 years. Yazdagerd, the son of Shâbôr, 20 years. Vahrân (Bahrâm), the son of Yazdagerd, 20 years. Pêrôz, the son of Yazdagerd, 27 years. Balâsh, the son of Pêrôz, 4 years. Kawâd, the son of Pêrôz, 41 years. Chosrau, the son of Kawâd, 47 years. Hormizd, the son of Chosrau, 12 years. From Shâbôr to this fifteenth year of Chosrau the son of Hormizd, in which he destroyed Dârâ is three hundred and six years. The sum of all the years from Adam to this fifteenth year of Chosrau the conqueror, which is the nine hundred and sixteenth year of the Greeks is 5861 years. From Adam to the Crucifixion is 5280 years. The whole of the Jewish economy therefore, from the time they went out of Egypt until Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus, was 1601 years. From Abraham to this year is 2031 years.

Of the Years that Have Passed Away from the World.

6 From Adam to the Flood was 2262 years. From the Flood to Abraham was 1015 years. From Abraham to the Exodus of the people from Egypt was 430 years. From the Exodus of the people by the hand of Moses to Solomon and the building of the Temple was 400 years. From Solomon to the first Captivity, which Nebuchadnezzar led away captive, was 495 years. From the first Captivity to the prophesying of Daniel was 180 years. From the prophesying of Daniel to the Birth of our Lord was 483 years. All these years make 5345 years. From Alexander to our Lord was 303 years. From our Lord to Constantine was 341 years. In the year 438 of Alexander the Macedonian, the kingdom of the Persians had its beginning. Know, O my brother readers, that from the beginning of the creation of Adam to Alexander was 5180 years.

Chapter 53. Of the End of Times and the Change of Kingdoms; from the Book of Methodius, Bishop of Rome

1 In this seventh and last millennium will the kingdom of the Persians be destroyed. In it will the children of Ishmael go forth from the wilderness of Yathrib (al-Medinah), and they will all come and be gathered together in Gibeah of Ramah, and there shall the fat ones of the kingdom of the Greeks, who destroyed the kingdoms of the Hebrews and the Persians, be destroyed by Ishmael, the wild ass of the desert; for in wrath shall he be sent against the whole earth, against man and beast and trees, and it shall be a merciless chastisement. It is not because God loves them that He has allowed them to enter into the kingdoms of the Christians, but by reason of the iniquity and sin which is wrought by the Christians, the like of which has never been wrought in any one of the former generations. They are mad with drunkenness and anger and shameless lasciviousness; they have intercourse with one another wickedly, a man and his son committing fornication with one woman, the brother with his brother's wife, male with male, and female with female, contrary to the law of nature and of Scripture, as the blessed Paul has said, 'Male with male did work shame, and likewise also the women did work lewdness, and, contrary to nature, had intercourse with one another.

2 Therefore they have brought upon themselves the recompense of punishment which is meet for their error, women as well as men, and hence God will deliver them over to the impurity of the barbarians, that their wives may be polluted by the sons of pollution, and men may be subjected to the yoke of tribute; then shall men sell everything that they have and give it to them, but shall not be able to pay the debt of the tribute, until they give also their children to them into slavery. And the tyrant shall exalt himself until he demands tribute and poll-tax from the dead that lie in the dust, first oppressing the orphans and defrauding the widows. They will have no pity upon the poor, nor will they spare the miserable; they will not relieve the afflicted; they will smite the grey hairs of the aged, despise the wise, and honour fools; they will mock at those who frame laws, and the little shall be esteemed as the great, and the despised as the honourable; their words shall cut like swords, and there is none who shall be able to change the persuasive force of their words. The path of their chastisement shall be from sea to sea, and from east to west, and from north to south, and to the wilderness of Yathrib. In their latter days there shall be great tribulation, old men and old women hungering and thirsting, and tortured in bonds until they account the dead happy.

