The Apocalypse of Peter

The Apocalypse of Peter,[note 1] also called the Revelation of Peter, is an early Christian text of the 2nd century and a work of apocalyptic literature. It is the earliest-written extant work depicting a Christian account of heaven and hell in detail. The Apocalypse of Peter is influenced by both Jewish apocalyptic literature and Greek philosophy of the Hellenistic period. The text is extant in two diverging versions based on a lost Koine Greek original: a shorter Greek version and a longer Ethiopic version.

The work is pseudepigraphal: it is purportedly written by the disciple Peter, but its actual author is unknown. The Apocalypse of Peter describes a divine vision experienced by Peter through the risen Jesus Christ. After the disciples inquire about signs of the Second Coming of Jesus, the work delves into a vision of the afterlife (katabasis), and details both heavenly bliss for the righteous and infernal punishments for the damned. In particular, the punishments are graphically described in a physical sense, and loosely correspond to "an eye for an eye" (lex talionis): blasphemers are hung by their tongues; liars who bear false witness have their lips cut off; callous rich people are pierced by stones while being made to go barefoot and wear filthy rags, mirroring the status of the poor in life; and so on.

The Apocalypse of Peter is not included in the standard canon of the New Testament, but is classed as part of New Testament apocrypha. It is listed in the canon of the Muratorian fragment, a 2nd-century list of approved books in Christianity and one of the earliest surviving proto-canons. However, the Muratorian fragment expresses some hesitation on the work, saying that some authorities would not have it read in church. While the Apocalypse of Peter influenced other Christian works in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries, it came to be considered inauthentic and declined in use. It was largely superseded by the Apocalypse of Paul, a popular 4th-century work heavily influenced by the Apocalypse of Peter that provides its own updated vision of heaven and hell. The Apocalypse of Peter is a forerunner of the same genre as the Divine Comedy of Dante, wherein the protagonist takes a tour of the realms of the afterlife.

Authorship and date

The Eastern Mediterranean region around 125 AD. Scholars hypothesize that the author of the Apocalypse of Peter may have been from Roman Judea[2] or Roman Egypt.[3][4][5]

The Apocalypse of Peter seems to have been written between 100 AD and 150 AD. The terminus post quem—the point after which the Apocalypse of Peter must have been written—is shown by its probable use of the Fourth Book of Esdras, which was written about 100 AD.[6] The Apocalypse is quoted in Book 2 of the Sibylline Oracles (c. 150), and cited by name and quoted in Clement of Alexandria's Prophetical Extracts (c. 200).[7] It also appears by name in the Muratorian fragment, generally dated to the late 2nd century (c. 170–200).[8] All of this implies it must have been in existence by around 150 AD, the terminus ante quem (the date before which it must have been written).[9]

The geographic origin of the author is unknown and remains a matter of scholarly debate. The main theories are for Palestine or Egypt.[10][1] Richard Bauckham argues for more precisely dating the composition to the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136), and identifies the author as a Jewish Christian in Roman Judea, the region affected by the revolt. As an example, the writer seems to write from a position of persecution, condemning those who caused the deaths of martyrs by their lies, and Bar Kokhba is reputed to have punished and killed Christians. This suggestion is not accepted by all; Eibert Tigchelaar wrote a rebuttal of the argument as unconvincing, as other calamities such as the Jewish revolt under Trajan (115–117) could have been the inspiration, as could forgotten local persecutions.[11][note 2] Other scholars suggest Roman Egypt as a possible origin; Jan Bremmer suggests that Greek philosophical influence in the work points to an author or editor in more Hellenized Egypt, although perhaps working off a Palestinian text.[3][4][note 3]

Manuscript history

From the medieval era to 1886, the Apocalypse of Peter was known only through quotations and mentions in early Christian writings.[15] A fragmented Koine Greek manuscript was discovered during excavations initiated by Gaston Maspéro during the 1886–87 season in a desert necropolis at Akhmim in Upper Egypt. The fragment consisted of parchment leaves supposedly deposited in the grave of a Christian monk.[16][note 4] There are a wide range of estimates for when the manuscript was written. Paleographer Guglielmo Cavallo and papyrologist Herwig Maehler estimate that the late 6th century is the most likely.[18] The Greek manuscript is now kept in the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo.[18]

