The Passion Narrative in the Sibylline Oracles



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further proof of the influence of Ps 68:22 LXX. See also Nicklas, “Apokryphe Passions-

traditionen” (n. 3), 274, n. 52. 

50

 Gospel of Peter, 16: “And someone of them said: ‛Give him to drink gall with vine-



gary wine.’ And having made a mixture, they gave to drink;” Barn. 7:3: “When fixed to 

the cross, He had given Him to drink vinegar and gall;” Barn. 7:5: “Because to me, who 

am to offer my flesh for the sins of my new people, you are to give gall with vinegar to 

drink;” Melito of Sardis, On Pascha, 79:573:574: “You prepared for Him sharp nails and 

false witnesses and ropes and scourges and vinegar and gall;” 582–583: “While you had 

wine to drink and bread to eat, He had vinegar and gall.” See Mara, Évangile de Pierre 

(n. 9), 129–132, although she does not mention the Sibylline Oracles; Nicklas, “Apokry-

phe Passionstraditionen” (n. 3), 274, n. 52. 

51

 See Moo, The Old Testament (n. 6), 249–252 and 278–280 and Massaux, Influence 



(n. 28), 89. 

52

 My own translation. For a detailed study of this short hymn, see M.D. Usher, “The 



Sixth Sibylline Oracle as a Literary Hymn,” Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 36 

(1995), 25–49, and J.-M. Roessli, “Le VI

e

 livre des Oracles sibyllins,” in: Les Sibylles. 



Actes des VIII

e

 Entretiens de La Garenne Lemot, Nantes 18–20 octobre 2001, (ed. By J. 

Pigeaud; Nantes 2005), 203–230. An exhaustive bibliography of the previous scholarship 

on this book will be found there. 

53

 Lactantius,  Div. Inst., 4:18:19: “And another Sibyl rebukes the land of Judaea in 



these verses: ‛For you, entertaining hurtful thoughts, did not recognize your God sporting 

with mortal thoughts; but crowned Him with a crown of thorns, and mingled dreadful 



Jean-Michel Roessli 

322 


is found in Book 1 of the Sibylline Oracles, appears in this violent judge-

ment, where all Israel is identified with Sodom. 



Sib Or 1:375–378 and Sib Or 8:305–309 

The  Sibylline Oracles go immediately from the pseudo-meal offered to 

Jesus to the tearing of the Temple veil and to the darkness in the middle of 

the day. The first Book reverses the order of the events, as do the canonical 

Gospels; the eighth Book prefers to have the tearing of the veil before the 

darkness. 



Sib Or 1:375–378 

nu,x e;stai skoto,essa pelw,rioj h;mati 

me,ssw| 

There will be monstrous dark night in 

midday 

kai. to,te dh. nao.j Solomw,nioj avnqrw,& 



poisin 

And then indeed the temple of Solomon 

will effect 

sh/ma me,g v evkele,sei( o`po,tan vAidwne,oj 

oi=kon 

a great sign for men, when he goes to the 



house of Hades 

be,setai avgge,llwn evpanastasi,hn teqnew/& 

sin) 

Announcing the resurrection to the dead. 



Sib Or 8:305–309 

naou/ de. scisqh/| to. pe,tasma kai. h;mati 

me,ssw| 

The veil of the Temple will be rent, and in 

midday 

nu,x e;stai skoto,essa pelw,rioj evn trisi.n 



w[raij) 

there will be dark monstrous night for 

three hours. 

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

ouvke,ti ga.r krufi,w| te no,mw| naw|/ te la& 



treu,ein 

For it has been again revealed that there 

would no longer be obedience to a temple 

fantasi,aij ko,smou kekalumme,nw| au=tij 

evdei,cqh 

nor to a secret law hidden behind the 

illusions of the world, 

auvqe,ntou kataba,ntoj evpi. cqono.j avena,oio) 

when the eternal sovereign came down to 

earth. 


The two events are narrated in the Synoptics (Matt 27:51; Mark 15:38; 

Luke 23:45; and Matt 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:34), but the treatment in 

the Sibylline Oracles is quite different. 