3 They will rip up the pregnant woman, and tear infants away from their mothers' bosoms and sell them like beasts, and those that are of no use to them will they dash against the stones. They will slay the priests and deacons in the sanctuary, and they will lie with their wives in the houses of God. They will make clothes for themselves and their wives out of the holy vestments, and they will spread them upon their horses, and work impurity upon them in their beds. They will bring their cattle into the churches and altars, and they will tie up their dogs by the shrines of the saints. In those days the spirit of the righteous and of them that are well versed in signs will be grieved. The feeble will deny the true faith, the holy Cross, and the life-giving mysteries; and without compulsion many will deny Christ, and become rebels and slanderers and boasters, denying the faith. With this chastisement shall the Christians be tried. For at that time the righteous, the humble, the peaceful and the gentle will not be sought after, but liars and slanderers and accusers and disturbers and the obscene and those who are destitute of mercy, and those who scoff at their parents and blaspheme the life-giving mysteries. And the true believers shall come into troubles and persecutions until they despair of their lives. Honour shall be taken away from the priests, and the pastors shall become as the people. When the measure of their (i. e.

4 the Ishmaelites') victory is full, tribulation will increase, and chastisement will be doubled upon man and beast. And there shall be a great famine, and the dead bodies of men shall lie in the streets and squares without any one to bury them, and (just) reckoning shall vanish and disappear from the earth. And men shall sell their brass and their iron and their clothes, and shall give their sons and their daughters willingly to the heathen. A man shall lie down in the evening and rise in the morning, and shall find at his door two or three exactors and officers to carry off by force; and two or three women shall throw themselves upon one man and say, 'We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel, only let us take refuge beneath thy skirts.' When men are oppressed and beaten, and hunger and thirst, and are tormented by that bitter chastisement; while the tyrants shall live luxuriously and enjoy themselves, and eat and drink, and boast in the victory they have won, having destroyed nations and peoples, and shall adorn themselves like brides, saying, 'The Christians have neither a God nor a deliverer;' then all of a sudden there shall be raised up against them pains like those of a woman in childbirth; and the king of the Greeks shall go forth against them in great wrath, and he shall rouse himself like a man who has shaken off his wine.

5 He shall go forth against them from the sea of the Cushites, and shall cast the sword and destruction into the wilderness of Yathrib and into the dwelling-place of their fathers. They shall carry off captive their wives and sons and daughters into the service of slavery, and fear of all those round about them shall fall upon them, and they shall all be delivered into the hand of the king of the Greeks, and shall be given over to the sword and to captivity and to slaughter, and their latter subjection shall be one hundred times more severe than their (former) yoke. They shall be in sore tribulation from hunger and thirst and anxiety; they shall be slaves unto those who served them, and bitter shall their slavery be. Then shall the earth which has become desolate of its inhabitants find peace, and the remnant that is left shall return every man to his own land and to the inheritance of his fathers; and men shall increase like locusts upon the earth which was laid waste. Egypt shall be ravaged, Arabia shall be burnt with fire, the land of Hebron shall be laid waste, and the tongue of the sea shall be at peace. All the wrath and anger of the king of the Greeks shall have full course upon those who have denied Christ. And there shall be great peace on earth, the like of which has not been from the creation of the world until its end; for it is the last peace.

6 And there shall be great joy on earth, and men shall dwell in peace and quiet; convents and churches shall be restored, cities shall be built, the priests shall be freed from taxes, and men shall rest from labour and anxiety of heart. They shall eat and drink; there shall be neither pain nor care; and they shall marry wives and beget children during that true peace. Then shall the gates of the north be opened, and the nations shall go forth that were imprisoned there by Alexander the king.