The French explorer Antoine d'Abbadie acquired a large number of manuscripts in Ethiopia in the 19th century, but many sat unanalyzed and untranslated for decades.[19] A large set of Clementine literature in Ethiopic from d'Abbadie's collection was published along with translations into French in 1907–1910.[20] After reading the French translations, the English scholar M. R. James realized in 1910 that there was a strong correspondence with the Akhmim Greek Apocalypse of Peter, and that an Ethiopic version of the same work was within this cache.[21][22] Another independent Ethiopic manuscript was discovered on the island of Kebrān in Lake Tana in 1968.[23] Scholars speculate that these Ethiopic versions were translated from a lost Arabic version, which itself was translated from the lost Greek original.[21][5] The d'Abbadie manuscript is estimated by Carlo Conti Rossini to have been created in the 15th or 16th century, while the Lake Tana manuscript is estimated by Ernst Hammerschmidt to be from perhaps the 18th century.[24]

Two other short Greek fragments of the work have been discovered, both originally found in Egypt: a 5th-century fragment held by the Bodleian Library in Oxford that had been discovered in 1895; and the Rainer fragment held by the Rainer collection in Vienna, discovered in the 1880s but only recognized as relevant to the Apocalypse of Peter in 1929.[25] The Rainer fragment was dated to the 3rd or 4th century by M. R. James in 1931.[26][19] A 2003 analysis suggests it is from the same manuscript as the Bodleian fragment and thus also from the 5th century.[18][27] These fragments offer significant variations from the other versions. In the Ethiopic manuscripts, the Apocalypse of Peter is only one section of a combined work called "The Second Coming of Christ and the Resurrection of the Dead", followed in both manuscripts by a work called "The Mystery of the Judgment of Sinners".[28] In total, five manuscripts are extant today: the two Ethiopic manuscripts and the three Greek fragments.[29][30]

Most scholars believe that the Ethiopic versions are closer to the original text, while the Greek manuscript discovered at Akhmim is a later and edited version.[31] This is for a number of reasons: the Akhmim version is shorter, while the Ethiopic matches the claimed line count from the Stichometry of Nicephorus; patristic references and quotes seem to match the Ethiopic version better; the Ethiopic matches better with the Rainer and Bodleian Greek fragments; and the Akhmim version seems to be attempting to integrate the Apocalypse with the Gospel of Peter (also in the Akhmim manuscript), which would naturally result in revisions.[9][21][32][19] The Rainer and Bodleian fragments can be compared to the others in only a few passages, but are considered to be the most reliable guide to the original text.[33]

Contents

The Apocalypse of Peter is framed as a discourse of Jesus to his faithful. In the Ethiopic version, the apostle Peter experiences a vision of hell followed by a vision of heaven, granted by the risen Christ; in the Akhmim fragment, the order of heaven and hell is reversed, and it is revealed by Jesus during his life and ministry. In the form of a Greek katabasis or nekyia, it goes into elaborate detail about the punishment in hell for each type of crime, as well as briefly sketching the nature of heaven.[34]

The Second Coming

In the opening, the disciples ask for signs of the Second Coming (parousia) while on the Mount of Olives. In chapter 2 of the Ethiopic version, Peter asks for an explanation of the meaning of the parables of the budding fig tree and the barren fig tree, in an expansion of the "Little Apocalypse" of Matthew 24.[35] Jesus joins the two parables in a detailed allegory. The setting "in the summer" is transferred to "the end of the world"; the fig tree represents Israel, and the flourishing shoots are Jews who have adopted Jesus as Messiah and achieve martyrdom.[36] The work continues on to describe the end times that will accompany the Second Coming: fire and darkness will convulse the world, a crowned Christ will return in glory, and the people of the nations will pass through a river of fire. The elect will be unscathed by the test, but sinners will be brought to a place where they shall be punished for their transgressions.[37]

