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The Gospel of Judas
Translated by Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst in collaboration with François Gaudard extracted from The Gospel of Judas Edited by Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst 2006
The National Geographic Society has been part of an international effort, in collaboration with the Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art and the Waitt Institute for Historical Discovery, to authenticate, conserve, and translate a 66-page codex, which contains a text called James (also known as First Apocalypse of James), the Letter of Peter to Philip, a fragment of a text that scholars are provisionally calling Book of Allogenes, and the only known surviving copy of the Gospel of Judas.
The Gospel of Judas gives a different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas, offering new insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Unlike the accounts in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in which Judas is portrayed as a reviled traitor, this newly discovered Gospel portrays Judas as acting at Jesus' request when he hands Jesus over to the authorities.
INTRODUCTION: INCIPIT
The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week three days before he celebrated Passover.
THE EARTHLY MINISTRY OF JESUS
When Jesus appeared on earth, he performed miracles and great wonders for the salvation of humanity. And since some walked in the way of righteousness while others walked in their transgressions, the twelve disciples were called.
He began to speak with them about the mysteries beyond the world and what would take place at the end. Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child.
SCENE 1:
Jesus dialogues with his disciples: The prayer of thanksgiving or the eucharist. One day he was with his disciples in Judea, and he found them gathered together and seated in pious observance. When he approached his disciples, gathered together and seated and offering a prayer of thanksgiving over the bread, he laughed.
The disciples said to him,
“Master, why are you laughing at our prayer of thanksgiving? We have done what is right.”
He answered and said to them,
“I am not laughing at you. You are not doing this because of your own will but because it is through this that your god will be praised.”
They said, “Master, you are [. . .] the son of our god.”
Jesus said to them, “How do you know me? Truly I say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me.”
THE DISCIPLES BECOME ANGRY
When his disciples heard this, they started getting angry and infuriated and began blaspheming against him in their hearts.
When Jesus observed their lack of understanding, he said to them,
“Why has this agitation led you to anger? Your god who is within you and [. . .] have provoked you to anger within your souls. Let any one of you who is strong enough among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face.”
They all said, “We have the strength.”
But their spirits did not dare to stand before him, except for Judas Iscariot. He was able to stand before him, but he could not look him in the eyes, and he turned his face away.
Judas said to him,
“I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you.”
JESUS SPEAKS TO JUDAS PRIVATELY
Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him,
“Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve disciples may again come to completion with their god.”
Judas said to him, “When will you tell me these things, and when will the great day of light dawn for the generation?”
But when he said this, Jesus left him.
SCENE 2:
Jesus appears to the disciples again. The next morning, after this happened, Jesus appeared to his disciples again.
They said to him,
“Master, where did you go and what did you do when you left us?”
Jesus said to them, “I went to another great and holy generation.”
His disciples said to him, “Lord, what is the great generation that is superior to us and holier than us, that is not now in these realms?”
When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to them,
“Why are you thinking in your hearts about the strong and holy generation? Truly I say to you, no one born of this aeon will see that generation, and no host of angels of the stars will rule over that generation, and no person of mortal birth can associate with it, because that generation does not come from [. . .] which has become [. . .]. The generation of people among you is from the generation of humanity [. . .] power, which [. . .] the other powers [. . .] by which you rule.”
When his disciples heard this, they each were troubled in spirit. They could not say a word.
Another day Jesus came up to them. They said to him,
“Master, we have seen you in a vision, for we have had great dreams [. . .] night [. . .].”
He said, “Why have you [. . .] when you have gone into hiding?”
THE DISCIPLES SEE THE TEMPLE AND DISCUSS IT
They said, “We have seen a great house with a large altar in it, and twelve men—they are the priests, we would say—and a name; and a crowd of people is waiting at that altar, until the priests [. . .] and receive the offerings. But we kept waiting.”
Jesus said, “What are the priests like?”
They said, “Some [. . .] two weeks; some sacrifice their own children, others their wives, in praise and humility with each other; some sleep with men; some are involved in slaughter; some commit a multitude of sins and deeds of lawlessness. And the men who stand before the altar invoke your name, and in all the deeds of their deficiency, the sacrifices are brought to completion [. . .].”
After they said this, they were quiet, for they were troubled.
JESUS OFFERS AN ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION OF THE TEMPLE
Jesus said to them,
“Why are you troubled? Truly I say to you, all the priests who stand before that altar invoke my name. Again I say to you, my name has been written on this [. . .] of the generations of the stars through the human generations. And they have planted trees without fruit, in my name, in a shameful manner.”
Jesus said to them,
“Those you have seen receiving the offerings at the altar—that is who you are. That is the god you serve, and you are those twelve men you have seen. The cattle you have seen brought for sacrifice are the many people you lead astray before that altar. [. . .] will stand and make use of my name in this way, and generations of the pious will remain loyal to him.
After him another man will stand there from the fornicators, and another will stand there from the slayers of children, and another from those who sleep with men, and those who abstain, and the rest of the people of pollution and lawlessness and error, and those who say, ‘We are like angels’; they are the stars that bring everything to its conclusion. For to the human generations it has been said, ‘Look, God has received your sacrifice from the hands of a priest’—that is, a minister of error. But it is the Lord, the Lord of the universe, who commands, ‘On the last day they will be put to shame.’”
Jesus said to them,
“Stop sacrificing [. . .] which you have [. . .] over the altar, since they are over your stars and your angels and have already come to their conclusion there. So let them be ensnared before you, and let them go [--about 15 lines missing—] generations [. . .]. A baker cannot feed all creation under heaven. And [. . .] to them [. . .] and [. . .] to us and [. . .].
