Oaths in 2nd Century Apocrypha
Oaths following the formula "As the Lord lives," or similar, are often found in early Christian apocrypha. These oath formulas occurs on
the lips of both protagonists and antagonists, as well as in a variety of
situations from judicial acts and personal vows to exclamations of
surprise and anguish. These oaths are supplied for historical verisimilitude,
placing oath formulas from the Old Testament (LXX) on the lips of Jewish actors in
the narratives to give the dialogue a “Jewish” feel. Below are shown some examples from 2nd century Christian Apocrypha.
Protoevangelium of James.
15 [See also: Protev., 4:2; 6:3; 13:10; 19:19]
Source: J.K. Elliott, The
Apocryphal New Testament. p. 62-63. Oxford University Press: 1993. [2005 reprint.]
15. And Annas the scribe
came to him and said to him, 'Joseph, why have you not appeared in our
assembly?' And Joseph said to him, 'Because I was weary from the journey and I
rested the first day.' And Annas turned and saw that Mary was pregnant. And he
went running to the priest and said to him, 'Joseph, for whom you are a
witness, has grievously transgressed.' And the high priest said, 'In what way?'
And he said, 'The virgin, whom he received from the temple of the Lord, he has
defiled, and has secretly consummated his marriage with her, and has not
disclosed it to the children of Israel.' And the priest said to him, 'Has
Joseph done this?' And Annas said to him, 'Send officers, and you will find the
virgin pregnant.' And the officers went and found as he had said, and brought
her and Joseph to the court. And the priest said, 'Mary, why have you done
this? Why have you humiliated your soul and forgotten the Lord your God, you
who were brought up in the Holy of Holies and received food from the hand of an
angel, and heard hymns, and danced before him? Why have you done this?' But she
wept bitterly saying, 'As the Lord my God lives, I am pure before him and I
know not a man.' And the priest said to Joseph, 'Why have you done this?' And
Joseph said, 'As the Lord my God lives, I am pure concerning her.' And the
priest said, 'Do not give false witness, but speak the truth. You have
consummated your marriage in secret, and have not disclosed it to the children
of Israel, and have not bowed your head under the mighty hand in order that
your seed might be blessed.' And Joseph was silent.
Acts of John. 28
Source: J.K. Elliott, The
Apocryphal New Testament. p. 314. Oxford University Press: 1993. [2005 reprint.]
28. [upon seeing a
portrait of himself] And John who had never yet seen his own face, said to him,
'You mock me, child. Do I look like this? By your Lord, how will you convince
me that the picture is like me?' And Lycomedes brought a mirror. And when John
saw himself in the mirror, he said 'As the Lord Jesus Christ lives, the picture
resembles me, child, but is not like me, only like the image of my body. For if
that painter, who copied my face in the picture, will paint me, he would now
lack the colours given to you as well as tables and opportunity (?) and access
(?) and carriage and form and age and youth and everything visible.
James the Just’s Oath in
a Hebrew Gospel, as Recorded in Jerome’s Of Illustrious Men 2.11-13.
Source: Jerome. Fathers
of the Church, Volume 100: Of Illustrious Men, p. 8. Washington D.C., USA:
Catholic University of America Press, 1999.
Also the gospel which is
called the Gospel according to the Hebrews, and which I have recently
translated into Greek and Latin, and of which also Origen frequently makes use,
after the account of the resurrection of the Savior says. “The Lord, however,
after he had given his grave clothes to the servant of the priest, appeared to
James, for James had sworn that he would not eat bread from that hour in which
he drank the cup of the Lord until he should see him rising again from among
those that sleep”; and again, a little later, it says, “ ‘Bring a table and bread,’
said the Lord.” And immediately it is added, “He brought bread and blessed and
broke it and gave to James the Just and said to him, ‘My brother, eat your
bread, for the Son of Man is risen from among those that sleep.’”
