Apocrypha
History of the Rechabites
The Blessed
25 chapters · read and listen
Reading note
An apocryphal or pseudepigraphal text — outside the canon of the Western churches, yet widely circulated among ancient Jews and Christians. Published here from a public-domain translation, edited for continuous reading.
Chapters
Dossier
A monk named Zosimus crosses the desert, the ocean and a wall of cloud to find the blessed ones: the descendants of the Rechabites, who live naked, without violent death and without property, on an island outside the world.
Where this text comes from
Greek, with Syriac and Ethiopic versions, of disputed date — the core may be Jewish, from the early centuries, with a Christian frame added later. Also called the History of Zosimus.
Why it is not in the Bible
Outside every canon.
What you will find
- The description of the island of the blessed is one of the most detailed utopias in ancient literature.
- The Rechabites tell their own story from the time of Jeremiah, tying the book to chapter 35 of the prophet.
- The stone tablets on which they record the names of those who die, and the way they know the hour.
Frequently asked questions
- Who were the Rechabites?
- An Israelite clan who, according to Jeremiah 35, refused to drink wine, build houses or plant, living in tents by order of their ancestor Jonadab. This book imagines what became of them.