Other traditions have bestowed other names: Two men were crucified at the same time as Jesus, one on his right and one on his left,[10] which the Gospel of Mark interprets as fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12 ("And he was numbered with the transgressors").

Epiphanius—followed by Ambrose of Milan and Augustine of Hippo—contended that Mark and Matthew, for the sake of concision, employed a figure of speech called syllepsis whereby the plural was used to indicate the singular.

[14] Later commentators, such as Frederic Farrar, have drawn attention to the difference between the Greek words used: "The two first Synoptists tell us that both the robbers during an early part of the hours of crucifixion reproached Jesus (ὠνείδιζον), but we learn from St Luke that only one of them used injurious and insulting language to Him (ἐβλασφήμει).

"[15] The phrase translated "Amen, I say to you, today you will be in paradise" in Luke 23:43 ("Ἀμήν σοι λέγω σήμερον μετ’ ἐμοῦ ἔσῃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ.

"[16] Amén soi légo sémeron met' emoû ése en tôi paradeísoi) is disputed in a minority of versions and commentaries.

[18][19][20] According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commentary on John 18:40, the term commonly translated as thief – léstés[23] – can also mean "a guerrilla warrior fighting for nationalistic aims.

"[24] Luke's unnamed penitent thief was later assigned the name Dismas in an early Greek recension of the Acta Pilati and the Latin Gospel of Nicodemus, portions of which may be dated to the late fourth century.

In the Roman Martyrology, the following entry is given: "Commemoration of the holy thief in Jerusalem who confessed to Christ and canonized him by Jesus himself[26] on the cross at that moment and merited to hear from him: 'Today you will be with me in Paradise.'"

The Synaxarion offers this couplet in his honor: Eden's locked gates the Thief has opened wide, By putting in the key, "Remember me."

Here the good thief is apparently located to the right side of Jesus, similar to the famous late sixth-century depiction of the crucifixion in the Rabbula Gospels.

In medieval art, St Dismas is often depicted as accompanying Jesus in the Harrowing of Hell as related in 1 Peter 3:19–20 and the Apostles' Creed (though neither text mentions the thief).

In Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, the main characters Vladimir and Estragon briefly discuss the inconsistencies between the Four Evangelists' accounts of the penitent and impenitent thieves.

A comic showing his backstory (as well the descriptions of some items in the game) imply that he is attempting to redeem himself after killing an innocent woman and her child.

A special achievement is granted if both starting characters reach the game's final challenge, fittingly titled "On the old road, we found redemption."

In the 1967 romantic comedy caper film Fitzwilly, butler mastermind Claude Fitzwilliam (Dick Van Dyke) and his larcenous staff operate St. Dismas Thrift Shoppe in Philadelphia, a fictional charity where they send and store their stolen loot.

In the 2022 film Clerks III, Elias mentions the Good Thief multiple times, quoting him as saying "Jesus did no wrong, whereas we are but thieves".

In Poul Anderson's Technic History (a science fiction story cycle), Nicholas van Rijn (2376 to c. 2500), CEO of Solar Spice and Liquors keeps a Martian sandroot statue of Saint Dismas, to whom he frequently burns candles.