Primary source · Greek
The Acts of Paul (with the Acts of Paul and Thecla)
Anonymous presbyter of Asia (so Tertullian, On Baptism 17) · c. AD 150–170
What this text is
The second-century romance of Paul's missions — non-canonical, disciplined by the church, and immensely popular. It supplies the earliest physical description of Paul, the whole Thecla cycle, and independent second-century attestation of figures from the Pastoral Epistles: Onesiphorus the host, and Demas and Hermogenes as the apostle's false companions.
Public-domain translations
ANF translation (Walker, 1886, public domain)
And he saw Paul coming, a man small of stature, with bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked, full of friendliness; for now he appeared like a man, and now he had the face of an angel. ... And Demas and Hermogenes said: We are of Paul's company. (Acts of Paul and Thecla 3, 12–14)
Manuscript witnesses
Hamburg papyrus (P.Hamb. bil. 1)
c. AD 300Greek papyrus codex carrying substantial portions of the Acts of Paul — within about 150 years of composition.
Heidelberg Coptic papyrus (P.Heid. Kopt. 1)
6th c.The Coptic codex by which Carl Schmidt (1904) proved that the Thecla acts, the Corinthian correspondence, and the Martyrdom all belong to one Acts of Paul.
Tischendorf, Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha
1851Standard pre-critical Greek edition of the Thecla portion; the chapter numbers still cited.
Provenance
Asia Minor; its author, says Tertullian, was convicted and deposed for composing it 'out of love for Paul'
Editions & scholarship
Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.
- New Testament Apocrypha, vol. IIWilhelm Schneemelcher (ed.), 1992Standard scholarly translation and introduction, weighing date and provenance.
- The Acts of Paul and Thecla: A Critical Introduction and CommentaryJeremy W. Barrier, 2009Full modern commentary on text and social milieu.