The descent into hell and the preaching to those who sleep

The descent into hell and allusions and references to this episode, in canonical and non-canonical writings, have long challenged scholars. Evangelium Petri concerns a preaching of Jesus, which he gave during the time between His death and His resurrection to those who were sleeping. The aim of my paper is to compare this narration with two references to the descent of Jesus into hell which are to be found in the 1^st letter of Peter (the 1^st Peter). It follows a re-reading of the rebirth of the dead from the Book of Ezekiel. I believe that these combinations benefit in the understanding of sources, cultural background and meaning of the pseudo-Peter’s writing. Furthermore, these references assist in comprehending the concise formula used in Evangelium Petri.

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Before getting to the heart of the matter, it is worth noting that Evangelium Petri is an apocryphal gospel, according to several scholars the proto apocryphal narration concerning Jesus’ passion and resurrection [1], dating back to the first half of the second century, depending on the testimony of Serapion (190-211), bishop of Antiochia, quoted by Eusebius of Cesarea [2] (c. 270-c. 339). With regard to the place of origin of Evangelium Petri both the testimony of Serapion and some resemblances between this gospel and chapter 21 of the Syriac Didascalia Apostolorum [3] contribute to envisage Syria as the most probable placement of this work.

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Chapter X [4] of Evangelium Petri narrates the apparition of the risen Jesus to all the guardians of the sepulchre. It opens with v. 38 which presents a theme, profoundly loved by the author: the presence of reliable and trustworthy witnesses, the two soldiers who were guarding the sepulchre who initially “heard” and then “saw” an event. A loud voice was heard from heaven, the heavens were opened and two young people [5] (angels) went down into the sepulchre, where the stone blocking the entrance had been moved by itself (chapter IX). The soldiers woke the centurion and the elders who also attended this event for as described in v. 39: three men came out from the sepulchre, two of them sustaining the other and a cross following them.

Verse 40 could seem a descriptive verse, but it has a total symbolic character: καὶ τῶν μέν δύο τὴν κεφαλὴν χωροῦσαν μέχρι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, τοῦ δέ χειραγωγουμένου ὑπ'αὐτῶν ὑπερβαίνουσαν τοὺς οὐρανούς “the head of the early two reached unto heaven, while the head of the person that was led by them surpassed the heavens”.

The value of the height of these characters is ontological, their authority embraces heaven and earth, but all three do not have the same value. This difference is amplified by the correlation μέν...δέ widespread in classical Greek, but not in the κοινή. This is the only time that this correlation is to be found in the text which has survived [6].

In Evangelium Petri, at the conclusion of Chapter X, following the vision of Christ coming out from the sepulchre sustained by two angels and followed by a cross, verses 41-42 illustrate the preaching and leadership of the Κύριος even to the under-world; a voice from the heavens asks if the risen had preached to those who slept and from the cross is heard an affirmative answer:

 

καὶ φωνῆς ἤκουον ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν λεγούσης· ἐκήρυξας τοῖς κοιμωμένοις; καὶ ὑπακοὴ ἠκούετο ἀπό τοῦ σταυροῦ †ὅτι ναί†. [7] (EvPt X,41-42)
“And they heard a voice out from the heavens saying: ‘Have you preached unto them that sleep?’ And an answer was heard from the cross, saying: ‘Yes’.” (EvPt X,41-42).

 

The word ὑπακοή indicates the answer to the question asked in v. 41. This word, when found in the New Testament, always [8] defines the obedience due to the evangelical message and so to God. In early Christian literature it is used, especially in the liturgical field, to signify ‘to answer’.[9] In my opinion the writer intends this lexeme to have the same meaning, being conscious of the semantic worthiness of obedience to God that this answer implies.

• [1] Cfr. M.R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament, p. 90, quoted by L. Moraldi, Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento, Torino 1994 (Classici delle religioni, 50), p. 506.
  [2] E. Schwartz – Th. Mommsen (hrsg.), Eusebio, Historia Ecclesiastica VI,12, GCS 6,2 (Neue Folge), pp. 544.546.
  [3]Exempli gratia: the sentence of Jesus given by Herod (EvPt 1,2; 2,5); the resurrection happened during the night (EvPt 9,35); the mention of Levi (EvPt 14,60).
  [4] Following the first division of the text into 14 chapters, proposed by Robinson (A. Robinson – M.R. James, The Gospel according to Peter and the Revelation of Peter, London 1892², p. 40) and into 60 verses by Harnack (A. von Harnack, Bruchstücke des Evangeliums und der Apokalypse des Petrus, in Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Litteratur IX, Leipzig 1893).
  [5] οἱ νεανίσκοι v. 37.
  [6] L. Vaganay, L’Évangile de Pierre, Paris 1930 (Études Bibliques, XXIII), p. 299.
  [7] r. 12 †ὅτι ναί†, Ms: τιναι, Bruston: γύμναι, von Gebhardt, Swete: τὸ ναί.
  The text of the manuscript is indistinct. It appears that a correction has been made to it.
  The version ὅτι <<ναί>>, as chosen by Kraus and Nicklas (TH. J. KRAUS - T. NICKLAS, Das Petrusevangelium und die Petrusapokalypse. Die griechischen Fragmente mit deutscher und englischer Übersetzung, Berlin - New York 2004 (GCS, Neue Folge, 11: Neutestamentliche Apokryphen, I), p. 70), and also by Mara [M.G. MARA, Il Vangelo di Pietro, Bologna 2003 (Scritti delle origini cristiane, 30)], Blass and Klostermann [E. KLOSTERMANN, Apocrypha N.T. I, Lietzmann 1933 (Kleine Texte, 3)], is better, in my opinion, as it takes into account the context in which is inserted: it is an explicit answer to a direct question.
  The failure of omission, moreover, could be justified because ου (σταυροῦ) and ο (ὅτι) were homophones. The copyist while transcribing the text could have committed haplography i.e. omitting one of  two similar adjoining sounds. 
  [8] Except for  Epistle to Philemon, 21.
  [9] VAGANAY, L’Évangile..., p. 303; G. KITTEL, s.v. ὑπακοή, in TDNT, vol. I, pp. 224-225.