The important fragment of which Mr. J. Armitage Robinson’s translation here follows was discovered by the French Archaeological Mission, Cairo, in a grave (supposed to be a monk’s) in an ancient cemetery at Akhmîm (Panopolis), in Upper Egypt, in 1886. It was published in 1892 under the care of M. Bouriant in vol. ix., fasc. i., of the Memoirs of the French Archaeological Mission at Cairo. The same parchment which contained this fragment also contained a fragment of the Revelation of Peter and a fragment of the Book of Enoch in Greek. The parchment codex is assigned to a date between the eighth and the twelfth century.

Before this discovery the following is all that was known of the Gospel of Peter:

1. Serapion, Bishop of Antioch 190-203, writing to the church at Rhossus, says (Eusebius, H. E., vi., 12, 2): “We, brethren, receive Peter and the other Apostles even as Christ; but the writings that go falsely by their names we, in our experience, reject, knowing that such things as these we never received. When I was with you I supposed you all to be attached to the right faith; and so without going through the gospel put forward under Peter’s name, I said, ‘If this is all that makes your petty quarrel,1 why then let it be read.’ But now that I have learned from information given me that their mind was lurking in some hole of heresy, I will make a point of coming to you again: so, brethren, expect me speedily. Knowing then, brethren, of what kind of heresy was Marcion – [Here follows a sentence where the text is faulty.]…From others who used this very gospel – I mean from the successors of those who started it, whom we call Docetae; for most of its ideas are of their school-from them, I say, I borrowed it, and was able to go through it, and to find that most of it belonged to the right teaching of the Saviour, but some things were additions.” From this we learn that a Gospel of Peter was in use in the church of Rhossus in the end of the second century, but that controversy had arisen as to its character, which, on a careful examination, Serapion condemned.

2. Origen (†  253 AD.), in commenting on Mat_10:17, says: “But, proceeding on the tradition that is recorded in the Gospel according to Peter or in the Book of James, they say that there are certain brothers of Jesus, the sons of Joseph by a former wife, who lived with him before Mary.”

3. Eusebius (H. E., iii., 3, 2) says: “As to that work, however, which is ascribed to him, called ‘The Acts,’ and ‘The Gospel according to Peter,’ and that called ‘The Preaching and the Revelations of Peter,’ we know nothing of their being handed down as Catholic writings; since neither among the ancient nor the ecclesiastical writers of our own day has there been one that has appealed to testimony taken from them.” And in H. E., iii., 25, 6 sq:, he includes the Gospel of Peter among the forged heretical gospels – “ those that are adduced by the heretics under the name of the apostles,… of which no one of those writers in the ecclesiastical succession has condescended to make any mention in his works; and, indeed, the character of the style itself is very different from that of the apostles; and the sentiments, and the purport of those things that are advanced in them, deviating as far as possible from sound orthodoxy, evidently proves they are the fictions of heretical men; whence they are not only to be ranked among the spurious writings, but are to be rejected as altogether absurd and impious.” It is, however, uncertain whether Eusebius himself was acquainted with the Gospel of Peter.

4. Theodoret (†  c. 455), in his Religious History, ii., 2, says that the Nazarenes used “the gospel called ‘according to Peter’” Later references in Western literature, e.g., Jerome, De vir. ill, i., and the Decretum Gelasianum, condemning the book, are based upon the judgement of Eusebius, and not upon direct knowledge (cf. Harnack, Geschichte der altchristl. Lit., I. Th., p. 11).

This was all that was known of the Gospel of Peter till the publication of the Akhmîm fragment. The latter extends to about 174 stichi, counting 32 words to the stichus. It begins in the middle of the history of the Passion, just after Pilate has washed his hands of all responsibility, and ends in the middle of a sentence, with the departure of the disciples into Galilee at the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, exactly a week after the crucifixion, the ostensible author, Peter, and Andrew, his brother, taking their nets and going to the sea; “and there was with us Levi the son of Alphaeus, whom the Lord…

The accompanying Synoptical Table shows where the Petrine narrative agrees with and where it varies from those supplied by the canonical gospels. Of that part of the Passion history which it narrates, it gives an account which follows the main lines of the canonical tradition, but with important variations in detail. Of the events between the burial and the resurrection of our Lord, its account is much more ample and detailed than anything in the canonical tradition.

Harnack (Texte und Untersuchungen, ix., 2, 2d ed., p.76) gives the following list of new traits contained in the Petrine account of the history of the Passion and burial:

 

1 Herod was the judge who condemned Jesus, and to him application had to be made for the body.

2 The Jews, Herod, and the judges would not wash their hands, and Pilate then raised the sitting.

3 Joseph was the friend of Pilate (sec. 2).

4 Joseph begged for the body before the crucifixion, and Pilate sent for permission from Herod.

5 The soldiers “pushed him as they ran,” and their speech (sec. 3).

6 The mockery of the soldiers.

7 Mocking speech.

8 “As though having no pain” (sec. 4).

9 “Having placed his garments before him.”

10 One of the malefactors blamed the multitude, and his speech.

11 The legs of either the malefactor or Jesus were not broken, in order that he might die in torment.

12 The gall and vinegar (sec. 5).

13 In the darkness many went about with lamps, and fell down.

14 The cry, “My power, my power.”

15 The fact that when he had so cried Christ was taken up.

16 Mention of the nails in the hands at the taking down from the cross (sec. 6).

17 The earthquake when the body touched the ground.

18 The joy of the Jews when the sun shone again.

19 Joseph “had seen all the good things” that the Lord had done.

20 Joseph washed the body.

21 The cries of woe of the Jews and their leaders over their sins, and their expectation of the judgement on Jerusalem (sec. 7).

22 The disciples remained in concealment, full of grief, and fasted and wept till the Sabbath.

23 They were searched for as malefactors and as anxious to burn the temple.

24 The name of the centurion of the watch-Petronius (sec 8).

25 The centurion, the soldiers, and the elders rolled up the stone.

26 The elders also watched at the grave.

27 Seven seals were placed on the stone.

28 A tent pitched for the watch.

29 The gathering of the multitude on the morning of the Sabbath to view the sealed grave (sec. 9).

 

The whole narrative of the resurrection is so different from that of the canonical gospels that it would be useless to go into details; but it is important to notice the prominence assigned to Mary Magdalene, and:

 

1 That the women fled from the grave and did not see the Lord (sec. 12).

2 That there is no account of any appearance of Christ for the first eight days after his death (sec. 13).

3 That the disciples, along with the rest of those who had taken part in the feast, returned home to Galilee on the seventh day of unleavened bread.

4 That they were then sad, and wept.

5 That the first appearance of Jesus must have taken place on the Lake of Gennesaret, either to Peter alone, or to Peter, Andrew, and Levi (Matthew), while fishing.

 

Moreover, according to section 13 (see sec. 5), the author puts the resurrection and ascension on the same day, or, rather, did not know of the latter as a separate event. He makes the angel say, “He is risen and gone away thither whence he was sent.”

Whether the author used any other sources than the canonical gospels is a matter still in doubt. He is certainly influenced by views which are foreign to these gospels, and which are known from other quarters in early Christian literature. As between the Synoptists and the Fourth Gospel, the narrator is generally more closely akin both in matter and in manner to the Synoptists, but he agrees with the author of the Fourth Gospel in regard to the chronology of the crucifixion and several of the events at the cross, and in his general attitude towards the Jews and Pilate. With regard to the last two points, the Petrine Gospel seems to present a later and more exaggerated form of the tendency perceptible in the Johannine, and fully worked out in the Acts of Pilate, to blame the Jews and exculpate Pilate.

Of the new features in this fragment some are at least liable to a Docetic interpretation, e.g., the silence on the cross “as though he had no pain” (sec. 4), the cry, “My power, my power “ (sec. 5), and “he was taken up” (sec. 5). This fact was recognised in subsequent times and condemned this gospel in the eye of the church. The date of the work is variously fixed by different scholars; Harnack assigns it to the first quarter of the second century, while Mr. Armitage Robinson and other scholars place it later.

 

Footnotes

 

1 Παρέχειν μικροψυχίαν, perhaps “causes you ill-feeling.” The translation of Serapion’s letter with this note is taken from Mr. Armitage Robinson’s edition of the gospel.

The Gospel According to Peter.*

1 But of the Jews none washed his hands, neither Herod nor any one of his judges. And when they had refused to wash them, Pilate rose up. And then Herod the king commandeth that the Lord be taken,1 saying to them, What things soever I commanded you to do unto him, do.

2 And there was standing there Joseph the friend of Pilate and of the Lord; and, knowing that they were about to crucify2 him, he came to Pilate and asked the body of the Lord for burial. And Pilate sent to Herod and asked his body. And Herod said, Brother Pilate, even if no one had asked for him, we purposed to bury him, especially as the sabbath draweth on:3 for it is written in the law, that the sun set not upon one that hath been put to death.

3 And he delivered him to the people on the day before the unleavened bread, their feast. And they took the Lord and pushed him as they ran, and said, Let us drag away the Son of God, having obtained power over him. And they clothed him with purple, and set him on the seat of judgement, saying, Judge righteously, O king of Israel. And one of them brought a crown of thorns and put it on the head of the Lord. And others stood and spat in his eyes, and others smote his cheeks: others pricked him with a reed; and some scourged him, saying, With this honour let us honour the Son of God.

4 And they brought two malefactors, and they crucified the Lord between them. But he held his peace, as though having no pain. And when they had raised the cross, they wrote the title: This is the king of Israel. And having set his garments before him they parted them among them, and cast lots for them. And one of those malefactors reproached them, saying, We for the evils that we have done have suffered thus, but this man, who hath become the Saviour of men, what wrong hath he done to you? And they, being angered at him, commanded that his legs should not be broken, that he might die in torment.

5 And it was noon, and darkness came over all Judaea: and they were troubled and distressed, lest the sun had set, whilst he was yet alive: [for] it is written for them, that the sun set not on him that hath been put to death. And one of them said, Give him to drink gall with vinegar. And they mixed and gave him to drink, and fulfilled all things, and accomplished their sins against their own head. And many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night, and fell down.4 And the Lord cried out, saying, My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me. And when he had said it he was taken up. And in that hour the vail of the temple of Jerusalem was rent in twain.5

6 And then they drew out the nails from the hands of the Lord, and laid him upon the earth, and the whole earth quaked, and great fear arose. Then the sun shone, and it was found the ninth hour: and the Jews rejoiced, and gave his body to Joseph that he might bury it, since he had seen what good things he had done. And he took the Lord, and washed him, and rolled him in a linen cloth, and brought him into his own tomb, which was called the Garden of Joseph.

7 Then the Jews and the elders and the priests, perceiving what evil they had done to themselves, began to lament and to say, Woe for our sins: the judgement hath drawn nigh, and the end of Jerusalem. And I with my companions was grieved; and being wounded in mind we hid ourselves: for we were being sought for by them as malefactors, and as wishing to set fire to the temple. And upon all these things we fasted and sat mourning and weeping night and day until the sabbath.

8 But the scribes and Pharisees and elders being gathered together one with another, when they heard that all the people murmured and beat their breasts saying, If by his death these most mighty signs have come to pass, see how righteous he is, – the eiders were afraid and came to Pilate, beseeching him and saying, Give us soldiers, that we may guard his sepulchre for three days, lest his disciples come and steal him away, and the people suppose that he is risen from the dead and do us evil. And Pilate gave them Petronius the centurion with soldiers to guard the tomb. And with them came elders and scribes to the sepulchre, and having rolled a great stone together with6 the centurion and the soldiers, they all together who were there set it at the door of the sepulchre; and they affixed seven seals, and they pitched a tent there and guarded it. And early in the morning as the sabbath was drawing on, there came a multitude from Jerusalem and the region round about, that they might see the sepulchre that was sealed.

9 And in the night in which the Lord’s day was drawing on, as the soldiers kept guard two by two in a watch, there was a great voice in the heaven; and they saw the heavens opened, and two men descend from thence with great light and approach the tomb. And that stone which was put at the door rolled of itself and made way in part; and the tomb was opened, and both the young men entered in.

10 When therefore those soldiers saw it, they awakened the centurion and the elders; for they too were hard by keeping guard. And, as they declared what things they had seen, again they see three men come forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one, and a cross following them: and of the two the head reached unto the heaven, but the head of him that was led by them overpassed the heavens. And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, Thou hast preached to them that sleep. And a response was heard from the cross, Yea.

11 They therefore considered one with another whether to go away and shew these things to Pilate. And while they yet thought thereon, the heavens again are seen to open, and a certain man to descend and enter into the sepulchre. When the centurion and they that were with him saw these things, they hastened in the night to Pilate, leaving the tomb which they were watching, and declared all things which they had seen, being greatly distressed and saying, Truly he was the Son of God. Pilate answered and said, I am pure from the blood of the Son of God: but it was ye who determined this. Then they all drew near and besought him and entreated him to command the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing of the things which they had seen: For it is better, say they, for us to be guilty of the greatest sin before God, and not to fall into the hands of the people of the Jews and to be stoned. Pilate therefore commanded the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing.

12 And at dawn upon the Lord’s day Mary Magdalen, a disciple of the Lord, fearing because of the Jews, since they were burning with wrath, had not done at the Lord’s sepulchre the things which women are wont to do for those that die and for those that are beloved by them – she took her friends with her and came to the sepulchre where he was laid. And they feared lest the Jews should see them, and they said, Although on that day on which he was crucified we could not weep and lament, yet now let us do these things at his sepulchre. But who shall roll away for us the stone that was laid at the door of the sepulchre, that we may enter in and sit by him and do the things that are due? For the stone was great, and we fear lest some one see us. And if we cannot, yet if we but set at the door the things which we bring for a memorial of him, we will weep and lament, until we come unto our home.

13 And they went and found the tomb opened, and coming near they looked in there; and they see there a certain young man sitting in the midst of the tomb, beautiful and clothed in a robe exceeding bright: who said to them, Wherefore are ye come? Whom seek ye? Him that was crucified?7 He is risen and gone. But if ye believe not, look in and see the place where he lay, that he is not [here]; for he is risen and gone thither, whence he was sent. Then the women feared and fled.

14 Now it was the last day of the unleavened bread, and many were going forth, returning to their homes, as the feast was ended. But we, the twelve disciples of the Lord, wept and were grieved: and each one, being grieved for that which was come to pass, departed to his home. But I Simon Peter and Andrew my brother took our nets and went to the sea; and there was with us Levi the son of Alphaeus, whom the Lord …

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

* Note. – This translation is based in that which I published in The Gospel and Apocalypse of Peter: Two Lectures, etc. (Camb., 1892). It is now carefully revised in accordance with the photographic facsimile. A corrected Greek text will be found in Dr. Swete’s edition (1893).

1 Παρ [αλημ] φθῆναι is perhaps supported by παραλαβόντες, Mat_24:27.

2 I know no other instance of σταυρίσκειν.

3 cf. Joh_19:31, where Syr. Pesch. reads: “They say, These bodies shall not remain on the cross, because the sabbath dawneth.”

4 The text here is corrupt: for ἐπέσαντο I have provisionally read ἔπεσάν τε.

5 For αὐτὸς ὥρας we must read αὐτῆς ὥρας cf. Clem., Hom., xx., 16; αὐτὴ is the equivalent in later Greek literature of ὲκείνη, as in the modern tongue (cf. Lc. X. 7, 21, and xii. 12; || ὲκείνη, Mt., Mc.).

6 I have ventured to substitute μετὰ, “together with” (cf. Mat_27:66), for κατὰ, “down upon.” Dr. Swete, however, keeps κατὰ, and interprets it as “against,” i.e., to guard the sepulchre against.

7 The form of the question in the Greek suggests a negative answer.

Synoptical Table of the Four Canonical Gospels and the Gospel According to Peter.

Mat_27:1-66 Mar_15:1-47 Luk_23:1-56 Joh_19:1-42 The Gospel According to Peter    

Mat_27:24   

Mat_27:25 2 cf. Luk_23:7 3 cf. Luk_22:66; Act_4:27 1 cf. John passim 1 But of the Jews1 none washed his hands, neither Herod2 nor any one of his judges.3 2 And when they had refused to wash them, Pilate rose up. And then Herod the king commandeth that the Lord be taken, saying to them, What things soever I commanded you to do unto him, do.   

cf. Mat_27:57 cf. Mar_15:43 cf. Mar_15:42 cf. Luk_23:50 4 cf. Luk_23:12 cf. Joh_19:38 cf. Joh_19:31 3 And there was come there Joseph the friend of Pilate and of the Lord; and, knowing that they were about to crucify him, he came to Pilate and asked the body of the Lord for burial. 4 And Pilate sent to Herod and asked his body. 5 And Herod said, Brother4 Pilate, even if no one had asked for him, we purposed to bury him, especially as the sabbath draweth on: for it is written in the law, that the sun set not upon one that hath been put to death. And he delivered him to the people on the day before the unleavened bread, their feast.   

Mat_27:26 Mar_15:15 Luk_23:24-25 Joh_19:16   

6 And they took the Lord and pushed him as they ran, and said, Let us drag away the Son of God, having obtained power over him.   

Mat_27:27-30 Mar_15:16-19 7 And they clothed him with purple, and set him on the seat of judgement, saying, Judge righteously, O King of Israel. 8 And one of them brought a crown of thorns and put it on the head of the Lord. 9 And others stood and spat in his eyes, and others smote his cheeks: others pricked him with a reed; and some scourged him, saying, With this honour let us honour the Son of God.   

Mat_27:31-32 Mar_15:20-21 Luk_23:26   

Luk_23:27-32   

Mat_27:33-35 Mar_15:22-23 Luk_23:33 Joh_19:17-18 10 And they brought two malefactors, and the crucified the Lord between them.   

But he held his peace, as though having no pain.   

Mat_27:35-36 Mar_15:24-25 cf. Joh_19:23, Joh_19:24 11 And when they had raised the cross, they wrote upon it, This is the King of Israel. 12 And having set his garments before him, they parted them among them, and cast lots for them.   

Luk_23:34-37   

Mat_27:37-43 Mar_15:26-32 Luk_23:38 Joh_19:19-22 cf. The Gospel According to Peter, v 11.   

cf. Mat_27:35 cf. Mar_15:24 Joh_19:23-24 cf. The Gospel According to Peter, v 12.   

Mat_27:44 Mar_15:32 Luk_23:39   

Luk_23:40-43 13 And one of the malefactors reproached them, saying, We for the evils that we have done have suffered thus, but this man, who hath become the Saviour of men, what wrong hath he done to you?   

14 And they, being angered at him, commanded that his legs should not be broken, that he might die in torment.   

Joh_19:25-27   

Mat_27:45 Mar_15:33 Luk_23:44 15 And it was noon, and darkness came over all Judaea:   

and they were troubled and distressed, lest the sun had set, whilst he was yet alive: [for] it is written for them, and that the sun set not on him that had been put to death.   

Mat_27:46-47 Mar_15:34-35 Joh_19:28   

Mat_27:48-49 Mar_15:36 Joh_19:29 16 And one of them said, Give him to drink gall with vinegar. And they mixed and gave him to drink, 17 and fulfilled and accomplished their sins against their own head.   

Mat_27:50 Mar_15:37 Luk_23:46 Joh_19:30 18 And many went about with lamps, supposing it was night, and fell down. 19 And the Lord cried out, saying, My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me. And when he had said it he was take up.   

Mat_27:51 Mar_15:38 20 And in that hour the vail of the temple of Jerusalem was rent in twain.   

Mat_27:51-53 Joh_19:31-37   

Mat_27:54-56 Mar_15:39-41 Luk_23:47-49   

21 And then drew out nails from the hands of the Lord, and laid him upon the earth, and the whole earth quaked, and great fear arose. 22 Then the sun shone, and it was found the ninth hour: 23 and the Jews rejoiced, and   

Mat_27:57-58 Mar_15:42-43 Luk_23:50-52 Joh_19:38   

Mar_15:44   

Mar_15:45 gave his body to Joseph that he might bury it,   

since he had seen what good things he had done.   

Joh_19:39   

Mat_27:59-61 Mar_15:46-47 Luk_23:53-56 Joh_19:40-41 24 And he took the Lord, and wash him, and wrapped him in a linen cloth, and brought him into his own tomb, which was called the Garden of Joseph.   

25 Then the Jews and the elders and the priests, perceiving what evil they had done to themselves, began to lament and to say, Woe for our sins: the judgement hath drawn nigh, and the end of Jerusalem. 26 And I with my companions was grieved; and being wounded in mind we hid ourselves: for we were being sought for by them as malefactors, and as wishing to set fire to the temple.   

1cf. Mat_9:15 1 cf. Mar_2:20 2 cf. Mar_16:10 27 And upon all these things we fasted1 and sat mourning2 and weeping2 night and day until the sabbath.   

Mat_27:62 28 But the scribes and Pharisees and elders being gathered together one with another, when they heard that all the people murmured and beat their breasts, saying, If by his death these most mighty signs have come to pass, see how just he is, – 29 the elders were afraid and   

Mat_27:62-64 came to Pilate, beseeching him and saying, 30 Give us soldiers, that we may guard his sepulchre for three days, lest his disciples come and steal him away, and the people suppose that he is risen from the dead and do us evil.   

Mat_27:65 31 And Pilate gave them Petronius the centurion with soldiers to guard the tomb. And with them came the elders and scribes to the sepulchre,   

32 And having rolled a great stone together with the centurion and the soldiers, they all together who were there set it at the door of the sepulchre;   

Mat_27:66 33 And they affixed seven seals, and they pitched a tent there and guarded it.   

34 And early in the morning as the sabbath was drawing on, there came a multitude from Jerusalem and the region round about, that they might see the sepulchre that was sealed. 35 And in the night in which the Lord’s day was drawing on, as the soldiers kept guard two by two in a watch, there was a great voice in the heaven; 36 and they saw the heavens opened, and two men descend from thence with great light and approach the tomb. 37 And that stone which was put at the door rolled of itself and made way in part; and the tomb was opened, and both the young men entered in. 38 When therefore those soldiers saw it, they awakened the centurion and the elders, – for they too were hard by keeping guard; 39 and, as they declared what things they had seen, again they see three men coming forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one, and a cross following them. 40 And of the two the head reached unto the heaven, but the head of him that was led by them overpassed the heavens. 41 And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, Hast thou preached to them that sleep? 42 And a response was heard from the cross, Yea. 43 They therefore considered one with another whether to go away and shew these things to Pilate. 44 And while they yet thought thereon, the heavens again are seen to open, and a certain man to descend and enter into the sepulchre. 45 When the centurion and they that were with him saw these things, they hastened in the night to Pilate, leaving the tomb which they were   

cf. Mat_26:24 watching, and declared all things which they had seen, being greatly distressed and saying, Truly he was the Son of God. 46 Pilate answered and said, I am pure from the blood of the Son of God: but ye determined this. 47 Then they all drew near and besought him and entreated him to command the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing of the things which they had seen: 48 For it is better, say they, for us to incur the greatest sin before God, and not to fall into the hands of the people of the Jews and to be stoned. 49 Pilate therefore commanded the centurion and the soldiers to say nothing.   

Mat_28:1 Mar_16:1-2 Luk_24:1 Joh_20:1 50 And at dawn upon the Lord’s day, Mary Magdalen, a disciple of the Lord, fearing because of the Jews, since they were burning with wrath, had not done at the Lord’s sepulchre the things which the women are wont to do for those that die and for those that are beloved by them – 51 she took her friends with her and came to the sepulchre where he was laid.   

52 And they feared lest the Jews should see them, and they said, Although on the day on which he was crucified we could not weep and lament, yet now let us do these things at his sepulchre.   

Mar_16:3 53 But who shall roll away for us the stone that was laid at the door of the sepulchre, that we may enter in and sit by him and do the things that are due? 54 For the stone was great, and we fear lest some one see us. And if we cannot, yet if we but set at the door the things which we bring for a memorial of him, we will weep and lament, until we come unto our home.   

Mat_28:2   

Mat_28:2 Mar_16:4 Luk_24:2 Joh_20:1 55 And they went away and found the tomb opened,   

Mar_16:5 Luk_24:3-4 and coming near they looked in there;   

Mat_28:3 Mar_16:5 Luk_24:4-5 and they see a certain young man sitting in the midst of the tomb, beautiful and clothed in a robe exceeding bright;   

Mat_28:4   

Mat_28:5-7 Mar_16:6-7 Luk_24:5-8 who said to them, 56 Wherefore are ye come? Whom seek ye? Him that was crucified? He is risen and gone. But if ye believe not, look in and see the place where he lay, that he is not [here]; for he is risen and gone away thither, whence he was sent.   

Mat_28:8 Mar_16:8 Luk_24:9 57 Then the women feared and fled.   

Levi, etc; cf. Mar_2:14 58 Now it was the last day of the unleavened bread, and many were going forth, returning to their homes, as the feast was ended. 59 But we, the twelve disciples of the Lord, mourned and were grieved: and each one, being grieved for that which was come to pass, departed to his home. 60 But I, Simon Peter and Andrew my brother, took our nets and went to the sea; and there was with us Levi the son of Alphaeus, whom the Lord…  

The aim of the following introductory paragraphs is neither to furnish a detailed restatement of facts already known, nor to offer an independent contribution to the discussion of the problems that arise, although in other circumstances such an attempt might be made with advantage. All that is needed and practicable here is to describe briefly, if possible, the nature of the connection between the English treatise forming the next part of this volume and the ancient work known as the Diatessaron of Tatian; and then to indicate in a few words some of the more important or interesting features of the work itself, and some of the historical and other problems that are in one way or another connected with it.

 

1 The Text Translated. — What is offered to the reader is a translation into English of an Arabic text, published at Rome in 1888, in a volume entitled in Arabic Diatessaron, which Titianus Compiled from the Four Gospels, with the alternative Latin title, Tatiani Evangeliorum Harmonioe, Arabice. The Roman volume consists of two parts — the text, covering a little over 209 very clearly printed Arabic pages, and a Latin half, comprising a scholarly introduction (pp. v.-xv.), a Latin translation (pp. 1-99), and a table showing the order in which the passages taken from the gospels occur in the text. The editor is P. Agostino Ciasca, a well-known Orientalist, “scriptor” at the Vatican Library.

 

2 Former Translations. — In his Introduction (p. xiv. f.) Ciasca explains that in his translation he aimed at preserving quantum, salva fidelitate, integrum fuit, indolem stylumque Clementinoe Vulgatoe. This Latin version was in its turn translated into English by the Rev. J. Hamlyn Hill, B.D., and published in 1894 in a volume entitled The Earliest Life of Christ, with an interesting introduction and a number of valuable appendices. The ms. of Mr. Hill’s translation of the Latin of Ciasca was compared with the Arabic original by Mr. G. Buchanan Gray, M.A., lecturer in Hebrew and the Old Testament in Mansfield College, Oxford.

