The Narrative of Joseph of Arimathaea

The Narrative of Joseph of Arimathaea (Narratio Iosephi de Arimathaea; standard abbreviation: Jos. Arim.), also known as Declaration of Joseph of Arimathea, is an apocryphal text of the New Testament of uncertain dating (probably written in the 2nd century AD), whose oldest manuscript (Ambrosian Code E190) is in Greek and dates back to the 12th century. It is usually cataloged among the apocryphal Gospels of the Passion, but the manuscript tradition has compared it to the writings of the Cycle of Pilate, although the Roman prefect plays a marginal role in the apocryphal.The text reports Joseph of Arimathea’s first-person narration of the events of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Particular emphasis is placed on the history and role of the two “thieves” crucified with Jesus, whom the text calls Demas (the good one) and Gesta (the bad one).Edited by Boris Yousef.