Hegesippus, Fragments

of the Son of Man? And he himself sits in heaven at the right hand of the great power, and is about to come 211 on the clouds of heaven. And when many were fully convinced, and were glorifying [God] for the testimony of James, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, then again the same scribes and Pharisees said to one another; We have done badly in providing such a testimony for Jesus; but let us go up and throw him down, so that they, being afraid, may not believe him. And they cried out, saying; Oh, oh, even the just one has gone astray. And they fulfilled the scripture written in Isaiah, Let us take away the just one, for he is burdensome to us; therefore they shall eat the fruit of their works. So they went up and threw down the just one, and said to one another: Let us stone James the Just. And they began to stone him, since after being thrown down he did not die, but turning, he knelt down, saying: I beseech you, Lord God Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And as they were thus stoning him, one of the priests of the sons of Rechab, son of Rachabim, who are 212 testified to by Jeremiah the prophet, cried out, saying: Stop, what are you doing? The Just One is praying for you. And one of them, a fuller, took the club with which he pressed the clothes, [and] brought it down upon the head of the just one. And so he bore his witness; and they buried him on the spot by the temple, and his monument still remains by the temple. This man became a true witness to both Jews and Greeks, that Jesus is the Christ. And immediately Vespasian besieged them.

Haec attulit Eusebius lib. ii. Hist. c. 23. Ex incerto libro, sed

fortasse ultimo, ejusdem Operis. DE JUDAE NEPOTIBUS APUD DOMITIANUM REIS.

There were still surviving of the family of the Lord the grandsons of Jude, his brother according to the flesh, whom they denounced as being of the family of David. The evocatus brought these men before Domitian Caesar; for he feared the 213 coming of the Christ, as did Herod; and he asked them if they were of David; and they confessed. Then he asked them how many possessions they had, or how much money they controlled. And they both said that they had only nine thousand denarii, half of which belonged to each of them; and this they said they had not in silver, but in the value of only thirty-nine plethra of land. from which they both paid the taxes, and supported themselves by their own labor. Then they also showed their hands, presenting the hardness of their bodies as evidence of their own labor, and the calluses impressed on their own hands from constant work. And being asked concerning the Christ and His kingdom, of what sort it was and when and where it was to appear, they gave answer that it was not worldly or earthly, but heavenly and angelic, to come at the end of the age, when, coming in glory, He would judge 214 the living and the dead, and would give to each according to his deeds; Upon this Domitian did not condemn them in any way, but, despising them as simpletons, he released them, and by an edict he put a stop to the persecution of the Church. And when they were released, they led the churches, as being both witnesses and relatives of the Lord. And when peace came, they remained alive until the time of Trajan.

Haec posuit Eusebius lib. iii. Hist. c. 20.

υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου; καὶ αὐτὸς κάθηται ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἐκ δεξιῶν τῆς μεγάλης δυνάμεως, καὶ μέλλει ἔρχεσθαι 211 ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. καὶ πολλῶν πληροφορηθέντων, καὶ δοξαζόντων ἐπὶ τῇ μαρτυρίᾳ τοῦ Ἰακώβου, καὶ λεγόντων ὡς ἀννὰ τῷ υἱῷ ∆αβὶδ, τότε πάλιν οἱ αὐτοὶ γραμματεῖς καὶ φαρισαῖοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔλεγον· κακῶς ἐποιήσαμεν τοιαύτην μαρτυρίαν παρασχόντες τῷ Ἰησοῦ· ἀλλὰ ἀναβάντες, καταβάλωμεν αὐτὸν, ἴνα φοβηθέντες μὴ πιστεύσωσιν αὐτῷ. καὶ ἔκραξαν λέγοντες· ὢ ὢ, καὶ ὁ δίκαιος ἐπλανήθη. καὶ ἐπλήρωσαν τὴν γραφὴν τὴν ἐν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ γεγραμμένην, ἄρωμεν τὸν δίκαιον, ὅτι δύσχρηστος ἡμῖν ἐστί· τοίνυν τὰ γεννήματα τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν φάγονται. ἀναβάντες οὖν κατέβαλον τὸν δίκαιον, καὶ ἔλεγον ἀλλήλοις· λιθάσωμεν Ἰάκωβον τὸν δίκαιον. καὶ ἤρξαντο λιθάζειν αὐτὸν, ἐπεὶ καταβληθεὶς οὐκ ἀπέθανεν, ἀλλὰ στραφεὶς ἔθηκε τὰ γόνατα λέγων· Παρακαλῶ Κύριε Θεὲ πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς· οὐ γὰρ οἴδασι τί ποιοῦσιν. οὕτω δὲ καταλιθοβολούντων αὐτὸν, εἷς τῶν ἱερέων τῶν υἱῶν Ῥηχὰβ υἱοῦ Ῥαχαβεὶμ τῶν 212 μαρτυρουμένων ὑπὸ Ἱερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου, ἔκραζε λέγων· Παύσασθε, τί ποιεῖτε· εὔχεται ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ὁ ∆ίκαιος. καὶ λαβών τις ἀπ' αὐτῶν, εἷς τῶν κναφέων, τὸ ξύλον ἐν ᾧ ἀπεπίεζε τὰ ἱμάτια, ἤνεγκε κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ δικαίου. καὶ οὕτως ἐμαρτύρησε· καὶ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῷ τόπῳ παρὰ τῷ ναῷ, καὶ ἔτι αὐτοῦ ἡ στήλη μένει παρὰ τῷ ναῷ. μάρτυς οὗτος ἀληθὴς Ἰουδαίοις τε καὶ Ἕλλησι γεγένηται, ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός ἐστι. καὶ εὐθὺς Οὐεσπασιανὸς πολιορκεῖ αὐτούς.

