A jubilee of fifty books known only by title

Abstract

This article ends the special issue that aims to introduce the conception of “books known only by title” as a fruitful new focus of research. In this article, we include an annotated assortment of books known only by title. This collection of fifty such books is not exhaustive, but it may serve as an inspiration and a springboard for future researchers by demonstrating the breadth and rich diversity of this phenomenon. To aid such research, we have provided bibliographic information for each entry. We also discuss ways of categorizing these books and the challenges of those categorizations. The list is hardly exhaustive, but it is selective. Our examples center on the first millennium C.E., and they center on the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Certain entries may push at those boundaries but were included because of their special interest to us. Most notably, the classical texts of Greco-Roman culture were not included; nor were the canons of East Asia, or many other literary cultures across the globe.

We conclude this special issue with an annotated assortment of Books Known Only by Title. ¹ This collection of fifty such books is certainly not exhaustive, but it may serve as an inspiration and a springboard for future researchers by demonstrating the breadth and rich diversity of this phenomenon. To aid such research, we have provided bibliographic information for each entry. The entries differ in length; while some books known only by title are simple traces, others were impossible to summarize in a sentence or two. These polycephalous entities sometimes emerge as a tangle of allusions across multiple sources, frequently leaving scholars uncertain whether they referred to a single text, multiple texts of similar names, or (most often) a web of references to books both seen and unseen by those who alluded to them.

As mentioned, this list is hardly exhaustive, but it is selective. Our examples center on the first millennium C.E., and they center on the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (Certain entries may push at those boundaries but were included because of their special interest to us.) Most notably, the classical texts of Greco-Roman culture were not included; nor were the canons of East Asia, or many other literary cultures across the globe. These limitations emphatically do not imply that the phenomenon of books known only by title is limited to the times and traditions we examine here. To the contrary, we suspect that this phenomenon is present universally, and it may manifest in different ways in other literary cultures; we welcome future efforts to explore such books in other contexts. Nevertheless, our own sets of expertise as a research team necessitated this artificially bounded approach.

In addition to the constraints of geography and dating, we have also made decisions about what sorts of references to include, as discussed in the Introduction. In truth, every element of “books known only by title” can be questioned. With books, we have included letters and other texts. With books known only by title, we have included books (such as Eldad and Modad) where the briefest quotation or paraphrase is also known, but not those (such as the Gospel of Eve) where more extensive information is available. Finally, with books known by title, we have included books known by references, whether they mentioned the author or summarized the contents—even when a title was missing or may never have existed. Our goal was not to draw lines around a strict subset of items, but rather to demonstrate the variety and malleability of these conceptual objects.

To that end, we have organized these entries into eight categories: items from book lists and items that adhere to the seven literary tendencies previously presented in our introduction. This ordering is somewhat arbitrary—many entries could easily be placed in more than one category—but it both preserves certain clusters of material and fruitfully juxtaposes other entries that might not otherwise be considered together.

Entries in book lists

These entries flesh out lists of books; the lists’ other items mostly refer to extant texts.

The Book Concerning the Daughters of Adam, of Leptogenesis (Liber de filiabus Adae Leptogeneseos)

The Gelasian Decree (Decretum Gelasianum, Latin Christian) has been assigned a date in the fifth century. Its list of apocryphal books contains both known and unknown texts. This title in the Gelasian Decree has been interpreted as a reference to Jubilees (Leptogenesis). However, this interpretation does not exhaust the potential suggested by the Latin title. It could have been imagined as a book concerning the daughters of Adam—a book excerpted from, associated with, or otherwise placed in the tradition of Jubilees. The large degree of variance that appears in the rendering of the title in Latin manuscripts suggests that scribes may not have been familiar with the title and the book to which it supposedly pointed.

Manuscripts

Among the manuscripts that include this entry is the tenth-century, Sankt Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, 191, f. 109r. (http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/it/csg/0191/109).

Critical editions

Ernst von Dobschütz, Das Decretum Gelasianum de libris recipiendis et non recipiendis, Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1912.

The Book Concerning the Giant Named Ogias of Whom the Heretics Assert that After the Deluge, He Fought with the Dragon (Liber de Ogia nomine gigante qui post diluvium cum dracone ab hereticis pugnasse perhibetur)

Another entry from the apocryphal books of the Gelasian Decree. Due to the focus on battle and a giant, it has been suggested that this entry refers to the Manichean Book of Giants or alternatively the Book of Giants known from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Even though the accounts of giants are many in Christian, Jewish, Islamic, and Manichean sources, and the giant named Og/Ogias appears in several accounts (for example, Deut 3:11; Niddah 61a), the entry in the Gelasian Decree is the only known mention of a book about this particular giant.

The Book of the Tradition of the Elders (ܣܦܪܐ ܕܡܫܠܡܢܘܬ ܩܫܝܫܐ)

The East Syriac Catalogue of the Books of the Church (probably 1298 C.E.), by Abdisho of Nisibis, contains a list of Old Testament books that include some known only by title. These exact titles are not attested in any other list or literary work. This entry appears in the latter part of Abdisho’s list of Old Testament books, after the prophets and the Epistle of Baruch, and before works ascribed to Josephus. Some scholars have hypothesized that the entry refers to the Mishna, to the Pirke Aboth, or to an otherwise unknown rabbinic work.

Manuscripts

Among the manuscripts where the title appears is Rome, Vat.Sir. 176, folio 26r, dated 1476 (https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.sir.176 [digital sheet 29]).

Critical editions

Edition of the Syriac text and a Latin translation in Joseph S. Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana, (III,1) Tomi tertii pars prima de scriptoribus Syris Nestorianis. Rome: Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, 1725.

Major translations

English translation in George P. Badger, The Nestorians and Their Rituals: With the Narrative of a Mission to Mesopotamia and Coordistan in 1842–44, vol. 2. London: Joseph Masters, 1852.

The Story of King Herod (ܬܫܥܝܬ ܗܪܘܕܣ ܡܠܟܐ)

The Story of King Herod is listed in Abdisho of Nisibis’ Catalogue of the Books of the Church between the Book of Maccabees and the Last Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, both sometimes associated with Josephus in the Syriac traditions. A potential interpretation of the entry is that Abdisho has singled out one of the sources that Josephus mentions in Jewish Antiquities (15, 174): the so-called Memories of Herod.

Lamech (Λάμεχ)

An entry in the list of apocryphal books of the Greek List of Sixty Books (ca. seventh century). The entry also appears in the list of false books in Nikon of the Black Mountain’s Church Slavic treatise, Taktikon (eleventh century), and in Pogodin’s Nomokanon (fourteenth century). The tenth-century Church Slavonic list of secret books contained in the 1073 Miscellany lists the entry “Malech.” This is probably a variant reading of “Lamech.” Taktikon survives, for instance, in Russian State Library, Fonds 304.I, no. 211, fols. 133v–134r (sixteenth century). Pogodin’s Nomokanon survives in Russian State Library, Pogodin 31, fols. 187–90 (fourteenth century).

Manuscripts

Among the manuscripts that include the 1073 Miscellany is State Historical Museum in Moscow, Sinodal 31, fols. 252r–354v (eleventh century).

Editions and translations

Пыпин, Александр Николаевич / Pypin, A. N. (1861), ‘Исследование для объяснения статьи о ложных книгах / Isledovanie dlja ob”jasnenija stat’i o ložnych knigach’, Летопись занятий Археографической комиссии / Letopis’ zanjatij Archeografičeskoj komissii 01, 1–55.

