which thou hast spoken? And he said, It is true. And the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests, and the Levites, said among themselves, Come, let us send into Galilee, to the three men who came and told us about his teaching, and his ascension, and let them tell us how they saw him taken up. And this saying pleased them all. And they sent the three men who had already gone into Galilee with them, and said to them, Say to Rabbi Adas, and Rabbi Phinehas, and Rabbi Aggæus, Peace be to you, and all that are with you. Because there is much inquiry in the Sanhedrim, we have sent to you, to call you to this holy place, Jerusalem.

And the men went into Galilee, and found them sitting, and meditating upon the law, and they greeted them in peace. And the men who were in Galilee said to them that had come to them, Peace be upon all Israel. And they said, Peace to you. And again they said to them, Wherefore are ye come? And they who were sent said, The Sanhedrim in the holy city Jerusalem call you. And when the men heard that they were asked by the Sanhedrim, they prayed to God, and sat down with the men, and ate, and drank, and arose and went in peace to Jerusalem.

And on the morrow the Sanhedrim sat in the synagogue, and asked them, saying, Did ye truly see Jesus sitting on the mount Mamilk, as he taught his eleven disciples, and did ye see him taken up? And the men answered them, and said, As we saw him taken up, so also we said.

Annas saith, Take them apart, and let us see if their report agreeth. And they took them apart. And they called Adas first, and said to him, How sawest thou Jesus taken up? Adas saith, While he was sitting on the mount Mamilk, and teaching his disciples, we saw a cloud overshadowing him, and his disciples; and the cloud bore him up into heaven, and his disciples lay on their faces upon the ground. And they called Phinehas, the priest, and asked him also, saying, How sawest thou Jesus taken up? And he said the And again they asked Aggæus, and he said the And the Sanhedrim said, The Law of Moses declareth, By the mouth of two or three, every word shall be estab

same. same.

lished. Buthem, a teacher, said, It is written in the law, And Enoch walked with God, and was not, because God took him.32 Jairus, the teacher, said, And we have heard of the death of holy Moses, and we saw it not. For it is written in the law of the Lord, And Moses died, by the word of the Lord, and no man knoweth his sepulcher, unto this day.33 And Rabbi Levi said, What did Rabbi Simeon say, when he saw Jesus? Behold he is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against.34 And Rabbi Isaac said, It is written in the law, Behold, I send my angel before thy face, who shall go before thee, to preserve thee in every good way, because my name is called upon it.35

Then Annas and Caiaphas said, Ye have rightly told what is written in the law of Moses, that no man saw the death of Enoch, and no man mentioned the death of Moses. But Jesus gave account to Pilate, and we saw him receiving blows, and spittings in his face; and the soldiers put a crown of thorns upon him, and he was scourged, and received sentence from Pilate, and was crucified on Calvary, and two robbers with him, and they gave him to drink vinegar and gall; and Longinus, the soldier, pierced his side with a spear, and Joseph, our honorable father, begged his body; and as he saith, he arose; and as the three teachers say, We saw him taken up to heaven; and Rabbi Levi hath spoken, attesting what was uttered by Rabbi Simeon, and that he said, Behold he is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign to be spoken against.36 And all the teachers said to all the people of the Lord, if this is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in your eyes,37 ye shall know assuredly, O house of Jacob, that it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.38 And another Scripture teacheth, The gods which made not heaven and earth, shall perish.39 If his memorial is unto the year, which is called Jobel, know ye

32 Gen. v. 24; Heb. xi. 5.

33 Deut. xxxiv. 5, 6.

34 Luke ii. 34.

35 Ex. xxiii 20, 21; Mal. iii. 1.

36 Luke ii. 34.

37 Ps. cxviii. 23.

38 Deut. xxi. 23; Gal. iii. 13.

39 Jer. x. 11.

that he will prevail forever, and hath raised up for himself a new people. Then the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests, and the Levites, made declaration to all Israel, saying, Cursed is that man who shall worship the work of man's hands, and cursed is the man who shall worship the creatures more than the Creator. And all the people said, Amen, amen, 40

And all the people sang hymns to the Lord, and said, Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he spake. Not one word hath failed of all his good words, which he spake to Moses, his servant. May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not suffer us to perish. And may he not suffer us to fall away from inclining our hearts toward him, from walking in all his ways, from keeping his commandments, and his ordinances, which he commanded to our fathers. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth in that day. And there shall be one Lord, and his name one. The Lord is our king: He shall save us. There is none like unto thee, O Lord; great art thou, O Lord, and great is thy name. In thy power heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed. Save us, O Lord, and we shall be saved. For we are thy portion, and thine heritage. And the Lord shall not cast off his people, for his great name's sake, for the Lord hath begun to make us his people.41

And having sung hymns, they went every man to his house, glorifying God, for his is the glory, forever and ever.42 Amen.