Apart from the reverse order of the two events, Book 8 is very close in 

its formulation to the Synoptics, since the substantive nao,j and the verb 

                                                 

gall.’ [Sib Or 6:22–24]” (Translated by Fletcher, Ante-Nicene Fathers [n. 27], 120–121.) 

Lactantius has another variant in the first hemistich of verse 23, which explains the dif-

ference in translation; on this, see Roessli, “Le VI

e

 livre des Oracles sibyllins” (n. 52), 



226–227. 

The Passion Narrative in the Sibylline Oracles 

323 


sci,zw

 are found in it. Only the word pe,tasma replaces, for obvious metric 

reasons, the composite word katape,tasma of the Synoptics. Furthermore, 

Book 8 seems to link the tearing of the veil and the coming of the Word on 

earth to the lifting of all restrictions on reaching God (v. 307–309): “For it 

has been again revealed that there would no longer be obedience to a tem-

ple / nor to a secret law hidden behind the illusions of the world, / once the 

eternal sovereign has come down to earth.

54

 These verses are certainly to 



be read in relation to lines 299–301, as if they were written to follow them 

(“For it has been again revealed…”). They also refer to one of the possible 

interpretations of Matt 27:51 (“

At that moment the curtain of the temple 

was torn in two, from top to bottom,

” [NRSV]) the veil of the sanctuary 

pointing possibly both to the veil separating the parvis of the Temple itself 

– the renting of which opens up access to the presence of God to the pa-

gans – as well as to the veil separating the Holy place from the Holy of 

Holies – the tearing of which means the end of the priesthood of the An-

cient Covenant.

55

 This is not the same in the first book, where the Sibyl 



takes some liberties in describing the Temple (nao,j) as “Solomonian” – as 

she does again later (v. 393).

56

 She predicts not the tearing of the veil – 



which is totally absent in this version of the narrative – but that a great 

sign (sh/ma) would echo from the Temple. This imagery belongs to the sib-

ylline repertoire of signs (sh,mata) and prodigies (Sib Or 4:56; 12:74; 

14:221, and, above all, Sib Or 8:244).

57

 

However, as stated above, the darkness which had covered the earth is 



known to the Synoptics (Matt 27:45, Mark 15:33, and Luke 23:44) and 

                                                 

54

 My translation. Collins’ translation is: “For no longer with secret law and temple 



must one serve / the phantoms of the world. That which had been hidden was again made 

manifest / when the eternal sovereign came down to earth.” Compare also with Terry, 

Sibylline Oracles (1899, n. 26), 60: “For it was no more pointed out again / How to serve 

secret temple and the law / Which had been covered with the world’s displays, / When the 

Eternal came himself on earth,” and with Roessli, “Les oracles sibyllins” (n. 26), 1077: 

Car il fut à nouveau révélé qu’on ne servirait plus un temple / et une loi secrète qui se 



cache dans les images du monde, / une fois le souverain éternel descendu sur terre.” A 

similar idea is found later in 8:326–328: “… appearing gentle to all so that he [the king 

Jesus] may lift our yoke / of slavery, hard to bear, which lies on our neck / and undo the 

godless ordinances and constraining bonds.” See Lightfoot, The Sibylline Oracles (n. 1), 

438, who refers to Hagner, Matthew 14–28 (n. 42), 849. See also Nicklas, “Apokryphe 

Passionstraditionen” (n. 3), 275, who rightly identifies the law of Sib Or 8:307 with the 

Jewish Torah, and wonders sceptically (n. 54) if the “secret law” of this verse has some-

thing to do with the secret revelation added to the Torah, of which the apocalyptic tradi-

tion speaks. 

55

 See note to Matt 27:51 (TOB [n. 42]). 



56

 The  adjective  Solomw,nioj is found only here and in Sib Or 3:167, 214 in the 

Judaeo-Hellenistic literature. 

57

 See Lightfoot, The Sibylline Oracles (n. 1), 437. 



Jean-Michel Roessli 

324 


happens after the tearing of the veil, contrary to what happens in Book 8. 