 

3 The Present Translation. — The translation offered here is quite independent of either of these two. Ciasca’s Latin was seldom consulted, except when it was thought the Arabic might perhaps be obscured by a misprint. After the translation was completed, Hill’s English was compared with it to transfer Mr. Hill’s valuable system of references to the margin of this work, and to lessen the risk of oversights passing the last revision unnoticed. In two or three cases this process led to the adoption of a different construction, and in a few of the more awkward passages a word was borrowed as being less harsh than that which had originally been written. Speaking generally, the present version appears to differ from Mr. Hill’s in adhering more closely to the original.1

 

4 The Arabic Text. — Only two Arabic mss. are known to exist. Ciasca tells us (p. xiv.) that he took as the basis of his text that ms. which is more careful in its orthography, the Cod. Vat. Arab. No. 14. He, however, printed at the foot of the page the variants of the other ms., and supplied from it two lacunae in the Cod. Vat.2substituted its readings for those of the Cod. Vat. where he thought them preferable, and followed its testimony in omitting two important passages.3 Here and there Ciasca has emended the text, but he does not profess to have produced a critical edition.4

 

5 The Arabic mss. — Unfortunately, the present writer has not had an opportunity of examining these two mss.; but they have been described at some length by Ciasca; Codex XIV., in Pitra’s Analecta Sacra, iv., 465 if, and the other codex in the volume with which we are dealing, p. vi. ff. I. The former, which we shall call the Vatican ms. (in Ciasca’s foot-notes it is called A), was brought to the Vatican from the East by Joseph S. Assemani5 about A.D. 1719. It was described by Stephen E. Assemani,6 Rosenmüller, and Akerblad,7 and then at length by Ciasca, to whose account the reader must be referred for the details. It consists of 123 folios, of which the first seven are somewhat spoiled, and of which two are missing,8 and is supposed by Ciasca, from the character of the writing, and from the presence of certain Coptic letters9 by the first hand, to have been written in Egypt. S. Assemani assigned it to the twelfth century, and Ciasca accepts his verdict, while Akerblad says the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The text of the ms. is pretty fully vocalised, but there are few diacritical points. There are marginal notes, some of them by a later hand,10 which Ciasca classifies as (1) emendations, (2) restorations, (3) explanations. II. The second ms., which we shall call the Borgian (in Ciasca’s foot-notes it is called B), was brought to the Borgian Museum from Egypt in August, 1886. It has at the end the following inscription in Arabic: “A present from Halim Dos Ghali, the Copt, the Catholic, to the Apostolic See, in the year of Christ 1886.”11 Antonius Morcos, Visitor Apostolic of the Catholic Copts, when, in the beginning of 1886, he was shown and informed about the Vatican ms., told of this other one and was the means of its being sent to Rome. The Borgian ms., which Ciasca refers to the fourteenth century, consists of 355 folios. Folios 1 — 8512 contain an anonymous preface on the gospels, briefly described by Ciasca, who, however, does not say whether it appears to have been originally written in Arabic or to have been translated into that language. With folios 96b, 97a, which are reproduced in phototype in Ciasca’s edition, begins the Introductory Note given in full at the beginning of the present translation. The text of the Diatessaron ends on folio 353a, but is followed by certain appendices, for which see Section 55, 177. This ms. is complete, and has, as we shall see,13 in some respects a better text, though it is worse in its orthography than the Vatican ms.

 

6 Condition of the Arabic Text. — Ciasca’s text does not profess to be critically determined, for which purpose a more careful study of each of the mss. and an estimate of their respective texts would be indispensable. Although the Borgian ms. is supposed by Ciasca to be a century or two later than the Vatican ms. it is clearly not a copy of the latter, for not only does it sometimes offer more original readings, but, as we shall see, its text in some points coincides more exactly in scope with the original work. The list of various readings supplied by Ciasca,14 which is equal to about a fifth or a quarter of the text itself, ought to yield, on being analysed, some canons of criticism. The foot-notes of the present edition are enough to show that a number of the peculiar features of Ciasca’s text do not belong to the original Arabic ms.; and further study would dispose of still more. On the other hand, there are unfortunately some indications15 that the common ancestor of both mss., though perhaps less than two centuries removed from the original, was not the original itself, and therefore emendation may be necessary even where both mss. agree. From first to last it has to be borne in mind that a great deal of work was done at Arabic versions of the gospels,16 and the text of the copy from which our two mss. are descended may already have suffered from contact with other versions; while the special activity of the thirteenth century may have left its mark in some places on the text of the Borgian ms., supposing it to be chronologically the later.

 

7 Origin of the Arabic Text. — If some of the uncouthness of the Arabic text is due to corruption in the course of transmission, much is also due to its being not an original work, but a translation. That it is, in the main, a translation from Syriac is too obvious to need proof.17 The Introductory Notice and Subscription to the Borgian ms., moreover, expressly state that the work was translated by one Abu’l Faraj ‘Abdulla ibn-at-Tayyib,18 an “excellent and learned priest,” and the inferiority of parts of the translation,19 and entire absence of any confirmatory evidence,20 hardly suffice to refute this assertion. Still, the Borgian ms. is a late witness, and although it most probably preserves a genuine tradition as to the author of our work, its statement need not therefore necessarily be correct in every point.

 

8 The Arabic Editor and his Method. — Ibn-at-Tayyib (d. 1043) is a well-known man, a Nestorian monk and scholar, secretary to Elias I., Patriarch of Nisibis (for references to sources see, e.g., Ciasca’s Introduction, p. xi. f. and Steinschneider’s long note in his Polemische und apologetische Lit. in Arabische Sprache, pp. 52-55). As we are here concerned with him simply as a link in the chain connecting our present work with its original source, the only point of interest for us is the method he followed in producing it. Did he prepare an independent translation or did he make use of existing Arabic versions, his own or others? Until this question, which space forbids us to discuss here, has been more thoroughly investigated,21 it must suffice to say that in view of the features in the present text that have not yet been shown to exist in any other Arabic version, it is still at least a tenable hypothesis that Ibn-at-Tayyib’s ms. constituted to a considerable extent a real translation rather than a sort of Arabic parallel to the Codex Fuldensis (see Introduction 12).

 

9 The Syriac Text Translated — The eleventh-century ms. of Ibn-at-Tayyib, could we reach it, would bring us face to face with the more interesting question of the nature of his Syriac original. The Subscription to the Borgian ms. states, probably copying the statement from its exemplar, that this was a Syriac ms. in the handwriting of ‘Isa ibn-‘Ali al Motatabbib, pupil of Honain ibn Ishak. This Honain was a famous Arabic physician and medical writer of Bagdad (d. 873), whose school produced quite a number of translations and translators, among whom Ibn-‘Ali, supposed to be identical with the Syriac lexicographer of the same name, is known to have had a high place. The Syriac ms., therefore, that Ibn-at-Tayyib translated takes us back to about the year 900. But the Subscription to each of our mss.22 states that the work ended is the gospel called Diatessaron, compiled from the four gospels by Titianus; while the Introductory Note to the Borgian ms. adds that this Titianus was a Greek. The next step, therefore, is to inquire whether any traces exist of such a Syriac work, or any statements by which we can check the account just given of it.

 

10 Other Traces of a Syriac Text. — No copy of a Syriac Diatessaron has yet been shown to have survived.23 A number of quotations24 from such a work have, however, been found in a Syriac commentary on the New Testament by Isho’dad of Merv (circ. 852), a contemporary of Honain, Ibn-‘Ali’s teacher.25 The value of these extracts is apparent, for they take us back one generation earlier than Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Syriac exemplar. More important still, they do not entirely agree with the text of our Arabic version. To solve the problem thus raised, we must examine some of the statements about the Diatessaron to be found in ecclesiastical writers.

 

11 Statements about the Diatessaron. — One of the most widely known is that of Isho’dad himself, who, in his Preface to the Gospel of Mark, says: “Tatian, disciple of Justin, the philosopher and martyr, selected from the four gospels, and combined and composed a gospel, and called it Diatessaron, i.e., the Combined, … and upon this gospel Mar Ephraem commented.”26 Dionysius Bar Salibi (twelfth century) repeats each of these phrases, adding, “Its commencement was, ‘In the beginning was the Word.’”27 These statements identify the author of the Diatessaron with a man otherwise known, and tell us that the great Syrian father Ephraem (d. 373) wrote a commentary on it. Unfortunately, no Syriac ms. of Ephraem’s work is known to have survived;28 but quotations from it, or allusions to it, are being found in other Syriac writers. One further reference will suffice for the present. Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, four hundred years before Isho’dad, wrote thus in his book on Heresies (written in 453): “Tatian the Syrian. … This [writer] also composed the gospel which is called Diatessaron, cutting out the genealogies and whatever other passages show that the Lord was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.”29 Before examining the testimonials we have now adduced, we must notice certain more remote sources of information.

 

12 Non-Syriac Texts of the Diatessaron. — Although Ephraem’s Syriac commentary on the Diatessaron is for the present lost, there is an Armenian version of it30 extant in two mss. dating from about the time of Bar Salibi and our Vat. ms.31 A Latin translation of this work, published in 1876 by Moesinger,32 formed the main basis of Zahn’s attempt33 to reconstruct the Diatessaron. Appendix X in Hill’s Diatessaron (pp. 334-377) contains an English translation of the texts commented on by Ephraem, made from Moesinger’s Latin, but collated with the Armenian by Professor J. Armitage Robinson, of Cambridge. A comparison of this document with our Arabic text shows a remarkable agreement in the order and contents, but just as remarkable a lack of agreement in the kind of text presented. The same phenomenon is met with when we compare our Arabic text with a document that carries us back three hundred years before the time of Isho’dad, and therefore more than six hundred years before the Armenian mss. — the Codex Fuldensis of the Vulgate.34 This ms. contains an arrangement of the gospel matter that its discoverer and publisher, Bishop Victor of Capua (d. 554), rightly concluded must represent the Diatessaron of Tatian, but for the text of which was apparently substituted that of the Vulgate.35 We are now ready to weigh the testimony we have gathered.36

 

13 Accretions to the Diatessaron. — The statements we are to consider are: (1) Bar Salibi’s, that Tatian’s Diatessaron began with “In the beginning was the Word”;37 (2) Theodoret’s, that Tatian cut out the genealogies; and (3) the same writer’s, that Tatian also cut out “whatever other passages show that the Lord was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.” Of these statements 1 conflicts with the Arabic text, which begins with Mark, and the Codex Fuldensis, which begins with Luke, but agrees with the Ephraem source; the same is true of 2; while 3 conflicts with all three texts. Our limits do not admit of our discussing these points in detail. It must suffice to say (1) that, although a more careful examination at first-hand of the introductory notices in the two Arabic mss. seems needed before one can venture to propound a complete theory, a comparison of the two texts, and a consideration of the descriptions given by Ciasca and Lagarde,38 make it almost certain that the genuine Arabic text of Ibn-at-Tayyib began with Joh_1:1. Similarly the first four verses of Luke (on which see also below, Section 1, 61) were probably not in the original text of the ms. that Victor found, for they are not mentioned in the (old) table of contents. We seem thus to detect a process of gradual accretion of material drawn from the ordinary gospel text. (2) The genealogies illustrate the same process. In the Vatican ms. they form part of the text.39 But in the Borgian ms., although they precede the Subscription, and therefore may have been already in the ninth-century Syriac ms. used by Ibn-at-Tayyib, they are still placed by themselves, after a blank space, at the end of the volume, with a title of their own.40 Here, therefore, we actually see stages of the process of accretion. (3) It is therefore possible that the same account must also be given of 3, although in this case we have no direct proof.

 

14 Passages Lost from the Diatessaron. — If the Diatessaron has thus been growing so as to represent the ordinary text of the canonical gospels more completely, we have also evidence that suggests that it has been at some time or times purged of certain features that are lacking in these canonical gospels. For one case of this kind see Section 4, 3613.

 

15 Preservation of the Text of the Diatessaron. — We have observed already that the Latin, Armenian, and Arabic Diatessarons correspond pretty closely in subject-matter and arrangement, but differ markedly in text. The Codex Fuldensis is really a ms. of the Vulgate, although the text that Victor found was probably somewhat different. The Armenian text differs materially from the ordinary Syriac version of the New Testament (the Peshitta), showing a marked connection with another type of Syriac text represented now by the Curetonian and Sinaitic (Lewis) mss. The Arabic text, on the other hand, almost systematically represents the Peshitta. The explanation of the condition of text in the Codex Fuldensis is obvious. On the other hand, the relationship of the Armenian and Arabic texts to the original Diatessaron must be determined by weighing very multifarious evidence that cannot be even cited here (see 6 ff.). The two texts depend, as we have seen, on late mss.; but all the earlier references and quotations go to show that the Armenian text41 stands much more closely related to the original than does the Arabic.

 

16 Checkered History of the Diatessaron. — What use the Arabic edition of Ibn-at-Tayyib was put to when made we do not know. ‘Abd Isho’ (d. 1318) speaks in the highest terms of Tatian’s work, saying, “… With all diligence he attended to the utmost degree to the right order of those things which were said and done by the Saviour; of his own he did not add a single saying.”42 But the leader of the Syrian church had not always thought so. Theodoret (loc. cit.) some nine hundred years earlier had written thus: “… Even those that follow the apostolic doctrines, not perceiving the mischief of the composition,” used “the book too simply as an abridgment.” A few years earlier Rabbula, Bishop of Edessa (d. 435), had said:43 “Let the presbyters and deacons give heed that in all the churches there be provided and read a copy of the Distinct Gospel,” i.e., not the harmonized or mixed gospel. But obviously these men were trying to suppress traditional practice due to very different views. Theodoret (loc. cit.) found more than two hundred copies of the work “held in respect in the churches”; and the Doctrine of Addai (Edessa, third to fourth century) seems simply to identify the Diatessaron and the New Testament.44 Outside of the Syriac-speaking churches we find no signs of any such use of the Diatessaron. It would seem, therefore, that at a quite early stage the Diatessaron was very widely if not universally read in the Syriac churches, and commented on by scholars as the gospel; that in time it fell under the condemnation of some at least of the church leaders, who made violent efforts to suppress it; that it could not be suppressed; that a commentary on it was (perhaps in the fifth century45) translated into Armenian; that it was still discussed by commentators, and new Syriac mss. of it made in the ninth century, and thought worth the labor of reproduction in Arabic in the beginning of the eleventh century; that mss. of the Armenian volume continued to be made down to the very end of the twelfth century, and of the Arabic edition down to the fourteenth century; but that this long life was secured at the expense of a more or less rapid assimilation of the text to that of the great Syriac Bible which from the fourth century onwards became more and more exclusively used — the Peshitta.

 

17 The Author of the Diatessaron. — The Diatessaron is such an impersonal work that we do not need to know very much about its compiler.46 It will suffice here to say that he tells us himself that he was born “in the land of the Assyrians,” and brought up a heathen. After travelling in search of knowledge, he settled at Rome, where he became a pupil of Justin Martyr, professed Christianity, and wrote in Greek his Address to the Greeks,47 translated in vol. 2. of the Ante-Nicene Christian Library. He was too independent in his attitude to maintain a permanent popularity, and after Justin’s death left Rome and returned to Mesopotamia. It was probably here that he issued in Syriac his most important work, the Diatessaron, which won such a warm place in the heart of the Syrian church. Among the Greek scholars, however, he became more and more regarded as a heretic, Encratite (ascetic), and Gnostic.

 

18 The Diatessaron as a Harmony. — Not very much need be said on this subject, as every reader can collect the facts for himself. In its present form the Harmony draws from all the four canonical gospels, and from very little else. Opinions differ as to whether it originally indicated the gospel from which any given piece was drawn, and some uncertainty must remain in special cases as to what gospel actually has been drawn upon. Professor G. F. Moore, in a very interesting article on the Diatessaron,48 having counted the references in the Arabic mss., states that the Arabic text contains 50 per cent of Mark, 66 per cent of Luke, 76.5 per cent of Matthew, and 96 per cent of John. The summation of his figures gives the following result: out of a total of 3780 verses in the four gospels, the Diatessaron quotes 2769 and omits 1011. As to the order in which the whole is arranged, Moore thinks that Matthew has chiefly been followed; while Zahn regards the Fourth Gospel as normative. For a specimen of the way in which words and phrases from the different gospels are woven together, we may refer to 52, 35 ff., and the notes thereon. In the Arabic mss., and probably in the Syriac exemplar, the work is divided into fifty-four almost equal chapters, followed by one short one — a feature that agrees well with what we have learned of the work as being of old the lectionary of the Syrian church. 

 

19 Problems Connected with the Diatessaron. — The Diatessaron opens up a very wide field of study A few points may be here enumerated (see also above, 821). In what language was it written? On the view favoured by an increasing majority of scholars, that it was written in Syriac, was it a translation or simply a compilation? What precisely is its relation to the Syriac versions and the “Western” text generally? Then there is its bearing on the date and formation of the canonical gospels; the phenomenon of its so long supplying the place of those gospels; the analogy it presents to the Pentateuch, according to the critical view of the origin of the latter. These and other issues make the Diatessaron an important and interesting study.

 

20 The Present Translation. — The work of translation has been found much more tedious than was anticipated, notwithstanding the fact that considerably more than half of it is the work of my wife, which I have simply revised with special attention to the many obscurities dealt with in the foot-notes. We have, however, worked so much together that it is very doubtful whether any one could assign the various parts to their respective sources. My wife also verified the Arabic references to the gospels printed on the margin to the right of the text,49 and prepared the Index to these references — an extremely laborious and perplexing piece of work. This Index is inserted merely for the practical purpose of enabling the reader to find any given gospel piece in the Diatessaron. When a verse is not found in the Index, an equivalent passage from some of the other gospels should be looked for. On the margin to the left of the text are indicated the pages of the Arabic text and the sections and verses in Hill’s version.50

 

The aim has been to make a literal translation. As two freer translations already exist, it seemed best to incline to the side of being overliteral. If, however, features due simply to Arabic idiom have been preserved, this is an oversight. Uniformity could only have been secured by devoting a much longer time to the work than the editor was able to allow. The difficulties are due to the corrupt state of the Arabic text,51 and to the awkward reproduction52 or actual misunderstanding53 of the Syriac original by the author or authors of the Arabic translation. It has been impossible to maintain consistency in dealing with these phenomena. If any rendering seem strange, it will be well to consult the Syriac versions before deciding that it is wrong. A good deal of attention, too, has to be paid to the usage of the Arabic text, which, though it has many points of contact with other Arabic versions of the gospels, e.g., the ms. described by Gildemeister (De evangg. in arab. e simp. Syr., 1865), is as yet for us (see Introduction 8) a distinct version, possessed of an individuality of its own, one pronounced feature being its very close adherence to its Syriac original. Another revision of the present translation, in the light of a fuller study of these features, would doubtless lead to changes both in the text and in the foot-notes. The latter aim at preventing misunderstanding and giving some examples of the peculiarities of the text, and of the differences between the mss. To have dealt systematically with the text and various readings would have required much more time and space than was available. The consequence of this incompleteness has been some uncertainty at times what text to translate. As already stated (paragraphs 4 and 6), Ciasca’s printed text neither represents any one ms. nor professes to be based in its eclecticism on any systematic critical principles. On the whole Ciasca has here been followed somewhat mechanically in deciding what to exhibit in the text and what to relegate to the foot-notes. As a rule conjectural emendations have not been admitted into the text except where the ms. readings would hardly bear translation. Italics in the text denote words supplied for the sake of English idiom; in the foot-notes, quotations from the mss. It is to be noted that many linguistic usages said, for shortness, in the foot-notes to be characteristic of the present work, i.e., as compared with ordinary Arabic, are common in Arabic versions. “Syriac versions” means the three (Pesh., Cur., Sin.), or as many of them as contain the passage in question; if the Peshitta alone is quoted, it may be assumed that Cur. and Sin. are missing or diverge.

 

In conclusion we may say that an effort has been made to preserve even the order of words; but it must be emphasized that it is very doubtful whether it is wise for any one to use the Arabic Diatessaron for critical purposes who is not acquainted with Arabic and Syriac. The tenses, e.g., are much vaguer in Arabic than in Greek and English, and are, moreover, in this work often accommodated to Syriac idiom. The Greek and the Revised Version have been used to determine in almost every case how the vague Arabic tenses and conjunctions should be rendered. It is therefore only where it differs from these that our translation can be quoted without investigation as giving positive evidence.

 

This is not a final translation. Few books have had a more remarkable literary history that the Diatessaron, and that history is by no means done. Much careful argument will be yet devoted to it, and perhaps discoveries as important as any hitherto made yet to shed light on the problems that encircle it. If our work can help any one to take a step in advance, we shall not regret the toil.

 

Oxford, 21st December, 1895.

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 For further explanation of the method followed see 20.

2 See notes to Section 7, 47, and Section 52, 36, of the present translation

3 See Introduction 12, (2).

4 See also below, 6, and 20.

5 Bibl. Or., i., 619.

6 Mai, Vet. script. nova. collect., iv. 14.

7 cf. Zahn, Forschungen, i., 294 ff.

8 See Section 7, 47, and Section 52, 36.

9 See Section 28, 43.

10 See below, foot-notes, passim.

11 The first leaf bears a more pretentious Latin inscription, quoted by Ciasca, p; vi.

12 Can this be a misprint for 95?

13 See Introduction 13.

14 He does not state, in so many words, that the list is absolutely exhaustive.

15 See e.g. below Section 13, 42 and Section 14, 43.

16 See the valuable article of Guidi “Le traduzioni degli Evangelii in arabo e in etiopico” (Atti della R. Accademia dei Lincei; Classe di Scienze Morali, Storiche e filologiche. Serie Quarta, 1888, Parte Prima — Memorie, pp. 5-38.) Some of his results are briefly stated in Scrivener, A Plain Introduction to the Crit. of the N. T. 4th ed. ii. 162.

17 cf. the foot-notes passim, e.g., Section 13, 14 Section 14, 24.

18 See note to Subscription.

19 See a glaring case in Section 52, 11.

20 The references to the readings of the Diatessaron in Ibn-at-Tayyib’s own commentary on the gospels (see next note) are remarkably impersonal for one who had made or was to make a translation of it.

21 A specially important part of the general question is this What are the mutual relations of the following: (1) a supposed version of at least Matthew and John made from the Syriac by Ibn-at-Tayyib, mentioned by Ibn-al-‘Assâl in the Preface to his scholarly recension of the gospels (ms. numbered Or. 3382 in Brit. Mus., folio 384b) and used by him in determining his text; (2) the gospel text interwoven with the commentary of Ibn-at-Tayyib on the gospels, a commentary which De Slane says the author wrote in Syriac and then translated into Arabic; (3) our present work. Of mss. testifying to No; 1 we have some dating from the time of Ibn-al-‘Assâl himself; of No. 1 we have, in addition to others, an eleventh-century ms. in Paris, described by De Slane (catalogue No. 85) as being “un volume dépareillé du ms. original de l’ouvrage”; of No. 3 we have of course the Vatican and Borgian mss; What is the mutual relation of these texts; were any two of them identical? The Brit. Mus. ms. of the second has many points of contact with the third, but is dated 1805 a.d. Does the older Paris ms. stand more or less closely related? Did Ibn-at-Tayyib himself really translate any or all of these texts, or did he simply select or edit them? Space does not permit us to point out, far less to discuss, the various possibilities.

22 The text is given below in full at its proper place.

23 Prof. Gottheil, indeed, announced in 1892 in the Journal of Biblical of Literature (vol. xi., pt. i., p. 71) that he had been privately informed of the existence of a complete copy of the Syriac Diatessaron. Unfortunately, however, as he has kindly informed me, he has reluctantly come to the conclusion that the ms. in question, which is not yet accessible, is “nothing more than the commentary of Isho`dad” mentioned in the text. A similar rumor lately circulated probably originated simply in the pamphlet of Goussen mentioned in the next note. S. Bäumer, on the other hand, in his article, “Tatians Diatessaron, seine bisher. Lit. u. die Reconstruction des Textes nach einer neuentdeckten Handschrift” (Literarischer Handweiser, 1890, 153-169) which the present writer has not been able to see, perhaps refers simply to the Borgian ms.

24 Attention was called to these by Profs. Isaac H. Hall and R. J. H. Gottheil (Journal of Biblical Literature, x., 153 ff.; xi. 68 ff.); then by Prof. J. R. Harris (Contemp. Rev., Aug., 1895, p.27l ff., and, more fully, Fragments of the Com. of Ephr. Syr. on the Diatessaron; London, 1895) and by Goussen (Studia Theologica, fasc. i., Lips., 1895).

25 Prof. Harris promises an edition of this commentary.

26 Harris, Fragments, p 14, where the Syriac text is quoted.

27 Bib. Or., ii., 159 f. Most of them are repeated again by Bar Hebraeus (d. 1286), although some confusion is produced by his interweaving some phrases from Eusebius of Caesarea. (Bib. Or., i., 57 f., and a longer quotation in English in Contemp. Rev., Aug., 1895, p. 274 f.)

28 Lagarde’s statement (Nachrichten von der Königl. Gesellsch. der Wiss., etc., zu Göttingen, 1891, No. 4, p. 153) that a ms. had been discovered, appears to have been unfounded. Prof. Rahlfs of Göttingen kindly tells me that he believes this is so.

29 Migne, Patrol. graec., tom; lxxxiii., col. 369, 372.

30 Published at Venice in 1836.

31 The two Armenian mss. are dated a. d. 1195.

32 Evangelii Concordantis Expositio, facta a S. Ephraemo (Ven., 1876).

33 Forschungen. zur Geschichte des neutestamenntlichen, Kanons, I. Theil;

34 Edited by Ernestus Ranke, Marb. and Lips., 1868.

35 For other forms of the Diatessaron, of no critical importance, see S. Hemphill, The Diatessaron, of Tatian (London, 1888), Appendix D and the refs. there.

36 Further references, chiefly repetitions in one form or another of the statements we have quoted, may be found in a convenient form in Harnack, Gesch. d. altchrist. Lit. bis Euseb., 493-496; cf. also the works mentioned by Hill (op. cit.) p. 378 f.

37 cf. the words of Aphraates, senior contemporary of Ephraem: “As it is written in the beginning of the Gospel of our Vivifier: In the beginning was the Word.” (Patrol. Syr., pars i., tom. i., 21, lines 17-19).

38 Nachrichten von der Königl. Gesellsch. der Wiss., etc., March 17, 1886, No. 4, p. 151 ff.

39 See notes to Section 1, 81, and Section 4, 29.

40 See note to Section 55, 17.

41 The Armenian version of Ephraem is supposed to date from the fifth century.

42 Mai, Script. vet. nov. Coll., x., 191.

43 Overbeck, S. Ephraemi, etc., Opera Selecta, p. 220, lines 3-5.

44 Phillips, Doct. Add., p. 36, 15-17 [E. Tr. p. 34].

45 Moesinger, Evang. Concord., etc., p. xi.

46 The latest discussion of the question whether this really was Tatian is Mr. Rendel Harris’s article in the Contemp. Rev., Aug., 1895.

47 Best ed. by Eduard Schwartz; in .Texte und Untersuchungen, IV. Band, Heft 1.

48 “Tatian’s Diatessaron and the Analysis of the Pentateuch,” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. ix., 1890, pt. ii., 201-215.

49 The refs., except where the footnotes indicate otherwise, are to the verses of the English or Greek Bible. The numbers of the Arabic verse refs; which follow the Vulgate and therefore in one or two passages differ from the English numbers by one may, however, have been occasionally retained through oversight. It is only the name of the gospel that can possibly be ancient.

50 It may be mentioned that it has been found very convenient to mark these figures on the margin of the Arabic text. An English index (that given here, or that in Hill’s volume) can then be used for the Arabic text also.

51 e.g., Section 8, 10. For a list of suggested emendations see at end of Index.

52 e.g., Section 52, 11.

53 e.g., Section 45, 33.

1. In the Borgian ms.

In the name of the one God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to him be the glory for ever. We shall begin, with the help of God most high, the writing of the pure gospel, the blooming garden, called Diatessaron (a word meaning “fourfold”), the work compiled by Titianus the Greek out of the four evangelists — Matthew the elect, whose symbol is M, Mark the chosen, whose symbol is R, Luke the approved, whose symbol is K, and John the beloved, whose symbol is H. The work translated from Syriac into Arabic by the excellent and learned priest, Abu’l-Faraj ‘Abdulla ibn-at-Tayyib,1 may God grant him his favour. He began with the first of2 And he said: The Beginning3 of the Gospel of Jesus the Son of the living God. John:4 In the beginning, etc.

 

In the Vatican ms.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, giver of life, the God that is one in substance in his essence, and three in persons in his attributes. The first of his Gospel is He began the first of his Gospel with Mark. And he said: The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. John: In the beginning, etc.

 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 The ms. here has Tabib, but the name is correctly given in the Subscription (q.v.).

2 i.e., simply He began with.

