25.13–21

Judas explains that he gets to sit on the rock on Sundays, and at other religious holidays; otherwise he is in Hell.  He asks Brendan to ask Christ to allow him to stay on the rock for Sunday night, and Brendan says that his wish will be granted.  Brendan asks about the cloth and Judas replies that (in life) he gave it to a leper, but it was not his to give.  He adds that the forks are ones he gave to the priests of The Temple in Jerusalem, and that the rock was one he placed in the road as a stepping-stone for travelers.  (None of these incidents are known from existing accounts of Judas.)

[13] omnī diē Dominicō ā vespere usque ad vesperās: “every Sunday from (First) Vespers (on Saturday night) to (Second) Vespers (on Sunday night)." According to Selmer the idea of weekends off for the damned was as old as the fourth century.

in Pūrificātiōne Deī Genetrīcis atque Assūmptiōne: the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (February 2) and the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (August 15).

[14] Hērōde et Pīlātō et Annā et Caiphā: Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate, Annas, and Caiaphas.  All four are said to have been involved in the arrest and execution of Jesus; the gospels differ as to whether Annas or Caiaphas was high priest at the time.

[15] ut habeam hīc potestātem esse: = ut habeam potestātem esse (= manēre) hīc.

usque ad ortum sōlis crās: normally Judas would return to Hell on Sunday evening, but wants Brendan to intercede for him so that he can delay his return till Monday morning.

nē mē daemonēs in adventū vestrō crucient: Judas’ argument seems that his respite should be extended so that Brendan’s visit will not be marred by his suffering in Hell.

ad malam hērēditātem: “to my evil inheritance”; really his “reward,” i.e., his punishment.

[16] nōn eris morsus daemōnum: literally “you will not be a bite of the demons,” i.e., “the demons won’t bite you.”  Apparently the metonymy may reflect a word in Old Irish (greimm) with the double meaning of “bite” and “thing bitten.”

[17] Quid sibi vult: “what is the meaning of?”  (OLD volō 17).

[18] Istum pannum dedī cuidam leprōsō, quandō fuī camerārius Dominī: This episode in the life of Judas is not in the New Testament or any of the extant apocrypha.  The ML word camerarius can mean either “chamberlain” or (monastic) “treasurer”; either Judas is thought of as a personal servant to Jesus (a role not otherwise attested) or his concern in John 12.6 for wasting expensive ointment suggested that he looked after the group’s finances.

[19] nam Dominicus et frātrum suōrum erat: Dominicus, the adjective, seems odd here; we might expect Dominī, parallel to frātrum suōrum.

[20] Nam forcae ferreae: “nominative absolute” or anacolouthon.

ubi pendet: “And where (the cloth) is hanging.”

illās dedī sacerdōtibus templī ad cacabōs sustinendōs: a gift of pitchforks to priests of the Temple is not otherwise attested.

[21] Petram in quā sedeō, illam mīsī in fossam in pūblicā viā sub pedibus trānseuntium: another unattested episode in the life of Judas.  In this case we may infer that he helpfully put a large rock in the road as a stepping stone, and has thus been rewarded with a place to sit.