Editing Papias of Hierapolis

{{Short description|Greek Apostolic Father, Bishop of Hierapolis and author (c.60-c.130 AD)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}} 
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]
|name=Papias of Hierapolis
|death_date=after c. 100
|venerated_in=[[Latin Church|Roman Catholic Church]]<br />[[Eastern Catholic Church]]<br />[[Oriental Orthodox Church]]<br /> [[Lutheranism]]
|feast_day=February 22<ref>{{cite book|title=Butler's Lives of the Saints|year=1998|editor-last=Butler|editor-first=Alban|editor2-last=Burns|editor2-first=Paul|volume=2|page=220|isbn=0860122514|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fuH5Uka64MUC&pg=PA220}}</ref>
|image= Papias.png
|caption= Papias of Hierapolis from the ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' 
|titles=[[Bishop of Hierapolis]], [[Apostolic Father]]
}}

'''Papias''' ({{langx|el|Παπίας}}) was a [[Greeks|Greek]] [[Apostolic Father]], [[Bishop of Hierapolis]] (modern [[Pamukkale]], [[Turkey]]), and author who lived c. 60 – c. 130 AD<ref>[http://oyc.yale.edu/sites/default/files/canon_0.pdf From Stories to Canon] oyc.yale.edu{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705013329/http://oyc.yale.edu/sites/default/files/canon_0.pdf |date=5 July 2016 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/0070-0130,_Papia_Hierapolitanus,_Fragmenta_%5BSchaff%5D,_EN.pdf Papia Hierapolitanus, Fragmenta] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812093213/https://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/0070-0130,_Papia_Hierapolitanus,_Fragmenta_&#91;Schaff&#93;,_EN.pdf |date=12 August 2021}}</ref> He wrote the ''Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord'' ({{langx|el|Λογίων Κυριακῶν Ἐξήγησις}}) in five books. This work, which is lost apart from brief excerpts in the works of [[Irenaeus of Lyons]] ({{circa|180}}) and [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] ({{circa|320}}), is an important early source on [[Oral gospel traditions|Christian oral tradition]] and especially on the origins of the [[canonical Gospels]].

==Life==
Very little is known of Papias apart from what can be inferred from his own writings. He is described as "an ancient man who was a hearer of [[New Testament people named John#John of Ephesus|John]] and a companion of [[Polycarp]]" by Polycarp's disciple [[Irenaeus]] (c. 180).<ref name="Irenaeus">Irenaeus, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.vii.xxxiv.html ''Adv. Haer.'' 5.33] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129034433/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.vii.xxxiv.html |date=2019-01-29 }}.4. The original Greek is preserved apud Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085440/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html |date=2017-10-14 }}.1.</ref>

[[Eusebius]] adds that Papias was Bishop of [[Hierapolis]] around the time of [[Ignatius of Antioch]].<ref name="Eusebius 3.36.2">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxvi.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.36] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009095646/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxvi.html |date=2014-10-09 }}.2.</ref> In this office Papias was presumably succeeded by [[Abercius of Hierapolis]].

The name ''Papias'' was very common in the region, suggesting that he was probably a native of the area.<ref>{{cite book|last=Huttner|first=Ulrich|title=Early Christianity in the Lycus Valley|year=2013|isbn=978-9004264281|page=216|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3HZfAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA216}}</ref>

==Date==

The work of Papias is dated by a few modern scholars to about 95–110.{{sfnp|Norelli|2005|pp=38–54}}<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/26/26-2/26-2-pp181-191_JETS.pdf | title=The Date of Papias: A Reassessment | last=Yarbrough | first=Robert W. | journal=Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society | date=Jun 1983 | volume=26 | issue=2 | pages=181–191 | access-date=28 February 2014 | archive-date=6 August 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806193839/https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/26/26-2/26-2-pp181-191_JETS.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> Later dates were once argued from two references that now appear to be mistaken. One dating Papias' death to around the death of [[Polycarp]] in 164 is actually a mistake for ''Papylas''.{{sfnp|Norelli|2005|p=48}} Another unreliable source in which Papias is said to refer to the reign of [[Hadrian]] (117–138) seems to have resulted from confusion between Papias and [[Quadratus of Athens]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Gundry|first=Robert|title= Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross |year=2000|isbn=0802829104|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing}}</ref>

[[Eusebius]] refers to Papias only in his third book, and thus seems to date him before the opening of his fourth book in 109. Papias himself knows several New Testament books, whose dates are themselves controversial, and was stated to be informed by [[John the Evangelist]], [[Ariston (bishop)|Aristion]], the daughters of [[Philip the Evangelist|Philip]] and others who had themselves heard the [[Twelve Apostles]]. He is also called a companion of the long-lived [[Polycarp]] (69–155),<ref name="Irenaeus" /> [[Agapius of Hierapolis]] dates one of his histories to the 12th year of [[Trajan]]'s rule (110 AD). For all these reasons, Papias is thought to have written around the turn of the 2nd century.