Petăr Dinekov et al., eds. Simeonov sbornik: (po Svetoslavovija prepis ot 1073g.) 3 vols. (Sophia: Izdat na Bălgarskata Akademija na Naukite, 1991).

Slavomír Čéplö, “Books only known by their names from book lists in the Slavia Orthodoxa,” forthcoming in Unruly Books, ed. Esther Brownsmith, Marianne Bjelland Kartzow, and Liv Ingeborg Lied.

Antiquarianism

These entries claim to be the source of historical and literary information quoted by the author.

Book of Jashar (ספר הישר‎)

The Hebrew Bible mentions the book of Jashar in Josh 10:13 and 2 Sam 1:18, plus an additional possible reference in 2 Kings 8:53 preserved in the Septuagint. In every case, the book is mentioned as the source of archaic Hebrew poetry. (“Jashar” means “honest person,” but the Hebrew may be a metathesis of “song.”) There have been multiple later texts designated as the book of Jashar, including both Jewish and Christian compositions.

Editions and translations

Cf. major editions of the MT and LXX.

Eldad and Modad (Ἐλδὰδ καὶ Μωδάτ)

The book Eldad and Modad is mentioned in the Shepherd of Hermas, Herm. Vis. 2.3.4 (7:4): “‘The Lord is near to those who return’, as it is written in Eldad and Modad, who prophesied in the wilderness to the people.” (ἐγγὺς κύριος τοῖς ἐπιστρεφομένοις, ὡς γέγραπται ἐν τῷ Ἐλδὰδ καὶ Μωδάτ, τοῖς προφητεύσασιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τῷ λαῷ.) The entry “Eldad and Modad” appears in the Greek List of Sixty Books, in the synopsis of Pseudo-Athanasius, and in the Stichometry of Nicephorus. Mechitar of Ayrivank mentions it as well in his Armenian Chronicle and in a related list relating to biblical books. It is also listed in two Slavonic lists: the 1073 Svjatoslav Miscellany (“Eldad”) and the Taktikon by Nikon of the Black Mountain (“Eldad and Modad”).

Manuscripts

The Shepherd of Hermas (in whole or in parts) is available in a series of Greek manuscripts, among them in the Codex Sinaiticus: https://codexsinaiticus.org/en/manuscript.aspx?dir=prev&folioNo=2&lid=en&quireNo=93&side=v&zoomSlider=1 (accessed, May 3, 2021).

In Armenian, for instance, Erevan, Matenadaran, ms. 1500, fol 370r (thirteenth century).

Taktikon survives, for instance, in Russian State Library, Fonds 304.I, no. 211, fols. 133v–134r (sixteenth century). Among the manuscripts that include the 1073 Miscellany is State Historical Museum in Moscow, Sinodal 31, fols. 252r–354v (eleventh century).

Editions and translations

Carolus De Boor, Nicephori: Archiepiscopi Constantinopolitani Opuscula Historica. Leipzig: Teubner, 1880, 134–35.

Slavomír Čéplö, “Books only known by their names from book lists in the Slavia Orthodoxa,” forthcoming in Unruly Books, ed. Esther Brownsmith, Marianne Bjelland Kartzow, and Liv Ingeborg Lied.

Codex Sinaiticus: Facsimile Edition. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2011.

Petăr Dinekov et al., eds. Simeonov sbornik: (po Svetoslavovija prepis ot 1073 g.) 3 vols. Sophia: Izdat na Bălgarskata Akademija na Naukite, 1991.

Bart D. Ehrman, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, Volume 2. Loeb Classical Library 25. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003, 174–473.

Пыпин, Александр Николаевич / Pypin, A. N. (1861), ‘Исследование для объяснения статьи о ложных книгах / Isledovanie dlja ob”jasnenija stat’i o ložnych knigach’, Летопись занятий Археографической комиссии / Letopis’ zanjatij Archeografičeskoj komissii 01, 1–55.

Michael E. Stone “Armenian Canon Lists III: The Lists of Mechitar of Ayrivank’ (c. 1285 C. E.),” Harvard Theological Review 69, no. 3–4 (1976): 289–300.

Account of Jason of Cyrene (ὑπὸ Ἰάσωνος τοῦ Κυρηναίου δεδηλωμένα διὰ πέντε βιβλίων)

The prologue of 2 Maccabees (second century B.C.E. Hellenistic Jewish), which appears in 2 Macc 2:19–32, presents 2 Macc 3–15 as an epitome of a longer five-volume work by Jason of Cyrene. His history is said to treat Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, the purification of the Jerusalem temple, their wars against Antiochus Epiphanes and Antiochus Eupator, and the divine help the Jews received in turning away the Seleucid armies. Jason’s work is also contrasted with the epitome by providing more detail and being less artfully composed. The work is not extant, and no other ancient discussion of it remains.

Critical edition

Werner Kappler and Robert Hanhart, Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum Graecum Auctoritate Societatis Litterarum Göttingensis editum IX.2: Maccabaeorum liber II. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1959.

English translation and commentary

Robert Doran, 2 Maccabees: A Critical Commentary, Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012.

Secondary literature

Francis Borchardt, “Reading Aid: 2 Maccabees and the History of Jason of Cyrene Reconsidered,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 47, no. 1 (2016): 71–87.

Continuity and genealogy

These entries attest to the unbroken heritage of knowledge from earlier days.

Books of Mani

What is striking about Manicheism is that despite the numerous Manichean texts that have surfaced in the last century, we still know his “canonical” books mostly by title, though brief fragments and quotations survive. The Manichean canon list seems not to have been fixed, but it is clear that Mani claims his religion has a competitive advantage in that he himself wrote down its scriptures. A core list of about seven “books of light” is preserved by one of Mani’s immediate followers (Hom. 25.1–6) as well as the Kephalaia (5.21–33; 6.15–27; 355.4–25), both preserved in Coptic: (1) The Great Living Gospel; (2) The Treasury of Life; (3) The Book of the Giants / The Writing to the Persians (may or may not be the same book); (4) The Treatise; (5) The Book of the Mysteries; (6) The Epistles; (7) The Psalms and the Prayers. None of these books are extant, though we have fragments and quotations of some, such as The Great Living Gospel and The Epistles. In addition, a Picture-Book illustrating Manichaean cosmology was important. Further works are attested in Arabic and Chinese sources.

Critical edition

Nils Arne Pedersen, Manichaean Homilies (COP 2; Turnhout: Brepols, 2006) 25; Hans Jakob Polotsky and A. Böhlig, Kephalaia: 1. Hälfte (Lieferung 1–10). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1940, 5–6.

Wolf-Peter Funk, ed., Kephalaia I: 2. Hälfte, (Lieferung 13–14). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1999, 202–203.

Secondary literature

Iain Gardner, and Samuel N. C. Lieu, ed., Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, 151–75.