Chapter 54. Of Gog and Magog, who Are Imprisoned in the North

1 When Alexander was king and had subdued countries and cities, and had arrived in the East, he saw on the confines of the East those men who are of the children of Japhet. They were more wicked and unclean than all (other) dwellers in the world; filthy peoples of hideous appearance, who ate mice and the creeping things of the earth and snakes and scorpions. They never buried the bodies of their dead, and they ate as dainties the children which women aborted and the after-birth. People ignorant of God, and unacquainted with the power of reason, but who lived in this world without understanding like ravening beasts. When Alexander saw their wickedness, he called God to his aid, and he gathered together and brought them and their wives and children, and made them go in, and shut them up within the confines of the North. This is the gate of the world on the north, and there is no other entrance or exit from the confines of the world from the east to the north. And Alexander prayed to God with tears, and God heard his prayer and commanded those two lofty mountains which are called 'the children of the north,' and they drew nigh to one another until there remained between them about twelve cubits.

2 Then he built in front of them a strong building, and he made for it a door of brass, and anointed it within and without with oil of Thesnakṭīs, so that if they should bring iron (implements) near it to force it open, they would be unable to move it; and if they wished to melt it with fire, it would quench it; and it feared neither the operations of devils nor of sorcerers, and was not to be overcome (by them). Now there were twenty-two kingdoms imprisoned within the northern gate, and their names are these: Gōg, Māgōg, Nāwāl, Eshkēnāz, Dēnāphār, Paḳtāyē, Wēlōṭāyē, Humnāyē, Parzāyē, Daḳlāyē, Thaubēlāyē, Darmēṭāyē, Kawkēbāyē, Dog-men (Cynocephali), Emdērāthā, Garmīdō, Cannibals, Therkāyē, Ālānāyē, Pīsīlōn, Denkāyē, Salṭrāyē. At the end of the world and at the final consummation, when men are eating and drinking and marrying wives, and women are given to husbands; when they are planting vineyards and building buildings, and there is neither wicked man nor adversary, on account of the assured tranquillity and certain peace; suddenly the gates of the north shall be opened and the hosts of the nations that are imprisoned there shall go forth. The whole earth shall tremble before them, and men shall flee and take refuge in the mountains and in caves and in burial places and in clefts of the earth; and they shall die of hunger, and there will be none to bury them, by reason of the multitude of afflictions which they will make men suffer.

3 They will eat the flesh of men and drink the blood of animals; they will devour the creeping things of the earth, and hunt for serpents and scorpions and reptiles that shoot out venom, and eat them. They will eat dead dogs and cats, and the abortions of women with the after-birth; they will give mothers the bodies of their children to cook, and they will eat them before them without shame. They will destroy the earth, and there will be none able to stand before them. After one week of that sore affliction, they will all be destroyed in the plain of Joppa, for thither will all those (people) be gathered together, with their wives and their sons and their daughters; and by the command of God one of the hosts of the angels will descend and will destroy them in one moment.

Chapter 55. Of the Coming of the Antichrist, the Son of Perdition

1 In a week and half a week after the destruction of these wretches shall the son of destruction appear. He shall be conceived in Chorazin, born in Bethsaida, and reared in Capernaum. Chorazin shall exult because he was conceived in her, Bethsaida because he was born in her, and Capernaum because he was brought up in her; for this reason our Lord proclaimed Woe to these three (cities) in the Gospel. As soon as the son of perdition is revealed, the king of the Greeks will go up and stand upon Golgotha, where our Lord was crucified; and he will set the royal crown upon the top of the holy Cross, upon which our Lord was crucified; and he will stretch out his two hands to heaven, and will deliver over the kingdom to God the Father. The holy Cross will be taken up to heaven, and the royal crown with it; and the king will die immediately. The king who shall deliver over the kingdom to God will be descended from the seed of Kûshath the daughter of Pil, the king of the Ethiopians; for Armelaus (Romulus) the king of the Greeks took Kûshath to wife, and the seed of the Ethiopians was mingled with that of the Greeks.

