Apocrypha
Lives of the Prophets
Hagiography
24 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 short, dry catalogue: each prophet, where he came from, how he died and where he was buried — including those the Bible does not say.
Where this text comes from
Probably 1st century AD, of Palestinian Jewish origin, preserved in Greek with Christian retouching. Several of the tombs it names were real places of pilgrimage at the time it was written.
Why it is not in the Bible
Outside the canons. It is a reference work rather than a book of revelation — closer to a guide to holy graves than to a prophetic book.
What you will find
- It is the ancient source of the tradition that Isaiah was sawn in half and that Jeremiah was stoned in Egypt.
- It records the burial place of each prophet, information the Bible almost never gives.
- It includes prophets with no book of their own, such as Nathan, Ahijah and Elijah, treated with the same care.
Frequently asked questions
- How did the prophets die, according to this book?
- Many by martyrdom: Isaiah sawn in half, Jeremiah stoned, Ezekiel killed by a judge of the people, Amos struck on the head. These traditions are not in the Bible, but circulated widely in the 1st century.