The gospel of Peter.

[Ben C. Smith]

Gospel of Peter

Information

Sources: Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2949 (late century II or early century III); Papyrus Cairensis 10759 (Akhmîm Fragment; century VIII or IX).
The gospel of Peter comes to us only in fragments, but one of those fragments, that of Akhmîm, is rather long, consisting of some sixty verses spread out amongst fourteen short chapters. This gospel is one of many ancient works attached to the name of Peter.
Index to other gospel texts.

Text and Translation

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2949

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2949

1 [...]γ̣[...] 2 [...] 3 [...]ν [...] 4 [...................... 2.3 Εἰστήκει δὲ ἐκεῖ] 5 [Ἰωσήφ,] ὁ φίλος Π[ε]ιλά[τ]ου κ[αὶ ...] 6 [καὶ εἰδ]ὼς ὅτι ἐκέλευσεν [σταυρω-] 7 [θῆναι ἐλ]θὼν πρὸς Πειλᾶτο[ν ᾔτησεν] 8 [αὐτοῦ] τὸ σῶμα εἰς ταφήν. 2.4 [Πειλᾶτος] 9 [πέμψας πρὸς Ἡρῴδ]ην ᾐτήσα[το αὐτῷ] 10 [τὸ σῶμα ἀποδοθ]ῆναι εἰπώ[ν· ὁ φίλος] 11 μου [τὸ σῶμα] ᾐτήσα[το.] 2.5 [Ἡρῴδης ἔφη·] 12 Πειλ[ᾶτε ....] αὐτὸν [.......] 13 τις α[ὐτὸν ...] ὅτι α[.... ἐθάπτο-] 14 μεν [....]

1 [...]?[...] 2 [...] 3 [...]? [...] 4 [...................... 2.3 And there stood] 5 [Joseph,] the friend of P[i]la[t]e, a[nd ...] 6 [and know]ing that he had ordered him [cruci-] 7 [fied he ca]me toward Pilate [and asked for] 8 [his] body for burial. 2.4 [Pilate] 9 [sent to Hero]d and ask[ed him] 10 to [send the body,] sayin[g:] My 11 [friend] has ask[ed for the body.] 2.5 [Herod said:] 12 Pil[ate ....] him [.......] 13 someone h[im ...] since ?[... bur-] 14 ied [....]