The Book of Ğafr (كتاب الجفر, Kitāb al-ğafr)

Attributed to Ğaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (d. 765), the sixth Shiite Imam, The Book of Ğafr is a legendary text that exhibits a predilection among Muslim scribes for creating ancient and holy lineages for prophetic and esoteric texts. Ğafr is a non-confessional (that is, neither exclusively Shiite nor Sunni) Islamic esoteric genre composed in a revelatory mode—usually phrased in terms of kašf or ru’yā—that is primarily concerned with the eschatological “Final Hour” (al-sāʿah) of Qurʾānic revelation. The origins of ğafr before the thirteenth century are practically impossible to pin down with any exactitude, though it is likely that it emerged out of the early Islamic apocalyptic “dynastic destinies” (ḥidt-ān al-duwal, malāḥim). Ğaʿfar is a descendant of both ʿAlı̄ and Fāṭimah through their son Ḥusayn, a glorified martyr and semi-divine person in Shiite tradition, making this one of several works of eschatological-revelatory and esoteric content attributed to a member of the prophetic family (that is, ahl al-bayt). Ibn Ḫaldūn (d. 1406) is the earliest known historian to describe ğafr as a genre and note its popular attribution to Ğaʿfar, a tradition the historian roundly doubts. (See Ibn Ḫaldūn, al-Muqaddimah I:550.) ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Bisṭāmı̄ (d. 1454) in his exegetical commentary on Ibn Ṭalḥah’s Pearl provides the following critical textual genealogy: “Ğaʿfar said that the White Ğafr, the Red Ğafr, and the Comprehensive Ğafr (or Comprehensive Prognosticon) all proceed from us, the Imamas.” (See Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Ms. Hafid Ef. 204, fol. 7b.) Like the Book of Ğafr, the other purported colors and sizes are all legendary.

Manuscripts

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Bisṭāmı̄, Miftāḥ al-ğafr al-ğāmiʿ, Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Ms. Hafid Ef. 204, fols. 6a–55b.

Ibn Ḫaldūn, al-Muqaddimah, vol. I. Damascus: Dār Yaʿrūb, 2004, 550.

Secondary literature

Toufic Fahd, La Divination Arabe. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 1966, 219–24.

W. Sasson Chahanovich, “Ottoman Eschatological Enthusiasm.” PhD diss., Harvard University, 2020, 123–56, (https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/37368258/CHAHANOVICH%20FINAL%20May%207%20Sub.pdf?sequence=1).

The Big Book of Ğafr by Imam ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (كتاب الجفر الكبير لعلي, Kitāb al-ğafr al-kabīr li-ʿAlī), a.k.a. the Comprehensive Prognosticon and Radiant Light (كتاب جفر الجامع والنور اللامع Kitāb ğafr al-ğāmiʿ wa-l-nūr al-lāmiʿ)

Attributed to ʿAlı̄ b. Abı̄ Ṭālib (d. 661)—the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, son-in-law, and the fourth caliph (r. 656–661)—The Big Book of Ğafr or Comprehensive Prognosticon is an imaginary divinatory work that establishes an ancient and august lineage for ğafr, the Islamic eschatological apocalyptic genre that emerges in the thirteenth century. A summary of the contents of this book can be found in the appendix (tad-yīl) Description of Cairo (Ḥālāt al-Ḳāhirah min al-ʿādāt al-ẓāhirah) by the foremost Ottoman historian of the late-sixteenth-century Muṣṭafā ʿĀlı̄ (d. 1600). (See Tietze’s edition, pp. 80–83; transcription 172–75; ms. plates LXXX–LXXXV.) A much longer tradition of attributing prophecies to ʿAlı̄ is well attested. For example, the fourth caliph is identified as the celestial intermediary of the eschatological vision titled The Orderly Pearl (al-Durr al-munaẓẓzam) recorded by the thirteenth-century Syrian scholar Ibn Ṭalḥah (d. 1254). (See Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi Ms. Hafid Ef. 204, fols. 1b–5b.) Herein ʿAlı̄ is in possession of a “tablet” (lawḥ), a technical term which evokes the cosmic prototype (that is, al-lawḥ al-maḥ fuẓ) of all revelation (Qurʾān 85:22). Similarly, ʿAlı̄’s authorship of The Big Book of Ğafr can also be found in another prophetic corpus known variously as the Oracle of Ibn al-ʿArabī (Malḥamat Ibn al-ʿArabī) or the Torn Pocket (Šaqq al-ğayb). (See National Library of Israel, Ms. 125, fol. 2a.) Importantly, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Bisṭāmı̄ (d. 1454) in his Key to the Comprehensive Prognosticon, an exegetical commentary to Ibn Ṭalḥah’s Pearl, cites the origin of ğafr as deriving in part from an apocryphal oracular sermon held by ʿAlı̄ in Kufa popularly known as the Sermon of Declaration (Ḫuṭbat al-bayān) and which he has it recorded according to the style of the Book of Adam. (See Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi Ms. Hafid Ef. 204, fols. 7a–8b.)

Manuscripts

Ibn Talḥah, al-Durr al-munaẓẓam fī sirr al-ism al-aʿẓam, Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi Ms. Hafid Ef. 204, fols. 1b–6a.

Ps.-Ibn al-ʿArabī, Malḥamat Ibn al-ʿArabī, National Library of Israel, Ms. 125.

Andreas Tietze, Muṣṭaf ā ʿĀlı̄’s Description of Cairo of 1599.

Secondary literature

Toufic Fahd, La divination arabe. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 1966, 221–22.

Mohammad Masad, “The Medieval Islamic Apocalyptic Tradition.” PhD diss., Washington University in St. Louis, 2008, 121–32, https://doi.org/10.7936/K77943GJ.

The Book of (the Generations of) Adam (ספר תולדות אדם‎)

Based on Gen 5:1 (“this is the book [sefer] of the generations of Adam”), this imagined record of the genealogy of humankind is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (see BT Avodah Zarah 5a and BT Bava Metsiah 85–86a) with several appearances in the Zohar. There, it is depicted as a real book of divine wisdom, including the genealogy of the future sages and kings of Israel, given to Adam through the mediation of the angel Razi’el, briefly taken away at the time of his exile from Eden, and returned to him to be passed it down to his descendants. The tradition of Razi’el’s revelation of a book to Adam is taken up in medieval Jewish texts collected by Adolf Jellinek, which include claims that this same book was temporarily hidden and revealed anew to Enoch and Noah.

Editions

Daniel Matt, ed. and trans., The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, vol. I: Genesis, Stanford, Cal.: Stanford University Press, 2004.

Adolf Jellinek, Beit ha-Midrash, 3rd ed.; Jerusalem: Wahrmann, 1938. 3.155–59.

English translation and commentary

Daniel Matt, The Zohar: Pritzker Edition.

Secondary literature

Louis Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, Philadelphia: JPS, 1968. 5:117–18, n. 110.

Michael Stone, “The Book(s) Attributed to Noah,” in Noah and His Book(s), ed. M.E. Stone, A. Amihay and V. Hillel, Atlanta: SBL, 2010.

Scroll of Hagi (ספר ההגי‎); Scroll of Meditation (also known as Book of Hagy or Hagu)

The expression “Scroll of Hagi” occurs once in 1QSa 1:6–9 and three times in the Damascus Document (CD 10:6 [4Q266 f8 iii 5]; 13:2; 14:7–8 [“Hagi” is here reconstructed]). There has been much speculation as to what it refers to. The very form “Hagi” told Dominique Barthélemy (“1Q28a,” 113) that the “book” was likely written in Aramaic. Yigael Yardin suggested it might be identical to the Temple Scroll (Temple Scroll, 226, 229) while Torleif Elgvin envisaged it as “a heavenly book inscribed in God’s presence” (An Analysis of 4QInstruction, 86). However, most scholars favor another interpretation: They take “Scroll of Hagi” as referring to the scroll of the law/Moses (echoing Joshua 1:8; cf. also Ps 1:2). The term always forms part of relatively fixed expressions—“each boy is to be instructed in the Scroll of Hagi” (1QSa 1:6–7); “six men learned in the Scroll of Hagi” (CD 10:6; cf. also 14:7–8), and “a priest knowledgeable in the Scroll of Hagi” (CD 13:2). As noted by Steven D. Fraade, in every occurrence, “the expression is the object of study or learning.” It is also worth noticing that all the occurrences in the Damascus Document refer to persons with expert knowledge in the Scroll of Hagi.