2 From this seed shall a king arise who shall deliver the kingdom over to God, as the blessed David has said, 'Cush will deliver the power to God.' When the Cross is raised up to heaven, [ straightway shall every head and every ruler and all powers be brought to nought, and God will withdraw His providential care from the earth. The heavens will be prevented from letting fall rain, and the earth from producing germs and plants; and the earth shall remain like iron through drought, and the heavens like brass. Then will the son of perdition appear, of the seed and of the tribe of Dan; and he will shew deluding phantasms, and lead astray the world, for the simple will see the lepers cleansed, the blind with their eyes opened, the paralytic walking, the devils cast out, the sun when he looks upon it becoming black, the moon when he commands it becoming changed, the trees putting forth fruit from their branches, and the earth making roots to grow. He will shew deluding phantasms (of this kind), but he will not be able to raise the dead.

3 He will go into Jerusalem and will sit upon a throne in the temple saying, 'I am the Christ;' and he will be borne aloft by legions of devils like a king and a lawgiver, naming himself God, and saying, 'I am the fulfilment of the types and the parables.' He will put an end to prayers and offerings, as if at his appearance prayers are to be abolished and men will not need sacrifices and offerings along with him. He becomes a man incarnate by a married woman of the tribe of Dan. When this son of destruction becomes a man, he will be made a dwelling-place for devils, and all Satanic workings will be perfected in him. There will be gathered together with him all the devils and all the hosts of the Indians; and before all the Indians and before [ all men will the mad Jewish nation believe in him, saying, 'This is the Christ, the expectation of the world. The time of the error of the Antichrist will last two years and a half, but others say three years and six months. And when every one is standing in despair, then will Elijah (Elias) come from Paradise, and convict the deceiver, and turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to the fathers; and he will encourage and strengthen the hearts of the believers.

Chapter 56. Of Death and the Departure of the Soul from the Body

1 The foundation of all good and precious things, of all the greatness of God's gifts, of His true love, and of our arriving in His presence, is Death. Men die in five ways. Naturally; as David said, 'Unless his day come and he die,' alluding to Saul. Voluntarily; as when Saul killed himself in the battle with the Philistines. By accident; such as a fall from a roof, and other fatal accidents. By violence, from devils and men and wild beasts and venomous reptiles. By (divine) chastisement; as the flood in the days of Noah, and the fire which fell upon the Sodomites, and other such like things. But (side by side) with all these kinds of fatalities runs the providence of God's government, which cannot be comprehended by the creatures, restraining (them) where it is meet (to restrain), and letting (them) loose where it is fitting (to let loose). This government is not comprehended in this world, neither by angels nor by men; but in the world which is to come all rational beings will know it. When the soul goes forth from [to] the body, as Abbâ Isaiah says, the angels go with it: then the hosts of darkness go forth to meet it, seeking to seize it and examine it, if there be anything of theirs in it. Then the angels do not fight with them, but those deeds which the soul has wrought protect it and guard it, that they come not near it. If its deeds be victorious, then the angels sing praises before it until it meets God with joy. In that hour the soul forgets every deed of this world. Consequently, no one who does not obtain remission (of sins) in this world can be free from the penalty of examination in that day. Not that there is torture or pleasure or recompense before the resurrection; but the soul knows everything that it has done whether of good or evil.

2 As to where the souls abide from the time they leave their bodies until the resurrection, some say that they are taken up to heaven, that is, to the region of spirit, where the celestial hosts dwell. Others say that they go to Paradise, that is, to the place which is abundantly supplied with the good things of the mystery of the revelations of God; and that the souls of sinners lie in darkness in the abyss of Eden outside Paradise. Others say that they are buried with their bodies; that is to say, as the two were buried in God at baptism, so also will they now dwell in Him until the day of the resurrection. Others say that they stand at the mouth of the graves and await their Redeemer; that is to say, they possess the knowledge of the resurrection of their bodies. Others say that they are as it were in a slumber, because of the shortness of the time; for they point out in regard to them that what seems to us a very long time is to them as a momentary nod (or wink) in its shortness. And just as he that is sunk in slumber departs from the life of this world, and yet does not arrive at absolute mortality, so also are they in an intermediate knowledge which is higher than that of this world, and yet attain not to that which is after the resurrection. Those who say that they are like an infant which has no knowledge, shew that they call even the knowledge of the truth ignorance in comparison with that knowledge of the truth which shall be bestowed upon them after the resurrection.

