The (first) Act of Judas Thomas, the Apostle, when he sold him to the merchant Habban, that he might go down (and) convert India.

Abstract

In both Syriac and Greek a number of eleven Apostles is mentioned, viz. those in the lists of the New Testament, but without Judas Iscariot. In the New Testament lists with the names of the Apostles are to be found in Matth. The list in the Greek version of these Acts of Judas can be compared with that in Matth. 10,2-4. The Syriac manuscript used by Wright and commented upon here usually speaks about Judas. This agrees with Sinai. This Judas is supposed to be one of a twin. This Twin was mentioned in the New Testament lists of the Apostles under the name Thomas. The Syriac version obviously speaks about the baptistery with a censer and being a place characterized by love, belief and hope, cf. I Cor. 13, 13, and humility. Thomas is called sorcerer very often. The name was also applied to Jesus in Jewish sources.Keywords: Apostles; Greek version; Judas; New Testament; Syriac manuscript