Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea, called Joseph of Rametha in the Cave of Treasures, was a councillor and the brother of Nicodemus and Cleophas. The book says he carried the seal-ring of Pilate and had free access to him, so he went in and asked for the body of Christ. Pilate gave it to him, together with the garden in which the tomb stood.
Joseph took the body down from the Cross, removed the inscription Pilate had written in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, and buried Christ in a new tomb which, the book says, had been made for Joshua the son of Nun. With Nicodemus and Cleophas he laid the stone before the door. After the resurrection the three are called true and faithful brethren.
Biography
- Occupation
- Councillor
- Era
- Roman Judea
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Joseph in Cave of Treasures 78
The Cave of Treasures 78:1
And know thou also that Christ dwelt in Mary, and suffered in Nazareth, and was born in Bethlehem, and was laid in a man...
1nd know thou also that Christ dwelt in Mary, and suffered in Nazareth, and was born in Bethlehem, and was laid in a manger, and was carried by Simeon in the Temple of Solomon, and was reared in Galilee, and was anointed by Mary Magdalene, and ate the Passover in the house of Nicodemus, the brother of Joseph of Rametha, and was bound in the house of Hannan, and was struck with a reed in the house of Caiaphas, and embraced the pillar and was scourged with a whip in the Pratorium of Pilate, and on Friday, on the first day of Nisán (April), on the fourteenth day of the moon, our Redeemer suffered.
Joseph in Cave of Treasures 81
The Cave of Treasures 81:1
And when the end of all the Law and the Prophets had come, and Christ was hanging on the Cross, Joseph, the brother of N...
1nd when the end of all the Law and the Prophets had come, and Christ was hanging on the Cross, Joseph, the brother of Nicodemus and Cleophas, went in to Pilate—now he was the bearer of the seal-ring of Pilate, and was a councillor, and had free intercourse with him— and asked for the body of our Redeemer; and Pilate commanded that it should be given to him.
Joseph in Cave of Treasures 82
The Cave of Treasures 82:3
And the saying of the Apostle, “that rock was Christ” (I Cor. x. 4) is true and well worthy of belief. Joseph was a coun...
3nd the saying of the Apostle, “that rock was Christ” (I Cor. x. 4) is true and well worthy of belief. Joseph was a councillor in Ramtha, Nicodemus was a teacher of the Lawin Jerusalem, and Cleophas was the recorder of the Hebrews in ‘Amáós. Nicodemus prepared everything which was required for the Passover in the Upper Chamber; and Joseph made Him ready for burial and buried Him in his own inheritance, and Cleophas received Him into his house. And when He had risen from the dead these men became to Him true and faithful brethren.
Joseph in Cave of Treasures 83
The Cave of Treasures 83:1
And when Joseph brought Him down from the Cross, he took away that inscription which was spread out above His head, that...
1nd when Joseph brought Him down from the Cross, he took away that inscription which was spread out above His head, that is to say, over the head of the Cross of Christ, because it had been written by Pilate in Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew. And why did Pilate write in it no word of the Syrians? Because the Syrians participated in no way whatsoever in the [shedding of the] blood of Christ.
Did You Know?
The Cave of Treasures calls him Joseph of Rametha and makes him the brother of Nicodemus and Cleophas.
He was from Jerusalem but had been made a councillor in Ramtha, and he carried Pilate's seal-ring.
The garden with the grave was his inheritance, given to him by Phinehas the Levite, the son of his uncle.
When he took the body down he also removed the inscription Pilate had set over the head of the Cross.
He buried Christ in a new tomb that the book says had been made for Joshua the son of Nun.