The Presence of the Old Testament Figures in the Old Polish Apocrypha of the New Testament

Abstract

Old Polish New Testament apocrypha form a heterogeneous body of medieval vernacular narratives that draw on biblical, apocryphal, patristic, and other Latin sources. This study examines the presence, functions, and transmission of Old Testament figures in all nine surviving Old Polish apocryphal texts dating up to the mid-sixteenth century. Using the lexical index and search tools of the Apocrypha database, occurrences of Old Testament anthroponyms and related possessive forms were identified, disambiguated, classified according to textual and discursive function, and compared with Latin sources and parallel passages. The analysis identified 50 Old Testament figures, whose names occur in theological, catechetical, apocryphal-narrative, and metatextual contexts. They function particularly as elements of typological interpretation, mnemonic and moral exempla, narrative characters, markers of biblical authorship, and components of biblical expressions. Comparison with the sources reveals several modes of transmission: references may be faithfully reproduced, expanded or adapted, omitted, or introduced through individual textual choices. These findings show that Old Testament references in Old Polish apocrypha are not merely inherited layers of translated material but reflect selective, diverse strategies of reception, revealing the active use of Old Testament knowledge in medieval Polish religious writing.

1. Introduction

The term ‘Old Polish Apocrypha’1 is a category in Polish scholarship. It is considerably broader than the modern understanding of the Christian apocrypha. It includes not only translations of early Christian texts that did not enter the canon of the Holy Scriptures (such as the Gospel of Nicodemus), but also Old Polish narrative texts about the lives of figures appearing in the Gospels (mainly Mary and Jesus). For this study, “Old Polish New Testament Apocrypha” is used as an operational term for narrative vernacular texts describing New Testament characters and events. The criteria are language (Polish), period (medieval texts, in the context of Polish literature, those written before the mid-16th century), and subject matter (drawing on a repertoire of New Testament characters or events).

These texts are not homogeneous in genre—they are often compilations of translations and original texts, containing elements of different genres, e.g., sermons, prayers and meditations. That is why, in the Polish research tradition, the collection of Old Polish Apocrypha also includes texts that, in the European research tradition, could be classified as Erbauungsliteratur, devotional works, meditations, Christian romance novels, or Vita. They are primarily connected by subject matter and, given the small number of preserved texts, are studied together. They are based on numerous Latin (sometimes Czech) sources, spanning different periods (for example, alongside verses from the Holy Bible, we have fragments of the Lentulus Letter and Vita rhythmica from the 13th century). We are dealing with the creation of a new text from fragments translated into Polish, sometimes quoted, sometimes paraphrased, often combined at the lowest level—within a single sentence (e.g., Rojszczak-Robińska 2020). These texts also testify to the beginnings of Polish vernacular literature.

1.1. Corpus

The source material for this article comprises all surviving Old Polish apocryphal New Testament texts dating up to the mid-16th century2. This collection consists of nine texts:3

• Rozmyślanie przemyskie (Przemyśl Meditation; hereafter RP) is the largest extant Slavic apocryphal text, preserved in a manuscript comprising 845 densely written folios and housed in the National Library in Warsaw (shelfmark 8024 III). The work recounts the history of the Holy Family, beginning with Mary’s birth and early life, continuing through Jesus’ childhood, youth, and public ministry, and concluding with the events of Holy Week. However, the text has not been preserved in its complete form: the opening pages are missing, and the narrative breaks off during Christ’s interrogation before Pilate. For a long time, scholars regarded this valuable medieval monument merely as a compilation derived from Latin and Czech sources4.
• Rozmyślania dominikańskie (Dominican Meditations; hereafter RD) is a richly illuminated manuscript comprising 237 folios, with each page of text accompanied by a full-page miniature. The manuscript is held in the Library of the Discalced Carmelite Monastery in Kraków (shelfmark 287). This passion meditation draws on biblical and apocryphal events, from Palm Sunday through the burial scene to Mary’s return from Golgotha. Over the years, the connection between RD and the late medieval mystery tradition has also been noted (see Ziółkowska 2016; Dobrzeniecki 1964; Górski 1989).
• Sprawa chędoga o męce Pana Chrystusowej (Comely Discourse About the Passion of Lord Christ; hereafter SCh) survives as part of a manuscript codex containing two other apocryphal texts, preserved in the National Library in Warsaw (shelfmark 3040 III). This extensive Passion sermon integrates material from diverse sources, including the canonical Gospels, the Gospel of Nicodemus, patristic writings, and medieval sermon literature (e.g., Sermones tres de Passione Domini).
• Ewangelia Nikodema (Gospel of Nicodemus; hereafter EN) is represented by two independent translations of the Acta Pilati contained in the codex of Wawrzyniec of Łask and preserved in the National Library in Warsaw (shelfmark 3040 III). The translation on fols. 260r–282v comprises a narrative of Christ’s Passion together with the account of Joseph of Arimathea, while the version on fols. 127r–152r includes the story of Joseph and Christ’s descent into hell. Contrary to the earlier view that they constituted fragments of a single text, Wiesław Wydra argued that they are separate translations, likely based on different source traditions (see Wydra 2017; Izydorczyk and Wydra 2007; Borowiec 2023).
• Historyja trzech kroli (History of the Three Kings) [hereinafter HTK] is an Old Polish translation of Historia Trium Regum by John of Hildesheim. This work, which was very popular in medieval Europe, is a story about the three kings’ journey to greet the newborn Jesus and their return, the description of their lands, and the discovery and transfer of their bodies.
• Karta Rogawskiego (Rogawski Folio) [hereinafter KR]—is a single parchment leaf preserving a fragment of a larger text and housed in the Princes Czartoryski Library in Kraków (folder no. 2566).5
• List Lentulusa (Letter of Lentulus; hereafter LL) is a translation of the Epistula Lentuli, a widely circulated medieval text dating from the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The translation is preserved on fols. 302v–303r of a paper codex dated to 1417–1418 and held in the Jagiellonian Library (shelfmark 2151). The text contains an apocryphal description of Jesus Christ’s physical appearance.
• Żywot świętej Anny (Life of Saint Anne) [hereinafter referred to as ŻSA] is an apocryphal-hagiographic text, the translation of Legenda Sanctissimae Matrone. The only copy of the old print6 is housed in the Jagiellonian Library collection (BJ St. Dr. Cim. 147).
• The Żywot Pana Jezu Krysta (Life of Lord Jesus Christ) by Baltazar Opec, [hereafter abbreviated as ŻPJK], is a printed work published in 1522. This account of the lives of Jesus and the Holy Family, illustrated with woodcuts and supplemented with prayers and hymns, survived in several subsequent editions. The text draws on a range of sources, including Pseudo-Bonaventure’s Meditationes vitae Christi and the Speculum passionis; moreover, as Roman Mazurkiewicz has recently demonstrated, it was also influenced by the sermons of Pelbart of Temesvár (Mazurkiewicz 2022; Stelmach 2024a).

1.2. Aim

The paper aims to examine the presence of Old Testament characters in the Old Polish New Testament apocrypha. I want to check whether the references to the Old Testament in the Old Polish Apocrypha are not merely inherited elements from their Latin sources. Their selection, omission, adaptation, and integration into different textual layers reveal how Old Polish authors used Old Testament knowledge as a flexible interpretative resource. By the Old Testament, I mean the Catholic canon, the 46 books in the Vulgate. I am not interested in the Old Testament quotations found in the Old Polish apocrypha. Those were the subject of other articles (e.g., Rojszczak-Robińska 2023a, 2023b; Bryłka-Baranowska 2024). Research on the presence of Torah quotes in Old Polish apocrypha has shown that the events were better known than the text itself. I focused solely on the Torah and its quotations, and I announced research on the occurrence of biblical characters’ names in Old Polish apocrypha.

Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following questions: (1) Which Old Testament figures occur in the corpus and in which texts? (2) In which textual and discursive contexts do their names occur, and what functions do these references perform? (3) To what extent are these references inherited from biblical or other Latin sources, and to what extent do they result from choices made in the Old Polish textual tradition? (4) What does the selection, transformation, addition, or omission of Old Testament figures reveal about the reception of the Old Testament in Old Polish religious writing? The final question is intended to fill a gap in research into the reception of quotations from the Torah in Old Polish apocrypha, which has shown that:

any content from the Pentateuch added to other sources is also rarely found; it is not used as freely as the Gospels or Psalms. It serves primarily to characterize the Jewish world and indicate the commandments of the Law. Quotations from the Books of Moses rarely function as prophecies. In the Old Polish apocrypha, the Pentateuch functions more as a supply of stories, a collection of entries to be recalled, rather than a stock of quotations. The Old Testament heroes were present in preaching, art, and language.

(Rojszczak-Robińska 2023a, p. 1090)

1.3. Methods

As I have already mentioned, I am interested in passages in which the name of an Old Testament figure appears. I use the website apocrypha.amu.edu.pl, which contains a comprehensive collection of Old Polish material. I followed the procedure outlined below:

(1)

Identification. I searched for Old Testament anthroponyms in the lexical index of the Apocrypha database.

(2)

Disambiguation. Using the lexical search function, I checked the specific passages where these names appear and verified the list (for example, the index under a single entry lists Joseph of Egypt, Joseph the husband of Mary, and Joseph of Arimathea).

(3)

Contextual expansion. To broaden the context, I also checked the connotations associated with possessive adjectives derived from the names.

(4)

Functional classification. Next, I examined each instance to see which names were used and which other terms they appeared alongside. I also checked which part of the text they appear in (narrative, dialogue, commentary) and what function they serve.

(5)

Source comparison. Using the list of sources, I examined how these references relate to Latin texts, assessing how characteristic this layer of Old Polish apocrypha is of Polish texts and how common it is across the European Middle Ages.

(6)

Parallel and omission analysis. Furthermore, thanks to the function for comparing parallel passages, I could check whether similar references appeared in analogous passages in the other texts. This allowed me to conclude how widespread these references are across the apocrypha, and how specific they are to just one of them. Finally, I checked one more thing. Previous research on Old Polish apocrypha has shown that what the texts lack is as important as what is present. For this reason, I finally checked whether there are any passages in which Old Polish writers might have omitted the names of Old Testament figures found in the Latin sources.

2. Distribution of Old Testament Figures

Table 1 provides a quantitative overview of references to Old Testament figures in nine Old Polish texts. It comprises 50 entries, each representing an individual Old Testament figure. The first column gives the standard English name, the second records the corresponding Old Polish name forms, and the third lists proper adjectives derived from these names. The remaining nine columns indicate the number of occurrences of the respective figure in each text. Altogether, the table records 657 occurrences. The Old Polish apocrypha primarily feature the names of Torah heroes and their associated women. They also mention the kings and judges of Israel. Another group consists of the prophets and the ‘authors’ of the biblical books. Occasionally, minor characters also appear.

Table 1. Distribution of Old Testament names in Old Polish New Testament Apocrypha.

Old Testament Figure	Old Polish Variants of the Name	Old Polish Proper Adjectives	RP	RD	SCh	EN	HTK	KR	LL	ŻSA	ŻPJK
Aaron	Aaron	Aaronowy	1								1
Abel	Abel	Ablowy	3		1						2
Abiram	Abiram Abiron		1								1
Abraham	Abraham Abraam Abram	Abraamowy Abramowy	22		1	2	4			3	11
Adam	Adam Jadam	Adamowy	7		3	12				1	4
Amon	Amon						1
Amos	Amos		2
Balaam	Balaam Balam Balaan		1				17
Barachias	Barachijasz Barachi	Barachijaszowy	3		1						1
Bathsheba	Betsabe		1
Cain	Kaim		1
Daniel	Danijel		2				4				2
Dathan	Datan		1								1
David	Dawid	Dawidowy	49	5	9	6	14		1	9	26
Delilah	Dalida		1
Elijah	Eli Elijasz Helijasz	Elijaszowy	15		2	12					8
Eliezer	Elijezer		1
Elisha	Elizeusz Helizeusz		2			5
Esther	Ester										1
Eve	Ewa Jewa	Jewiny	2		1		1				2
Goliath	Golijasz					4
Hannah (Anna) mother of Samuel	Anna Hanna		1							1
Her	Her		1
Isaac	Isaak Izaak Isak Izak	Izakowy	5			2	1			1
Isaiah	Isajasz Izajasz	Izajaszewy Izajaszowy	22	4	5	3	10				10
Jacob	Jakob	Jakobowy	13			2	9			2	5
Jeremiah	Jermijasz	Jeremijaszowy	17	3	5		3				4
Jesse	Isaj						4
Joash		Jojaszowy	1
Job	Job Jop		4				3			1
Jonah	Jona Jonasz	Jonaszowy	7
Joseph	Josef Jozef	Jozefowy	2		1		2			1	2
Lot		Lotowy	1
Melchizedek	Melchisedech Melchizedech		1	1
Moses	Mojżesz	Mojżeszowy	59	1	6	9	2			3	12
Naaman	Naaman		2
Noah	Noe		3								1
Onan	Onan		1
Rachel	Rachel									1
Rebekah	Rebeka		1
Samson	Samson		6							1
Samuel	Samuel									1
Sarah, mother of Isaac	Sara		1				1			1
Sarah, wife of Tobias	Sara		1							1
Sheba	Saba		2				2				1
Sennacherib		Sancherybowy	1
Seth	Set						5
Solomon	Salomon	Salomonowy	23	1		1	3			1	8
Tobias	Tobijasz	Tobijaszowy	1							4
Zechariah	Zacharyjasz	Zacharyjaszowy	15	2	2					3	14

The material shows considerable lexical and orthographic variation in how biblical names are rendered. The 50 figures are represented by 67 recorded name forms (66 different forms, since Sara refers to two different figures). Thirty-two figures appear under a single Old Polish form, while 15 have two or more variants. The greatest variation is found for Isaac, represented by four forms (Isaak, Izaak, Isak, Izak). Three variants occur for Abraham (Abraham, Abraam, Abram), Balaam (Balaam, Balam, Balaan), and Elijah (Eli, Elijasz, Helijasz). The table also documents how productively these names serve as bases for proper adjectives. Such forms are recorded for 21 of the 50 figures, yielding 23 different adjective forms.

Overall, David is by far the most frequently mentioned Old Testament figure, with 119 occurrences across the corpus, followed by Moses (92) and Isaiah (54). The next most frequent figures are Abraham (43), Solomon and Elijah (37 each), Zechariah (36), Jeremiah (32), Jacob (31), and Adam (27). The distribution is therefore strongly concentrated around a relatively small group of major biblical figures.

Frequency, however, does not fully coincide with distribution across texts. David has the broadest distribution, occurring in eight of the nine texts, while Moses occurs in seven. Abraham, Isaiah, and Solomon are each found in six texts. Adam, Jacob, Jeremiah, Joseph, and Zechariah occur in five texts each.

The individual texts differ substantially both in the total number of references to Old Testament figures and in the range of figures represented. RP is by far the richest text in quantitative terms, containing 306 occurrences representing 43 different figures.

The comparison between total frequency and lexical diversity is particularly revealing. Although ŻPJK ranks second in the overall number of occurrences, it also displays a relatively broad repertoire of 21 different figures. ŻSA, by contrast, contains only 35 occurrences but refers to as many as 17 different figures, indicating a comparatively high diversity relative to its overall frequency.

3. Functions and Layers

For analytical purposes, I grouped all references into four categories: those appearing in the theological layer, catechetical layers, apocryphal-narrative layer, and metatextual layer. By the last, I understand metatextual commentaries, that is, passages in which the author reflects on the writing process itself, the structure of the work, the language, or the relationship with the reader. Many of the examples cited cannot be unambiguously assigned to a single category; the classification below is therefore not definitive, but rather illustrates possible interpretations.