==Sources==

Papias describes his way of gathering information in his preface:<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.3-4">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085440/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html |date=2017-10-14 }}.3–4. Translation from {{cite journal|last=Bauckham|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Bauckham|title=Papias and the Gospels|year=2012|url=http://austingrad.edu/images/SBL/Papias%20and%20the%20gospels.pdf|access-date=2014-02-15|archive-date=13 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013191250/http://austingrad.edu/images/SBL/Papias%20and%20the%20gospels.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{blockquote|I shall not hesitate also to put into ordered form for you, along with the interpretations, everything I learned carefully in the past from the elders and noted down carefully, for the truth of which I vouch. For unlike most people I took no pleasure in those who told many different stories, but only in those who taught the truth. Nor did I take pleasure in those who reported their memory of someone else’s commandments, but only in those who reported their memory of the commandments given by the Lord to the faith and proceeding from the Truth itself. And if by chance anyone who had been in attendance on the elders arrived, I made enquiries about the words of the elders—what Andrew or Peter had said, or Philip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples, and whatever Aristion and John the Elder, the Lord’s disciples, were saying. For I did not think that information from the books would profit me as much as information from a living and surviving voice.}}

Papias, then, inquired of travelers passing through Hierapolis what the surviving disciples of Jesus and the elders—those who had personally known the [[Twelve Apostles]]—were saying. One of these disciples was Aristion, probably bishop of nearby [[Smyrna]],<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf07.ix.viii.iv.html ''Apostolic Constitutions'' 7.46] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410160842/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf07.ix.viii.iv.html |date=2021-04-10 }}.8.</ref> and another was [[John the Presbyter|John the Elder]], usually identified (despite Eusebius' protest) with [[John the Evangelist]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony|last=Bauckham|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Bauckham|year=2006|isbn=0802831621|pages=417–437}}</ref> residing in nearby [[Ephesus]], of whom Papias was a hearer;<ref name="Irenaeus" /> Papias frequently cited both.<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.7,14">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085440/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html |date=2017-10-14 }}.7, 14.</ref> From the daughters of [[Philip the Evangelist|Philip]], who settled in [[Hierapolis]], Papias was said to have learned still other traditions.<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.9">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085440/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html |date=2017-10-14 }}.9.</ref>

There is some debate about the intention of Papias' last sentence in the above quotation, "For I did not think that information from the books would profit me as much as information from a living and surviving voice." One side of the debate holds with the longstanding opinion of 20th-century scholarship that in Papias' day written statements were held at a lower value than oral statements.<ref>E.g., see Loveday Alexander, “The Living Voice: Scepticism towards the Written Word in Early Christian and in Graeco-Roman Texts,” in {{cite book|title=The Bible in Three Dimensions|last=Clines|first=David J. A.|year=1990|pages=221–247}}</ref> The other side observes that "living voice" was a [[Literary topos|topos]], an established phrase referring to personal instruction and apprenticeship, and thus Papias indicates his preference for personal instruction over isolated book learning.<ref>E.g., see {{cite book|title=Books and Readers in the Early Church|url=https://archive.org/details/booksreadersinea0000gamb|url-access=registration|last=Gamble|first=Harry|year=1995|pages=[https://archive.org/details/booksreadersinea0000gamb/page/31 31–32]|isbn=9780300060249 }}</ref>

==Fragments==

There are indications that the work of Papias was still extant in the late Middle Ages,<ref>{{cite book|last=Harnack|first=Adolf|title=Geschichte der Altchristlichen Litteratur bis Eusebius|volume=1|year=1893|page=69|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I6wgAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA69}} See {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130706070625/http://hypotyposeis.org/weblog/2003/11/harnack-on-papias-in-the-late-middle-ages.html translation]}} by Stephen C. Carlson.</ref> but the full text is now lost. Extracts, however, appear in a number of other writings, some of which cite a book number.<ref>For an extensive assessment of the fragments as reproduced in Norelli and Holmes, see Timothy B. Sailors {{cite news |title=Bryn Mawr Classical Review: Review of ''The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations'' |url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-08.html |accessdate=21 May 2023}}</ref> MacDonald proposes the following tentative reconstruction of the five books, following a presumed Matthaean order.{{sfnp|MacDonald|2012|pp=9–42}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
# Preface and John's Preaching
#* Preface
#* Gospel origins
#* Those called children (Book 1)
# Jesus in Galilee
#* The sinful woman
#* Paradise and the Church
#* The deaths of James and John (Book 2)
# Jesus in Jerusalem
#* The Millennium
# The Passion
#* Agricultural bounty in the Kingdom (Book 4)
#* The death of Judas (Book 4)
#* The fall of the angels
# After the Resurrection
#* Barsabbas drinking poison
#* The raising of Manaem's mother
}}

=== Gospel origins ===
{{further|logia}}

[[File:Pasquale Ottino San Marcos escribe sus Evangelios al dictado de San Pedro Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux.jpg|right|thumb|Pasqualotto, ''St. Mark writes his Gospel at the dictation of St. Peter'', 17th century.]]