Papyrus Cairensis 10759 (Akhmîm Fragment)	Papyrus Cairensis 10759 (Akhmîm Fragment)
1.1 ... τ[ῶν] δὲ Ἰουδαίων οὐδεὶς ἐνίψατο τὰς χεῖρας, οὐδὲ Ἡρῴδης οὐδὲ [ε]ἷς [τ]ῶν κριτῶν αὐτοῦ. Κ[αὶ μὴ] βουληθέντων νίψασθαι ἀνές[τ]η Πειλᾶτος· 2 καὶ τότε κελεύει Ἡρῴδης ὁ βασιλεὺς παρ[απη]μφθῆναι τὸν Κύριον, εἰπὼν αὐτοῖς ὅτι «ὅσα ἐκέλευσα ὑμῖν ποιῆσαι αὐτῷ ποιήσατε».	[1] But of the Jews none washed his hands, neither Herod nor one of his judges. And since they did not desire to wash, Pilate stood up. [2] And then Herod the king orders the Lord to be taken away, having said to them, 'What I ordered you to do, do.'
2.3 Ἱστήκει δὲ ἐκεῖ Ἰωσήφ, ὁ φίλος Πειλάτου καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ εἰδὼς ὅτι σταυρίσκειν αὐτὸν μέλλουσιν ἦλθεν πρὸς τὸν Πειλᾶτον καὶ ᾔτησε τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου πρὸς ταφήν. 4 Καὶ ὁ Πειλᾶτος πέμψας πρὸς Ἡρῴδην ᾔτησεν αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα· 5 καὶ ὁ Ἡρῴδης ἔφη· «Ἀδελφὲ Πειλᾶτε, εἰ καὶ μή τις αὐτὸν ᾐτήκει, ἡμεῖς αὐτὸν ἐθάπτομεν, ἐπεὶ καὶ σάββατον ἐπιφώσκει. Γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ ἥλιον μὴ δῦναι ἐπὶ πεφονευμένῳ.» Καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν τῷ λαῷ πρὸ μιᾶς τῶν ἀζύμων, τῆς ἑορτῆς αὐτῶν.	[3] But Joseph, the friend of Pilate and of the Lord, had been standing there; and knowing they were about to crucify him, he came before Pilate and requested the body of the Lord for burial. [4] And Pilate, having sent to Herod, requested his body. [5] And Herod said: 'Brother Pilate, even if no one had requested him, we would have buried him, since indeed Sabbath is dawning. For in the Law it has been written: The sun is not to set on one put to death.' And he gave him over to the people before the first day of their feast of the Unleavened Bread.
3.6 Οἱ δὲ λαβόντες τὸν Κύριον ὤθουν αὐτὸν τρέχοντες καὶ ἔλεγον· «Σύρωμεν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐξουσίαν αὐτοῦ ἐσχηκότες.» 7 Καὶ πορφύραν αὐτὸν περιέβαλον καὶ ἐκάθισαν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ καθέδραν κρίσεως λέγοντες· «Δικαίως κρῖνε, βασιλεῦ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ.» 8 Καί τις αὐτῶν ἐνεγκὼν στέφανον ἀκάνθινον ἔθηκεν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ Κυρίου, 9 καὶ ἕτεροι ἑστῶτες ἐνέπτυον αὐτοῦ ταῖς ὄψεσι καὶ ἄλλοι τὰς σιαγόνας αὐτοῦ ἐράπισαν, ἕτεροι καλάμῳ ἔνυσσον αὐτὸν καί τινες αὐτὸν ἐμάστιζον λέγοντες· «Ταύτῃ τῇ τιμῇ τιμήσωμεν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ.»	[6] But having taken the Lord, running, they were pushing him and saying, 'Let us drag along the Son of God now that we have power over him.' [7] And they clothed him with purple and sat him on a chair of judgment, saying: 'Judge justly, King of Israel.' [8] And a certain one of them, having brought a thorny crown, put it on the head of the Lord. [9] And others who were standing there were spitting in his face, and others slapped his cheeks. Others were jabbing him with a reed; and some scourged him, saying, 'With such honor let us honor the Son of God.'
4.10 Καὶ ἔνεγκον δύο κακούργους καὶ ἐσταύρωσαν ἀνὰ μέσον αὐτῶν τὸν Κύριον· αὐτὸς δὲ ἐσιώπα ὡς μηδὲν πόνον ἔχων· 11 καὶ ὅτε ὤρθωσαν τὸν σταυρὸν ἐπέγραψαν ὅτι «οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ». 12 Καὶ τεθεικότες τὰ ἐνδύματα ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ διεμερίσαντο, καὶ λαχμὸν ἔβαλον ἐπ' αὐτοῖς. 13 Εἷς δέ τις τῶν κακούργων ἐκείνων ὠνείδισεν αὐτοὺς λέγων· «Ἡμεῖς διὰ τὰ κακὰ ἃ ἐποιήσαμεν οὕτω πεπόνθαμεν, οὗτος δὲ σωτὴρ γενόμενος τῶν ἀνθρώπων τί ἠδίκησεν ὑμᾶς;» 14 Καὶ ἀγανακτήσαντες ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἐκέλευσαν ἵνα μὴ σκελοκοπηθῇ ὅπως βασανιζόμενος ἀποθάνῃ.	[10] And they brought two wrongdoers and crucified the Lord in the middle of them. But he was silent as having no pain. [11] And when they had set the cross upright, they inscribed that THIS IS THE KING OF ISRAEL. [12] And having put his garments before him, they divided them up and threw as a gamble for them. [13] But a certain one of those wrongdoers reviled them, saying: 'We have been made suffer thus because of the wrong that we have done; but this one, having become Savior of men, what injustice had he done to you?' [14] And having become irritated at him, they ordered that there be no leg-breaking, so that he might die tormented.
5.15 Ἦν δὲ μεσημβρία, καὶ σκότος κατέσχε πᾶσαν τὴν Ἰουδαίαν· καὶ ἐθορυβοῦντο καὶ ἠγωνίων μήποτε ὁ ἥλιος ἔδυ ἐπειδὴ ἔτι ἔζη· γέγραπται <γὰρ> αὐτοῖς ἥλιον μὴ δῦναι ἐπὶ πεφονευμένῳ. 16 Καί τις αὐτῶν εἶπεν· «Ποτίσατε αὐτὸν χολὴν μετὰ ὄξους»· καὶ κεράσαντες ἐπότισαν. 17 Καὶ ἐπλήρωσαν πάντα καὶ ἐτελείωσαν κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῶν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. 18 Περιήρχοντο δὲ πολλοὶ μετὰ λύχνων νομίζοντες ὅτι νύξ ἐστιν <καὶ> ἐπέσαντο. 19 Καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἀνεβόησε λέγων· «Ἡ δύναμίς μου, ἡ δύναμις, κατέλειψάς με»· καὶ εἰπὼν ἀνελήφθη. 20 Καὶ αὐτῆς ὥρας διεράγη τὸ καταπέτασμα τοῦ ναοῦ τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ εἰς δύο.	[15] But is was midday, and darkness held fast all Judea; and they were distressed and anxious lest the sun had set, since he was still living. [For] it is written for them: Let not the sun set on one put to death. [16] And someone of them said: 'Give him to drink gall with vinegary wine.' And having made a mixture, they gave to drink. [17] And they fulfilled all things and completed the sins on their own head. [18] But many went around with lamps, thinking that it was night, and they fell. [19] And the Lord screamed out, saying: 'My power, O power, you have forsaken me.' And having said this, he was taken up. [20] And at the same hour the veil of the Jerusalem sanctuary was torn into two.
6.21 Καὶ τότε ἀπέσπασαν τοὺς ἥλους ἀπὸ τῶν χειρῶν τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ ἔθηκαν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· καὶ ἡ γῆ πᾶσα ἐσείσθη καὶ φόβος μέγας ἐγένετο. 22 Τότε ἥλιος ἔλαμψε καὶ εὑρέθη ὥρα ἐνάτη. 23 Ἐχάρησαν δὲ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ δεδώκασι τῷ Ἰωσὴφ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἵνα αὐτὸ θάψῃ, ἐπειδὴ θεασάμενος ἦν ὅσα ἀγαθὰ ἐποίησεν. 24 Λαβὼν δὲ τὸν Κύριον ἔλουσε καὶ εἴλησε σινδόνι καὶ εἰσήγαγεν εἰς ἴδιον τάφον καλούμενον κῆπον Ἰωσήφ.	[21] And they drew out the nails from the hands of the Lord and placed him on the earth; and all the earth was shaken, and a great fear came about. [22] Then the sun shone, and it was found to be the ninth hour. [23] And the Jews rejoiced and gave his body to Joseph that he might bury it, since he was one who had seen the many good things he did. [24] And having taken the Lord, he washed and tied him with a linen cloth and brought him into his own sepulcher, called the Garden of Joseph.
7.25 Τότε οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς γνόντες οἷον κακὸν ἑαυτοῖς ἐποίησαν ἤρξαντο κόπτεσθαι καὶ λέγειν· «Οὐαὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν· ἤγγισεν ἡ κρίσις καὶ τὸ τέλος Ἰερουσαλήμ.» 26 Ἐγὼ δὲ μετὰ τῶν ἑταίρων ἐλυπούμην, καὶ τετρωμένοι κατὰ διάνοιαν ἐκρυβόμεθα· ἐζητούμεθα γὰρ ὑπ' αὐτῶν ὡς κακοῦργοι καὶ ὡς τὸν ναὸν θέλοντες ἐμπρῆσαι. 27 Ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις πᾶσιν ἐνηστεύομεν καὶ ἐκαθεζόμεθα πενθοῦντες καὶ κλαίοντες νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ἕως τοῦ σαββάτου.	[25] Then the Jews and the elders and the priests, having come to know how much wrong they had done themselves, began to beat themselves and say: 'Woe to our sins. The judgment has approached and the end of Jerusalem.' [26] But I with the companions was sorrowful; and having been wounded in spirit, we were in hiding, for we were sought after by them as wrongdoers and as wishing to set fire to the sanctuary. [27] In addition to all these things we were fasting; and we were sitting mourning and weeping night and day until the Sabbath.
8.28 Συναχθέντες δὲ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι καὶ πρεσβύτεροι πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ἀκούσαντες ὅτι ὁ λαὸς ἅπας γογγύζει καὶ κόπτεται τὰ στήθη λέγοντες ὅτι «εἰ τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα τὰ μέγιστα σημεῖα γέγονεν, ἴδετε ὅτι πόσον δίκαιός ἐστιν», 29 ἐφοβήθησαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ ἦλθον πρὸς Πειλᾶτον δεόμενοι αὐτοῦ καὶ λέγοντες· 30 «Παράδος ἡμῖν στρατιώτας, ἵνα φυλάξωμεν τὸ μνῆμα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμ[έρας], μήποτε ἐλθόντες οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ κλέψωσιν αὐτὸν καὶ ὑπολάβῃ ὁ λαὸς ὅτι ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνέστη, καὶ ποιήσωσιν ἡμῖν κακά.» 31 Ὁ δὲ Πειλᾶτος παραδέδωκεν αὐτοῖς Πετρώνιον τὸν κεντυρίωνα μετὰ στρατιωτῶν φυλάσσειν τὸν τάφον. Καὶ σὺν τούτοις ἦλθον πρεσβύτεροι καὶ γραμματεῖς ἐπὶ τὸ μνῆμα. 32 Καὶ κυλίσαντες λίθον μέγαν μετὰ τοῦ κεντυρίωνος καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν ὁμοῦ πάντες οἱ ὄντες ἐκεῖ ἔθηκαν ἐπὶ τῇ θύρᾳ τοῦ μνήματος. 33 Καὶ ἐπέχρισαν ἑπτὰ σφραγῖδας, καὶ σκηνὴν ἐκεῖ πήξαντες ἐφύλαξαν.	[28] But the scribes and Pharisees and elders, having gathered together with one another, having heard that all the people were murmuring and beating their breasts, saying that 'If at his death these very great signs happened, behold how just he was,' [29] feared (especially the elders) and came before Pilate, begging him and saying, [30] 'Give over soldiers to us in order that we may safeguard his burial place for three days, lest, having come, his disciples steal him, and the people accept that he is risen from the death, and they do us wrong.' [31] But Pilate gave over to them Petronius the centurion with soldiers to safeguard the sepulcher. And with these the elders and scribes came to the burial place. [32] And having rolled a large stone, all who were there, together with the centurion and the soldiers, placed it against the door of the burial place. [33] And they marked it with seven wax seals; and having pitched a tent there, they safeguarded it.