Jesus said to them,
“Stop struggling with me. Each of you has his own star, and everybody [--about 17 lines missing—] in [. . .] who has come [. . .] spring for the tree [. . .] of this aeon [. . .] for a time [. . .] but he has come to water God’s paradise, and the generation that will last, because he will not defile the walk of life of that generation, but [. . .] for all eternity.”
JUDAS ASKS JESUS ABOUT THAT GENERATION AND HUMAN GENERATIONS
Judas said to him, “Rabbi, what kind of fruit does this generation produce?”
Jesus said,
“The souls of every human generation will die. When these people, however, have completed the time of the kingdom and the spirit leaves them, their bodies will die but their souls will be alive, and they will be taken up.”
Judas said, “And what will the rest of the human generations do?”
Jesus said,
“It is impossible to sow seed on rock and harvest its fruit. This is also the way [. . .] the defiled generation [. . .] and corruptible Sophia [. . .] the hand that has created mortal people, so that their souls go up to the eternal realms above. Truly I say to you, [. . .] angel [. . .] power will be able to see that [. . .] these to whom [. . .] holy generations [. . .].”
After Jesus said this, he departed.
SCENE 3:
Judas recounts a vision and Jesus responds.
Judas said,
“Master, as you have listened to all of them, now also listen to me. For I have seen a great vision.”
When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to him,
“You thirteenth spirit, why do you try so hard? But speak up, and I shall bear with you.”
Judas said to him, “In the vision I saw myself as the twelve disciples were stoning me and persecuting me severely. And I also came to the place where [. . .] after you. I saw a house [. . .], and my eyes could not comprehend its size. Great people were surrounding it, and that house had a roof of greenery, and in the middle of the house was a crowd[--two lines missing—], saying, ‘Master, take me in along with these people.’”
Jesus answered and said,
“Judas, your star has led you astray.”
He continued, “No person of mortal birth is worthy to enter the house you have seen, for that place is reserved for the holy. Neither the sun nor the moon will rule there, nor the day, but the holy will abide there always, in the eternal realm with the holy angels. Look, I have explained to you the mysteries of the kingdom and I have taught you about the error of the stars; and [. . .] send it [. . .] on the twelve aeons.”
JUDAS ASKS ABOUT HIS OWN FATE
Judas said,
“Master, could it be that my seed is under the control of the rulers?"
Jesus answered and said to him, “Come, that I [--two lines missing—], but that you will grieve much when you see the kingdom and all its generation.”
When he heard this, Judas said to him,
“What good is it that I have received it? For you have set me apart for that generation.”
Jesus answered and said, “You will become the thirteenth, and you will be cursed by the other generations—and you will come to rule over them. In the last days they will curse your ascent to the holy generation.”
JESUS TEACHES JUDAS ABOUT COSMOLOGY: THE SPIRIT AND THE SELF-GENERATED
Jesus said,
“Come, that I may teach you about secrets no person has ever seen. For there exists a great and boundless realm, whose extent no generation of angels has seen, in which there is a great invisible Spirit, which no eye of an angel has ever seen, no thought of the heart has ever comprehended, and it was never called by any name.
“And a luminous cloud appeared there. He said, ‘Let an angel come into being as my attendant.’
“A great angel, the enlightened divine Self-Generated, emerged from the cloud. Because of him, four other angels came into being from another cloud, and they became attendants for the angelic Self-Generated. The Self-Generated said, ‘Let [. . .] come into being [. . .],’ and it came into being [. . .]. And he created the first luminary to reign over him. He said, ‘Let angels come into being to serve him,’ and myriads without number came into being.
He said, ‘Let an enlightened aeon come into being,’ and he came into being. He created the second luminary to reign over him, together with myriads of angels without number, to offer service. That is how he created the rest of the enlightened aeons. He made them reign over them, and he created for them myriads of angels without number, to assist them.
ADAMAS AND THE LUMINARIES
“Adamas was in the first luminous cloud that no angel has ever seen among all those called ‘God.’ He [. . .] that [. . .] the image [. . .] and after the likeness of this angel. He made the incorruptible [generation] of Seth appear [. . .] the twelve [. . .] the twenty-four [. . .]. He made seventy-two luminaries appear in the incorruptible generation, in accordance with the will of the Spirit. The seventy-two luminaries themselves made three hundred sixty luminaries appear in the incorruptible generation, in accordance with the will of the Spirit, that their number should be five for each.
“The twelve aeons of the twelve luminaries constitute their father, with six heavens for each aeon, so that there are seventy-two heavens for the seventy-two luminaries, and for each of them five firmaments, for a total of three hundred sixty firmaments [. . .]. They were given authority and a great host of angels without number, for glory and adoration, and after that also virgin spirits, for glory and adoration of all the aeons and the heavens and their firmaments.
THE COSMOS, CHAOS, AND THE UNDERWORLD
“The multitude of those immortals is called the cosmos— that is, perdition—by the Father and the seventy-two luminaries who are with the Self-Generated and his seventy-two aeons. In him the first human appeared with his incorruptible powers. And the aeon that appeared with his generation, the aeon in whom are the cloud of knowledge and the angel, is called El. [. . .] aeon [. . .] after that [. . .] said, ‘Let twelve angels come into being to rule over chaos and the underworld.’
