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The ''Epistle of Barnabas'' ( el, Βαρνάβα Ἐπιστολή) is a Greek epistle written between AD 70 and 132. The complete text is preserved in the 4th-century ''
Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...
'', where it appears immediately after the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
and before the ''
Shepherd of Hermas A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
''. For several centuries it was one of the " antilegomena" ("disputed") writings that some Christians looked on as sacred scripture, while others excluded them. Eusebius of Caesarea classified it as such. It is mentioned in a perhaps third-century list in the sixth-century '' Codex Claromontanus'' and in the later ''
Stichometry of Nicephorus The Stichometry of Nicephorus is a stichometry by Patriarch Nicephorus I of Constantinople. It is significant in that it counts the number of lines of various Christian texts, many of which have been lost over the course of time. This has enabled m ...
'' appended to the ninth-century ''Chronography'' of
Nikephoros I of Constantinople Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I (c. 758 – 5 April 828) was a Byzantine writer and patriarch of Constantinople from 12 April 806 to 13 March 815. Life He was born in Constantinople as the son of Theodore and Eudokia, of a strictly Orthodox fa ...
. Some early Fathers of the Church ascribed it to the
Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...
who is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, but it is now generally attributed to an otherwise unknown early Christian teacher, although some scholars do defend the traditional attribution. It is distinct from the
Gospel of Barnabas The Gospel of Barnabas is a non-canonical, pseudepigraphical gospel reportedly written by the early Christian disciple Barnabas, who (in this work) is one of the apostles of Jesus. It is about the same length as the four canonical gospels comb ...
. The main message of the Epistle of Barnabas is that the Jewish scriptures — what would become the Old Testament in Christianity — were actually Christian documents from the beginning. According to the epistle, the Jews had misinterpreted their own law by applying it literally; the true meaning was to be found in its symbolic prophecies foreshadowing the coming of Jesus. The Jews broke their covenant from the very beginning, and are misled by an evil angel. After explaining its Christian interpretations of the Jewish scriptures, the epistle concludes by discussing "The Two Ways", also seen in the '' Didache'': a Way of Light and a Way of Darkness.


Manuscript tradition

The 4th-century ''
Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...
'' (S), discovered by Constantin von Tischendorf in 1859 and published by him in 1862, contains a complete text of the Epistle placed after the canonical New Testament and followed by the ''
Shepherd of Hermas A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
''. The 11th-century '' Codex Hierosolymitanus'' (H), which also includes the '' Didache'', the two Epistles of Clement and the longer version of the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch, is another witness to the full text. It was discovered by
Philotheos Bryennios Philotheos Bryennios ( el, Φιλόθεος Βρυέννιος; 7 April 1833 – November 18, 1917) was a Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Nicomedia, and the discoverer in 1873 of an important manuscript with copies of early Church documents. Life ...
at
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
in 1873 and published by him in 1875.
Adolf Hilgenfeld Adolf Bernhard Christoph Hilgenfeld (2 June 182312 January 1907) was a German Protestant theologian. Biography He was born at Stappenbeck near Salzwedel in the Province of Saxony. He studied at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin a ...
used it for his 1877 edition of the Epistle of Barnabas. A family of 10 or 11 manuscripts dependent on the 11th-century ''Codex Vaticanus graecus 859'' (G) contain chapters 5:7b−21:9 placed as a continuation of a truncated text of Polycarp's letter to the Philippians (1:1–9:2). An old
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
version (L), perhaps of no later than the end of the 4th century, that is preserved in a single 9th-century manuscript (St Petersburg, Q.v.I.39) gives the first 17 chapters (without the ''Two Ways'' section of chapters 18 to 21) This is a fairly literal rendering in general, but is sometimes significantly shorter than the Greek text. S and H generally agree on readings. G often agrees with L against S and H. A small papyrus fragment (''PSI'' 757) of the third or fourth century has the first 6 verses of chapter 9, and there are a few fragments in
Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
of chapters 1, 19,20. The writings of
Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen an ...
give a few brief quotations, as to a smaller extent do
Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theo ...
, Didymus the Blind and
Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
.