Papias provides the earliest extant account of who wrote the [[Canonical Gospels|Gospels]]. [[Eusebius]] preserves two (possibly) verbatim excerpts from Papias on the origins of the Gospels, one concerning [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]]<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.15">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085440/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html |date=2017-10-14 }}.15. Translations from {{harvtxt|Bauckham|2006}} p. 203.</ref> and then another concerning [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]].<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.16a">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085440/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html |date=2017-10-14 }}.16a. Translations from {{harvtxt|Bauckham|2006|p=203}}</ref>

On [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]], Papias cites [[New Testament people named John#John the Presbyter|John the Elder]]:
{{blockquote|The Elder used to say: [[Mark the Evangelist|Mark]], in his capacity as [[Saint Peter|Peter]]’s interpreter, wrote down accurately as many things as he recalled from memory—though not in an ordered form—of the things either said or done by the Lord. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied him, but later, as I said, Peter, who used to give his teachings in the form of ''[[chreia]]i'',{{NoteTag|name=chreia|A chreia was a brief, useful ("χρεία" means useful) anecdote about a particular character. That is, a chreia was shorter than a narration—often as short as a single sentence—but unlike a maxim, it was attributed to a character. Usually it conformed to one of a few patterns, the most common being "On seeing..." (ἰδών or ''cum vidisset''), "On being asked..." (ἐρωτηθείς or ''interrogatus''), and "He said..." (ἔφη or ''dixit'').}} but had no intention of providing an ordered arrangement of the ''logia'' of the Lord. Consequently Mark did nothing wrong when he wrote down some individual items just as he related them from memory. For he made it his one concern not to omit anything he had heard or to falsify anything.}}

The excerpt regarding [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] says only:
{{blockquote|Therefore [[Matthew the Apostle|Matthew]] put the ''logia'' in an ordered arrangement in the Hebrew language, but each person interpreted them as best he could.{{NoteTag|name=Eusebius|Eusebius, "History of the Church" 3.39.14-17, c. 325 CE, Greek text 16: "ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἱστόρηται τῷ Παπίᾳ περὶ τοῦ Μάρκου· περὶ δὲ τοῦ Ματθαῖου ταῦτ’ εἴρηται· Ματθαῖος μὲν οὖν Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ τὰ λόγια συνετάξατο, ἡρμήνευσεν δ’ αὐτὰ ὡς ἧν δυνατὸς ἕκαστος. Various English translations published, standard reference translation by [[Philip Schaff]] at [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html CCEL]: "[C]oncerning Matthew he [Papias] writes as follows: 'So then(963) Matthew wrote the oracles in the Hebrew language, and every one interpreted them as he was able.'(964)" (Online version includes footnotes 963 and 964 by Schaff).}}}}

How to interpret these quotations from Papias has long been a matter of controversy, as the original context for each is missing and the Greek is in several respects ambiguous and seems to employ technical rhetorical terminology. It has been questioned if Papias is even referring to the canonical Gospels bearing those names. However Eusebius, who had the complete text and context before him, understood Papias in these passages to be referring to the canonical Gospels.

The word ''[[logia]]'' (''{{lang|grc|λόγια}}'')—which also appears in the title of Papias' work—is itself problematic. In non-Christian contexts, the usual meaning was ''oracles'', but since the 19th century it has been interpreted as ''sayings'', which sparked numerous theories about a lost "Sayings Gospel", now called ''[[Q source|Q]]'', resembling the [[Gospel of Thomas]].<ref>{{cite book | title=The Gospel Behind the Gospels: Current Studies on Q | last=Lührmann | first=Dieter | year=1995 | editor-last=Piper | editor-first=Ronald Allen | chapter=Q: Sayings of Jesus or Logia? | pages=97–116 | isbn=9004097376 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_KbL5s6h_kC&pg=PA97 }}</ref> But the parallelism implies a meaning of ''things said or done'', which suits the canonical Gospels well.{{sfnp|Bauckham|2006|pp=214 & 225}}<ref name="Thomas">{{cite book | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QtE1orv4Xg0C&pg=PA39 | title=The Jesus Crisis: The Inroads of Historical Criticism Into Evangelical Scholarship | chapter=The Synoptic Gospels in the Ancient Church | last1=Thomas | first1=Robert L. | last2=Farnell | first2=F. David | year=1998 | pages=39–46 | isbn=082543811X | editor-last=Thomas | editor-first=Robert L. | editor2-last=Farnell | editor2-first=F. David }}</ref>