40 Deut. xxvii. 15; Rom. i. 25.

41 1 Chr. xxiii. 25; Josh. xxi. 45; 1 Kings viii. 56, 57, 58; Ex. xii. 23; Zech. xiv. 9; Is. xxxiii. 22; Ps. lxxxvi. 8; Jer. xvii. 14; Deut. xxxii. 9; Ps. xciv. 14; 1 Sam. xii. 22.

42 2 Peter iii. 18.

A LATER GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS

Narrative of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of
his Holy Resurrection

COMPILED BY A JEW NAMED ÆNEAS; TRANSLATED FROM THE
HEBREW TONGUE INTO THE ROMAN BY NICODEMUS,

A ROMAN TOPARCH.1

After the kingdom of the Hebrews was abolished, four hundred years had passed away, and the Hebrews were tributaries under the government of the Romans, the king of the Romans appointing for them a king; Tiberius Cæsar at length wielded the Roman scepter, and in the eighteenth year of his reign he appointed as king in Judea, Herod, the son of that Herod who slew the infants in Bethlehem, and he had Pilate for governor in Jerusalem; Annas and Caiaphas also holding the high-priesthood of Jerusalem; Nicodemus, a Roman toparch, called unto him a Jew, named Æneas, and asked him to write what was done in Jerusalem, concerning Christ, in the times of Annas and Caiaphas; which also the Jew did, and delivered it unto Nicodemus, who straightway translated it from the Hebrew copy into Roman language. Now the matter of the history is this:

CHAPTER I

Our Lord Jesus Christ wrought many, and great, and extraordinary miracles in Judea, and was therefore viewed

1 It will be observed that here Nicodemus is a Roman, and only the translator of a book written by Eneas. Part of the preface seems to indicate that it was the work of a contemporary, but part of it suggests more truly that it was done in after times. The Greek text, from which this second version of Nicodemus is made, seems to be less ancient than the first, and to have been revised and polished by its editor. I suppose the name of Eneas not to be older than the account of the Journey to the Underworld, which has been added to the original composition, and follows the present recension of Nicodemus as Part II.

with jealousy by the Hebrews, when Pilate was governor at Jerusalem, and Annas and Caiaphas were chief priests. So Judas, Levi, Nephthalim, Alexander, Syrus, and many other of the Jews came to the chief priests, speaking against Christ. And the chief priests sent them to tell these things to Pilate. And they went away, and said to him, A man who hath a father called Joseph, and a mother Mary, goeth about in this city, and calleth himself a king, and the Son of God, and, although a Jew, overthroweth the Scriptures, and breaketh the Sabbaths. Pilate therefore inquired of them, in what manner he broke the Sabbaths. And they answered, saying, He healeth the sick on the Sabbath. Pilate saith, If he maketh the sick whole, he doth no evil. They say tohim, If he wrought his cures aright, the evil would be small; but he performed them by using magic, and having demons with him. Pilate saith, To heal the sick is not a diabolical work, but a gift from God.

The Hebrews said, We pray thy majesty to summon him, that thou mayest examine thoroughly what we say. Pilate therefore, throwing off his robe, gave it to one of his servants, saying, Go and show this to Jesus, and say to him, Pilate the governor calleth thee to come to him. So the servant departed, and finding Jesus, he called to him, spreading upon the ground the robe of Pilate, and inviting him to walk upon it. The Hebrews seeing this, and being greatly offended, came to Pilate, murmuring against him how that he had counted Jesus worthy of so great honor.

And he inquired of the servant that was sent, why he had done so. And the servant answered, when thou sentest me to Alexander the Jew, I met with Jesus, as he entered the gate of the city, sitting upon an ass; and I saw the Hebrews that they strewed their garments in the way, and the ass walked upon the garments; and others cut down branches; and they came out to meet him, and cried, Hosanna in the highest! Thus, therefore, it became me also to do.

On hearing these words, the Jews said to him, Thou who art a Roman, how knewest thou what was said by the Hebrews? The servant answered, I asked one of the

VOL. XIV.-23.