And look, from the cloud there appeared an angel whose face flashed with fire and whose appearance was defiled with blood. His name was Nebro, which means ‘rebel’; others call him Yaldabaoth. Another angel, Saklas, also came from the cloud. So Nebro created six angels—as well as Saklas—to be assistants, and these produced twelve angels in the heavens, with each one receiving a portion in the heavens.
THE RULERS AND ANGELS
“The twelve rulers spoke with the twelve angels:
‘Let each of you [. . .] and let them [. . .] generation [--one line lost—] angels’: The first is Seth, who is called Christ. The second is Harmathoth, who is [. . .]. The third is Galila. The fourth is Yobel. The fifth is Adonaios. These are the five who ruled over the underworld, and first of all over chaos.
THE CREATION OF HUMANITY
“Then Saklas said to his angels, ‘Let us create a human being after the likeness and after the image.’ They fashioned Adam and his wife Eve, who is called, in the cloud, Zoe. For by this name all the generations seek the man, and each of them calls the woman by these names. Now, Sakla did not command [. . .] except [. . .] the generations [. . .] this [. . .]. And the ruler said to Adam, ‘You shall live long, with your children.’”
JUDAS ASKS ABOUT THE DESTINY OF ADAM AND HUMANITY
Judas said to Jesus,
“What is the long duration of time that the human being will live?” Jesus said, “Why are you wondering about this, that Adam, with his generation, has lived his span of life in the place where he has received his kingdom, with longevity with his ruler?”
Judas said to Jesus, “Does the human spirit die?”
Jesus said, “This is why God ordered Michael to give the spirits of people to them as a loan, so that they might offer service, but the Great One ordered Gabriel to grant spirits to the great generation with no ruler over it—that is, the spirit and the soul. Therefore, the rest of the souls [--one line missing—].
JESUS DISCUSSES THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED WITH JUDAS AND OTHERS
“[. . .] light [--nearly two lines missing—] around [. . .] let [. . .] spirit that is within you dwell in this flesh among the generations of angels. But God caused knowledge to be given to Adam and those with him, so that the kings of chaos and the underworld might not lord it over them.”
Judas said to Jesus,
“So what will those generations do?”
Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, for all of them the stars bring matters to completion. When Saklas completes the span of time assigned for him, their first star will appear with the generations, and they will finish what they said they would do. Then they will fornicate in my name and slay their children and they will [. . .] and [--about six and a half lines missing—] my name, and he will [. . .] your star over the thirteenth aeon.”
After that Jesus laughed.
Judas said, “Master, why are you laughing at us?”
Jesus answered and said, “I am not laughing at you but at the error of the stars, because these six stars wander about with these five combatants, and they all will be destroyed along with their creatures.”
JESUS SPEAKS OF THOSE WHO ARE BAPTIZED, AND JUDAS’S BETRAYAL
Judas said to Jesus,
“Look, what will those who have been baptized in your name do?” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, this baptism [. . .] my name [--about nine lines missing—] to me. Truly I say to you, Judas, [those who] offer sacrifices to Saklas [. . .] God [--three lines missing—] everything that is evil.
“But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me. Already your horn has been raised, your wrath has been kindled, your star has shown brightly, and your heart has [. . .].
“Truly [. . .] your last [. . .] become [--about two and a half lines missing—], grieve [--about two lines missing—] the ruler, since he will be destroyed. And then the image of the great generation of Adam will be exalted, for prior to heaven, earth, and the angels, that generation, which is from the eternal realms, exists. Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star.”
Judas lifted up his eyes and saw the luminous cloud, and he entered it. Those standing on the ground heard a voice coming from the cloud, saying, [. . .] great generation [. . .] [. . .] image [. . .] [--about five lines missing—].
CONCLUSION: JUDAS BETRAYS JESUS
[. . .] Their high priests murmured because he had gone into the guest room for his prayer. But some scribes were there watching carefully in order to arrest him during the prayer, for they were afraid of the people, since he was regarded by all as a prophet. They approached Judas and said to him, “What are you doing here? You are Jesus’ disciple.”
Judas answered them as they wished.
And he received some money and handed him over to them.
The National Geographic Society has been part of an international effort, in collaboration with the Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art and the Waitt Institute for Historical Discovery, to authenticate, conserve, and translate a 66-page codex, which contains a text called James (also known as First Apocalypse of James), the Letter of Peter to Philip, a fragment of a text that scholars are provisionally calling Book of Allogenes, and the only known surviving copy of the Gospel of Judas.
The Gospel of Judas gives a different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas, offering new insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Unlike the accounts in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in which Judas is portrayed as a reviled traitor, this newly discovered Gospel portrays Judas as acting at Jesus' request when he hands Jesus over to the authorities.
INTRODUCTION: INCIPIT
The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week three days before he celebrated Passover.
THE EARTHLY MINISTRY OF JESUS
When Jesus appeared on earth, he performed miracles and great wonders for the salvation of humanity. And since some walked in the way of righteousness while others walked in their transgressions, the twelve disciples were called.
He began to speak with them about the mysteries beyond the world and what would take place at the end. Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child.
SCENE 1:
Jesus dialogues with his disciples: The prayer of thanksgiving or the eucharist. One day he was with his disciples in Judea, and he found them gathered together and seated in pious observance. When he approached his disciples, gathered together and seated and offering a prayer of thanksgiving over the bread, he laughed.
The disciples said to him,
“Master, why are you laughing at our prayer of thanksgiving? We have done what is right.”
He answered and said to them,
“I am not laughing at you. You are not doing this because of your own will but because it is through this that your god will be praised.”
They said, “Master, you are [. . .] the son of our god.”
Jesus said to them, “How do you know me? Truly I say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me.”