Punishments and rewards

The work proceeds to describe the punishments that await the wicked. Many of the punishments are overseen by Ezrael the Angel of Wrath (most likely the angel Azrael, although possibly a corrupt reference to the angel Sariel). The angel Uriel resurrects the dead into new bodies so that they can be either rewarded or tormented physically.[38][39] Punishments in hell according to the vision include:

• Blasphemers are hanged by the tongue.[40]
• Those who deny justice are set in a pit of fire.[40]
• Women who adorn themselves for the purpose of adultery are hung by their hair over a bubbling mire. The men who had adulterous relationships with them are hung by their genitals next to them.[40]
• Murderers and their accomplices are tormented by venomous creatures and numberless worms.[40]
• Women who aborted their children are in a pit of excrement up to their throats, and their children shoot a "flash of fire" into their eyes.[40]
• Parents who committed infanticide have the mothers' breast milk congeal into flesh-devouring animals that torment both parents. Their dead children are delivered to a caretaking angel.[40]
• Persecutors and betrayers of the righteous have half their body set on fire, are cast into a dark pit, and their entrails are eaten by a worm that never sleeps.[40]
• Those who slander and doubt God's righteousness gnaw their tongues, are tormented with hot iron, and have their eyes burnt.[40]
• Liars whose lies caused the death of martyrs have their lips cut off, with fire in their body and entrails.[40]
• Rich people who neglected the poor are clothed in filthy rags and pierced by sharp burning stones.[40]
• Those who lend money and charge interest stand up to their knees in a lake of foul matter and blood.[40]
• Men who take on the role of women in a sexual way, and lesbians, fall from the precipice of a great cliff repeatedly.[40]
• Makers of idols either scourge themselves with fire whips (Ethiopic) or they beat each other with fire rods (Akhmim).[40]
• Those who forsook God's commandments and heeded demons burn in flames.[40]
• Those who do not honor their parents fall into a stream of fire repeatedly.[40]
• Those who do not heed the counsel of their elders are attacked by flesh-devouring birds.[40]
• Women who had premarital sex have their flesh torn to pieces.[40]
• Disobedient slaves gnaw their tongues unceasingly.[40]
• Those who give alms hypocritically are rendered blind and deaf, and fall upon coals of fire.[40]
• Sorcerers are hung on a wheel of fire.[40]

The vision of heaven is shorter than the depiction of hell, and described more fully in the Akhmim version. In heaven, people have pure milky white skin, curly hair, and are generally beautiful. The earth blooms with everlasting flowers and spices. People wear shiny clothes made of light, like the angels. Everyone sings in choral prayer.[41][42]

In the Ethiopic version, the account closes with an account of the ascension of Jesus on the mountain in chapters 15–17. Jesus, accompanied by the prophets Moses and Elijah, ascends on a cloud to the first heaven, and then they depart to the second heaven. While it is an account of the ascension, it includes some parallels to Matthew's account of the transfiguration of Jesus.[43] In the Akhmim fragment, which is set when Jesus was still alive, both the mountain and the two other men are unnamed (rather than being Moses and Elijah), but the men are similarly transfigured into radiant forms.[44]

Prayers for those in hell

See also: Prayer for the dead

One theological issue appears only in the version of the text in the Rainer fragment. Its chapter 14 describes the salvation of condemned sinners for whom the righteous pray:[45]

Then I will grant to my called and elect ones whomsoever they request from me, out of the punishment. And I will give them [i.e. those for whom the elect pray] a fine baptism in salvation from the Acherousian lake which is, they say, in the Elysian field, a portion of righteousness with my holy ones.[45]

While not found in later manuscripts, this reading was likely original to the text, as it agrees with a quotation in the Sibylline Oracles:[45]

To these pious ones imperishable God, the universal ruler, will also give another thing. Whenever they ask the imperishable God to save men from the raging fire and deathless gnashing he will grant it, and he will do this. For he will pick them out again from the undying fire and set them elsewhere and send them on account of his own people to another eternal life with the immortals in the Elysian plain where he has the long waves of the deep perennial Acherusian lake.