3 The vowel signs as printed by Ciasca imply some such construction as And he said as a beginning: The Gospel, etc. But the vocalisation is of course not authoritative, and a comparison with the preface in the Vatican ms. suggests the rendering given above. The word translated Beginning in the two Introductory Notes is the very word (whichever spelling be adopted) used by Ibn-at-Tayyib himself in his comments on Mar_1:1-45. (at least according to the British Museum. ms.), although not in the gospel text prefixed to the Comments as it now stands, or indeed in any ms. Arabic gospel in the British Museum. This would seem to militate against our theory of the original form of this much-debated passage in the Introductory Notes, as indicated by the use of small type for the later inserted phrases . and the difficulty appears at first to be increased by the following words in Ibn-at-Tayyib’s comments on Mar_1:1-45. British Museum ms., fol. 190a, “and some say that the Greek citation and in the Diatessaron, which Tatianus the pupil of Justianus the philosopher wrote, the quotation is not written, “Isaiah” but, “as it is written in the prophet” This is a remarkable statement about the Diatessaron. But the sentence is hardly grammatical. Perhaps the words printed in italics originally formed a complete sentence by themselves, possibly on the margin. If this conjecture be correct we might emend, e.g., by restoring them to the margin, and repeating the last three words or some equivalent phrase in the text. It would be interesting to know how the Paris ms. reads. See Suggested Emendations.

4 Ciasca does not state whether the word John. occurs here in the Borgian ms. or not.

The Text of the Diatessaron.

Section I.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God is the Joh_1:1   

2, 3 Word. This was in the beginning with God. Everything was by his hand, and Joh_1:2, Joh_1:3   

4 without him not even one existing thing was made. In him was life, and the life Joh_1:4   

5 is the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not. Joh_1:5   

6 There was in the days of Herod the king a priest whose name was Zacharias, of the family of Abijah; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Luk_1:5 1   

7 was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all his com- Luk_1:6   

8 mands, and in the uprightness of God without reproach. And they had no son, for Luk_1:7   

9 Elizabeth was barren, and they had both advanced in age. And while he discharged Luk_1:8   

10 Arabic p. 2 the duties of priest in the order of his service before God, according to the custom of the priesthood it was his turn to burn incense; so he entered the Luk_1:9   

11 temple of the Lord. And the whole gathering of the people were praying without at the Luk_1:10   

12 time of the incense. And there appeared unto Zacharias the angel of the Lord, stand- Luk_1:11   

13 ing at the right of the altar of incense; and Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, Luk_1:12   

14 and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Be not agitated,2 Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shall Luk_1:13   

15 call his name John; and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice Luk_1:14   

16 at his birth. And he shall be great before the Lord, and shall not drink wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit3 while he is in his mother’s Luk_1:15   

17 womb. And he shall turn back many of the children of Israel to the Lord their Luk_1:16   

18 God. And he shall go before him in the spirit, and in the power of Elijah the prophet, to turn back the heart of the fathers to the sons, and those that obey not to the knowledge4 of the righteous; and to prepare for the Lord a perfect people. Luk_1:17   

19 And Zacharias said unto the angel, How shall I know this, since I am an old man Luk_1:18   

20 and my wife is advanced in years? And the angel answered and said unto him, I am Gabriel, that standeth before God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and give Luk_1:19   

21 thee tidings of this. Henceforth thou shall be speechless, and shalt not be able to speak until the day in which this shall come to pass, because thou didst not trust Luk_1:20   

22 this my word, which shall be accomplished in its time. And the people were standing awaiting Zacharias, and they were perplexed at his delaying in the temple. Luk_1:21   

23 Arabic p. 3 And when Zacharias went out, he was not able to speak unto them: so they knew that he had seen in the temple a vision; and he made signs unto them, and Luk_1:22   

24 continued dumb. And when the days of his service were completed, he departed to his dwelling. Luk_1:23   

25 And after those days Elizabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five Luk_1:24   

26 months, and said, This hath the Lord done unto me in the days when he looked upon me, to remove my reproach from among men. Luk_1:25   

27 And5 in the sixth month Gabriel the angel was sent from God to Galilee6 to a Luk_1:26   

28 city called Nazareth, to a virgin given in marriage to a man named Joseph, of the Luk_1:27   

29 house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel entered unto her and said unto her, Peace be unto thee, thou who art filled with grace. Our Lord Luk_1:28   

30 is with thee, thou blessed amongst women. And she, when she beheld, was agitated Luk_1:29   

31 at his word, and pondered what this salutation could be. And the angel said unto Luk_1:30   

32 her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. Thou shall now con- Luk_1:31   

33 ceive, and bear a son, and call his name Jesus. This shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of Luk_1:32   

34 David his father: and he shall rule over the house of Jacob for ever; and to his Luk_1:33   

35 kingdom there shall be no end. Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be to Luk_1:34   

36 Arabic p. 4 me when no man hath known me? The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit will come, and the power of the Most High shall rest upon thee, and therefore shall he that is born of thee be pure, and shall be called the Son Luk_1:35   

37 of God. And lo, Elizabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old Luk_1:36   

38 age; and this is the sixth month with her, her that is called barren. For nothing is Luk_1:37   

39 difficult for God. Mary said, Lo, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be unto me according unto thy word. And the angel departed from her. Luk_1:38   

40 And then Mary arose in those days and went in haste into the hill country,7 to a8 Luk_1:39   

41 city of Judah; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and asked for the health of Luk_1:40   

42 Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in Luk_1:41   

43 her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit; and cried with a loud voice and said unto Mary, Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the Luk_1:42   

44 fruit that is in thy womb. Whence have I this privilege, that the mother of my Luk_1:43   

45 Lord should come unto me? When the sound of thy salutation reached my ears, Luk_1:44   

46 with great joy rejoiced9 the babe in my womb. And blessed is she who believed Luk_1:45   

47 that what was spoken to her from the Lord would be fulfilled. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, Luk_1:46   

48 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour, Luk_1:47   

49 Who hath looked upon the low estate of his handmaiden: Lo, henceforth, all generations10 shall pronounce blessing on me. Luk_1:48   

50 For11 he hath done great things for me, who is mighty, And holy is his name. Luk_1:49   

51 And his mercy embraceth them who fear him, Throughout the ages and the times. Luk_1:50   

52 Arabic p. 5 He wrought the victory with his arm, And scattered them that prided themselves in their opinions. Luk_1:51   

53 He overthrew them that acted haughtily from their thrones, And raised the lowly. Luk_1:52   

54 He satisfied with good things the hungry, And left the rich without anything. Luk_1:53   

55 He helped Israel his servant, And remembered his mercy Luk_1:54   

56 (According as he spake with our fathers) Unto Abraham and unto his seed for ever. Luk_1:55   

57 And Mary abode with Elizabeth about three months, and returned unto her house. Luk_1:56   

58, 59 And Elizabeth’s time of delivery was come; and she brought forth a son. And her neighbours and kinsfolk heard that God had multiplied his mercy towards her; Luk_1:57 Luk_1:58   

60 and they rejoiced with her. And when12 it was the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and called him Zacharias, calling him by the name of his father. Luk_1:59   

61 And his mother answered and said unto them, Not so; but he shall be called John. Luk_1:60   

62 And they said unto her, There is no man of thy kindred that is called by this name. Luk_1:61   

63, 64 And they made signs to his father, saying, How dost thou wish to name him? And he asked for a tablet, and wrote and said, His name is John. And every one won- Luk_1:62 Luk_1:63   

65 dered. And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue, and he spake and Luk_1:64   

66 praised God. And fear fell on all their neighbours: and this was spoken of13 in all Luk_1:65   

67 the mountains of Judah. And all who heard pondered in their hearts and said, What shall this child be? And the hand of the Lord was with him. Luk_1:66   

68 And Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied and said, Luk_1:67   

69 Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, Who hath cared for his people, and wrought for it salvation; Luk_1:68   

70 And hath raised for us the horn of salvation Arabic p. 6 In the house of David his servant Luk_1:69   

71 (As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets from eternity), Luk_1:70   

72 That he might save us from our enemies, And from the hand of all them that hate us. Luk_1:71   

73 And he hath performed his mercy towards our fathers, And remembered his holy covenants, Luk_1:72   

74 And the oath which he sware unto Abraham our father, Luk_1:73   

75 That he would give us deliverance from the hand of our enemies, And without fear we shall14 serve before him Luk_1:74   

76 All our days with equity and righteousness. Luk_1:75   

77 And as for thee, O child, prophet of the Most High shalt thou be called. Thou shalt go forth before the face of the Lord to prepare his way, Luk_1:76   

78 To give the knowledge of salvation15 unto his people, For the forgiveness of their sins, Luk_1:77   

79 Through the mercy of16 the compassion of our God, With which he careth for17 us, to appear18 from on high Luk_1:78   

80 To give light to them that sit in darkness and under the shadow of death, And to set straight our feet in the way of peace. Luk_1:79   

81 And the child grew and became strong in the spirit, and abode in the desert until the time of his appearing unto the children of Israel. Luk_1:80  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 On the margin of the Vatican ms., fol. 1a, are written by a later hand these words, The first of his Gospel. The first of the Evangel (is) the Gospel of Luke followed by the text of the first four verses of Luke, and that in turn by the words, Four complete Gospels, Matthew, and Mark, and Luke, and John. See Ciasca’s Essay, cited above (Introduction, 5), p. 468.

2 This word is constantly recurring: in the sense of fear.

3 Everywhere, except in the introductory notes, the Arabic is the Spirit of Holiness, as in the Arabic versions.

4 See Section 28, 17.

5 The Vat. ms. has over this verse, The second section, from the Gospel of Luke, i. e, as divided in the Syriac and Arabic versions.

6 The Borgian ms. omits to Galilee.

7 Vatican ms., like that described by Gildemeister (see Introduction, 20) has into Galilee, (cf. Section 8, 10).

8 Lit. the, a form due to Syriac influence (cf. Section 2, 12, and passim).

9 The Syriac versions (like the Greek) have the same word here as in Luk_1:41.

10 The Arabic word ordinarily means tribe or nation, but in this work it regularly represents the Syriac word used in the N. T. for generation

11 The Arabic would naturally be rendered, the blessing on me, That; but a number of passages in this work seem to justify the rendering given in the text (cf., e; g., Section 46, 54, and especially Section 15, 40).

12 The text is indistinct in the Vatican ms. The reading seems to be conflate, the doublets being when it was, which is the reading of Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, and on.

13 Lit. described (cf. Section 2, 46).

14 Or, should.

15 Here and elsewhere the Arabic translator uses life and live and give life, as in Syriac, for salvation, etc.

16 Borgian ms. has and for of

17 The word used in the Peshitta means visit, either in the sense of caring for or in that of frequenting. See Section 24, 29.

18 So Borgian ms. The Vatican ms. is very indistinct. Lagarde (see Introduction, 13), quoting Guidi, prints Whereby there visiteth us the manifestation from on high. The difference in Arabic is in a single stroke.

 

 

Section II.

 

1 Arabic p. 7 Now1 the birth of Jesus the Messiah was on this wise: In the time when his  mother was given in marriage to Joseph, before they came together, Mat_1:18   

2 she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband was a just man and did not wish to expose her, and he purposed to put her away secretly. Mat_1:19   

3 But when he thought of this, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, and said unto him, Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary thy wife, for that Mat_1:20   

4 which is begotten2 in her is of the Holy Spirit. She shall bear a son, and thou shalt Mat_1:21   

5 call his name Jesus, and he shall save3 his people from their sins. And all this was that the saying from the Lord by the prophet might be fulfilled: Mat_1:22   

6 Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,  And they shall call his name Immanuel, Mat_1:23   

7 which is, being interpreted, With us is our God. And when Joseph arose from his Mat_1:24   

8 sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife; and knew her not until she brought forth her firstborn son. Mat_1:25   

9 And in those days there went forth a decree from Augustus Caesar that all the Luk_2:1   

10 people of his dominion4 should be enrolled. This first enrolment was5 while Qui- Luk_2:2   

11, 12 rinius was governor of Syria. And every man went to be enrolled in his city. And Joseph went up also from Nazareth, a city of Galilee, to Judaea, to the city of David Luk_2:3   

13 which is called Bethlehem (for he was of the house of David and of his tribe), with Luk_2:4   

14 Arabic p. 8 Mary his betrothed, she being with child, to be enrolled there. And while Luk_2:5   

15 she was there the days for her being delivered were accomplished. And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them where they were staying. Luk_2:6   

16 And there were in that region shepherds abiding, keeping their flock in the watch Luk_2:7   

17 of the night. And behold, the angel of God came unto them, and the glory of the Luk_2:8   

18 Lord shone upon them; and they were greatly terrified. And the angel said unto them, Be not terrified; for I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be to the Luk_2:9   

19 whole world; there is born to you this day a Saviour, which is the Lord the Mes- Luk_2:10   

20 siah, in the city of David. And this is a sign for you: ye shall find a babe wrapped Luk_2:11   

21 in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger. And there appeared with the angels suddenly many heavenly forces praising6 God and saying, Luk_2:12   

22 Praise be to God in the highest, And on the earth peace, and good hope to men. Luk_2:13   

23 And when the angels departed from them to heaven, the shepherds spake to one another and said, We will go to Bethlehem and see this word which hath been, as Luk_2:14   

24 the Lord made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary and Luk_2:15   

25 Joseph, and the babe laid in a manger. And when they saw, they reported the word Luk_2:16   

26 which was spoken to them about the child. And all that heard wondered at the Luk_2:17   

27 description which the shepherds described7 to them. But Mary kept these8sayings Luk_2:18   

28 and discriminated9 them in her heart. And those shepherds returned, magnifying and praising God for all that they had seen and heard, according as it was described unto them. Luk_2:19   

29 Arabic p. 9 And when eight days were fulfilled that the child should be circumcised, his name was called Jesus, being that by which he was called by the angel before his conception in the womb. Luk_2:20   

30 And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were Luk_2:21   

31 completed, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him before the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male opening the womb shall be called the Luk_2:22   

32 holy thing of the Lord), and to give a sacrificial victim as it is said in the law of Luk_2:23   

33 the Lord, A pair of doves or two young pigeons. And there was in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon; and this man was upright and pious, and expecting Luk_2:24   

34 the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been said unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death till he had seen with Luk_2:25   

35 his eyes the Messiah10 of the Lord. And this man came by the Spirit to the temple; and at the time when his parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might Luk_2:26   

36 present for him a sacrifice, as it is written in the law, he bare him in his arms and praised God and said, Luk_2:27   

37 Now loosest thou the bonds of thy servant, O Lord, in peace,11 According to thy saying; Luk_2:28   

38 For mine eye hath witnessed thy mercy, Luk_2:29   

39 Which thou hast made ready because of the whole world; Luk_2:30   

40 A light for the unveiling12 of the nations, And a glory to thy people Israel. Luk_2:31   

41 And Joseph and his mother were marvelling at the things which were being said Luk_2:32   

42 concerning him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, Behold, he is set for the overthrow and rising of many in Israel; and for a sign of conten- Luk_2:33   

43 tion; and a spear13 shall pierce14 through thine own soul; that the thoughts of the Luk_2:34 Luk_2:35   

44 Arabic p. 10 hearts of many may be revealed. And Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, was also advanced in years (and she dwelt Luk_2:36   

45 with her husband seven years from her virginity, and she remained a widow about eighty-four years); and she left not the temple, and served night and day with Luk_2:37   

46 fasting and prayer. And she also rose in that hour and thanked the Lord, and she Luk_2:38   

47 spake of him with every one who was expecting the deliverance of Jerusalem. And when they had accomplished everything according to what is in the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to Nazareth their city. Luk_2:39  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 This is preceded in Vatican ms. by the genealogy, Mat_1:1-17 (see Introduction, 13), with the marginal note The Beginning of the Gospel of Matthew. (Lagarde op. cit., 1886, p. 154.) The text presents nothing worthy of note in this place except that verse 16, construed in the same principle as the preceding verses, to which, except in the words printed in italics, it is strictly parallel in construction, reads thus: “Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, who of her begat Jesus, the Messiah” (cf. the remarkable reading of Sin. Syriac). As it stands, this is the only possible interpretation of the words, for who is masculine. But a mistake in the gender of a relative pronoun is very common in Arabic among illiterate people, while in Syriac there is, to begin with, no distinction. If then we correct the relative, who of her will become of whom (fem.), and begat will of course be construed as passive. We thus get the text followed in Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, the ordinary reading of the Peshitta, of whom was born Jesus.

2 The Arabic might even more naturally be rendered born, thus ,giving us the reading that Isho’dad tells us was that of the Diatessaron (Harris, Fragments, p. 16 f.); but throughout the whole genealogy (see Section 1, 81), this word has been used by the Vat. ms. in the sense of begat. Here the Borgian ms. has of her for in her; but Ibn-at-Tayyib in his Commentary discusses why Matthew wrote in and not of.

3 cf. Section 1, 78.

4 The Arabic expression is clearly meant to represent that used in the Peshitta.

5 This is the most natural meaning of the Arabic sentence; which, however, is simply a word-for-word reproduction of the Peshitta.

6 The Arab. represents Syr. idiom.

7 cf. Section 1, 66.

8 Borgian ms. inserts all above the line, after these. The meaning ought then to be, these things, namely, all the sayings.

9 The Arab. might mean set them apart; but the Syriac is against this.

10 Or, anointed.

11 For order cf. in part Sin. Syriac.

12 i.e., becoming manifest.

13 So also in Syriac versions and the quotation of Isho’dad from Ephraem (Harris, Fragments, p. 34), but not the Armenian version.

14 The Arabic sides with the Peshitta and Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, against the remarkable reading of Sin. supported by Isho’dad, as in last note Syriac text, and the Armenian in Hill, p. 336. See now also The Guardian, Dec. 18, 1895.

 

 

Section III.

 

1, 2 And after that,1 the Magi came from the east to Jerusalem, and said, Where is the King of the Jews which was born? We have seen his star in the east, and have Mat_2:1 Mat_2:2   

3 come to worship him. And Herod the king heard, and he was troubled, and all Mat_2:3   

4 Jerusalem with him. And he gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of the Mat_2:4   

5 people, and asked them in what place2 the Messiah should be born. They said, In Bethlehem of Judaea: thus it is written in the prophet, Mat_2:5   

6 Thou also, Bethlehem of Judah, Art not contemptible among the kings of Judah: From thee shall go forth a king, And he shall be a shepherd to my people Israel. Mat_2:6   

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly, and inquired of them the time at which Mat_2:7   

8 the star appeared to them. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said unto them, Go and search about the child diligently; and when ye have found him, come and Mat_2:8   

9 Arabic p. 11 make known to me, that I also may go and worship him. And they, when they heard the king, departed; and lo, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, until it came and stood above the place where the child Mat_2:9   

10, 11 was. And when they beheld the star, they rejoiced with very great joy. And they entered the house and beheld the child with Mary his mother, and fell down worshipping him, and opened their saddle-bags and offered to him offerings, gold and Mat_2:10 Mat_2:11   

12 myrrh and frankincense. And they saw in a dream3 that they should not return to Herod, and they travelled by another way in going to their country. Mat_2:12   

13 And when they had departed, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, and said unto him, Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I speak to thee; for Herod is determined to seek the child Mat_2:13   

14 to slay him. And Joseph arose and took the child and his mother in the night, and Mat_2:14   

15 fled into Egypt, and remained in it until the time of the death of Herod: that that might be fulfilled which was said by the Lord in the prophet, which said, From Mat_2:15   

16 Egypt did I call my son. And Herod then, when he saw that he was mocked of the Magi, was very angry, and sent and killed all the male children which were in Bethlehem and all its borders, from two years old and under, according to the time Mat_2:16   

17 which he had inquired from the Magi. Then was fulfilled the saying in Jeremiah the prophet, which said, Mat_2:17   

18 A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and much lamentation; Rachel weeping4 for her children, And not willing to be consoled for their loss. Mat_2:18   

19 But when Herod the king died, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Mat_2:19   

20 Arabic p. 12 Joseph in Egypt, and said unto him, Rise and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel; for they have died who sought the child’s life. Mat_2:20   

21 And Joseph rose and took the child and his mother, and came to the land Mat_2:21   

22 of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus had become king over Judaea instead of Herod his father, he feared to go thither; and he saw in a dream that he should Mat_2:22   

23 go into the land of Galilee, and that he should abide in a city called Nazareth: that the saying in the prophet might be fulfilled, that he should be called a Nazarene. Mat_2:23   

24 And the child grew, and became strong in spirit, becoming filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him. Luk_2:40   

25 And his kinsfolk5 used to go every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the pass- Luk_2:41   

26 over. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to their custom, Luk_2:42   

27 to the feast. And when the days were accomplished, they returned; and the child Luk_2:43   

28 Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew not: and they supposed that he was with the children of their company. And when they had gone one day’s journey, they sought him beside their people and those who knew them, Luk_2:44   

29 and they found him not; so they returned to Jerusalem and sought him again. Luk_2:45   

30 And after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teach- Luk_2:46   

31 ers, hearing them and asking them questions; and all who heard him wondered at Luk_2:47   

32 his wisdom and his words. And when they saw him they wondered, and his mother said unto him, My son, why hast thou dealt with us thus? behold, I and thy father Luk_2:48   

33 have been seeking for thee with much anxiety. And he said unto them, Why were Luk_2:49   

34 ye seeking me? Know6 ye not that I must be in the house of my Father? And they Luk_2:50   

35 understood not the word which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and he was obedient to them: and his mother used to keep all these sayings in her heart. Luk_2:51   

36 Arabic p. 13 And Jesus grew in his stature and wisdom, and in grace with God and men. Luk_2:52   

37 And in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor in Judaea, and one of the four rulers, Herod, in Galilee; and Philip his brother, one of the four rulers, in Ituraea and in the district of Trachonitis; and Luk_3:1   

38 Lysanias, one of the four rulers, in Abilene; in the chief-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the command7 of God went forth to John the son of Zacharias in the Luk_3:2   

39 desert. And he came into all the region which is about Jordan, proclaiming the Luk_3:3   

40 baptism of repentance unto8 the forgiveness of sins. And he was preaching in the Mat_3:1   

41 wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent ye; the kingdom of heaven is come near. Mat_3:2   

42 This is he that was spoken of in Isaiah the prophet, The voice which crieth in the desert, Mat_3:3   

43 Prepare ye the way of the Lord, And make straight in the plain, paths for our God. Luk_3:4   

44 All the valleys shall become filled, And all the mountains and hills shall become low; And the rough shall become plain, And the difficult place, easy; Luk_3:5   

45 And all flesh shall see the salvation9 of God. Luk_3:6   

46 This man came to bear witness, that he might bear witness to the light, that Joh_1:7   

47 every man might believe through his mediation. He was not the light, bat that he Joh_1:8   

48 might bear witness to the light, which was the light of truth, that giveth light to Joh_1:9   

49 every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made Joh_1:10   

50 by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received Joh_1:11   

51 him not. And those who received him, to them gave he the power10 that they might Joh_1:12   

52 be sons of God, – those which believe in his name: which were born, not of blood, Joh_1:13   

53 nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and took up his abode among us; and we saw his glory as the glory Joh_1:14   

54 Arabic p. 14 of the only Son from the Father, which is full of grace and equity.11 John bare witness of him, and cried, and said, This is he that I said cometh after me and Joh_1:15   

55 was before me, because he was before me.12 And of his fulness received Joh_1:16   

56 we all grace for grace. For the law was given through the mediation of Moses, but truth and grace were13 through Jesus Christ. Joh_1:17  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 On the substitution of this general phrase for Mat_2:1, see the remarks of Harris in Fragments, etc., p. 37 ff.

2 This periphrasis for where is very characteristic of this work.

3 So in later Arabic and some Arabic versions. According to classical usage the word means sleep.

4 Or, is weeping, and so in next line is not willing.

5 A general word cf. Syr. versions.

6 Or, knew.

7 There is a very rare use of this Arabic word in the Hebrew sense of saying.

8 So Vat. ms. The Borgian MS. has with.

9 See note on Section 1, 78.

10 Or, authority.

11 In Syr. this word also means truth

12 Or, earlier than I.

13 i.e., came to be.

 

 

Section IV.

 

1 No man hath seen God at any time; the only Son, God,1 which is in the bosom of his Father, he hath told of him. Joh_1:18   

2 And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent to him from Jerusalem priests Joh_1:19   

3 and Levites to ask him, Who art thou? And he acknowledged, and denied not; Joh_1:20   

4 and he confessed that he was not the Messiah. And they asked him again, What then? Art thou Elijah? And he said, I am not he. Art thou a prophet? He Joh_1:21   

5 said, No. They said unto him, Then who art thou? that we may answer them that Joh_1:22   

6 sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? And he said, I am the voice that crieth in Joh_1:23   

7 the desert, Repair ye the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet. And they Joh_1:24   

8 that were sent were from2 the Pharisees. And they asked him and said unto him, Why baptizest thou now, when thou art not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor a prophet? Joh_1:25   

9 John answered and said unto them, I baptize with3 water: among you is standing Joh_1:26   

10 one whom ye know not: this is he who I said cometh after me and was before Joh_1:27   

11 me, the latchets of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. And that was in Bethany beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. Joh_1:28   

12 Now John’s raiment was camel’s hair, and he was girded with skins, and his food Mat_3:4   

13 Arabic p. 15 was of locusts and honey of the wilderness.4 Then went out unto him the people of Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region which is about the Mat_3:5   

14, 15 Jordan; and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees5 and Sadducees6 coming to be baptized, he said unto them, Ye children of vipers, who hath led you to flee from the wrath to come? Mat_3:6 Mat_3:7   

16, 17 Do now the fruits which are worthy of repentance; and think and say not within yourselves, We have a father, even Abraham; for I say unto you, that God is able to Mat_3:8 Mat_3:9   

18 raise up of these stones children unto Abraham. Behold, the axe hath been laid at the roots of the trees, and so every tree that beareth not good fruit shall be taken and Mat_3:10   

19 cast into the fire. And the multitudes were asking him and saying, What shall we do? Luk_3:10   

20 He answered and said unto them, He that hath two tunics shall7 give to him that Luk_3:11   

21 hath not; and he that hath food shall7 do likewise. And the publicans also came Luk_3:12   

22 to be baptized, and they said unto him, Teacher, what shall we do? He said unto Luk_3:13   

23 them, Seek not more than what ye are commanded to seek. And the servants8 of the guard asked him and said, And we also, what shall we do? He said unto them, Do not violence to any man, nor wrong him; and let your allowances satisfy you. Luk_3:14   

24 And when the people were conjecturing about John, and all of them thinking Luk_3:15   

25 in their hearts whether he were haply9 the Messiah, John answered and said unto them, I baptize you with water; there cometh one after me who is stronger than I, the latchets of whose shoes I am not worthy to loosen; he will baptize you with the Luk_3:16   

26 Arabic p. 16 Holy Spirit and fire: who taketh the fan in his hand to cleanse his threshing-floors, and the wheat he gathereth into his garners, while the straw he shall burn in fire which can10 not be put out. Luk_3:17   

27 And other things he taught and preached among the people. Luk_3:18   

28 Then came Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized of him. Mat_3:13   

29 And Jesus was about thirty years old, and it was supposed that he was the son of Luk_3:23   

30 Joseph.11 And John saw Jesus coming unto him, and said, This is the Lamb of Joh_1:29   

31 God, that taketh on itself the burden of the sins of the world! This is he concerning whom I said, There cometh after me a man who was before me, because he was Joh_1:30   

32 before me.12 And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, Joh_1:31   

33 for this cause came I to baptize with water. And John was hindering him and Mat_3:14   

34 saying, I have need of being baptized by thee, and comest thou to me? Jesus answered him and said, Suffer this now: thus it is our duty to fulfil all righteous- Mat_3:15   

35 ness. Then he suffered him. And when all the people were baptized, Jesus also Luk_3:21   

36 was baptized. And immediately he went up out of the water, and heaven opened Mat_3:16   

37 Arabic p. 17 to him,13 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the similitude of the Luk_3:22   

38 body of a dove; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Mat_3:17   

39 Son, in whom I am well pleased. And John bare witness and said, I beheld the Joh_1:32   

40 Spirit descend from heaven like a dove; and it abode upon him. But I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt behold the Spirit descending and lighting upon him, the same is he that Joh_1:33   

41 baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God. Joh_1:34   

42, 43 And Jesus returned from the Jordan, filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately the Spirit took him out into the wilderness, to be tried of the devil;14 and he Luk_4:1 Mar_1:12 Mar_1:13   

44 was with the beasts. And he fasted forty days and forty nights. And he ate noth- Mat_4:2 Luk_4:2   

45 ing in those days, and at the end of them he hungered. And the tempter came and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, speak, and these stones shah become Mat_4:2, Mat_4:3   

46 bread. He answered and said, It is written, Not by bread alone shall man live, but Mat_4:4   

47 by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil14 brought Mat_4:5   

48 him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: And they shall take thee on their arms, So that thy foot shall not stumble against a stone. Mat_4:6   

49 Jesus said unto him, And15 it is written also, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy Mat_4:7   

50 God. And the devil16 took him up to a high mountain, and shewed him all the king- Luk_4:5   

51 Arabic p. 18 doms of the earth, and their glory, in the least time; and the devil16 said unto him, To thee will I give all this dominion, and its glory, which is delivered to Luk_4:6   

52 me that I may give it to whomsoever I will. If then thou wilt worship before me, all of it shall be thine. Luk_4:7  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 cf. Peshitta, etc. not Cur.: cf. also Gildemeister, op. cit., p. 29, on Luk_9:20.

