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Acts of Paul

Anonymous · betmas

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machine-draft · no human review 3 passages · 482 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The Acts of Paul is an apocryphal work recounting the missionary journeys and miracles of the Apostle Paul. The Geʿez version, preserved in a single fifteenth-century manuscript (EMML 1839), is a medieval translation from an Arabic Vorlage, itself derived from a lost Greek or Coptic original. The text survives only in Ethiopic, with no complete Greek or Coptic witness. In Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, it is read as edifying hagiography, often paired with the Life of Paul of Tamma, and is not considered canonical. The edition (betmas) lacks a critical apparatus, limiting reconstruction of its textual history. The narrative includes homiletic openings and parallels canonical Acts, such as Paul and Barnabas in Paphos and Perga.

The Geʿez Acts of Paul is significant as a rare witness to the medieval transmission of early Christian apocrypha in Ethiopia, illustrating how second-century traditions were adapted for local liturgical and hagiographic use. Its survival in a single manuscript highlights the fragility of such texts. The work's homiletic structure and dependence on canonical Acts provide insight into Ethiopian Orthodox reception of Pauline narratives, distinct from Western apocryphal traditions like the Visio Pauli.

Historical context

The original Greek Acts of Paul dates to the late second century CE, likely composed in Asia Minor or Egypt. The Geʿez version, however, is a medieval translation, probably made between the 14th and 15th centuries, when Ethiopic Christian literature flourished under the Solomonid dynasty. The sole surviving manuscript (EMML 1839) was copied from an earlier Arabic Vorlage, reflecting the transmission of apocryphal texts through Arabic intermediaries in the Horn of Africa. The text was used in Ethiopian Orthodox liturgy and hagiography, often paired with the Life of Paul of Tamma, a local saint. Its genre is apocryphon, distinct from the Latin Visio Pauli, and it is not canonical. The Geʿez adaptation of Greek place names (e.g., Täslonqe for Thessalonica) shows linguistic adaptation. The lack of a critical edition and variant collation limits understanding of its textual history.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

18 commentary units 4 term3 structure3 background3 reception2 caution2 parallel1 scripture 0 derived notes 8 open questions 3 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: apocryphon in Geʿez; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 3 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: betmas — CC BY-SA 4.0 (per file); site footer states NC-SA - treat as NC