The apparent claim that Matthew wrote in Hebrew—which in Greek could refer to either [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] or [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]{{sfnp|Bauckham|2006|p=223}}—is echoed by many other ancient authorities.<ref>E.g., Irenaeus, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140213060423/http://www.hypotyposeis.org/synoptic-problem/2004/11/external-evidence-irenaeus.html ''Adv. Haer.'' 3.1.1]}}; Ephrem, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140221070554/http://www.hypotyposeis.org/synoptic-problem/2006/09/external-evidence-ephraem-syrus.html ''Comm. in Diatess. Tatiani'' App. I, 1]}}; Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.x.xi.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 5.10] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009015750/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.x.xi.html |date=2014-10-09 }}.3.</ref> Modern scholars have proposed numerous explanations for this assertion, in light of the prevalent view that canonical Matthew was composed in [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] and not translated from Semitic.<ref name="Thomas" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Raymond E.|title=An Introduction to the New Testament|year=1997|isbn=0385247672|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontone00brow_0/page/158 158ff. & 208ff.]|author-link=Raymond E. Brown|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontone00brow_0/page/158}}</ref> One theory is that Matthew himself produced firstly a Semitic work and secondly a recension of that work in Greek. Another is that others translated Matthew into Greek rather freely. Another is that Papias simply means "Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ" as a ''Hebrew style'' of Greek. Another is that Papias refers to a distinct work now lost, perhaps a sayings collection like [[Q source|Q]] or the so-called [[Gospel according to the Hebrews]].{{sfn|Turner|2008|p=15–16}} Yet another is that Papias was simply mistaken.

As for Mark, the difficulty has been in understanding the relationship described between Mark and Peter—whether Peter recalled from memory or Mark recalled Peter's preaching, and whether Mark translated this preaching into Greek or Latin or merely expounded on it, and if the former, publicly or just when composing the Gospel; modern scholars have explored a range of possibilities.{{sfnp|Bauckham|2006|pp=205–217}} Eusebius, after quoting Papias, goes on to say that Papias also cited [[1 Peter]],<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.16">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085440/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html |date=2017-10-14 }}.16.</ref><ref name="Eusebius 2.15.2">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.vii.xvi.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 2.15] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009010942/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.vii.xvi.html |date=2014-10-09 }}.2.</ref> where Peter speaks of "my son Mark",<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Pet|5:13}}.</ref> as corroboration. Within the 2nd century, this relation of Peter to Mark's Gospel is alluded to by [[Justin Martyr|Justin]]<ref>Justin Martyr, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140211184733/http://www.hypotyposeis.org/synoptic-problem/2004/10/external-evidence-justin-martyr.html ''Dial.'' 106.3]}}.</ref> and expanded on by [[Clement of Alexandria]].<ref>Clement of Alexandria, ''Hypotyposeis'' 8, apud Eusebius, ''Hist. Eccl.'' [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.vii.xvi.html 2.15.1–2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009010942/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.vii.xvi.html |date=2014-10-09 }}, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140221061258/http://www.hypotyposeis.org/synoptic-problem/2006/09/external-evidence-clement-of.html 6.14.5–7]}}; Clement of Alexandria, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.vi.iv.ix.html#fna_vi.iv.ix-p2.4 ''Adumbr. in Ep. can. in 1 Pet. 5:13''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729103223/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.vi.iv.ix.html#fna_vi.iv.ix-p2.4 |date=2014-07-29 }}, apud Cassiodorus, ''In Epistola Petri Prima Catholica'' 1.3.</ref>

We do not know what else Papias said about these or the other Gospels—he certainly treated [[Gospel of John|John]]<ref name="Hill">{{cite journal|last=Hill|first=Charles E.|title=What Papias Said about John (and Luke): A 'New' Papian Fragment|journal=Journal of Theological Studies|year=1998|volume=49|issue=2|pages=582–629|doi=10.1093/jts/49.2.582}}</ref>—but some see Papias as the likely unattributed source of at least two later accounts of the Gospel origins. Bauckham argues that the [[Muratorian Canon]] (c. 170) has drawn from Papias; the extant fragment, however, preserves only a few final words on Mark and then speaks about [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] and [[Gospel of John|John]].{{sfnp|Bauckham|2006|pp=425–433}} Hill argues that Eusebius' earlier account of the origins of the four Gospels<ref>Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxiv.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.24] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215123715/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxiv.html |date=2013-12-15 }}.5–13.</ref> is also drawn from Papias.<ref name="Hill" /><ref>{{cite book|title=The Legacy of John: Second-Century Reception of the Fourth Gospel|editor-last=Rasimus|editor-first=Tuomas|series=Supplements to Novum Testamentum|volume=132|year=2010|author-last=Hill|author-first=Charles E.|chapter=‘The Orthodox Gospel’: The Reception of John in the Great Church Prior to Irenaeus|pages=285–294|doi=10.1163/ej.9789004176331.i-412.55|isbn=9789047429777}}</ref>