Haec attulit Eusebius lib. ii. Hist. c. 23. Ex incerto libro, sed

fortasse ultimo, ejusdem Operis. DE JUDAE NEPOTIBUS APUD DOMITIANUM REIS.

Ἔτι δὲ περιῆσαν οἱ ἀπὸ γένους τοῦ Κυρίου υἱωνοὶ Ἰούδα, τοῦ κατὰ σάρκα

λεγομένου αὐτοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, οὓς ἐδηλατόρευσαν, ὡς ἐκ γένους ὄντας ∆αβίδ. τούτους δ' ὁ ἰουόκατος ἤγαγε πρὸς ∆ομετιανὸν Καίσαρα· ἐφοβεῖτο γὰρ τὴν 213 παρουσίαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὡς καὶ Ἡρώδης· καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτοὺς εἰ ἐκ ∆αβὶδ εἰσί· καὶ ὡμολόγησαν. τότε ἠρώτησεν αὐτοὺς πόσας κτήσεις ἔχουσιν, ἢ πόσων χρημάτων κυριεύουσιν. οἱ δὲ εἶπον ἀμφότεροι, ἐννακισχίλια δηνάρια ὑπάρχειν αὐτοῖς μόνα, ἑκάστῳ αὐτῶν ἀνήκοντος τοῦ ἡμίσεως· καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ ἐν ἀργυρίοις ἔφασκον ἔχειν, ἀλλ' ἐν διατιμήσει γῆς πλέθρων τριάκοντα ἐννέα μόνων. ἐξ ὧν καὶ τοὺς φόρους ἀναφέρειν, καὶ αὐτοὺς αὐτουργοῦντας διατρέφεσθαι. εἶτα δὲ καὶ τὰς χεῖρας τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἐπιδεικνύναι· μαρτύριον τῆς αὐτουργίας τὴν τοῦ σώματος σκληρίαν, καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς συνεχοῦς ἐργασίας ἐναποτυπωθέντας ἐπὶ τῶν ἰδίων χειρῶν τύλους παριστάντας. ἐρωτηθέντας δὲ περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ, ὁποία τὶς εἴη καὶ πότε καὶ ποῖ φανησομένη, λόγον δοῦναι, ὡς οὐ κοσμικὴ μὲν οὐδ' ἐπίγειος, ἐπουράνιος δὲ καὶ ἀγγελικὴ τυγχάνει, ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος γενησομένη, ὁπηνίκα ἐλθὼν ἐν δόξῃ κρίνειε 214 ζῶντας καὶ νεκροὺς, καὶ ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτοῦ· ἐφ' οἷς μηδὲν αὐτῶν κατεγνωκότα τὸν ∆ομετιανὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς εὐτελῶν καταφρονήσαντα, ἐλευθέρους μὲν αὐτοὺς ἀνεῖναι, καταπαῦσαι δὲ διὰ προστάγματος τὸν κατὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας διωγμόν· τοὺς δὲ ἀπολυθέντας, ἡγήσασθαι τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν, ὡς ἂν δὴ μάρτυρας ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ γένους ὄντας τοῦ Κυρίου· γενομένης τε εἰρήνης, μέχρι Τραϊανοῦ παραμεῖναι αὐτοὺς τῷ βίῳ.

Haec posuit Eusebius lib. iii. Hist. c. 20.