Status for Christians

The Epistle was viewed as authoritative scripture by some Christians in the early centuries of church history. It was attributed to
Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...
, the companion of Paul the Apostle, by
Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen an ...
(c. 150 – c. 215) and
Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theo ...
(c. 184 – c. 253).Geoffrey W. Bromiley (editor), ''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' (Eerdmans 1979), vol. 1, p. 206
/ref> Clement quotes it with phrases such as "the Apostle Barnabas says."
Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theo ...
speaks of it as the ''General Epistle of Barnabas'', a phrase usually associated with canonical non-Pauline epistles. In the fourth century, the Epistle was also highly regarded by Didymus the Blind (c. 313 – c. 398), Serapion of Thmuis (c. 290 – c. 358), and
Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
(c. 342 – 420) as an authentic work of the apostolic Barnabas. Its inclusion in close proximity to the New Testament writings in ''
Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...
'' and '' Codex Hierosolymitanus'' witnesses to the near-canonical authority it held for some Christians, but is evidence of its popularity and usefulness, not necessarily of canonicity.
Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...
(c. 260 – c. 340), in book three of his ''
Church History __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...
'', excluded it from " the accepted books," classifying it as among the "rejected" or "spurious" (νόθοι) writings, although he elsewhere included this same Epistle of Barnabas with
Hebrews The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still ...
and Jude in the category of “ disputed scriptures” (ἀντιλεγομένων γραφῶν). In the sixth-century, Codex Claromontanus (a list of Old Testament and New Testament books, dating from the third or fourth century) includes the Epistle of Barnabas between Jude and
Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
along with the
Shepherd of Hermas A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
, the Acts of Paul and the
Apocalypse of Peter The Apocalypse of Peter (or Revelation of Peter) is an early Christian text of the 2nd century and an example of apocalyptic literature with Hellenistic overtones. It is not included in the standard canon of the New Testament, but is mentioned i ...
. Next to the listing of Barnabas is a dash that may indicate doubtful or disputed canonicity, though the same marking is found next to
1 Peter The First Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament. The author presents himself as Peter the Apostle. The ending of the letter includes a statement that implies that it was written from " Babylon", which is possibly a reference to Rome ...
as well, so its meaning is unclear. The ''
Stichometry of Nicephorus The Stichometry of Nicephorus is a stichometry by Patriarch Nicephorus I of Constantinople. It is significant in that it counts the number of lines of various Christian texts, many of which have been lost over the course of time. This has enabled m ...
'', a later list of uncertain date appended to the ''Chronography'' of the early 9th century
Nikephoros I of Constantinople Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I (c. 758 – 5 April 828) was a Byzantine writer and patriarch of Constantinople from 12 April 806 to 13 March 815. Life He was born in Constantinople as the son of Theodore and Eudokia, of a strictly Orthodox fa ...
, puts the Epistle of Barnabas among its four " disputed" New Testament works — along with the
Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...
, the Revelation of Peter and the
Gospel of the Hebrews The Gospel of the Hebrews ( grc, τὸ καθ' Ἑβραίους εὐαγγέλιον), or Gospel according to the Hebrews, is a lost Jewish–Christian gospel. The text of the gospel is lost, with only fragments of it surviving as brief quot ...
— but not among its seven "New Testament apocrypha".


Date of composition

In 16.3–4, the Epistle of Barnabas reads: As commonly interpreted, this passage places the Epistle after the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70. It also places the Epistle before the Bar Kokhba revolt of AD 132, after which there could have been no hope that the Romans would help to rebuild the temple. The document must therefore come from the period between the two Jewish revolts. Attempts at identifying a more precise date are conjectures. The ''
Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
'' puts the latest possible date at AD 130. and for the actual date of composition gives "''circa'' AD 100". Its 1911 edition opted strongly for "the reign of
Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...
(AD 70-79)", shortly after the ''
Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
'' had preferred AD 130−131 in an article by Paulin Ladeuze, and AD 96−98 in an article by John Bertram Peterson. On a more precise dating within the limits associated with the Jerusalem temple there is thus an "absence of scholarly consensus". Jay Curry Treat comments on the absence in the Epistle of Barnabas (except for a possible reference to the phrase "Many are called, but few are chosen" in the Gospel according to Matthew) of citations from the New Testament: J.E Jacquier is of a different opinion, pointing to the fact that the reference to Matthew 22:14 is proceeded by the words "as the scripture saith" (''os gegraptai'') which not only shows that the words are a quotation but according to him "proves that the author considered the Gospel of Matthew equal in point of authority to the writings of the Old Testament". Helmut Koester considers the Epistle to be earlier than the
Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...
: in his ''Introduction to the New Testament'' he says of the author of the Epistle: "It cannot be shown that he knew and used the Gospels of the New Testament. On the contrary, what ''Barnabas'' presents here is from 'the school of the evangelists'. This demonstrates how the early Christian communities paid special attention to the exploration of Scripture in order to understand and tell the suffering of Jesus. ''Barnabas'' still represents the initial stages of the process that is continued in the ''
Gospel of Peter The Gospel of Peter ( grc, κατά Πέτρον ευαγγέλιον, kata Petron euangelion), or the Gospel according to Peter, is an ancient text concerning Jesus Christ, only partially known today. It is considered a non-canonical gospel and ...
'', later in Matthew, and is completed in
Justin Martyr Justin Martyr ( el, Ἰουστῖνος ὁ μάρτυς, Ioustinos ho martys; c. AD 100 – c. AD 165), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and ...
." An opposing view is enunciated by Everett Ferguson: "The language of rebuilding the temple in 16.3–5 refers to the spiritual temple of the heart of Gentile believers (any allusion to a physical temple in Jerusalem is doubtful)." On the date of composition he says: "The ''Epistle of Barnabas'' is usually dated to 130−135, although an earlier date in the late 70s has had its champions, and 96−98 is a possibility."Everett Ferguson, ''Encyclopedia of Early Christianity'' (Routledge 2013), p. 168
/ref>