===Eschatological===

Eusebius concludes from the writings of Papias that he was a [[chiliasm|chiliast]], understanding the [[Millennialism|Millennium]] as a literal period in which Christ will reign on Earth, and chastises Papias for his literal interpretation of figurative passages, writing that Papias "appears to have been of very limited understanding", and felt that his misunderstanding misled Irenaeus and others.<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.11-13">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085440/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html |date=2017-10-14 }}.11–13.</ref>

Irenaeus indeed quotes the fourth book of Papias for an otherwise-unknown saying of Jesus, recounted by John the Evangelist, which Eusebius doubtless has in mind:<ref>Irenaeus, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.vii.xxxiv.html ''Adv. Haer.'' 5.33] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129034433/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.vii.xxxiv.html |date=2019-01-29 }}.3–4.</ref><ref>{{harvp|Holmes2006|p=315 (Fragment 14)}} Another [http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias#Irenaeus translation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910155741/http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias |date=2014-09-10 }} is given online by T. C. Schmidt, and another {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20151116063403/http://www.textexcavation.com/papias.html#irenaeus translation]}} by Ben C. Smith.</ref>

{{blockquote|The Lord used to teach about those times and say: "The days will come when vines will grow, each having ten thousand shoots, and on each shoot ten thousand branches, and on each branch ten thousand twigs, and on each twig ten thousand clusters, and in each cluster ten thousand grapes, and each grape when crushed will yield twenty-five measures of wine. And when one of the saints takes hold of a cluster, another cluster will cry out, "I am better, take me, bless the Lord through me." Similarly a grain of wheat will produce ten thousand heads, and every head will have ten thousand grains, and every grain ten pounds of fine flour, white and clean. And the other fruits, seeds, and grass will produce in similar proportions, and all the animals feeding on these fruits produced by the soil will in turn become peaceful and harmonious toward one another, and fully subject to humankind.… These things are believable to those who believe." And when Judas the traitor did not believe and asked, "How, then, will such growth be accomplished by the Lord?", the Lord said, "Those who live until those times will see."}}

Parallels have often been noted between this account and Jewish texts of the period such as [[2 Baruch]].<ref>Cf. [http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/pseudepigrapha/2Baruch.html 2 Baruch 29:5] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525084333/http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/pseudepigrapha/2Baruch.html |date=2015-05-25 }}: "The earth also shall yield its fruit ten-thousandfold and on each vine there shall be a thousand branches.…"</ref>{{sfnp|Norelli|2005|pp=176–203}}

On the other hand, Papias is elsewhere said to have understood mystically the [[Hexaemeron]] (six days of Creation) as referring to Christ and the Church.<ref>{{harvp|Holmes|2006|p=314 (Fragments 12–13)}} Cf. [http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias#Anastasius%20of%20Sinai Schmidt's translation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910155741/http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias |date=2014-09-10 }}, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20151116063403/http://www.textexcavation.com/papias.html#anastasius Smith's translation]}}.</ref>

===Pericope Adulterae===

[[File:Henri Lerambert, Le Christ et la Femme adultère.jpg|right|thumb|{{ill|Henri Lerambert|fr}},<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://navigart.fr/museedartsdenantes/#/artwork/110000000005077?endpoint=artworks&layout=grid&filters=query:Le+Christ+et+la+Femme+adult%C3%A8re|title=Navigart|language=fr|access-date=2019-02-04}}</ref> ''Christ and the Adultress'', 16th century]]

{{main|Pericope Adulterae}}

Eusebius concludes his account of Papias by saying that he relates "another account about a woman who was accused of many sins before the Lord, which is found in the [[Gospel according to the Hebrews]]".<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.16"/> [[Agapius of Hierapolis]] (10th century) offers a fuller summary of what Papias said here, calling the woman an adulteress.<ref>{{harvp|Holmes|2006|p=318 (Fragment 23)}} Cf. [http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias#Agapius%20of%20Menbij Schmidt's translation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910155741/http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias |date=2014-09-10 }}.</ref> The parallel is clear to the famous [[Pericope Adulterae]] ({{bibleverse|John|7:53–8:11}}), a problematic passage absent or relocated in many ancient Gospel manuscripts. The parallel is not exact since, in the version known to Papias, the woman "was accused of many sins", unlike the account found in the Pericope Adulterae in which her accusers simply say that she was "caught in the act of adultery." The remarkable fact is that the story is known in some form to such an ancient witness as Papias.

