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Acts of Pilate
Anonymous / composite
Chapter 16 About this work A pseudonymous narrative associated with the Gospel of Nicodemus that expands Jesus’s trial, crucifixion, resurrection testimony, and in some forms the descent to the dead.
Author Anonymous / composite
Traditional attribution Pilate’s official records; later associated with Nicodemus
Date Main form c. mid-4th century; later accretions
Origin Unknown
Genre Apocryphon Several related textual forms circulate under this title, so the precise witness and date must be verified.
And the rulers of the synagogue , and the priests
‹ Chapter 15
and
the
Levites
,
hearing
these
words
from
Joseph
,
became
as
it
were
dead
,
and
fell
to
the
ground
,
and
fasted
until
the
ninth
hour
.
And
Joseph
and
Nicodemus
entreated
them
,
saying
:
Arise
and
stand
upon
your
feet
,
and
taste
bread
,
and
comfort
your
souls
,
seeing
that
to
-
morrow
is
the
Sabbath
of
the
Lord
.
And
they
arose
,
and
entreated
the
Lord
,
and
ate
and
drank
,
and
went
every
man
to
his
own
house
.
And on the Sabbath the teachers and doctors sat questioning each other , and saying : What is this wrath that has come upon us ? because we know his father and mother . Levi the teacher said : I know that his parents fear God , and never depart from prayer , and give tithes thrice a - year . And when Jesus was born , his parents brought him up to this place , and gave to God sacrifices and burnt - offerings . And assuredly the great teacher Simeon took him into his arms , saying : Now Thou sendest away Thy servant , O Lord , according to Thy word , in peace ; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation , which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples , a light for the revealing of the nations , and the glory of Thy people Israel . And he blessed Mary his mother , and said , I make an announcement to thee concerning this child . And Mary said , Well , my lord . And Simeon said , Well . And he said again , Lo , he has been set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel , and for a sign which shall be spoken against ; and a sword shall pierce thine own soul , that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed .
And the Jews said to Levi : And how knowest thou these things ? Levi says : Do you not know that from him I learned the law ? They of the council say : We wish to see thy father . And they searched out his father , and got information ; for he said : Why did you not believe my son ? The blessed and just Simeon taught him the law . The council says to Rabbi Levi : The saying which thou hast spoken is true . The chief priests and rulers of the synagogue , and Levites , said to each other : Come , let us send into Galilee to the three men who came hither and gave an account of his teaching and his being taken up , and let them tell us how they saw him taken up into heaven . And that saying pleased all . Then they sent three men into Galilee ; and Go , said they , say to Rabbi Addas and Rabbi Finees and Rabbi Egias , Peace to you and yours ! Many investigations have been made in the council concerning Jesus ; therefore have we been instructed to call you to the holy place , to Jerusalem .
The men went to Galilee , and found them sitting , and meditating on the law . And they saluted them in peace . And they said : Why have you come ? The messengers said : The council summon you to the holy city Jerusalem . And the men , hearing that they were sought for by the council , prayed to God , and reclined with the men , and ate and drank with them . And rising in the morning , they went to Jerusalem in peace .
And on the morrow the council sat ; and they questioned them , saying : Did you plainly see Jesus sitting on Mount Mambre teaching his disciples , and taken up into heaven ?
First Addas the teacher says : I really saw him sitting on Mount Mambre teaching his disciples ; and a shining cloud overshadowed him and his disciples , and he went up into heaven ; and his disciples prayed upon their faces on the ground . And calling Finees the priest , they questioned him also , saying : How didst thou see Jesus taken up ? And he said the same as the other . And again they called the third , Rabbi Egias , and questioned him , and he said the same as the first and second . And those who were in the council said : The law of Moses holds that by the mouth of two or three every word should stand . Abudem , a teacher , one of the doctors , says : It is written in the law , Enoch walked with God , and was translated ; for God took him . Jairus , a teacher , said : And we have heard of the death of holy Moses , and have not seen it ; for it is written in the law of the Lord , And Moses died according to the word of the Lord , and no man knoweth of his burying even to the present day . Rabbi Levi said : What is it that Rabbi Simeon said : Lo , he lies for the fall and rising again of many in Israel , and for a sign which shall be spoken against ? Rabbi Isaac said : It is written in the law , Lo , I send mine angel , who shall go before thy face to keep thee in every good way , because I have brought his new name .
Then Annas and Caiaphas said : Rightly have ye said that these things are written in the law of Moses , that no one saw the death of Enoch , and no one has named the burying of holy Moses . And Jesus gave account to Pilate , and we saw him scourged , and receiving spitting on his face ; and the soldiers put a crown of thorns on him , and he received sentence from Pilate ; and then he was crucified , and they gave him gall and vinegar to drink , and two robbers were crucified with him , and the soldier Longinus pierced his side with a lance ; and our honourable father Joseph begged his body , and he has risen again , and , as they say , the three teachers have seen him taken up into heaven . And Rabbi Levi has borne witness to what was said by Simeon the elder — that he has been set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel , and for a sign which shall be spoken against .
Then Didas , a teacher , said to all the assembly : If all the things which these have borne witness to have come to pass in Jesus , they are from God , and let it not be wonderful in our eyes . The chiefs of the synagogue , and the priests and the Levites , said to each other how our law holds , saying : His name shall be blessed for ever : His place endureth before the sun , and His seat before the moon : and all the tribes of earth shall be blessed in Him , and all nations shall serve Him ; and kings shall come from far , adoring and magnifying Him .
Notes 1 Perhaps this would be better as a question: Is it good?
2 Lit., mouth.
3 Or, its. The text of the clause is corrupt.
4 i.e., was tried before.
5 Comp. Ps. cxviii. 23.
6 Ps. lxxii. 11, 17.