3 That the souls of the righteous pray, and that their prayers assist those who take refuge with them, may be learned from many, especially from Mâr Theodore in his account of the blessed Thecla. Therefore it is right for those who have a holy man for a friend, to rejoice when he goes to our Lord in Paradise, because their friend has the power to help them by his prayers. Like the blind disciple of one of the saints mentioned in the Book of the Paradise, who, when his master was dying, wept bitterly and said, 'To whose care dost thou leave the poor blind man?' And his master encouraged him, and said to him, 'I believe in God that, if I find mercy in His sight, at the end of a week thou wilt see;' and after some days he did see. The souls of the righteous also hold spiritual conversation with each other, according to the Divine permission and command which moves them to this by necessary causes. Neither those who have departed this life in the flesh are hindered from this (intercourse), nor those who are still clad in their fleshly garments, if they live their life in them holily.

Chapter 57. Of the Quickening and the General Resurrection, the Consummation of the Material World and the Beginning of the New World

1 After Elijah comes and conquers the son of destruction, and encourages the believers, for a space and a time which is known to God alone, there will appear the living sign of our Lord's Cross, honoured and borne aloft in the hands of the Archangel Gabriel. Its light will overpower the light of the sun, to the reproach and putting to shame of the infidels and the crucifying Jews. As soon as the life-giving Cross appears before our Lord, as the Doctor saith, 'His victory comes before Him,' etc., then a powerful light will fill the whole vaulted space between the heavens and the earth, the radiance and light whereof will be above all (other) lights; and suddenly will the mighty sound of the first trumpet of the Archangel be heard, concerning which our Lord said, 'At midnight there will be a cry, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet Him."' At this trumpet the sun shall become dark, the moon shall not display its light, the stars shall drop from the heavens like leaves, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved. The earth shall totter and tremble, the mountains and hills shall melt, the sea shall be disturbed and shall cause terrible sounds to be heard. The rivers shall submerge the earth, the trees shall be uprooted, buildings shall fall, towns and villages shall be overturned, and high walls and strong towers shall be thrown down. The wild beasts and cattle and fowl and fish shall come to an end and perish;

2 and everything shall be destroyed, except a few human beings who shall remain alive, and whom the resurrection shall overtake, of whom Paul has said, 'We who are left shall not overtake them that sleep,' meaning to say that those who are found alive at the time of the resurrection will not sleep the sleep of death; as the apostle says again, 'Behold I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.' As touching the heavens, some say that they will be rent, and that the waters which are above the firmament will descend, for it is not possible for the substance of water to pass through the substance of the firmament. Others say that as water passes through a tree or a piece of pottery, and sweat through the skin, so also will men enter into heaven and not be prevented, and (in like manner too) will the waters descend from above. Others say that the firmament will be rolled up like the curtain of a tent.

3 The second trumpet is that at the sound of which the firmament will be opened, and our Lord will appear from heaven in splendour and great glory. He will come down with the glory of His divinity as far as two-thirds of the distance between the firmament and the earth, whither Paul ascended in the spirit of revelation. He will then make an end of the son of perdition, and destroy him body and soul, and He will hurl Satan and the devils into Gehenna. 4 The third trumpet is the last, at which the dead will rise, and the living be changed, as the blessed Paul says, 'Swiftly, as in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet when it sounds; and the dead shall rise without corruption, and we shall be changed.' So swiftly and speedily will the resurrection of all men be wrought, according to the spiritual nature of the new world. For the swiftness of the resurrection will surpass the swiftness of understanding, and the spiritual hosts alone see and know in what manner it will take place, every man being suddenly found standing in his spirituality. Some men therefore have a tradition that the resurrection of the righteous and the just and the believers will precede that of other men, who are remote from the true faith; but according to the opinion of the truthful and of people generally, the resurrection of the whole human race will take place quicker than lightning and than the twinkling of an eye; from the generation of Adam to the latest generation they shall rise at the last trumpet. And though, according to the opinion of the Expositor, many sounds will be heard on that night, each one of which is a sign of what will happen, yet, according to the consent of the greater part of the expositors and of Scripture, three distinct trumpets will sound by which the whole work of the resurrection will be completed and finished.

