Epistle of Barnabas Trans. Bart Ehrman
Epistle of Barnabas Trans. Bart Ehrman
Epistle of Barnabas Trans. Bart Ehrman
1
όντω L: οντο S: ού τό Η 2
πηγή Η L: αγάπη S
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BARNABAS 2
Since, then, the days are evil and the one who is at work
holds sway, we should commit ourselves to seeking out
1
5
ευφροσύνη S
6
δικαιοσύνη cj. Bryennios: δικαιοσύνη Η: iv δικαιο-
σύναι S
7
όλοκαντωμάτων S: add κριών Η L
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BARNABAS 2
things that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is
without the yoke of compulsion, should provide an offer-
ing not made by humans. 7. And again he says to them,
"Did I command your fathers who came out from the land
of Egypt to offer whole burnt offerings and sacrifices to
me?" 8. "No, this is what I commanded them: Let none of
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clearly about our salvation, to keep the Evil One from hurl-
ing us away from our life after bringing error in through
the backdoor.
2Isa 1:11-13.
3 Jer 7:22.
4Zech 8:17.
5 Ps 51:17.
8
eav Η L: ovoe eav S
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BARNABAS 3
fast I have chosen, says the Lord. Loosen every bond of in-
justice; unravel the strangle hold of coercive agreements;
send forth in forgiveness those who are downtrodden; tear
up every unfair contract. Break your bread for the hungry,
and provide clothing for anyone you see naked. Bring the
homeless under your roof. And if you see anyone who has
been humbled, do not despise him—neither you nor any-
one from your children's household. 4. Then your light will
burst forth at dawn, your garments will quickly rise up,
your righteousness will go forth before you, and the glory
of God will clothe you. 5. Then you will cry out and God
will hear you. While you are still speaking he will say, 'See!
Here I am!'—if, that is, you remove from yourself bond-
age, the threatening gesture, and the word of complaint,
and from your heart you give your bread to the poor and
show mercy to the person who has been humbled." 6. The 7
11
και (τποΒον νποστρ.: om. Η
12
Ιμάτια S Η L: ιάματα S**
13
έλβήση (S) L: έμπλήση Η
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BARNABAS 4
same thing: "I saw the fourth beast, wicked and strong, and
worse than all the beasts of the sea, and I saw how ten
horns rose up from him, and from them a small horn as an
offshoot; and I saw how he humbled three of the great
horns at one time." 6. And so you should understand. And
9
14
έπήλντοί (S): προσήλντου Η L
15
νωχ S Η: Daniel L Μασιλβΐαι S L: βασιλεί
1 6
Η
17
θαλάσση Η L: γη S
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BARNABAS 4
back to idols they lost it. For the Lord says this: "Moses,
Moses, go down quickly, because your people, whom you
led from the land of Egypt, has broken the law." Moses11
understood and cast the two tablets from his hands. And
their covenant was smashed—that the covenant of his be-
loved, Jesus, might be sealed in our hearts, in the hope
brought by faith in him. 9. Since I want to write many
things, not as a teacher, but as is fitting for one who is eager
to abandon none of the things we have, I hasten to write, as
your lowly scapegoat. Therefore, we should pay close at-
tention here in the final days. For the entire time of our
faith will be of no use to us if we do not stand in resistance,
as is fitting for the children of God, both against this pres-
ent lawless age and against the stumbling blocks that are
yet to come, 10. that the Black One not sneak in among us.
τη πίστεω ημών L
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BARNABAS 5
12 Isa 5:21.
13 Matt 22:14.
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BARNABAS 5
2 2
G begins here
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BARNABAS 5
18 Ps 22:20, 16.
19 Isa 50:6-7.
2 5
και: nec L
2 6
πώ άν G L: ούδ' άν πώ S: ούκ άν Η
27
πατάζωο~ιν S Η: πατάξω G L
2 8
άπολβΐταί Η: άπολίπβταί S: σκορπισθ-ησβται GL
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BARNABAS 6
stone used for crushing, the prophet says, "See, I will cast
into Zion s foundation a precious stone that is chosen, a
cornerstone, one to be valued." 3. Then what does he say?
