Epistle of Barnabas: The Radical Text That Reinterpreted the Entire Old Testament

What Is the Epistle of Barnabas?

The Epistle of Barnabas is a late first- or early second-century Christian text that presents one of the most radical reinterpretations of Jewish scripture in early Christian literature. Its central argument is breathtaking in its audacity: the Jews never understood their own Bible. Every commandment about circumcision, dietary laws, sabbath observance, and temple sacrifice was always meant to be understood allegorically, and the Jews made a catastrophic error by taking them literally.

The text is not actually a letter, despite its traditional title, and it was almost certainly not written by Barnabas, Paul's companion mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. It is an anonymous theological treatise, probably composed in Alexandria, Egypt, between 70 and 135 CE. Its date depends partly on how one reads its references to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, which occurred in 70 CE.

Despite its eventual exclusion from the New Testament, the Epistle of Barnabas was enormously influential. It appears in the Codex Sinaiticus alongside the canonical books. Clement of Alexandria quoted it as scripture. Origen considered it a 'catholic epistle.' It represents a strand of early Christian thought that was fully mainstream before the canon was finalized.

The Central Argument: Jews Misread Their Own Scripture

Barnabas's thesis is that God's covenant was never intended for the Jews in the way they understood it. When God told Abraham to circumcise, he meant spiritual circumcision of the heart. When Leviticus prohibited eating pork, it really meant 'Do not associate with people who are like swine.' When the sabbath was established, it pointed forward to the cosmic eighth day — the eschatological age inaugurated by Christ's resurrection.

The text works through the Old Testament systematically, converting each literal commandment into a spiritual or christological allegory. The 318 servants of Abraham? The number 318 in Greek numerals contains the letters IH (Iesous, Jesus) plus the shape of a cross (T = 300). The red heifer sacrifice in Numbers 19? A prophecy of Christ's crucifixion. The scapegoat ritual in Leviticus 16? A detailed prefiguration of Jesus's suffering.

This method of reading — called typological or allegorical interpretation — was not unique to Barnabas. Philo of Alexandria, a first-century Jewish philosopher, had developed sophisticated allegorical readings of Torah. But Barnabas goes further than Philo in a crucial way: Philo allegorized while affirming literal observance, whereas Barnabas uses allegory to abolish literal observance entirely.

The Covenant: Transferred, Not Shared

One of the most consequential claims in the Epistle of Barnabas is that the covenant was never actually received by the Jews. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the tablets of the law, he smashed them upon seeing the golden calf. In Barnabas's reading, this was not a temporary setback — it was a permanent forfeiture. 'Moses received the covenant, but they were not worthy,' the text declares. The covenant passed directly from Moses to the Christians, bypassing Jewish history entirely.

This is not supersessionism in the usual sense — the idea that Christianity replaced Judaism. It is something more extreme: the claim that Judaism never properly existed as a covenant community. The Jews had the scriptures but never understood them. They performed the rituals but never grasped their meaning. They were, in Barnabas's view, under a perpetual misunderstanding.

Modern scholars recognize this argument as deeply problematic — it denies Jewish self-understanding and has contributed to centuries of anti-Jewish polemic. But understanding it is essential for understanding how early Christians constructed their identity in relation to Judaism. The Epistle of Barnabas represents one extreme of a spectrum of early Christian attitudes toward the Jewish tradition.

The Two Ways

The final chapters of the Epistle of Barnabas contain a 'Two Ways' ethical instruction very similar to the one found in the Didache. The Way of Light and the Way of Darkness present contrasting catalogs of virtues and vices, with angels presiding over each path. This section is likely drawn from a common Jewish-Christian ethical tradition that both texts independently adapted.

The ethical teaching in Barnabas is straightforward: love your neighbor, do not abort children, do not abandon newborns, do not associate with the wealthy as if they were superior, share everything with those in need. 'Do not reach out your hand to receive and withdraw it when it comes to giving,' the text instructs. These are practical community ethics, grounded in mutual obligation.

The contrast between the sophisticated allegorical theology of the main text and the simple ethical instruction of the Two Ways section has led some scholars to suggest they were originally separate documents that were combined by a later editor. Whether or not this is the case, the combination tells us something about early Christian communities: they needed both theology and practical ethics, both cosmic interpretation and daily guidance.

Historical Context: The Split Between Judaism and Christianity

The Epistle of Barnabas was written during one of the most tumultuous periods in Jewish-Christian relations. The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE had demolished the center of Jewish worship and forced both Jews and Christians to reimagine their relationship with God. The Bar Kokhba revolt of 132-135 CE further deepened the division.

For Jews, the destruction of the Temple led to the development of rabbinic Judaism — a tradition centered on Torah study, synagogue worship, and the authority of rabbis rather than priests. For Christians, the same event was interpreted as divine judgment on Judaism and vindication of the Christian message. Barnabas makes this argument explicitly, reading the Temple's destruction as proof that God had rejected Jewish worship.

The Epistle of Barnabas thus documents the process of separation in real time. It is not a text written from a position of established Christian identity — it is a text written by a community that is actively constructing its identity by defining itself against Judaism. The vehemence of its anti-Jewish rhetoric is partly a measure of how close the two communities still were.

Why Barnabas Matters for Understanding Early Christianity

The Epistle of Barnabas is not comfortable reading. Its treatment of Judaism is hostile, its allegorical method can seem arbitrary, and its theological conclusions are extreme. But it is invaluable for understanding how early Christianity developed — how a movement that began within Judaism came to define itself as something fundamentally separate.

The text also demonstrates how dramatically different early Christian approaches to the Old Testament could be. Paul argued that the law was good but insufficient. Matthew argued that Jesus fulfilled the law. Marcion (slightly later) would argue the Old Testament should be abandoned entirely. Barnabas occupies a unique position: the Old Testament is essential — but only if read as Christian allegory.

For anyone seeking to understand the full range of early Christian thought about Jesus and his relationship to Jewish tradition, the Epistle of Barnabas is a critical text. It is one of 43 ancient sources that preserve different facets of the Jesus movement. Explore them all at originaljesus.io, where an AI trained on every surviving text helps you understand what the earliest Christians actually argued, believed, and fought about.