5 Michael the expositor and exegete, however, says otherwise in the book of Questions, speaking as follows: 'The world will not pass away and be dissolved before the vivification of the dead, but the coming of our Lord will be seen first of all, who will come with the spiritual hosts; and immediately our Lord's power will compel the earth to give up the parts of the bodies of men who have been slain and have become dust and ashes within it; and there will be a making ready and preparation of the souls to receive their bodies all together. If, before the vivification of the dead [crain], the world and all that is therein were to pass away, from whence pray would the dead rise? Those who say that the world will pass away before the vivification of the dead are fools and simpletons; for Christ will not make the world pass away before the vivification of the dead, but He will first of all raise the dead, and men will see with their eyes the passing away of the world, the uprooting of the elements, and the destruction of the heavens and the earth and the sun and the moon and the stars; and from here sorrow will begin to reign in the mind of the wicked, and endless joy in the mind of the righteous.'

Chapter 58. Of the Manner and State in which Men Will Rise in the Day of the Resurrection

1 All classes and conditions of men will rise from the dead in the state of the perfect form of Christ, about thirty-three years of age, even as our Redeemer rose from the grave. We shall rise with all our limbs perfect, and with the same constitutions, without addition or diminution. Some say that the hair and nails and prepuce will rise, and some say they will not; as if they were superfluous for the completion of the nature of man. Some say concerning the resurrection that a likeness only will rise, without parts and without the composition of the limbs of man; a mere similitude of hands and feet and hardness of bones. Others say that the whole man will be cast into one crystalline substance, and that all his parts will be mingled together; and they do not grant him an ordered arrangement of composition. Others say that the vessels which are inside the belly, such as the bowels, liver, etc., will not rise; but they err and stray from the truth, and do not understand that if one of the parts of the body perish, it is not perfect. For Paul shewed plainly and laid down an example of the resurrection in the grain of wheat: just as that grows up entire with its glory, without any portion of it having perished, even so we; for the whole man shall rise with all his limbs and parts, and ordered in his composition as now, only having acquired purification from the humours.

2 And this is not surprising, that if an earthen vessel acquires firmness and lightness when it goes into the fiery furnace, without any change taking place in its shape or form, but is lightened of its heaviness and density, whilst it preserves its shape uninjured; so also should the Holy Spirit burn us in the furnace of the resurrection and drive forth from us all the foul material of the present (life), and clothe us with incorruptibility. 'It is sown an animal body; it rises a spiritual body.' We shall neither see nor hear with all our bodily members, although some men have thought that the whole man will be sight and hearing; but we shall carry out action with these same usual limbs, if it happen to be necessary; although we shall not there need speech and conversation with one another, because each other's secrets will be revealed to us.

3 The things which certain stupid men invent, who indulge their fancy, and give bodily form to the punishment of sinners and the reward of the just and righteous, and say that there is at the resurrection a reckoning and a pair of scales, the Church does not receive; but each one of us carries his light and his fire within him, and his heaviness and his lightness is found in his own nature. Just as stone and iron naturally possess the property of falling to the earth, and as the air naturally ascends upward on account of its rarity and its lightness; so also in the resurrection, he that is heavy and lying in sins, his sins will bring him down; and he that is free from the rust of sin, his purity will make him rise in the scale. And our Lord will ascend to heaven, and the angels (will go) before Him like ambassadors, and the just and the righteous will be upon His right hand and His left, and the children behind Him in the form of the life-giving Cross.

