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Teaching of Jacob Newly Baptized

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Teaching of Jacob Newly Baptized converted Jews comes to believe truly in Christ as the messiah, through study and supernatural Teaching of Jacob Newly intervention, and instructs his Baptized fellow ex-Jews in a secret house. When another unbaptized Jew Translation by Andrew S. Jacobs named Justus arrives (in Book III), Jacob convinces him as well that Jews are right to receive baptism and await the impending end of Introduction the world. The Teaching of Jacob Newly Jewish-Christian dialogues saw an Baptized (Doctrina Jacobi Nuper upsurge in the seventh century as Baptizati) is a Greek dialogue text did apocalyptic texts. Unique set in 7th-century Carthage among Christian anti-Jewish (specifically, the action takes place dialogue texts, the Teaching of Jacob in spring and summer of the year anticipates and hopes for the 634). The Jews of Carthage, imminent collapse of the Roman including an unfortunate visiting Empire as a precondition for the merchant named Jacob, have been return of Christ in glory. forcibly baptized upon the orders Nonetheless it does seem to have of the Emperor Heraclius. (The been considered as part of the Doctrina is one of only two Christian literary genre of contemporary sources for this anti-Jewish dialogue, insofar as imperial order; the other is aaa letterletterletter surviving codices place it with fromfromfromfrom Maximos MaximosMaximosMaximos the thethethe Confessor ConfessorConfessorConfessor, also other late dialogues: in one major resident in Carthage at the time, witness, ParisParisParis CoislinCoislinCoislin 299299299, the arguing against the forced Teaching of Jacob is followed baptisms.) Jacob alone of the 1 of 210 2 of 210 immediately by the fifth-century Déroche's. Section titles appearing DialogueDialogueDialogue ofofof TimothyTimothyTimothy andandand AquilaAquilaAquila. in the margins are my own and are provided for convenience. I Although the bulk of the Teaching have also added markers to of Jacob comprises long strings of indicate breaks and meetings often uncontextualized (if not at among the participants; note that times seemingly random) proof- the series of dialogues lasts several texts, it also contains realistic weeks. windows into the social world of the seventh-century Roman I would like to thank my Empire: imperial politics; the Advanced Greek students at public brawling of circus factions Harvard Divinity School who read ("Blues" and "Greens"); the social through portions of this text with conflicts of Jews and Christians; me as I was revising this the devastation of the Persian translation: Chance Bonar, David wars of the 610s-620s; and the rise Malamud, and Yuan Tao. of Islam, including a reference to a "false prophet" in Book V who is You may link to, share, or indubitably Muhammad (perhaps reproduce this translation with the earliest non-Islamic reference attribution. You may not make to Muhammad). any commercial use of this work. Any suggestions for corrections or The text below has been translated additions to the text or from the Greek text edited by annotations are more than Vincent Déroche, "Doctrina welcome: andrew [at] Jacobi," Travaux et Mémoires 11 andrewjacobs [dot] org. (1991): 71-219. Bracketed numbers refer to page numbers in If you prefer, you can download a Déroche's edition. Book, chapter, PDF of this file hereherehere. and section division numbers are 3 of 210 4 of 210 and calls upon "Adonai." He is overheard by a suspicious local, who Translation later sees Jacob's circumcision in the [71] Teaching of Jacob, newly baths and turns him in. Jacob spends baptized—baptized under 100 days in prison and is forcibly Heraclius the most pious emperor baptized. Afterward, directed by a and George, the eparch of the city divine vision, he studies Scriptures of Carthage, against his own and realizes that Christianity is true. will—to those baptized from the He meets the discouraged baptized Jews, having had a good pretext to Jews and agrees to teach them; they come to know Christ. That it is meet in a hidden house on a necessary not to observe the Saturday.] Sabbath after Christ's coming. … I.5. The holy law and the THAT CHRIST HAS And that the one who came is COME 1 prophets proclaimed Christ truly Christ, and not another.1 This manuscript title, which Déroche coming as "a sun of righteousness" reproduces from Paris (Mal 4:2). The same law and the Skip ahead to: BookBookBook IIIIII, BookBookBook IIIIIIIII, BookBookBook Coislin 299, doesn't IVIVIVIV, BookBookBook VVV capture the full range prophets in advance revealed him of topics in the coming "out of the root of Jesse" (Isa Doctrina. 