Critical editions

Damascus document/CD

Solomon Schechter, ed., Fragments of a Zadokite Work, vol. 1 of Documents of Jewish Sectaries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1910.

Rule of the congregation/1QSa

Dominique Barthélemy, “28a. Règle de la Congrégation (1QSa) (Pls. XXII–XXIV),” in Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 1: Qumran Cave I., eds. J. T. Milik and D. Barthélemy. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955, 108–18.

Bibliography

Torleif Elgvin, An Analysis of 4QInstruction, PhD diss., Department of Bible, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1998.

Steven D. Fraade, “Hagu, Book of.” Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Volume 1, eds. Lawrence H. Schiffman and James C. VanderKam. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, 327.

Yigael Yadin, The Temple Scroll: The Hidden Law of the Dead Sea Sect. London: Weidenfeld and Nocolson, 1983.

The two Books of Jeu (ⲡⲛⲟϭ ⲥⲛⲁⲩ ⲛ̄ϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ⲓ̈ⲉ︦ⲟ︦︦ⲩ︦)

The fifth-century Coptic Askew Codex (commonly known as the Pistis Sophia) mentions “the two great Books of Jeu” as a source of information about “the lesser mysteries.” In the Codex, Jesus states that he dictated the Books of Jeu to Enoch in Paradise. There are two extant books commonly called the Books of Jeu in the Bruce Codex, but those books mention nothing about Enoch and do not actually call themselves Books of Jeu; therefore, the Askew Codex appears to be talking about different texts.

Manuscript

British Library Add. 5114.227, 315–316 (not available online).

Critical edition

Carl Schmidt and Violet Macdermot, Pistis Sophia, Nag Hammadi Studies 9. Leiden: Brill, 1978.

Filling in gaps / Causing disruptions

These entries address the transmission of knowledge, either supplying “missing” links or proposing alternate models of transmission.

The Hymns of Kasia (τοῖς ὕμνοις Κασίας) and The Prayers of Amaltheias-Keras (ταῖς εὐχαῖς τῆς Ἀμαλθείας κέρας)

Mentioned in the Testament of Job (first–fourth century C.E., Greek, Jewish?) 49:3 and 50:3 as two collections of texts written by the divinely inspired daughters of Job, who were bequeathed mystical cords by their father. The first contains “The Act of the Heavens,” while the second contains “The Paternal Splendor.” Neither is mentioned elsewhere. The third daughter of Job, Hemera, has “The Spirit” written on her clothing, but it is unclear whether this refers to a third volume.

Manuscript

Bibliothèque nationale de France gr 2658, fols. 72r–97r (complete, eleventh century C.E.) (https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10722917v/f102.item.zoom).

English translations

Russel Paul Spittler, “Testament of Job,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Vol I, ed. James H. Charlesworth. Doubleday & Co. 1983.

H. F. D. Sparks, “The Testament of Job,” in The Apocryphal Old Testament. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984.

Secondary literature

Eric Reymond, “Imaginary Texts in Pseudepigraphal Literature: The Angelic Hymns of Job’s Daughters in the Testament of Job,” Henoch 2 (2009): 366–86.

Codex of Fatima or Book of Fatima ( مصحف فاطمة, كتاب فاطمة Muṣḥaf Fāṭimah)

Attributed to Fāṭima bint Muḥammad (ca. 609–632), the youngest daughter of the Prophet Muḥammad, this text is described in the sources as belonging to the textual and eschatological-revelatory genre of ğafr. The Codex supposedly comprises revelations which the titular Fāṭimah received via the angel Gabriel pertaining to the fate of ʿAlī and Fāṭimah’s offspring (that is, the Imams); names of all earthly rulers up to the Final Hour, the Day of Resurrection, and the Day of Judgment; knowledge of who will go to heaven and hell; condensed knowledge of the Tanakh, Gospels, and Qurʾān; as well as some jurisprudential material (that is, fiqh). Her husband ʿAlı̄ b. Abı̄ Ṭālib served as her scribe.

According to Shīʿī theology, Fāṭima and her husband are perceived as infallible (maʿṣūm), and ʿAlī with their two sons Ḥasan (ca. 624–670) and al-Ḥusayn (ca. 626–680) are regarded as the first three of a limited number of infallible imāms with exclusive and hereditary epistemic and spiritual authority. The Codex was supposedly handed down among the Imams up to the final and twelfth Imam who subsequently went into occultation, and with him so too does Fāṭimah’s revelatory work go missing. No textual evidence exists outside of the descriptive narratives in predominantly Shiite sources.

Primary source

The chapter “Bāb fī l-aʾimma ʿalayhim al-salām annahum uʿṭū l-jafra wal-jāmʿata wa-muṣḥaf f ātima ʿalayhā l-salām,” in Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn b. Farukh al-Ṣaffār al-Qummī, Basāʾir al-darajāt f ī faḍāʾil āl Muḥammad. Ed. Mirzā Muḥsin Koochebāghī al-Tabrīzī. Qum: Maktabat Āyat Allāh al-ʿUẓmā al-Marʿashī al-Najafī, 1404 h., 150–61.

The book “Kitāb al-ḥujja,” chapter “Bāb f īhi dhikr al-ṣahīfa wal-jafr wal-jāmiʿa wa-muṣḥaf Fāṭima,” in Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī, Uṣūl al-kāfī.7 vols. Beirut: Manshurāt al-fajr, 2007, vol. 1, 141–43.

Secondary sources

Sean Anthony, “The Legend of ‘Abdallah ibn Saba’ and the Date of Umm al-Kitab,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 21, no. 1 (2011): 1–30.

Noah Gardiner, “Jafr,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam 3, eds. Kate Fleet et al., 3rd ed. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2012, http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.uio.no/10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_32687.

Ignaz Goldziher, “Beiträge zur Literaturgeschichte der Śîʿâ und der Sunnitischen Polemik” (Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Classe, Wien, 1874), 439–524.

Hossein Modarressi, Tradition and Survival: A Bibliographical Survey of Early Shīʿite Literature: Volume I. Oxford: Oneworld, 2003.

Khalid Sindawi, “Fāṭima’s Book—A Shı̄ʿite Qurʾān? “ Rivista degli studii orientali 78, no. 1/2 (2004): 57–70.

The Letter from Laodicea (ἡ ἐκ Λαοδικείας [ἐπιστολή])

The “Letter from Laodicea” is mentioned in Col 4:16. The author of Colossians wants the two communities to exchange letters, so that the Laodiceans should read Colossians and the Colossians should read the letter from Laodicea. This seems to indicate that both letters are presented as works of Paul. If Colossians is a pseudonymous letter, the reference may be an attempt to create a true-to-life letter ending (cf. the reference to the cloak and the parchments in 2 Tim 4:13). If Colossians was written by Paul, it may refer to a lost Pauline letter, or to an extant Pauline letter that we know under another name. A short “Letter to the Laodiceans” made up of materials from the Pauline letters is included in some editions of the Vulgate, and this was probably made to fill in the apparent gap in the Pauline letter collection.

Critical edition

Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece 28. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.

English translation and commentary to the apocryphal letter

Philip L. Tite, The Apocryphal Epistle to the Laodiceans. An Epistolary and Rhetorical Analysis, Text and Editions for New Testament Study 7. Boston; Leiden: Brill, 2012.

Secondary literature

Nils A. Dahl, Studies in Ephesians, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 131. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000, 188–96.