What is less clear is to what extent Eusebius and Agapius are reporting the words of Papias versus the form of the pericope known to them from elsewhere.{{sfnp|Holmes|2006|pp=303–305}} A wide range of versions have come down to us, in fact.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sayings of Jesus: Canonical and Non-Canonical: Essays in Honour of [[Tjitze Baarda]]|year=1997|editor1-last=Petersen|editor1-first=William L.|editor2-last=Vos|editor2-first=Johan S.|editor3-last=De Jonge|editor3-first=Henk J.|pages=191–221|chapter=Ουδε εγω σε [κατα]κρινω: John 8:11, the ''Protevangelium Iacobi'' and the History of the ''Pericope Adulterae''|last=Petersen|series=Supplements to Novum Testamentum|volume=89|first=William L.|isbn=9004103805}}</ref> Since the passage in John is virtually unknown to the Greek patristic tradition;<ref>{{cite book | title=The Hebrew Gospel and the Development of the Synoptic Tradition | last=Edwards | first=James R. | author-link=James R. Edwards | year=2009 | pages=7–10 | isbn=978-0802862341 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vs9YXAB_axYC&pg=PA7 }}</ref> Eusebius has cited the only parallel he recognized, from the now-lost [[Gospel according to the Hebrews]], which may be the version quoted by [[Didymus the Blind]].{{sfnp|MacDonald|2012|pp=18–22}}

The nearest agreement with "many sins" actually occurs in the Johannine text of Armenian codex Matenadaran 2374 (formerly Ečmiadzin 229); this codex is also remarkable for ascribing the [[Mark 16|longer ending of Mark]] to "[[Ariston (bishop)|Ariston the Elder]]", which is often seen as somehow connected with Papias.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bacon|first=Benjamin W.|title=Papias and the Gospel According to the Hebrews|journal=The Expositor|year=1905|volume=11|pages=161–177|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_tUsVX2FaSgC&pg=PA161|author-link=Benjamin Wisner Bacon}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kelhoffer|first=James A.|title=Miracle and Mission: The Authentication of Missionaries and Their Message in the Longer Ending of Mark|year=2000|isbn=3161472438|series=Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament|volume=2/112|pages=20–24|url=http://sites.google.com/a/slu.edu/james-kelhoffer/publications}}</ref>

===Death of Judas===

According to a [[scholium]] attributed to [[Apollinaris of Laodicea]], Papias also related a tale on the grotesque fate of [[Judas Iscariot]]:<ref>{{harvp|Holmes|2006|p=316 (Fragment 18)}} Cf. [http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias#Apollinarius Schmidt's translation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910155741/http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias |date=2014-09-10 }}, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20151116063403/http://www.textexcavation.com/papias.html#apollinarius Smith's translation]}}.</ref>

{{blockquote|Judas did not die by hanging<ref>{{bibleverse|Matt|27:5}}.</ref> but lived on, having been cut down before he choked to death. Indeed, the Acts of the Apostles makes this clear: "Falling headlong he burst open in the middle and his intestines spilled out."<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|1:18}}.</ref> Papias, the disciple of John, recounts this more clearly in the fourth book of the ''Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord'', as follows:

"Judas was a terrible, walking example of ungodliness in this world, his flesh so bloated that he was not able to pass through a place where a wagon passes easily, not even his bloated head by itself. For his eyelids, they say, were so swollen that he could not see the light at all, and his eyes could not be seen, even by a doctor using an optical instrument, so far had they sunk below the outer surface. His genitals appeared more loathsome and larger than anyone else's, and when he relieved himself there passed through it pus and worms from every part of his body, much to his shame. After much agony and punishment, they say, he finally died in his own place, and because of the stench the area is deserted and uninhabitable even now; in fact, to this day one cannot pass that place without holding one's nose, so great was the discharge from his body, and so far did it spread over the ground."}}