Chapter 59. Of the Happiness of the Righteous and the Torment of Sinners, and in What State They Are There

1 It is right for us to know and explain how those suffer, who suffer in Gehenna. If they do suffer, how can we say that they are impassible? and if they do not suffer, then there is no torture for sinners; and if there be no torture for sinners in proportion to their sins, neither can there be happiness for the righteous as a reward for their labours. The suffering wherewith the Fathers say that sinners will suffer in Gehenna is not one that will pain the limbs, such as the blows of sticks, the mutilation of the flesh, and the breaking of the bones, but one that will afflict the soul, such as grief for the transgression of what is right, repentance for shameful deeds, and banishment from one to whom he is bound [ in love and for whom his affection is strong. For in the resurrection we shall not be without perception, like the sun which perceives not his splendour, nor the moon her brilliancy, nor the pearl its beauty; but by the power of reason we shall feel perfectly the delight of our happiness or the keen pain of our torture. So then by that which enables the righteous to perceive the pleasure of their happiness, by that selfsame thing will the wicked also perceive the suffering of their torment; (that is) by the power capable of receiving pleasure, which is the intelligence.

2 Hence it is right for us to be certain that intelligence will not be taken away from us, but it will receive the utmost purification and refinement. The glorious and good things of the world which is to come are not to be compared with those of this world; for if all the glorious and good things and delights of this world were given to us in the world which is to come, we should look upon them as hateful and abominable, and they would not be able to give us pleasure or to gladden us; and our nature by the blessedness of its immortality would be exalted above all their glory and desirability. And if all the torments and afflictions and troubles of this world were brought near to us in the world which is to come, the pain of them would make no impression upon our immortal and immutable nature. Hence the pleasure of that world is something beyond all comparison more glorious and excellent and exalted than those of this world; and the torment of yonder is likewise something beyond all comparison more severe and more bitter than any that is here.

3 It is also right for us to explain the quality of the light of the righteous. The light of the righteous is not of a natural origin like this elemental light (of ours), but some of the light of our Lord—whose splendour surpasses ten thousand suns—is diffused and shed upon them. Each saint shines in proportion to his purity, and holiness and refinement and sincerity, as the blessed Paul has said, 'One star surpasseth another in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.' And although all the saints will be happy in one kingdom, yet he who is near to the King or the Bridegroom will be separated from him whose place is at the end of the guest-chamber, even though his place be in the same chamber. So also with the sinners in Gehenna; their sentence will not be alike, for in proportion to the sin of each will be his torment. And as the light of the sun is not to be compared with the light of the moon, nor is the light of the moon like that of the stars, so also will the happiness of the righteous be, although the name and honour of righteousness be laid upon and spread over all of them. And as the light of our Lord's humanity will pass over all our limbs without distinction, and take the place of dress and ornament for us, so also with all our members shall we perceive the suffering and torment of Gehenna.

4 The festal garments which our Lord has prepared for His saints, the children of light, are impassibility; and the filthy garments which hinder us from entering into the spiritual bridal-chamber are the passions. In the new world there will be no distinctive names for ranks and conditions of human beings; and as every name and surname attributed to God and the angels had its origin from this world, and names for human beings were assigned and distributed by the government of this world, in the world of spiritual and intellectual natures there will be [∞] neither names nor surnames among them, nor male nor female, nor slave nor free, nor child nor old man, nor Ethiopian nor Roman (Greek); but they will all rise in the one perfect form of a man thirty-three years of age, as our Lord rose from the dead. In the world to come there will be no companies or bands but two; the one of the angels and the righteous, who will mingle and form one Church, and the other of the devils and sinners in Gehenna.

Chapter 60.