THE DISCIPLES BECOME ANGRY
When his disciples heard this, they started getting angry and infuriated and began blaspheming against him in their hearts.
When Jesus observed their lack of understanding, he said to them,
“Why has this agitation led you to anger? Your god who is within you and [. . .] have provoked you to anger within your souls. Let any one of you who is strong enough among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face.”
They all said, “We have the strength.”
But their spirits did not dare to stand before him, except for Judas Iscariot. He was able to stand before him, but he could not look him in the eyes, and he turned his face away.
Judas said to him,
“I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you.”
JESUS SPEAKS TO JUDAS PRIVATELY
Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him,
“Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve disciples may again come to completion with their god.”
Judas said to him, “When will you tell me these things, and when will the great day of light dawn for the generation?”
But when he said this, Jesus left him.
SCENE 2:
Jesus appears to the disciples again. The next morning, after this happened, Jesus appeared to his disciples again.
They said to him,
“Master, where did you go and what did you do when you left us?”
Jesus said to them, “I went to another great and holy generation.”
His disciples said to him, “Lord, what is the great generation that is superior to us and holier than us, that is not now in these realms?”
When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to them,
“Why are you thinking in your hearts about the strong and holy generation? Truly I say to you, no one born of this aeon will see that generation, and no host of angels of the stars will rule over that generation, and no person of mortal birth can associate with it, because that generation does not come from [. . .] which has become [. . .]. The generation of people among you is from the generation of humanity [. . .] power, which [. . .] the other powers [. . .] by which you rule.”
When his disciples heard this, they each were troubled in spirit. They could not say a word.
Another day Jesus came up to them. They said to him,
“Master, we have seen you in a vision, for we have had great dreams [. . .] night [. . .].”
He said, “Why have you [. . .] when you have gone into hiding?”
THE DISCIPLES SEE THE TEMPLE AND DISCUSS IT
They said, “We have seen a great house with a large altar in it, and twelve men—they are the priests, we would say—and a name; and a crowd of people is waiting at that altar, until the priests [. . .] and receive the offerings. But we kept waiting.”
Jesus said, “What are the priests like?”
They said, “Some [. . .] two weeks; some sacrifice their own children, others their wives, in praise and humility with each other; some sleep with men; some are involved in slaughter; some commit a multitude of sins and deeds of lawlessness. And the men who stand before the altar invoke your name, and in all the deeds of their deficiency, the sacrifices are brought to completion [. . .].”
After they said this, they were quiet, for they were troubled.
JESUS OFFERS AN ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION OF THE TEMPLE
Jesus said to them,
“Why are you troubled? Truly I say to you, all the priests who stand before that altar invoke my name. Again I say to you, my name has been written on this [. . .] of the generations of the stars through the human generations. And they have planted trees without fruit, in my name, in a shameful manner.”
Jesus said to them,
“Those you have seen receiving the offerings at the altar—that is who you are. That is the god you serve, and you are those twelve men you have seen. The cattle you have seen brought for sacrifice are the many people you lead astray before that altar. [. . .] will stand and make use of my name in this way, and generations of the pious will remain loyal to him.
After him another man will stand there from the fornicators, and another will stand there from the slayers of children, and another from those who sleep with men, and those who abstain, and the rest of the people of pollution and lawlessness and error, and those who say, ‘We are like angels’; they are the stars that bring everything to its conclusion. For to the human generations it has been said, ‘Look, God has received your sacrifice from the hands of a priest’—that is, a minister of error. But it is the Lord, the Lord of the universe, who commands, ‘On the last day they will be put to shame.’”
Jesus said to them,
“Stop sacrificing [. . .] which you have [. . .] over the altar, since they are over your stars and your angels and have already come to their conclusion there. So let them be ensnared before you, and let them go [--about 15 lines missing—] generations [. . .]. A baker cannot feed all creation under heaven. And [. . .] to them [. . .] and [. . .] to us and [. . .].
Jesus said to them,
“Stop struggling with me. Each of you has his own star, and everybody [--about 17 lines missing—] in [. . .] who has come [. . .] spring for the tree [. . .] of this aeon [. . .] for a time [. . .] but he has come to water God’s paradise, and the generation that will last, because he will not defile the walk of life of that generation, but [. . .] for all eternity.”
JUDAS ASKS JESUS ABOUT THAT GENERATION AND HUMAN GENERATIONS
Judas said to him, “Rabbi, what kind of fruit does this generation produce?”
Jesus said,
“The souls of every human generation will die. When these people, however, have completed the time of the kingdom and the spirit leaves them, their bodies will die but their souls will be alive, and they will be taken up.”
Judas said, “And what will the rest of the human generations do?”
Jesus said,
“It is impossible to sow seed on rock and harvest its fruit. This is also the way [. . .] the defiled generation [. . .] and corruptible Sophia [. . .] the hand that has created mortal people, so that their souls go up to the eternal realms above. Truly I say to you, [. . .] angel [. . .] power will be able to see that [. . .] these to whom [. . .] holy generations [. . .].”
After Jesus said this, he departed.
SCENE 3:
Judas recounts a vision and Jesus responds.
Judas said,
“Master, as you have listened to all of them, now also listen to me. For I have seen a great vision.”
When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to him,
“You thirteenth spirit, why do you try so hard? But speak up, and I shall bear with you.”
Judas said to him, “In the vision I saw myself as the twelve disciples were stoning me and persecuting me severely. And I also came to the place where [. . .] after you. I saw a house [. . .], and my eyes could not comprehend its size. Great people were surrounding it, and that house had a roof of greenery, and in the middle of the house was a crowd[--two lines missing—], saying, ‘Master, take me in along with these people.’”
