Tischendorf printed two Latin descents: 'Descensus Christi ad inferos Latine A' (pp. 389-416) and 'Descensus Christi ad inferos Latine B (ineditum)' (pp. 417-432), the second there first edited (https://archive.org/details/evangeliaapocryp00tisc). English treatments of the descent exist — Ante-Nicene Fathers 8 prints the Descent within its 'Gospel of Nicodemus' (https://archive.org/details/antenicenefather08buff) and Elliott 1993 has 'Christ's Descent into Hell' (https://hollis.harvard.edu/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Apocryphal%20New%20Testament%20Elliott&tab=Everything&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&vid=01HVD_INST:HVD2&offset=0 — but neither catalogue record identifies which Latin recension is translated, and the Primo result set for the descent (https://hollis.harvard.edu/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Mors%20Pilati&tab=Everything&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&vid=01HVD_INST:HVD2&offset=0 contains no separate English edition. No English translation of Tischendorf's Latin recension B as such was located.
The Descent is the doctrinal centre of the Nicodemus complex and the source of the medieval harrowing-of-hell iconography. Because the second Latin recension was printed but never translated, its distinctive episodes — the naming of the patriarchs, the devil's interrogation — cannot be read in English at all.
| Edition / series |
|---|
| The Gospel of Nicodemus (with the Descent into Hell) · Ante-Nicene Fathers 8 · Alexander Walker · 1886 |
| Christ's Descent into Hell · The Apocryphal New Testament · J. Keith Elliott · 1993 |
| Source and licence |
|---|
| archive.org · PDF scan · public domain (1876 imprint) |