— Sibylline Oracles, Book 2, 330–338[46]

Other pieces of Christian literature with parallel passages probably influenced by this include the Epistle of the Apostles and the Coptic Apocalypse of Elijah.[47][note 5] The passage also makes literary sense, as it is a follow-up to a passage in chapter 3 where Jesus initially rebukes Peter who expresses horror at the suffering in hell; Richard Bauckham suggests that this is because it must be the victims who were harmed that request mercy, not Peter. While not directly endorsing universal salvation, it does suggest that salvation will eventually reach as far as the compassion of the elect.[45]

The Ethiopic manuscript maintains a version of the passage, but it differs in that it is the elect and righteous who receive baptism and salvation in a field rather than a lake ("field of Akerosya, which is called Aneslasleya" in Ethiopic), perhaps conflating Acherusia with the Elysian field.[49] The Ethiopic version of the list of punishments in hell includes sentences not in the Akhmim fragment saying that the punishment is eternal—hypothesized by many scholars to be later additions.[50] Despite this, the other Clementine works in the Ethiopic manuscripts discuss a great act of divine mercy to come that must be kept secret, yet will rescue some or all sinners from hell, suggesting this belief had not entirely fallen away.[51][52][53]

References

1. Batovici, Dan (2022). "Apocalypse of Peter (Greek)". In Edwards, J. Christopher (ed.). Early New Testament Apocrypha. Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies 9. Zondervan Academic. pp. 446–458. ISBN 9780310099710.
2. Bauckham 1998, pp. 160–161.
3. Bremmer, Jan (2003). "The Apocalypse of Peter: Greek or Jewish?". In Bremmer, Jan N.; Czachesz, István (eds.). The Apocalypse of Peter. Peeters. pp. 1–14. ISBN 90-429-1375-4.
4. Bremmer, Jan (2009). "Christian Hell: From the Apocalypse of Peter to the Apocalypse of Paul". Numen. 56 (2/3): 298–302. doi:10.1163/156852709X405026. JSTOR 27793794.
5. Müller, Caspar Detlef Gustav (2003) [1989]. "Apocalypse of Peter". In Schneemelcher, Wilhelm (ed.). New Testament Apocrypha: Volume Two: Writings Relating to the Apostles; Apocalypses and Related Subjects. Translated by Wilson, Robert McLachlan (Revised ed.). Louisville: Westminster Press. pp. 620–625. ISBN 0-664-22722-8.
6. Maurer 1965, p. 664. Compare Apocalypse of Peter Chapter 3 with 2 Esdras 5:33–56 (4 Esdras, confusingly, is chapter 3 onward of the compilation book later called 2 Esdras).
7. Buchholz 1988, pp. 22–29.
   James, M. R. (1924). The Apocryphal New Testament . Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 506 – via Wikisource. [scan ]
   See 41.1-2, 48.1, and 49.1 of the Prophetical Extracts, which correspond with the Ethiopic text: Eclogae propheticae (Greek text).
8. Metzger, Bruce (1987). The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 191–201, 305–307. ISBN 0-19-826954-4.
9. Elliott, James Keith (1993). "The Apocalypse of Peter". In Elliott, J. K. (ed.). The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford University Press. pp. 593–595. doi:10.1093/0198261829.003.0032. ISBN 0-19-826182-9.
10. Bremmer, Jan (2024). "The Apocalypse of Peter, 2 Peter and Sibylline Oracles II. Alexandrian Debates?". In Maier, Daniel C.; Frey, Jörg; Kraus, Thomas J. (eds.). The Apocalypse of Peter in Context (PDF). Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha 21. Peeters. pp. 153–177. doi:10.2143/9789042952096. ISBN 978-90-429-5208-9.
