Friday, January 2, 2026

Clement's Authority and the Various "List of the Apostles"

Witness / traditionWhat it calls the listWhat it says about “Clement”Form of the listRelationship to the Marcianus kernel
Marcianus epitome (Zahn’s “Codex Marcianus note,” Latin)(short “burial/death-place” notices)Explicitly framed as coming from Clement’s Hypotyposeis V in the way Zahn/Harnack discuss (“Clemens in quinto libro hypotyposeon / informationum” dossier) Kernel: terse place-of-burial / deathBase layer: supplies the order + the distinctive toponyms that later lists elaborate
Greek “Anonymus I” family (BHG 153c)“List of apostles: where they preached / where they died”Often transmitted as “anonymous,” but belongs to the Clement-tagged dossier in cataloguing traditions Expanded: preaching + death + burial (variable)Expansion of kernel: retains order and rare place-names; adds narrative material
Appendix traditions (e.g., BHG 152n etc.)Add-on blocks to the listUsually “Clement” becomes a framing-authority more than a source-citationFurther expansion / appendicesSecondary growth on top of the Anonymus I-type list
JTS witnesses you screenshot (Vat. gr. 1506; Verona LI 49)“De xii apostolis in quibus locis predicaverunt et consummati sunt” + colophon “Explicuerunt canones… missi ad Clementem…”Clement explicitly named: “ut refert Clemens in quinto Informationum…” (i.e., Hypotyposeis V as “Informationes”). This is exactly the Clement–Hypotyposeis V hook. Greek/Latin dossier: list + canons colophonThese manuscripts show how the Clement frame travels with (and authorizes) the list tradition as it expands
Monastic/Greek codex headings (e.g., Vatopedi codex evidence cited in modern editions)Title like “Διάταξις τῶν ἀποστόλων διὰ Κλήμεντος…” (“Disposition… through Clement…”)“Clement” as title-authority for the whole pieceGreek title traditionThis is the stage where “Clement” becomes a rubric, not merely a source-note
Oriental versions (Ethiopic ‘History of the Apostles’ type)Full narrative “how they preached / died / where buried”Usually no need to cite Hypotyposeis; Clement frame may vanish, but the kernel-order + distinctive loci persistFully expanded narrativeBest explained as translation/adaptation of the expanded Greek layer, which itself presupposes the Marcianus kernel


Email stephan.h.huller@gmail.com with comments or questions.


 
Stephan Huller's Observations by Stephan Huller
is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.