"The one who believes in him will live forever." Is our 21
prophet says, "A stone that the builders rejected has be-
come the very cornerstone." And again he says, "This is the
great and marvelous day the Lord has made." 5. I am 23
20 Isa 50:8-9. 2 1
Isa 28:16. 22 i s a 50:7.
23 p 118:22, 24; cf. 1 Pet 2:7.
s
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BARNABAS 6
say to them? "See, this is what the Lord God says, 'Enter
into the good land, which the Lord swore to give to Abra-
ham, Isaac, and Jacob; and receive it as an inheritance, a
land flowing with milk and honey.'" 9. Learn what knowl-
27
26 Isa 3:9-10.
27 Exod 33:1,3.
28 Gen 1:26.
29 Gen 1:28.
3 2
ταντα . . . viov S G: om. Η L
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BARNABAS 6
human form in the final days. And the Lord says, "See! I
am making the final things like the first." This is why the
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to dwell among us. 15. For the dwelling place of our heart,
my brothers, is a temple holy to the Lord. 16. For again the
Lord says, "And how will I appear before the Lord my God
and be glorified?" He answers: "I will praise you in the as-
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and fish and birds of the sky? For we ought to realize that
ruling is a matter of authority, so that the one who issues
commands is the master. 19. Since this is not happening
now, he has told us when it will happen—when we have
ourselves been perfected so as to become heirs of the
Lords covenant.
3 0
Source unknown. 3 1
Exod 33:3.
52 Ezek 11:19. 3 3
Ps 42:4.
3 4
Ps 22:22, 25. 3
5 Gen 1:28.
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BARNABAS 7
with the other? "The other," he says, "is cursed." Pay at-
39
38 ραχή Η: ράχον S G
39 και οτι τον έπικατάρατον om. Η
40 βρπτνσαντβ S Η L: βμπα'ιξαντβ G
41 τον τράγον: αντον Η
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BARNABAS 8
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BARNABAS 9
is on the tree, and because those who hope in him will live
forever. 6. But why are the wool and hyssop together? Be-
cause in his kingdom there will be evil and foul days, in
which we will be saved. And because the one who is sick in
the flesh is healed by the foul juice of the hyssop. 7. And
thus the things that have happened in this way are clear to
us, but they are obscure to them, because they have not
heard the voice of the Lord.
Ο Israel, for thus says the Lord your God." And again the
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And again he says, "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers
of this people." And again he says, "Hear, Ο children, the
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BARNABAS 9
consider again, "See, says the Lord, all the nations are
uncircumcised in their foreskins, but this people is
uncircumcised in their hearts." 6. But you will say, "Yet
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because the cross was about to have grace in the letter Tau
[T], he next gives the three hundred, Tau. And so he shows
the name Jesus by the first two letters, and the cross by the
other. 9. For the one who has placed the implanted gift of
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BARNABAS 10
10
And when Moses said, "Do not eat the pig, or the eagle, or
the hawk, or the crow, or any fish without scales," he re-
54
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BARNABAS 10
not," he says, "be like such people, who are completely im-
pious and condemned already to death." For these fish
alone are cursed and hover in the depths, not swimming
like the others but dwelling in the mud beneath the
depths. 6. But also "do not eat the hare." For what rea-
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son? "You must not," he says, "be one who corrupts chil-
dren or be like such people." For the rabbit adds an orifice
every year; it has as many holes as years it has lived. 7. "Nor
shall you eat the hyena." "You must not," he says, "be an
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5 7
Source unknown.
5 8
Cf. Lev 11:6. 5 9
Source unknown.
4 8
περιβλεπονται . . . εκζητεΐ S (Η): καθήμενα αργά ταντα
εκζητεΐ G όμοιωθήση S Η: add κολλώμενο G L
4 9
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BARNABAS 10
60 p s 1:1.