3.1. Theological Layer

Medieval authors did not invent the practice of using the names of characters from Old Testament stories to illustrate theological concepts. References to them appear more than once in Jesus’s words in the Gospels. Compared with other medieval apocrypha, the Old Polish apocrypha are distinguished by the fact that these discourses are almost entirely translated and incorporated into the apocrypha narrative (though they are mainly found in the Przemyśl Meditation). The reason for this may be that at that time there was no Polish translation of the Gospels (or at least none has survived) (see Dobrzeniecki 1969; Kwilecka 2003; Rojszczak-Robińska 2020). It is also evident that Jesus’ words are translated differently from other passages in the Gospel: they are not supplemented with the author’s own commentary, altered or expanded upon.

We therefore find in the Old Polish apocrypha a reference to the story of David, who ate the showbread while husking ears of corn on the Sabbath (based on the Gospel according to St Matthew; see RP325/6–9 and ŻPJK 35v/33–357). In the Sermon on the Mount, when speaking of trust, the splendour of the lilies of the field is likened to the robes of Solomon (RP281/9–11, based on Matthew 6:29). In Jesus’ words to the centurion, whose servant he was going to heal, there is a foretelling of dwelling in paradise with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (RP287/12–16, based on Matthew 8:11; similarly in RP379/5–9, based on Luke 13:28). In response to a demand for signs, reference is made to Jonah and Solomon (RP304/8–305/2 based on a compilation of Mt 12:38–42 and Lk 11:29–32), in the explanation of why he taught in parables and in the discourse condemning Pharisaism, a reference to the prophecy of Isaiah (RP336/17–337/1 based on Matthew 13:14 and RP355/7–9 based on Matthew 15:78). In his discourse on the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, Jesus also recalls the story of the murder of Abel and Zechariah (RP307/8–13 following Luke 11:51). There is also a prediction of the coming of Elijah (RP369/5–11, based on Matthew 17:11–12) and a statement that the Messiah is the son of David (RP415/19–416/2, based on Matthew 22:41–46). On several occasions, Jesus refers to the Law of Moses (e.g., RP432/17–433/24 and ŻPJK39v/32–40r/8, based on John 7:11–29, and in his discourse on the permanence of marriage in the face of the resurrection, RP413/20–24, based on Matthew 22:24) and points out that the Jews are the descendants of Abraham (RP473/10–477/11, based on John 8:31–59, and RP377/1–4, based on Luke 13:16).

Several of Jesus’ speeches that revoke Old Testament names do not appear in the apocrypha. For example, the promise of the Eucharist (based on John 6:25–33) and the discourse on the indissolubility of marriage (Matthew 19:1–12 and Mark 10:1–12) are missing; both refer to Moses. In the announcement of the coming of the Son of Man (RP485/4–16, based on Luke 17:20–37), the text mentions the days of Noah but does not reference the story of Lot (this reference does appear in the scene of the arrest in Gethsemane). It is therefore noticeable that the translators sometimes omit entire themes, or even just Old Testament references, even when rendering theologically significant passages (Jesus’ sayings are often translated literally).

It is challenging to draw any further conclusions about the function of these references. In the apocrypha, they serve merely as translations, reproduced faithfully in their entirety. They are neither commented upon nor supplemented.

The most fundamental form of the presence of Old Testament figures’ names in the New Testament apocrypha, however, is typological interpretation, that is, the conviction that the events of salvation were already prefigured in the Old Testament. As St Augustine expressed it: “in the Old Testament, the New lies hidden, and in the New, the Old is opened” (quoted after van Liere 2014, p. 119).

This is very clearly evident in the references to the names of the first parents. The authors state explicitly that Jesus is the second Adam, and that Mary takes on the title of mother of all the living from Eve:

kiedy <by> kto Jesukrysta zwał Adamem, nie zbłądziłby, iżby rzekł “wtory Jadam”.

(RP324/17–19)

[if someone called Jesus Adam, he would not be mislead, because he would have said “the second Adam”].

Juże Jewa nie będzie zwana [ale] matka wszech na świecie będących, ale tej dziewicy będzie dawna chwała.

(RP47/16–19)

[Eve will no longer be called the mother of all those in the world, but the former glory will be given to this virgin].

All references to the figures of Adam and Eve have been comprehensively described by Wojciech Stelmach in his article ‘The figures of Adam and Eve in the Old Polish apocrypha of the New Testament’. Among other things, he pointed out: “In the Old Polish apocrypha, Eve is juxtaposed with Mary several times. […] Eve’s attitude, her legacy, and the tradition of explaining the nature of the first parents’ sin and the original sin that have grown over centuries in the preaching and the writings of the Church Fathers constitute a background for emphasising Mary’s contribution to humankind and her exceptional place in the divine plan of salvation.” (Stelmach 2024b, pp. 328, 330). The quote from the Christmas liturgical antiphon begins:

ci wszytcy w onej cyrekwi śpiewają onę antyfonę po łacinie, co sie tak rozumie po polsku: Tenci jest dzień, ktory udziałał Pan. Dzisia Pan na skaranie ludu swego wejrzał, a odkupienie posłał. Dzisia śmierć, ktorą niewiasta sprawiła, rozumiej Ewa, żeńczyzna, rozumiej dziewica Maryja, oddaliła.

(HTK119r/17–229v/6)

[All those in that church are singing this antiphon in Latin, which translates into Polish as follows: ‘This is the day which the Lord has made’. Today the Lord has looked upon his people in their affliction and sent redemption. Today, the death brought about by a woman—that is, Eve, the woman, that is, the Virgin Mary—has averted].

Stelmach noted:

Attention should be paid to the way the lines about the beginning and the end of sin were translated. While in the Latin version of the antiphon, we read, “death caused by a woman was driven away by a woman,” in the Polish version, we notice the names of the women added by the translator. The Old Polish author complements the translation in a manner that leaves no doubt that Mary, who through the Creator’s deed will give birth to the Son of God, drove death brought by Eve away from humankind. The author of the antiphon stresses the dissonance between the disobedience of Eve and the humility and open heart of Mary, who faithfully accepted God’s plan.

(Stelmach 2024b, p. 329)

Even the temptation of Jesus in the desert is compared to the temptation of Adam in the Garden of Eden: “Kusił ji też troją rzeczą, ktorąż i Adama kusił, ale nie takiem rzędem” (RP195/17–19) [He tempted him with three things, the same as those with which he tempted Adam, but not in the same order] (see more Stelmach 2022), although this is more of an analogy than a typology.

In the Comely Discourse, there is another comparison—Adam’s fate is also fulfilled in the Good Thief, for—according to the apocryphal account—both heard the voice of God at the same hour, at the sixth hour:

Adam po szostej godzinie, gdy zgrzeszył, głos Boży usłyszał, a przeto stało sie jest podług obrzęda, aby w krotki czas Adamowi, przestępcy, zamknion był raj, w ktoryż czas łotrowi pokutę strojącemu rajska uliczka otworzona była.

(SCh115r/12-18)

[Six hours after Adam had sinned, he heard the voice of God; and so it came to pass, in accordance with the rite, that Paradise was closed to Adam, the lawbreaker, within a short time, whereas to the sinner who was doing penance, the path to Paradise was opened].

In Joseph’s song after the birth of Jesus, there is a direct statement that the lamb Abraham offered in place of Isaac prefigures Christ:

Toć on baranek, ktorego ofierował Abram miasto Izaka, Bog i syn Boży prze nas opłcony.

(RP67/1–3)

[This is the lamb that Abraham offered instead of Isaac, God and God’s son incarnated for us].

This is a common interpretation (see more Wood 1968). Just like the imagery of the bronze serpent and the burning bush, which appears in the same canticle:

Toć on wąż miedziany na puszczy, ktorego Mojżesz kazał na krzyżu powyszyć.

(RP66/24–26)

[It is, in fact, the bronze serpent in the desert, which Moses ordered to be raised on a cross].

To jest on ogień, jen widział Mojżesz na puszczy, gorający we krzu.

(RP67/4–6)

[This is the fire that Moses saw in the desert, burning in a bush].

The motif of Moses and the bronze serpent also features in Jesus’ night-time conversation with Nicodemus:

A jako Mojżesz powyszył węża na puszczy, tako powyszon ma być syn człowieczy, aby wszelki, ktory wierzy, nie zaginąłby, ale by miał żywot wiekuisty.