2 Lit. from the side of.

3 Or, in.

4 On the original Diatessaron reading, honey and milk of the mountains, or, milk and honey of the mountains, which latter Ibn-at-Tayyib cites in his Commentary folio 44b, 45a as a reading, but without any allusion to the Diatessaron, see, e.g., now Harris, Fragments of the Com. of Ephr. Syr. upon the Diatessaron. London, 1895) p. 17 f.

5 The translator uses invariably an Arabic word name of a sect meaning Separatists.

6 Lit. Zindiks, a name given to Persian dualists and others.

7 Grammar requires this rendering, but solecisms in this kind of word are very common, and in this work e.g., Section 48, 21 the jussive particle is sometimes omitted. We should therefore probably render let him give, let him do, etc.

8 cf. Peshitta, where the word has its special meaning, soldiers.

9 Our translator constantly uses this Arabic word which we render haply, or, can it be? Or, perhaps, etc. to represent the Syriac word used in this place. The latter is used in various ways, and need not be interrogative, as our translator renders it cf. especially Section 17, 6.

10 Or, shall.

11 The Vatican ms. here gives the genealogy Luk_3:23-38, of which we shall quote only the last words: the son of Adam; who was from God. If this were not the reading of the Peshitta against Sin. and Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, one might explain from as a corruption of the Arabic son of, the words being very similar. On the Borgian ms. see Section 55, 17.

12 cf. Section 3, 54.

13 For the statement of Isho’dad see Introduction, 10, “And straightway, as the Diatessaron testifieth, light shone forth”, etc., see Harris, Fragments etc., p 43 f.

14 Lit. calumniator.

15 Borgian ms. omits and.

16 Lit. backbiter, a different word from that used above in Section 4, 43, 47.

 

 

Section V.

 

1 Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou Mat_4:10   

2 shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve. And when the Luk_4:13   

3 devil1 had completed all his temptations, he departed from him for a season. And behold, the angels drew near and ministered unto him. Mat_4:11   

4, 5 And next day John was standing, and two of his disciples; and he saw Jesus as Joh_1:35 Joh_1:36   

6 he was walking, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God! And his two disciples heard Joh_1:37   

7 him saying this,2 and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them coming after him, and said unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Our master, Joh_1:38   

8 where art thou staying? And he said unto them, Come and see. And they came and saw his place, and abode with him that day: and it was about the tenth hour. Joh_1:39   

9 One of the two which heard from3 John, and followed Jesus, was Andrew the Joh_1:40   

10 brother of Simon. And he saw first Simon his brother, and said unto him, We have Joh_1:41   

11 found the Messiah. And he brought him unto Jesus. And Jesus looked upon him and said, Thou art Simon, son of Jonah: thou shalt be called Cephas.4 Joh_1:42   

12 And on the next day Jesus desired to go forth to Galilee, and he found Philip, Joh_1:43   

13 Arabic p. 19 and said unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, of the city of Joh_1:44   

14 Andrew and Simon. And Philip found Nathanael, and said unto him, He of whom Moses did write in the law and in the prophets, we have found that Joh_1:45   

15 he is Jesus the son of Joseph of Nazareth. Nathanael said unto him, Is it possible that there can be any good thing from Nazareth? Philip said unto him, Come and Joh_1:46   

16 see. And Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, This is indeed a5 Joh_1:47   

17 son of Israel in whom is no guile. And Nathanael said unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus said unto him, Before Philip called thee, while thou wast under the Joh_1:48   

18 fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and said unto him, My Master, thou art Joh_1:49   

19 the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, hast thou believed? thou shalt see what is Joh_1:50   

20 greater than this. And he said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Henceforth ye shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Joh_1:51   

21 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. Luk_4:14   

22 And on the third day there was a feast in Cana,6 a5 city of Galilee; and the Joh_2:1   

23 mother of Jesus was there: and Jesus also and his disciples were invited to the Joh_2:2   

24 feast. And they lacked wine: and his mother said unto Jesus, They have no wine. Joh_2:3   

25 And Jesus said unto her, What have I to do with thee, woman? hath not mine Joh_2:4   

26 hour come?7 And his mother said unto the servants, What he saith unto you, do. Joh_2:5   

27 And there were there six vessels of stone, placed for the Jews’ purification, such as Joh_2:6   

28 Arabic p. 20 would contain two or three jars. And Jesus said unto them, Fill the vessels Joh_2:7   

29 with water. And they filled them to the top. He said unto them, Draw Joh_2:8   

30 out now, and present to the ruler of the feast. And they did so. And when the ruler of the company tasted that water which had become wine, and knew not whence it was(but the servants knew, because they filled up the water), the ruler of the company called Joh_2:9   

31 the bridegroom, and said unto him, Every man presenteth first the good wine, and on intoxication he bringeth what is poor; but thou hast kept the good wine until Joh_2:10   

32 now. And this is the first sign8 which Jesus did in Cans of Galilee, and manifested Joh_2:11   

33 his glory; and his disciples believed on him. And his fame spread in all the country Luk_4:14   

34 which was around them. And he taught in their synagogues, and was glorified Luk_4:15   

35 by9 every man. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and entered, according to his custom, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood Luk_4:16   

36 up to read. And he was given the book of Isaiah the prophet. And Jesus opened the book and found the place where it was written, Luk_4:17   

37 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, And for this anointed he me, to preach good tidings to the poor; And he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, And to proclaim forgiveness to the evil-doers,10 and sight to the blind, And to bring the broken into forgiveness,11 Luk_4:18   

38 And to proclaim an acceptable year of the Lord. Luk_4:19   

39 And he rolled up the book and gave it to the servant, and went and sat down: Luk_4:20   

40 and the eyes of all that were in the synagogue were observing him. And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled which ye have heard with Luk_4:21   

41 your ears. And they all bare him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which were proceeding from his mouth. Luk_4:22   

42 Arabic p. 21 And from that time began Jesus to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom Mat_4:17   

43 of God, and to say, Repent ye, and believe in the gospel. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven hath come near. Mar_1:15   

44 And while he was walking on the shore of the sea of Galilee, he saw two brethren, Simon who was called Cephas, and Andrew his brother, casting their nets into Mat_4:18   

45 the sea; for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Follow me, and I will Mat_4:19   

46 make you fishers of men. And they immediately left their nets there and followed Mat_4:20   

47 him. And when he went on from thence, he saw other two brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the ship with Zebedee their father, mending Mat_4:21   

48 their nets; and Jesus called them. And they immediately forsook the ship and their father Zebedee, and followed him. Mat_4:22   

49 And when the multitude gathered unto him to hear the word of God, while he Luk_5:1   

50 was standing on the shore of the sea of Gennesaret, he saw two boats standing beside the sea, while12 the two fishers which were gone out of them were washing their Luk_5:2   

51 nets. And one of them belonged to Simon Cephas. And Jesus went up and sat down in it, and commanded that they should move away a little from the land into Luk_5:3   

52 the water. And he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. And when he had left off his speaking, he said unto Simon, Put out into the deep, and cast your Luk_5:4   

53 net for a draught. And Simon answered and said unto him, My Master, we toiled Luk_5:5   

54 all night and caught nothing; now13 at thy word I will cast the net. And when they did this, there were enclosed14 a great many fishes; and their net was on the Luk_5:6   

55 point of breaking. And they beckoned to their comrades that were in the other boat, to come and help them. And when they came, they filled both boats, so that they were on the point of sinking. Luk_5:7  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. backbiter, a different word from that used above in Section 4, 43, 47.

2 Or, speaking.

3 cf. Peshitta.

4 The Arabic word used throughout this work means Stones.

5 Lit. the cf. note to Section 1, 40.

6 Arabic Qatna. at Section 5, 32, Qâtina, following the Syriac form.

7 The reading of Cur. and Sin. is not known; but cf. Moesinger, p. 53, and Isho`dad quoted in Harris, Fragments, etc., p. 46.

8 Perhaps a comma should be inserted after sign.

9 If the text does not contain a misprint the word for by is wanting in both mss. It should doubtless be restored as in Section 7, 3.

10 Evil-doers could easily be an Arabic copyist’s corruption of captives, but the word used here for forgiveness could hardly spring from an Arabic release in Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, where the thing seems to have happened’ a different word is used. In Syriac, however, they are the same; while the first pair contain the same consonants

11 See preceding note.

12 Or, but.

13 Borgian ms. has but. The Arabic expressions are very similar.

14 Borgian ms. has he did this, he enclosed, on which see Section 38, 43. Either reading could spring from the other, within the Arabic

 

Section VI.

 

1 Arabic p. 22 But when Simon Cephas saw this he fell before the feet of Jesus, and said unto him, My Lord, I beseech of thee to depart from me, for I am Luk_5:8   

2 a sinful man. And amazement took possession of him, and of all who were with him, Luk_5:9   

3 because of the draught of the fishes which they had taken. And thus also were James and John the sons of Zebedee overtaken,1who were Simon’s partners. And Jesus said Luk_5:10   

4 unto Simon, Fear not; henceforth thou shalt be a fisher of men unto life. And they brought the boats to the land; and they left everything, and followed him. Luk_5:11   

5 And after that came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and he went Joh_3:22   

6 about there with them, and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Ænon, which is beside Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were bap- Joh_3:23   

7, 8 tized. And John was not yet come into prison. And there was an inquiry between Joh_3:24 Joh_3:25   

9 one of John’s disciples and one of the Jews about purifying. And they2 came unto John, and said unto him, Our master, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom Joh_3:26   

10 thou hast borne witness, behold, he also baptizeth, and many come to him. John answered and said unto them,3 A man can receive nothing of himself, except it be Joh_3:27   

11 given him4 from heaven. Ye are they that bear witness unto me that I said, I am Joh_3:28   

12 not the Messiah, but I am one sent5 before him. And he that hath a bride is a bridegroom: and the friend of the bridegroom is he that standeth and listeneth to him, and rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Lo now,6 behold, my Joh_3:29   

13, 14 Arabic p. 23 joy becometh complete.7 And he must increase and I decrease. For8 he that is come from above is higher than everything; and he that is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaketh; and he that came down from heaven is Joh_3:30 Joh_3:31   

15 higher than all. And he beareth witness of what he hath seen and heard: and no man Joh_3:32   

16 receiveth his witness. And he that hath received his witness hath asserted9 that he is Joh_3:33   

17 truly God.10 And he whom God hath sent speaketh the words11 of God: God gave Joh_3:34   

18 not the Spirit by measure. The Father loveth the Son, and hath put everything in Joh_3:35   

19 his hands. Whosoever believeth in the Son hath eternal12 life; but whosoever obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God cometh13 upon him. Joh_3:36   

20 And Jesus learned14 that the Pharisees had heard that he had received many dis- Joh_4:1   

21 ciples, and that he was baptizing more than John (not that Jesus was himself bap- Joh_4:2   

22 tizing, but his disciples); and so he left Judaea. Joh_4:3   

23 And Herod the governor, because he used to be rebuked by John because of Herodias the wife of Philip his brother, and for all the sins which he was commit- Luk_3:19   

24 ting, added to all that also this, that he shut up John in prison. Luk_3:20   

25 And when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he went away to Galilee. Mat_4:12   

26 And he entered again into Cana, where he had made the water wine. And there Joh_4:46   

27 was at Capernaum a king’s servant, whose son was sick. And this man heard that Jesus was come from Judaea to Galilee; and he went to him, and besought of him that he would come down and heal his son; for he had come near unto death. Joh_4:47   

28, 29 Arabic p. 24 Jesus said unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye do15 not believe. The king’s servant said unto him, My Lord, come down, that the child die not. Joh_4:48 Joh_4:49   

30 Jesus said unto him, Go; for thy son is alive. And that man believed the Joh_4:50   

31 word which Jesus spake, and went. And when he went down, his servants met him Joh_4:51   

32 and told him, and16 said unto him, Thy son is alive. And he asked them at what time he recovered. They said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left Joh_4:52   

33 him. And his father knew that that was at that hour in which Jesus said unto him, Joh_4:53   

34 Thy son is alive. And he believed, he and the whole people of his house. And this Joh_4:54   

35 is the second sign17 which Jesus did when he returned from Judaea to Galilee. And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. Luk_4:44   

36 And he left Nazareth, and came and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea shore, in the Mat_4:13   

37 borders of Zebulun and Naphtali: that it might be fulfilled which was said in Isaiah the prophet, who said, Mat_4:14   

38 The land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, The way of the sea, the passage of the Jordan, Galilee of the nations: Mat_4:15   

39 The people sitting in darkness Saw a great light, And those sitting in the region and in the shadow of death, There appeared to them a light. Mat_4:16   

40 And he taught them on the sabbaths. And they wondered because of his doc- Luk_4:31 Luk_4:32   

41 trine:18 for his word was as if it were authoritative. And there was in the synagogue Luk_4:33   

42 a man with an unclean devil, and he cried out with a loud voice, and said, Let me alone; what have I to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come for our Luk_4:34   

43 destruction? I know thee who thou art, thou Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, and said, Stop up thy mouth, and come out of him. And the demon threw him Luk_4:35   

44 Arabic p. 25 in the midst and came out of him, having done him no harm. And great amaze- ment took hold upon every man. And they talked one with another, and said, What is this word that orders the unclean spirits with power and Luk_4:36   

45 authority, and they come out? And the news of him spread abroad in all the region which was around them. Luk_4:37   

46 And when Jesus went out of the synagogue, he saw a man sitting among the publicans,19 named Matthew: and he said unto him, Come after me. And he rose, and followed him. Luk_4:38 Mat_9:9   

47,48 And Jesus came to the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. And Simon’s wife’s mother was oppressed with a great fever, and they besought him for Mar_1:19 Luk_4:38   

49 her. And he stood over her and rebuked her fever, and it left her, and immediately Luk_4:39   

50 she rose and ministered to them. And at even they brought to him many that had Mat_8:16   

51 demons: and he cast out their devils with the20 word. And all that had sick, their diseases being divers and malignant, brought them unto him. And he laid his hand Luk_4:40   

52 on them one by one21 and healed them: that that might be fulfilled which was said Mat_8:17   

53 in the prophet Isaiah, who said, He taketh our pains and beareth our diseases. And Mar_1:33   

54 all the city was gathered together unto the door of Jesus. And he cast out devils also from many, as they were crying out and saying, Thou art the Messiah, the Son of God; and he rebuked them. And he suffered not the demons to speak, because they knew him that he was the Lord the Messiah. Luk_4:41  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 The verb may be active as well as passive, but does not agree in gender with amazement. Mistakes in gender are, however, very common transcriptional errors.

2 Dual.

3 Plural. In the Peshitta it is two individuals in Luk_3:25. In Sin. the first is an individual and the second is ambiguous. In Cur. both are plural.

4 Or, he be given it.

5 The ordinary word for apostle.

6 See Section 9, 21.

7 So Ciasca’s printed text. The Vatican ms., however, probably represents a past tense.

8 cf. Peshitta.

9 cf. consonants of Syriac text.

10 Borgian ms., that God is truly, or, assuming a very common grammatical inaccuracy, that God is true or truth, the reading in Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary.

11 Lit. saying.

12 Lit. the life of eternity; here and everywhere except Section 21, 40.

13 i.e., alighteth-and-stayeth

14 Or, knew.

15 Or, will.

16 Or, good news, and.

17 See Section 5, 32.

18 Perhaps we might here render learning; but see Section 28, 17.

19 So in the Arabic. It is, however, simply a misinterpretation of the expression in the Syriac versions for at the place of toll cf. Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary.

20 cf. Section 1, 40.

21 Or, each.

 

 

Section VII.

 

1 Arabic p. 26 And in the morning of that day he went out very early, and went to a Mar_1:35   

2 desert place, and was there praying. And Simon and those that were with Mar_1:36   

3 him sought him. And when they found him, they said unto him, All the people seek for Mar_1:37   

4 thee. He said unto them, Let us go into the adjacent villages and towns, that I may Mar_1:38   

5 preach there also; for to this end did I come. And the multitudes were seeking him, and came till they reached him; and they took hold of him, that he should not Luk_4:42   

6 go away from them. But Jesus said unto them, I must preach of the kingdom of Luk_4:43   

7 God in other cities also: for because of this gospel was I sent. And Jesus was going about all the cities and the villages, and teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all the diseases and all the sicknesses, Mat_9:35   

8 and casting out the devils. And his fame became known that1 he was teaching in Mar_1:39 Luk_4:14 Luk_4:15   

9 every place and being glorified by every man. And when he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting among the tax-gatherers;2 and he said unto him, Follow Mar_2:14   

10 me: and he rose and followed him. And the news of him was heard of in all the land of Syria: and they brought unto him all those whom grievous ills had befallen through divers diseases, and those that were enduring torment, and those that were possessed, and lunatics,3 and paralytics; and he healed them. Mat_4:24   

11, 12 And after some days Jesus entered into Capernaum again. And when they heard that he was in the house,4 many gathered, so that it could not hold them, even about Mar_2:1 Mar_2:2   

13 Arabic p. 27 the door; and he made known to them the word of God. And there were there some of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, sitting, come from all the villages of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was Luk_5:17   

14 present to heal them. And some men brought a bed with a man on it who was para- Luk_5:18   

15 lytic. And they sought to bring him in and lay him before him. And when they found no way to bring him in because of the multitude of people, they went up to the roof, and let him down with his bed from the roofing,5into the midst before Jesus. Luk_5:19   

16 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the paralytic, My son, thy sins are for- Luk_5:20   

17 given thee. And the scribes and Pharisees began to think within their hearts, Why doth this man blaspheme?6 Who is it that is able to forgive sins, but God alone? Luk_5:21   

18 And Jesus knew by the spirit that they were thinking this within themselves, and he Mar_2:8   

19 said unto them, Why do ye think this within your heart? Which is better,7 that it should be said to the paralytic, Thy sins are forgiven thee, or that it should be said Mar_2:9   

20 to him, Arise, and take thy bed, and walk? That ye may know that the Son of man Mar_2:10   

21 is empowered on earth to forgive sins (and he said to the paralytic), I say unto thee, Mar_2:11   

22 Arise, take thy bed, and go to thine house. And he rose forthwith, and took his bed, and went out in the presence of all. And he went to his house praising God. Mar_2:12 Luk_5:25   

23 And when those multitudes saw, they feared; and amazement took possession of Mat_9:8   

24 them, and they praised God, who had given such power to men. And they said, We have seen marvellous things to-day, of which we have never before seen the like. Luk_5:26 Mat_9:8 Luk_5:26 Mar_2:12   

25 Arabic p. 28 And after that, Jesus went out, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting Luk_5:27   

26 among the publicans:8 and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left Luk_5:28   

27 everything, and rose, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house. And there was a great multitude of the publicans and others sitting with him. Luk_5:29   

28 And the scribes and Pharisees murmured, and said unto his disciples, Why do ye eat Luk_5:30   

29 and drink with the publicans and sinners? Jesus answered and said unto them, The physician seeketh not those who are well, but those that are afflicted with grievous Luk_5:31   

30, 31 sickness.9 I came not to call the righteous, but the sinners, to repentance. And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast always, and pray, and the Luk_5:32 Luk_5:33   

32 Pharisees also, but thy disciples eat and drink? He said unto them, Ye cannot make Luk_5:34   

33 the sons of the marriage feast10 fast, while the bridegroom is with them. Days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then will they fast in those Luk_5:35   

34 days. And he spake unto them a parable: No man inserteth a new patch and seweth it in a worn garment, lest the newness of the new take from the worn, and Luk_5:36 Mar_2:21   

35 there occur a great rent. And no man putteth fresh wine into old skins, lest the wine burst the skins, and the skins be destroyed, and the wine spilled; but they put Mar_2:22   

36 the fresh wine in the new skins, and both are preserved. And no man drinketh old wine and straightway desireth fresh; for he saith, The old is better. Luk_5:38, Luk_5:39   

37 Arabic p. 29 And while Jesus was walking on the sabbath day among the sown fields, his disciples hungered. And they were rubbing the ears with their hands, and Mat_12:1   

38 eating. But some of the Pharisees, when they saw them, said unto him, See, Mat_12:2 Mar_2:24   

39 why11 do thy disciples on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? But Jesus said unto them, Have ye not read in olden time what David did, when he had need and Mar_2:25   

40 hungered, he and those that were with him? how he entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the table of the Lord, which it was not lawful that any should eat, save the priests, and gave to them that were with him also? Mar_2:26   

41 And he said unto them, The sabbath was created because of man, and man was not Mar_2:27   

42 created because of the sabbath. Or have ye not read in the law, that the priests in Mat_12:5   

43 the temple profane the sabbath, and yet they are blameless? I say unto you now, Mat_12:6   

44 that here is what12 is greater than the temple. If ye had known this.13 I love mercy, Mat_12:7   

45 not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned14 those on whom is no blame. The Mat_12:8   

46 Lord of the sabbath is the Son of man. And his relatives heard, and went out to take him, and said, He hath gone out of his mind. Mar_3:21   

47 And on the next15 sabbath day he entered16 into the synagogue and was teach- Luk_6:6   

48 ing. And there was there a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees were watching him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day, Luk_6:7   

49 that they might find the means of accusing him. But he knew their thoughts, and said unto the man whose hand was withered, Rise and come near into the midst of Luk_6:8   

50 the synagogue. And when he came and stood, Jesus said unto them, I ask you, which is lawful to be done on the sabbath day, good or evil? shall lives be saved or Luk_6:9   

51 Arabic p. 30 destroyed? But they were silent. Regarding17 them with anger, being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts. And he said unto the man, Stretch out thy hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand became straight. Mar_3:4 Mar_3:5   

52 Then he said unto them, What man of you shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a Mat_12:11   

53 well on the sabbath day, will not take it and lift it out? And how much is man better than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful on the sabbath to do good. Mat_12:12  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 This may represent a Syriac

2 See note to Section 6, 46, which applies, although the Arabic words are different.

3 Lit. son-of-the-roofs, a Syriac expression cf. Section 24, 31.

4 This is the end of Luk_3:1 in the Greek.

5 This word may be either a singular or a plural

6 This word ordinarily means to forge lies against; but our translator uses it regularly as here.

7 Peshitta has easier.

8 See note to Section 6, 46.

9 A Syriacism.

10 The Arabic word which occurs here in many of the Arabic versions, could also be read bridegroom. The Syriac word for marriage chamber is also used in the sense of marriage feast.

11 Syr. In Arab. it means what?

12 This may be simply a misinterpretation of the ordinary Syriac reading, which in all probability agrees with the masculine reading found in the Text. Rec. of the Greek.

13 Is it possible that the Arabic word after known is not meant simply to introduce the quotation, but is to be taken in the adverbial sense, how representing the Syriac what that is?

14 See Section 10, 13.

15 Lit. other. The definite article is a mistake of the translator.

16 Here, at the end of leaf 17 of Vatican ms., is a note by a later hand: “Here a leaf is missing.” This first lacuna extends from Section 7, 47, to Section 8, 17.

17 An easy clerical error for And so he regarded cf. Peshitta.

The Text of the Diatessaron. (Cont.)

Section VIII.

 

1 And the Pharisees went out, and consulted together concerning him, that they Mat_12:14   

2 might destroy him. And Jesus perceived, and removed thence: and great multitudes Mat_12:15   

3 followed him; and he healed all of them: and he forbade them that they should Mat_12:16   

4 not make him known:1 that the saying in Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which said, Mat_12:17   

5 Behold, my servant2 with whom I am pleased; My beloved in whom my soul hath delighted:3 My spirit have I put upon him, And he shall proclaim to the nations judgement. Mat_12:18   

6 He shall not dispute, nor cry out; And no man shall hear his voice in the marketplace. Mat_12:19   

7 And a bruised reed shall he not break, And a smoking lamp4 shall he not extinguish, Until he shall bring forth judgement unto victory. Mat_12:20   

8 And the nations shall rejoice in his name.5 Mat_12:21   

9 And in those days Jesus went out to the mountain that he might pray, and he Luk_6:12   

10 spent the night6 there in prayer to God. And when the morning was come, he called the disciples. And he went towards the sea: and there followed him much people Luk_6:13 Mar_3:7   

11 from Galilee that he might pray,7 and from Judaea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan, and from Tyre, and from Sidon, and from De- Mar_3:8   

12 capolis; and great multitudes came unto him, which had heard what he did. And he spake to his disciples to bring him the boat because of the multitudes, that they Mar_3:9   

13 Arabic p. 31 might not throng him. And he healed many, so that they were almost falling on him8 on account of their seeking to get near him. And9 those that had Mar_3:10   

14 plagues and unclean spirits, as soon as they beheld him, would fall, and Mar_3:11   

15 cry out, and say, Thou art the Son of God. And he rebuked them much, that they Mar_3:12   

16 should not make him known. And those that were under the constraint of10 un- Luk_6:18   

17 clean spirits were healed. And all of the crowd were seeking to come near11 him; because power went out from him, and he healed them all. Luk_6:19   

18, 19 And when Jesus saw the multitudes, he went up to the mountain. And he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve; and they are those whom he named Mat_5:1 Luk_6:13   

20 apostles: Simon, whom he named Cephas, and Andrew his brother, and James and Luk_6:14   

21 John, and Philip and Bartholomew, and Matthew and Thomas, and James the son Luk_6:15   

22 of Alphaeus, and Simon which was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, Luk_6:16   

23 and Judas the Iscariot, being he that had betrayed him.12 And Jesus went down with them and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and the great Luk_6:17   

24 multitude of people. And these twelve he chose to be with him, and that he might Mar_3:14   

25 send them to preach, and to have power to heal the sick and to cast out devils. Luk_6:20 Mat_5:2   

26 Then he lifted up his eyes unto them, and opened his mouth, and taught them, and said, Mat_5:3   

27 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Mat_5:4   

28 Blessed are the sorrowful: for they shall be comforted. Mat_5:5   

29 Blessed are the humble: for they shall inherit the earth. Mat_5:6   

30 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be satisfied. Mat_5:7   

31 Blessed are the merciful: for on them shall be mercy. Mat_5:8   

32 Arabic p. 32 Blessed are the pure in their hearts: for they shall see God. Mat_5:9   

33 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the sons of God. Mat_5:10   

34 Blessed are they that were persecuted13 for righteousness’ sake: for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Luk_6:22   

35 Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and separate you from them, and persecute you, and reproach you, and shall speak against you with all evil talk, for my Mat_5:11   

36 sake, falsely. Then rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets before you. Mat_5:12   

37 But woe unto you rich! for ye hive received your consolation. Luk_6:24   

38 Woe unto you that are satisfied! ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! ye shall weep and be sad. Luk_6:25   

39 Woe unto you when men praise you! for so did their fathers use to do to the false prophets. Luk_5:26   

40 Unto you do I say, ye which hear, Ye are the salt of the earth: if then the salt become tasteless, wherewith shall it be salted? For any purpose it is of no use, but Luk_6:27 Mat_5:13   

41 is thrown outside, and men tread upon it. Ye are the light of the world. It is Mat_5:14   

42 impossible that a city built on a mountain should be hid. Neither do they light a lamp and place it under a bushel, but on the lamp-stand, and it giveth light to all Mat_5:15   

43 who are in the house. So shall14 your light shine before men, that they may see Mat_5:16   

44 your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. There is nothing Mar_4:22   

45 secret that shall not be revealed, or hidden that shall not be known. Whoever hath ears that hear, let him hear. Mar_4:23   

46 Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, Mat_5:17   

47 Arabic p. 33 but to complete. Verily I say unto you, Until heaven and earth shall pass, there shall not pass one point or one letter of the law, until all of it shall be Mat_5:18   

48 accomplished. Every one who shall violate now one of these small commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called lacking in the kingdom of heaven: every one that shall do and teach shall15 be called great in the kingdom Mat_5:19   

49 of heaven. I say unto you now, unless your righteousness abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Mat_5:20   

50 Ye have heard that it was said to the ancients, Do not kill; and every one that Mat_5:21   

51 killeth is worthy of the judgement. But I say unto you that every one who is angry with his brother without a cause is worthy of the judgement; and every one that saith to his brother, Thou foul one, is condemned16 by the synagogue; and whoso- Mat_5:22   

52 ever saith to him, Thou fool, is worthy of the fire of Gehenna. If thou art now offering thy gift at the altar, and rememberest there that thy brother hath conceived Mat_5:23   

53 against thee any grudge, leave thy gift at the altar, and go first and satisfy thy Mat_5:24   

54 brother, and then return and offer thy gift. Join17 thine adversary quickly, and while thou art still with him in the way, give a ransom and free thyself from him; Mat_5:25 Luk_12:58   

55 test thine adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the tax- Mat_5:25   

56 collector, and thou fall into prison. And verily I say unto thee, Thou shall not go out thence until thou payest the last farthing. Mat_5:26   

57, 58 Ye have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery: but I now say unto you, that every one that looketh at a woman lusting after her hath forthwith already Mat_5:27 Mat_5:28   

59 Arabic p. 34 committed adultery with her in his heart. If thy right eye injure thee, put it out and cast it from thee; for it is preferable for thee that one of thy Mat_5:29   

60 members should perish, and not thy whole body go into the fire of hell. And if thy right hand injure thee, cut it off and cast it from thee; and it is better for thee that Mat_5:30   

61 one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body fall into Gehenna. It was said that he that putteth away his wife should give her a writing of divorcement: Mat_5:31   

62 but I say unto you, that every one that putteth away his wife, except for the cause of adultery, hath made it lawful for18 her to commit adultery: and whosoever taketh one that is put away committeth adultery. Mat_5:32  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. lead to him.