Provenance

The place of origin is generally taken to be
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. It is first attested there (by
Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen an ...
). Its allegorical style points to Alexandria. ''Barnabas'' 9:6 mentions idol-worshipping priests as circumcised, a practice in use in Egypt. However, some scholars have suggested an origin in Syria or Asia Minor. Treat comments on the provenance of the Epistle of Barnabas:


Contents

The Epistle of Barnabas has the form not so much of a letter (it lacks indication of identity of sender and addressees) as of a treatise. In this, it is like the
Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews ( grc, Πρὸς Ἑβραίους, Pros Hebraious, to the Hebrews) is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. Most ...
, which
Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...
ascribed to the apostle
Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...
and with which it has "a large amount of superficial resemblance". On the other hand, it does have some features of an epistolary character, and Reidar Hvalvik argues that it is in fact a letter. The document can be divided into two parts. Chapters 1−17 give a Christ-centred interpretation of the Old Testament, which it says should be understood spiritually, not in line with the literal meaning of its rules on sacrifice (chapter 2: the sacrifice God wants is that of a contrite heart), fasting (3: the fasting God wants is from injustice), circumcision (9), diet (10: rules that really prohibit behaviour such as praying to God only when in need, like swine crying out when hungry but ignoring their master when full, or being predatory like eagle, falcon, kite and crow, etc.; and that command to chew by meditating the cud of the word of the Lord and to divide the hoof by looking for the holy world to come while walking in this world), sabbath (15), and the temple (16). The passion and death of Jesus at the hands of the Jews, it says, is foreshadowed in the properly understood rituals of the scapegoat (7) and the red heifer (8) and in the posture assumed by Moses in extending his arms (according to the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...
text known to the author of the Epistle) in the form of the execution cross, while
Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
, whose name in Greek is Ἰησοῦς (Jesus), fought against Amalek (12). The last four chapters, 18−21, are a version of The Two Ways teaching that appears also in chapters 1−5 of the '' Didache''. As viewed by Andrew Louth, the author "is simply concerned to show that the Old Testament Scriptures are Christian Scriptures and that the spiritual meaning is their real meaning". As viewed by Bart D. Ehrman, the Epistle of Barnabas is "more anti-Jewish than anything that did make it into the New Testament".