===Death of John===

Two late sources ([[Philip of Side]] and [[George Hamartolos|George Hamartolus]]) cite the second book of Papias as claiming that [[John the Apostle|John]] was killed by the Jews.<ref>{{harvp|Holmes|2006|p=312 (Fragments 5–6)}} For Philip of Side, cf. [http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias#Philip%20of%20Side Schmidt's translation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910155741/http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias |date=2014-09-10 }}, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20151116063403/http://www.textexcavation.com/papias.html#philipside Smith's translation]}}; for George Hamartolus, cf. [http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias#George%20Hamartolus Schmidt's translation], {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060501144728/http://www.textexcavation.com/papias.html#george Smith's translation]}} .</ref> However, some modern scholars doubt the reliability of the two sources regarding Papias,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ferguson|title=Encyclopedia of early Christianity|date=1992|page=493}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bauckham|title=Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 2d ed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tE8xDwAAQBAJ&q=papias+philip+of+side&pg=PA13|isbn=9780802874313|date=2017-04-27}}</ref> while others argue that Papias did speak of John's martyrdom.<ref>Ernst Haenchen, ''John: A Commentary on the Gospel of John, Chapters 1–6'', trans. Robert W. Funk (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), 10; Martin Hengel, ''The Johannine Question'', trans. John Bowden (London: SCM Press, 1989), 21; 158 n. 121b; James H. Charlesworth, ''The Beloved Disciple: Whose Witness Validates the Gospel of John?'' (Valley Forge, Penn.: Trinity Press, 1995), 240</ref> According to the two sources, Papias presented this as fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus on the martyrdom of these two brothers.<ref>{{bibleverse|Mk 10:35–40; Mt 20:20–23|multi=yes}}.</ref>{{sfnp|MacDonald|2012|pp=23–24}}

===Barsabbas===

Papias relates, on the authority of the daughters of [[Philip the Evangelist|Philip]], an event concerning [[Joseph Barsabbas|Justus Barsabbas]], who according to Acts was one of two candidates proposed to join the [[Twelve Apostles]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|1:21–26}}.</ref> The summary in Eusebius tells us that he "drank a deadly poison and suffered no harm,"<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.9"/> while [[Philip of Side]] recounts that he "drank snake venom in the name of Christ when put to the test by unbelievers and was protected from all harm."<ref>{{harvp|Holmes|2006|p=312 (Fragment 5)}} Cf. [http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias#Philip%20of%20Side Schmidt's translation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910155741/http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias |date=2014-09-10 }}, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20151116063403/http://www.textexcavation.com/papias.html#philipside Smith's translation]}}.</ref> The account about Justus Barsabbas is followed by a one about the resurrection of the mother of a certain Manaem. This account may be connected to a verse from the [[Mark 16|longer ending of Mark]]: "They will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them."<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|16:18}}.</ref>

==Reliability==
Eusebius had a "low esteem of Papias' intellect",<ref name="Snodgrass2004">{{cite journal|editor-first=Klyne|editor-last=Snodgrass|first=David P.|last=Moessner|title=Response to Dunn|journal=Ex Auditu |volume=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FyvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA51|date=23 June 2004|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-4982-3252-4|page=51|issn=0883-0053}}</ref> but knew that Irenaeus believed Papias to be a reliable witness to original apostolic traditions.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Orchard|first1=Bernard|last2=Riley|first2=Harold|title=The Order of the Synoptics: Why Three Synoptic Gospels?|year=1987|isbn=0865542228|page=172}} "…has three divisions: (1) Sections l–8a are concerned with Eusebius's attempt to use Papias's preface to his five books of… Thirdly, Eusebius knew that Irenaeus believed Papias to be a reliable witness to the original apostolic tradition."</ref>

