It appears that the wife of Pilate was not regarded as a Jew, but as a pious woman who followed the faith. Secondly, what does it mean that a prominent gentile woman in Judea followed the religion not of her ancestors, but of the land in which she resided? Did that make her “Jewish”? He might have just seen himself as a reformer of Judaism and a messenger from G-d Himself. What can the tradition of Claudia Procula teach us about Judaism? For one, the Acts of Pilate’s proclamation that Claudia, like Jesus, seems to be a member of the Jewish religion implies that Jesus didn’t see himself as the founder of a new religion. Still, though, she would represent one of the earlier gentile followers of Jesus if she, indeed, did believe in his message. However, Claudia is noticeably not called a “Jew,” perhaps because she is not a member of the Jewish ethnic people. In the Acts of Pilate, Pilate calls his wife “a worshipper of G-d” who “adheres to the Jewish religion.” Presumably, the reason she tries to exonerate Jesus, then, is because she sees him as a fellow worshipper of G-d. Although the later version is the only extant copy, the Acts of Pilate did exist earlier. Some later traditions even portrayed her as a “secret disciple of Jesus.”Īpocryphal Christian texts like the Acts of Pilate - a fifth-century writing - elaborate on Pilate’s wife’s role.

Still, why is this particular woman assigned such an important position in later Christian tradition? According to New Advent, the Abyssianian or Coptic Egyptian Church recognizes her and her husband as saints. While Pilate was in judgment, “his wife sent word to him, ‘Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him'” (Matthew 27:19).Īlthough she is unnamed in Matthew, tradition assigns Pilate’s wife the name of “Claudia Procula.” Matthew’s portrayal of Claudia might draw on the prototypical image of a noble pagan woman intervening for a Jewish cause, say some scholars.

The Gospel of Matthew, Pilate’s wife, who remains unnamed, pleads with her husband for Jesus’’ innocence. the days of yore, and how people qualified their Judaism in the time of Jesus. As a religion major fascinated by ancient history, I started researching this figure and what I found made me wonder about the Judaism of today vs. I recently came across Pilate’s Wife, a novel by Antoinette May about the wife of Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea who allegedly prosecuted Jesus.

Pilate's Wife by Antoinette May