Midrash and gematria

According to David Dawson, "the Jewish mind-set of ''Barnabas'', evident in its choice of images and examples, is unmistakable". He says that the work's two-part structure, with a distinct second part beginning with chapter 18, and its exegetical method "provide the most striking evidence of its Jewish perspective. It is presented as a ''talmud'' or ''didachē'' ('teaching') divided into ''
haggadah The Haggadah ( he, הַגָּדָה, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the mitzvah to each J ...
'' and '' halakhah''. It uses
Philo Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's de ...
nic allegorical techniques to interpret fragments of
Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...
passages, in the manner of the ''
midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
im''. Finally, it applies biblical texts to its own contemporary historical situation in a manner reminiscent of the '' pesher'' technique found at
Qumran Qumran ( he, קומראן; ar, خربة قمران ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli ...
." The creative interpretation of Bible texts, that is most typically found in rabbinic literature and is known as
midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
, appears also in the New Testament and other early Christian works, where it is utilized with the prior assumption that the whole of the Bible relates to Christ.Miguel Pérez Fernández, "Midrash and the New Testament" in Reimund Bieringer (editor), "The New Testament and Rabbinic Literature" (BRILL 2010), p. 367
/ref> James L. Bailey judges as correct the classification as midrash of the frequent use by the evangelists of texts from the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
. Other instances of New Testament allegorical interpretations of the Old Testament scriptures as foreshadowing Jesus are , and ."The Epistle of Barnabas: An Early Example of Allegorical Interpretation of the Old Testament" (Northern Kentucky University)
/ref> Other examples of midrash-like exegesis are found in the accounts of the
temptation of Christ The temptation of Christ is a biblical narrative detailed in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus was tempted by the devil after 40 days and nights of fasting in the Judaean Desert. At the ti ...
in Matthew and Luke, and of circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus. Midrashic presentation of a writer's own views on the basis of the sacred texts was subject to well-established rules, but some scholars, due to their failure to recognize the meaning and use of midrash, have evaluated pejoratively the use of scripture by such as Matthew. Similar negative judgments have been expressed on the abundant use of midrash in the Epistle of Barnabas. In 1867, Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, in their '' Ante-Nicene Christian Library'', disparaged the Epistle for what it called "the absurd and trifling interpretations of Scripture which it suggests". The Epistle of Barnabas also employs another technique of ancient Jewish exegesis, that of
gematria Gematria (; he, גמטריא or gimatria , plural or , ''gimatriot'') is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word or phrase according to an alphanumerical cipher. A single word can yield several values depending on the cipher ...
, the ascription of religious significance to the numerical value of letters. When applied to letters of the Greek alphabet, it is also called
isopsephia Isopsephy (; ''isos'' meaning "equal" and ''psephos'' meaning "pebble") or isopsephism is the practice of adding up the number values of the letters in a word to form a single number. The total number is then used as a metaphorical bridge to othe ...
. A well-known New Testament instance of its use is in the
Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...
, "Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666", which is often interpreted as referring to the name "Nero Caesar" written in Hebrew characters. The interpretation of Genesis 17:23–27 in Barnabas 9:7–8 is considered "a classic example" of allegorical or midrashic interpretation: "In reading the story of Abraham circumcising his household, his eye fell on the figure 318 which appeared in the scroll as ΤΙΗ. Now ΙΗ was a familiar contraction of the sacred name of Jesus, and is so written in the Alexandrian papyri of the period; and the letter Τ looked like the cross."Philip Carrington, ''The Early Christian Church: Volume 1, The First Christian Church'' (Cambridge University Press 2011), p. 491
/ref> The same gematria was adopted by
Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen an ...
and by several other Church Fathers: William Barclay notes that, because the letter T is shaped exactly like the '' crux commissa'' and because the Greek letter T represented the number 300, "wherever the
fathers A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fath ...
came across the number 300 in the Old Testament they took it to be a mystical prefiguring of the cross of Christ". Philip Carrington says: "Barnabas can be artificial, irritating, and censorious; but it would not be fair to judge him by his less fortunate expositions. His interpretation of the unclean beasts and fishes was in line with the thought of his time, being found in the '' Letter of Aristeas'', for instance. His numerology was also a fashionable mode of thought, though the modern scholar is often impatient with it." Robert A. Kraft states that some of the materials used by the final editor "certainly antedate the year 70, and are in some sense 'timeless' traditions of Hellenistic Judaism (e.g., the food law allegories of ch. 10, the Two Ways). It is with such materials that much of the importance of the epistle for our understanding of early Christianity and its late-Jewish heritage rests." The author's style was not a personal foible: in his time it was accepted procedure in general use, although no longer in favour today. Andrew Louth says: "''Barnabas'' seems strange to modern ears: allegory is out of fashion and there is little else in the epistle. But the fashion that outlaws allegory is quite recent, and fashions change."