Modern scholars have debated Papias' reliability.<ref>{{cite book|last=Black|first=C. Clifton|title=Mark: Images of an Apostolic Interpreter|year=1994|isbn=0872499731|page=[https://archive.org/details/markimagesofapos00blac/page/86 86]|url=https://archive.org/details/markimagesofapos00blac/page/86}} "quoted Papias and took him so seriously, if his theology was such an embarrassment. The answer may be that Papias… None of this, naturally, is tantamount to an assessment of Papias's reliability, on which we are not yet prepared to pass."</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ehrman|first=Bart D.|author-link=Bart D. Ehrman|title=Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend|year=2006|isbn=0195300130|page=[https://archive.org/details/peterpaulmarymag00ehrm_0/page/8 8]|url=https://archive.org/details/peterpaulmarymag00ehrm_0/page/8}} "The reason this matters for our purposes here is that one of the few surviving quotations from Papias's work provides a reference to…. But unfortunately, there are problems with taking Papias's statement at face value and assuming that in Mark's Gospel we have a historically reliable account of the activities of Peter. To begin with, some elements of Papias's statement simply aren't plausible."</ref> Much discussion of Papias's comments about the [[Gospel of Mark]] and [[Gospel of Matthew]] is concerned with either showing their reliability as evidence for the origins of these Gospels or with emphasizing their apologetic character in order to discredit their reliability.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bauckham|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Bauckham|title=The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple: Narrative, History, and Theology in the Gospel of John|year=2007|isbn=978-0801034855|page=53}} "Much discussion of Papias's comments about Mark and Matthew, preoccupied either with showing their reliability as evidence for the origins of these Gospels or with emphasizing their apologetic character in order to discredit their reliability…."</ref> Yoon-Man Park cites a modern argument that Papias's tradition was formulated to vindicate the apostolicity of Mark's Gospel, but dismisses this as an unlikely apologetic route unless the Peter-Mark connection Papias described had already been accepted with general agreement by the early church.<ref>{{cite book|last=Park|first=Yoon-Man|title=Mark's Memory Resources and the Controversy Stories (Mark 2:1-3:6): An Application of the Frame Theory of Cognitive Science to the Markan Oral-Aural Narrative|year=2009|isbn=978-9004179622|page=50|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVlIPa_zUJYC&pg=PA50}} "Before using this source as evidence it is necessary to discuss the much debated issue of the reliability of Papias's testimony. Many modern scholars have dismissed the reliability of the tradition from Papias primarily because they believe it was formulated to vindicate the apostolicity of Mark's Gospel. Yet what is to be noted is that Papias's claim to apostolicity for the second Gospel is indirectly made through Peter rather than through Mark himself. The question is that if Papias wished to defend the apostolicity of Mark's Gospel, why did he not directly appeal to apostolic authorship… instead of fabricating the relationship between Mark and Peter? Besides…"</ref> [[Maurice Casey]] argued that Papias was indeed reliable about a Hebrew collection of sayings by [[Matthew the Apostle]], which he argues was independent of the Greek [[Gospel of Matthew]], possibly written by another Matthew or Matthias in the early church.<ref>{{cite book|last=Casey|first=Maurice|author-link=Maurice Casey|title=Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian's Account of His Life and Teaching|year=2010|isbn=978-0567104083}} "It was later Church Fathers who confused Matthew's collections of sayings of Jesus with our Greek Gospel of Matthew. I suggest that a second source of the confusion lay with the real author of this Gospel. One possibility is that he was also called Matthias or Matthew. These were common enough Jewish names, and different forms were similar enough."</ref>

Others argue Papias faithfully recorded what was related to him, but misunderstood the subjects of narrations he was unfamiliar with.{{sfn|MacDonald|2012}}{{page needed|date=January 2022}}

==See also==
* [[Q+/Papias hypothesis]]

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|last=Holmes|first=Michael W. |title=The Apostolic Fathers in English |year=2006 |isbn=0801031087 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHwnpAGffRMC }}
* {{cite book|last=MacDonald|first=Dennis R.|author-link=Dennis R. MacDonald|title=Two Shipwrecked Gospels: The Logoi of Jesus and Papias's Exposition of Logia about the Lord|year=2012|isbn=978-1589836914|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SbpVqpT6GikC|series=Early Christianity and Its Literature |volume=8 |publisher=[[Society of Biblical Literature]] |location=Atlanta }}
* {{cite book |first=Monte A. |last=Shanks |title=Papias and the New Testament |location=Eugene, Oregon |publisher=Pickwick Publications |year=2013}} (with the annotated English translation of the fragments, pp.&nbsp;105–260).
* {{cite book |last=Norelli |first=Enrico |title=Papia di Hierapolis, Esposizione degli Oracoli del Signore: I frammenti |year=2005 |isbn=8831527525}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141013085808/http://www.chronicon.net/index.php/papias Chronicon.net] – Complete Fragments of Papias with new discoveries listed
*[http://www.biblicalaudio.com/papias.htm Biblical Audio] – 2012 Papias translation and audio version (based on Chronicon.net fragments)
*[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.vii.i.html Christian Classics Etheral Library] – Fragments of Papias
*[http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/papias.html Early Christian Writings] – Fragments of Papias
*[http://www.seanmultimedia.com/Pie_Fragments_of_Papias.html Patristics In English Project] – Fragments of Papias
*{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Papias |volume=20 |page= |first=James Vernon |last=Bartlet |short=1}}
*{{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=St. Papias |volume=11 |first=Henry Palmer |last=Chapman|short=1}} (including an explanation of why ''logia'' is not to be rendered as "sayings", but as "oracles")
* {{Librivox author |id=16456}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|[[Catholic Church]] Titles}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Philip the Apostle]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Diocese of Hierapolis|Bishop of Hierapolis]]|years=Before 155}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Abercius of Hieropolis]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Catholic saints|state=collapsed}}
{{Subject bar |portal1=Saints |portal2= Biography |portal3= Catholicism |portal4= Turkey}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Papias Of Hierapolis}}
[[Category:2nd-century bishops in Roman Anatolia]]
[[Category:Church Fathers]]
[[Category:Saints from Roman Anatolia]]
[[Category:2nd-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:2nd-century Christian theologians]]
[[Category:Lost religious texts]]
[[Category:Writers of lost works]]