2 The Arabic word strictly means young man.

3 Or, rested.

4 Or, wick.

5 The Arab. might also mean, And he shall preach the good tidings to the peoples in his name cf. Section 22, 4712.

6 This phrase, in this case adopted from the Syriac, really means, in Arab., morning found him.

7 It must be remembered that we have here only one ms. The Arabic words for Galilee and for mountain are very similar. The words that he might pray have therefore probably made their way here by some error from Section 8, 9, above.

8 So with the Peshitta by transposing two letters. The Arabic text as it stands can hardly be translated. Almost may be simply a corruption of the Arabic word were.

9 The syntax of the Arabic is ambiguous. The alternative followed above, which seems the most natural, is that which agrees most nearly with the Peshitta.

10 Or, troubled with.

11 This is the meaning of the Arabic word, as it is the primary meaning of the Syria; but in this work a number of words meaning approach are used and generally translated in the sense of touch. The commonest word so used is that in Section 12, 13 cf. also Section 12, 35.

12 So Vatican ms., followed by Ciasca cf. Sin.. Borgian ms. has he that was betraying or was a traitor cf. Peshitta.

13 This word, the ordinary meaning of which is expel, is freely used by our translator in the sense of persecute.

14 Or, let cf. Section 4, 207.

15 Lit. this man shall.

16 See Section 10, 133.

17 The text is rather uncertain.

18 The text is probably corrupt. Vat. ms. has on margin, i.e., caused her.

 

 

Section IX.

 

1 Ye have heard also that it was said unto the ancients, Lie not, but perform unto Mat_5:33   

2 God in thy oaths: but I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it Mat_5:34   

3 is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is a footstool under his feet; nor yet by Mat_5:35   

4 Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great1 King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy Mat_5:36   

5 head, for thou canst not make in it one lock of hair black or white. But your word shall be either Yea or Nay, and what is in excess of this is of the evil one. Mat_5:37   

6, 7 Ye have heard that it was said, Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth: but I say unto you, Stand not in opposition to the evil;2 but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right Mat_5:38 Mat_5:39   

8 cheek,3 turn to him also the other. And he that would sue thee, and take thy tunic, Mat_5:40   

9 leave to him also thy wrapper. And whosoever compelleth thee one mite, go with Mat_5:41   

10 Arabic p. 35 him twain. And he that asketh thee, give unto him: and he that would borrow of thee, prevent him not. And prosecute4 not him that taketh thy Mat_5:42 Luk_6:30   

11 substance. And as ye desire that men should do to you, so do ye also to them. Luk_6:31   

12, 13 Ye have heard that it was said, Love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy: but I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for those that curse you, and deal well with those that hate you, and pray for those who take you with violence and per- Mat_5:43 Mat_5:44   

14 secute you; that ye may be sons of your heavenly Father, who maketh his sun to rise on the good and the evil, and sendeth down his rain on the righteous and the Mat_5:45   

15 unrighteous. If ye love them that love you, what reward shall ye have? for the pub- Mat_5:46 Luk_6:32   

16 licans and sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do a kindness to those Luk_6:33   

17 who treat you well, where is your superiority? for sinners also do likewise. And if ye lend to him of whom ye hope for a reward,5 where is your superiority? for the Luk_6:34   

18 sinners also lend to sinners, seeking recompense from6 them. But love your enemies, and do good to them, and lend, and cut not off the hope of any man; that your reward may be great, and ye may be the children of the Highest: for he is lenient Luk_6:35   

19 towards the wicked and the ungrateful. Be ye merciful, even as your Father also is Luk_6:36   

20 merciful. And if ye inquire for the good of your brethren only, what more have Mat_5:47   

21 ye done than others? is not this the conduct of the publicans also? Be ye now7 perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Mat_5:48   

22 Consider your alms; do them not before men to let them see you: and if it be not Mat_6:1   

23 Arabic p. 36 so,8 ye have no reward before your Father which is in the heavens. When then thou givest an alms now, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as do the people of hypocrisy, in the synagogues and the marketplaces, that men may praise them. And Mat_6:2   

24 verily say I unto you, They have received their reward. But thou, when Mat_6:3   

25 thou doest alms, let thy left hand not know what thy right hand doeth; that thine alms may be concealed: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Mat_6:4   

26 And whenever thou prayest, be not as the hypocrites, who love to stand in the synagogues and in the corners of the marketplaces for prayers, that men may be- Mat_6:5   

27 hold them. And verily say I unto you, They have received their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and fasten thy door, and pray to thy Father in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Mat_6:6   

28 And whenever ye pray, be not babblers, as the heathen; for they think that by the Mat_6:7   

29 abundance of their words they shall be heard. Then be not ye now like unto them: Mat_6:8   

30 for your Father knoweth your request before ye ask him. One of his disciples said Luk_11:1   

31 unto him, Our Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. Jesus said unto Luk_11:2   

32 them, Thus now pray ye now:9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Mat_6:9   

33, 34 name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,10 as in heaven, so on earth. Give us the Mat_6:10 Mat_6:11   

35 food of to-day. And forgive, us our trespasses, as we forgave those that trespassed Mat_6:12   

36 against us. And bring us not into temptations, but deliver us from the evil one. For Mat_6:13   

37 Arabic p. 37 thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.11 If ye forgive men their wrong-doing,12 your Father which is in heaven will forgive you. Mat_6:14   

38 But if ye forgive not men, neither will your Father pardon your wrong-doing. Mat_6:15   

39 When ye fast, do not frown, as the hypocrites; for they make their faces austere, that they may be seen of13 men that they are fasting. Verily I say unto you, They Mat_6:16   

40 have received their reward. But when thou fastest, wash thy face and anoint thy Mat_6:17   

41 head; that thou make not an appearance to men of fasting, but to thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee. Mat_6:18   

42 Be not agitated, little flock; for your Father hath delighted to give you the king- Luk_12:32   

43 dom. Sell your possessions, and give in alms; take to yourselves purses that wax Luk_12:33   

44 not old. Lay not up treasure on earth, where moth and worm corrupt, and where Mat_6:19   

45 thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where Mat_6:20   

46 moth and worm do not corrupt, nor thieves break through nor steal: for where your Mat_6:21   

47 treasure is, there also will your heart be. The lamp of the body is the eye: if then14 Mat_6:22   

48 thine eye now be sound, thy whole body also shall be light. But if thine eye be evil, all thy body shall be dark. And if the light which is in thee is darkness, how Mat_6:23   

49 great is15 thy darkness! Be watchful that the light which is in thee be not darkness. Luk_11:35   

50 Because that, if thy whole body is light, and have no part dark, it shall all be light, as the lamp giveth light to thee with its flame. Luk_11:36  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 The adj. is in the superlative.

2 A literal reproduction of the Greek, like that in Syr.. versions.

3 Lit. jaw.

4 Or, punish.

5 Or, return.

6 Or, to be given back as much by.

7 Our translator is continually using this word cf. Section 9, 23 where the context and the originals require then or therefore. We shall only occasionally reproduce the peculiarity.

8 A clumsy phrase.

9 The Arabic text makes Matthew begin here.

10 The text as printed reads, That thy will may be done; but it is to be explained as a very common grammatical transcriptional error. The Cur., however, has and.

11 Lit. unto the age of the ages.

12 Or, folly; and so in following verse.

13 Or, shew to.

14 Or, for if

15 Or, will be.

 

 

Section X.

 

1 Arabic p. 38 No man can serve two masters; and that because it is necessary that he hate one of them and love the other, and honour one of them and despise the Mat_6:24   

2 other. Ye cannot serve God and possessions. And because of this I say unto you, Be not anxious for yourselves,1 what ye shall eat and what ye shall drink; neither for your bodies, what ye shall put on. Is not the life better than the food, and the body Mat_6:25   

3 than the raiment? Consider the birds of the heaven, which sow not, nor reap, nor store in barns; and yet your Father which is in heaven feedeth them. Are not ye Mat_6:26   

4 better than they? Who of you when he trieth is able to add to his stature one Mat_6:27   

5 cubit? If then ye are not able for a small thing, why are ye anxious about the Luk_12:26   

6, 7 rest? Consider the wild lily, how it grows, although it toils not, nor spins; and I say unto you that Solomon in the greatness of his glory was not clothed like one of Mat_6:28 Mat_6:29   

8 them. And if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow Mat_6:30   

9 is cast2 into the oven, how much more shall be unto you, O ye of little faith! Be not anxious, so as to say, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With Mat_6:31   

10 what shall we be clothed? Neither let your minds be perplexed in this: all these things the nations of the world seek; and your Father which is in heaven knoweth Luk_12:29 Mat_6:32   

11 your need of all these things. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteous- Mat_6:33   

12 Arabic p. 39 ness; and all these shall come to you as something additional for you. Be not anxious for the morrow; for the morrow shall be anxious for what belongs to it. Sufficient unto the day is its evil. Mat_6:34   

13 Judge not, that ye be not judged: condemn3 not, that ye be not condemned: Mat_7:1 Luk_6:37   

14 forgive, and it shall be forgiven you: release, and ye shall be released: give, that ye may be given unto; with good measure, abundant, full, they shall thrust4 into your Luk_6:38   

15 bosoms. With what measure ye measure it shall be measured to you. See to it what ye hear: with what measure ye measure it shall be measured to you; and ye Mar_4:24   

16 shall be given more. I say unto those that hear, He that hath shall be given unto; and he that hath not, that which he regards5 as his shall be taken from him. Mar_4:25   

17 And he spake unto them a parable, Can a blind man haply guide a blind man? Luk_6:39   

18 shall6 they not both fall into a hollow? A disciple is not better than his master; Luk_6:40   

19 every perfect man shall be as his master. Why lookest thou at the mote which is in the eye of thy brother, but considerest not the column that is in thine own eye? Luk_6:41   

20 Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, I will take out the mote from thine eye; and the column which is in thine eye thou seest not? Thou hypocrite, take out first the column from thine eye; and then shalt thou see to take out the mote from the eye of thy brother. Luk_6:42   

21 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest they trample them with their feet, and return and wound you. Mat_7:6   

22 And he said unto them, Who of you, that hath a friend, goeth to him at mid- Luk_11:5   

23 night, and saith unto him, My friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend hath come Luk_11:6   

24 Arabic p. 40 to me from a journey, and I have nothing to offer to him: and that friend shall answer him from within, and say unto him, Trouble me not; for the door is shut, and my children are with me in bed, and I cannot rise and give thee? Luk_11:7   

25 And verily I say unto you, If he will not give him because of friendship, yet because Luk_11:8   

26 of his importunity he will rise and give him what he seeketh. And I also say unto you, Ask, and ye shall be given unto; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be Luk_11:9   

27 opened unto you. Every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and Luk_11:10   

28 he that knocketh, it shall be opened to him. What father of you, shall his son ask for bread – will he, think you, give him a stone?7 and if he ask of him a fish, will he, Luk_11:11   

29 think you, instead of the fish give him a serpent? and if he ask him for an egg, will Luk_11:12   

30 he, think you, extend to him a scorpion? If ye then, although being evil, know the gifts which are good, and give them to your children, how much more shall your Luk_11:23   

31 Father which is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: this is the law and the prophets. Mat_7:12   

32 Enter8 ye by the narrow gate; for the wide gate and the broad way lead to de- Mat_7:13   

33 struction, and many they be which go therein. How narrow is the gate and straitened the way leading to life! and few be they that find it. Mat_7:14   

34 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s9 clothing, while within Mat_7:15   

35 they are ravening wolves. But by their fruits ye shall know them. For every tree is known by its fruit. For figs are not gathered10 of thorns, neither are grapes plucked of Mat_7:16 Luk_6:44   

36 briers. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but the evil tree bringeth Mat_7:17   

37 Arabic p. 41 forth evil fruit. The good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can the Mat_7:18   

38 evil tree bring forth good fruit. The good man from the good treasures that are in his heart bringeth forth good things; and the evil man from the evil treasures that are in his heart bringeth forth evil things: and from the overflowings of the Luk_6:45   

39 heart the lips speak. Every tree that beareth not good fruit is cut down and cast Mat_7:19   

40, 41 into the fire. Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not all that say unto me, My Lord, my Lord, shall enter the kingdom of the heavens; but he that doeth Mat_7:20 Mat_7:21   

42 the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many shall say unto me in that day, My Lord, my Lord, did we not prophesy in thy name, and in thy name cast out Mat_7:22   

43 devils, and in thy name do many powers? Then shall I say unto them, I never Mat_7:23   

44 knew you: depart from me, ye servants of iniquity. Every man that cometh unto Luk_6:47   

45 me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to what he is like: he is like the wise man which built a house, and digged and went deep, and laid the Luk_6:48   

46 foundations on a rock: and the rain came down, and the rivers overflowed, and the winds blew, and shook that house, and it fell not: for its foundation was laid on Mat_7:25   

47 rocks. And every one that heareth these my words, and doeth them not, is like Mat_7:26   

48 the foolish man which built his house on sand, without foundation: and the rain descended, and the rivers overflowed, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house, and it fell: and the fall of it was great. Mat_7:27  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Or, your souls or, your lives.

2 Lit. falleth cf. Syriac.

3 The word means to contend successfully, but is used throughout by our translator in the sense of condemn.

4 This is the reading adopted by Ciasca in his Latin version. The diacritical points in the Arabic text, as he has printed it perhaps a misprint, give second person plural passive instead of third plural active.

5 cf. Luk_8:18. Our translator uses the same word in Section 50, 5 = Luk_23:8, and in both cases it represents the same word in the Syriac versions.

6 Or, Do.

7 The Arabic might also be rendered, What father of you, whom his son asketh for bread, will think you give him a stone? But as the Peshitta preserves the confused construction of the Greek, it is probably better to render as above.

8 There is nothing about striving. The verb is walaga, which means enter cf. Section 11, 48.

9 Or, lambs’

10 The verbs might be singular active, but not plural as in Syriac versions cf., however, Section 38, 438. In the Borgian ms the nouns are in the accusative.

 

 

Section XI.

 

1 Arabic p. 42 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the multitudes were astonished Mat_7:28   

2 at his teaching; and that because he was teaching them as one having authority, not as their scribes and the Pharisees. Mat_7:29   

3 And when he descended from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. Mat_8:1   

4 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, the servant of one of the chiefs was in an Mat_8:5 Luk_7:2   

5 evil case, and he was precious to him, and he was at the point of death. And he Luk_7:3   

6 heard of Jesus, and came to him with the elders of the Jews; and he besought him, and said, My Lord, my boy is laid in the house paralysed,1 and he is suffering griev- Mat_8:5 Mat_8:6   

7 ous torment. And the elders urgently requested of him, and said, He is worthy that Luk_7:4   

8 this should be done unto him: for he loveth our people, and he also built the syna- Luk_7:5   

9, 10 gogue for us. Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him. That chief answered and said, My Lord, I am not worthy that my roof should shade thee; but it sufficeth Mat_8:7 Mat_8:8   

11 that thou speak a word, and my lad shall be healed. And I also am a man in obedience to authority, having under my hand soldiers:2 and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant that he do this, Luk_7:8   

12 and he doeth it. And when Jesus heard that, he marvelled at him,3 and turned and said unto the multitude that were coming with him, Verily I say unto you, I have Luk_7:9 Mat_8:10   

13 not found in Israel the like of this faith. I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob Mat_8:11   

14 Arabic p. 43 in the kingdom of heaven: but the children of the kingdom shall be cast Mat_8:12   

15 forth into the outer darkness: and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to that chief, Go thy way; as thou hast believed, so shall it be unto thee. Mat_8:13   

16 And his lad was healed in that hour. And that chief returned to the house and found that sick servant healed. Luk_7:10   

17 And the day after, he was going to a city called Nain, and his disciples with him, Luk_7:11   

18 and a great multitude. And when he was come near the gate of the city, he saw a crowd4 accompanying one that was dead, the only son of his mother; and his mother was a widow: and there was with her a great multitude of the people of the Luk_7:12   

19 city. And when Jesus saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep Luk_7:13   

20 not. And he went and advanced to the bier, and the bearers of it stood still; and Luk_7:14   

21 he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And that dead man sat up and began Luk_7:15   

22 to speak; and he gave him to his mother. And fear came on all the people: and they praised God, and said, There hath risen among us a great prophet: and, God Luk_7:16   

23 hath had regard to his people. And this news concerning him spread in all Judaea, and in all the region which was about them. Luk_7:17   

24 And when Jesus saw great multitudes surrounding him, he commanded them to Mat_8:18   

25 depart to the other side. And while they were going in the way, there came one of the scribes and said unto him, My Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou Luk_9:57 Mat_8:19   

26 goest. Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have Mat_8:20   

27 nests; but the Son of man hath not a place in which to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. And he said unto him, My Lord, suffer me first to go and Luk_9:59   

28 bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Leave the dead to bury their dead; but thou, Luk_9:60   

29 follow me and preach the kingdom of God. And another said unto him, I will follow thee, my Lord; but first suffer me to go and salute my household and Luk_9:61   

30 Arabic p. 44 come. Jesus said unto him, There is no one who putteth his hand to the plough5 and looketh behind him, and yet is fit for the kingdom of God. Luk_9:62   

31 And he said to them on that day in the evening, Let us go over to the other side Mar_4:35 Luk_8:22   

32 of the lake; and he left6 the multitudes. And Jesus went up and sat in the ship, Mar_4:36 Luk_8:22   

33 he and his disciples, and there were with them other ships. And there occurred on the sea a great tempest7 of whirlwind and wind, and the ship was on the point of Mar_4:36 Mat_8:24 Luk_8:23   

34 sinking from the greatness8 of the waves. But Jesus was sleeping on a cushion in the stern of the ship; and his disciples came and awoke him, and said unto him, Our Mar_4:38 Mat_8:25   

35 Lord, save us; lo, we perish. And he rose, and rebuked the winds and the turbulence of the water, and said to the sea, Be still, for thou art rebuked; and the wind Luk_8:24 Mar_4:39   

36 was still, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye thus Mar_4:40   

37 afraid? And why have ye no faith? And they feared greatly.9 And they marvelled, and said one to another, Who, think you, is this, who commandeth also the wind and the waves and the sea, and they obey him? Luk_8:25   

38 And they departed and came to the country of the Gadarenes, which is on the Luk_8:26   

39 other side, opposite the land of Galilee. And when he went out of the ship to the land, there met him from among the tombs a man who had a devil for a long time, Luk_8:27 Mar_5:2 Luk_8:27   

40 Arabic p. 45 and wore no clothes, neither dwelt in a house, but among the tombs. And no man was able to bind him with chains, because any time that he was bound with chains Mar_5:3 Mar_5:4   

41 and fetters he cut the chains and loosened the fetters; and he was snatched10 Luk_8:29   

42 away of the devil into the desert, and no man was able to quiet him; and at all times, in the night and in the day, he would be among the tombs and in the mountains; and no man was able to pass by that way; and he would cry out and wound himself Mar_5:4, Mar_5:5 Mat_8:28 Mar_5:5   

43 with stones. And when he saw Jesus at a distance, he hastened and worshipped Mar_5:6   

44 him, and cried with a loud voice and said, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, Mar_5:7 Luk_8:28   

45 Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, torment me not. And Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man: and he had suffered11 a long Mar_5:7 Luk_8:29   

46 time since the time when he came into captivity to it. And Jesus asked him, What is thy name? He said unto him, Legion; for there had entered into him many Luk_8:30   

47 devils. And they besought him that he would not command them to depart into Luk_8:31   

48 the depths. And there was there a herd of many swine, feeding in the mountain, and those devils besought him to give them leave to enter the swine; and he gave Luk_8:32   

49 them leave. And the devils went out of the man and entered into the swine. And that herd hastened to the summit and fell down into the midst of the sea, about two Luk_8:33 Mar_5:13   

50 thousand, and they were choked in the water. And when the keepers saw what Luk_8:34   

51 happened, they fled, and told those in the cities and villages. And the people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man whose devils had gone out, clothed, modest,12 seated at the feet of Jesus; and they Luk_8:35   

52 Arabic p. 46 feared. And they reported what they saw, and how the man was healed who had a devil, and concerning those swine also. Luk_8:36 Mar_5:16  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 i.e. so as to be unable to walk.

2 Or, bodies of soldiers.

3 Or, it.

4 Lit. company

5 Lit. plough of the yoke.

6 cf. e.g., at Section 17, 19, Section 23, 16, where the same Arabic and Syriac word is used; cf. also the ambiguity of the Greek R. V. has left

7 Lit. commotion

8 Or, abundance.

9 The last clause belongs in the Greek to Luk_23:41.

10 Imperfect tense.

11 Lit. and it was for him.

12 cf. Syriac versions.

 

 

Section XII.

 

1 And all the multitude of the Gadarenes entreated him to depart from them, because that great fear took hold upon them. Luk_8:37   

2, 3 But Jesus went up into the ship, and crossed, and came to his city. And that man from whom the devils went out entreated that he might stay with him; but Mat_9:1 Luk_8:38   

4 Jesus sent him away, and said unto him, Return to thy house, and make known what Luk_8:39   

5 God hath done for thee. And he went, and began to publish in Decapolis1 what Jesus had done for him; and they all marvelled. Mar_5:20   

6 And when Jesus had crossed in the ship to that side, a great multitude received Mar_5:21 Luk_8:40   

7 him; and they were all looking for him. And a man named Jairus, the chief of the Luk_8:41   

8 synagogue, fell before the feet of Jesus, and besought him much, and said unto him, I have an only daughter, and she is come nigh unto death; but come and lay thy Mar_5:23 Mat_9:18   

9 hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus rose, and his disciples, and they fol- Mat_9:19   

10 lowed him. And there joined him a great multitude, and they pressed him. Mar_5:24   

11, 12 And a woman, which had a flow of blood for twelve years, had suffered much of many physicians, and spent all that she had, and was not benefited at all, but her Mar_5:25 Mar_5:26   

13 trouble increased further. And when she heard of Jesus, she came in the thronging of Mar_5:27   

14 Arabic p. 47 the crowd behind him, and touched2 his garments; and she thought within Mar_5:28   

15 herself, If I could reach to touch his garments, I should live. And immediately the fountain of her blood was dried; and she felt in her body that she was healed Mar_5:29   

16 of her plague. And Jesus straightway knew within himself that power had gone out of him; and he turned to the crowd, and said, Who approached unto my garments? Mar_5:30   

17 And on their denying, all of them, Simon Cephas and those with him said unto him, Our Master, the multitudes throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who ap- Luk_8:45   

18 proached unto me? And he said, Some one approached unto me; and I knew that Luk_8:46   

19 power went forth from me. And that woman, when she saw that she was not hid Luk_8:47   

20 from him, came fearing and agitated for she knew what had happened to her, and fell down and worshipped him, and told, in the presence of all the people, for what Mar_5:33 Luk_8:47   

21 reason she touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And Jesus said unto her, Be of good courage, daughter; thy faith hath made thee alive; depart in peace, and be whole from thy plague. Luk_8:48 Mar_5:34   

22 And while he was yet speaking, there came a man from the house of the chief of the synagogue, and said unto him, Thy daughter hath died; so trouble not the Luk_8:49   

23 teacher. But Jesus heard, and said unto the father of the maid, Fear not: but be- Luk_8:50   

24 lieve only, and she shall live. And he suffered no man to go with him, except Mar_5:37   

25 Simon Cephas, and James, and John the brother of James. And they reached the house of the chief of the synagogue; and he saw them agitated, weeping and wail- Mar_5:38   

26 ing. And he entered, and said unto them, Why are ye agitated and weeping? the Mar_5:39   

27 Arabic p. 48 maid hath not died, but she is sleeping. And they laughed at him, for Luk_8:53   

28 they knew that she had died. And he put every man forth without, and took the father of the maid, and her mother, and Simon, and James, and John, and Mar_5:40   

29 entered into the place where the maid was laid. And he took hold of the hand of the maid, and said unto her, Maid, arise. And her spirit returned, and straightway Mar_5:41 Luk_8:55   

30 she arose and walked: and she was about twelve years of age. And he commanded Mar_5:42 Luk_8:55   

31 that there should be given to her something to eat. And her father wondered greatly: Luk_8:56   

32 and he warned them that they should tell no man what had happened. And this report spread in all that land. Mat_9:26   

33 And when Jesus crossed over from there, there joined him two blind men, cry- Mat_9:27   

34 ing out, and saying, Have mercy on us, thou son of David. And when he came to the house, those two blind men came to him: and Jesus said unto them, Believe ye Mat_9:28   

35 that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, our Lord. Then he touched3 Mat_9:29   

36 their eyes, and said, As ye have believed, it shall be unto you. And immediately their eyes were opened. And Jesus forbade them, and said, See that no man know. Mat_9:30   

37 But they went out and published the news in all that land. Mat_9:31   

38 And when Jesus went out, they brought to him a dumb man having a devil. Mat_9:32   

39 And on the going out of the devil that dumb man spake. And the multitudes marvelled, and said, It was never so seen in Israel Mat_9:33   

40 And Jesus was going about in all the cities and in the villages, and teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease Mat_9:35   

41 Arabic p. 49 and sickness; and many followed him. And when Jesus saw the multitudes, he had compassion on them, for they were wearied and scattered,4 as sheep Mat_9:36   

42 that have no shepherd. And he called his twelve disciples, and gave them power and Mat_10:1 Luk_9:1   

43 much authority over all devils and diseases; and sent them two and two, that they Luk_9:2   

44 might proclaim the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And he charged them, and said, Walk not in the way of the heathen, nor enter into the cities of the Sa- Mat_10:5   

45, 46 maritans.5 Go especially unto the sheep that are lost of the sons of Israel. And Mat_10:6 Mat_10:7   

47 when ye go, proclaim and say, The kingdom of heaven is come near. And heal the sick, and cleanse the lepers, and cast out the devils: freely ye have received, freely Mat_10:8   

48, 49 give. Get you not gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses; and take nothing for the way, except a staff only; nor bag, nor bread; neither shall ye have two tunics, Mat_10:9 Mar_6:8 Luk_9:3   

50 nor shoes, nor staff, but be shod with sandals; for the labourer is worthy of his food. Mat_10:10   

51 And whatever city or village ye enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and there be until Mar_6:9 Mat_10:10   

52, 53 ye go out. And when ye enter into the house, ask for the peace of the house: and if the house is worthy, your peace shall come upon it; but if it is not worthy, your Mat_10:11 Mat_10:12 Mat_10:13   

54 peace shall return unto you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your sayings, when ye go out from that house, or from that village, shake off the dust Mat_10:14 Mar_6:11   

55 Arabic p. 50 that is under your feet against them for a testimony. And verily I say unto you, To the land of Sodom and Gomorrah there shall be rest in the day of judgement, rather than to that city. Mat_10:15  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. the ten cities.

