The Passion Narrative in the Sibylline Oracles
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sus’ silence, the four Gospels mention it (Matt 26:63; 27:13; Mark 14:61; 15:4; Luke 23:9; John 19:9) twice in both Matthew and Mark, first in front of the Sanhedrin, and second before Pilate. In Luke and John, only Jesus’ refusal to answer to Pilate is mentioned. The Gospels never use the verb for silence, siga,w, which the Sibylline Oracles might be using for metric reasons. The Sibylline Oracles do not mention any specific interrogation, while the canonical Gospels relate several. But the expression ti,j ti,noj w;n in the Oracles could well echo a question about Jesus’ messianic mandate and divine filiation, as is read in Matt 26:63, Mark 14:61, and Luke 22:67. Furthermore, Lactantius and those who rely on him present a variant: “…
tos sputus; dabit uero ad uerbera simpliciter sanctum dorsum.” “et colaphos accipiens ta- cebit, ne quis agnoscat, quod uerbum uel unde uenit, ut inferis loquatur et corona spinea coronetur.” “ad cibum autem fel et ad sitim acetum dederunt; inhospitalitatis hanc mon- strabunt mensam.” “ipsa enim insipiens tuum deum non intellexisti, ludentem mortalium mentibus, sed et spinis coronasti et horridum fel miscuisti.” “templi uero uelum scin- detur; et medio die nox erit tenebrosa nimis in tribus horis.” “et morte morietur tribus diebus somno suscepto; et tunc ab inferis regressus ad lucem ueniet primus resurrectionis principio reuocatis ostenso.” Translated by G.G. Walsh, and D.J. Honan, Writings of Saint Augustine (vol. 8, in: The Fathers of the Church. A New Translation; vol. 24; New York 1954), 117. On this topic, see J.-M. Roessli, “Augustin, les sibylles, et les Oracles sibyllins,” in: Augustinus afer. Saint Augustin: africanité et universalité. Actes du collo- que international, Alger-Annaba, 1–7 avril 2001 (ed. by P.-Y. Fux, J.-M. Roessli and O. Wermelinger; Paradosis 45/1; Fribourg 2003), 263–286, here 275–276. I corrected the mistranslated “so that none may know the source or the meaning of the word he ad-
Jean-Michel Roessli 310
so that no one may know / that he is the Word, and whence he comes,” 19
which tends to confirm this interpretation. Sib Or 1
kai. kolafizo,menoj sigh,sei( mh, tij evpignw|/( Beaten, he will be silent, lest anyone recognize ti,j ti,noj w;n po,qen h=lqen( i[na fqime,noisi lalh,sei( who he is, whose son, and whence he came, so that he may speak to the dead; The subsequent question, po,qen h=lqen, used indirectly in the Oracles, might also well echo Pilate’s question about Jesus’ kingship in Jn 19:9: po,qen ei= su, ; “Where are you from?” There is some doubt about the subordinate clause: i[na fqime,noisi lalh,sei . Should it be interpreted in connection with these three indirect questions: “… who he is, whose son, and whence he came”? If this is the case, the Sibyl certainly wants to emphasize that the Word can speak to the dead because of his filiation and his divine identity: “lest anyone recognize
another possible reading. Nothing prevents this subordinate clause, intro- duced by i[na, from being connected to the main verb of the sentence. Thus, if the Word chooses to keep silent and refuses to reveal his identity, it is in order to speak to the dead: “he will be silent, lest anyone recognize
necessary to choose between these two readings, which corresponds very well to the multiple meanings inherent to the Sibylline Oracles. Whatever the case, this subordinate clause anticipates the ultimate goal of the Word’s Passion, which is not only to redeem the dead, but also to speak to them (v. 293).
