2 Jesus' Wife

The announcement by Karen King about the Coptic fragment which has Jesus mentioning “my wife” is, unsurprisingly, continuing to get much attention and generate much discussion. Rather than keep updating yesterday’s post on the topic, I thought that a follow-up post would be more appropriate, rounding up the blogging and media reporting of the “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” since then. Hence my calling this post “2 Jesus’ Wife” – following the Biblical mode of reference in tongue-in-cheek fashion.

NBC offered some balanced considerations, quoting me and several other scholar-bloggers. Joel Watts expressed his appreciation for the reporting.

Jared Calaway offered a photo, transcription and translation followed by preliminary notes and a hypothesis.

Jim Davila and Mark Goodacre offer perspectives reflecting appropriate scholarly caution (UPDATE: So too does Peter Williams). Christian Askeland, Paul Barford, Tom Verenna and Jim West expressed suspicion about authenticity and/or the motives of the owner of the fragment.

John Byron addresses the broader question of whether Jesus was married, if it matters, to whom, and why. UPDATE: So too does April DeConick.

Other bloggers who mention it include James Tabor (following up on a post yesterday), Torrey Seland, Tony Burke, Christopher Skinner, Brian LePort, Michael Pahl, Jim West (several times), Eddie Arthur, Dan Wallace, Glenn Peoples, Sharon Hill and Hemant Mehta. UPDATE: Tim Henderson (who asks if Paul thought Jesus had been married), Luke Chandler (who makes a comparison with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), Michael Heiser, Bob Cargill, Chuck Grantham, and Michael Kruger have also posted about this.