Gestas, also spelled Gesmas, is the apocryphal name (first appearing in the Gospel of Nicodemus) given to one of the two thieves who was crucified alongside Jesus. According to the Gospels, Gestas taunted Jesus about not saving himself, while Dismas asked for mercy. Dismas was saved, and Gestas was not. Gestas was on the cross to the the left of Jesus and Dismas was on the cross to the right of Jesus. In Jacobus de Voragine's "Golden Legend" his name given as Gesmas.
The apocryphal Arabic Infancy Gospel refers to Gestas and Dismas as Dumachus and Titus, respectively. According to tradition, Dumachus was one of a band of robbers who attacked Saint Joseph and the Holy Family on their Flight into Egypt as recorded in Longfellow 's "Golden Legend"[1].
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
- The Short story "An afternoon on Skull Hill" by Tom Wessex, conjectures that Gestas was the illegitimate son of Pontius Pilate, and, the real utterer of the words "Forgive them father, for they know not what they do". *
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