George Joseph Reid

“ The alleged Hebrew original is attributed to Nicodemus. The title "Gospel of Nicodemus" is of medieval origin. The apocryphon gained wide credit in the Middle Ages, and has considerably affected the legends of our Saviour's Passion. ”

“ Its popularity is attested by the number of languages in which it exists, each of these being represented by two or more recensions. We possess a text in Greek, the original language; a Coptic, an Armenian and a Latin, besides modern translations. The Latin versions were naturally its most current form and were printed several times in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. One class of the Latin manuscripts contain as an appendix or continuation, the "Cura Sanitatis Tiberii", the oldest form of the Veronica legend. ”

“ The writers (for the work we have is a composite) could not have expected their production to be seriously accepted by unbelievers. (See Apocrypha, under Pilate Literature.)
The best Greek and Latin edition of the text, with notes, is that of Thilo, Codex Apocryphorum Novi Testamenti, I (Leipzig, 1832; Tischendorf, Evangelica Apocrypha (Leipzig, 1853, 1876) , is uncritical in this regard. For dissertations: Lipsius, Die Pilatus Akten kritisch untersucht (Kiel 1871) ; Wülcker, Das Evangelium Nicodemi in der abendlandischer Litteratur (Paderborn, 1872) ; Dobschütz, art. ”