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
LIT1016Actsof:1 · narrativemedium
Source
The following division into textparts follows the one proposed in 63a-64a . Introduction ፩፡ ጽድቅ፡ ውእቱ፡ ቃሉ፡ ለእግዚእነ፡ ወአምላክነ፡ ወመድኀኒነ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ዘይቤ፡ በወንጌሉ፡ ቅዱስ፡ በእንቲአሁ። እስመ፡ ቀደምት፡ ይከውኑ፡ ድኅረ። ወደኅርት፡ ይከውኑ፡ ቅድመ። ፪፡ ስምዑ፡ ይእዜ፡ ኦሕዝብ፡ መፍቀርያነ፡ ክርስቶሰ፡ ዘጸውዐክሙ፡ ጸጋሁ፡ ውስተ፡ ዛቲ፡ ቤተ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ ቅድሰት፡ ከመ፡ ትግበሩ፡ በዓሎ፡ ለዝንቱ፡ ኅሩይ፡ ወውዱስ፡ ወሰባኪ፡ ብፁዕ፡ ወክቡር፡ መተንብል፡ በእንተ፡ ኵልክሙ፡ ኀበ፡ እግዚአሔር፡ አምላክ፡ ዐቢይ፡ በውስተ፡ ቅዱሳን። ፫፡ ይቤ፡ ሉቃስ፡ ወንጌላዊ፡ ወዝንቱ፡ ሳውል፡ ነሥአ፡ መባሕተ፡ እምኀበ፡ ሊቃነ፡ ካህናት፡ ከመ፡ ይስድድ፡ ኵሎ፡ እለ፡ የአምኑ፡ በክርስቶስ፡ እምኢየሩሳሌም፡ እስከ፡ አህጉር፡ ርኍቃት። ፬፡ ወእምዝ፡ ኃለፉ፡ እምነ፡ ፋቁስ፡ እንተ፡ መንገለ፡ ባሕር፡ ጳውሎስ፡ ወበርናባስ፡ ወበጽሑ፡ ጰርጌን፡ ዘጵንፍልያ፡ ወኀደጎሙ፡ ዮሐንሰ፡ ወተሰውጠ፡ ኢየሩሳሌም።
English
Righteousness is the word of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, which he spoke in his holy Gospel concerning her, for the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Hear now, O peoples, the proclamation of Christ, who has called you by his grace into this holy church, that you may celebrate the feast of this chosen, beloved, preacher, blessed, and honorable intercessor on behalf of you all before the great God in the midst of the saints. Luke the Evangelist says: And this Saul received letters from the high priests, that he might persecute all who believe in Christ, from Jerusalem as far as distant cities. And after that, Paul and Barnabas passed through the district of Paphos, which is on the seacoast, and arrived at Perga in Pamphylia; and John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
LIT1016Actsof:2 · narrativemedium
Source
፭፡ ወሶቤሃ፡ ወፅኡ፡ እምቤተ፡ ሞቅሕ፡ ወሖሩ፡ ኀበ፡ ተስሎንቄ፡ ወቦአ፡ ሐዋርያ፡ ጳውሎስ፡ ኀበ፡ በተ፡ ክርስተያን። ወእምድኅረ፡ ዝንቱ፡ ወፅአ፡ እምኀቤሆሙ፡ ወሖረ፡ ሀገረ፡ ሐለብ፡ ወይእቲ፡ አሐተ፡ እምአህጉረ፡ አይሁድ፡ ወረከበ፡ በህየ፡ ብእሴ፡ በውስተ፡ ፍኖት፡ ዘስሙ፡ ከዋርስጥስ። ወእንዘ፡ የሐውር፡ በፍኖት፡ ናሁ፡ እግዚእነ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ አስተርአዮ፡ ወይቤሎ፡ ሰላም፡ ለከ፡ ኦኅሩይየ፡ ጳውሎስ፡ ወእምዝ፡ ሖረ፡ ጳውሎስ፡ እንዘ፡ ይትፈሣሕ፡ ወድትኃሣይ፡ ወበጽሐ፡ ውስተ፡ ሀገር፡ በ፲፡ ሰዓተ፡ መዓልት፡ ወአእመርዎ፡ አይሁድ፡ እለ፡ ሀለዉ፡ ህየ። ወወፅአ፡ ሐዋርያ፡ ጳውሎስ፡ እምነ፡ ሀገረ፡ አካ፡ ወበጽሐ፡ ኀበ፡ ሀገረ፡ አቴና፡ ወፈነወ፡ ጳውሎስ፡ ሐዋርያ፡ መጽሐፈ፡ ኀበ፡ ሲላስ፡ ወጢሞቴዎስ፡ ከመ፡ ይበጽሑ፡ ኀቤሁ። ወኮነ፡ በውእቱ፡ መዋዕል፡ ምንዳቤ፡ ብዙኅ፡ ላዕለ፡ እለ፡ የዐቅቡ፡ ሕገ፡ እግዚአብሔር። ወአሜሃ፡ አስተርአዮ፡ እግዚእነ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ፈልጶስ፡ እንዘ፡ ሀሎ፡ በቂሳርያ። ወይቤሎ፡ ተንሥእ፡ ወሖር፡ ሀገረ፡ ልስጥራን፡ ወኢቆንዮን።
English
And then they went out from the house of imprisonment and went to Thessalonica, and the apostle Paul entered among the Christians. And after this, he went out from them and went to the city of Chalep, and it is one of the cities of the Jews, and he found there a man on the road whose name was Kwarstes. And while he was traveling on the road, behold, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him and said to him, "Peace to you, my brother Paul." And then Paul went, rejoicing and exulting, and he arrived in the city at the tenth hour of the day, and the Jews who were there recognized him. And the apostle Paul went out from the city of Aka and arrived at the city of Athens, and Paul the apostle sent a book to Silas and Timothy that they might come to him. And it was in that time great persecution upon those who kept the law of God. And then our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Saint Philip while he was in Caesarea and said to him, "Arise and go to the city of Lystra and Iconium.
LIT1016Actsof:3 · narrativemedium
Source
ወእምድኅረዝ፡ ወፅኡ፡ ፪፡ አርድእት፡ እምሀገረ፡ ልስጥራን፡ ሌሊተ፡ ወበጽሑ፡ ሐይቀ፡ ባሕር፡ እንዘ፡ የኀሥሡ፡ ሐመረ፡ ዘይወስዶሙ፡ ሀገረ፡ ኢቆንዮን። ፲ወ፩፡ ወእምድኅረ፡ ዝንቱ፡ ወፅአ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ጳወሎስ፡ እምቤተ፡ መቅደስ፡ ከመ፡ ይሖር፡ ወይስብክ፡ ውስተ፡ አሕዛበ፡ ምድር፡ እለ፡ ኢቦአ፡ ውስቴቶን። ፲ወ፪፡ ስምዑ፡ እምኔየ፡ ኦአኅዛብ፡ ምእመናን፡ ከመ፡ እዜኑክሙ፡ ዘንተ፡ ዜና፡ ቡሩከ፡ ዘገብሮ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ በእደዊሁ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ጳውሎስ፡ ልሳነ፡ ዕፍረት። ፲ወ፫፡ ወዓዲ፡ እምስብከተ፡ ጳውሎስ፡ ውስተ፡ ደሴት፡ እንተ፡ ትሰመያ፡ መናፍቅት። ፲ወ፬፡ ወካዕበ፡ ስምዑ፡ አኃዊነ፡ ስብከቶ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ጳውሎስ፡ በሀገረ፡ ዋሪቆን። ፲ወ፭፡ ዘከመ፡ ሖረ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ጴጥሮስ፡ ኀበ፡ ሀገረ፡ ዋሪቆን፡ ወርእያ፡ ወአጽንዖሙ፡ ለሰብኣ፡ ውስተ፡ ሃይማኖት፡ ርትዕት።
English
And after this, the two disciples went out from the city of Lystra by night, and they arrived at the shore of the sea, seeking a ship that would take them to the city of Iconium. 11. And after this, Saint Paul went out from the house of the temple to go and preach among the peoples of the land who were in that place. 12. Hear from me, O peoples, believers, as I recount to you this blessed story which the Lord performed through the hands of Saint Paul, the tongue of eloquence. 13. And again, from the preaching of Paul on the island which is called Menafqat. 14. And again, hear, our brothers, his preaching of Saint Paul in the city of Waricon. 15. How Saint Peter went to the city of Waricon and saw and confirmed the men in the true faith.
Citation. Tergwame, “Acts of Paul”, LIT1016Actsof:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/LIT1016Actsof#s1
Colophon. Source: betmas · licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (per file); site footer states NC-SA - treat as NC · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0021 · generated 2026-11-15.