Jesus answered and said,
“Judas, your star has led you astray.”
He continued, “No person of mortal birth is worthy to enter the house you have seen, for that place is reserved for the holy. Neither the sun nor the moon will rule there, nor the day, but the holy will abide there always, in the eternal realm with the holy angels. Look, I have explained to you the mysteries of the kingdom and I have taught you about the error of the stars; and [. . .] send it [. . .] on the twelve aeons.”
JUDAS ASKS ABOUT HIS OWN FATE
Judas said,
“Master, could it be that my seed is under the control of the rulers?"
Jesus answered and said to him, “Come, that I [--two lines missing—], but that you will grieve much when you see the kingdom and all its generation.”
When he heard this, Judas said to him,
“What good is it that I have received it? For you have set me apart for that generation.”
Jesus answered and said, “You will become the thirteenth, and you will be cursed by the other generations—and you will come to rule over them. In the last days they will curse your ascent to the holy generation.”
JESUS TEACHES JUDAS ABOUT COSMOLOGY: THE SPIRIT AND THE SELF-GENERATED
Jesus said,
“Come, that I may teach you about secrets no person has ever seen. For there exists a great and boundless realm, whose extent no generation of angels has seen, in which there is a great invisible Spirit, which no eye of an angel has ever seen, no thought of the heart has ever comprehended, and it was never called by any name.
“And a luminous cloud appeared there. He said, ‘Let an angel come into being as my attendant.’
“A great angel, the enlightened divine Self-Generated, emerged from the cloud. Because of him, four other angels came into being from another cloud, and they became attendants for the angelic Self-Generated. The Self-Generated said, ‘Let [. . .] come into being [. . .],’ and it came into being [. . .]. And he created the first luminary to reign over him. He said, ‘Let angels come into being to serve him,’ and myriads without number came into being.
He said, ‘Let an enlightened aeon come into being,’ and he came into being. He created the second luminary to reign over him, together with myriads of angels without number, to offer service. That is how he created the rest of the enlightened aeons. He made them reign over them, and he created for them myriads of angels without number, to assist them.
ADAMAS AND THE LUMINARIES
“Adamas was in the first luminous cloud that no angel has ever seen among all those called ‘God.’ He [. . .] that [. . .] the image [. . .] and after the likeness of this angel. He made the incorruptible [generation] of Seth appear [. . .] the twelve [. . .] the twenty-four [. . .]. He made seventy-two luminaries appear in the incorruptible generation, in accordance with the will of the Spirit. The seventy-two luminaries themselves made three hundred sixty luminaries appear in the incorruptible generation, in accordance with the will of the Spirit, that their number should be five for each.
“The twelve aeons of the twelve luminaries constitute their father, with six heavens for each aeon, so that there are seventy-two heavens for the seventy-two luminaries, and for each of them five firmaments, for a total of three hundred sixty firmaments [. . .]. They were given authority and a great host of angels without number, for glory and adoration, and after that also virgin spirits, for glory and adoration of all the aeons and the heavens and their firmaments.
THE COSMOS, CHAOS, AND THE UNDERWORLD
“The multitude of those immortals is called the cosmos— that is, perdition—by the Father and the seventy-two luminaries who are with the Self-Generated and his seventy-two aeons. In him the first human appeared with his incorruptible powers. And the aeon that appeared with his generation, the aeon in whom are the cloud of knowledge and the angel, is called El. [. . .] aeon [. . .] after that [. . .] said, ‘Let twelve angels come into being to rule over chaos and the underworld.’
And look, from the cloud there appeared an angel whose face flashed with fire and whose appearance was defiled with blood. His name was Nebro, which means ‘rebel’; others call him Yaldabaoth. Another angel, Saklas, also came from the cloud. So Nebro created six angels—as well as Saklas—to be assistants, and these produced twelve angels in the heavens, with each one receiving a portion in the heavens.
THE RULERS AND ANGELS
“The twelve rulers spoke with the twelve angels:
‘Let each of you [. . .] and let them [. . .] generation [--one line lost—] angels’: The first is Seth, who is called Christ. The second is Harmathoth, who is [. . .]. The third is Galila. The fourth is Yobel. The fifth is Adonaios. These are the five who ruled over the underworld, and first of all over chaos.
THE CREATION OF HUMANITY
“Then Saklas said to his angels, ‘Let us create a human being after the likeness and after the image.’ They fashioned Adam and his wife Eve, who is called, in the cloud, Zoe. For by this name all the generations seek the man, and each of them calls the woman by these names. Now, Sakla did not command [. . .] except [. . .] the generations [. . .] this [. . .]. And the ruler said to Adam, ‘You shall live long, with your children.’”
JUDAS ASKS ABOUT THE DESTINY OF ADAM AND HUMANITY
Judas said to Jesus,
“What is the long duration of time that the human being will live?” Jesus said, “Why are you wondering about this, that Adam, with his generation, has lived his span of life in the place where he has received his kingdom, with longevity with his ruler?”
Judas said to Jesus, “Does the human spirit die?”
Jesus said, “This is why God ordered Michael to give the spirits of people to them as a loan, so that they might offer service, but the Great One ordered Gabriel to grant spirits to the great generation with no ruler over it—that is, the spirit and the soul. Therefore, the rest of the souls [--one line missing—].