11. Tigchelaar, Eibert (2003). "Is the Liar Bar-Kokhba? Considering the Date and Provenance of the Greek (Ethiopic) Apocalypse of Peter". In Bremmer, Jan N.; Czachesz, István (eds.). The Apocalypse of Peter. Peeters. pp. 63–77. ISBN 90-429-1375-4.
12. Skarsaune, Oskar (2007). Skarsaune, Oskar; Hvalvik, Reidar (eds.). Jewish Believers in Jesus. Hendrickson Publishers. pp. 384–388. ISBN 978-1-56563-763-4.
13. Buchholz 1988, pp. 277–278, 408–412.
14. Beck 2019, pp. 9–11, 175.
15. Beck 2019, p. 2.
16. • The Greek Akhmim text was printed originally in:
    • Bouriant, Urbain (1892). "Fragments du texte grec du livre d'Enoch et de quelques écrits attribués à Saint Pierre". Mémoires publiés par les membres de la mission archéologique au Caire. IX.1 (in French). pp. 142–147.
    • Photographs are published in:
    • Lods, Adolphe (1893). "L'Evangile et l'Apocalypse de Pierre". In Leroux, Ernest (ed.). Mémoires publiés par les membres de la mission archéologique au Caire. IX.3 (in French). Ernest Leroux, Paris. pp. 224–228, plates VII–X.
    • Gebhardt, Oscar von (1893). Das Evangelium und die Apokalypse des Petrus (in German). Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs. pp. Plates XIV–XX.
17. Kraus & Nicklas 2004, pp. 25–27.
18. Van Minnen, Peter (2003). "The Greek Apocalypse of Peter". In Bremmer, Jan N.; Czachesz, István (eds.). The Apocalypse of Peter. Peeters. pp. 17–28. ISBN 90-429-1375-4.
19. Maurer, Christian (1965) [1964]. "Apocalypse of Peter". In Schneemelcher, Wilhelm (ed.). New Testament Apocrypha: Volume Two: Writings Relating to the Apostles; Apocalypses and Related Subjects. Translated by Wilson, Robert McLachlan. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. pp. 663–668. Translation from Ethiopic to German was by Hugo Duensing, with David Hill and R. McL. Wilson translating the German to English.
20. • The Ethiopic text, with a French translation, was published in:
    • Grébaut, Sylvain (1910). "Littérature éthiopienne pseudo-Clémentine". Revue de l'Orient Chrétien (in French). 15: 198–214, 307–323, 425–439.
    • Photographs can be found at Gallica, Ethiopien d'Abbadie 51, p. 131r–137r; p. 131r–146v for the full "The Second Coming of Christ and the Resurrection of the Dead".
21. Bauckham 1998, pp. 162–163.
22. • James, M. R. (1910). "A New Text of the Apocalypse of Peter". The Journal of Theological Studies. 12 (45): 36–54. doi:10.1093/jts/os-XII.1.36. JSTOR 23948865.
    • James, M. R. (1911). "A New Text of the Apocalypse of Peter II". The Journal of Theological Studies. 12 (47): 362–383. doi:10.1093/jts/os-XII.3.362. JSTOR 23948915. (this is the article with the initial comparative translation, as well as the Bodleian fragment)
    • James, M. R. (1911). "A New Text of the Apocalypse of Peter III". The Journal of Theological Studies. 12 (48): 573–583. doi:10.1093/jts/os-XII.4.573. JSTOR 23948939.
23. • Buchholz 1988, pp. 129–134; Beck 2019, p. 3.
    • For original publication, see:
    • Hammerschmidt, Ernst (1973). Äthiopische Handschriften vom Ṭānāsee 1: Reisebericht und Beschreibung der Handschriften in dem Kloster des Heiligen Gabriel auf der Insel Kebrān. VOHD 20 (in German). Franz Steiner.
    • For photographs, see University of Hamburg: Beta maṣāḥǝft, Ṭānā, Kǝbrān Gabrǝʾel, Ṭānāsee 35.