In the Synoptics there is darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour, i.e. for 

three hours, but it is not said that it was night during the day. The Gospel 

of Peter again shows kinship with the Sibylline Oracles, because it, too, 

speaks of darkness at midday (v. 15): “it was noon and darkness came over 



all of Judea.

58

 The Gospel of Peter differs when this happens abruptly 



before the drinking scene and because the drink consists in a mixture of 

gall and vinegar (v. 16), something we do not find in the Sibylline Oracles

So, it seems that once again the Gospel of Peter and the Sibylline 

Oracles drew on common sources, without necessarily depending on each 

other, since we find as many points of convergence as points of divergence 

between them.

59

 



Patristic tradition

60

 saw in the miraculous darkness at Calvary the ac-



complishment of the prophecies by Amos 8:9 “‘On that day,’ says the Lord 

GOD, ‘I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad 

daylight’” and Jer 15:9: “… her sun went down while it was yet day.

61

 



Lactantius offers a good example, since he refers to these biblical prophe-

cies before quoting our Sibylline verses: 

Therefore, being lifted up and nailed to the cross, He cried to the Lord with a loud voice, 

and of His own accord gave up His spirit. And at the same hour there was an earthquake; 

and the veil of the temple, which separated the two tabernacles, was rent into two parts; 

and the sun suddenly withdrew its light, and there was darkness from the sixth even to 

the ninth hour. Of which event the prophet Amos testifies: ‛And it shall come to pass in 

that day, says the Lord, that the sun shall go down at noon, and the daylight shall be 

darkened; and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and your songs into lamentation.’ 

Also Jeremiah: ‛She who brings forth is affrighted, and vexed in spirit; her sun is gone 

down while it was yet mid-day; she hath been ashamed and confounded; and the residue 

of them will I give to the sword in the sight of their enemies.’ And the Sibyl: ‛And the 

veil of the temple shall be rent, and at midday there shall be dark vast night for three 

hours.’


62

 

                                                 



58

 Gospel of Peter, v. 15a: h=n de. meshmbi,a kai. sko,toj kate,sce pa/san th.n VIoudai,an. 

Translated by Ehrman, Lost Scriptures (n. 7), 32. See Nicklas, “Apokryphe Passionstradi-

tionen” (n. 3), 274. 

59

 On this, see, of course, Nicklas, “Apokryphe Passionstraditionen” (n. 3), who did 



not take Books 1 and 6 into account in his comparison. 

60

 Irenaeus,  haer., 4:33:12; Tertullian, Against the Jews, 10; Against Marcion, 4:42; 



Cyprian,  Testimonia, 2:23; Eusebius, Evangelical Demonstration, 10:6:1; Aphraate, 

Homelies, 1:11; Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat., 13:25. 

61

 Amos 8:9 LXX: du,setai o` h[lioj meshmbri,aj. Jer 15:9: evpe,du o` h[lioj auvth/| e;ti 



mesou,shj th/j h`me,raj

. See E. Massaux, Influence (n. 28), 89–90. 

62

 Lactantius,  Div. Inst., 4:19:2–5: “Suspensus igitur et adfixus exclamauit ad Deum 



uoce magna et ultro spiritum posuit. Et eadem hora terrae motus factus est et uelum tem-

pli quod separabat duo tabernacula scissum est in duas partes et sol repente subductus est 

et ab hora sexta usque in nonam tenebrae fuerunt. Qua de re Amos propheta testatur: ‛Et 


The Passion Narrative in the Sibylline Oracles 

325 


Neither the Sibyl in Book 1 nor the Sibyl in Book 8 mentions the 

simultaneous earthquake of Matt 27:51 (“



The earth shook, and the rocks 

were split”)

 and parallels.

63

 

Sib Or 1:377b–380 and Sib Or 8:310–314 



In Book 1 the sound or sign (sh/ma) which resounds in the Temple 

coincides with the descent of Christ into Hell.

64

 In Book 8 the descent 



happens when the veil of the temple is rent and the night comes in midday. 