A more direct source for the Word’s silence at this instance may not be found in the Synoptic Gospels but in the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah writes about the suffering Servant in 53:7: “He was oppressed, and he was af-
19 Lactantius (Div. Inst., 4:18:17), Augustine (City of God, 18:23:2), and the author of the Tübingen Theosophy (Beatrice [n. 5], 55,230 = Erbse [n. 5], 10,281): ti,j lo,goj h'; quod uerbum uel unde uenit. The Passion Narrative in the Sibylline Oracles 311
his mouth.” (NRSV) 20 Lactantius notes it and connects it to the Sibylline verses. 21
The Gospel of Peter also presents Jesus’ silence, but it is the Lord’s si- lence on the Cross, and with a totally different meaning from the one in the Sibylline Oracles. The apocryphal gospel (v. 10) adds: “But he was silent, as if he felt no pain.” 22 Leaving aside the question of whether any docetism is present in this assertion, 23 it is certain that Jesus, the Lord (ku,rioj), is silent to hide his sufferings and not to keep a secret. In Book 8 of the Sibylline Oracles, the Word’s silence has a totally different function; its role precisely is to conceal, at least for a while, the meaning of his suffering in salvation history. Jesus, portrayed earlier as the creative Word of all things and the Saviour of the dead (vv. 285–286), is actually going to become the one who speaks to the dead (v. 293). The contrast between Jesus’ silence in front of the living during his Passion and his willingness to speak to the dead after his own death, is very striking. Everything unfolds as if the Word wanted somehow to save his word for those who had lost it. This contrast furthermore reveals a very interesting rhetorical structure. At the beginning of creation the Word is (v. 285). At the end of times, that is to say, at the Last Judgement, he speaks with the dead. In the meantime, during his trial, the Word is silent, because he must not be recognized as such by the living, as the variant transmitted by Lactantius and his successors stresses: “so that no one may know / that he
the canonical Gospels, has the Passion such a strategic position between creation and eschatology. 24
20 Isa 53:7 LXX: kai. auvto.j dia. to. kekakw/sqai ouvk avnoi,gei to. sto,ma\ w`j pro,baton evpi. sfagh.n h;cqh kai. w`j avmno.j evnanti,on tou/ kei,rontoj auvto.n a;fwnoj ou[twj ouvk avnoi,gei to. sto,ma auvtou/) 21 Lactantius, Div. Inst., 4:18:16–17: “Likewise of His Silence, which He kept tena- ciously even unto death, Isaiah spoke again thus: “He was led as a sheep to the slaugh- ter, and he was as a lamb before his shearers, without a word, and thus he did not open his mouth.” (Isa 53:7) And the above-mentioned Sibyl: “And receiving the blows he will be silent, so that no one may know what the word is or whence he comes, in order that he might address the lowly and wear a crown of thorns.” [Sib Or 8:292–294a] (Translated by M.F. McDonald, in: The Fathers of the Church. A New Translation [vol. 49; New York 1964]), 293. 22 Ehrman, Lost Scriptures (n. 7), 32. See Mara, Évangile de Pierre (n. 9), 106–111. 23 See, e.g., G.W. McCant, “The Gospel of Peter: Docetism Reconsidered,” NTS 30 (1984), 258–273; P.M. Head, “On the Christology of the Gospel of Peter,” VigChr 46 (1992), 209–224. 24 As Nicklas, “Apokryphe Passionstraditionen” (n. 3), 272 rightly emphasized it. Jean-Michel Roessli 312
Sib Or 8:294–298 and Sib Or 1:373–374a Book 8 (vv. 294–296) of the Sibylline Oracles continues to narrate Jesus’ crowning with thorns and the piercing of his sides. In so doing, the Sibyl combines two separate episodes of the New Testament: the mockery of Je- sus with a crown of thorns and a reed before his crucifixion (Matt 27:29 and Mark 15:17), and the piercing of his side with a spear when he is on the Cross (John 19:34). The language used by the Sibyl leaves no doubt. The expression ste,fanon avka,nqinon is directly borrowed from Matt and Mark, while pleura.j nu,xousin (“they pierced his sides”) is an almost exact copy of the Johannine phrase: th.n pleura.n evnu,xen (“[one of the soldiers] pierced his side with a spear”), except that Sib Or 8:296 uses the plural while John and Sib Or 1:373 maintain the singular. As for the spear (lo,gch) in John, it is replaced by the reed (ka,lamoj) of Mark and Matt. By the choice of the verb nu,ssw, “to pierce,” the Sibyl may well have in- tended to imply the realization of Zechariah’s prophecy (12:10b): “When
25
Sib Or 1:372–374a avll v o[tan evkpeta,sh| cei/raj kai. pa,nta metrh,sh| But when he will stretch out his hands and measure all, kai. ste,fanon fore,sh| to.n avka,nqinon hvde, te pleura,n and bear the crown of thorns − and they will stab
nu,xwsin kala,moisi no,mou ca,rin ))) his side with reeds according to the law...