11:10) and "girding his loins in righteousness" and "binding his side BOOK I with truth" (Isa 11:5), his coming, [71-75] [I.1-4 survives only in First Meeting and they claimed that through non-Greek witnesses. It describes him all of human nature would be Heraclius's order, executed by the saved, really inspired by the Holy eparch George, or Sergius, in Spirit; and they made clear the Carthage and the forcible baptisms. birth of the Anointed One and the Jacob arrives, pretends to be Christian incarnation and the wonders that to avoid baptism, but forgets himself would be done by him and the 5 of 210 6 of 210 passion and the cross and the deceived and accept another in the 3 death and the resurrection from place of the true Anointed One3 Throughout the Doctrina uses the the dead and the ascent into when he came, and they have literal Greek heaven and the coming afterward revealed in advance the times of Ēleimmenou of Hermolaos the devil and the coming of Christ. [77] The (Ἠλειµµένου) to refer to the Anointed 2 2 Hermalaos appears deceiver, which would be three Father of all, our heavenly God, One; Déroche and as a negative others view this as a and a half years (cf. Dan 7:25), and apocalyptic figure in says through David concerning particularly Jewish contemporary Jewish his destruction and the his Son: "Today, if you hear his voice, terminological choice. consummation of the world; and apocalypses, but as a do not harden your hearts as in the positive figure in the second and great and Christian provocation, just as your fathers estimable and fearsome and apocalypses, in both tested me in the wilderness" (Ps 94 cases usually called terrifying coming of Christ something like [95]:7-8). Our whole Jewish people himself, "the great and remarkable Armilos (=Romulus). have night and day prayed to see day of the Lord" (Joel 2:11), just as His appearance in the the coming of Christ, just as you Doctrina as an the prophets said, on which "he is anti-Christ figure, know, the salvation of the whole going to repay each person according especially in the last world. But we have been two books, has led to his deeds" (Rom 2:6). Just as some scholars to posit mistaken, supposing that Christ Daniel the great prophet says: "I a Jewish background was not the one born from Saint looked," he said, "and behold with the for the author and/or Mary. For we did not want to hear audience. heavenly clouds one coming like the anything concerning Christ, nor Son of Man and he has come unto the could we behold with pleasure the Ancient of Days and the rule and the divine Scriptures about Christ. honor and the kingdom were given to Our "hearts were engorged" (Isa him and all the tribes and tongues 6:10) truly, just as Isaiah the will be enslaved to him" (Dan prophet says; "in drunkenness and 7:13-14). strong drink" (Luke 21:34) we were deceived by the devil, so we 6. The divine Scripture therefore wouldn't know and be healed. has taught us so no one would be This is why God gave us the 7 of 210 8 of 210 idleness of the Sabbath, so that we and the prophets in the Greek would pray and examine the language, consulting books from divine Scriptures for when Christ the church through Christian comes so that he would save us. friends from one monastery in But every Sabbath we ate until we Carthage, asking if there was any groaned, and we had intercourse chance that, having been baptized and sinned with our wives, and having become Christian, I getting drunk and fornicating, and was not mistaken. And I found 4 we sought out the works of the Mr.4 Moses saying, or rather the Throughout the Doctrina, the world in our love of money, and Holy Spirit through Moses, as out participants we had no care for divine things. of our father Jacob in the blessing respectfully address And because of this we did not of his sons thus: "Judah, your each other using kuris (κύρις; "sir"), a form understand the coming of Christ brothers will praise you, your hands of the more common and we did not ask why it was on the back of your enemies, the sons Greek kurios (κύριος; "lord," "master"). To delayed, as the prophet says: "The of your father will venerate you: a capture this one coming will come and he will not lion's cub is Judah, out of a shoot, my somewhat stiff tarry" (Hab 2:3), and again, in case son, you have risen up" (Gen 49:8-9). formality, I render it as "Mr." (Déroche he was the one coming. And we see Christ coming, used the archaic because he is out of Judah, truly French messire). 7. But I, as before God, was Uniquely here Jacob human and truly God, he is the uses the term of a reassured that he is Christ who one Christ.
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