This event seems present in the NT (cf. 1 Cor 15:20: “the first fruits 

(avparch,) of those who have died,” and perhaps 1 Pet 3:19: “

in which also 

he [Christ] went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison

), where 

it is connected to prophetic expectations. When Lactantius cites Sib Or 

8:312–314 in his Divine Institutes (4:19:10), he does it in relation to Psalm 

3:6 [3:5] and 16 (15):10, and above all Hos 6:2 (“After two days he will 

revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before 

him”) and 13:13-14 (“The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an 

unwise son; for now he does not present himself at the mouth of the womb. 

Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from 

Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruc-

tion? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.” [NRSV]) But the Christian 

tradition, especially at the beginning, has a hard time agreeing about what 

Christ actually said when he was in Hell.

65

 The Sibylline Oracles reflect 



this diversity of views. In Book 1, Christ is presented as proclaiming the 

resurrection of the dead without any exception (v. 378). In Book 8, 

however, he offers hope for all the saints (v. 310-311; cf. v. 227), and 

announces the end of time and the last day (v. 311). Verse 312 goes further 

in promising that Christ will put an end to death: “And he will complete the 

fate of death when he has slept the third day.” It is also in this way that 

Lactantius understood it: “And the Sibyl, too, said that he would impose a 



terminus on death after a sleep of three days: ‘And the sleep of death hav-

                                                 

erit in illo die, dicit Dominus, occidet sol meridie et obtenebricabitur dies lucis: et co-

nuertam dies festos uestros in luctum et cantica uestra in lamentationem.’ Item Hiere-

mias: ‛Exterrita est quae parit et taediuit anima, et subiuit sol ei, cum adhuc medius dies 

esset, contusa est et maledicta: reliquos eorum in gladium dabo in conspectu inimicorum 

eorum.’ Et Sibylla: [Or sib 8,305–306]” (Translated by W. Fletcher, Ante-Nicene Fathers 

[n. 27], 122.) 

63

 Lightfoot, The Sibylline Oracles (n. 1), 437. 



64

 VAidwne,oj is probably a poetic form of VAidhj (8:310) rather than the genitive of 

Adonis (VAidwneu,j), as Collins believed and which I correct. 

65

 On this topic, see R. Gounelle, La descente du Christ aux enfers. Institutionalisa-



tion d’une croyance (CEA; Série Antiquité 162; Paris 2000); id. (ed.), La descente du 

Christ aux enfers (Supplément Cahiers Évangile 128; Paris 2004), although he says no-

thing about the Sibylline Oracles



Jean-Michel Roessli 

326 


ing been undergone, he shall be dead for three days. And then coming back 

from the dead he shall come to light, the first of resurrection, showing the 

beginning to those called.’ (Sib Or 8:312-314)”

66

 



 

Sib Or 1:377b380 

))) o[po,tan  VAidwne,oj oi=kon 

... when he goes to the house of Hades 

 

bh,setai avgge,llwn evpanastasi,hn teqne& 



w/sin 

Announcing the resurrection to the dead. 

auvta.r evph.n e;lqh| trisi.n h;masin evj fa,oj 

au=tij 


When he comes again in three days to the 

light 


kai. dei,xh| qnhtoi/si tu,pon kai. pa,nta 

dida,xh| 

and shows his wounds and teaches all... 

 

Sib Or 8:310–314 

h[xei dV eivj vAi,dhn avgge,llwn evlpi,da pa/sin 

He will come to the Hades announcing hope 

for all 

toi/j a`gi,oij( te,loj aivw,nwn kai. e;scaton 

h=mar 

the holy ones, the end of ages and last day, 



kai. qana,tou moi/ran tele,sei tri,ton h=mar 

u`pnw,saj 

and he will complete the fate of death when 

he has slept the third day. 

kai. to,t v avpo. fqime,nwn avnalu,saj eivj fa,oj 

h[xei 


And then, returning from the dead, he will 

come to light, 

prw,toj avnasta,sewj klhtoi/j avrch.n u`po& 

dei,xaj 


first of the resurrection, showing a begin-

ning to the elect... 

