著者

三浦 清美

出版者

電気通信大学

雑誌

電気通信大学紀要 (ISSN:09150935)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.28, no.1, pp.21-47, 2016-02-01

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Apocryphas are, in biblical literature, works outside accepted canon of the scripture. They arrived in medieval Russia through Slavonic translation of Byzantine literature. The author in this bulletin provides the translations and the commentary of following five medieval slavonic apocryphas. Their outlines are as follows:(1) A Story of Akir the wise: Akir, an able minister and counsellor of Assyrian Empire, had been plotted by his nephew and sentenced to death by his king. However, a friend of Akir gave him shelter in his own house. In absence of Akir an Egyptian pharaoh gave hard problems to the Assyrian king and threatened to send troops if Assyrians could not solve them. The Akir's friend confessed to their king that Akir was alive and Akir, who was then forgiven, solved the pharaoh's problems. Akir took revenge on his nephew. The minister Akir was mentioned in "the Book of Tobit" of the Old Testament.(2) An Eriphery's Story of twelve Fridays: Friday is a special day for Christians because Jesus Christ was crucified on Friday. This story explains why and how in a calendar twelve special Fridays should be venerated.(3) A Story of Melchizedek: Melchizedek, "a king of justice" in Hebrew, is an enigmatic character in Holy Scripture. This story describes how Melchizedek was born and hidden in the background of Holy Scripture.(4) An Aphroditian's Story: The episode of the arrival of three magi is popular theme of the New Testament. This story is based on that episode of the Holy Scripture, and describes how in the East, that is, in Persia three wise men came to be sent to Bethlehem to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. (5) A Story on the King Abgal: Abgal, a king of Edessa in Osroena kingdom, was suffering from leprosy, and wished Jesus Christ to come to Edessa to realize a miracle. Jesus, instead of himself coming, sent him a towel, with which Jesus wiped his face and in which the shape of his face was left. This was believed in the Christian world to be the first icon of the Savior. This story is the incarnation of the idea on icons "acheiropoietos = made not by human hands".