PECULIARITIES OF BIBLICAL THEMES IN THE COPTIC TEXT “THE MYSTERIES OF JOHN THE APOSTLE”

Abstract

The article deals with the analysis of biblical themes in the Coptic apocryphon the detailed title of which can be translated as “The Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin, That (the mysteries) Were Taught to Him in Heaven”. The text is fully preserved in Sahidic in the late copy of the beginning of the 11th century and originates from the monastery of Saint Mercurius in Hagr Edfu located in the south of Egypt. There is also a small fragment in Bohairic from the monastery of Saint Macarius in Wadi al-Natrun. The very fact of existence of this copy which comes from the monastery in the north and was compiled in another dialect indicates that the apocryphon must have been a widespread and significant piece of work with its important role in preserving the written tradition in the Coptic language. The codex with the complete version of the text currently kept at the British Library (Or. 7026) was published by Sir E. A. W. Budge in the anthology of works in Sahidic from the collection of the British Museum at that time: Budge E. A. W. Coptic Apocrypha in the Dialect of Upper Egypt. London, 1913. As the elaborate title at the beginning of the text states, the story is about the ascent of John the Apostle to Heaven where he gets to know different mysteries by asking the Cherub that accompanies him. This narrative is peculiar in a way, since it has accumulated traditions and perceptions of different cultures seamlessly combined with each other within one textual space. The main objective is to analyze the episodes which refer to the Old Testament, the majority of them to the Book of Genesis. Being compared with respective passages from the Holy Scripture, they represent distinctive features that, in turn, give an opportunity to judge how certain biblical themes were reflected in the apocryphal literature of Christian Egypt. Moreover, on the basis of the analysis conducted along with the additional material and sources taken into consideration one may better comprehend how the author tried to interpret the canonical text sometimes including it into realities of Egyptian culture and referring to different legends.

Keywords

• coptic apocrypha
• mysteries
• john the apostle
• the bible
• the old testament
• christianity in egypt