2 See Section 8, 1711.

3 Lit. went forward to cf. Section 8, 1711.

4 Lit. cast away cf. meanings of Syriac word.

5 Section 34, 40, shows that this Arabic form may be so translated.

 

 

Section XIII.

 

1 I am sending you as lambs among wolves: be ye now wise as serpents, and Mat_10:16   

2 harmless1 as doves. Beware of men: they shall deliver you to the councils of the Mat_10:17   

3 magistrates, and scourge you in their synagogues; and shall bring you before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and against the nations. Mat_10:18   

4 And when they deliver you up, be not 2 anxious, nor consider beforehand, what ye Mat_10:19   

5 shall say; but ye shall be given3 in that hour what ye ought to speak. Ye do not Mat_10:20   

6 speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaketh in you. The brother shall deliver up his brother to death, and the father his son; and the sons shall rise against their Mat_10:21   

7 parents, and put them to death. And ye shall be hated of every man because of Mat_10:22   

8 my name; but he that endureth unto the end of the matter shall be saved.4 When they expel you from this city, flee to another. Verily I say unto you, Ye shall not finish all the cities of the people of Israel, until the Son of man come. Mat_10:23   

9, 10 A disciple is not superior to his lord, nor a servant to his master. For it is enough then for the disciple that he be as his lord, and the servant as his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more the people Mat_10:24 Mat_10:25   

11 of his house! Fear them not therefore:5 for there is nothing covered, that shall Mat_10:26   

12 Arabic p. 51 not be revealed; nor hid, that shall not be disclosed and published. What I say unto you in the darkness, speak ye in the light; and what ye have told Mat_10:27 Luk_12:3   

13 secretly in the ears in closets, let it be proclaimed on the housetops. I say unto you now, my beloved, Be not agitated at6 those who kill the body, but have no power to Luk_12:4   

14 kill the soul. I will inform you whom ye shall fear: him7 which is able to destroy Luk_10:28   

15 soul and body in hell. Yea, I say unto you, Be afraid of him especially. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing in a bond?8 and one of them shall not fall on the Luk_12:5 Mat_10:29   

16 ground without your Father. But what concerns you: even the hair of your heads Mat_10:30   

17, 18 also is numbered. Fear not therefore; ye are better than many sparrows. Every man who confesseth me now before men, I also will confess him before my Father Mat_10:31 Mat_10:32   

19 which is in heaven; but whosoever denieth me before men, I also will deny him before my Father which is in heaven. Mat_10:33   

20 Think ye that I am come to cast peace into the earth? I came not to cast peace, Luk_12:51   

21 but to cast dissension. Henceforth there shall be five in one house, three of them Luk_12:52   

22 disagreeing with two, and the two with the three. The father shall become hostile to his son, and the son to his father; and the mother to her daughter, and the daughter to her mother; and the mother in law to her daughter in law, and the daughter Luk_12:53   

23 in law to her mother in law: and a man’s enemies shall be the people of his house. Mat_10:36   

24 Whosoever loveth father or mother better than me is not worthy of me; and whosoever loveth son or daughter more than his love of me is not worthy of me. Mat_10:37   

25 Arabic p. 52 And every one that doth not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of Mat_10:38   

26 me. Whosoever findeth his life9 shall lose it; and whosoever loseth his life9 for my sake shah find it. Mat_10:39   

27 And whosoever receiveth you receiveth me; and whosoever receiveth me re- Mat_10:40   

28 ceiveth him that sent me. And whosoever receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall take10 a prophet’s reward; and whosoever shall receive a righteous man Mat_10:41   

29 in the name of a righteous man shall take10 a righteous man’s reward. And every one that shall give to drink to one of these least ones a drink of water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. Mat_10:42 Mar_9:41   

30 And when Jesus finished charging his twelve disciples, he removed thence to Mat_11:1   

31 teach and preach in their cities. And while they were going in the way they entered into a certain village; and a woman named Martha entertained him in her house. Luk_10:38   

32 And she had a sister named Mary, and she came and sat at the feet of our Lord, Luk_10:39   

33 and heard his sayings. But Martha was disquieted by much serving; and she came and said unto him, My Lord, givest thou no heed that my sister left me alone to Luk_10:40   

34 serve? speak to her that she help me. Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Luk_10:41   

35 Martha, thou art solicitous and impatient11 on account of many things: but what is sought is one thing. But Mary hath chosen for herself a good portion, and that which shall not be taken from her. Luk_10:42   

36 And the apostles went forth, and preached to the people that they might repent. Mar_6:12   

37 And they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick with oil, and healed them. Mar_6:13   

38, 39 Arabic p. 53 And the disciples of John told him12 of all these things. And when John heard in the prison of the doings of the Messiah, he called two of his disciples, and sent them to Jesus, and said, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for Luk_7:18 Mat_11:2 Luk_7:19   

40 another? And they came to Jesus, and said unto him, John the Baptist hath sent Luk_7:20   

41 us unto thee, and said. Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another? And in that hour he cured many of diseases, and of plagues of an evil spirit; and he gave sight Luk_7:21   

42 to many blind. Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John everything ye have seen and heard: the blind see, and the lame walk, and the lepers are cleansed, and the blind13 hear, and the dead rise, and the poor have the gospel preached to Luk_7:22   

43 them. And blessed is he who doubteth not in me. Luk_7:23   

44 And when John’s disciples departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken with the Luk_7:24   

45 winds? And if not, then what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that are in magnificent garments and in voluptuousness are in the abode Luk_7:25   

46 of kings. And if not, then what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto Luk_7:26   

47 you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, I am sending my messenger before thy face To prepare the way before thee. Luk_7:27  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 The word is occasionally used in this sense, but ordinarily means sound, unhurt.

2 From this point down to Mat_10:27, is assigned by Vatican ms. to Mark.

3 Borgian ms. reads, but what ye are granted ye shall speak, and ye shall be given in, etc., and there seems to be a trace of this reading in Ciasca’s text.

4 See note to Section 1, 7815.

5 See note to Section 9, 217.

6 Perhaps, this Arabic word is a copyist’s error for that used a few lines further down in Luk_12:5, the Arabic words being very similar; but see note on Section 1, 142.

7 Syriac

8 The Vatican ms., like the British Museum text of Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, omits for a farthing, retaining in a bond. The two phrases are simply different explanations of the same Syriac consonants. These are really the naturalised Greek word rendered farthing in English version; but they also form a Syriac word meaning bond.

9 Or, soul.

10 Or, receive.

11 Or, agitated.

12 Lit. And his disciples told John, as in the Greek, etc.

13 A different word from that used in the preceding verse. It is either an Arabic copyist’s error for the word deaf used in Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, or a careless blunder.

 

 

Section XIV.

 

1 Verily I say unto you, There hath not arisen among those whom women have borne a greater than John the Baptist; but he that is little now in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Mat_11:11   

2 Arabic p. 54 And all the people which heard, and the publicans, justified1 God, for Luk_7:29   

3 they had been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the scribes wronged2 the purpose of God in themselves, in that they were not baptized of Luk_7:30   

4 him. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is Mat_11:12   

5 snatched away by violence. The law and the prophets were until John; and after that, the kingdom of God is preached, and all press to enter it: and they that exert them- Luk_16:16 Mat_11:12   

6, 7 selves snatch it away. All the prophets and the law until John prophesied. And if ye Mat_11:13 Mat_11:14   

8 will, then receive it, that he is Elijah, which is to come. Whosoever hath ears that hear Mat_11:15   

9 let him hear. Easier is the perishing of heaven and earth, than the passing away of Luk_16:17   

10 one point of the law. To whom then shall I liken the people of this generation,3 and Luk_7:31   

11 to whom are they like? They are like the children sitting in the market, which call to their companions, and say, We sang to you, and ye danced not; we wailed to you, Luk_7:32   

12 and ye wept not. John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; Luk_7:33   

13 and ye said, He hath demons: and the Son of man came eating and drinking; and ye said, Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drinker of wine, and an associate of pub- Luk_7:34   

14, 15 licans and sinners! And wisdom was justified of all her children. And when he said that, they came to the house. And there gathered unto him again multitudes, Luk_7:35 Mar_3:20 4   

16 so that they found not bread to eat. And while he was casting out a devil which was dumb, when he cast out that devil, that dumb man spake. And the multitudes Luk_11:14   

17 Arabic p. 55 marvelled. And the Pharisees, when they heard, said, This man doth not cast out the devils, except by Beelzebul the chief of the demons, which is in him. Mat_12:24   

18, 19 And others requested of him a sign from heaven, to tempt him. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them in parables, Every kingdom that withstandeth itself shall become desolate; and every house or city that disagreeth with itself shall not Luk_11:16 Mat_12:25   

20 stand: and if a devil cast out a devil, he withstandeth himself; neither shall he be Mat_12:26   

21 able to stand, but his end shall be. Then how now shall his kingdom stand? for ye Mar_3:26 Mat_12:26   

22 said that I cast out devils by Beelzebul. And if I by Beelzebul cast out the devils, then your children, by what do they cast them out? And for this cause they shall Luk_11:18 Mat_12:27   

23 be judges against you. But if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then the king- Mat_12:28   

24 dom of God is come near unto you. Or how can a man enter into the house of a valiant man, and seize his garments,5 if he do not beforehand secure himself6 from Mat_12:29   

25 that valiant man? and then will he cut off7 his house. But when the valiant man is Luk_11:21   

26 armed, guarding his house, his possessions are in peace. But if one come who is more valiant than he, he overcometh him, and taketh his whole armour, on which Luk_11:22   

27 he relieth, and divideth his spoil. Whosoever is not with me is against me; and Luk_11:23   

28 Arabic p. 56 whosoever gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. For this reason I say unto you, that all sins and blasphemies with which men blaspheme shall be forgiven Mar_3:28   

29 them: but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, there is no Mar_3:29   

30 forgiveness for him for ever, but he is deserving of eternal punishment: because they Mar_3:30   

31 said that he had an unclean spirit. And he said also, Every one that speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to Mat_12:32   

32 come. Either ye must make a good tree8 and its fruit good; or ye must make an evil Mat_12:33   

33 tree9 and its fruit evil: for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye children of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? from the overflowings of the heart the mouth Mat_12:34   

34 speaketh. The good man from the good treasures which are in his heart bringeth forth good things; and the wicked man from the evil treasures which are in his Luk_6:45   

35 heart bringeth forth evils. I say unto you, that every idle word which men shall Mat_12:36   

36 speak, they shall give an answer for in the day of judgement: for by thy sayings thou shalt be justified, and by thy sayings thou shalt be judged. Mat_12:37   

37 And he said to the multitudes, When ye see the clouds appear from the west, Luk_12:54   

38 straightway ye say that there cometh rain; and so it cometh to pass. And when Luk_12:55   

39 the south wind bloweth, ye say that there will be heat; and it cometh to pass. And when the evening is come, ye say, It will be fair weather, for the heaven has become Mat_16:2   

40 Arabic p. 57 red. And in the morning ye say, To-day there will be severe weather, for the redness Of the heaven is paling. Ye hypocrites, ye know to examine the face of the heaven and the earth; but the signs of this time ye know not to discern. Mat_16:3 Mat_16:4 10   

41 Then they brought to him one possessed of a demon, dumb and blind; and he Mat_12:22   

42 healed him, so that the dumb and blind began to speak and see. And all the multitudes wondered, and said, Is this, think you, the son of David? Mat_12:23   

43 And the apostles returned unto Jesus, and told him everything that they had Mar_6:30   

44 done and wrought.11 And he said unto them, Come, let us go into the desert alone, and rest yea little. And many were going and returning, and they had not leisure, not even to eat bread. Mar_6:31   

45 And after that, there came to him one of the Pharisees, and besought him that he would eat bread with him. And he entered into the house of that Pharisee, and Luk_7:36   

46 reclined. And there was in that city a woman that was a sinner; and when she knew that he was sitting in the house of that Pharisee, she took a box of sweet oint- Luk_7:37   

47 ment, and stood behind him, towards his feet, weeping, and began to wet his feet with her tears, and to wipe them with the hair of her head, and to kiss his feet, and Luk_7:38   

48 anoint them with the sweet ointment. And when that12 Pharisee saw it, who invited him, he thought within himself, and said, This man, if he were a prophet, would know who she is and what is her history: for the woman which touched him was a sinner. Luk_7:39  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Syriac. In Arabic the word ordinarily means believed.

2 See Section 20, 2811.

3 See Section 1, 4910.

4 And verse 19b.

5 The word used in the Syriac versions Pesh. and Cur. means garments as well as utensils, and the Arabic translator has chosen the wrong meaning cf. Section 42, 44.

6 Certain derivatives from the same root signify bind, but hardly this word.

7 The two Arab. mss. differ in this word, but the meaning is about the same. Perhaps both are corrupt.

8 Or, a tree good.

9 Or, a tree evil.

10 This is reckoned to verse 3 in the Greek.

11 Wrought may have arisen from taught by a transcriptional error transposition of l and m within the Arabic text. As it appears to occur in both mss., they would seem to have a common origin, which, however, can hardly have been the autograph of the translator.

12 A comparison with the Syriac text recommends this rendering.

The Text of the Diatessaron. (Cont.)

Section XV.

1 Jesus answered and said unto him, Simon, I have something to say unto thee. And Luk_7:40    

2 Arabic p. 58 he said unto him, Say on, my Master. Jesus said unto him, There were two debtors to one creditor; and one of them owed five hundred pence, and the other Luk_7:41   

3 owed fifty pence. And because they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave Luk_7:42   

4 them both. Which of them ought to love him more? Simon answered and said, I suppose, he to whom he forgave most. Jesus said unto him, Thou hast judged rightly. Luk_7:43   

5 And he turned to that woman, and said to Simon, Dost thou see this woman? I entered into thy dwelling, and thou gavest me not water to wash my feet: but this Luk_7:44   

6 woman hath bathed1 my feet with her tears, and dried them with her hair. And thou kissedst me not: but this woman, since she2 entered, hath not ceased to kiss my Luk_7:45   

7 feet. And thou anointedst not my head with oil:3 but this woman hath anointed Luk_7:46   

8 my feet with sweet ointment.3 And for this, I say unto thee, Her many sins are forgiven her, because she loved much; for he to whom little is forgiven loveth little. Luk_7:47   

9, 10 And he said unto that woman, Thy sins are forgiven thee. And those that were in- Luk_7:48 Luk_7:49   

11 vited began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And Jesus said to that woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. Luk_7:50   

12 And many believed in him when they saw the signs which he was doing. Joh_2:23   

13, 14 But Jesus did not trust4 himself to them, for he knew every man, and he needed not any man to testify to him concerning every man; for he knew what was in man. Joh_2:24 Joh_2:25   

15 And after that, Jesus set apart from his disciples other seventy, and sent them two and two before his face to every region and city whither he was purposing to Luk_10:1   

16 go. And he said unto them, The harvest is abundant, and the labourers are few: Luk_10:2   

17 entreat now the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest. Go Luk_10:3   

18 Arabic p. 59 ye: and lo, I am sending you as lambs among wolves. Take not with you Luk_10:4   

19 purses, nor a wallet, nor shoes; neither salute any man in the way. And Luk_10:5   

20 whatsoever house ye enter, first salute that house: and if there be there a son of peace, Luk_10:6   

21 let your peace rest upon him; but if there be not, your peace shall return to you. And be ye in that house eating and drinking what they have:5 for the labourer is worthy of Luk_10:7   

22 his hire. And remove not from house to house. And into whatsoever city ye enter, Luk_10:8   

23 and they receive you, eat what is presented to you: and heal the sick that are Luk_10:9   

24 therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come near unto you. But whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go out into the market, and say, Luk_10:10   

25 Even the dust that clave to our feet from your city, we shake off against you; but Luk_10:11   

26 know6 this,7 that the kingdom of God is come near unto you. I say unto you, that for Sodom there shall be quiet in the day of judgement, but there shall not be for Luk_10:12   

27 that city. Then began Jesus to rebuke the cities in which there had been many Mat_11:20   

28 mighty works,8 and they repented not. And he said, Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! if there had been in Tyre and Sidon the signs which were in Mat_11:21   

29 thee, it may be that they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. Howbeit I say unto you, that for Tyre and Sidon there shall be rest in the day of judgement, Mat_11:22   

30 more than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt sink down unto Hades; for if there had been in Sodom the wonders9 which were Mat_11:23   

31 in thee, it would have remained until this day. And now I say unto thee, that for the land of Sodom there shall be quiet in the day of judgement, more than for thee. Mat_11:24   

32 Arabic p. 60 And he said again unto his apostles, Whosoever heareth you heareth me; and whosoever heareth me heareth him that sent me: and whosoever wrongeth10 you wrongeth me; and whosoever wrongeth me wrongeth him that sent me. Luk_10:16   

33 And those seventy returned with great joy, and said unto him, Our Lord, even Luk_10:17   

34 the devils also are subject unto us in thy name. He said unto them, I beheld Luk_10:18   

35 Satan11 fallen like lightning from heaven. Behold, I am giving you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and the whole race12 of the enemy; and nothing shall Luk_10:19   

36 hurt you. Only ye must not rejoice that the devils are subject unto you; but be glad that your names are written in heaven. Luk_10:20   

37 And in that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, I acknowledge thee, my Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto children: yea, my Father; so Luk_10:21   

38 was thy will. And he turned to his disciples,13 and said unto them, Everything hath been delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, save the Father; and who the Father is, save the Son, and to whomsoever the Son willeth Luk_10:22   

39 to reveal him. Come unto me, all of you, ye that are wearied and bearers of bur- Mat_11:28   

40 dens, and I will give you rest. Bear my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for14 I Mat_11:29   

41 am gentle and lowly in my heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is pleasant, and my burden is light. Mat_11:30   

42 And while great multitudes were going with him, he turned, and said unto them, Luk_14:25   

43 Whosoever cometh unto me, and hateth not his father, and his mother, and his brethren, and his sisters, and his wife, and his children, and himself15 also, cannot Luk_14:26   

44 be a disciple to me. And whosoever doth not take his cross, and follow Luk_14:27   

45 Arabic p. 61 me, cannot be a disciple to me. Which of you desireth to build a tower, and doth not sit down first and reckon his expenses and whether he hath enough to Luk_14:28   

46 complete it?16 lest when he hath laid the foundations, and is not able to finish, all that Luk_14:29   

47 behold him17 laugh at him, and say, This man began to build, and was not able to Luk_14:30   

48 finish. Or what king goeth to the battle to fight with another king,18 and doth not consider first whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh to him Luk_14:31   

49 with twenty thousand? And if he is not able, he sendeth unto him while he is afar Luk_24:32   

50 off, and seeketh peace. So shall19 every man of you consider, that desireth to be a disciple to me; for if he renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be a disciple to me. Luk_14:33  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. sunk, a word the choice of which is explained by the Syriac.

2 Or, I.

3 Same word in Arabic.

4 The meaning is not apparent.

5 cf. Syriac versions.

6 The first letter of the word has been lost.

7 Lit. that, as often in this work.

8 Lit. powers.

9 The word as printed by Ciasca perhaps means gifts, but by dropping a point from the second letter we gee the postclassical word given In the text above.

10 See Section 20, 2811.

11 The word translated devil in preceding verse.

12 This is an Arabic clerical error for forces. The Syriac word for power means also military forces, which was apparently rendered in Arabic army, a word thee differs from race only in diacritical points.

13 cf. Pesh. and A. V. margin.

14 Lit. that cf. above, Section 1, 5011.

15 Or, his life; or, his soul.

16 The rendering assumes that tower is treated as feminine.

17 Or, it.

18 Or, a king like him.

19 Or, let.

 

 

Section XVI.

 

1 Then answered certain of the scribes and Pharisees, that they might tempt him, Mat_12:38   

2 and said, Teacher, we desire to see a sign from thee. He answered and said, This evil and adulterous generation1 seeketh a sign; and it shall not be given a sign, Mat_12:39   

3 except the sign of Jonah the prophet. And as Jonah was a sign to the inhabitants Luk_11:30   

4 of Nineveh, so shall the Son of man also be to this generation. And as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man Mat_12:40   

5 be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. The queen of the south shall rise in the judgement with the people of this generation, and condemn2 them: for she came from the ends of the earth that she might hear the wisdom of Solomon; Luk_11:31   

6 Arabic p. 62 and behold, here is a better than Solomon. The men of Nineveh shall stand in the judgement with this generation, and condemn it: for they repented at Mat_12:41   

7 the preaching of Jonah; and behold, here is a greater than Jonah. The unclean spirit, when he goeth out of the man, departeth, and goeth about through places wherein are no waters, that he may find rest for himself; and when he findeth it not, he Luk_11:24   

8 saith, I will return to my house whence I came out. And if he come and find it Luk_11:25   

9 adorned and set in order, then he goeth, and associateth with himself seven other spirits worse than himself; and they enter and dwell in it: and the end of that man Luk_11:26   

10 shall be worse than his beginning. Thus shall it be unto this evil generation. Mat_12:45   

11 And while he was saying that, a woman from the multitude lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts that nursed Luk_11:27   

12 thee. But he said unto her, Blessed is he that heareth the word of God, and keepeth it. Luk_11:28   

13 And while he was speaking unto the multitude, there came unto him his mother Mat_12:46 Luk_8:19   

14 and his brethren, and sought to speak with him; and they were not able, because of Mat_12:46   

15 the multitude; and they stood without and sent, calling him unto them. A man said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren are standing without, and seek to Luk_8:19 Mar_3:31 Mat_12:47   

16 speak with thee. But he answered unto him that spake unto him, Who is my Mat_12:48   

17 mother? and who are my brethren? And he beckoned with his hand, stretching it out towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother! and behold, my brethren! Mat_12:49   

18 And every man that shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven is my brother, and my sister, and my mother. Mat_12:50   

19 And after that, Jesus was going about in the cities and in the villages, and proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God, and his3 twelve with him, Luk_8:1   

20 Arabic p. 63 and the women which had been healed of diseases and of evil spirits, Mary Luk_8:2   

21 that was called Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven devils, and Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who were ministering to them of their substance. Luk_8:3   

22 And after that, Jesus went out of the house, and sat on the sea shore. And there Mat_13:1 Mat_13:2   

23 gathered unto him great multitudes. And when the press of the people was great upon him, he went up and sat in the boat; and all the multitude was standing on the   

24 shore of the sea. And he spake to them much in parables, and said, The sower Mat_13:3   

25 went forth to sow: and when he sowed, some fell on the beaten highway; and it was Mat_13:4 Luk_8:5   

26 trodden upon, and the birds ate it. And other fell on the rocks: and some, where there was not much earth; and straightway it sprang up, because it had no depth in Mat_13:5   

27 the earth: and when the sun rose, it withered; and because it had no root, it dried Mat_13:6   

28 up. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it; Luk_8:7   

29 and it yielded no fruit. And other fell into excellent and good4 ground; and it came up, and grew, and brought forth fruit, some thirty, and some sixty, and some Mar_4:7 Luk_8:8 Mar_4:8   

30 a hundred. And when he said that, he cried, He that hath ears that hear, let him Luk_8:8   

31 Arabic p. 64 hear. And when they were alone, his disciples came, and asked him, and said unto Mar_4:10 5   

32 him, What is this parable? and why spakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Unto you is given the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; but it is not given unto them that are Mar_4:11 6   

33 without. He that hath shall be given unto, and there shall be added; and he that Mat_13:12   

34 hath not, that which he hath shah be taken from him also. For this cause therefore I speak unto them in parables; because they see, and see not; and hear, and hear Mat_13:13   

35 not, nor understand. And in them is being fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, who said, Hearing they shall hear, and shall not understand; And seeing they shall see, and shall not perceive: Mat_13:14   

36 The heart of this people is waxed gross, And their hearing with their ears is become heavy, And they have closed their eyes; Lest they should see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their hearts, And should return, And I should heal them. Mat_13:15   

37, 38 But ye, blessed are your eyes, which see; and your ears, which hear. Blessed Mat_13:16 Luk_10:23   

39 are the eyes which see what ye see. Verily I say unto you, Many of the prophets and the righteous longed to see what ye see, and saw not; and to hear what ye Mat_13:17   

40 hear, and heard not. When ye know not this parable, how shall ye know all para- Mar_4:13   

41, 42 bles? Hear ye the parable of the sower. The sower which sowed, sowed the word Mat_13:18 Mar_4:14   

43 of God. Every one who heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, the evil one cometh and snatcheth away the word that hath been sown in his Mat_13:19   

44 heart: and this is that which was sown on the middle of the highway. But that which was sown on the rocks is he that heareth the word, and straightway receiveth Mat_13:20   

45, 46 Arabic p. 65 it with joy; only, it hath no root in his soul, but his belief in it is for a time; and whenever there is distress or persecution because of a7 word, he Mat_13:21 Luk_8:13 Mat_13:21   

47 stumbleth8 quickly. And that which was sown among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the error of riches, and the rest of the Mat_13:22 Mar_4:19   

48 other lusts enter, and choke the word, and it becometh without fruit. And that which was sown in good ground is he that heareth my word in a pure and good heart, and understandeth it, and holdeth to it, and bringeth forth fruit with patience, and produceth either a hundredfold or sixtyfold or thirty. Luk_8:15 Mat_13:23   

49 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, like a man who casteth seed into the Mar_4:26   

50 earth, and sleepeth and riseth by night and day, and the seed groweth and cometh Mar_4:27   

51 up, whence9 he knoweth not. And the earth bringeth it to the fruit; and first it Mar_4:28   

52 will be blade, and after it ear, and at last perfect wheat in the ear: and whenever the fruit ripeneth,10 he bringeth immediately the sickle, for the harvest hath come. Mar_4:29  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 See Section 1, 4910.

2 See note to Section 10, 133.

3 The Arabic printed text gives not sense. A simple change in the diacritical points of one letter gives the reading of the Syriac versions, which is adopted here.

4 cf. Peshitta against Cur. and Sin.

5 With additions from Mat_13:10, and Luk_8:9.

6 And Mat_13:11

7 See Section 1, 408.

8 Or, is seduced, cf. Section 25, 175.

9 Or, while.

10 Lit. fatteneth, as in Peshitta.

 

 

Section XVII.