JESUS DISCUSSES THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED WITH JUDAS AND OTHERS
“[. . .] light [--nearly two lines missing—] around [. . .] let [. . .] spirit that is within you dwell in this flesh among the generations of angels. But God caused knowledge to be given to Adam and those with him, so that the kings of chaos and the underworld might not lord it over them.”
Judas said to Jesus,
“So what will those generations do?”
Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, for all of them the stars bring matters to completion. When Saklas completes the span of time assigned for him, their first star will appear with the generations, and they will finish what they said they would do. Then they will fornicate in my name and slay their children and they will [. . .] and [--about six and a half lines missing—] my name, and he will [. . .] your star over the thirteenth aeon.”
After that Jesus laughed.
Judas said, “Master, why are you laughing at us?”
Jesus answered and said, “I am not laughing at you but at the error of the stars, because these six stars wander about with these five combatants, and they all will be destroyed along with their creatures.”
JESUS SPEAKS OF THOSE WHO ARE BAPTIZED, AND JUDAS’S BETRAYAL
Judas said to Jesus,
“Look, what will those who have been baptized in your name do?” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, this baptism [. . .] my name [--about nine lines missing—] to me. Truly I say to you, Judas, [those who] offer sacrifices to Saklas [. . .] God [--three lines missing—] everything that is evil.
“But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me. Already your horn has been raised, your wrath has been kindled, your star has shown brightly, and your heart has [. . .].
“Truly [. . .] your last [. . .] become [--about two and a half lines missing—], grieve [--about two lines missing—] the ruler, since he will be destroyed. And then the image of the great generation of Adam will be exalted, for prior to heaven, earth, and the angels, that generation, which is from the eternal realms, exists. Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star.”
Judas lifted up his eyes and saw the luminous cloud, and he entered it. Those standing on the ground heard a voice coming from the cloud, saying, [. . .] great generation [. . .] [. . .] image [. . .] [--about five lines missing—].
CONCLUSION: JUDAS BETRAYS JESUS
[. . .] Their high priests murmured because he had gone into the guest room for his prayer. But some scribes were there watching carefully in order to arrest him during the prayer, for they were afraid of the people, since he was regarded by all as a prophet. They approached Judas and said to him, “What are you doing here? You are Jesus’ disciple.”
Judas answered them as they wished.
And he received some money and handed him over to them.
The Gospel of Barnabas is a book depicting the life of Jesus, and claiming to be by Jesus' disciple Barnabas, who in this work is one of the twelve apostles. Two manuscripts are known to have existed, both dated to the late 16th century and written respectively in Italian and in Spanish—although the Spanish manuscript is now lost, its text surviving only in a partial 18th-century transcript. Barnabas is about the same length as the four Canonical gospels put together, with the bulk being devoted to an account of Jesus' ministry, much of it harmonized from accounts also found in the canonical gospels. In some key respects, it conforms to the Islamic interpretation of Christian origins and contradicts the New Testament teachings of Christianity.
The Gospel of Barnabas
Sefer Toledot Yeshu or Toledoth Jeschu (ספר תולדות ישו, The Book of the History of Jesus, or Generations of Jesus, or Life of Jesus) is a medieval “anti-gospel” or parody of the Christian gospel. It exists in a number of different versions, none of which are considered either canonical or normative within rabbinic literature, but which appear to have been widely circulated in Europe and the Middle East in the medieval period, though some scholars disagree with this claim. The stories claim that Jesus was an illegitimate child, and that he practiced magic and heresy, seduced women, and died a shameful death. But they also show a paradoxical respect for Jesus. As Joseph Dan notes in the Encyclopedia Judaica, "The narrative in all versions treats Jesus as an exceptional person who from his youth demonstrated unusual wit and wisdom, but disrespect toward his elders and the sages of his age." Robert Van Voorst perhaps puts it best when he calls the Toledot a record of popular polemic "run wild". Nonetheless, the Toledot’s sacrilegious portrayal of the Christian divinity has provided material for anti-Semitic polemics. Due probably to its offensive nature, both Jewish and Christian scholars in modern times have paid little attention to the Toledot. The opinion of Father Edward H. Flannery is representative: This scurrilous fable of the life of Jesus is a medieval work, probably written down in the tenth century. .... Though its contents enjoyed a certain currency in the oral traditions of the Jewish masses, it was almost totally ignored by official or scholarly Judaism. Anti-Semites have not failed to employ it as an illustration of the blasphemous character of the Synagogue." But this disregard is now lifting as the text becomes discussed as a possible window into the early history of polemic between Christians and Jews.
Toledoth Yeshu or The Book of the History of Jesus
In the year 3671[1] in the days of King Jannaeus, a great misfortune befell Israel, when there arose a certain disreputable man of the tribe of Judah, whose name was Joseph Pandera. He lived at Bethlehem, in Judah.
Near his house dwelt a widow and her lovely and chaste daughter named Miriam. Miriam was betrothed to Yohanan, of the royal house of David, a man learned in the Torah and God-fearing.
At the close of a certain Sabbath, Joseph Pandera, attractive and like a warrior in appearance, having gazed lustfully upon Miriam, knocked upon the door of her room and betrayed her by pretending that he was her betrothed husband, Yohanan. Even so, she was amazed at this improper conduct and submitted only against her will.