[evkpeta,sei cei/raj kai. ko,smon a[panta metrh,sei( He will stretch out his hands and measure the entire world.] kai. ste,fanon fore,sei to.n avka,nqinon evk ga.r avkanqw/n and he will wear the crown of thorns. For, made of thorns, to. ste,foj evklektw/n aivw,niw,n evstin a;galma( the crown is the eternal array of chosen men. pleura.j nu,xousin kala,mw| dia. to.n no,mon auvtw/n They will stab his sides with a reed on account of their law. evk kala,mwn ga.r seiome,nwn u`po. pneu,matoj a;llou For by reeds shaken by another wind 25 Zech 12,10b LXX: a;nq v w-n katwrch,santo kai. ko,yontai evp v auvto.n kopeto.n w`j evp v avgaphto.n kai. ovdunhqh,sontai ovdu,nhn w`j evpi. prwtoto,kw| . As Nicklas, “Apokryphe Passionstraditionen” (n. 3), 273, n. 48 noticed, this prophet’s quotation was widespread in the early Christian literature: Barn. 7:8–9; Proto-Gospel of James, 24:3; Justin, Dial. 32:2; Apol. 52:11; Irenaeus, haer. 4:33:11, etc.
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proskli,mata yuch/j evstra,fh ovrgh/j kai. avmoibh/j the inclinations of the soul are turned from the wrath and change. In order to illuminate this theological “midrash,” which borrows much from both the canonical Gospels and the Prophets, Book 8 proposes two interesting new exegeses: one about the crown of thorns, the other about the reed. In the first, the Sibyl explains (vv. 295–296), rather surprisingly, that, thanks to its thorns, the crown becomes “the eternal array of the elected ones.” 26 In so doing, she distances herself from the canonical Gospels (and from the Gospel of Peter 8, which is very close to the canonical Gospels on this matter), for whom the crown is the emblem of a humiliated King stripped of his kingdom (Spottkönig in German). She transforms the crown into an eternal “array” (a;galma), a symbol par excellence of election. With this exegesis, which Lactantius might allude to in his Divine Institutes 4:26:21,
27 the Sibyl emphasizes once again the close link between the Pas- sion and eschatological redemption. In the second exegesis, that of the reed, the text of vv. 297–298 is unfor- tunately unclear. I translate it so: “For by reeds shaken by another wind /
26 My translation. Collins translates it in the following manner: “For, made of thorns, the crown of chosen men is an eternal delight.” Compare with J.-M. Roessli, “Les Ora- cles sibyllins: Livre 6, 7 et 8 (vv. 217–428),” in: Écrits apocryphes chrétiens, (ed. by P. Geoltrain and J.-D. Kaestli, Index established by J.-M. Roessli and S. Voicu; Biblio- thèque de la Pléiade 516, t. 2; Paris 2005), 1045–1083 (reprint 2006), here 1076: “Car
evklektw/n a`gi,wn aivw,nion h[xei ,” “For out of thorns shall ever come the crown of holy
“For of thorns is the crown an ornament / Elect, eternal.” 27 Lactantius, Div. Inst., 4:26:21: “Nam corona spinea capiti eius imposita id declara- bat fore ut diuinam sibi plebem de nocentibus congregaret. Corona enim dicitur circum- stans in orbem populus.” “For the placing of a crown of thorns upon His head, declared that it would come to pass that He would gather to Himself a holy people from those who were guilty. For people standing around in a circle are called a corona.” (Translated by W. Fletcher, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, and A. Cleve- land Coxe [vol. VII; Buffalo, N.Y. 1886], 128). See also Clement of Alexandria, Paeda-
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the inclinations of the soul are turned from wrath and change.” 28 We can certainly recognize an allusion to John the Baptist. First Jesus asks (Matt 11:7 and Luke 7:24): “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?” Secondly, there is a reminder of the Baptist’s preaching (Matt and Luke 3:7): “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” The link with the Passion is hard to estab- lish, but it is possible that the reed with which Jesus was beaten reminds the readers of the imminence of Judgment, which John the Baptist an- nounced.