6 1
Cf. Lev 11:3; Deut 14:6.
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BARNABAS 11
11
5 4
αφηρημένοι S Η: -μένη G L
5 5
πνλα S Η: θύρα G L
5 6
καί S Η L: είτα τί λέγει εν τω νίω G
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BARNABAS 11
es Ps 1:3-6.
66 Cf. Ezek 47:1-12.
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BARNABAS 12
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have a message about the cross and the one who was about
to be crucified. 2. And he again tells Moses, when Israel
was attacked by a foreign people, to remind those under
assault that they were being handed over to death because
of their sins. The Spirit speaks to the heart of Moses that he
should make a type of the cross and of the one who was
about to suffer, that they might realize, he says, that if they
refused to hope in him, they would be attacked forever.
And so Moses stacked weapons one on the other in the
midst of the battle, and standing high above all the people
he began stretching out his hands; and so Israel again
gained the victory. But then, when he lowered his hands,
they began to be killed. 3. Why was that? So that they
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6 7
4 Ezra 4:33; 5:5.
6 8
Cf. Exod 17:8-13.
6 9
Cf. Isa 65:2.
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BARNABAS 12
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BARNABAS 13
how David calls him Lord; he does not call him son.
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Now let us see whether it is this people or the first one that
receives the inheritance, and whether the covenant is for
us or them. 2. Hear what the Scripture says concerning the
people, "Isaac prayed for Rebecca his wife, because she
was infertile. And then she conceived." Then, "Rebecca
went to inquire of the Lord, and the Lord said to her,
'There are two nations in your womb and two peoples in
your belly, and one people will dominate the other and the
greater will serve the lesser.'" 3. You ought to perceive
75
73 Ps 110:1.
74 Cf. Isa 45:1.
75 Cf. Gen 25:21-23.
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BARNABAS 14
Joseph his son, when he says, "See, the Lord has not kept
me from your presence. Bring your sons to me that I may
bless them." 5. He brought Ephraim and Manasseh,
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he has decreed, that this people will be first, and the heir of
the covenant. 7. And if this is also brought to mind through
Abraham, we maintain that our knowledge is now perfect.
What then does he say to Abraham, when he alone be-
lieved and was appointed for righteousness? "See, Abra-
ham, I have made you a father of the nations who believe in
God while uncircumcised." 78
14
76 Gen 48:11,9.
77 Cf. Gen 48:14, 19. 78 cf. Gen 15:6; 17:4.
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BARNABAS 14
nant, but they were not worthy. Now learn how we have
received it. Moses received it as a servant, but the Lord
himself gave it to us, as a people of the inheritance, by en-
during suffering for us. 5. He was made manifest so that
those people might be completely filled with sins, and that
we might receive the covenant through the Lord Jesus,
who inherited it. He was prepared for this end, that when
he became manifest he might make a covenant with us by
his word, after redeeming our hearts from darkness, hearts
that were already paid out to death and given over to the
lawlessness of deceit. 6. For it is written how the Father
commanded him to prepare for himself a holy people after
he redeemed us from darkness. 7. And so the prophet says,
72 καρδία : κακία G
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BARNABAS 15
"I the Lord your God called you in righteousness; and I will
grasp your hand and strengthen you. I have given you as a
covenant of the people, as a light to the nations, to open the
eyes of the blind, to bring out of their bondage those in
shackles and out of prison those who sit in darkness." 81
15
si Isa 42:6-7.
82 Cf. Isa 49:6-7. 83 i
s a 61:1-2.
84 Cf. Exod 20:8; Deut 5:12. 85 cf. Jer 17:24-25.
74
άπέσταΚκέν με ίάσασθαι: om. Η
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BARNABAS 15
that "he finished in six days." This means that in six thou-
sand years the Lord will complete all things. For with him
a day represents a thousand years. He himself testifies that
I am right, when he says, "See, a day of the Lord will be like
a thousand years." And so, children, all things will be
87
the present time that are acceptable to me, but the one I
86 Gen 2:2-3.
87 Cf. Ps 90:4; 2 Pet 3:8. 88 i s a 1:13.
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BARNABAS 16
have made, in which I will give rest to all things and make a
beginning of an eighth day, which is the beginning of an-
other world. 9. Therefore also we celebrate the eighth day
with gladness, for on it Jesus arose from the dead, and
appeared, and ascended into heaven.