24. Buchholz 1988, pp. 129, 134. Buchholz is citing Hammerschmidt 1973, pp. 163–167 and Carlo Conti Rossini's Notice sur les manuscrits éthiopiens de la collection d'Abbadie, published in parts in 1912, 1913, and 1915 in Journal asiatique.
25. Buchholz 1988, pp. 145, 153–154.
26. James, M. R. (April 1931). "The Rainer Fragment of the Apocalypse of Peter". The Journal of Theological Studies. os–XXXII (127): 270–279. doi:10.1093/jts/os-XXXII.127.270.
    See Acts of Paul and Thecla, 28-29.
27. Kraus & Nicklas 2004, pp. 121–122.
28. Bauckham 1998, pp. 147, 162; Buchholz 1988, p. 137.
29. Beck 2019, p. 4
30. Kraus, Thomas J. (2024). "Manuscripts of the Apocalypse of Peter: Some Crucial Questions". In Maier, Daniel C.; Frey, Jörg; Kraus, Thomas J. (eds.). The Apocalypse of Peter in Context (PDF). Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha 21. Peeters. pp. 34–52. doi:10.2143/9789042952096. ISBN 978-90-429-5208-9.
31. Buchholz 1988, pp. 429–430.
32. Ehrman 2022, pp. 144–154.
33. Beck 2019, pp. 3–4
34. Beck 2019, pp. 56–59.
35. See Figs in the Bible for the New Testament's treatment of figs. The argument that Matthew was the writer's source is that the Apocalypse of Peter shows correspondences with the Matthean text that do not appear in the parallel passages in the synoptic gospels of Mark and Luke.
    Bauckham, Richard B. (1985). "The Two Fig Tree Parables in the Apocalypse of Peter". Journal of Biblical Literature. 104 (2): 269–287. doi:10.2307/3260967. JSTOR 3260967.
36. Bauckham 1998, pp. 164–168.
37. Buchholz 1988, pp. 302–306.
38. Bauckham 1998, pp. 221–223; Buchholz 1988, pp. 292–296, 316.
39. Burge, Stephen R. (2010). "ZR'L, the Angel of Death and the Ethiopic Apocalypse of Peter". Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha. 19 (3): 217–224. doi:10.1177/0951820710364880.
40. Bauckham 1998, pp. 166–167; Czachesz 2003, pp. 111–114; Buchholz 1988, pp. 306–311.
41. Beck 2019, pp. 88–92.
42. Adamik, Tamás (2003). "The Description of Paradise in the Apocalypse of Peter". In Bremmer, Jan N.; Czachesz, István (eds.). The Apocalypse of Peter. Peeters. pp. 78–89. ISBN 90-429-1375-4.
43. Buchholz 1988, pp. 362–375.
44. Beck 2019, pp. 94–95, 100–102 argues these parallels to the transfiguration were later additions to the Ethiopic version, and the account is best understood as an ascension narrative; while Lapham 2004, pp. 201–205 argues that the Ethiopic compiler has conflated the transfiguration and ascension together, but is mostly a transfiguration narrative.
45. Bauckham 1998, pp. 145–146, 232–235.
46. Charlesworth, James, ed. (1983). "The Sibylline Oracles". The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Volume 1. Translated by Collins, John J. Doubleday. p. 353. ISBN 0-385-09630-5.
47. James 1931, pp. 272–273; Buchholz 1988, pp. 47–48, 58–62; Bauckham 1998, pp. 147–148.
48. Buchholz 1988, pp. 51–53.
49. Copeland, Kirsti B. (2003). "Sinners and Post-Mortem 'Baptism' in the Acherusian Lake". In Bremmer, Jan N.; Czachesz, István (eds.). The Apocalypse of Peter. Peeters. pp. 91–107. ISBN 90-429-1375-4.
50. Beck 2019, p. 56; Buchholz 1988, pp. 348–351, 385–386.
51. Bauckham 1998, pp. 147–148.
52. Beck 2019, pp. 156–159.
53. James, M. R. (1924). The Apocryphal New Testament . Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 520 – via Wikisource. [scan ]