1 Whether mercy will be shewn to sinners and the devils in gehenna, after they have been tormented and suffered and been punished, or not? AND IF MERCY IS TO BE SHEWN TO THEM, WHEN WILL IT BE? 2 Some of the Fathers terrify us beyond our strength and throw us into despair; and their opinion is well adapted to the simple-minded and transgressors of the law. Others of them encourage us and bid us rely upon Divine mercy; and their opinions are suitable and adapted to the perfect and those of settled minds and the pious. In the 'Book of Memorials' it is thus written: 'This world is the world of repentance, but the world which is to come is the world of retribution. As in this world repentance saves until the last breath, so in the world to come justice exacts to the uttermost farthing. And as it is impossible to see here strict justice unmingled with mercy, so it is impossible to find there strict justice mingled with mercy.' [∞] Már Isaac says thus: 'Those who are to be scourged in Gehenna will be tortured with stripes of love; they who feel that they have sinned against love will suffer harder and more severe pangs from love than the pain that springs from fear.' Again he says: 'The recompense of sinners will be this: the resurrection itself will be their recompense instead of the recompense of justice; and at the last He will clothe those bodies which have trodden down His laws with the glory of perfection.

3 This act of grace to us after we have sinned is greater than that which, when we were not, brought our nature into being.' Again he says: 'In the world which is to come grace will be the judge and not justice.' Mâr Theodore the Expositor says: 'Those who have here chosen fair things will receive in the world to come the pleasure of good things with praises; but the wicked who have turned aside to evil things all their life, when they are become ordered in their minds by penalties and the fear that springs from them, and choose good things, and learn how much they have sinned by having persevered in evil things and not in good things, and by means of these things receive the knowledge of the highest doctrine of the fear of God, and become instructed to lay hold of it with a good will, will be deemed worthy of the happiness of the Divine liberality. For He would never have said, "Until thou payest the uttermost farthing," unless it had been possible for us to be freed from our sins through having atoned for them by paying the penalty; neither would He have said, "he shall be beaten with many stripes," or "he shall be beaten with few stripes," unless it were that the penalties, being meted out according to the sins, should finally come to an end.' These things the Expositor has handed down in his books clearly and distinctly.

4 So also the blessed Diodorus, who says in the 'Book of the Dispensation:' 'A lasting reward, which is worthy of the justice of the Giver, is laid up for the good, in return for their labours; and torment for sinners, but not everlasting, that the immortality which is prepared for them may not be worthless. They must however be tormented for a short time, as they deserve, in proportion to the measure of their iniquity and wickedness, according to the amount of the wickedness of their deeds. This they will have to bear, that they suffer for a short time; but immortal and unending happiness is prepared for them. If it be then that the rewards of good deeds are as great (in proportion to them) as the times of the immortality which are prepared for them are longer than the times of the limited contests which take place in this world, the torments for many and great sins must be very much less than the greatness of mercy. So then it is not for the good only that the grace of the resurrection from the dead is intended, but also for the wicked; for the grace of God greatly honours the good, but chastises the wicked sparingly.

5 Again he says: 'God pours out the wages of reward beyond the measure of the labours (wrought), and in the abundance of His goodness He lessens and diminishes the penalty of those [ who are to be tormented, and in His mercy He shortens and reduces the length of the time. But even thus He does not punish the whole time according to (the length of) the time of folly, seeing that He requites them far less than they deserve, just as He does the good beyond the measure and period (of their deserts); for the reward is everlasting. It has not been revealed whether the goodness of God wishes to punish without ceasing the blameworthy who have been found guilty of evil deeds (or not), as we have already said before. * 6 But if punishment is to be weighed out according to sin, not even so would punishment be endless. For as regards that which is said in the Gospel, 'These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal;' this word 'eternal' (lè-âlam) is not definite: for if it be not so, how did Peter say to our Lord, 'Thou shalt never wash my feet,' and yet He washed him? And of Babylon He said, 'No man shall dwell therein for ever and ever,' and behold many generations dwell therein. In the 'Book of Memorials' he says: 'I hold what the most celebrated of the holy Fathers say, that He cuts off a little from much. The penalty of Gehenna is a man's mind; for the punishment there is of two kinds, that of the body and that of the mind. That of the body is perhaps in proportion to the degree of sin, and He lessens and diminishes its duration; but that of the mind is for ever, and the judgment is for ever.' But in the New Testament lē-'ālam is not without end. To Him be glory and dominion and praise and exaltation and honour for ever and ever. Amen and Amen.