9.34 Πρωΐας δὲ ἐπιφώσκοντος τοῦ σαββάτου, ἦλθεν ὄχλος ἀπὸ Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ τῆς περιχώρου ἵνα ἴδωσι τὸ μνημεῖον ἐσφραγισμένον. 35 Τῇ δὲ νυκτὶ ᾗ ἐπέφωσκεν ἡ κυριακή, φυλασσόντων τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀνὰ δύο κατὰ φρουράν, μεγάλη φωνὴ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ. 36 Καὶ εἶδον ἀνοιχθέντας τοὺς οὐρα[ν]οὺς καὶ δύο ἄνδρας κατελθόντας ἐκεῖθεν, πολὺ φέγγος ἔχοντας καὶ ἐγγίσαντας τῷ τάφῳ. 37 Ὁ δὲ λίθος ἐκεῖνος ὁ βεβλημένος ἐπὶ τῇ θύρᾳ ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ κυλισθεὶς ἐπεχώρησε παρὰ μέρος, καὶ ὁ τάφος ἠνοίγη καὶ ἀμφότεροι οἱ νεανίσκοι εἰσῆλθον.	[34] But early when the Sabbath was dawning, a crowd came from Jerusalem and the surrounding area in order that they might see the sealed tomb. [35] But in the night in which the Lord's day dawned, when the soldiers were safeguarding it two by two in every watch, there was a loud voice in heaven; [36] and they saw that the heavens were opened and that two males who had much radiance had come down from there and come near the sepulcher. [37] But that stone which had been thrust against the door, having rolled by itself, went a distance off the side; and the sepulcher opened, and both the young men entered.
10.38 Ἰδόντες οὖν οἱ στρατιῶται ἐκεῖνοι ἐξύπνισαν τὸν κεντυρίωνα καὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους – παρῆσαν γὰρ καὶ αὐτοὶ φυλάσσοντες – , 39 καὶ ἐξηγουμένων αὐτῶν ἃ εἶδον, πάλιν ὁρῶσιν ἐξελθόντας ἀπὸ τοῦ τάφου τρεῖς ἄνδρας καὶ τοὺς δύο τὸν ἕνα ὑπορθοῦντας καὶ σταυρὸν ἀκολουθοῦντα αὐτοῖς, 40 καὶ τῶν μὲν δύο τὴν κεφαλὴν χωροῦσαν μέχρι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, τοῦ δὲ χειραγωγουμένου ὑπ' αὐτῶν ὑπερβαίνουσαν τοὺς οὐρανούς· 41 καὶ φωνῆς ἤκουον ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν λεγούσης· «Ἐκήρυξας τοῖς κοιμωμένοις;» 42 Καὶ ὑπακοὴ ἠκούετο ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ ὅτι «ναί».	[38] And so those soldiers, having seen, awakened the centurion and the elders (for they too were present, safeguarding). [39] And while they were relating what they had seen, again they see three males who have come out from they sepulcher, with the two supporting the other one, and a cross following them, [40] and the head of the two reaching unto heaven, but that of the one being led out by a hand by them going beyond the heavens. [41] And they were hearing a voice from the heavens saying, 'Have you made proclamation to the fallen-asleep?' [42] And an obeisance was heard from the cross, 'Yes.'
11.43 Συνεσκέπτοντο οὖν ἀλλήλοις ἐκεῖνοι ἀπελθεῖν καὶ ἐνφανίσαι ταῦτα τῷ Πειλάτῳ· 44 καὶ ἔτι διανοουμένων αὐτῶν φαίνονται πάλιν ἀνοιχθέντες οἱ οὐρανοὶ καὶ ἄνθρωπός τις κατελθὼν καὶ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸ μνῆμα. 45 Ταῦτα ἰδόντες οἱ περὶ τὸν κεντυρίωνα νυκτὸς ἔσπευσαν πρὸς Πειλᾶτον, ἀφέντες τὸν τάφον ὃν ἐφύλασσον, καὶ ἐξηγήσαντο πάντα ἅπερ εἶδον, ἀγωνιῶντες μεγάλως καὶ λέγοντες· «Ἀληθῶς υἱὸς ἦν Θεοῦ.» 46 Ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Πειλᾶτος ἔφη· «Ἐγὼ καθαρεύω τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὑμῖν δὲ τοῦτο ἔδοξεν.» 47 Εἶτα προσελθόντες πάντες ἐδέοντο αὐτοῦ καὶ παρεκάλουν κελεῦσαι τῷ κεντυρίωνι καὶ τοῖς στρατιώταις μηδενὶ εἰπεῖν ἃ εἶδον· 48 «Συμφέρει γάρ, φασίν, ἡμῖν ὀφλῆσαι μεγίστην ἁμαρτίαν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς χεῖρας τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ λιθασθῆναι.» 49 Ἐκέλευσεν οὖν ὁ Πειλᾶτος τῷ κεντυρίωνι καὶ τοῖς στρατιώταις μηδὲν εἰπεῖν.	[43] And so those people were seeking a common perspective to go off and make these things clear to Pilate; [44] and while they were still considering it through, there appear again the opened heavens and a certain man having come down and entered into the burial place. [45] Having seen these things, those around the centurion hastened at night before Pilate (having left the sepulcher which they were safeguarding) and described all the things that they indeed had seen, agonizing greatly and saying: 'Truly he was God's Son.' [46] In answer Pilate said: 'I am clean of the blood of the Son of God, but it was to you that this seemed [the thing to do].' [47] Then all, having come forward, were begging and exhorting him to command the centurion and the soldiers to say to no one what they had seen. [48] 'For,' they said, 'it is better for us to owe the debt of the greatest sin in the sight of God than to fall into the hands of the Jewish people and be stoned.' [49] And so Pilate ordered the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing.
12.50 Ὄρθρου δὲ τῆς κυριακῆς Μαριὰμ ἡ Μαγδαληνή, μαθήτρια τοῦ Κυρίου – φοβουμένη διὰ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, ἐπειδὴ ἐφλέγοντο ὑπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς, οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἐπὶ τῷ μνήματι τοῦ Κυρίου ἃ εἰώθεσαν ποιεῖν αἱ γυναῖκες ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀποθνῄσκουσι τοῖς ἀγαπωμένοις αὐταῖς – , 51 λαβοῦσα μεθ' ἑαυτῆς τὰς φίλας ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον ὅπου ἦν τεθείς. 52 Καὶ ἐφοβοῦντο μὴ ἴδωσιν αὐτὰς οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ ἔλεγον· «Εἰ καὶ μὴ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ ἐσταυρώθη ἐδυνήθημεν κλαῦσαι καὶ κόψασθαι, κἂν νῦν ἐπὶ τοῦ μνήματος αὐτοῦ ποιήσωμεν ταῦτα. 53 Τίς δὲ ἀποκυλίσει ἡμῖν καὶ τὸν λίθον τὸν τεθέντα ἐπὶ τῆς θύρας τοῦ μνημείου, ἵνα εἰσελθοῦσαι παρακαθεσθῶμεν αὐτῷ καὶ ποιήσωμεν τὰ ὀφειλόμενα; 54 Μέγας γὰρ ἦν ὁ λίθος, καὶ φοβούμεθα μή τις ἡμᾶς ἴδῃ. Καὶ εἰ μὴ δυνάμεθα, κἂν ἐπὶ τῆς θύρας βάλωμεν ἃ φέρομεν εἰς μνημοσύνην αὐτοῦ, κλαύσωμεν καὶ κοψώμεθα ἕως ἔλθωμεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον ἡμῶν.»	[50] Now at the dawn of the Lord's Day Mary Magdalene, a female disciple of the Lord (who, afraid because of the Jews since they were inflamed with anger, had not done at the tomb of the Lord what women were accustomed to do for the dead beloved by them), [51] having taken with her women friends, came to the tomb where he had been placed. [52] And they were afraid lest the Jews should see them and were saying, 'If indeed on that day on which he was crucified we could not weep and beat ourselves, yet now at his tomb we may do these things. [53] But who will roll away for us even the stone placed against the door of the tomb in order that, having entered, we may sit beside him and do the expected things? [54] For the stone was large, and we were afraid lest anyone see us. And if we are unable, let is throw against the door what we bring in memory of him; let us weep and beat ourselves until we come to our homes.'
13.55 Καὶ ἀπελθοῦσαι εὗρον τὸν τάφον ἠνεωγμένον· καὶ προσελθοῦσαι παρέκυψαν ἐκεῖ, καὶ ὁρῶσιν ἐκεῖ τινα νεανίσκον καθεζόμενον <ἐν> μέσῳ τοῦ τάφου ὡραῖον καὶ περιβεβλημένον στολὴν λαμπροτάτην, ὅστις ἔφη αὐταῖς· 56 «Τί ἤλθατε; τίνα ζητεῖτε; μὴ τὸν σταυρωθέντα ἐκεῖνον; Ἀνέστη καὶ ἀπῆλθεν· εἰ δὲ μὴ πιστεύετε, παρακύψατε καὶ ἴδετε τὸν τόπον ἔνθα ἔκειτο, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν· ἀνέστη γὰρ καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ἐκεῖ ὅθεν ἀπεστάλη.» 57 Τότε αἱ γυναῖκες φοβηθεῖσαι ἔφυγον.	[55] And having gone off, they found the sepulcher opened. And having come forward, they bent down there and saw there a certain young man seated in the middle of the sepulcher, comely and clothed with a splendid robe, who said to them: [56] 'Why have you come? Whom do you seek? Not that one who was crucified? He is risen and gone away. But if you do not believe, bend down and see the place where he lay, because he is not here. For he is risen and gone away to there whence he was sent.' [57] Then the women fled frightened.
14.58 Ἦν δὲ τελευταία ἡμέρα τῶν ἀζύμων, καὶ πολλοί τινες ἐξήρχοντο ὑποστρέφοντες εἰς τοὺς οἴκους αὐτῶν τῆς ἑορτῆς παυσαμένης. 59 Ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ δώδεκα μαθηταὶ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐκλαίομεν καὶ ἐλυπούμεθα, καὶ ἕκαστος λυπούμενος διὰ τὸ συμβὰν ἀπηλλάγη εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ. 60 Ἐγὼ δὲ Σίμων Πέτρος καὶ Ἀνδρέας ὁ ἀδελφός μου λαβόντες ἡμῶν τὰ λίνα ἀπήλθαμεν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν· καὶ ἦν σὺν ἡμῖν Λευεὶς ὁ τοῦ Ἀλφαίου, ὃν Κύριος ....	[58] Now it was the final day of the Unleavened Bread; and many went out returning to their home since the feast was over. [59] But we twelve disciples of the Lord were weeping and sorrowful; and each one, sorrowful because of what had come to pass, departed to his home. [60] But I, Simon Peter, and my brother Andrew, having taken our nets, went off to the sea. And there was with us Levi of Alphaeus whom the Lord ....