(RP238/5–9 za John 3:14)

[Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes may not perish but may have eternal life].

The author of RP even devoted a separate chapter to this typology, entitled: “Figura albo przykład onego węża miedzianego w Starem Zakonie, ktoregoż Mojżesz powyszył na puszczy” (RP603/6–8) [The figure or example of that bronze serpent in the Old Testament, which Moses raised up in the desert]. There, he explains the typology and its theological significance in straightforward terms:

Też miły Krystus był znamienowan przez węża miedzianego, ktorego był podniosł Mojżesz na puszczy, na ktorego kiedy kto weźrał, ktorego wąż ujadł, natychmiast był zdrow. Takież i oni, ktorzy byli urażeni wężem pkielnem, kiedy nabożnie weźrąc na Jesukrysta na krzyżu wiszącego, natychmiast będą uzdrowioni od ukuszenia grzecha.

(RP603/6–19)

[The good Lord Jesus was also symbolised by the bronze serpent which Moses raised up in the desert, so that whoever, having been bitten by a serpent, looked upon it, was immediately healed. Likewise, those who have been bitten by the serpent of hell, when they look devoutly upon Jesus Christ hanging on the cross, will immediately be healed of the bite of sin].

The same applies to the Jesus–David typology. Here, too, the author speaks explicitly about the figure and explains it, devoting a separate chapter to it, which is incorporated into the account of the arrest in Gethsemane:

O tem, jako miły nasz zbawiciel był wielmi śmierny we wszytkiej swej postawie między swemi wszystkimi zwoleniki a tako był barzo ostry swym nieprzyjacielom, kiedy jego wola była, a tego figurę tu mamy o krolu Dawidzie Czciemy też o Dawidzie, iże ji pismo chrobaczkiem nazywa drzewnym, wszakoż jednym rzucenim albo rychłem bieżenim ku swym nieprzyjacielom zabił ośmset mężow bronnych. Chrobaczek drzewny, kiedy sie jego tykają, barzo sie miękki widzi, ale kiedy on tyka, barzo twarde drzewo przewierci. Takież Dawid, kiedy był między swemi zwoleniki, nikt jego ciszszy nie był, ale wszędzie przeciw nieprzyjacielom w boju nikt ostrzszy i twardszy. Takież miły Krystus na tem świecie był barzo pokorny i śmierny, ale wszędzie przeciw swym nieprzyjacielom będzie barzo roztropny i barzo przykry. A to ukazał tym, iże swe nieprzyjaciele jednym śmiernym słowem porzucił.

(RP625/10–626/14)

[On this point: just as our gracious Saviour was most gentle in all his conduct amongst all his followers, so too was he very severe towards his enemies when it was his will; and here we have an example of this in King David. We also read of David, whom Scripture calls a ‘woodworm’, yet with a single throw or a swift charge against his enemies he slew eight hundred armed men. A woodworm, when touched, seems very soft, but when it bites, it can bore through very hard wood. So too was David: when he was amongst his followers, no one was gentler than he, but everywhere in battle against his enemies, no one was fiercer or tougher. Likewise, the gentle Christ was very humble and meek in this world, but against his enemies he will be very wise and very harsh. And he demonstrated this by defeating his enemies with a single deadly word].

The author has constructed a double metaphor here. First, there is the analogy between David and the worm, known as the ‘terbella’. This part of the Polish apocryphal text is a paraphrase of Peter Comestor’s Latin work Historia scholastica9. He then pointed out that David’s situation was the same as that of Jesus, who, with a single phrase “Who is it you want?’, brought his tormentors to their knees. It is also interesting that the focus was not on David the shepherd or David the king, but rather on the contrast between his humility and his fierceness in battle.

In the Old Polish apocryphal texts, however, there is no typology linking Aaron and Jesus. Instead, there is a typological interpretation of objects—the crown of thorns is seen as a continuation of Aaron’s crown: “Ale acz ta korona była tarnowa, wszakoż była wyobrażona przez koronę złotą Aaronowę, biskupa wyszego” (RP831/7–10) [Yet, although this crown was a crown of thorns, it was symbolised by the golden crown of Aaron, the high priest]. This parallel also appears in the full-page engravings featured in the Dominican Meditations. There, it can be seen that the crown of thorns is shaped like a priest’s cap (see also Florczyk 2025).

There is also a connection drawn between the story of Samson’s victory and the scene of Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane. According to the author of RP, Samson’s defeat of many Philistines with the help of a donkey’s jawbone foreshadows the overthrow of people attempting to arrest Jesus:

To wyciężstwo, ktoreż uczynił miły Jesus, nie za dar sie stało, ale aby sie popełniły pisma prorockie i figury, ktore są pisany o Samsonie, o Samgar a o Dawidzie. Bo czciemy, iże Samson jedną czeluścią osłową zabił tysiąc mężow bronnych, a Sa<m>gar jednem lemieszem zabił sześćset luda. Kiedyż ci[e] mogli to uczynić, iże z pomocą Bożą mogli tyle nieprzyjacioł pobić, tedy nie jest tego dziw, iże przed Jesukrystem jego nieprzyjaciele padali.

(RP624/21–625/10)

[This victory, which our Lord Jesus achieved, did not come about in vain, but so that the prophetic writings and types concerning Samson, Shamgar and David might be fulfilled. For we read that Samson killed a thousand armed men with a single donkey’s jawbone, and that Samgar killed six hundred men with a single ploughshare. Since they were able to do this—that is, with God’s help, they were able to slay so many enemies—it is no wonder, then, that before Christ His enemies fell].

This fragment was translated from a medieval Latin source, Vita Christi of Liudolf of Saxony:

Haec hostium Christi victoria fuit olim in Samsone, et Samgar, et David praefigurata. Samson cum mandibula asini stravit mille viros; et Samgar cum vomere interfecit viros sexcentos; et David uno impetu occidit viros octingentos. Sed si isti Dei adjutorio tot hostes prostraverunt, non est mirum quod coram Christo omnes hostes corruerunt.

It is clear that the Polish author (or copyist) was less familiar with the story of Samgar. He wrote the name incorrectly twice (zangar, zagar).

Łabuda noted: “it must be remembered that typology is not an interpretation method but rather a way of thinking. Typology is a connective historical link directed more at understanding certain theological fragments, events and ideas of the New Testament in relationship to the events of the Old Testament” (Łabuda 2011, p. 175). This is also evident in the apocrypha: passages from the Old Testament are quoted relatively rarely, whilst typological references appear quite frequently, as the one mentioned above.

Also, Jesus’s arrest and binding are compared to Samson’s capture and treated as a fulfilment of a prophecy: “A to przeto sie stało, aby sie napełniło Pismo, ktore pisano o Samsonie, iże wiązan powrozmi i rzeciądzmi” (RP653/19–22) [And this happened so that the Scripture concerning Samson might be fulfilled, which says that he would be bound with ropes and chains].

Quotations from the Old Testament (particularly from the Psalms and the Books of Isaiah and Jeremiah) were used to show that the prophecy had been fulfilled in Jesus. A Biblical type or prophecy may be treated in a similar way; however, it may differ in form (see e.g., Berkhof 2017). The names of Old Testament figures alone rarely appear in such contexts. In the Old Polish apocrypha, this occurred on three occasions. Once, in the account of the flogging before Pilate:

A to sie stało przeto, by sie Pismo napełniło, ktore pisano o onem dostojnem Jopie, iże od pięty nożnej aż do wirzchu głowy nie było w nim zdrowia, czuż nie było mieśce, ktore by nie urażono, bo w każdą ranę dziesięć razow uderzono.

(RP822/10–16)

[And this came to pass so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which was written concerning that noble Job, that from the sole of his foot to the top of his head there was no soundness in him; indeed, there was no part of him that had not been afflicted, for each wound had been struck ten times].