Thereafter, when Yohanan came to her, Miriam expressed astonishment at behavior so foreign to his character. It was thus that they both came to know the crime of Joseph Pandera and the terrible mistake on the part of Miriam. Whereupon Yohanan went to Rabban Shimeon ben Shetah and related to him the tragic seduction. Lacking witnesses required for the punishment of Joseph Pandera, and Miriam being with child, Yohanan left for Babylonia.[2]
Miriam gave birth to a son and named him Yehoshua, after her brother. This name later deteriorated to Yeshu. On the eighth day he was circumcised. When he was old enough the lad was taken by Miriam to the house of study to be instructed in the Jewish tradition.
One day Yeshu walked in front of the Sages with his head uncovered, showing shameful disrespect. At this, the discussion arose as to whether this behavior did not truly indicate that Yeshu was an illegitimate child and the son of a niddah[3]. Moreover, the story tells that while the rabbis were discussing the Tractate Nezikin, he gave his own impudent interpretation of the law and in an ensuing debate he held that Moses could not be the greatest of the prophets if he had to receive counsel from Jethro. This led to further inquiry as to the antecedents of Yeshu, and it was discovered through Rabban Shimeon ben Shetah that he was the illegitimate son of Joseph Pandera. Miriam admitted it.[4] After this became known, it was necessary for Yeshu to flee to Upper Galilee.
After King Jannaeus, his wife Helene[5] ruled over all Israel. In the Temple was to be found the Foundation Stone on which were engraven the letters of God's Ineffable Name. Whoever learned the secret of the Name and its use would be able to do whatever he wished. Therefore, the Sages took measures so that no one should gain this knowledge. Lions of brass were bound to two iron pillars at the gate of the place of burnt offerings. Should anyone enter and learn the Name, when he left the lions would roar at him and immediately the valuable secret would be forgotten.
Yeshu came and learned the letters of the Name; he wrote them upon the parchment which he placed in an open cut on his thigh and then drew the flesh over the parchment. As he left, the lions roared and he forgot the secret. But when he came to his house he reopened the cut in his flesh with a knife an lifted out the writing. Then he remembered and obtained the use of the letters.[6]
He gathered about himself three hundred and ten young men of Israel and accused those who spoke ill of his birth of being people who desired greatness and power for themselves. Yeshu proclaimed, "I am the Messiah; and concerning me Isaiah prophesied and said, 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.'" He quoted other messianic texts, insisting, "David my ancestor prophesied concerning me: 'The Lord said to me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.'"
The insurgents with him replied that if Yeshu was the Messiah he should give them a convincing sign. They therefore, brought to him a lame man, who had never walked. Yeshu spoke over the man the letters of the Ineffable Name, and the leper was healed. Thereupon, they worshipped him as the Messiah, Son of the Highest.
When word of these happenings came to Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin decided to bring about the capture of Yeshu. They sent messengers, Annanui and Ahaziah, who, pretending to be his disciples, said that they brought him an invitation from the leaders of Jerusalem to visit them. Yeshu consented on condition the members of the Sanhedrin receive him as a lord. He started out toward Jerusalem and, arriving at Knob, acquired an ass on which he rode into Jerusalem, as a fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah.
The Sages bound him and led him before Queen Helene, with the accusation: "This man is a sorcerer and entices everyone." Yeshu replied, "The prophets long ago prophesied my coming: 'And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,' and I am he; but as for them, Scripture says 'Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.'"
Queen Helene asked the Sages: "What he says, is it in your Torah?" They replied: "It is in our Torah, but it is not applicable to him, for it is in Scripture: 'And that prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.' He has not fulfilled the signs and conditions of the Messiah."
Yeshu spoke up: "Madam, I am the Messiah and I revive the dead." A dead body was brought in; he pronounced the letters of the Ineffable Name and the corpse came to life. The Queen was greatly moved and said: "This is a true sign." She reprimanded the Sages and sent them humiliated from her presence. Yeshu's dissident followers increased and there was controversy in Israel.
Yeshu went to Upper Galilee. the Sages came before the Queen, complaining that Yeshu practiced sorcery and was leading everyone astray. Therefore she sent Annanui and Ahaziah to fetch him.
The found him in Upper Galilee, proclaiming himself the Son of God. When they tried to take him there was a struggle, but Yeshu said to the men of Upper Galilee: "Wage no battle." He would prove himself by the power which came to him from his Father in heaven. He spoke the Ineffable Name over the birds of clay and they flew into the air. He spoke the same letters over a millstone that had been placed upon the waters. He sat in it and it floated like a boat. When they saw this the people marveled. At the behest of Yeshu, the emissaries departed and reported these wonders to the Queen. She trembled with astonishment.
Then the Sages selected a man named Judah Iskarioto and brought him to the Sanctuary where he learned the letters of the Ineffable Name as Yeshu had done.
When Yeshu was summoned before the queen, this time there were present also the Sages and Judah Iskarioto. Yeshu said: "It is spoken of me, 'I will ascend into heaven.'" He lifted his arms like the wings of an eagle and he flew between heaven and earth, to the amazement of everyone.
The elders asked Iskarioto to do likewise. He did, and flew toward heaven. Iskarioto attempted to force Yeshu down to earth but neither one of the two could prevail against the other for both had the use of the Ineffable Name. However, Iskarioto defiled Yeshu, so that they both lost their power and fell down to the earth, and in their condition of defilement the letters of the Ineffable Name escaped from them. Because of this deed of Judah they weep on the eve of the birth of Yeshu.
Yeshu was seized. His head was covered with a garment and he was smitten with pomegranate staves; but he could do nothing, for he no longer had the Ineffable Name.