The Book of the Covenant (ἡ βίβλος τῆς διαθήκης)

Didymus the Blind refers to the Book of the Covenant in his commentaries on Genesis and Job. In discussing Genesis 4 and 5, he suggests readers refer to the Book of the Covenant for details on the story of Cain and Abel, such as their age difference, the matter of which brother’s offering was pleasing to God, and the material composition of the murder weapon (commentary on In Gen. 118.29–119; 121.22–27, and 126.24–26). In the Commentary on Job 1, Didymus refers to the Book of the Covenant as describing satanic ploys against Abraham similar to those used on Job. Didymus acknowledges the ambivalent status of the book with phrases like “if one is willing to read the Book of the Covenant” or “if one is willing to accept the Book of the Covenant,” suggesting that it was viewed as dubious by some.

Critical editions

Commentary on In Gen. 118.29–119; 121.22–27; and 126.24–26 in Didyme L’aveugle, Sur la Genése I, SC 233. Paris: Les éditions du Cerf, 1976.

Commentary on Comm. Job 6.17–24 in Albert Henrichs, Didymos der Blinde: Kommentar zu Hiob (Tura Papyrus) Teil I: Kommentar zu Hiob Kap. 1–4. Bonn: Rudolf Habelt Verlag, 1968.

Special knowledge

These entries claim to contain esoteric and secret information.

The Archangelic (Book) of Moses the Prophet (ⲧⲁⲣⲭⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲕⲏ ⲙ̄ⲙⲱⲩⲥⲏⲥ ⲡⲉⲡⲣⲟⲡⲫⲏⲧⲏⲥ). Ref. NHC II,5 102.8–9

The untitled Coptic text known in scholarship as On the Origin of the World (NHC II,5) contains many otherwise unknown works promising special knowledge. This entry contains information about the power of the male parts of the seven androgynous entities who appear in chaos.

Edition

Hans-Gebhard Bethge, Bentley Layton, and Societas Coptica Hierosolymitana, “Treatise Without Title/On the Origin of the World,” in Nag Hammadi Codex II, 2–7 Together With XIII, 2*, Brit. Lib. Or.4926(1), and P. Oxy. 1, 654, 655, 2 Vols., ed. Bentley Layton, Nag Hammadi Studies 20–21, trans. Leiden: Brill, 1989, 2:28–93.

The First Book of Noraia (ⲧϣⲟⲣⲡ ⲛ̄ⲃⲓⲃⲗⲟⲥ ⲛ̄ⲛⲱⲣⲁⲓⲁⲥ) Ref. NHC II,5 102.10–11

In On the Origin of the World. Contains more information about the power of the female parts of the seven androgynous entities who appear in chaos.

The First Discourse of Oraia (ⲡϣⲟⲣⲡ ⲛ̄ⲗⲟⲅⲟⲥ ⲛ̄ⲱⲣⲁⲓⲁⲥ) Ref. NHC II,5 102.24–25

In On the Origin of the World. Contains more information in this work about Ialdabaoth’s creation of the heavens.

The Arrangements of the Destiny of the Heaven beneath the Twelfth (ⲛ̄ⲥⲭⲏⲙⲁ ⲛ̄ϫⲓⲙⲁⲣⲙⲉⲛⲏ ⲛ̄ⲧⲡⲉ ⲉⲧⲙⲡⲥⲁ ⲙⲡⲓⲧⲛ ⲙ̄ⲡⲓⲙⲛⲧⲥⲛⲟⲟⲩⲥ) Ref. NHC II,5 107.16–17

In On the Origin of the World. Contains information on the influences and effects of the good spirits produced by the good male-female children of Life (Zoe).

The Holy Book (ϫⲓⲉⲣⲁ ⲃⲓⲃⲗⲟⲥ) Ref. NHC II,5 110.30; 122.12–13

In On the Origin of the World. Mentions the curious detail that a third of the phoenixes in paradise were eaten. Orig. World also quotes a passage from this text describing the effects of the tree of knowledge.

The Seventh World of Hieralias the Prophet (ⲡⲙⲁϩⲥⲁϣϥ ⲛ̄ⲕⲟⲥⲙⲟⲥ ⲛ̄ϣⲓⲉⲣⲁⲗⲓⲁⲥ ⲡⲉⲡⲣⲟⲫⲏⲧⲏⲥ) Ref. NHC II,5 112.23–25

In On the Origin of the World. Contains additional information on the eons within the eon created by the Adam of Light.

The Book of Solomon (ⲡϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ⲥⲟⲗⲟⲙⲱⲛ) Ref. NHC II,5 107.3

In On the Origin of the World. Contains the names and effects of the androgynous demons resulting from the copulation of the seven male-female offspring of Death.

The Book of Zoroaster (ⲡϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ̄ⲍⲱⲣⲟⲁⲥⲧⲣⲟⲥ) Ref. NHC II 19.10; NHC IV 29.18 (mostly reconstructed)

In the long recension of the Apocryphon of John, Jesus recommends the Book of Zoroaster for those readers who would like to know more about the angels in charge of the remaining passions not mentioned by him in the Apocryphon of John itself.

Edition

Michael Waldstein and Frederik Wisse, eds., The Apocryphon of John: Synopsis of Nag Hammadi Codices II,1; III,1; and IV,1 with BG 8502,2, vol. 33 of Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, eds. J. M. Robinson and H. J. Klimkeit. Leiden: Brill, 1995.

The Book of Remedies (סֵפֶר רְפוּאוֹת‎)

In a baraita (outside tradition) printed with the Mishnah at Pesaḥim 4:9 and quoted in both Talmuds, King Hezekiah is praised for having hidden the “Book of Remedies”; while most of the other deeds of Hezekiah mentioned in the passage can be traced back to the Bible, no reference corresponds with the “book of remedies,” and readers are apparently expected to already be familiar with the idea. The reference is an early example of the tradition of Hezekiah as a censor or gatekeeper of divine secrets, especially esoteric or potentially dangerous revelation associated with Solomon, but extending also to texts associated with David and Isaiah, which appears piecemeal in late antique and medieval Jewish and Christian sources. Maimonides, in his Commentary on the Mishnah, refutes what he seems to present as a commonplace view—that the Book of Remedies hidden by Hezekiah was a Solomonic text with cures for every illness. The medieval Sefer Asaph ha-Rophe (“Book of Asaph the Physician”), in turn, claims to be the “Book of Remedies” originally revealed to Noah.

English translation and commentary

Martha Himmelfarb, “The Book of Noah,” in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Canonical Scriptures, eds Bauckham, Davila, and Panayotov. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 2013, 40–46.

Secondary literature

David J. Halperin, “The ‘Book of Remedies’, the Canonization of the Solomonic Writings, and the Riddle of Pseudo-Eusebius,” The Jewish Quarterly Review 72 (1982): 269–92.

Eva Mroczek, “Hezekiah the Censor and Ancient Theories of Canon Formation,” Journal of Biblical Literature 140, 3 (2021): 481–502.

Caminographia (Description of Furnaces) (καμινογραϕία)

This text is ascribed to the alchemist Maria and mentioned by Zosimus of Panopolis (actually the Zosimus MS writes Chôrographia, but Olympiodorus the Alchemist quotes Zosimus and gives the title above). Nothing is known of this Maria except that she is said to be a Hebrew, and several quotes from her book are given by Zosimus and Olympiodorus. According to George the Syncellus (early ninth century), Maria was one of the pupils of Ostanes, the Median sage, together with Democritus and Pammenes, all gathered in a temple in Memphis. Maria and Democritus were praised for having kept the art of alchemy secret by means of enigmatic utterings. This information may have been garnered from Zosimus, who Syncellus also quotes, and if so then from the beginning, Maria may have been a pseudonym associated with the pseudepigraphal alchemical text of Democritus. The Theosophorum Graecorum Fragmenta includes a saying attributed to Ostanes, “Let us honor Maria, since she has hid the mystery well” (τιμήσομεν τὴν Μαρίαν ὡς καλῶς κρύψασαν τὸ μυστήριον.) The fifth- to sixth-century anthology interprets this to be a reference to Mary the Theotokos, but no doubt this refers to the alchemist Maria, as the parallel in Syncellus shows.