The apocryphal writers refer to the quotation ‘a planta pedis usque ad verticem eius’ from the Book of Job (Job 2:7) on numerous occasions. A similar passage appears in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 1:6). Perhaps for this reason, Job’s name appears only once in references to this phrase. However, the author of the RP treats the story of Job as a foreshadowing of Jesus’s fate in another way too—in the description of the flagellation, he points to two kinds of torment: physical and mental:

Przed tym jego biczowanim stali Żydowie, rozmaicie jemu łając a złymi słowy barzo sromocąc, a takoż dwojako był biczowan, a to przeto, by sie Pismo napełniło, iże szatan biczował dostojnego Jopa trudnemi ranami, a jego żona biczowała ji trudnemi słowy, i cirpiał boleść w ciele od biczowania szatanowego, a boleść smętka miał w sercu od biczowania języka swej żony.

(RP822/21–823/5)

[As he was being flogged, the Jews stood by, cursing him in various ways and humiliating him greatly with harsh words; and he was flogged in two ways, so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled—for Satan had flogged the noble Job with grievous wounds, whilst his wife flogged him with grievous words, and he suffered physical pain from Satan’s scourging, whilst his heart was filled with sorrow from the scourging of his wife’s tongue].

3.2. Catechetical Layer

The names of Pentateuchal figures function in Old Polish biblical and apocryphal narratives primarily as established concepts or mnemonic cues, conventionalized markers of meaning, evoking a set of associations shared by both authors and readers. Adam’s name is mentioned either in conjunction with “pierwszy ojciec, Adam” [first father, Adam] (“od czasow Jadama, ojca pirwego” ŻSA11r/11–12 [since times of Adam, the first father]), or in the context of a sin (Adamowy grzech [Adam’s sin], nieposłuszeństwo Adama [Adam’s disobedience]):

A tak, wielką łaską rozpalona, z wielkim płaczem rzekła ono, co pisano w szostej kapitule u Malachijasza proroka: “«Dam ja syna mego za występ i owoc żywota mego za grzech i winę», aby Bogu za krzywdę Adamowę dosyć udziałał”.

(ŻPJK65r/20–24)

[And so, filled with great grace, she said with great weeping what was written in the sixth chapter of the prophet Malachi: “‘I will give my son for transgression, and the fruit of my body for sin and guilt,’ so that he might make full atonement to God for Adam’s crime”].

Solomon is associated with wisdom (“mądrość Salomonowa” RP304/18–19 [Salomon’s wisdom]), whilst Moses is associated with the law (he is both the giver and the recipient of the law). Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Hannah (Samuel’s mother) appear in the context of childlessness.

The names of Old Testament figures appearing in Old Polish apocrypha are sometimes used as a warning; for example, in the scene where Saint Peter denies Christ, the following comment appears in response to the gatekeeper’s question:

Bo i ktorego nawiętszego męża od początka świata niewiasta ku kłopotu nie przyprawiła? Od pirwego człowieka począwszy, Adama—Jewa, Dalida—Samsona, Betsabee—Dawida, Mo[r]abit<k>a—Salomon<a> a dziewka wrotna—Piotra.

(RP693/8–14)

[For what great man, since the beginning of the world, has not been led into trouble by a woman? Beginning with the first man, Adam—Eve; Dalila—Samson; Bathsheba—David; the Moabite woman—Solomon; and the gatekeeper—Peter].

It may be taken from the Vita Columbani, a hagiographical work by Jonah of Bobbio, written between 640 and 643:

Non reminisceris suasum Evae, Adae lapsum, Samson a Dalila seductum, David a pristina justitia pulchritudine Betsabee corruptum, sapientissimum Salomonem mulierum amore deceptum?.

[Do you not recall Eve’s transgression, Adam’s fall, Samson seduced by Delilah, David corrupted by Bathsheba’s beauty, which was more than his former righteousness, and the most wise Solomon deceived by the love of women?].

In this Petrine episode, the author reminds us that throughout human history, women have often caused men’s downfall. Several figures appear here: Adam and Eve, Samson and Delilah, David and Bathsheba, Solomon and the Moabite woman. Old Testament pairs provide the interpretive framework into which Peter’s episode is inserted.

A warning often involves highlighting God’s omnipotence. For example, the story of Goliath, who was defeated by David, is cited as a warning against pride (EN128r/11–17).

Elsewhere, in the Przemyśl Meditation, in the scene of the arrest in Gethsemane, when those sent to arrest Jesus are struck blind, the author, addressing the Jews directly, says:

O szaleni Żydowie, i co wam pomoże tako wielika tłuszcza luda, a wy leżycie porażeni jednym śmiernym słowem? I co wam pomogą wasze rozmaite rady? Wy widzicie, iże jego jedno słowo, ktoremże was poraził, jest mocniejsze.

(RP627/6–13)

[O foolish Jews, what good will such a vast crowd do to you, when you lie stricken by a single humble word? And what good will your various counsels do you? You can see that his single word, with which he has struck you down, is more powerful].

The author also reminds us of the omnipotence of God and Jesus, referring to numerous Old Testament situations that serve as evidence of this: the deaths of Dathan and Abiram, Lot’s wife, Er and Onan, the fate of Sennacherib’s armies and Sarah’s seven husbands (from the Book of Tobit), as well as the children who mocked the prophet Elisha.

Omnipotence itself, without any caveats, is also directly highlighted through references to Old Testament figures and events. This is the case in The Life of Saint Anne, where Mary’s late birth is compared with the motherhood of Sarah, Rachel and Hannah, the mother of Samuel, as well as Saint Elizabeth. John the Baptist himself, in the relevant passage, is described as “mocniejszy nad Samsona, świętszy nad Samuela z Hanny matki narodzonego” (ŻSA11v/7–9) [stronger than Samson, holier than Samuel, born of his mother Hannah]. We note, incidentally, that some names of Old Testament figures appear in the New Testament apocrypha as labels for certain characteristics: Samson = strength, Samuel = holiness, Solomon = wisdom, and so on. A similar set of names is mentioned in the account of the Annunciation. The Book of Revelation describes how the archangel Gabriel, sent to reveal Mary’s mission to her, mentions that God has, on more than one occasion in human history, granted children to barren and elderly women, such as Sarah, Anna and Rebecca (whilst at the same time expressing doubt regarding the virgin birth).

In the account of Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane, his words from the Bible (“an putas quia non possum rogare Patrem meum et exhibebit mihi modo plus quam duodecim legiones angelorum” Matt 26:53) the author comments, recalling an event from the Old Testament “Bo kiedyż by jeden anjoł czasu krola Dawida jednego dnia zabił ośm tysięcy mężow bronnych, a coż by uczyniła dwanaście ciem anjołow?” (RP641/25–642/3) [For if a single angel of King David’s time slew eight thousand armed men in a single day, what would twelve legions of angels have done?]. He is probably referring here not to the time of David, but to the defeat of the Assyrian armies by a single angel, as described in three passages of Scripture (2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36; 2 Chronicles 32:21–22). It is clear, however, that the belief in the same or a similar event during the time of David was widespread in medieval Europe (or Poland). It appears in the texts on two further occasions, including once where it is attributed to John Chrysostom: “K temu mowi święty Jan Złotousty, iże jeden anjoł, czasu Dawidowego, jednego dnia zabił ośmidziesiąt tysiąc ludu” (SCh51r/12–15) [St John Chrysostom says that, in the time of David, an angel once killed eighty thousand people in a single day]. The misattribution of authorship to the Church Fathers in the Middle Ages has already been highlighted (Levy 2018), including in relation to Polish apocrypha (Rojszczak-Robińska 2023c).

3.3. The Apocryphal-Narrative Layer

Old Testament heroes also appear directly in the Old Polish apocrypha as active characters within the plot. This is hardly surprising, given the precedent set in the Book of Books, where Moses and Elijah appear in the account of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. The Polish apocrypha expand on this scene, adding a conversation between the patriarchs and Jesus:

I ukazał sie też tam Mojżesz z otchłani piekielnej, a Elijasz z raju, rozmawiając z Panem Jezusem o męce jego przyszłej mowiąc: “O nasz miły Panie Boże, możesz ty, raczyszli, inaczej zbawienie ludzkie zjednać niżli przez twą ciężką a okrutną mękę”.