Yeshu was taken prisoner to the synagogue of Tiberias, and they bound him to a pillar. To allay his thirst they gave him vinegar to drink. On his head they set a crown of thorns. There was strife and wrangling between the elders and the unrestrained followers of Yeshu, as a result of which the followers escaped with Yeshu to the region of Antioch[7]; there Yeshu remained until the eve of the Passover.
[8] Yeshu then resolved to go the Temple to acquire again the secret of the Name. That year the Passover came on a Sabbath day. On the eve of the Passover, Yeshu, accompanied by his disciples, came to Jerusalem riding upon an ass. Many bowed down before him. He entered the Temple with his three hundred and ten followers. One of them, Judah Iskarioto[9] apprised the Sages that Yeshu was to be found in the Temple, that the disciples had taken a vow by the Ten Commandments not to reveal his identity but that he would point him out by bowing to him. So it was done and Yeshu was seized. Asked his name, he replied to the question by several times giving the names Mattai, Nakki, Buni, Netzer, each time with a verse quoted by him and a counter-verse by the Sages.
Yeshu was put to death on the sixth hour on the eve of the Passover and of the Sabbath. When they tried to hang him on a tree it broke, for when he had possessed the power he had pronounced by the Ineffable Name that no tree should hold him. He had failed to pronounce the prohibition over the carob-stalk[10], for it was a plant more than a tree, and on it he was hanged until the hour for afternoon prayer, for it is written in Scripture, "His body shall not remain all night upon the tree." They buried him outside the city.
On the first day of the week his bold followers came to Queen Helene with the report that he who was slain was truly the Messiah and that he was not in his grave; he had ascended to heaven as he prophesied. Diligent search was made and he was not found in the grave where he had been buried. A gardener had taken him from the grave and had brought him into his garden and buried him in the sand over which the waters flowed into the garden.
Queen Helene demanded, on threat of a severe penalty, that the body of Yeshu be shown to her within a period of three days. There was a great distress. When the keeper of the garden saw Rabbi Tanhuma walking in the field and lamenting over the ultimatum of the Queen, the gardener related what he had done, in order that Yeshu's followers should not steal the body and then claim that he had ascended into heaven. The Sages removed the body, tied it to the tail of a horse and transported it to the Queen, with the words, "This is Yeshu who is said to have ascended to heaven." Realizing that Yeshu was a false prophet who enticed the people and led them astray, she mocked the followers but praised the Sages.
The disciples went out among the nations--three went to the mountains of Ararat, three to Armenia, three to Rome and three to the kingdoms buy the sea, They deluded the people, but ultimately they were slain.
The erring followers amongst Israel said: "You have slain the Messiah of the Lord." The Israelites answered: "You have believed in a false prophet." There was endless strife and discord for thirty years.
The Sages desired to separate from Israel those who continued to claim Yeshu as the Messiah, and they called upon a greatly learned man, Simeon Kepha, for help. Simeon went to Antioch, main city of the Nazarenes and proclaimed toe them: "I am the disciple of Yeshu. He has sent me to show you the way. I will give you a sign as Yeshu has done."
Simeon, having gained the secret of the Ineffable Name, healed a leper and a lame man by means of it and thus found acceptance as a true disciple. He told them that Yeshu was in heaven, at the right hand of his Father, in fulfillment of Psalm 110:1. He added that Yeshu desired that they separate themselves from the Jews and no longer follow their practices, as Isaiah had said, "Your new moons and your feasts my soul abhorreth." They were now to observe the first day of the week instead of the seventh, the Resurrection instead of the Passover, the Ascension into Heaven instead of the Feast of Weeks, the finding of the Cross instead of the New Year, the Feast of the Circumcision instead of the Day of Atonement, the New Year instead of Chanukah; they were to be indifferent with regard to circumcision and the dietary laws. Also they were to follow the teaching of turning the right if smitten on the left and the meek acceptance of suffering. All these new ordinances which Simeon Kepha (or Paul, as he was known to the Nazarenes) taught them were really meant to separate these Nazarenes from the people of Israel and to bring the internal strife to an end.
[1] About 90, BC. [G]
[2] Some traditions say 'Egypt'. [AH]
[3] Sexual impurity (incest, adultery, prostitution, etc.). [AH]
[4] In one version of this admission, she confesses that not only is Yeshu the product of an illicit union, but she was ritually unclean from menstruation at the time as well (Sexual contact even with a woman's husband is not lawful during, or, in Rabbinic law, for some time after, menstruation). [AH]
[5] Salome Alexandra. [G]
[6] Consistent, apparently, with the general tenor of Jewish criticism of Jesus' miracles going at least as far back as Celsus (2nd c.) this tradition does not deny Jesus' ability to perform miracles, accusing him instead of practicing magic. This version even accepts the divine origin of the miracles, attributing them to his misuse of the divine name, with its inherent powers. In the Alphabet of Ben Sira, Lilith is accused of the same crime, using the power of the name to escape from the Garden of Eden. [AH]
[7] Some traditions say 'Egypt'. [G]
[8] In a variation on the story, Judah is able to out-miracle Yeshu in the sign contest without defiling him. Yeshu is discredited and arrested, and, as in this story, his followers are able to break him free, but he still remembers the Ineffable Name. He escapes to Egypt in hopes of learning Egyptian magic as well (regarded as the best magic in the world). Judah comes to Egypt and infiltrates the disciples, posing as one himself. It is from this vantage point that he is able to cause Yeshu to forget the magical Name, resulting in the later's desire to return to Jerusalem and relearn it. Judah sends warning to the Sages, along with his plan to arrest him. [AH]
[9] Aramaic: Ga'isa. [G]
[10] Or cabbage stalk. [AH]