Critical editions

Alden A. Mosshammer, ed., Georgii Syncelli: Ecloga Chronographica. Leipzig: Teubner, 1984 (Greek excerpt of Zosimus); Marcellin Berthelot and Rubens Duval, La chimie au Moyen Âge, vol. II: l’Alchimie Syriaque (Éd.1893). (French translation of the Syriac Zosimus); Hartmut Erbse, Theosophorum Graecorum Fragmenta, Berlin, Boston: B. G. Teubner, 1995.

Book of Chēmeu (ἡ βίβλος Χημεῦ)

The book is mentioned by Zosimus in a work preserved only in Syriac, though the relevant passage is quoted in the original Greek by George Syncellus (Chronographia 14.12–13 Mosshammer). Chēmeu, variously spelled, is a divine or angelic being who seems to have revealed the art of alchemy to Hermes Trismegistus, and the Book of Chēmeu is possibly the first book of the Physica of Hermes Trismegistus. Zosimus relates this origin-story to 1 Enoch, according to Bull.

Critical edition

Alden A. Mosshammer, ed., Georgii Syncelli: Ecloga Chronographica. Leipzig: Teubner, 1984, 14 (Greek excerpt of Zosimus); Marcellin Berthelot and Rubens Duval, La chimie au Moyen Âge, vol. II: l’Alchimie Syriaque (Éd.1893), 238f. (French translation of the Syriac Zosimus).

Secondary literature

Christian H. Bull, “Wicked Angels and the Good Demon: The Origins of Alchemy According to the Physica of Hermes,” in Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies (2018): 3–33.

False, illicit, or apocryphal books

These entries are cited as examples of heretical or otherwise forbidden texts.

Greater and Lesser Questions of Mary (ἐρωτήσεις Μαρίας μεγάλαι / μικραί)

Epiphanius of Salamis mentions these two as works of the Gnostics, also called “Borborites” (Βορβοριανοί; filthy ones) by him, the twenty-sixth of his 80 heresies in the Panarion. This group has lots of books, Epiphanius says (Pan. 26.8.1), some about Ialdabaoth, some in the name of Seth, certain Apocalypses of Adam (see NHC VII,2), and gospels in the name of disciples. He goes on to quote from the Greater Questions of Mary, which seems to be an important source for his subsequent portrayal of the libertine Gnostics. It is uncertain which Mary the title refers to, but since Jesus takes her aside on the mountain and gives her secret teachings, it may be assumed that this is the same character as in the Gospel of Mary (BG 8502,1), presumed by most scholars to be Mary Magdalene. On the mountain, Jesus is praying with Mary before taking a woman from his side (cf. Gen 2:21) and proceeding to have sex with her, saying “thus we must do, that we may live.” Mary, understandably alarmed, falls to the ground, but Jesus raises her up and comforts her with a saying from Matthew (14:31). It is uncertain how much of the following information about the Gnostics Epiphanius has taken from the Questions, but if at least the immediately subsequent passages (26.8.4–9.3) are related, it seems Jesus went on to explain to Mary the hidden meaning behind some of his sayings in the Gospel according to John, as well as Psalms and Proverbs. This meaning invariably has to do with the ingestion of semen and menses. Libertinism is not attested in the primary sources that came to light in the Coptic Nag Hammadi treatises, and scholars tend to doubt the sincerity of Epiphanius on this point. Ingestion of semen and menses is called the worst sin possible by Jesus in the “Gnostic” Pistis Sophia (ch. 147).

Critical edition

Karl Holl, Epiphanius: Ancoratus und Panarion, 3 vols. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1915–1933, 1:284–285.

Translation

Frank Williams, The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, 2 vols. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 63 & 79, 2nd ed. Leiden: Brill, 2009–2013, 1:96–97.

Secondary literature

Wilhelm Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, ed. R. McL. Wilson, rev. ed., 2 vols. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2003, 1:390–391.

Books in the Name of Seth

These books are mentioned by Epiphanius (Panarion 26.8.1) in a polemical passage about harmful books owned, circulated, or composed by groups Epiphanius identifies as Gnostics or Borborites. Several other texts, such as the “many books of the Ialdabaoth we spoke of,” are mentioned in the same passage. The Apocalypse of Adam he mentions in the same sequence, can be found in Nag Hammadi Codex V. The Panarion is a virtual treasure trove of books known only by title. In Pan. 40.7.4, Epiphanius is describing the Archontics and their beliefs about Seth as the father of seven sons called “the Strangers.” He claims that this group has many books about Seth which they themselves composed. Several works from late antiquity similarly mention books or other inscribed artifacts ascribed to Seth. Flavius Josephus refers to two pillars, one in stone and one in brick, containing received wisdom concerning the heavenly bodies and their order (Jewish Antiquities 1,70). Hippolytus mentions the so-called Paraphrase of Seth in Refutation of All Heresies 5,17.

Translation

Frank Williams, The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, 2 vols. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 63 & 79, 2nd ed. Leiden: Brill, 2009–2013, 1:96.

The Gospel of Jesus, the Son of God, the Offspring of the Angels (ⲡⲉⲩⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲟⲛ ⲛⲓ︤ⲥ︥ ⲡϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲙ̄ⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲡⲉϫⲡⲟ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲛ̄ⲛⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲟⲥ)

This is an otherwise unattested apocryphal gospel mentioned by name, but not further described, by the Coptic archimandrite Shenoute in his anti-heretical tractate I Am Amazed, written sometime between 431 and 451.

Manuscript

I Am Amazed is partly preserved in several codices from the White Monastery, and this reference is preserved in two manuscripts: MONB.HB (p. 19, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10090479w/f66.item) and MONB.XE (p. 144, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b100915857/f153.item).

Edition

Hans-Joachim Cristea, Schenute von Atripe: Contra Origenistas: Edition des koptischen Textes mit annotierter Übersetzung und Indizes einschließlich einer Übersetzung des 16. Osterfestbriefs des Theophilus in der Fassung des Hieronymus (ep. 96), Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum 60. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011.

The Laughter of the Apostles (ⲡⲥⲱⲃⲉ ⲛ̄ⲛⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲟⲥ)

In the work Against the Heretical Books, written sometime around 600, John of Parallos discusses a cluster of heretical books; one is known (Investiture of Michael), but the rest are unknown and otherwise unattested. The title the Laughter of the Apostles (ⲡⲥⲱⲃⲉ ⲛ̄ⲛⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲟⲥ) might conceivably be an error for the Teaching of the Apostles (ⲡⲧⲥⲁⲃⲟ ⲛ̄ⲛⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲟⲥ). Other books discussed include The Teaching of John (ⲡⲕⲉⲣⲏⲕⲙⲁ ⲛ̄ⲓ̣ⲱϩⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ), The Teachings of Adam (ⲛⲉⲥⲃⲟⲟⲩⲉ ⲛ̄ⲁⲡⲇⲁⲙ), and The Counsel of the Savior (ⲡϣⲟϫⲛⲉ ⲙ̄ⲡⲥⲱⲧⲏⲣ)

Edition

Arnold van Lantschoot, “Fragments coptes d’une homélie de Jean de Parallos contre les livres hérétiques,” in Miscellanea Giovanni Mercati, vol. 1: Bibbia—Letteratura Cristiana Antica. Studi e Testi 121. Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1946, 296–326.