(ŻPJK34v/15–19)

[And there also appeared Moses from the abyss of hell, and Elijah from paradise, conversing with the Lord Jesus about his forthcoming Passion, saying: ‘O our beloved Lord God, if you so wish, you could secure the salvation of mankind by some other means than through your grievous and cruel Passion’].

Abraham is also mentioned in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The apocrypha also take up this scene.

Old Testament figures appear primarily in the descent-into-hell scene, a motif found in two texts (ŻPJK and EN). Jesus leads Adam, Seth, Isaiah, David, Habakkuk and Micah out of the abyss. Having been led out of hell, they meet Enoch and Elijah. I shall not expand on this point. After all, a wealth of literature exists on the Gospel of Nicodemus, and the Polish text faithfully translates it. It therefore does not bring us any closer to answering the questions raised in the introduction regarding the originality and independence of these references.

A series of Old Testament figures also appears in the scene of Mary’s coronation. One after another, these figures place stars into the crown being prepared for Mary, including the first parents, the prophets and the patriarchs. These same figures then give glory to Mary as she is led to heaven. Those mentioned by name are Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David and Isaiah. This entire scene already appears in the Hungarian sermon by Pelbart of Temesvar (see Mazurkiewicz 2022; Stelmach 2024a).

The Descent into Hell and the Coronation of Mary are apocryphal tales, not present in the Bible. There are others like them, and these too feature the names of Old Testament figures, though not as active characters but merely as those mentioned in passing.

Old Testament names also appear in series when authors construct backstories for objects mentioned in the Gospels. For example, the story of Judas’s pieces of silver, described in HTK (202r/20–204v/15), is extremely complex. It incorporates various Old Testament events. Judas’s pieces of silver are the very same money that Abraham took with him when he left Hur. He used it to buy a burial plot for himself, Sarah and his sons. Joseph’s brothers were paid with that money for selling him. The brothers brought the same money to Egypt to buy grain. They used it to pay for the valuables for Jacob’s funeral. Years later, during the reign of Solomon, it returned amongst the gifts of the Queen of Sheba. During the reign of Rehoboam, it was plundered and deposited in the King of Arabia’s treasury. Together with Melchior, they appeared in Bethlehem. Afterwards, they were lost during the flight to Egypt, then found by a shepherd and offered at the Temple, where they were placed in the treasury, from which they were paid to Judas. Also, in the Comely Discourse, the author mentions that this money was “myto, ktorymże przedan jest Josef od braciej” [the sum for which Josef was sold by his brothers] (SCh21r/10–11, podobnie RP512/2–3, RP513/24–514/2, ŻPJK50v/33–34).

The Fathers in the Abyss also recall the well-known apocryphal tale of Set’s quest for a branch from the Tree of Life (see EN 138v/17–139v/12).

Another feature typical of the apocrypha is explaining place names and linking specific biblical locations to events. For example, the rock on which Mary nursed Jesus, known today as the Milk Caves (see Bacci 2020), appears in the History of the Three Kings (HTK198r/9–17).

Some of those connections appeared in the Gospels. It is commonly known that Bethlehem is called miasto Dawida [David’s city], and the temple was built by Solomon (kościół Salomona [Solomon’s temple]). Such statements appear in several places in the apocrypha. Jesus is born not only in Bethlehem but—according to the HTK—in the house of David. The ruins of David’s house also feature frequently in medieval iconography (see e.g., Mazurczak 2000):

A mamy wiedzieć, iże Betlejem nie było ani jest wielkiej ważności, tako iże tamo są wiele komor a jaskinie, a leży od Jeruzalem we dwu milu onego kraju, a ninie miasteczko nie jest wielkie, a rzecz<ono> jest miasto Dawidowo, a to dlatego, iże Dawid jest sie był z niego narodził. A na tym tamo mieścu niejaki stał dom Isaj, ojca Dawidowego, w ktorym sie też był Dawid narodził a w krola israelskiego pomazan. A na tym tamo mieścu Bog z Maryjej dziewice jest sie narodził.

(HTK166r/7–19)

[And we should know that Bethlehem was not, and is not, of great importance; indeed, there are many caves and caverns there, and it lies two miles from Jerusalem in that region; and today the town is not large, and is called the City of David, because David was born there. And in that very place stood the house of Jesse, David’s father, in which David was born and anointed King of Israel. And in that very place, the Son of God was born of the Virgin Mary].

Here, the location is used in a way known from traditional apocrypha. The author took a biblical event (the Birth of Jesus) and added many details. Some have linked places, characters or objects appearing in the Old Testament with those found in the New Testament. A secondary character also appears—David’s father, Isai (Jesse). According to the apocrypha, the place where the angel appeared to the shepherds is also the same place where David, whilst still a shepherd, used to tend his sheep and “miedźwiedziom i lwom je tam iste odejmował i z paszczek wyruwał” (HTK170r/15–16) [He actually took it away from the bears and lions there and snatched it from their mouths]. In this way, on the one hand, it satisfies the reader’s curiosity, whilst on the other, it maintains the continuity of the history of salvation.

The Mount of Temptation is also linked to events and figures from the Old Testament. An Old Polish author (and to this day no Latin sources for this passage have been found) claims that the mountain on which Satan placed Jesus during the temptation in the desert lies beside the River Jordan, in which Naaman bathed to cleanse himself of leprosy, on the advice of Elisha (2 Kings 5).

Pod tą kw<a>renteną ciecze strumieniem studnica. W tejże rzece był Elizeusz <Naa>mana uzdrowił. Dwie mili od <k>warenteny leży gora przeciw Galilei, <n>a tej był szatan Jesukrysta postawił, tamże też sie pościł.

(RP199/1–6)

[Beneath this quarantine a spring gushes forth. It was in this very river that Elisha healed Naaman. Two miles from the quarantine lies a mountain facing Galilee; it was on this mountain that Satan tempted Jesus, and it was there that he fasted].

According to the apocryphal writers, Mount Tabor, on the other hand, lies close to the place where Abraham met the priest Melchizedek: “Jozefus mowi, iże ta gora Tabor leży cztyrzy mile od Nazaret, gdzie był Melchisedech Abrama pośratł, ofiarując jemu chleb a wino” (RP366/7–11) [Josephus says that Mount Tabor lies four miles from Nazareth, where Melchizedek welcomed Abraham, offering him bread and wine].

Sometimes, however, the connection between event locations and Old Testament characters is already evident in the Gospel text. This is also the case with Jacob’s Well, mentioned in the Gospel according to St John in the scene where Jesus speaks with the Samaritan woman (Kot 2020). The text of Scripture already contains references to the Old Testament. Jesus is travelling through Samaria and comes to the town of Sychar. The town is near the farmstead that Jacob gave to Joseph (as described in Genesis 48:22). Jacob’s well is there. Jesus addresses the Samaritan woman with the very words that Isaac spoke to Rebekah (Genesis 24). The Samaritan woman asks whether Jesus is greater than Jacob, who gave them the well and drank from it together with his sons. Three times in this passage of the Gospel, the names of figures from the Torah are mentioned, including a proper name (Jacob’s well). Exactly the same appears in the text of the apocryphal work. The Old Polish author added nothing:

i przyszedł do jednego miasta Sychar podla ziemice i folwarku, ktory był dał Jakob Jozefowi, swemu synowi. A była tamo studnia Jakobowa.

(RP243/22–244/3)

[So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there].

Venit ergo in civitatem Samariae quae dicitur Sychar iuxta praedium quod dedit Iacob Ioseph filio suo. Erat autem ibi fons Iacob.

(John 4:5–6)

Azaliś więcszy ojca naszego, Jakoba, ktory nam dał tę studnią a pił z niej wodę, i synowie jego, i jego dobytek?.

(RP246/1–4)

[Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?].

Numquid tu maior es patre nostro Iacob qui dedit nobis puteum et ipse ex eo bibit et filii eius et pecora eius.

(John 4:12)

It should come as no surprise that the Old Polish author added nothing. What is surprising is something else—the author of another apocryphal work, The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ, omits all topographical references at this point. The story begins like a moralising tale, intended to highlight the effort made by Jesus—there is an address to the reader. It also has the characteristics of a parable: Jesus comes to a certain, unspecified well:

i przyszedł do jednego miasta, ktoremu imię było Sychar. Poglądaj, nabożna duszo, jako lekuchno idzie chodem spracowany, bo wszytek żywot człowieczeństwa jego praca była i robota. Gdy przyszedł do niektorej studnie, siadł nad nią, zmęczywszy sie z drogi, i odpoczywał.