-Wiki-

.....

1. The Apocalypse of Peter. Ancient Texts. Audio & Text - 2021.

https://youtu.be/Jbb2PadHqak?si=5GwqPLimUYj6GI0U

2. The Entire story of the Apocalypse of Peter. Kazuen. Audio - 2025.

https://youtu.be/I4gv-r1Nup8?si=kKqOYhLoqEXutJ24

3. Apocalypse of Peter. Truth in Yeshua. Audio - 2024.

https://youtu.be/3WJlj3-_Pqs?si=aDO8pJ0KiqwjZ0pn

.....

The Apocalypse of Peter — Unknown

1...many of them will be false prophets, [3877]

2. and will teach divers ways and doctrines of perdition: but these will become sons of perdition. [3878] 

3. And then God will come unto my faithful ones who hunger and thirst and are afflicted and purify their souls in this life; and he will judge the sons of lawlessness. [3879]

4. And furthermore the Lord said: Let us go into the mountain: [3880] Let us pray. 

5. And going with him, we, the twelve disciples, begged that he would show us one of our brethren, the righteous who are gone forth out of the world, in order that we might see of what manner of form they are, and having taken courage, might also encourage [3881] the men who hear us.

6. And as we prayed, suddenly there appeared two men standing before the Lord towards the East, on whom we were not able to look; [3882] 

7, for there came forth from their countenance a ray as of the sun, and their raiment was shining, such as eye of man [3883] never saw; for no mouth is able to express or heart to conceive the glory with which they were endued, and the beauty of their appearance. 

8. And as we looked upon them, we were astounded; for their bodies were whiter than any snow and ruddier than any rose; [3884] 

9, and the red thereof was mingled with the white, and I am utterly unable to express their beauty; 

10, for their hair was curly and bright and seemly both on their face and shoulders, as it were a wreath [3885] woven of spikenard and divers-coloured flowers, or like a rainbow in the sky, such was their seemliness.

11. Seeing therefore their beauty we became astounded at them, since they appeared suddenly.

12. And I approached the Lord and said: Who are these? 

13. He saith to me: These are your brethren the righteous, whose forms ye desired to see. 

14. And I said to him: And where are all the righteous ones and what is the æon in which they are and have this glory?

15. And the Lord showed me [3886] a very great country outside of this world, exceeding bright with light, and the air there lighted with the rays of the sun, and the earth itself blooming with unfading flowers and full of spices and plants, fair-flowering and incorruptible and bearing blessed fruit. 

16. And so great was the perfume that it [3887] was borne thence even unto us. 

17. And the dwellers in that place were clad in the raiment of shining angels and their raiment was like unto their country; and angels hovered about them there. 

18. And the glory of the dwellers there was equal, and with one voice they sang praises alternately to the Lord God, rejoicing in that place. 

19. The Lord saith to us: This is the place of your high-priests, [3888] the righteous men.

20. And over against that place I saw another, squalid, and it was the place of punishment; and those who were punished there and the punishing angels had their raiment dark [3889] like the air of the place.

21. And there were certain there hanging by the tongue: and these were the blasphemers of the way of righteousness; and under them lay fire, [3890] burning and punishing them.

22. And there was a great lake, full of flaming mire, in which were certain men that pervert righteousness, [3891] and tormenting angels afflicted them.

23. And there were also others, women, hanged by their hair over that mire that bubbled up: and these were they who adorned themselves for adultery; and the men who mingled with them in the defilement [3892] of adultery, were hanging by the feet and their heads in that mire. And I said: I did not believe that I should come into this place.

24. And I saw the murderers and those who conspired with them, cast into a certain strait place, full of evil snakes, and smitten by those beasts, and thus turning to and fro in that punishment; and worms, [3893] as it were clouds of darkness, afflicted them. And the souls of the murdered stood and looked upon the punishment of those murderers and said: O God, thy judgment is just.

25. And near that place I saw another strait place into which the gore and the filth of those who were being punished ran down and became there as it were a lake: and there sat women having the gore up to their necks, and over against them sat many children who were born to them out of due time, crying; and there came forth from them sparks of fire and smote the women in the eyes: and these were the accursed who conceived and caused abortion.

26. And other men and women were burning up to the middle and were cast into a dark place and were beaten by evil spirits, and their inwards were eaten by restless worms: [3894] and these were they who persecuted the righteous and delivered them up.

27. And near those there were again women and men gnawing their own lips, and being punished and receiving a red-hot iron in their eyes: and these were they who blasphemed and slandered [3895] the way of righteousness.

28. And over against these again other men and women gnawing their tongues and having flaming fire in their mouths: and these were the false witnesses. [3896]

29. And in a certain other place there were pebbles sharper than swords or any spit, red-hot, and women and men in tattered and filthy raiment rolled about on them in punishment: and these were the rich who trusted in their riches and had no pity for orphans and widows, and despised the commandment [3897] of God.