Notes and Quotes

Context and Textual Parallels

Title: Κατὰ Πέτρον (according to Peter).
Matthew 27.11-28.8a = Mark 15.2-16.8 = Luke 23.2-24.9a; John 18.29-20.1 (approximate range of the Akhmîm Fragment).
John 21.1-2 (fishing again).

Attestation

Eusebius, History of the Church 6.12.2-6; 6.13.1a, writing of Serapion, bishop of Antioch: ...ἕτερός τε συντεταγμένος αὐτῷ λόγος Περὶ τοῦ λεγομένου κατὰ Πέτρον εὐαγγελίου, ὃν πεποίηται ἀπελέγχων τὰ ψευδῶς ἐν αὐτῷ εἰρημένα διά τινας ἐν τῇ κατὰ Ῥωσσὸν παροικίᾳ προφάσει τῆς εἰρημένης γραφῆς εἰς ἑτεροδόξους διδασκαλίας ἀποκείλαντας· ἀφ' οὗ εὔλογον βραχείας παραθέσθαι λέξεις, δι' ὧν ἣν εἶχεν περὶ τοῦ βιβλίου γνώμην προτίθησιν, οὕτω γράφων· »ἡμεῖς γάρ, ἀδελφοί, καὶ Πέτρον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀποστόλους ἀποδεχόμεθα ὡς Χριστόν, τὰ δὲ ὀνόματι αὐτῶν ψευδεπίγραφα ὡς ἔμπειροι παραιτούμεθα, γινώσκοντες ὅτι τὰ τοιαῦτα οὐ παρελάβομεν. ἐγὼ γὰρ γενόμενος παρ' ὑμῖν, ὑπενόουν τοὺς πάντας ὀρθῇ πίστει προσφέρεσθαι, καὶ μὴ διελθὼν τὸ ὑπ' αὐτῶν προφερόμενον ὀνόματι Πέτρου εὐαγγέλιον, εἶπον ὅτι εἰ τοῦτό ἐστιν μόνον τὸ δοκοῦν ὑμῖν παρέχειν μικροψυχίαν, ἀναγινωσκέσθω· νῦν δὲ μαθὼν ὅτι αἱρέσει τινὶ ὁ νοῦς αὐτῶν ἐφώλευεν, ἐκ τῶν λεχθέντων μοι, σπουδάσω πάλιν γενέσθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὥστε, ἀδελφοί, προσδοκᾶτέ με ἐν τάχει. ἡμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, καταλαβόμενοι ὁποίας ἦν αἱρέσεως ὁ Μαρκιανός, <ὃς> καὶ ἑαυτῷ ἐναντιοῦτο, μὴ νοῶν ἃ ἐλάλει, ἃ μαθήσεσθε ἐξ ὧν ὑμῖν ἐγράφη, ἐδυνήθημεν γὰρ παρ' ἄλλων τῶν ἀσκησάντων αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, τοῦτ' ἐστὶν παρὰ τῶν διαδόχων τῶν καταρξαμένων αὐτοῦ, οὓς Δοκητὰς καλοῦμεν (τὰ γὰρ πλείονα φρονήματα ἐκείνων ἐστὶ τῆς διδασκαλίας), χρησάμενοι παρ' αὐτῶν διελθεῖν καὶ εὑρεῖν τὰ μὲν πλείονα τοῦ ὀρθοῦ λόγου τοῦ σωτῆρος, τινὰ δὲ προσδιεσταλμένα, ἃ καὶ ὑπετάξαμεν ὑμῖν». καὶ ταῦτα μὲν τὰ Σεραπίωνος. / ...and another word which was put together by him, About the Gospel Called According to Peter, which he has made refuting the things falsely said in it on account of certain ones in the community at Rhossus who were diverted into heterodox teachings by the profession of said writing, from which it seems well to set out brief sayings through which he sets forth the opinion that he had about the book: "For we, brethren, receive both Peter and the other apostles as Christ, but the pseudepigrapha that go by their name we reject, as experienced men, knowing that we did not recieve such things. For I myself, when I was with you, had in mind that you all were bearing into the right faith, and, without going through the gospel borne forth by them in the name of Peter, I said that, if this was all that seems to bring about pettiness for you, let it be read. But having now learned from what was said to me that their mind was holing up in some heresy, I shall hasten to be with you again; wherefore, brethren, expect me in quickness. But we, brethren, taking in of what kind of heresy Marcianus was, who also contradicted himself, not thinking about what he was saying, which things you will learn from the things that I have written to you, were enabled by others who studied this same gospel, that is, by the successors of those who began it, whom we called docetics, for most of the thoughts are of their teaching, using [material] from them to go through and find that most things are of the right word of the savior, but some things are spurious, which things we order out for you." And these things are those of Serapion.
Origen, On Matthew 10.17, commentary on Matthew 13.55: Καὶ ὅλην γε τὴν φαινομένην αὐτοῦ ἐγγυτάτω συγγένειαν ἐξευτελίζοντες ἔφασκον τὸ οὐχ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ λέγεται Μαριὰμ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωσὴφ καὶ Σίμων καὶ Ἰούδας; Καὶ αἱ ἀδελφαὶ αὐτοῦ οὐχὶ πᾶσαι πρὸς ἡμᾶς εἰσιν; Ὤιοντο οὖν αὐτὸν εἶναι Ἰωσὴφ καὶ Μαρίας υἱόν. Τοὺς δὲ ἀδελφοὺς Ἰησοῦ φασί τινες εἶναι, ἐκ παραδόσεως ὁρμώμενοι τοῦ ἐπιγεγραμμένου κατὰ Πέτρον εὐαγγελίου ἢ τῆς βίβλου Ἰακώβου, υἱοὺς Ἰωσὴφ ἐκ προτέρας γυναικὸς συνῳκηκυίας αὐτῷ πρὸ τῆς Μαρίας. / And disparaging the whole of what appeared to be his nearest kindred, they said: Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? They supposed therefore that he was the son of Joseph and Mary. But some, depending on a tradition of the gospel inscribed according to Peter, or of the book of James, say that the brethren of Jesus were sons of Joseph from a former wife, married to him before Mary.
From Eusebius, History of the Church 3.3.2, writing about the apostle Peter: τό γε μὴν τῶν ἐπικεκλημένων αὐτοῦ Πράξεων καὶ τὸ κατ' αὐτὸν ὠνομασμένον εὐαγγέλιον τό τε λεγόμενον αὐτοῦ Κήρυγμα καὶ τὴν καλουμένην Ἀποκάλυψιν οὐδ' ὅλως ἐν καθολικοῖς ἴσμεν παραδεδομένα, ὅτι μήτε ἀρχαίων μήτε μὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς τις ἐκκλησιαστικὸς συγγραφεὺς ταῖς ἐξ αὐτῶν συνεχρήσατο μαρτυρίαις. / Now of the Acts called after him, and the Gospel named according to him, and what is said to be his Preaching, and what is called the Apocalypse we do not know at all as delivered among Catholics, since no ecclesiastical historian either from the ancients or among us has made use of testimonies from them.
Eusebius, History of the Church 3.25.6-7: ἀναγκαίως δὲ καὶ τούτων ὅμως τὸν κατάλογον πεποιήμεθα, διακρίνοντες τάς τε κατὰ τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν παράδοσιν ἀληθεῖς καὶ ἀπλάστους καὶ ἀνωμολογημένας γραφὰς καὶ τὰς ἄλλως παρὰ ταύτας, οὐκ ἐνδιαθήκους μὲν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀντιλεγομένας, ὅμως δὲ παρὰ πλείστοις τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν γινωσκο- μένας, ἵν' εἰδέναι ἔχοιμεν αὐτάς τε ταύτας καὶ τὰς ὀνόματι τῶν ἀποστόλων πρὸς τῶν αἱρετικῶν προφερομένας ἤτοι ὡς Πέτρου καὶ Θωμᾶ καὶ Ματθία ἢ καί τινων παρὰ τούτους ἄλλων εὐαγγέλια περιεχούσας ἢ ὡς Ἀνδρέου καὶ Ἰωάννου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀποστόλων πράξεις· ὧν οὐδὲν οὐδαμῶς ἐν συγγράμματι τῶν κατὰ τὰς διαδοχὰς ἐκκλησιαστικῶν τις ἀνὴρ εἰς μνήμην ἀγαγεῖν ἠξίωσεν, πόρρω δέ που καὶ ὁ τῆς φράσεως παρὰ τὸ ἦθος τὸ ἀποστολικὸν ἐναλλάττει χαρακτήρ, ἥ τε γνώμη καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς φερομένων προαίρεσις πλεῖστον ὅσον τῆς ἀληθοῦς ὀρθοδοξίας ἀπᾴδουσα, ὅτι δὴ αἱρετικῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀναπλάσματα τυγχάνει, σαφῶς παρίστησιν· ὅθεν οὐδ' ἐν νόθοις αὐτὰ κατατακτέον, ἀλλ' ὡς ἄτοπα πάντῃ καὶ δυσσεβῆ παραιτητέον. / But we have also necessarily made a catalogue of these likewise, judging between those writings which are, according to the ecclesiastical tradition, true and genuine and confessed and the others with these, not testamental but indeed disputed, but likewise available to most of the ecclesiastical men, either Gospels held forth as of Peter or of Thomas or of Matthias, or also of certain others besides these, or the Acts as of Andrew or of John and the other apostles, of which none in any way has any of the ecclesiastical men in the succession has seen fit to make mention in his writing. And moreover, somehow even the character of the phrasing differs from the apostolic style, and the opinion and tendency of those things extant in them is so very far from the true orthodoxy that it is indeed clear that they happen to be the forgeries of heretical men. They ought therefore not even to be ordered among the illegitimate [books], but shunned as altogether improper and irreligious.
Theodoretus, Compendium of Heretical Fables 2.2, writing of the Nazoraeans: Οἱ δὲ Ναζωραῖοι Ἰουδαῖοί εἰσι, τὸν Χριστὸν τιμῶντες ὡς ἄνθρωπον δίκαιον, καὶ τῷ καλουμένῳ κατὰ Πέτρον Εὐαγγελίῳ κεχρημένοι. / But the Nazoraeans are Jews, honoring Christ as a just man, and using the gospel called according to Peter.
The Gelasian Decree lists among the apocryphal works the evangelium nomine Petri apostoli apocryphum, or "the apocryphal gospel by the name of Peter the apostle."
Peter Ostracon, apud Ehrman, obverse (century VI or VII): Πέτρος ὁ ἅγιος ὁ εὐαγγελ<ιστής>. / Saint Peter the evangelist. [The ostracon appears to have εὐαγγελτιχ.] Peter Ostracon, apud Ehrman, reverse (century VI or VII): Προσκυνήσωμεν αὐτόν· τ(ὸ) εὐ(αγγέλιον) α(ὐτοῦ) μεταλάβωμεν. / Let us reverence him; let us receive his gospel.

