ABSTRACT
The Latin Vision of St. Paul was strongly influenced by Greek ideas of the afterlife, as included in the third-century Greek version of the vision, the Apocalypse of Paul. The starting point of the legend is the raptus of Paul (2 Corinthians 12.1–5). It was based initially on the apocalypses of Peter, Zephaniah, and Elias, and the Book of Enoch. It dates from the late fourth century. This vision was a popular work with versions in almost every European language, including Italian, Provencal, Old French, Danish, and Anglo-Saxon and Middle English, German, and Anglo-Norman, with earlier versions in Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopic. From the Latin text was made a French version by Adam de Ros and thence translations into various European tongues. There are eleven Latin redactions with over fifty extant mss. Vernacular versions derive mostly from Redaction IV. The work has a great influence of later visions and is often referred to.