Books of Montanus, Priscilla, and Maximilla

Entry in the list of apocryphal books in the fifth-century Gelasian Decree (Decretum Gelasianum, Latin Christian). Montanus, Priscilla, and Maximilla were all Montanist prophets whose popular teachings and oracles were quoted and decried in various heresiological texts, for example, Eusebius and Epiphanius. Hippolytus claimed that they did compose books (Refutatio Omnium Haeresium, book 8), as does the fourth-century Debate between a Montanist and an Orthodox, but no clear excerpts from such books survive.

Critical edition

Ernst von Dobschütz, Das Decretum Gelasianum de libris recipiendis et non recipiendis, Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1912.

Creating great men

These entries strengthen the reputation of “great men” by connecting them to new texts.

“The books” (τὰ βιβλία) of 2. Timothy (2 Tim 4:13)

At the end of the New Testament second letter to Timothy, as part of the personal instructions and before the final greetings and benediction, the Pastoral Paul mentions certain things that he wants Timothy to bring: “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments” (τὸν ϕαιλόνην ὃν ἀπέλιπον ἐν Τρῳάδι παρὰ Κάρπῳ ἐρχόμενος ϕέρε, καὶ τὰ βιβλία, μάλιστα τὰς μεμβράνας). The Greek word for book in plural is mentioned, with no further title. There are no consensus on what these books might refer to. It has been suggested that they must have been some books with shared interest, assumed known (at least to Timothy), from a library or a book collection, or it is a vague reference to other authoritative books or scriptures.

Critical edition

Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece 28. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.

The books held by the Angel Mefriel, the Ancient Scribe (ⲛⲉⲧⲱⲙⲁⲣⲓⲟⲛ ⲉⲧⲛⲧⲟⲟⲧϥ ⲙⲙⲉϥⲣⲓⲏⲗ ⲡⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲟⲥ ⲡⲉⲕⲣⲁⲙⲙⲁⲧⲉⲩⲥ ⲛⲁⲣⲭⲁⲓⲟⲛ)

According to the Encomium on the Four Bodiless Living Creatures, a Coptic text attributed pseudepigraphically to John Chrysostom, Enoch copied the books held by the former scribe, the angel Mefriel, when he took over as heavenly scribe.

Edition

Craig S. Wansink, “Encomium on the Four Bodiless Living Creatures, Attributed to John Chrysostom (M612, fols. 2r–17v and Berlin P.11965, fols. 1r–6r),” in Homiletica From the Pierpont Morgan Library, ed. Leo Depuydt, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 524; Scriptores Coptici 43. Leuven: Peeters, 1991, 27–46.

Translation

Craig S. Wansink, “Encomium on the Four Bodiless Living Creatures, Attributed to John Chrysostom: Translated.” in Homiletica From the Pierpont Morgan Library, ed. Leo Depuydt, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 525; Scriptores Coptici 44. Leuven: Peeters, 1991, 27–47.

The Scrolls of Abraham and Moses (صُحُفِ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ وَمُوسَىٰ)

Reference to The Scrolls of Abraham and Moses is found in the Quran in Q87:18–19, where they are called “the former scriptures,” as well as a possible reference in Q53:36–37. References to The Scrolls of Abraham and Moses are widely attested in Muslim tafasir where some commentators view the Scrolls of Moses as being another term for the Torah, while others view it as a now lost book. Most are in agreement that the Scrolls of Abraham refers to a now lost or fictitious book revealed to Abraham.

The Writings of Enoch

In 1 Enoch (Jewish, 300–100 B.C.E.), preserved primarily in Ge’ez but with fragments in Greek and Aramaic, Enoch makes repeated references to his books in ways that indicate a corpus broader than what was preserved in 1 Enoch. For instance, in 39:2, Enoch receives “books of jealousy and wrath and books of agitation and tempest.” In 104:10–13, he discusses “my books” (or “my words”) as something given to the righteous but distorted by sinners. In 108:10, he notes that he has recorded “all the blessings for the righteous” in “the books.” Finally, in the Ge’ez version, Enoch says in 93:1,3 that there are books from which he speaks, implying that the source of Enoch’s revelation is bigger than what is recorded in these writings. Other texts also refer to Enochic writings that do not necessarily match the extant books attributed to Enoch, for example, several references in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs to “the Book of Enoch the Righteous.”

English translation

“1 Enoch: A New Translation and Introduction” in James Charlesworth ed. The Old Testament Pseudoepigrapha vol. 1. New York: Doubleday, 1983, 5–89.

Female figures

These entries are ascribed to women authors, in contrast to virtually all extant texts in their traditions.

The Law of the Hebrews (ό παρ’ Έβραίοις νόμος)

According to the Suda (tenth century Byzantine), Alexander Polyhistor’s books On Rome discussed a Hebrew woman named Moso, who wrote “The Law of the Hebrews.” Although some scholars have dismissed this as a parodic allusion to Moses, this is unlikely. Moso and her book are otherwise unattested, other than a possible allusion in Eusebius’s Church History, which mentions a Jewish writer “Musaeus” besides Philo and Josephus.

Critical edition

Ada Adler, Suidae Lexicon. Leipzig: Teubner, 1928–1938.

English translation and commentary

Suda On Line (http://www.stoa.org/sol/).

Secondary literature

Tal Ilan, Silencing the Queen: The Literary Histories of Shelamzion and Other Jewish Women. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006, 20–25.

The Second Purim Letter of Esther (אגרת הפורים הזאת השנית‎, “this second Purim letter”)

A letter written to the Jews by Queen Esther, found in the Book of Esther 9:29 (400–100 B.C.E.; Hebrew; Jewish). The letter appears in all major MT manuscripts and in the LXX as τῆς ἐπιστολῆς τῶν Φρουραι (“the Purim letter”); it is absent in Alpha Text. The immediate context is difficult and debatably secondary.

Critical editions

BHS, BHQ.

Secondary literature

Sorrel Wood, “Writing Esther: How Do Writing, Power and Gender Intersect in the Megillah and Its Literary Afterlife?” Open Theology Vol. 7/1, 2020, (https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/opth-2020-0146/html).

The Books/Book/the Little Book (from Shepherd of Hermas) (τὰ βιβλία)

In the opening visions of the Shepherd of Hermas, several books are mentioned and referred to. It is not always clear what kinds of books these are, or whether this is supposed to be the same book. They are not given specific titles, but called by generic terms, like the book, books, or little book. An old divine female figure (“the lady Church”) holds a book, reads from a book, refers to books, and dictates Hermas to memorize, copy, and edit. She also asks him to circulate three books to different church leaders and congregations (Herm. Vis. 1–4 [1–24]).

Critical edition

Bart D. Ehrman, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, Vol. 2. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003.

Letter of Mary Magdalene to Emperor Tiberius

According to a Coptic Encomium on Mary Magdalene, attributed pseudepigraphically to Cyril of Jerusalem, Mary Magdalene writes a letter to the Emperor Tiberius, carried to him by John the son of Zebedee, complaining about how Herod has stolen her animals. The emperor responds by writing an open letter to the land of Judea forbidding anyone from harming her. The letters do not have specific titles.