Works Consulted and Links

Bart Ehrman and Zlatko Plese, The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations.
Bart Ehrman, Lost Christianities.
Raymond Brown, English Translation.
Early Christian Writings: The Gospel of Peter.
TextExcavation: The Gospel of Peter.
Biblical Criticism & History Forum: Other Gospel Texts.

Images

Akhmîm 1.1-5.16: http://ipap.csad.ox.ac.uk/GP/300dpi/1-16.jpg.


Akhmîm 5.16-7.25: http://ipap.csad.ox.ac.uk/GP/300dpi/16-25.jpg.


Akhmîm 7.25-8.30: http://ipap.csad.ox.ac.uk/GP/300dpi/25-30.jpg.


Akhmîm 8.30-9.36: http://ipap.csad.ox.ac.uk/GP/300dpi/30-36.jpg.


Akhmîm 9.36-11.43: http://ipap.csad.ox.ac.uk/GP/300dpi/36-43.jpg.


Akhmîm 11.43-12.50: http://ipap.csad.ox.ac.uk/GP/300dpi/43-50.jpg.


Akhmîm 12.50-13.55: http://ipap.csad.ox.ac.uk/GP/300dpi/50-55.jpg.


Akhmîm 13.55-14.60: http://ipap.csad.ox.ac.uk/GP/300dpi/55-59.jpg.


Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2949: http://163.1.169.40/gsdl/collect/POxy/i ... .hires.jpg.


Peter Ostracon: http://textexcavation.com/documents/ima ... tracon.jpg.

[MrMacSon]

.
The Gospel of Peter is part of a book discovered by archaeologists in 1886 in the grave of a Christian monk in in the modern Egyptian city of Akhmim (sixty miles north of Nag Hammadi). The book found dates to the 7th-9th century, but the text itself is considered by many to date back at least to the early second century.

It is unclear whether the part now called the gospel of Peter was part of a more complete narrative, similar to the canonical gospels, or simply just a Passion narrative.

See Photographs of the Papyri of the Gospel of Peter - P.Cair. 10759 - in the Cairo Museum

Some scholars argue that Peter predates other Gospel accounts. As evidence, they cite the fact that Peter, alone among the Gospel accounts, does not describe Jesus' execution as fulfillment of prophecy.

The Passion begins abruptly with the trial of Jesus before Pilate, after Pilate has washed his hands. The Gospel of Peter is more detailed in its account of the events after the Crucifixion than any of the canonical gospels, and it varies from the canonical accounts in numerous details: Herod gives the order for the execution, not Pilate, who is exonerated; a Joseph was acquainted with Pilate (whether 'Joseph of Arimathea' or another Joseph is not clear).

Ben has give the text above in a table, but I'll give it again here -

1 But of the Jews none washed his hands; neither Herod, nor any one of his judges. And when they had refused to wash them, Pilate rose up. And then Herod the king commandeth that the Lord be taken, saying to them, 'What things soever I commanded you to do unto him, do'.

2 And there was standing there Joseph the friend of Pilate and of the Lord; and, knowing that they were about to crucify him, he came to Pilate and asked the body of the Lord for burial. And Pilate sent to Herod and asked his body. And Herod said, 'Brother Pilate, even if no one had asked for him, we purposed to bury him, especially as the sabbath draweth on: for it is written in the law, that the sun set not upon one that hath been put to death'.

3 And he delivered him to the people on the day before the unleavened bread, their feast. And they took the Lord and pushed him as they ran, and said, Let us drag away the Son of God, having obtained power over him. And they clothed him with purple, and set him on the seat of judgement, saying, 'Judge righteously, O king of Israel'. And one of them brought a crown of thorns and put it on the head of the Lord. And others stood and spat in his eyes, and others smote his cheeks: others pricked him with a reed; and some scourged him, saying, With this honour let us honour the Son of God.

4 And they brought two malefactors, and they crucified the Lord between them. But he held his peace, as though having no pain. And when they had raised the cross, they wrote the title: This is the king of Israel. And having set his garments before him they parted them among them, and cast lots for them. And one of those malefactors reproached them, saying, We for the evils that we have done have suffered thus, but this man, who hath become the Saviour of men, what wrong hath he done to you? And they, being angered at him, commanded that his legs should not be broken, that he might die in torment.

5 And it was noon, and darkness came over all Judaea: and they were troubled and distressed, lest the sun had set, whilst he was yet alive: [for] it is written for them, that the sun set not on him that hath been put to death. And one of them said, 'Give him to drink gall with vinegar'. And they mixed and gave him to drink, and fulfilled all things, and accomplished their sins against their own head. And many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night, and fell down. And the Lord cried out, saying, "My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me". And when he had said it, he was taken up. And in that hour the vail of the temple of Jerusalem was rent in twain.

6 And then they drew out the nails from the hands of the Lord, and laid him upon the earth, and the whole earth quaked, and great fear arose. Then the sun shone, and it was found the ninth hour: and the Jews rejoiced, and gave his body to Joseph that he might bury it, since he had seen what good things he had done. And he took the Lord, and washed him, and rolled him in a linen cloth, and brought him into his own tomb, which was called the Garden of Joseph.

7 Then the Jews and the elders and the priests, perceiving what evil they had done to themselves, began to lament and to say, 'Woe for our sins: the judgement hath drawn nigh, and the end of Jerusalem'. And I with my companions was grieved; and being wounded in mind we hid ourselves: for we were being sought for by them as malefactors, and as wishing to set fire to the temple. And upon all these things we fasted and sat mourning and weeping night and day until the sabbath.

8 But the scribes and Pharisees and elders being gathered together one with another, when they heard that all the people murmured and beat their breasts saying, If by his death these most mighty signs have come to pass, see how righteous he is, --the eiders were afraid and came to Pilate, beseeching him and saying, Give us soldiers, that we may guard his sepulchre for three days, lest his disciples come and steal him away, and the people suppose that he is risen from the dead and do us evil. And Pilate gave them Petronius the centurion with soldiers to guard the tomb. And with them came elders and scribes to the sepulchre, and having rolled a great stone together with the centurion and the soldiers, they all together who were there set it at the door of the sepulchre; and they affixed seven seals, and they pitched a tent there and guarded it. And early in the morning as the sabbath. was drawing on, there came a multitude from Jerusalem and the region round about, that they might see the sepulchre that was sealed.

9 And in the night in which the Lord's day was drawing on, as the soldiers kept guard two by two in a watch, there was a great voice in the heaven; and they saw the heavens opened, and two men descend from thence with great light and approach the tomb. And that stone which was put at the door rolled of itself and made way in part; and the tomb was opened, and both the young men entered in.

10 When therefore those soldiers saw it, they awakened the centurion and the elders; for they too were hard by keeping guard. And, as they declared what things they had seen, again they see three men come forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one, and a cross following them: and of the two the head reached unto the heaven, but the head of him that was led by them overpassed the heavens. And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, Thou hast preached to them that sleep. And a response was heard from the cross, Yea.

11 They therefore considered one with another whether to go away and shew these things to Pilate. And while they yet thought thereon, the heavens again are seen to open, and a certain man to descend and enter into the sepulchre. When the centurion and they that were with him saw these things, they hastened in the night to Pilate, leaving the tomb which they were watching, and declared all things which they had seen, being greatly distressed and saying, Truly he was the Son of God. Pilate answered and said, 'I am pure from the blood of the Son of God: but it was ye who determined this'. Then they all drew near and besought him and entreated him to command the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing of the things which they had seen: For it is better, say they, for us to be guilty of the greatest sin before God, and not to fall into the hands of the people of the Jews and to be stoned. Pilate therefore commanded the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing.

12 And at dawn upon the Lord's day Mary Magdalen, a disciple of the Lord, fearing because of the Jews, since they were burning with wrath, had not done at the Lord's sepulchre the things which women are wont to do for those that die and for those that are beloved by them--she took her friends with her and came to the sepulchre where he was laid. And they feared lest the Jews should see them, and they said, Although on that day on which he was crucified we could not weep and lament, yet now let us do these things at his sepulchre. But who shall roll away for us the stone that was laid at the door of the sepulchre, that we may enter in and sit by him and do the things that are due? For the stone was great, and we fear lest some one see us. And if we cannot, yet if we but set at the door the things which we bring for a memorial of him, we will weep and lament, until we come unto our home.

