Introduction - The Apocalypse of the Virgin.
The present translation of this Apocalypse 1 is made from the text as published by Mr. M. R. James in Texts and Studies, ii., 3, from a ms. in the Bodleian Library, which he assigns to the eleventh century. The original he conjecturally assigns to the ninth century, and regards it as a late and clumsy compilation based on (1) the Assumption Legends and (2) the Apocalypse of Paul. Its main feature, intercession for the lost, it has in common with the Testament of Abraham, the Apocalypse of Paul, 4 Esdras, the Apocalypse of Baruch, the Apocalypse of Esdras and the Apocalypse of Sedrach. Parallels are pointed out in the notes.
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In this Apocalypse and that of Sedrach which follows, the text is in many places so obviously corrupt that the translator cannot be confident that he has given the correct meaning of the original in all cases.--A.R. ↩