(ŻPJK30r/13–18)

[and he came to a town called Sychar. Behold, O devout soul, how lightly he walks, though burdened with work, for his whole life as a man was one of labour and toil. When he came to a well, he sat down by it, weary from his journey, and rested].

As Wright stated: “The location of Jacobs’ Well is pregnant with history, hope, and promise.” (Wright n.d., p. 44). One Polish author translated the whole context; the other omitted those details. This shows that using Old Testament characters’ names is a matter of individual choice and depends on translation strategy.

The story of the pool by which Jesus healed the disabled man is developed in a most intriguing way in the apocrypha. According to Old Polish apocryphal texts, when the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, she had a vision. She saw that the Saviour of the world would perish on a tree growing there, which would lead to the destruction of the Jewish people. Solomon decided to bury the tree. Later, they built a pool at that spot, where the waters stirred once a year and healed one person. In this way, the Old Testament account of the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon was linked to the New Testament story of the Pool of Bethesda.

Apocryphal works, including those written in Old Polish, are characterised by a syncretism of genres (see Lohfink 1987; Berger 2005). One of the biblical genres is the historical books. In the Old Polish apocrypha, we find passages typical of chronicles, imitating the style of the biblical historical books. We also find passages that simply describe the history of the Chosen People. These passages mention the names of Old Testament figures. For example, in Pilate’s apocryphal speech—his final attempt to free Jesus—the judge recalls the favours bestowed upon the Jewish people, including those obtained through the intercession of Moses: “I chciał was Bog pobić i zgładzić, by sie był Mojżesz za wami nie modlił, i nie udziałał wam źle, iżeście zasłużyli” (EN269v/6–8) [And God wanted to strike you down and destroy you, if Moses had not prayed for you and prevented him from dealing harshly with you, as you deserved]. In a parallel passage of the Comely Discourse, the same accusations appear, but the name of Moses has been omitted.

The History of the Three Kings recounts the history of the rulers and prophets in Jerusalem and the subsequent events of the Babylonian Exile. It mentions the names of, amongst others, Hezekiah and Isaiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoiakim and Jeremiah, right up to Daniel. Recalling this history is intended to contextualise and situate within a specific historical moment the tale of the watchmen awaiting the star on Mount Wans.

References to Old Testament stories also appear in the scholarly sections of the apocryphon; for example, in the scene of the interrogation before Annas, when the author of the RP explains the complex relationship between Annas and Caiaphas, he recalls that it was David who established the priests and the high priest, and the hereditary nature of the office. He also recalled that it was only later that Ezra restored the proper order:

Ku lepszemu rozumu imamy baczyć, iże czcie sie w Księgach Krolewskich, iże krol Dawid chciąc rozmnożyć służbę Bożą i ustawił cztyrzy a dwanaście popow i jednego wyszem między imi. Ten miał być jako biskupem nad nimi i miał używać tego biskupstwa aże do śmierci, a po jego śmierci syn miał przyjąć biskupstwo. A takoż temu pokoleniu ni miało biskupstwo odić na wieki. Ale potem wszytko było skażono, ależ Ezdrasz, krol israelski, to naprawił, iże stało a<ż> do Heroda.

(RP666/16–667/4)

[To gain a better understanding, we must note that it is recorded in the Books of Kings that King David, wishing to expand the service of God, appointed four and twelve priests, and one among them. This man was to be like a bishop over them and was to use this office until his death, and after his death his son was to take up the office. And thus the office was not to depart from that generation forever. But afterwards everything was corrupted; yet Ezra, the king of Israel, set it right, so that it remained until the time of Herod].

3.4. Metatextual Layer

The names of Old Testament characters also appear in the metatextual layer of the apocrypha (more about metatextual layer Krążyńska 1995). The most basic (and unsurprising) way of using the names of Old Testament figures is to identify them as the authors of the books of the Old Testament (sometimes real, sometimes presumed). They appear both in the combination ‘book + name’ in the genitive possessive (e.g., Księga Judyt), ‘book + possessive adjective’ (księga Salomonowy), and also in the uninflected form (w księgach Jop). This variety of titling methods can be seen in the following excerpt:

Księgi Salomonowy, Job, Księgi Judyt, Krolewskie Księgi, pienie krola Dawidowo, Psalmy—będąc jeszcze w młodości, wielmi pamiętliwie umiała i dzierżała w tajemnicy swego serca.

(RP17/14–18)

[The Books of Solomon, Job, the Book of Judith, the Books of the Kings, the Songs of King David, the Psalms—whilst still in her youth, she learnt them by heart with great diligence and kept them hidden in the depths of her heart].

The names of Old Testament figures also feature when attempting to explain incorrect attributions found in New Testament texts, such as the confusion between Jeremiah and Zechariah regarding the story of Judas’s pieces of silver. In this context, they appear in the metalinguistic layers of Old Polish apocrypha (a lengthy discussion on pages 764–766 RP).

Surprisingly, however, the Old Polish apocrypha make very little use of the names of Old Testament figures as temporal references. In the entire extensive corpus, I found only two such instances. One, in which the name ‘Adam’ replaces the phrase ‘from the beginning of word’:

od czasow Jadama, ojca pirwego, nie naleziona taka niewiasta, ktorą by wybrał Bog wszechmogący, iżby była starą matką jego syna a matką matki Bożej.

(ŻSA11r/11–14)

[Since the time of Adam, the first father, no woman has been found whom Almighty God would choose to be the grandmother of his Son and the mother of the Mother of God].

The second usage is in the History of Three Kings: “mowią, iże Job był przed zakonem czasu Mojżesza a mieszkał w Mezopotaniji” (HTK154v/18–155r/1) [They say that Job lived before the time of Moses and resided in Mesopotamia]. Both fragments are translated from Latin sources. In capitulum VII of Legenda Sanctissimea matrone we read: “cum temporibus Adae protoplasti non est talis mulier inventa”, and in capitulum II Historia Trium Regum by John of Hildesheim: “quod Iob fuerit ante legem temporibus Moysi et habitaverit in Mesopotamia”. There is no place where a comment of this sort would have come from a Polish writer. The surviving evidence does not allow us to determine the extent of the authors’ knowledge of the Torah. It does, however, suggest a marked difference in how Torah narratives and prophetic books function within the corpus. The Torah was used as a reservoir of characters and motifs, whilst other books (particularly the prophetic ones) served as a source of prophecies.

The texts also contain biblical allusions, including purely figurative, metaphorical uses of biblical names. These are idiomatic expressions like ‘Abel’s blood’, denoting innocent bloodshed:

pomsta krwie niewinnych, ktora jest przelana na ziemię od Abla sprawiedliwego aże do Zacharyjasza, syna Barachijaszowego, ktoregoście zabili w kościele za ołtarzem.

(ŻPJK46v/31–33)

[the vengeance of the innocent blood that is poured out on the earth, from the righteous Abel to Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you killed in the temple behind the altar].

Oto krew brata naszego, Abla, woła do ciebie za nami z ziemie rzeknąc: “Ojcze, odpuści im, boć nie wiedzą, co działają”.

(ŻPJK99v/24–26)

[This blood of our brother, Abel, is crying out to you from the earth, saying, “Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing”].

This biblism can already be found in the Gospels (Matt 23:35), as well as ‘Abraham’s bosom’ as a synonym for a place in hell (found in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, Luke 16). In the Old Polish apocrypha, not only does ‘Abraham’s bosom’ appear, but also an explanation of its meaning—Abraham’s bosom, that is, the equivalent of limbo. This is how the author of RP explains it (drawing in part on Peter Comestor’s Historia scholastica):

Było na wyższem piętrze piekła jedno miasto nieco mając światłości, przeze wszytkiej męki, ktorąż by kto mogł czuć, w ktoremże były dostojne dusze albo namienione ku krolewstw<u> niebieskiemu aże do stąpienia Jesukrysta, ktore miasto prze jego spokojność rzeczono było jest ”łono Abramowo”, jakoby u matki na łonie, iże Abram napirwą drogę ku wierze wydał, bo on napirwej przepowiedał jednego Boga.