13 And they went and found the tomb opened, and coming near they looked in there; and they see there a certain young man sitting in the midst of the tomb, beautiful and clothed in a robe exceeding bright: who said to them, 'Wherefore are ye come? Whom seek ye? Him that was crucified? He is risen and gone. But if ye believe not, look in and see the place where he lay, that he is not [here]; for he is risen and gone thither, whence he was sent.' Then the women feared and fled.

14 Now it was the last day of the unleavened bread, and many were going forth, returning to their homes, as the feast was ended. But we, the twelve disciples of the Lord, wept and were grieved: and each one, being grieved for that which was come to pass, departed to his home. But I, Simon Peter, and Andrew my brother took our nets and went to the sea; and there was with us Levi the son of Alphaeus, whom the Lord . . .

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/f ... count.html

[MrMacSon]

Comments -

There is no use of Christ or Jesus in the text.

The Lord's cry from the cross in Peter is "My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me" (whereas in Matthew it is given as "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" ie. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?").

Immediately after, gPeter states "when he had said it, he was taken up", which some read as suggesting that Jesus did not actually die. This, together with the claim that on the cross Jesus "remained silent, as though he felt no pain", led many early Christians to accuse the text of docetism.

Yet, after the "he was taken up" passage, His body is prepared for burial.

Then the Jews lament, and it is written that they said " ... the judgement hath drawn nigh, and the end of Jerusalem".

The writer says "we hid ourselves: for we were being sought for by them as malefactors, and as wishing to set fire to the temple."

The Resurrection and Ascension, which are described in detail, are not then treated as separate events, but occur on the same day:

• "9. ..there was a great voice in the heaven; and they saw the heavens opened, and two men descend with a great light and approach the tomb. And the stone that was put at the door rolled of itself and made way in part; and the tomb was opened, and both the young men entered in.
  
  10. When therefore those soldiers saw it, they awakened the centurion and the elders, for they too were close by keeping guard. And as they declared what things they had seen, again they saw three men come forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one, and a cross following them. And the heads of the two reached to heaven, but the head of him who was led by them over-passed the heavens. And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, 'You have preached to them that sleep'. And a response was heard from the cross, "Yes."

The text is unusual at this point in describing the Cross itself as speaking, and even floating out of the tomb, which has also led some scholars to suspect or accuse it of gnostic sympathies.


The text continues -

• 11. ... the heavens again are seen to open, and a certain man to descend and enter into the sepulchre. When the centurion and they that were with him saw these things, they hastened in the night to Pilate ...and declared all things which they had seen, being greatly distressed and saying, 'Truly he was the Son of God'. Pilate answered and said, 'I am pure from the blood of the Son of God: but it was ye who determined this'. ... it is better, say they, for us to be guilty of the greatest sin before God, and not to fall into the hands of the people of the Jews and to be stoned. Pilate therefore commanded the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing.

Note a certain man is said to have been seen to descend from heaven and enter the sepulchre. Then there is the description of Mary coming to the tomb and finding

• 13. ...a certain young man sitting in the midst of the tomb, beautiful and clothed in a robe exceeding bright: who said to them, 'Wherefore are ye come? Whom seek ye? Him that was crucified? He is risen and gone. But if ye believe not, look in and see the place where he lay, that he is not [here]; for he is risen and gone thither, whence he was sent.'

Then the women feared and fled.

The text then proceeds to follow the Gospel of Mark, ending at the short ending (where the women flee the empty tomb in fear), adding on an extra scene set during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, where the disciples leave Jerusalem, and ends, like the short ending, without Jesus being physically seen.
.

[MrMacSon]

Ron Cameron and others have further speculated the Gospel of Peter was written independently of the synoptic gospels using an early proto-gospel. A consequence of this is the potential existence of a source text that formed the basis of the passion narratives in Matthew, Luke, and Mark, as well as in Peter. Origen makes mention of the Gospel of Peter as agreeing with the tradition of the Hebrews. Theodoret stated that the Nazarenes made use of the Gospel of Peter, and the testimony of various Church Fathers is generally that 'the Nazarene Gospel' was that commonly called 'the Gospel according to the Hebrews'.

Bart Ehrman has placed the Gospel of Peter in the first half of the second century and considered it to have been compiled based on oral traditions about Jesus, independent of the canonical gospels (Ehrman and Pleše 2011, pp. 370-372).

According to Eusebius, a Rhossus community had been using it in their liturgy (Ecclesiastical History 6.12.3-6). Apparently Serapion, Bishop of Antioch 191–211 AD, initially approved it but, upon closer inspection, later condemned it. It is not known if that was the same text we are now dealing with. In a letter to 'the church', Serapion noted that, while the document was supposedly generally in accord with the NT Gospels, the Docetists had allegedly added some elements in support of their false teaching.

Jerome and Decretum Gelasianum, traditionally connected to Pope Gelasius I, are condemnations apparently based upon the judgment of Eusebius, but not upon a direct knowledge of the text.

The Council of Carthage, meeting in 397 AD/CE to supposedly determine what early Christian writings would make up the canon of the New Testament, is said to have voted to exclude the Gospel of Peter (The primary source of information about the third council of Carthage is said to be the Codex Canonum Ecclesiæ Africanæ, which presents a compilation of ordinances enacted by various church councils in Carthage during the fourth and fifth centuries).

[Charles Wilson]

And Pilate gave them Petronius the centurion with soldiers to guard the tomb. And with them came elders and scribes to the sepulchre, and having rolled a great stone together with the centurion and the soldiers, they all together who were there set it at the door of the sepulchre; and they affixed seven seals, and they pitched a tent there and guarded it. And early in the morning as the sabbath. was drawing on, there came a multitude from Jerusalem and the region round about, that they might see the sepulchre that was sealed.

Once again, someone knows something here.

Josephus, Antiquities..., 15, 9, 1 - 2, in part:

"NOW on this very year, which was the thirteenth year of the reign of Herod, very great calamities came upon the country; whether they were derived from the anger of God, or whether this misery returns again naturally in certain periods of time for, in the first place, there were perpetual droughts, and for that reason the ground was barren, and did not bring forth the same quantity of fruits that it used to produce; and after this barrenness of the soil, that change of food which the want of corn occasioned produced distempers in the bodies of men, and a pestilential disease prevailed, one misery following upon the back of another; and these circumstances, that they were destitute both of methods of cure and of food, made the pestilential distemper, which began after a violent manner, the more lasting...
...
"In these circumstances he considered with himself how to procure some seasonable help; but this was a hard thing to be done, while their neighbors had no food to sell them; and their money also was gone, had it been possible to purchase a little food at a great price. However, he thought it his best way, by all means, not to leave off his endeavors to assist his people; so he cut off the rich furniture that was in his palace, both of silver and gold, insomuch that he did not spare the finest vessels he had, or those that were made with the most elaborate skill of the artificers, but sent the money to Petronius, who had been made prefect of Egypt by Caesar; and as not a few had already fled to him under their necessities, and as he was particularly a friend to Herod, and desirous to have his subjects preserved, he gave leave to them in the first place to export corn, and assisted them every way, both in purchasing and exporting the same; so that he was the principal, if not the only person, who afforded them what help they had. And Herod taking care the people should understand that this help came from himself, did thereby not only remove the ill opinion of those that formerly hated him, but gave them the greatest demonstration possible of his good-will to them, and care of them; for, in the first place, as for those who were able to provide their own food, he distributed to them their proportion of corn in the exactest manner; but for those many that were not able, either by reason of their old age, or any other infirmity, to provide food for themselves, he made this provision for them, the bakers should make their bread ready for them."

This is curious for Fans of Matthew. Matthew duplicates the verse in Mark (Quoted below) and also provides the Joke in Matthew 7:

7 - 11 (RSV):

[7] "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
[8] For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
[9] Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
[10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
[11] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

This a Herod Story. Note the Jokes:

"...Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
If you then, who are evil...

Matthew 18: 6, Mark 9: 42 (RSV):

[6] but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
[42] "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

Herod built Caesarea as a Safe Harbor for the delivery of the grain from Petronius' Egypt. [Edit: He did this by dropping great stones into the sea to provide a Breakwater, hence the Joke here.] From the Priestly Viewpoint, what Herod did saved lives but could not be acceptable since he used it to glorify Herod, much as the Dedication of the Temple was made to coincide with the anniversary of his ascension (See: The Woman Bent Over for 18 Years). This drought which caused great starvation, was very important to the authors of the Original Sources.

Of course, it's possible that "Petronius" was a name picked out of thin air by the authors under consideration but...not likely. "Anicetus" may a name for an early pope but it may be a reference to the Freedman of Polemon who set fire to the Greek town of Trapezus in the Pontus, after Mucianus took everything he could find to march on Rome. "Ya' hafta' zamine all the possibles..."

CW

[MrMacSon]

Once again, someone knows something here.

Josephus, Antiquities..., 15, 9, 1 - 2, in part:

"NOW on this very year, which was the thirteenth year of the reign of Herod, very great calamities came upon the country; whether they were derived from the anger of God, or whether this misery returns again naturally in certain periods of time [14]* for, in the first place, there were perpetual droughts, and for that reason the ground was barren, and did not bring forth the same quantity of fruits that it used to produce; and after this barrenness of the soil, that change of food which the want of corn occasioned produced distempers in the bodies of men, and a pestilential disease prevailed, one misery following upon the back of another; and these circumstances, that they were destitute both of methods of cure and of food, made the pestilential distemper, which began after a violent manner, the more lasting...