16
8 9
Cf. Isa 40:12; 66:1.
9
0 Cf. Isa 49:17.
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BARNABAS 16
8 1
τοΐ . . . $¤$ονλωμβνοι S: τον . . . -μβνον Η G
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BARNABAS 19
him since he has never heard him speak these words from
his mouth nor even ever desired to hear them. This is a
spiritual temple built for the Lord.
17
18
19
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BARNABAS 19
awe of the one who formed you; glorify the one who ran-
somed you from death. Be simple in heart and rich in
spirit. Do not mingle with those who walk along the path of
death; hate everything that is not pleasing to God; hate all
hypocrisy; do not abandon the commandments of the
Lord. 3. Do not exalt yourself but be humble in everyway.
Do not heap glory on yourself. Do not entertain a wicked
plot against your neighbor; do not make your soul imperti-
nent. 4. Do not engage in sexual immorality, do not com-
mit adultery, do not engage in pederasty. The word of God
must not go out from you to any who are impure. Do not
show favoritism when you reproach someone for an unlaw-
ful act. Be meek and gentle; tremble at the words you have
heard. Do not hold a grudge against your brother. 5. Do
not be of two minds whether this should happen or not. Do
not take the Lord's name for a futile purpose. Love your
neighbor more than yourself. Do not abort a fetus or kill a
child that is already born. Do not remove your hand from
[Or: refrain from disciplining; or: shirk your responsibility
towards] your son or daughter, but from their youth teach
them the reverential fear of God. 6. Do not desire your
neighbor's belongings; do not be greedy. Do not join forces
with the high and mighty but associate with the humble
and upright. Welcome whatever happens to you as good,
knowing that nothing occurs apart from God. 7. Do not be
of two minds or speak from both sides of your mouth, for
8 3
πορενομένων iv S G: πονηρενομενων Η
84
τεκνον: add σον Η άποκτενεί S: άνελεΐ Η G
8 5
8 6
ταπεινών και δικαίων S L: δικαίων καί ταπεινών G:
ταπεινών Η 8 7
δίγλωσσο : γλωσσώδη S
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BARNABAS 19
8 9
τά πρόσωπα τών αγίων S** G: om. S Η
9 0
λντρωσιν G: λντρον S Η
91 γογγνσβι S Η: add παντί τώ αίτονντί σβ δίόον (G) S**
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BARNABAS 21
20
But the path of the Black One is crooked and filled with a
curse. For it is the path of eternal death which comes with
punishment; on it are those things that destroy people s
souls: idolatry, impertinence, glorification of power, hy-
pocrisy, duplicity, adultery, murder, robbery, arrogance,
transgression, deceit, malice, insolence, sorcery, magic,
greed, irreverence towards God. 2. It is filled with persecu-
tors of the good, haters of the truth, lovers of the lie; those
who do not know the reward of righteousness, nor cling to
the good nor to a fair judgment, who do not look out for the
widow and the orphan, who are alert not to the reverential
fear of God but to evil, from whom meekness and patience
are far removed and remote. For they love what is vain and
pursue a reward, showing no mercy to the poor nor toiling
for the oppressed; they are prone to slander, not know-
ing the one who made them; murderers of children and
corruptors of what God has fashioned; they turn their
backs on the needy, oppress the afflicted, and support the
wealthy. They are lawless judges of the impoverished, alto-
gether sinful.
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And so it is good for one who has learned all the upright de-
mands of the Lord that have been written to walk in them.
For the one who does these things will be glorified in the
kingdom of God. The one who chooses those other things
will be destroyed, along with his works. This is why there is
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BARNABAS 21
Epistle of Barnabas
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