 

1 And he set forth to them another parable, and said, The kingdom of heaven is Mat_13:24   

2 like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but when men slept, his enemy came Mat_13:25   

3 and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. And when the blade sprang up Mat_13:26   

4 and brought forth fruit, there were noticed the tares also. And the servants of the master of the house came, and said unto him, Our lord, didst thou not sow good Mat_13:27   

5 Arabic p. 66 seed in thy field? whence are there tares in it? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. His servants said unto him, Wilt thou that we go Mat_13:28   

6 and separate it? He said unto them, Perhaps,1 when ye separate the tares, ye would Mat_13:29   

7 root up with them wheat also. Leave them to grow both together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say unto the reapers, Separate the tares first, and bind them in bundles to be burned with fire; and gather the wheat into my barns. Mat_13:30   

8, 9 And he set forth to them another parable, and said, To what is the kingdom of Mat_13:31 Luk_13:18   

10 God like? and to what shall I liken it? and in what parable shall I set it forth? It Mar_4:30 Luk_13:19   

11 is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and planted in his field: and of the number of the things that are sown in the earth it is smaller than all of the things Mat_13:31 Mar_4:31   

12 which are sown, which are upon the earth; but when it is grown, it is greater than all the herbs, and produceth large branches, so that the birds of heaven make their nests in its branches. Mat_13:32 Mar_4:32   

13, 14 And he set forth to them another parable: To what shall I liken the kingdom of Mar_4:33 2 Luk_13:20   

15 God? It is like the leaven which a woman took, and kneaded into three measures of flour, until the whole of it was leavened. Mat_13:33   

16 And Jesus spake all that to the multitudes by way of parables, according as they Mat_13:34 Mar_4:33   

17 were able to hear. And without parables spake he not unto them; that the saying of the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: I will open my mouth in parables; And I will utter secrets which were before the foundations3 of the world. Mat_13:34 Mat_13:35   

18 But he explained to his disciples privately everything. Mar_4:34   

19 Arabic p. 67 Then Jesus left4 the multitudes, and came to the house. And his disciples came unto him, and said unto him, Explain unto us that parable about the tares Mat_13:36   

20 and the field. He answered and said unto them, He that sowed good seed is Mat_13:37   

21 the Son of man; and the field is the world; and the good seed are the children of the Mat_13:38   

22 kingdom; and the tares are the children of the evil one; and the enemy that sowed them5 is Satan; and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. Mat_13:39   

23 And as the tares are separated and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of Mat_13:40   

24 this world. The Son of man shall send his angels, and separate from his kingdom Mat_13:41   

25 all things that injure, and all the doers of iniquity, and they shall cast them into the Mat_13:42   

26 furnace of fire: and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whosoever hath ears that hear, let him hear. Mat_13:43   

27 And again the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hid in a field: that which a man found and hid; and, for his pleasure in it, went and sold all that he had, and bought that field. Mat_13:34   

28 And again the kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a merchant seeking ex- Mat_13:45   

29 cellent pearls; and when he found one pearl of great price, he went and sold everything that he had, and bought it. Mat_13:46   

30 And again the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast6 into the sea, and Mat_13:47   

31 gathered of every kind: and when it was filled, they drew it up on to the shore of the sea, and sat down to select; and the good of them they threw into the vessels, Mat_13:48   

32 and the bad they threw outside. Thus shall it be in the end of the world: the angels Mat_13:49   

33 shall go forth, and separate the wicked from among the good, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mat_13:50   

34 Jesus said unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They said unto Mat_13:51   

35 Arabic p. 68 him, Yea, our Lord. He said unto them, Therefore every scribe that becometh a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a householder, who bringeth out of his treasures the new and the old. Mat_13:52   

36, 37 And when Jesus had finished all these parables, he removed thence, and came to his city; and he taught them in their synagogues, so that they were perplexed. Mat_13:53 Mat_13:54   

38 And when the sabbath came, Jesus began to teach in the synagogue; and many of Mar_6:2   

39 those that heard marvelled, and said, Whence came these things to this man? And many envied him and gave no heed to him, but said, What is this wisdom that is given to this man, that there should happen at his hands such as these mighty works?7   

40 Is not this a carpenter, son of a carpenter? and is not his mother called Mary? and Mat_13:55   

41 his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, all of them, Mat_13:56   

42 lo, are they not all with us? Whence hath this man all these things? And they were in doubt concerning him. And Jesus knew their opinion, and said unto them, Will ye haply”8 say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal first thyself: and all that Mat_13:57 Luk_4:23   

43 we have heard that thou didst in Capernaum, do here also in thine own city? And he said, Verily I say unto you, A prophet is not received in his own city, nor among Luk_4:24   

44 his brethren: for a prophet is not despised, save in his own city, and among his own Mar_6:4   

45 kin, and in his own house. Verily I say unto you, In the days of Elijah the prophet, there were many widows among the children of Israel, when the heaven held back Luk_4:25   

46 Arabic p. 69 three years and six months, and there was a great famine in all the land; and Elijah was not sent to one of them, save to Zarephath of Sidon, to a woman that was Luk_4:26   

47 a widow. And many lepers were among the children of Israel in the days of Elisha the prophet; but not one of them was cleansed, save Naaman the Nabathaean.9 Luk_4:27   

48 And he was not able to do there many mighty works,10 because of their unbelief; Mar_6:5   

49 except that he laid his hand upon a few of the sick, and healed them. And he mar- Mar_6:6   

50 velled at their lack of faith. And when those who were in the synagogue heard, Luk_4:28   

51 they were all filled with wrath; and they rose up, and brought him forth outside the city, and brought him to the brow of the hill upon which their city was built, that Luk_4:29   

52 they might cast him from its summit: but he passed through among them and went away. Luk_4:30   

53 And he went about in the villages which were around Nazareth, and taught in their synagogues. Mar_6:6  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 See Section 4, 249.

2 Or rather Mat_13:33.

3 The word if not a corruption of that used in the British Museum text of Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, and in Section 43, 46, where, however, according to Ciasca’s foot-note, it was not the word first written by the scribe is Syriac. Perhaps it means the ends of the earth see P. Smith, Thes. Syr.. Still a third word is used in Section 47, 42.

4 cf. Section 11, 326.

5 Singular.

6 cf. note to Section 10, 82.

7 Lit. powers

8 cf. above, Section 4, 249.

9 Of the Syriac versions Cur. and Sin. are wanting. Pesh. has Aramaean.

10 Lit. powers.

 

 

Section XVIII.

 

1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and all the things which came to pass at his hand; and he marvelled, for he had obtained excellent Luk_9:8 Mar_6:15 Mar_6:16   

2 information concerning him.1 And some men said that John the Baptist was risen Luk_9:7   

3 from among the dead; and2 others said that Elijah had appeared; and others, Jere- Luk_9:8 Mat_16:14   

4 miah; and others, that a prophet of the old prophets was risen; and others said that he Luk_9:8 Mar_6:15   

5 was a prophet like one of the prophets. Herod said to his servants, This is John the Baptist, he whom I beheaded; he is risen from among the dead: therefore mighty Mar_6:16 Mat_14:2   

6 Arabic p. 70 works result from him. For Herod himself had sent and taken John, and cast him into prison, for the sake of Herodias his brother Philip’s wife, whom he Mar_6:17   

7 had taken. And John said to Herod, Thou hast no authority to take the wife of thy Mar_6:18   

8 brother. And Herodias avoided him and wished to kill him; and she could not. Mar_6:19   

9 But Herod feared John, for he knew that he was a righteous man and a holy; and Mar_6:20   

10 he guarded him, and heard him much, and did, and obeyed him with gladness. And he wished to kill him; but he feared the people, for they adhered to him as the Mat_14:5   

11 prophet. And there was a celebrated day, and Herod had made a feast for his great men on the day of his anniversary,3 and for the officers and for the chief men Mar_6:21   

12 of Galilee. And the daughter of Herodias came in and danced in the midst of the company, and pleased Herod and those that sat with him. And the king said to the Mar_6:22   

13 damsel, Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, Mar_6:23   

14 Whatsoever thou shalt ask, I will give it thee, to the half of my kingdom. And she went out, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask him?4 She said unto her, The Mar_6:24   

15 head of John the Baptist. And immediately she came in hastily to the king, and said unto him, I desire in this hour that thou give me on a dish the head of John Mar_6:25   

16 the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry; but because of the oath and the Mar_6:26   

17 guests he did not wish to refuse her. But immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded that he should bring the head of John: and he went and cut off Mar_6:27   

18 the head of John in the prison, and brought it on a dish, and delivered it to the Mar_6:28   

19 Arabic p. 71 damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother. And his disciples heard, and came and took his body, and buffed it. And they came and told5 Jesus what Mat_6:29 Mat_14:12   

20 had happened. And for this cause Herod said, I beheaded John: who Luk_9:9   

21 is this, of whom I hear these things. And he desired to see him. And Jesus, when he heard, removed thence in a boat to a waste place alone, to the other side of the sea of the Galilee of Tiberias.6 Mat_14:13 Joh_6:1   

22 And many saw them going, and knew them, and hastened by land7 from all the cities, and came thither beforehand; for they saw the signs which he was doing on the Mar_6:33 Joh_6:2   

23, 24 sick. And Jesus went up into the mountain, and sat there with his disciples. And Joh_6:3 Joh_6:4   

25 the feast of the passover of the Jews was near. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw great multitudes coming to him. And he was moved with compassion for them, for Joh_6:5 Mar_6:34   

26 they were like sheep that were without a shepherd. And he received them, and spake to them concerning the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. Luk_9:11   

27 And when the evening approached,8 his disciples came to him, and said unto Mat_14:15   

28 him, The place is desert, and the time is past; send away the multitudes of the people,9 that they may go to the towns and villages which are around us, and buy for Mar_6:36   

29 themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat. But he said unto them, They have Mat_14:16   

30 no need to go away; give ye them what may be eaten. They said unto him, We have not here enough. He said unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? Mat_14:17 Joh_6:5   

31, 32 Arabic p. 72 And he said that proving him; and he knew what he was resolved to do. Philip said unto him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread would not suffice them after10 Joh_6:6 Joh_6:7   

33 every one of them hath taken a small amount. One of his disciples said unto Joh_6:8   

34 him namely, Andrew the brother of Simon Cephas, Here is a lad having five loaves Joh_6:9   

35 of barley and two fishes: but this amount, what is it for all these? But wilt thou that we go and buy for all the people what may be eaten? for we have no more Luk_9:13 11   

36 than these five loaves and the two fishes. And the grass was plentiful in that place. Jesus said unto them, Arrange all the people that they may sit down on the grass, Joh_6:10 12   

37 fifty people in a company. And the disciples did so. And all the people sat down Mar_6:40   

38 by companies, by hundreds and fifties. Then Jesus said unto them, Bring hither Mat_14:18   

39 those five loaves and the two fishes. And when they brought him that, Jesus took the bread and the fish, and looked to heaven, and blessed, and divided, and gave to Mar_6:41   

40 his disciples to set before them; and the disciples set for the multitudes the bread Mat_14:19   

41 and the fish; and they ate, all of them, and were satisfied. And when they were satisfied, he said unto his disciples, Gather the fragments that remain over, that noth- Mat_14:20 Joh_6:12   

42 ing be lost. And they gathered, and filled twelve baskets with fragments, being those that remained over from those which ate of the five barley loaves and the two Joh_6:13   

43 fishes. And those people who ate were five thousand, besides the women and children. Mat_14:21   

44 Arabic p. 73 And straightway he pressed his disciples to go up into the ship, and that they should go before him unto the other side to Bethsaida, while he Mar_6:45   

45 himself should send away the multitudes. And those people who saw the sign which Joh_6:14   

46 Jesus did, said, Of a truth this is a prophet who hath come into the world. And Jesus knew their purpose to come and take him, and make him a king; and he left them, and went up into the mountain alone for prayer. Joh_6:15   

47, 48 And when the nightfall was near, his disciples went down unto the sea, and sat13 in a boat, and came to the side of Capernaum. And the darkness came on, and Jesus Joh_6:16 Joh_6:17   

49 had not come to them. And the sea was stirred up against them by reason of a vio- Joh_6:18   

50 lent wind that blew. And the boat was distant from the land many furlongs, and they were much damaged by the waves, and the wind was against them. Mat_14:24  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 There can be little doubt that this is the meaning of the Arabic. There is nothing like it in the Peshitta; the Curetonian is of course lacking; but the phrase in the Sinaitic is very similar.

2 Here begins Mat_13:8 in Greek.

3 Perhaps appointment cf. Moesinger, p. 165; but Isho’dad [Harris, Fragments, p. 65] and the British Museum text of Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary have the ordinary reading.

4 Or simply ask.

5 Or, tell.

6 A misunderstanding or slavish reproduction of the Syriac. The British Museum text of Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary has of Galilee, Tiberias.

7 cf. Syriac versions and margin of R.V.

8 Or, came.

9 cf. the addition in the Sinaitic Syriac.

10 Probably a mistaken rendering of the ordinary Syriac reading.

11 Considerably changed.

12 And Luk_9:14, Luk_9:15.

13 cf. Syriac versions.

 

 

Section XIX.

 

1 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus came unto them, walking upon the Mat_14:25   

2 water, after they had rowed1 with difficulty about twenty-five or thirty furlongs. Joh_6:19, Joh_6:19   

3 And when he drew near unto their boat, his disciples saw him walking on the water; and they were troubled, and supposed that it was a false appearance; and they cried Mat_14:26   

4 out from their fear. But Jesus straightway spoke unto them, and said, Take courage, Mat_14:27   

5 for it is I; fear not. Then Cephas answered and said unto him, My Lord, if it be thou, Mat_14:28   

6 bid me to come unto thee on the water. And Jesus said unto him, Come. And Mat_14:29   

7 Cephas went down out of the boat, and walked on the water to come unto Jesus. But when he saw the wind strong, he feared, and was on the point of sink- Mat_14:30   

8 Arabic p. 74 ing; and he lifted up his voice, and said, My Lord, save me. And immediately our Lord stretched out his hand and took hold of him, and said unto him, Mat_14:31   

9 Thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt? And when Jesus came near, he went up Mat_14:32   

10 unto them into the boat, he and Simon, and immediately the wind ceased. And those that were in the ship came and worshipped him, and said, Truly thou art the Mat_14:33   

11 Son of God. And straightway that ship arrived at the land which they made for. Joh_6:21   

12 And when they came out of the ship to the land, they marvelled greatly and were Mar_6:54 Mar_6:51   

13 perplexed in themselves: and they had not understood by means of2 that bread, because their heart was gross. Mar_6:52   

14 And when the people of that region knew of the arrival of Jesus, they made haste in all that land, and began to bring those that were diseased,3 borne in their Mar_6:54 Mar_6:55   

15 beds to the place where they heard that he was. And wheresoever the place might be which he entered, of the villages or the cities, they laid the sick in the markets, and sought of him that they might touch4 were it only the edge of his garment: and all that touched5 him were healed and lived.6 Mar_6:56   

16 And on the day after that, the multitude which was standing on the shore of the sea saw that there was there no other ship save that into which the disciples had Joh_6:22   

17 gone up, and that Jesus went not up into the ship with his disciples (but there were other ships from Tiberias near7 the place where they ate the bread when Jesus blessed Joh_6:23   

18 it): and when that multitude saw that Jesus was not there, nor yet his disciples, they Joh_6:24   

19 Arabic p. 75 went up into those ships, and came to Capernaum, and sought Jesus. And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Our Joh_6:25   

20 Master, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye have not sought me because of8 your seeing the signs, but because of Joh_6:26   

21 your eating the bread and being satisfied. Serve not the food which perisheth, but the food which abideth in eternal life,9 which the Son of man will give unto you: him10 Joh_6:27   

22 hath God the Father sealed. They said unto him, What shall we do that we may Joh_6:28   

23 work the work of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of Joh_6:29   

24 God, that ye believe in him whom he hath sent. They said unto him, What sign hast thou done, that we may see, and believe in thee? what hast thou wrought? Joh_6:30   

25 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it was written, Bread from heaven Joh_6:31   

26 gave he them to eat. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not bread from heaven; but my Father gave11 you the bread of truth12 from Joh_6:32   

27 heaven. The bread of God is that which came down from heaven and gave the Joh_6:33   

28, 29 world life. They said unto him, Our Lord, give us at all times this bread. Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: whosoever cometh unto me shall not hun- Joh_6:34 Joh_6:35   

30 ger, and whosoever believeth in me shall not thirst for ever. But I said unto you, Joh_6:36   

31 Ye have seen me, and have not believed. And all that my Father hath given to me cometh unto me; and whosoever cometh unto me I shall not cast him forth with- Joh_6:37   

32 out. I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of him Joh_6:38   

33 that sent me; and this is the will of him that sent me, that I should lose nothing of Joh_6:39   

34 Arabic p. 75 that which he gave me, but raise it up in the last day. This is the will of my Father, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up in the last day. Joh_6:40   

35 The Jews therefore murmured against him because of his saying, I am the bread Joh_6:41   

36 which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? then how saith this man, I came down from Joh_6:42   

37, 38 heaven? Jesus answered and said unto them, Murmur not one with another. No man is able to come unto me, except the Father which sent me draw him; and I will Joh_6:43 Joh_6:44   

39 raise him up in the last day. It is written in the prophet, They shall all be the taught of God. Every one who heareth from the Father now,13 and learneth of him, cometh Joh_6:45   

40 unto me. No man now seeth the Father; but he that is from God, he it is that seeth Joh_6:46   

41 the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever believeth in me hath eternal Joh_6:47   

42, 43 life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and Joh_6:48 Joh_6:49   

44 they died. This is the bread which came down from heaven, that a man may eat Joh_6:50   

45 of it, and not die. I am the bread of life which came down from heaven: and if a man eat of this bread he shall live for ever: and the bread which I shall give is my body, which I give for the life of the world. Joh_6:51 Joh_6:51 14   

46 The Jews therefore quarrelled one with another, and said, How can he give us Joh_6:52   

47 his body that we may eat it? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, If ye do not eat the body of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye shall Joh_6:53   

48 not have life in yourselves. Whosoever eateth of my body and drinketh of my blood Joh_6:54   

49 hath eternal life; and I will raise him up in the last day. My body truly is meat,15 and Joh_6:55   

50 my blood truly is drink.16 Whosoever eateth my body and drinketh my blood abideth Joh_6:56   

51 in me, and I in him – as the living Father sent me, and I am alive because of the Joh_6:57   

52 Father; and whosoever eateth me, he also shall live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven: and not according as your fathers ate the Joh_6:58   

53 manna, and died: whosoever eateth of this bread shall live for ever. This he said in Joh_6:59   

54 the synagogue, when he was teaching in Capernaum. And many of his disciples, when they heard, said, This word is hard; who is he that can hear it? Joh_6:60  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. travelled.

2 Lit. from.

3 Strictly used of severe chronic disease

4 cf. Section 12, 13, and note to Section 8, 1711.

5 The word used at Section 12, 35.

6 Or, revived, i.e., made to live.

7 Lit. on the border of.

8 Or, for the sake of.

9 Sic.

10 Lit. this.

11 Represents a mistaken vocalisation of the Peshitta.

12 Lit. equity; see Section 3, 5311.

13 i.e., therefore see note, Section 9, 217

14 In Ciasca’s text Joh_6:51-71 are cited as Joh_6:52-72. See Introduction, 2051.

15 Or, eaten.

16 Or, drunk.

 

 

Section XX.

 

1 And Jesus knew within himself that his disciples were murmuring because of a Joh_6:61   

2 that, and he said unto them, Doth this trouble you? What if ye should see the Son Joh_6:62   

3 of man then ascend to the place where he was of old? It is the spirit that quickeneth, and the body profiteth nothing: the words1 that I speak unto you are spirit Joh_6:63   

4 and life. But there are some of you that do not believe. And Jesus knew beforehand who they were who should2 not believe, and who it was that should betray Joh_6:64   

5 him. And he said unto them, Therefore I said unto you, No man can come unto me, if that hath not been given him by the Father. Joh_6:65   

6 Arabic p. 78 And because of this word many of his disciples turned back and walked Joh_6:66   

7 not with him. And Jesus said unto the twelve, Do ye haply also wish to Joh_6:67   

8 go away? Simon Cephas answered and said, My Lord, to whom shall we go? thou Joh_6:68   

9 hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and known that thou art the Joh_6:69   

10 Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus said unto them, Did not I choose you, Joh_6:70   

11 ye company of the twelve, and of you one is a devil? He said that because of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot; for he, being of the twelve, was purposed to3 betray him. Joh_6:71   

12 And while he was speaking, one of the Pharisees came asking of him that he Luk_11:37   

13 would eat with him: and he went in, and reclined to meat. And that Pharisee, when Luk_11:38   

14 he saw it,4 marvelled that he had not first cleansed himself before his eating. Jesus said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees wash the outside of the cup and the dish, and ye think that ye are cleansed; but your inside is full of injustice and wickedness. Luk_11:39   

15, 16 Ye of little mind, did not he that made the outside make the inside? Now give what ye have5 in alms, and everything shall be clean unto you. Luk_11:40 Luk_11:41   

17, 18 And there came to him Pharisees and scribes, come from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eating bread while they had not washed their hands, Mar_7:1 Mar_7:2:   

19 they found fault. For all of the Jews and the Pharisees, if they wash not their Mar_7:3   

20 hands thoroughly, eat not; for they held6 to the ordinance7 of the elders. And they ate not what was bought from the market, except they washed it; and many other things did they keep of what they had received, such as the washing of cups, and Mar_7:4   

21 measures, and vessels of brass, and couches. And scribes8 and Pharisees asked him, Why do thy disciples not walk according to the ordinances of the elders, but Mar_7:5   

22 Arabic p. 79 eat bread without washing their hands? Jesus answered and said unto them, Why do ye also overstep the command of God by reason of your ordinance? Mat_15:3   

23 God said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whosoever revileth his father and Mat_15:4 Mar_7:10   

24 his mother shall surely die. But ye say, If a man say to his father or to his mother, Mar_7:11   

25 What thou receivest9 from me is an offering, – and ye9 suffer him not to do any- Mar_7:12   

26 thing for his father or his mother; and ye9 make void and reject the word of God by reason of the ordinance that ye have ordained and commanded, such as the wash- Mar_7:13   

27 ing of cups and measures, and what resembles that ye do much. And ye forsook Mar_7:8   

28 the command of God, and held to the ordinance of men. Do10 ye well to wrong11 Mar_7:9   

29 the command of God in order that ye may establish your ordinance? Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah the prophet prophesy concerning you, and say, Mat_15:7   

30 This people honoureth me with its12 lips; But their heart is very far from me. Mat_15:8   

31 But in vain do they fear me, In that they teach the commands of men. Mat_15:9   

32 And Jesus called all the multitude, and said unto them. Hear me, all of you, and Mar_7:14   

33 understand: nothing without the man, which then enters him, is able to defile him; Mar_7:15   

34 but what goeth out of him, that it is which defileth the man. He that hath ears Mar_7:16   

35 that hear, let him hear. Then his disciples drew near, and said unto him, Knowest Mat_15:12   

36 thou that the Pharisees which heard this word were angry? He answered and said unto them, Every plant which my Father which is in heaven planted not shall be Mat_15:13   

37 Arabic p. 80 uprooted. Let them alone; for they are blind leading blind. And if the blind lead13 the blind, both of them shall fall into a hollow. Mat_15:14   

38 And when Jesus entered the house from the multitude, Simon Cephas asked him, Mar_7:17 Mat_15:15   

39 and said unto him, My Lord, explain to us that parable. He said unto them, Do ye also thus not understand? Know ye not that everything that entereth into the Mar_7:18   

40 man from without cannot defile him; because it entereth not into his heart; it entereth into his stomach only, and thence is cast forth in the cleansing which maketh Mar_7:19   

41 clean all the food?14 The thing which goeth forth from the mouth of the man pro- Mat_15:18   

42 ceedeth from his heart, and it is that which defileth the man. From within15 the Mar_7:21   

43 heart of men proceed evil thoughts, fornication, adultery, theft, false witness, murder, injustice, wickedness, deceit, stupidity, evil eye, calumny, pride, foolishness: Mar_7:22   

44 these evils all of them from within proceed from the heart, and they are the things Mar_7:23   

45 which defile the man: but if a man eat while he washeth not his hands, he is not defiled. Mat_15:20   

46 And Jesus went out thence, and came to the borders of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered into a certain house, and desired that no man should know it;16 and Mat_15:21 Mar_7:24   

47 he could not be hid. But straightway a Canaanitish woman, whose daughter had an Mar_7:25   

48, 49 unclean spirit, heard of him. And that woman was a Gentile of Emesa of Syria. And she came out after him, crying out, and saying, Have mercy upon me, my Lord, thou Mar_7:26 Mat_15:22   

50 Arabic p. 81 son of David; for my daughter is seized in an evil way by Satan.17 And he answered Arabic. Her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, and said, Send Mat_15:23   

51 her away: for she crieth after us. He answered and said unto them, I was Mat_15:24   

52 not sent except to the sheep that are gone astray of the house of Israel. But she came and worshipped him, and said, My Lord, help me, have mercy upon me. Mat_15:25   

53 Jesus said unto her, It is not seemly that the children’s bread should be taken and Mat_15:26   

54 thrown to the dogs. But she said, Yea, my Lord: the dogs also eat of the crumbs Mat_15:27   

55 that fall from their masters’ tables, and live. Then said Jesus unto her, O woman, Mat_15:28   

56 great is thy faith: it shall be unto thee as thou hast desired. Go then thy way; and Mar_7:29   

57 because of this word, the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And her daughter was Mat_15:28   

58 healed in that hour. And that woman went away to her house, and found her daughter laid upon the bed, and the devil gone out of her. Mar_7:30  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. speech.

2 Or, did.

3 Or, was to.

4 Or, him.

5 cf. Peshitta.

6 i.e., were holding.

7 Or, custom, tradition; and so wherever the word occurs.

8 Sic.

9 The printed Arabic text has he receiveth and they, resulting from a misplacement of diacritical points by an Arabic copyist.

10 Here begins Joh_6:9 in Greek.

11 The Syriac word for injure also means reject, deny.

12 Sic.

13 The Arabic word here is used with a Syriac meaning.

14 This clause in the Peshitta is not very clear, and the Arabic version fails to get from it the meaning of the Greek.

15 Or, From within, from.

16 Or, about him.

17 Or, the devil.

 

 

Section XXI.

 

1 And Jesus went out again from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the Mar_7:31   

2 sea of Galilee, towards the borders of Decapolis. And they brought unto him one dumb and deaf, and entreated him that he would lay his hand upon him and heal Mar_7:32   

3 him. And he drew him away from the multitude, and went away alone, and spat Mar_7:33   

4 upon his fingers, and thrust them into his ears, and touched his tongue; and looked Mar_7:34   

5 to heaven, and sighed, and said unto him, Be opened. And in that hour his ears Mar_7:35   

6 were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spake with ease. And Jesus charged them much that they should not tell this to any man: but the more Mar_7:36   

7 Arabic p. 82 he charged them, the more they increased in publishing, and marvelled much, and said, This man doeth everything well: he made the deaf to hear, and those that lacked speech to speak. Mar_7:37   

8, 9 And while he was passing through the land of Samaria, he came to one of the cities of the Samaritans, called Sychar, beside the field which Jacob gave to Joseph to Joh_4:4 Joh_4:5   

10 his son. And there was there a spring of water of Jacob’s. And Jesus was fatigued from the exertion of the way, and sat at the spring. And the time was about the Joh_4:6   

11 sixth hour.1 And a woman of Samaria came to draw water; and Jesus said unto Joh_4:7   

12 her, Give me water, that I may drink. And His disciples had entered into the city Joh_4:8   

13 to buy for themselves food. And that Samaritan woman said unto him, How dost thou, being a Jew, ask me to give thee to drink, while I am a Samaritan woman? Joh_4:9   

14 (And the Jews mingle not with the Samaritans.2) Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who this is that said unto thee, Give me Joh_4:10   

15 to drink; thou wouldest ask him, and he would give thee the water of life. That woman said unto him, My Lord, thou hast no bucket, and the well is deep: from Joh_4:11   

16 whence hast thou the water of life? Can it be that thou art greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it, and his children, and his sheep? Joh_4:12   

17 Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst Joh_4:13   

18 again: but whosoever drinketh of the water which I shall give him shall not thirst for ever: but the water which I shall give him shall be in him a spring of water springing Joh_4:14   

19 up unto eternal life. That woman said unto him, My Lord, give me of this water, that Joh_4:15   

20 I may not thirst again, neither come and draw water from here. Jesus said unto her, Joh_4:16   

21 Arabic p. 83 Go and call thy husband, and come hither. She said unto him, I have no Joh_4:17   

22 husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou saidst well, I have no husband: five husbands hast thou had, and this man whom thou hast now is not thy husband; and Joh_4:18   

23 in this thou saidst truly. That woman said unto him, My Lord, I perceive thee to Joh_4:19   

24 be a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say that in Jeru- Joh_4:20   

25 salem is the place in which worship must be. Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, an hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor yet in Jerusalem, shall ye wor- Joh_4:21   

26 ship the Father. Ye worship that which ye know not: but we worship that which Joh_4:22   

27 we know: for salvation is of the Jews. But an hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: and the Father also Joh_4:23   

28 seeketh such as these worshippers. For God is a Spirit: and they that worship him Joh_4:24   

29 must worship him in spirit and in truth. That woman said unto him, I know that Joh_4:25   

30 the Messiah cometh: and when he is come, he will teach us everything. Jesus said unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. Joh_4:26   

31 And while he was speaking, his disciples came; and they wondered how he would speak3 with a woman; but not one of them said unto him, What seekest thou? or, Joh_4:27   

32 What4 speakest thou with her? And the woman left her waterpot, and went to the Joh_4:28   

33 city, and said to the people, Come, and see a man who told me all that ever I did: Joh_4:29   

34 perhaps then he is the Messiah. And people went out from the city, and came to Joh_4:30   

35 him. And in the mean while his disciples besought him, and said unto him, Our Joh_4:31   

36, 37 master, eat. And he said unto them, I have food to eat that ye know not. And the disciples said amongst themselves, Can any one have brought him aught to eat?5 Joh_4:32 Joh_4:33   

38 Jesus said unto them, My food is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accom- Joh_4:34   

39 Arabic p. 84 plish his work. Said ye not that after four months cometh the harvest? behold, I therefore say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and behold the lands, Joh_4:35   

40 that they have become white, and the harvest is already come.6 And he that reapeth receiveth his wages, and gathereth the fruit of eternal life;7 and the sower and Joh_4:36   

41 the reaper rejoice together. For in this is found the word of truth, One soweth, and Joh_4:37   

42 another reapeth. And I sent you to reap that in which ye have not laboured: others laboured, and ye have entered on their labour. Joh_4:38   

43 And from that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the words Joh_4:39   

44 of that woman, who testified and said, He told me all that ever I did. And when those Samaritans came unto him, they besought him to abide with them; and he Joh_4:40   

45, 46 abode with them two days. And many believed in him because of his word; and they said to that woman, Now not because of thy saying have we believed in him: we have heard and known that this truly is the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. Joh_4:41 Joh_4:42   

47, 48 And after two days Jesus went out thence and departed to Galilee. And Jesus Joh_4:43 Joh_4:44   

49 testified that a prophet is not honoured in his own city. And when he came to Galilee, the Galilæans received him. Joh_4:45  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. six hours cf. Syr.