* Sacred texts gives footnote 14 as

• "Here we have an eminent example of the language of Josephus in his writing to Gentiles, different from that when he wrote to Jews; in his writing to whom he still derives all such judgments from the anger of God; but because he knew many of the Gentiles thought they might naturally come in certain periods, he complies with them in the following sentence. See the note on the War. B. I. ch. 33. sect. 2."
  http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/josephu ... t%2015.14b

Section 1 continues

"The destruction of men also after such a manner deprived those that survived of all their courage, because they had no way to provide remedies sufficient for the distresses they were in. When therefore the fruits of that year were spoiled, and whatsoever they had laid up beforehand was spent, there was no foundation of hope for relief remaining, but the misery, contrary to what they expected, still increased upon them; and this not only on that year, while they had nothing for themselves left [at the end of it], but what seed they had sown perished also, by reason of the ground not yielding its fruits on the second year. (15) This distress they were in made them also, out of necessity, to eat many things that did not use to be eaten; nor was the king himself free from this distress any more than other men, as being deprived of that tribute he used to have from the fruits of the ground, and having already expended what money he had, in his liberality to those whose cities he had built; nor had he any people that were worthy of his assistance, since this miserable state of things had procured him the hatred of his subjects: for it is a constant rule, that misfortunes are still laid to the account of those that govern."

• 15 "This famine for two years that affected Judea and Syria, the thirteenth mid fourteenth years of Herod, which are the twenty-third and twenty-fourth years before the [supposed] Christian era, seems to have been more terrible during this time than was that in the days of Jacob, Genesis 41., 42. And what makes the comparison the more remarkable is that now, as well as then, the relief they had was from Egypt also; then from Joseph the governor of Egypt, under Pharaoh king of Egypt; and now from Petronius the prefect of Egypt, under Augustus the Roman emperor. See almost the like case, Antiq. B. XX. ch. 2. sect. 6.
  
  It is also well worth our observation here, that these two years were a Sabbatic year, and a year of jubilee, for which Providence, during the theocracy, used to provide a triple crop beforehand; but became now, when the Jews had forfeited that blessing, the greatest years of famine to them ever since the days of Ahab, 1 Kings 17., 18."

There's the basis for some theology, and narratives thereof, there ^ and ^^^


I repeat Antiq 15.9.2 with some slightly different emphases to what Charles gave with his bolding -

2. "In these circumstances he considered with himself how to procure some seasonable help; but this was a hard thing to be done, while their neighbors had no food to sell them; and their money also was gone, had it been possible to purchase a little food at a great price. However, he thought it his best way, by all means, not to leave off his endeavors to assist his people; so he cut off the rich furniture that was in his palace, both of silver and gold, insomuch that he did not spare the finest vessels he had, or those that were made with the most elaborate skill of the artificers, but sent the money to Petronius, who had been made prefect of Egypt by Caesar; and as not a few had already fled to him under their necessities, and as he was particularly a friend to Herod, and desirous to have his subjects preserved, he gave leave to them in the first place to export corn, and assisted them every way, both in purchasing and exporting the same; so that he was the principal, if not the only person, who afforded them what help they had. And Herod taking care the people should understand that this help came from himself, did thereby not only remove the ill opinion of those that formerly hated him, but gave them the greatest demonstration possible of his good-will to them, and care of them; for, in the first place, as for those who were able to provide their own food, he distributed to them their proportion of corn in the exactest manner; but for those many that were not able, either by reason of their old age, or any other infirmity, to provide food for themselves, he made this provision for them, the bakers should make their bread ready for them."

Herod built Caesarea as a Safe Harbor for the delivery of the grain from Petronius' Egypt. From the Priestly Viewpoint: what Herod did saved lives, but could not be acceptable since he used it to glorify Herod, much as the Dedication of the Temple was made to coincide with the anniversary of his ascension (See: The Woman Bent Over for 18 Years). This drought, which caused great starvation, was very important to the authors of the Original Sources*.

* the original sources of the gospels? (I think Charles is making the same point I made previously(?) viz. 'there's the basis for some theology, and narratives thereof, there')

Of course, it's possible that "Petronius" was a name picked out of thin air by the authors under consideration, but ..not likely. "Anicetus" may [have been] a name for an early Pope, but it may be a reference to the Freedman of Polemon who set fire to the Greek town of Trapezus in the Pontus, after Mucianus took everything he could find to march on Rome. "Ya' hafta' zamine all the possibles..."

"Anicetus may ...be a reference to the Freedman of Polemon" - by name? by other association or derivation?

[Charles Wilson]

Of course, it's possible that "Petronius" was a name picked out of thin air by the authors under consideration, but ..not likely. "Anicetus" may [have been] a name for an early Pope, but it may be a reference to the Freedman of Polemon who set fire to the Greek town of Trapezus in the Pontus, after Mucianus took everything he could find to march on Rome. "Ya' hafta' zamine all the possibles..."

"Anicetus may ...be a reference to the Freedman of Polemon" - by name? by other association or derivation?

Mr. Mac --

I owe you much more than this response. Mebbe I can finish my obligations to you tomorrow.

Tacitus, Histories, Book 3:

"All other nations were equally restless. A sudden outbreak had been excited in Pontus by a barbarian slave, who had before commanded the royal fleet. This was Anicetus, a freedman of Polemon, once a very powerful personage, who, when the kingdom was converted into a Roman province, ill brooked the change. Accordingly he raised in the name of Vitellius the tribes that border on Pontus, bribed a number of very needy adventurers by the hope of plunder, and, at the head of a force by no means contemptible, made a sudden attack on the old and famous city of Trapezus, founded by the Greeks on the farthest shore of the Pontus. There he destroyed a cohort, once a part of the royal contingent. They had afterwards received the privileges of citizenship, and while they carried their arms and banners in Roman fashion, they still retained the indolence and licence of the Greek. Anicetus also set fire to the fleet, and, as the sea was not guarded, escaped, for Mucianus had brought up to Byzantium the best of the Liburnian ships and all the troops. The barbarians even insolently scoured the sea in hastily constructed vessels of their own called "camarae," built with narrow sides and broad bottoms, and joined together without fastenings of brass or iron. Whenever the water is rough they raise the bulwarks with additional planks according to the increasing height of the waves, till the vessel is covered in like a house. Thus they roll about amid the billows, and, as they have a prow at both extremities alike and a convertible arrangement of oars, they may be paddled in one direction or another indifferently and without risk.

The matter attracted the attention of Vespasian, and induced him to dispatch some veterans from the legions under Virdius Geminus, a tried soldier. Finding the enemy in disorder and dispersed in the eager pursuit of plunder, he attacked them, and drove them to their ships. Hastily fitting out a fleet of Liburnian ships he pursued Anicetus, and overtook him at the mouth of the river Cohibus, where he was protected by the king of the Sedochezi, whose alliance he had secured by a sum of money and other presents. This prince at first endeavoured to protect the suppliant by a threat of hostilities; when, however, the choice was presented to him between war and the profit to be derived from treachery, he consented, with the characteristic perfidy of barbarians, to the destruction of Anicetus, and delivered up the refugees. So ended this servile war.

There is SO MUCH HERE!!!

1. Polemon was married to Bernice, who became Titus' Consort.
2. This is from The Pontus. "Who supposedly came from Sinope, near The Pontus, and when?"
3. The "Camarae Boats" (I believe) provide the basis for large sections of Acts, including the "Little Boat" taken on deck and secured with "Ropes" (See Moffatt Trans. at this point).
4. The last 2 chapters of Acts, a puzzle to many, is a melding of Polybius, Histories 151, concerning "Syrtis" and running aground, the "...delivering up of the refugees..." in Tacitus above and...
5. The story of the "Queen's Eunuch" in Acts. The viciousness of the "Sheep going to it's doom" is matched only by the viciousness of Vitellius "on the cross" with a Hyssop Stick and sponge soaked with vinegar, a Satire of Vitellius' dalliance with his homosexual lover Asiaticus, who sold Posca in a bazaar in Puteoli. The doomed sheep is Anicetus. He thinks he is protected but he gets gutted for his troubles. V-I-C-I-O-U-S! (and well hidden...) Onward Vespasian!

So much, so much.

CW

[Charles Wilson]

And Pilate gave them Petronius the centurion with soldiers to guard the tomb. And with them came elders and scribes to the sepulchre, and having rolled a great stone together with the centurion and the soldiers, they all together who were there set it at the door of the sepulchre; and they affixed seven seals, and they pitched a tent there and guarded it. And early in the morning as the sabbath. was drawing on, there came a multitude from Jerusalem and the region round about, that they might see the sepulchre that was sealed.