Conclusion 

When one examines the relationships between the Scriptures and the 

Books of the Sibylline Oracles considered in this paper, it can be con-

cluded that the latter reveal clear affinity with the Gospel of Matthew, as is 

frequently the case for several Christian literary works written before the 

third century. They also show the faint influence of other canonical writ-

ings, of certain apocrypha and, of course, of the Prophets. However, we 

find no explicit quotations from Mark and Luke in Books 6 and 8,

67

 while 


Mark shows up in Book 1 by a short allusion to the story of John the Bap-

                                                 

66

 Lactantius,  Div. Inst., 4:19:10: “Et ideo Sibylla impositurum esse morti terminum 



dixit post tridui somnum: [Sib Or 8:312–314]” (Translated by M.F. McDonald, in The 

Fathers of the Church. A New Translation, vol. 49; New York 1964, 297–298). The pas-

sion narrative ends here. Books 1 and 8 continue with the apparition of the Resurrected 

and his ascension to heaven (Sib Or 1:380–381 and 8:318–320), preceded in 8:315–317 

by an exegesis of the baptism. 

67

 See Massaux, Influence (n. 28), 80–98, for the last point 97. See also W.-D. Köh-



ler,  Die Rezeption des Matthäusevangeliums in der Zeit vor Irenäus (WUNT II.24; Tü-

bingen 1987). 



The Passion Narrative in the Sibylline Oracles 

327 


tist’s murder (1:342–343) and an apparent verbal similarity (1:373).

68

 In 



Book 1 there are still more episodes closely copied from Matthew than in 

Books 6 and 8, and some passages specifically reflect the vocabulary of 

John (1:373–374, and 1:340–341 and 360–361 for episodes other than the 

passion narrative), which does not seem to be the case in Books 6 and 8. 

The main difference consists of opposing views on Jesus’ attitude towards 

the Law. The Sibyl of Book 1 asserts that he “will fulfil” it (v. 332), while 

the Sibyl of Book 8 insists that he will abolish it and all what is connected 

to it (vv. 300–301; 307–309, 326b–328, quoted by Lactantius in Div. Inst. 

7:18:8.)

69

 Furthermore, Book 8 is much more interested in mystical and 



typological interpretations and its language is much more metaphorical, 

sometimes even a bit florid (see, e. g., Sib Or 8:294–298). 

The juxtaposition and combination of various Gospel sources cause us 

to think that the authors of these works could have used a Gospel harmony, 

since there is evidence for such harmonies for this period (second and third 

centuries).

70

 Nevertheless, the Oracles are sometimes too eclectic for a 



harmony, although some episodes might reflect such an approach, for 

example, the fusion of two episodes: the mockery of Jesus with a crown of 

thorns and a reed before the crucifixion and the piercing of his side during 

the crucifixion in 1:373-374 and 8:294-296. 

In fact, the Sibyl seems particularly interested in the Gospel narratives 

which have a prophetic background or which explicitly quote prophetic 

texts. Thus, the Sibyl shows an inclination for Matthew and other New 

Testament writings which incorporate prophetic testimonies applicable to 

Christ. So, for example, the obstinate refusal of Israel to recognize Jesus as 

the Messiah in Sib Or 1:360–364; 368–371, is read alongside Isa 6, quoted 

in the Gospels and the Acts. The bad treatment reserved to the Messiah in 

Sib Or 1:365–366 and Sib Or 8:288–290 is also inspired by Isa 50 and 53, 

which are themselves paraphrased in the Synoptics. The same thing hap-

pens with the gall and the vinegar which come from Psalm 68 LXX, al-

luded to by John and clearly reinterpreted by Matthew. The Sibyls oscillate 

constantly between the Gospels, the Prophets as quoted in the Gospels, and 

the original prophetic sources, sometimes through a New Testament cita-

tion (Sib Or 1:365–366: ptu,smata; Sib Or 8:289: evmptu,smata; Sib Or 1:367 

                                                 

68

 Lightfoot,  The Sibylline Oracles (n. 1), 426 finds a single – perhaps accidental – 



echo of Luke (Sib Or 1:371). 

69

 Lactantius,  Div. Inst., 7:18:8: “He will take away the intolerable yoke of slavery 



which is placed on our neck, and he will do away with impious laws and violent chains.” 

(Translated by W. Fletcher, The Ante-Nicene Fathers [n. 27], 116.) 


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