(RP395/1–12)

[On the upper level of hell there was a place with a little light, free from any torment that anyone might feel, where there were noble souls destined for the Kingdom of Heaven until the coming of Jesus Christ; this place, because of its tranquillity, was called ‘the womb of Abram’, as if in a mother’s womb, for Abram was the first to pave the way to faith, since he was the first to prophesy the one God].

Later variants of biblical language are also present: ‘to go to Abraham’s bosom’ in the sense of ‘to die’. Cleophas, the husband of Saint Anne, on his deathbed, says: “Niechaj będzie miłosierdzie Boże nad nami, ktoremu cie polecam i duszę moję podawam, iżby była do łona Abramowego niesiona” (ŻSA15v/12–15) [May God’s mercy be upon us; to Him I commend you and entrust my soul, that it may be carried to Abram’s bosom as a child is carried in its mother’s womb, for Abram was the first to show the way to faith, since he was the first to prophesy the one God]. Linguists had previously believed that the biblical phrase łono Abrahama originated in Murzynowski’s translation of the Scriptures (1553) (see Moszyński 2001, pp. 315–16). It is clear that the idiom originated much earlier, in the Old Polish apocrypha.

The names of Old Testament figures first appear in comparative constructions, such as in the story of the impoverished young man in the hagiography of Saint Anne: “nie miał żadnego, kto by go pocieszył, ale od przyjacioł jakoby święty Jop albo Tobijasz był naśmiewan” (ŻSA26r/14–16) [He had no one to comfort him, but was mocked by friends, as was Saint Job or Tobias]. From there, it is not far to biblical expressions still in use in Polish today, such as hiobowa wieść [Job’s news]. No complete medieval translations of the Old Testament have survived (apart from translations of the Book of Psalms and other passages), so the Old Polish apocryphal texts, which were instrumental in the development of Polish religious language (Rojszczak-Robińska 2023b), likely contributed to the emergence and dissemination of these biblicalisms (Koziara 2001, 2009, 2015).

4. Transmission, Adaptation, and Omission

Comparison with Latin sources shows that no single mechanism explains the presence of Old Testament figures in the Old Polish apocrypha. Their names may be faithfully transmitted from the source, expanded or adapted, omitted, or introduced as a result of an individual authorial choice. These strategies matter because they show that references to the Old Testament were not simply a fixed layer inherited with the translated material. The first and most straightforward strategy is faithful transmission. This is particularly evident in passages derived directly from the Gospels. References to David, Solomon, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jonah, Isaiah, Elijah, Moses, Abel and Zechariah occurring in Jesus’ speeches are generally reproduced without additional explanation or modification. The same applies to Jacob and Joseph in the episode of the Samaritan woman: the Przemyśl Meditation preserves the Gospel’s references to Jacob’s land, Jacob’s well and Joseph. Old Testament figures occurring in translated apocryphal narratives may be transmitted in the same way. For example, the figures appearing in the Descent into Hell derive from the Gospel of Nicodemus, while the sequence of Old Testament figures participating in the Coronation of Mary in Opec’s work already appears in Stellarium corone benedicte Marie Virginis.

Other passages demonstrate expansion and adaptation. The Polish texts may retain an inherited reference while making its meaning more explicit or integrating it into a new interpretative context. A particularly clear example is the Christmas antiphon contrasting the woman through whom death entered the world with the woman through whom it was overcome: the Polish translation explicitly supplies the names Eve and Mary, which are absent from the Latin formulation. Elsewhere, the Przemyśl Meditation incorporates Old Testament material into extensive typological explanations, as in its treatments of Moses and the bronze serpent, David, Samson, and Job. Old Testament figures thus become elements of extended explanations linking the events of the Passion with salvation history.

Equally revealing are omissions. Old Testament references found in a Latin source are not necessarily reproduced in Polish. For example, Opec’s version of the Samaritan woman episode removes the Gospel’s references to Jacob and Joseph and transforms Jacob’s historically and theologically significant well into an unspecified well. Similarly, in the parallel accounts of Pilate’s speech, the Gospel of Nicodemus mentions Moses, whereas the Comely Discourse omits his name. Such cases show that omission may operate not only at the level of entire episodes but also at the level of a single biblical name.

Finally, the evidence points to individual choice. The same biblical or apocryphal material could therefore produce different sets of Old Testament references in different Polish texts. Authors could preserve a name, suppress it, explicate it or incorporate it into a broader narrative or theological construction.

Even errors are instructive in this respect. Old Testament names seem natural to Old Polish authors. Paradoxically, errors also seem to bear this out. For example, when a Polish author writes of a woman suffering from a haemorrhage, stating that her name was Martha, he cites the writings of St Ambrose, following Piotr Comestor:

Ambrosius in sermone ‘De Salvatore’ dicit hanc fuisse Martham.

(HS cap. LXI)

Bo tako mowi święty Ambroży, ukazując o Salomonie.

(RP322/2–4)

[For this is what Saint Ambrose says, speaking of Solomon].

As noted earlier (Rojszczak-Robińska 2023c), Old Polish authors knew the writings of the Church Fathers and drew on them, paraphrased them, and quoted them. The most popular, however, was St Augustine, not Ambrose. A Polish author, upon seeing the title De Salvatore—perhaps unfamiliar to him, or perhaps illegibly written—substituted what seemed closest to him and wrote: o Salomonie. A similar situation occurs elsewhere, where Elijah was also mistakenly substituted for Eliezer, although in this instance we are dealing with two Old Testament names: the widely known name of the prophet and the lesser-known name of Abraham’s servant:

Judaei somniant hunc Psalmum scriptum in persona Eliezer, qui post caedem quinque regum, ait: ‘Dixit Dominus Domino meo, sede a dextris meis’, sed sequentia psalmi non concurrunt.

(HR cap. CXXXII)

Ale Żydowie marzą, iżby ten psalm był pisan w personie Elijaszowie, ktory był sługa Abramow.

(RP416/12–15)

[But the Jews believe that this psalm was written from the perspective of Elijah, who was a servant of Abram].

As has previously been noted in studies of medieval Central European literature, “biblical allusions attest to the author’s erudition” (Siatkowska 2001, p. 372). The substitutions of Salomon for Salvatore and Elijah for Eliezer suggest that familiar biblical names formed part of the writers’ active conceptual repertoire rather than functioning merely as mechanically copied elements. The Old Testament layer of the apocrypha should therefore be understood as the product of both transmission and selection. What is inherited from the Latin tradition matters, but so does what an individual Polish author chooses to retain, develop, reinterpret, or leave out.

5. Conclusions

Although no Polish translations of the whole Bible or theological texts have survived from the period when the apocrypha were written, the apocrypha authors were clearly familiar with Old Testament stories. The developing Polish language was also well suited to recounting them. There are relatively few such references (though more than direct quotations).

The material contains references to 50 different Old Testament figures. We noticed considerable lexical and orthographic variation. The 50 figures are represented by 67 recorded name forms, with 15 figures having more than one variant. David is by far the most frequently mentioned Old Testament figure and has the broadest distribution (in 8 out of 9 texts).

Analysed names occur in various layers of the text: in the narrative, in dialogue, in allusions, and in the catechetical or metatextual layers. They also fulfil various functions: informative, moralising or theological. It is also evident that certain biblical expressions took shape in the Old Polish apocrypha and remain in the Polish language today.

These references may have been adopted from Latin sources, although individual Polish authors show a high degree of independence. Some source references were changed, some were expanded and supplemented, and some were omitted.

The corpus provides evidence for particular modes of reception and textual activation of Old Testament knowledge in Old Polish apocrypha. It would be interesting to investigate whether other Polish medieval texts, namely the few surviving sermons and songs, show a similar frequency and function of these references. That would allow us to verify this thesis and confirm whether these references characterise Old Polish apocryphal narratives or Polish medieval culture as a whole.