''Gnosis''

In its first chapter, the Epistle states that its intention is that the "sons and daughters" to whom it is addressed should have, along with their faith, perfect knowledge. The knowledge (in
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, γνῶσις, ''
gnosis Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge ( γνῶσις, ''gnōsis'', f.). The term was used among various Hellenistic religions and philosophies in the Greco-Roman world. It is best known for its implication within Gnosticism, where it ...
'') that the first part (chapters 1−17) aims to impart is "an essentially practical γνῶσις, somewhat mystical in character, which seeks to make known the deeper sense of scripture". The first part, of an exclusively exegetical character, provides a spiritual interpretation of scripture.James Carleton Paget, ''The Epistle of Barnabas: Outlook and Background'' (Mohr Siebeck 1994), pp. 46−47
/ref> The second part opens with a declaration (chapter 18:1) that it is turning to "another knowledge" (γνῶσις). This second ''
gnosis Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge ( γνῶσις, ''gnōsis'', f.). The term was used among various Hellenistic religions and philosophies in the Greco-Roman world. It is best known for its implication within Gnosticism, where it ...
'' is "the knowledge of the will of God, the art of enumerating and specifying his commandments, and applying them to various situations", a halakhic, as opposed to an exegetical, ''gnosis''.Birger A. Pearson, "Earliest Christianity in Egypt" in James E. Goehring, Janet A. Timbie (editors), ''The World of Early Egyptian Christianity'' (CUA Press 2007), p. 102
/ref> The ''gnosis'' of the Epistle of Barnabas by no means links it with
Gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
. On the contrary, it shows "an implicit anti-Gnostic stance": "Barnabas's ''gnosis'' can be seen as a precursor of the ''gnosis'' of
Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen an ...
, who distinguished the 'true' ''gnosis'' from the 'knowledge falsely so-called' espoused by heretics".


Scriptural quotations

Contrary to the views of Helmut Koester and Jay Curry Treat, cited above in relation to the date of composition of the Epistle, the authors of ''The Comprehensive New Testament'' say the Epistle of Barnabas quotes from the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
gospels twice (4:14, 5:9). On the other hand, the Epistle abundantly cites the Old Testament in the
Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...
version, including therefore the
deuterocanonical books The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...
. The Old Testament material appears as allusions and paraphrases as well as explicit quotations. However, the work in no way distinguishes its quotations from sacred scripture from its quotations from other works, some of which are now unknown. While there are agreed upon instances where the Epistle quotes from 1 Enoch, it is not clear whether other material in the Epistle that, though not an exact quotation, resembles 1 Enoch (4:3; 16:5) or
4 Esdras 2 Esdras (also called 4 Esdras, Latin Esdras, or Latin Ezra) is an apocalyptic book in some English versions of the Bible. Tradition ascribes it to Ezra, a scribe and priest of the , but scholarship places its composition between 70 and . It ...
(12:1) attributes to the supposed sources exactly the same status as books now considered canonical. Besides, the Epistle sometimes presents as quotations what are rather free paraphrases, while at other times it gives identifiable phrases without any introductory phrase to indicate that it is quoting.


Theology


Eschatology

The epistle of Barnabas appears to represent early belief in premillenialism. Barnabas has a belief in the second coming, Barnabas believed that the future age is anticipated by Godly living in this world. Barnabas envisions a future time "when lawlessness no longer exists, and all things have been made new by the Lord" (15.7).


Sabbath

Similarly to Ignatius, Barnabas rejected a literal sabbath that Christians should keep. Barnabas instead applied the sabbath to holiness, Christians fulfilling the commandment by living in holiness. Barnabas also saw the age after the second coming as a Sabbath.


Christology

Barnabas affirms the pre-existent divinity of Christ.


Baptism

The Epistle of Barnabas emphasizes the forgiveness of sins that occurs in baptism as well as the practice of immersion/submersion, "We go down into the water laden with sins and filth, and rise up from it bearing fruit in the heart, resting our fear and hope on Jesus in the spirit" (11.11). The author writes about baptism in such a way that it is distinguished from Jewish ritual washings, in order to argue for the superiority of Christian baptism. Other prominent baptismal themes include being renewed (6.11), transformed (6.13), and made a new creation (16.8).


Hermeneutics

Barnabas believed in allegoric interpretation of the scripture; however, this was not common in other Apostolic fathers.


Notes


External links

*
Greek text of ''Epistle of Barnabas''


''Epistle of Barnabas''; e-texts of translations and introductions

Letter of Barnabas 2012 Translation & Audio Version *

' Robert A. Kraft {{Authority control
Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...
Apocryphal epistles 1st-century Christian texts 2nd-century Christian texts Texts in Koine Greek Antilegomena