Critical edition

René-Georges Coquin and Gérard Godron, “Un encomion copte sur Marie-Madeleine attribué à Cyrille de Jérusalem,” Bulletin de l’Ìnstitut français d’archéologie orientale 90 (1990): 169–212.

English translation

Christine Luckritz Marquis, “Encomium on Mary Magdalene,” New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, vol. 1, eds. Tony Burke and Brent Landau (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016), 196–216.

Books of the Cumaean Sibyl (ἐννέα βιβλία χρησμῶν ἰδίων)

The prologue to the collection of Sibylline Oracles 1–8 (sixth century Byzantine) found in the ϕ manuscripts relays a story about the Cumaean sibyl (alternatively identified as Amaltheia, Erophile, Taraxandra, and Deiphobe) bringing nine books of her oracles to Rome. After offering them for sale to the Roman king, Tarquinius Priscus scoffs at the high price. The sibyl proceeds to burn first three and then six of these books. The king finally relents and pays for the remaining three books, which are said to become the sibylline oracles housed in the Capitoline. These books have little to do with the various extant sibylline oracles found in contemporary editions or collections, and primarily exist as fictions. Versions of the same story are found in older sources going back centuries. The Theosophy (fifth century Byzantine), Lactantius’ Divine Institutes (fourth century Roman), Aulus Gellius’s Attic Nights (second century Roman), Pliny the Elder’s Natural History (first century Roman), and Dionysius of Halicarnassus’ Roman Antiquities (first century B.C.E. Roman) all tell the story, although the identity of the king, the sibyl/old woman, and the number of books vary.

Critical edition

Johannes Geffcken, Komposition und Entstehungszeit der Oracula Sibyllina. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung, 1902.

English translation

John Collins, “Sibylline Oracles: A New Translation and Introduction,” in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume I: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments, ed. James Charlesworth. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983, 317–472.

Secondary literature

Francis Borchardt, “The Framing of Female Knowledge in the Prologue of the Sibylline Oracles,” in Gender and Second Temple Judaism, eds. Kathy Ehrensperger and Shayna Sheinfeld. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2020, 155–63.

Miscellaneous

These texts did not fall clearly into one of the other tendencies, but they are worth mentioning.

Little Scroll (from Revelation) (βιβλαρίδιον)

In the New Testament text of Revelation (Rev 10:1–2), a mighty angel is coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. It is said that this angel “held a little scroll open in his hand.” No further information is given about this scroll and its content, neither is it given a more specific title. There is no agreement among scholars about what exactly this little scroll is supposed to be.

Critical edition

Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece 28. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.

Book of Life (ἡ βίβλος τῆς ζωῆς; also called “the Lamb’s book of life” [Rev 21:27]; “Book of the ‘Lord’” [Isa 30:8 and 34:16])

Appears in several of the books of the Bible. Some references are to the sheer existence of such a book, and its destiny. The book seems to be located in heaven, close to the deity at all times—a very prestigious place for a book to be kept yet out of reach for ordinary humans. Hence, many references could be read as parts of an ongoing conversation regarding the content of the book or claims to its authority.

One of the recurring conversations regarding content deals with a list of names. The question is who is qualified to have their name on this list? Paul mentions his female co-workers, Clement, and others (Phil 4:3). In some biblical books, the Book of Life has its own agency. In the Book of Revelation, for example, the book decides who will be saved. The book contains names of people from the foundation of the world (13:8; the same idea is expressed in Ps 139:16)—but not all names (17:8). Names can be erased and need to be confirmed before the Father and the angels (Rev 3:5; cf. Ex 32:32, Ps 69:28 and Isa 34:16 where the same idea is expressed, but the book in question is not referred to verbatim as the Book of life), and the edited version will be used to judge the dead according to their works recorded in this or any of the other books mentioned (20:12) Those whose name cannot be found in the Book of Life are thrown into the Sea of Fire (20:15).

Other conversations regarding content deal with the four living creatures and the arch-angel Michael. These conversations regarding Book of Life’s content are found in Coptic literature—Ps. Chrysostom in particular.

Critical editions

Biblia Hebraica, NA28.

The Book(s) of Hystaspes (βίβλος / βίβλοι Ὑστάσπου)

Hystaspes is the Greek transliteration of the Avestan righteous king Vištāspa, who supported the message of Zoroaster. Justin Martyr (Apol. 1.20.1; 1.44.12) mentions a book or books of Hystaspes alongside those of the Sibyl and the Prophets, saying he predicted the destruction of all mortal things by fire and talked about wicked demons. Also, in the second century, Clement of Alexandria (Strom. 6.5) mentions Hystaspes alongside the Sibyl as describing the Son of God and predicting that many kings will fight against Christ, presumably at his second coming. A more extensive paraphrase of what is described as an eschatological dream-oracle of Hystaspes is provided by Lactantius (Div. Inst. 7.15.19–16.11; 18.1–3; also chaps. 15.17 and 21 may contain Hystaspes-material), who further tells us that the oracle was delivered “long before the founding of the Trojan race” yet dealt with the destruction of Rome. The oracle deals with a succession of kings, a tyrannical world ruler, and cosmic omens and portents. Since Lactantius states that the God restoring order is Jupiter, it seems the oracles have been only secondarily interpreted to refer to the second coming of Christ.

In the fifth-century so-called Tübingen Theosophy, or Anonymi Monophysitae Theosophia, we learn from a preserved summary of the lost fourth book that it dealt with the χρήσεις Ὑστάσπου, when scholars have derived the title Oracles of Hystaspes. However, Beatrice points out (Anonymi p. xviii) that χρήσεις means not “oracles” but “extracts” or “quotations,” and is therefore not part of the title. Bidez and Cumont point to some Persian χρήσεις mentioned by Photius (cod. 170, p. 117, 3), but here again the χρήσεις are clearly not “oracles” but “extracts” (μαρτυρίαι δῆθεν καὶ χρήσεις ὁλοκλήρων λόγων). Beatrice provides the title Wisdom of Hystaspes, which is a title only preserved in a Syriac lexicography and attributed to a different work of Hystaspes by Bidez and Cumont.

Critical edition

Joseph Bidez and Franz Cumont, Les mages hellénisés: Zoroastre, Ostanès et Hystaspe d’après la Tradition Grecque, 2 vols. Paris: La société d’édition Les Belles Lettres, 1938 [2007], 1:217–222 (intro); 2:357–376 (test. & fr.).

Secondary literature

Pier Franco Beatrice, “Le livre d’Hystaspe aux mains des Chrétiens,” in Les syncrétismes religieux dans le monde méditerranéen antique, eds. Corinne Bonnet and André Motte. Turnhout: Brepols, 1999, 357–382; idem, Anonymi Monophysitae Theosophia: An Attempt at Reconstruction, Vigiliae Christianae, Supplements 56. Leiden: Brill, 2001.

Closing remarks

The collection of citations above has not, to our knowledge, ever been assembled in one place. Spanning allusions from the Hebrew Bible to the early Middle Ages, it demonstrates that books known only by title are a robust phenomenon—yet also one that follows certain tendencies and fulfills certain literary purposes. These books connect intimately to knowledge and time: how knowledge is constructed; appropriate and inappropriate sources of knowledge; transmission and disruption of knowledge. As such, they are active entities that deserve examination, classification, and preservation in their own right, not merely as emblems of loss.

In this special issue, our selection of articles has demonstrated the fertile potential of studying these books known only by title. Yet this final assortment of entries shows just how many potential topics and trends remain to be studied. It is our profound hope that this list will serve, not merely as a static overview of a trend, but as a productive source for new scholarship and observations. The work on books known only by title has only just begun.