29 In this case, the Sibyl of Book 8 intends to connect the Word’s passion with the Last Judgment, as Nicklas inclines to think on the basis of the passion narrative’s position after the parousia’s acrostic in Book 8:217–250. 30
The juxtaposition of the verb nu,ssw and the substantive ka,lamoj can also be found in the Gospel of Peter 9, quoted above. Peter also makes the reed stroke an act of derision preceding the Crucifixion, just as in Sib Or 8:296, without saying that the reed pierces Jesus’ side. The same can be found in the Gnostic and docetic section of Acts of John 97 (“…‛John, for
28 I slightly corrected the first hemistich of Collins’ translation: “For by winds [sic!] shaken by another wind…” Instead of the verb “to turn from” (evstra,fh) of Y, one could also chose the variant “to nourish” (evtra,fh) of F. In that case, these verses would be translated as follows: “For from reeds shaken by another wind the inclinations of the soul
are considered to be corrupted. See nevertheless Terry, Sibylline Oracles (1890, n. 26), 189: “For from the reeds by another spirit moved / Was he brought up for judgments of
1950), 235: “Car par un autre des roseaux qui vacillaient au vent, l’âme a été amenée au jugement de la colère et de la rétribution,” Roessli, “Les Oracles sibyllins” (n. 26), 1076–77: “Car c’est des roseaux secoués par un autre vent / que les inclinations de l’âme se sont détournées de la colère et du châtiment,” and Monaca, Oracoli Sibillini (n. 1), 176: “Dalle canne agitate dal vento, poi, un altro si alimentò / guardando al giudizio della passione dell’anima e alla redenzione.” 29 John the Baptist is alluded to in Sib Or 1:336–343, but nowhere else in Book 8, so that Waßmuth, Sibyllinische Orakel (n. 1) considers that Sib Or 8, with its highly devel- oped christology, was no longer interested in the figure of the Baptist. On Matt 11:7, see Hilary of Poitiers, In Matt., 11:4 and Ambrose of Milan, In Lucam, 5:104–106; in the latter, the reed becomes the very flesh of Christ. I thank Agnès Bastit for these refer- ences. 30 Nicklas, “Apokryphe Passionstraditionen” (n. 3), but see also below note 34. The Passion Narrative in the Sibylline Oracles 315
none of those things which they will say of me,’”) 31 which dates back to the second century Syria, and is found the Oracle of Baalbek, lines 74–75 (“And they will pierce his side with a reed (stake) and will not harm him,”) 32 except that in these texts the stroke is given during the Crucifixion itself, as in the first Book of the Sibylline Oracles. 33 No direct borrowing can be established between the Gospel of Peter, the Acts of John, and the Sibylline Oracles, but it is likely that the Oracle of Baalbek follows the Sibylline Oracles on this point. Book 1 of the Sibylline Oracles also presents the crown of thorns and the piercing of the Lord’s side with reeds, but it happens during the Cruci- fixion, and only one side of the Lord is pierced, as in the Gospel of John. Unlike in Book 8, no exegesis is given. In Book 1 the scene is presented as follows: after a violent accusation against Israel and its people (vv. 369b– 371), the Sibyl narrates Jesus’ crucifixion itself. She does it in an extraor- dinary manner. Isolated from its context, the language the Sibyl uses could
31 Translated by R.E. Van Voorst, “Extracanonical Passion Narratives,” in: The Death of Jesus in Early Christianity (ed. by J.T. Carroll and J.B. Green; Peabody, Mass. 1995), 151, n. 6 (Curiously, this author does not mention the Sibylline Oracles at all.) On this text, see Acta Iohannis. Textus alii, commentarius, indices, (ed. by E. Junod and J.-D. Kaestli; CC.SA 2; Turnhout 1983), 581–677; id., “Les Actes de Jean,” in Écrits apocry- phes chrétiens (ed. by F. Bovon and P. Geoltrain; Bibliothèque de la Pléiade; t. 1; Paris 1997), 973–1037, here 979–981. Let us note that the Acts of John combine the plural of John 19:34 (lo,gch, “spear” or “lance”) and the plural of Matt 11:7 and 27:29 (ka,lamoj, “reeds”). On Matt 27:29, see Hilary of Poitiers, In Matt., 33:3 and Ambrose of Milan, In Lucam, 10:105–106; in the latter, the reed represents Christ’s humanity. I thank Agnès Bastit for these references. 32 P.J. Alexander, The Oracle of Baalbek. The Tiburtine Sibyl in Greek Dress (Dum- barton Oaks Studies; Washington 1967), 13: kai. ka,lamw| nu,xousin auvtou/ th.n pleura.n kai. ouvde.n avdikh,sousin auvto,n . The Oracle of Baalbek is not the original version of the Yüklə 246,16 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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