30. And in another great lake, full of pitch and blood and mire bubbling up, there stood men and women up to their knees: and these were the usurers and those who take interest on interest.

31. And other men and women were being hurled down from a great cliff and reached the bottom, and again were driven by those who were set over them to climb up upon the cliff, and thence were hurled down again, and had no rest from this punishment: and these were they who defiled [3898] their bodies acting as women; and the women who were with them were those who lay with one another as a man with a woman.

32. And alongside of that cliff there was a place full of much fire, and there stood men who with their own hands had made for themselves carven images instead of God. And alongside of these were other men and women, having rods and striking each other and never ceasing from such punishment.

33. And others again near them, women and men, burning and turning themselves and roasting: and these were they that leaving the way of God [3899] ...

Footnotes:

[3877] False prophets. Cf. Matthew 7:15; xxiv. 5, 11. Cf. Pastor of Hermas, Mand. xi.

[3878] Sons of perdition. Cf. 2 Peter ii. 1-3; iii. 7, 16; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, and Ep. of Lyons and Vienne, Euseb. H. E. v. 1.

[3879] Purify their souls. Cf. 2 Peter i. 18. Sons of lawlessness. Cf. Pastor Herm. Vis. iii. 6.

[3880] Mountain. Cf. 2 Peter i. 18.

[3881] The righteous. Cf. 2 Peter i. 1; iii. 19. What manner of. Cf. 2 Peter iii. 11. Encourage. Cf. Pastor Herm. Vis. iii. 3.

[3882] Not able to look. Cf. 2 1 Corinthians 3:7 ff.

[3883] Eye of man, etc. Cf. 1 1 Corinthians 2:9.

[3884] Snow and rose. Cf. Bk. of Enoch cvi. 2.

[3885] Wreath. Cf. Ep. of Lyons and Vienne, ap. Euseb. H. E. v. 1, 36.

[3886] Apparently all the disciples are supposed to have had the vision of heaven, but Peter alone that of hell. Unfading. Cf. 1 Peter i. 4.

[3887] Odour. Cf. Ep. of Lyons and Vienne, l. c., and Passion of S. Perpetua, ch. xiii.

[3888] High priests. Cf. Didache 13, 3.

[3889] Squalid. Cf. 2 Peter i. 19. Punishment. Cf. 2 Peter ii. 9. Punishing angels. Cf. Pastor Herm. Sim. vi. 3. Dark. Cf. Jude, vv. 6 and 13.

[3890] Blasphemers. Cf. 2 Peter ii. 12; Pastor Herm. Sim. viii. 6; ix. 18. Fire. Cf. 2 Peter iii. 7.

[3891] Mire. Cf. 2 Peter ii. 22. Pervert righteousness. Cf. Pastor Herm. Sim. viii. 6. Cf. Titus 1:14.

[3892] Cf. Jude 7.. Defilement. Cf. 2 Peter ii. 10, 14, 17, 20; Jude 8.. Cf. Pastor Herm. Sim. vi. 5.

[3893] Darkness. Cf. 2 Peter ii. 17. Worms. Cf. Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:48.

[3894] Restless worms. Cf. Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:48. Cf. Esdras, Ante-Nicene Lib., vol. xvi., p. 472; Pastor Herm. Sim. ix. 19; viii. 6.

[3895] Slandered. Cf. 2 Peter ii. 2; Jude 8, 10.

[3896] False witnesses. Cf. Hermas. Mand. viii. 5.

[3897] The rich, etc. Cf. 2 Peter ii. 14. Cf. Pastor Herm. Vis. iii. 9; Sim. ix. 20; Sim. i. 8, and Mand. viii. 5. Commandment. Cf. 2 Peter ii. 21; iii. 2.

[3898] Defiled. 2 Peter 2:10. Cf. Romans 1:26 ff.; Jude 8..

[3899] Way of God. 2 Peter 2:2. Pastor Herm. Vis. iii. 7; viii. 6; ix. 19, 22.

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