Herod built Caesarea as a Safe Harbor for the delivery of the grain from Petronius' Egypt. From the Priestly Viewpoint: what Herod did saved lives, but could not be acceptable since he used it to glorify Herod, much as the Dedication of the Temple was made to coincide with the anniversary of his ascension (See: The Woman Bent Over for 18 Years). This drought, which caused great starvation, was very important to the authors of the Original Sources*.

* the original sources of the gospels? (I think Charles is making the same point I made previously(?) viz. 'there's the basis for some theology, and narratives thereof, there')

The "Original Sources" are indeed not about a "Jesus"/savior/god. There are several Herod Stories and you are correct to point out that Petronius was supposedly a very good friend of Herod. Again, note that Herod is setting a Political Spin to his giving the grain purchased from Petronius' Egypt "to the People". The agency of the State is pressed into action. There is Push-Back and it comes from the Priesthood. Thus, the Stone rolled in front of the Tomb is a Symbol of what happened:

Mark 3: 1 - 6 (RSV):

[1] Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand.
[2] And they watched him, to see whether he would heal him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him.
[3] And he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come here."
[4] And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent.
[5] And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
[6] The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel with the Hero'di-ans against him, how to destroy him.

This is the Push-Back. The Man with the Withered Hand is a Scribe and he is being released from his restrictions laid on him by the Herodians. Petronius plays his part.

Luke 13: 11 - 13 (RSV):

[11] And there was a woman who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself.
[12] And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity."
[13] And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God.

Herod dedicates the Temple on the same day as his ascension to the throne:

Josephus, Antiquities..., 15, 11, 6:

"They feasted and celebrated this rebuilding of the temple: and for the king, he sacrificed three hundred oxen to God, as did the rest every one according to his ability; the number of which sacrifices is not possible to set down, for it cannot be that we should truly relate it; for at the same time with this celebration for the work about the temple fell also the day of the king's inauguration, which he kept of an old custom as a festival, and it now coincided with the other, which coincidence of them both made the festival most illustrious..."

This material - "Original Sources" - was taken, dismembered and rewritten for the Glory of Rome and the Flavians.

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea."

Glorious Metaphysics? Or a Herod Story?

CW

[Charles Wilson]

https://www.google.com/search?q=caesare ... r+pictures

Josephus, Antiquities..., 15, 9, 6 (In Part):

"This city is situate in Phoenicia, in the passage by sea to Egypt, between Joppa and Dora, which are lesser maritime cities, and not fit for havens, on account of the impetuous south winds that beat upon them, which rolling the sands that come from the sea against the shores, do not admit of ships lying in their station; but the merchants are generally there forced to ride at their anchors in the sea itself. So Herod endeavored to rectify this inconvenience, and laid out such a compass towards the land as might be sufficient for a haven, wherein the great ships might lie in safety; and this he effected by letting down vast stones of above fifty feet in length, not less than eighteen in breadth, and nine in depth, into twenty fathom deep; and as some were lesser, so were others bigger than those dimensions. This mole which he built by the sea-side was two hundred feet wide, the half of which was opposed to the current of the waves, so as to keep off those waves which were to break upon them, and so was called Procymatia, or the first breaker of the waves; but the other half had upon it a wall, with several towers...The city itself was called Cesarea, which was also itself built of fine materials, and was of a fine structure; nay, the very subterranean vaults and cellars had no less of architecture bestowed on them than had the buildings above ground. Some of these vaults carried things at even distances to the haven and to the sea; but one of them ran obliquely, and bound all the rest together, that both the rain and the filth of the citizens were together carried off with ease, and the sea itself, upon the flux of the tide from without, came into the city, and washed it all clean. Herod also built therein a theater of stone; and on the south quarter, behind the port, an amphitheater also, capable of holding a vast number of men, and conveniently situated for a prospect to the sea. So this city was thus finished in twelve years; during which time the king did not fail to go on both with the work, and to pay the charges that were necessary..."

Matthew 7: 13 - 14 (RSV):

[13] "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
[14] For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

[MrMacSon]

.
We're moving away from discussing the Gospel of Peter, but there are some interesting points being raised or arise out of various notions.

With respect to

... There are several Herod Stories ...
.

'Herod' features at the start of the Gospel of Peter. Indeed, Herod gives the order for the execution of "the Lord", which is different to the synoptic gospel accounts.

My understanding is that the 'Herod' in the NT is widely considered to be Herod Antipas (Tetrarch of Galilee 4 BC–AD 39), the son of Herod the Great (d. 4 BC) who, I think, is the subject of the Antiquities passages you have been referring to in this thread. It is possible the gospel writers were not aware of, or did not care for, exactness when borrowing events or names for their narratives, and borrowing names and events is likely, given the sorts of other translocations that Lena Einhorn has documented in her book A Shift in Time.

• There was also
  • Herod Archelaus was Ethnarch of Judaea 4 BC–AD 6, and
  • Herod of Chalcis ('King' of Chalcis) AD ~44–48

... and you are correct to point out that Petronius was supposedly a very good friend of Herod. Again, note that Herod is setting a Political Spin to his giving the grain purchased from Petronius' Egypt "to the People". The agency of the State is pressed into action. There is Push-Back and it comes from the Priesthood.

Does this relate to the reference to Pilate giving them 'Petronius the centurion with soldiers to guard the tomb' ?


As you noted, Antiquities 15, 9, 2 refers to Petronius in relation to his relationship with Herod, yet before that mention (ie. before Antiquities 15, 9, 2) a footnote - 15* - to a passage in the previous section in Antiquities - 15,9,1 - refers to Petronius -

Antiquities 15,9,1

"The destruction of men also after such a manner deprived those that survived of all their courage, because they had no way to provide remedies sufficient for the distresses they were in. When therefore the fruits of that year were spoiled, and whatsoever they had laid up beforehand was spent, there was no foundation of hope for relief remaining, but the misery, contrary to what they expected, still increased upon them; and this not only on that year, while they had nothing for themselves left [at the end of it], but what seed they had sown perished also, by reason of the ground not yielding its fruits on the second year. (15*) This distress they were in made them also, out of necessity, to eat many things that did not use to be eaten; nor was the king himself free from this distress any more than other men ... this miserable state of things had procured him the hatred of his subjects .."

• * footnote 15 "This famine for two years that affected Judea and Syria, the thirteenth mid fourteenth years of Herod, which are the twenty-third and twenty-fourth years before the [supposed] Christian era, seems to have been more terrible during this time than was that in the days of Jacob, Genesis 41., 42. And what makes the comparison the more remarkable is that now, as well as then, the relief they had was from Egypt also; then from Joseph the governor of Egypt, under Pharaoh king of Egypt; and now from Petronius the prefect of Egypt, under Augustus the Roman emperor. See almost the like case, Antiq. B. XX. ch. 2. sect. 6.
  
  It is also well worth our observation here, that these two years were a Sabbatic year, and a year of jubilee, for which Providence, during the theocracy, used to provide a triple crop beforehand; but became now, when the Jews had forfeited that blessing, the greatest years of famine to them ever since the days of Ahab, 1 Kings 17., 18."

I can somewhat see that "The Man with the Withered Hand is a Scribe, and [how] he is being released from restrictions laid on him [by the Herodians(?)]", but I don't follow or see in what way that Luke 13:11-13 shows how "Petronius plays his part".


I note you said

Herod built Caesarea as a Safe Harbor for the delivery of the grain from Petronius' Egypt [Antiquities..., 15, 9, 6; as cited in your post prior to this one]. From the Priestly Viewpoint: what Herod did saved lives, but could not be acceptable since he used it to glorify Herod, much as the Dedication of the Temple was made to coincide with the anniversary of his ascension [to the throne] ... This drought, which caused great starvation, was very important to the authors of the Original Sources.

I'm still unclear as to what "the Original Sources" are (or what you think they are): Antiquities? Some other texts??

• [You said "The "Original Sources" are indeed not about a "Jesus"/savior/god. There are several Herod Stories and you are correct to point out that Petronius was supposedly a very good friend of Herod. Again, note that Herod is setting a Political Spin to his giving the grain purchased from Petronius' Egypt "to the People". The agency of the State is pressed into action. There is Push-Back and it comes from the Priesthood. Thus, the Stone rolled in front of the Tomb is a Symbol of what happened", but I still don't know exactly what the "Original Sources" are (Herod stories in Josephus?)]

This is interesting -

Herod dedicates the Temple on the same day as his ascension to the throne:

• Josephus, Antiquities..., 15, 11, 6:
  
  "They feasted and celebrated this rebuilding of the temple: and for the king, he sacrificed three hundred oxen to God, as did the rest every one according to his ability; the number of which sacrifices is not possible to set down, for it cannot be that we should truly relate it; for at the same time with this celebration for the work about the temple fell also the day of the king's inauguration, which he kept of an old custom as a festival, and it now coincided with the other, which coincidence of them both made the festival most illustrious..."

I can see how "This material ... was taken, dismembered and rewritten for the Glory of Rome", but I am less inclined to see that it was done for "the Glory of ..the Flavians."


I'm not fully clear what this refers to -

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea." [Matthew 18: 6 and Mark 9: 42 (RSV)]

Glorious Metaphysics? Or a Herod Story?

The effect of the famine on Herod and his reputation?