2 For the form cf. see Section 34, 40.

3 Or, was speaking.

4 But see note to Section 7, 3811.

5 The text is uncertain.

6 Or, come beforehand.

7 So in the Arabic, contrary to the usual practice of this writer, cf. Section 6, 19.

The Text of the Diatessaron. (Cont.)

Section XXII.

1 And when Jesus came to a certain village, there drew near to him a leper, and fell at his feet, and besought him, and said unto him, If thou wilt, thou art able to Luk_5:12    

2 cleanse me. And Jesus had mercy upon him, and stretched forth his hand, and Mar_1:41   

3 touched him, and said, I will cleanse1 thee. And immediately his leprosy departed Mar_1:42   

4 from him, and he was cleansed. And he sternly charged him, and sent him out, Mar_1:43   

5 Arabic p. 85 and said unto him, See that thou tell not any man: but go and shew thy- self to the priests, and offer an offering for thy cleansing as Moses com- Mar_1:44   

6 manded for their testimony. But he, when he went out, began to publish much, and spread abroad the news, so that Jesus could not enter into any of the cities openly, for the extent to which the report of him spread, but he remained without in a des- Mar_1:45   

7 ert place. And much people came unto him from one place and another,2 to hear Luk_5:15   

8 his word, and that they might be healed of their pains. And he used to withdraw from them into the desert, and pray. Luk_5:16   

9 And after that, was the feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Joh_5:1   

10 And there was in Jerusalem a place prepared for bathing,3 which was called in Joh_5:2   

11 Hebrew the House of Mercy, having five porches. And there were laid in them much people of the sick, and blind, and lame, and paralysed, waiting for the mov- Joh_5:3   

12 ing of the water. And the angel from time to time went down into the place of bathing,3 and moved the water; and the first that went down after the moving of Joh_5:4   

13 the water, every pain that he had was healed. And a man was there who had a Joh_5:5   

14 disease for thirty-eight years. And Jesus saw this man laid, and knew4 that he had Joh_5:6   

15 been thus a long time; and he said unto him, Wouldest thou be made whole? That diseased one answered and said, Yea, my Lord, I have no man, when the water moveth, to put me into the bathing-place; but when I come, another goeth down before Joh_5:7   

16, 17 me. Jesus said unto him, Rise, take thy bed, and walk And immediately that man was healed; and he rose, and carried his bed, and walked. Joh_5:8 Joh_5:9   

18 And that day was a sabbath. And when the Jews saw that healed one, they5 said Joh_5:10   

19 unto him, It is a sabbath: thou hast no authority to carry thy bed. And he answered and said unto them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take thy bed, Joh_5:11   

20 Arabic p. 86 and walk They asked him therefore, Who is this man that said unto thee, Joh_5:12   

21 Take thy bed, and walk? But he that was healed knew not who it was; for Jesus had removed from that place to another, because of the press of the great mul- Joh_5:13   

22 titude which was in that place. And after two days Jesus happened upon him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art whole: sin not again, lest there come upon Joh_5:14   

23 thee what is worse than the first. And that man went, and said to the Jews that it Joh_5:15   

24 was Jesus that had healed him. And because of that the Jews persecuted Jesus and Joh_5:16   

25 sought to kill him, because he was doing this on the sabbath. And Jesus said unto Joh_5:17   

26 them, My Father worketh until now, and I also work. And because of this especially the Jews sought to kill him, not because he profaned the sabbath only; but for his saying also that God was his Father, and his making himself equal with God. Joh_5:18   

27 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son cannot do anything of himself, but what be seeth the Father do; what the Father doeth, Joh_5:19   

28 that the Son also doeth like him. The Father loveth his Son, and everything that he doeth he sheweth him: and more than these works will he shew him, that ye Joh_5:20   

29 may marvel. And as the Father raiseth the dead and giveth them life, so the Son Joh_5:21   

30 also giveth life to whomsoever he will. And the Father judgeth no man, but hath Joh_5:22   

31 given all judgement unto the Son; that every man may honour the Son, as he honoureth the Father. And he that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which Joh_5:23   

32 sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever heareth my word, and believeth in him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgement, but passeth from Joh_5:24   

33 Arabic p. 87 death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, An hour shall come, and now is also, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those Joh_5:25   

34 which hear shall live. And as the Father hath life in himself,6 likewise he gave to Joh_5:26   

35 the Son also that he might have life in himself,6 and authority to do judgement also, Joh_5:27   

36 because7 he is the Son of man. Marvel not then at that: I mean the coming of the hour when all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth: Joh_5:28   

37 those that have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those that have done evil deeds, to the resurrection of judgement. Joh_5:29   

38 I am not able of myself to do anything; but as I hear, I judge: and my judge- Joh_5:30   

39 ment is just; I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me. I8 bear wit- Joh_5:31   

40 ness of myself, and so a my witness is not true. It is another that beareth witness Joh_5:32   

41 of me; and I know that the witness which he beareth of me is true. Ye have sent Joh_5:33   

42 unto John, and he hath borne witness of the truth. But not from man do I seek Joh_5:34   

43 witness; but I say that ye may live.9 That10 was a lamp which shineth and Joh_5:35   

44 giveth light: and ye were pleased to glory now11 in his light. But I have witness greater than that of John: the works which my Father hath given me to accomplish, Joh_5:36   

45 those works which I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father which sent me, he hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his Joh_5:37   

46 voice at any time, nor seen his appearance. And his word abideth not in you; because Joh_5:38   

47 in him whom he hath sent ye do not believe. Search the scriptures, in which ye rejoice12 Joh_5:39   

48 that ye have eternal life; and they bear witness of me; and ye do not wish to come to Joh_5:40   

49, 50 Arabic p. 88 me, that ye may have eternal life. I seek not praise of men. But I know Joh_5:41 Joh_5:42   

51 you, that the love of God is not in you. I am come in the name of my Father, and ye received me not; but if another come in his own name, that one will Joh_5:43   

52 ye receive. And how can ye believe, while ye receive praise one from another, and Joh_5:44   

53 praise from God, the One, ye seek not? Can it be that ye think that I will accuse you before the Father? Ye have one that accuseth you, Moses, in whom ye have Joh_5:45   

54 rejoiced.12 If ye believed Moses, ye would believe me also; Moses wrote of me. Joh_5:46   

55 And if ye believed not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? Joh_5:47  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. to cleanse.

2 This phrase does not occur in the Syriac versions, Cur. Wanting, but is obviously a Syriac construction.

3 Or, baptism. The phrase almost exactly reproduces the Syriac versions.

4 Or, learned.

5 The Vatican ms. has he.

6 Borgian ms. reads his person.

7 Lit. that; or, Verily.

8 So Ciasca’s Arabic text. Borgian ms. has If I, and instead of and so, etc., simply a witness which is not true, etc.; but its text of the next sentence is quite corrupt.

9 Or, saved.

10 Or, that man.

11 Were it not also in Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary British Museum text we should assume now to be a corruption of an original Arabic reading, for a season cf. Syr.

12 This word often used by our translator means in Syriac transposed believe, think, hope cf. Section 8, 85.

 

 

Section XXIII.

 

1 And Jesus departed thence, and came to the side of the sea of Galilee, and went Mat_15:29   

2 up into the mountain, and sat there. And there came unto him great multitudes, having with them lame, and blind, and dumb, and maimed, and many others, and Mat_15:30   

3 they cast them at the feet of Jesus: for they had seen all the signs which he did in Joh_4:45   

4 Jerusalem, when they were gathered at the feast. And he healed them all. And those multitudes marvelled when they saw dumb men speak, and maimed men healed, and lame men walk, and blind men see; and they praised the God of Israel. Mat_15:30 Mat_15:31   

5 And Jesus called his disciples, and said unto them, I have compassion on this multitude, because of their continuing with me three days, having nothing to eat; and to send them away fasting I am not willing, lest they faint in the way, some of them hay- Mat_15:32 Mar_8:3   

6 Arabic p. 89 ing come from far. His disciples said unto him, Whence have we in the des- Mat_15:33   

7 ert bread wherewith to satisfy all this multitude? Jesus said unto them, How Mat_15:34   

8 many loaves have ye? They said unto him, Seven, and a few small fishes. And he Mat_15:35   

9 commanded the multitudes to sit down upon the ground; and he took those seven loaves and the fish, and blessed, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before Mat_15:36   

10 them; and the disciples set before the multitudes. And they all ate, and were satisfied: and they took that which remained over of the fragments, seven basketfuls. Mat_15:37   

11 And the people that ate were four thousand men, besides the women and children. Mat_15:38   

12 And when the multitudes departed, he went up into the boat, and came to the borders of Magada.1 Mat_15:39   

13 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came to him, and began to seek a discussion with him. And they asked him to shew them a sign from heaven, tempting him. Mat_16:1 Mar_8:11   

14 And Jesus sighed within himself, and said, What sign seeketh this evil and adulterous generation? It seeketh a sign, and it shall not be given a sign, except the sign Mar_8:12 Mat_16:4   

15 of Jonah the prophet. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not be given a Mar_8:12   

16 sign. And he left2 them, and went up into the boat, and went away to that side. Mar_8:13   

17 And his disciples forgot to take with them bread, and there was not with them Mar_8:14   

18 in the boat, not even3 one loaf. And Jesus charged them, and said, Take heed, and guard yourselves from the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and from the Mar_8:15   

19 leaven of Herod. And they reflected within themselves that they had taken with them Mat_16:7   

20 no bread. And Jesus knew, and said unto them, Why4 think ye within yourselves, O ye of little faith, and are anxious, because ye have no bread? until now do ye not per- Mat_16:8 Mar_8:17   

21 ceive, neither understand? is your heart yet hard? And have ye eyes, and yet see not? Mar_8:18   

22 Arabic p. 90 and have ye ears, and yet hear not? and do ye not remember when I brake those five loaves for five thousand? and how many baskets full of broken Mar_8:19   

23 pieces took ye5 up? They said, Twelve. He said unto them, And the seven also for four thousand: how many baskets full of broken pieces took ye5 up? They Mar_8:20   

24 said, Seven. He said unto them, How have ye not understood that I spake not to you because of6 the bread, but that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees Mar_8:21 Mat_16:11   

25 and Sadducees? Then they understood that he spake, not that they should beware of the leaven of the bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which he called leaven. Mat_16:12   

26 And after that, he came to Bethsaida. And they brought to him a certain7 blind Mar_8:22   

27 man, and besought him that he would touch him. And he took the hand of that blind man, and led him out without the village, and spat in his eyes, and laid his Mar_8:23   

28 hand on him,8 and asked him, What seest thou? And that blind man looked intently, Mar_8:24   

29 and said unto him, I see men as trees walking. And he placed his hand Mar_8:25   

30 again on his eyes; and they were restored,9 and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his house, and said, Do not enter even into the village, nor tell any man in the village. Mar_8:26   

31 And Jesus went forth, and his disciples, to the villages of Cæsarea Philippi. Mar_8:27   

32 And while he was going in the way, and his disciples alone,10 he asked his disciples, Mat_16:13   

33 and said, What do men say of me that I am, the Son of man?11 They said unto him, Some say, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the Mat_16:14   

34, 35 prophets. He said unto them, And ye, what say ye that I am? Simon Cephas answered Mat_16:15 Mat_16:16   

36 Arabic p. 91 and said, Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon son of Jonah: flesh and Mat_16:17   

37 blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee also, that thou art Cephas,12 and on this rock will I build my church; and the Mat_16:18   

38 gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. To thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and Mat_16:19   

39 whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And he sternly charged his disciples, and warned them that they should not tell any man concerning Mat_16:20   

40 him, that he was the Messiah. And henceforth began Jesus to shew to his disciples Mat_16:21   

41 that he was determined13 to go to Jerusalem, and suffer much, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and of the scribes, and be killed, and on the Mar_8:31   

42 third day rise. And he was speaking14 plainly. And Simon Cephas, as one grieved Mar_8:32 Mat_16:22   

43 for him, said, Far be thou, my Lord, from that. And he turned, and looked upon Mar_8:33   

44 his disciples, and rebuked Simon, and said, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou art a stumblingblock unto me: for thou thinkest not of what pertains to God, but of what pertains to men. Mat_16:23   

45 And Jesus called the multitudes with his disciples, and said unto them, Whosoever would come after me, let him deny himself, and take his cross every day, and Mar_8:34 Luk_9:23   

46 come after me. And whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and whosoever Mar_8:35   

47 loseth his life for my sake, and for the sake of my gospel, shall save it. What shall Luk_9:25   

48 a man profit, if he gain all the world, and destroy15 his own life,16 or lose it? or what Mar_8:37   

49 Arabic p. 92 will a man give in ransom for his life?16 Whosoever shall deny me and my sayings in this sinful and adulterous generation, the Son of man also will Mar_8:38   

50 deny him, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with his holy angels. For the Son of man is about to17 come in the glory of his Father with his holy angels; and then shall he reward each man according to his works. Mat_16:27  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Arabic Magadu, as in Peshitta.

2 cf. Section 21, 324.

3 The change of a single letter in the Arabic would turn not even into except; but Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary British Museum text also has not even.

4 Lit. What. See note to Section 7, 3811.

5 Or,  ye took.

6 Or, concerning.

7 Lit. one, probably representing Syriac idiom cf. Sinaitic?

8 The Peshitta also omits on him.

9 A intransitive word.

10 Or, his disciples being alone. There is no such clause in the Syriac versions Pesh., Sin..

11 The Arabic, which reappears in Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary British Museum text, and seems to represent the consonantal text of the Peshitta, is awkward. Section 23, 34 Arabic, shows, however, that the rendering given in the text in the meaning intended by the translator.

12 Same Arabic word in both places. See note to Section 5, 114.

13 The word is freely used in this work in the post-classical sense of about to.

14 The Arabic might perhaps be construed and to speak, depending on began in Section 23, 40; but the clause agrees with the Sinaitic of Mark, as does the following.

15 Or, lose.

16 Or, self; or, soul.

17 See Section 23, 406.

 

 

Section XXIV.

 

1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There be here now some standing that shall not taste death, until they see the kingdom of God come1 with strength, and the Son of man who cometh in his kingdom. Mar_9:1 Mat_16:28   

2 And after six days Jesus took Simon Cephas, and James, and John his brother, Mat_7:1   

3 and brought them up into a high mountain, the three of them only. And while they Luk_9:29   

4 were praying, Jesus changed, and became after the fashion of another person; and his face shone like the sun, and his raiment was very white like the snow, and as Mat_17:2 Luk_9:29   

5 the light of lightning, so that nothing on earth can whiten2 like it. And there appeared Mar_9:3 Mar_9:4   

6 unto him Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus. And they thought that the time Luk_9:31   

7 of his decease which was to be accomplished at Jerusalem was come. And Simon and those that were with him were heavy in the drowsiness of steep; and with effort they roused themselves, and saw his glory, and those two men that were standing with him. Luk_9:32   

8 Arabic p. 93 And when they began to depart from him, Simon said unto Jesus, My Luk_9:33   

9 Master, it is good for us to be here: and if thou wilt, we will make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah; not knowing Mat_17:4 Luk_9:33   

10 what he said, because of the fear which took possession of them. And while he Mar_9:6 Mat_17:5   

11 was yet saying that, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And when they saw Moses Luk_9:34   

12 and Elijah that they had entered into that cloud, they feared again. And a voice was heard out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, whom I have chosen; Mat_17:5   

13 hear ye therefore him. And when this voice was heard, Jesus was found alone. Luk_9:36   

14 And the disciples, when they heard the voice, fell on their faces from the fear which Mat_17:6   

15 took hold of them. And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, be not Mat_17:7   

16 afraid. And they lifted up their eyes, and saw Jesus as he was. Mat_17:8   

17 And when they went down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, and said unto them, Tell not what ye have seen to any man, until the Son of man rise from Mat_17:9   

18 among the dead. And they kept the word within themselves, and told no man in Mar_9:10 Luk_9:36   

19 those days what they had seen. And they reflected among themselves, What is this Mar_9:10   

20 word which he spake unto us, I, when I am risen from among the dead? And his disciples asked him, and said, What is that which the scribes say, then, that Elijah Mar_9:11 Mat_17:10   

21 Arabic p. 94 must first come? He said unto them, Elijah cometh first to set in order everything, and as it was written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things, Mar_9:12   

22 and be rejected. But I say unto you, that Elijah is come, and they knew him not, and have done unto him whatsoever they desired, as it was written of him. Mar_9:13   

23, 24 In like manner the Son of man is to suffer of them. Then understood the disciples that he spake unto them concerning John the Baptist. Mat_17:12 Mat_17:13   

25 And on that day whereon they came down from the mountain, there met him a multitude of many people standing with his disciples, and the scribes were discuss- Mar_9:14   

26 ing with them. And the people, when they saw Jesus, were perplexed,3 and in the Mar_9:15   

27 midst of their joy hastened4 and saluted him. And on that day came certain of the Pharisees, and said unto him, Get thee out, and go hence; for Herod seeketh Luk_13:31   

28 to kill thee. Jesus said unto them, Go ye and say to this fox, Behold, I am casting out demons, and I heal to-day and to-morrow, and on the third day I am perfected. Luk_13:32   

29 Nevertheless I must be watchful5 to-day and to-morrow, and on the last day I shall depart; for it cannot be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem. Luk_13:33   

30 And after that, there came to him a man from that multitude, and fell upon his knees, and said unto him, I beseech thee, my Lord, look upon my son; he is my Luk_9:38 Mat_17:14 Luk_9:38   

31 only child: and the spirit cometh upon him suddenly. A lunacy6 hath come upon Luk_9:39 Mat_17:15   

32 him, and he meeteth with evils. And when it cometh upon him, it beateth him about;7 Mar_9:18   

33 and he foameth, and gnasheth his teeth, and wasteth;8 and many times it hath thrown him into the water and into the fire to destroy him, and it hardly leaveth him after Mat_17:15 Luk_9:39   

34 Arabic p. 95 bruising him. And I brought him near to thy disciples, and they could Mat_17:16   

35 not heal him. Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, till when shall I be with you? and till when shall I bear with you? bring thy son Mat_17:17   

36 hither. And he brought him unto him: and when the spirit saw him, immediately Mar_9:20   

37 it beat him about; and he fell upon the ground, and was raging and foaming. And Jesus asked his father, How long is the time during which he hath been thus? He Mar_9:21   

38 said unto him, From his youth until now. But, my Lord, help me wherein thou Mar_9:22   

39 canst, and have mercy upon me. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe! All Mar_9:23   

40 things are possible to him that believeth. And immediately the father of the child Mar_9:24   

41 cried out, weeping, and said, I believe, my Lord; help my lack of faith. And when Jesus saw the hastening of the people, and their coming at the sound, he rebuked that unclean spirit, and said to it, Thou dumb9 spirit that speakest not, I command Mar_9:25   

42 thee,10 come out of him, and enter not again into him. And that spirit, devil,11 cried out much, and bruised him, and came out; and that child fell as one dead, and Mar_9:26   

43 many thought that he had died. But Jesus took him by his hand, and raised him Mar_9:27 Luk_9:42   

44 up, and gave him to his father; and that child was healed from that hour. And the people all marvelled at the greatness of God. Mat_17:18 Luk_9:43   

45 And when Jesus entered into the house, his disciples came, and asked him Mar_9:28   

46 Arabic p. 96 privately,12 and said unto him, Why were we not able to heal him? Jesus said unto Arabic. Them, Because of your unbelief. Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say to this mountain, Remove hence; Mat_17:20   

47 and it shall remove; and nothing shall overcome you. But it is impossible to cast out this kind by anything except by fasting and prayer. Mar_9:29   

48 And when he went forth thence, they passed through Galilee: and he would not Mar_9:30   

49 that any man should know it.13 And he taught his disciples, and said unto them, Mar_9:31   

50 Keep ye these sayings in your ears and your hearts: for the Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and when he is killed, he Luk_9:44 Mar_9:31   

51 shall rise on the third day. But they knew not the word which he spake unto them, for it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it; and they feared to Luk_9:45   

52 ask him about this word. And they were exceeding sorrowful. Mat_17:23  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 i.e., already come.

2 Or, become white. In the Peshitta. The verb is transitive. In Sin. the clause is omitted.

3 This rendering assumes that the diacritical point is due to a clerical error. The text as printed can hardly be translated without forcing.

4 This Arabic word repeatedly represents a Syriac ran cf. Section 53, 11. A different word is so used in Section 26, 21.

5 The Syriac word used in the Peshitta is here translated just as it was translated in Section 1 7916; but the Greek shows that in the present passage the Syriac word means go about cf. Cur.

6 Lit. The son-of-the-roof, a Syriac phrase meaning a demon of lunacy.

7 A word used in Arabic of the devil producing insanity; but here it reproduces the Peshitta.

8 Lit. becometh light; but a comparison with the Peshitta suggests that we should change one diacritical point and read withereth, as in Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary. An equally easy emendation would be wasteth.

9 In Syriac but not in Arabic, the word means deaf or dumb, according to the context.

10 Ciasca’s Arabic follows Vatican ms. in inserting that pronoun after thee.

11 Doubtless alternative renderings of the same Syriac word demon.

12 Lit. between themselves and him.

13 Or, about him.

 

 

Section XXV.

 

1 And in that day this thought presented itself to his disciples, and they said, which Luk_9:46   

2 haply should be the greatest among them.1 And when they came to Capernaum, and entered into the house, Jesus said unto them, What were ye considering in the Mar_9:33   

3 way among yourselves? And they were silent because they had considered that matter. Mar_9:34   

4 And when Simon went forth without, those that received two dirhams for the tribute came to Cephas, and said unto him, Doth your master not give his two Mat_17:24   

5 dirhams? He said unto them, Yea. And when Cephas entered the house, Jesus anticipated him, and said unto him, What thinkest thou, Simon? the kings of the earth, from whom do they receive custom and tribute? from their sons, or from Mat_17:25   

6 Arabic p. 97 strangers? Simon said unto him, From strangers. Jesus said unto him, Children then are free. Simon said unto him, Yea. Jesus said unto him, Mat_17:26   

7 Give thou also unto them, like the stranger. But, lest it trouble them, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook; and the first fish that cometh up, open its mouth, and thou shall find a stater: take therefore that, and give for me and thee. Mat_17:27   

8 And in that hour came the disciples to Jesus, and said unto him, Who, thinkest Mat_18:1   

9 thou, is greater in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus knew the thought of their heart, and called a2 child, and set him in the midst, and took him in his arms, and Luk_9:47 Mar_9:36   

10 said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye do not return, and become as children, Mat_18:3   

11 ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Every one that shall receive in my name such as this child hath received me: and whosoever receiveth me receiveth Luk_9:48 Mar_9:37   

12 not me, but him that sent me. And he who is little in your company,3 the same Luk_9:48   

13 shall be great. But whosoever shall injure one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a great millstone4 should be hanged about his neck, and he should be drowned in the depths of the sea. Mat_18:6   

14 John answered and said, Our Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; Luk_9:49   

15 and we prevented him, because he followed not thee with us. Jesus said unto them, Prevent him not; for no man doeth powers in my name, and can hasten to speak evil Mar_9:39   

16, 17 Arabic p. 98 of me. Every one who is not in opposition to you is with you. Woe unto the world because of trials!5 but woe unto that man by whose hand the trials come Luk_9:50 Mat_18:7, Mat_18:7   

18 If thy hand or thy foot injure thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee; for it is better for thee to enter into life being halt or maimed, and not that thou shouldest have two hands or two feet, and fall into the hell of fire that burneth6 for ever; Mat_18:8   

19, 20 where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched. And if thine eye seduce7 Mar_9:44 Mat_18:9   

21 thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; for it is better for thee to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than that thou shouldest have two eyes, and fall into the Mar_9:47   

22, 23 fire of Gehenna; where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched. Every Mar_9:48 Mar_9:49   

24 one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. How good Mar_9:50   

25 is salt! But if the salt also be tasteless, wherewith shall it be salted? It is fit neither for the land nor for dung, but they cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him Luk_14:34 Luk_14:35   

26 hear. Have ye salt in yourselves, and be in peace one with another. Mar_9:50   

27 And he arose from thence, and came to the borders of Judæa beyond Jordan: and there went unto him thither great multitudes, and he healed them; and he taught Mar_10:1   

28 them also, according to his custom. And the Pharisees came unto him, tempting Mar_10:2   

29 him, and asking him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? He said, What Mar_10:3   

30 did Moses command you? They said, Moses made it allowable for us, saying, Who- Mar_10:4   

31 soever will, let him write a writing of divorcement, and put away his wife. Jesus answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, He that made them from the beginning Mar_10:5 Mat_19:4   

32 Arabic p. 99 made them male and female, and said, For this reason shall the man leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife; and they both shall be one body? Mat_19:5   

33 So then they are not twain, but one body; the thing, then, which God hath Mat_19:6   

34 joined together, let no man put asunder. And those Pharisees said unto him, Why did Moses consent8 that a man should give a writing of divorcement and put her away? Mat_19:7   

35 Jesus said unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts gave you leave Mat_19:8   

36 to divorce your wives; but in the beginning it was not so. I say unto you, Whosoever putteth away9 his wife without fornication, and marrieth another, hath exposed Mat_19:9   

37 her to adultery. And his disciples, when he entered the house, asked him again Mar_10:10   

38 about that. And he said unto them, Every one who putteth away his wife, and Mar_10:11   

39 marrieth another, hath exposed her to adultery. And any woman that leaveth her husband, and becometh another’s, hath committed adultery. And whosoever mar- Mar_10:12 Mat_19:9   

40 rieth her that is divorced hath committed adultery. And his disciples said unto him, If there be between the man and the woman such a case10 as this, it is not good for Mat_19:10   

41 a man to marry. He said unto them, Not every man can endure this saying, except Mat_19:11   

42 him to whom it is given. There are eunuchs which from their mother’s womb11 were born so; and there are eunuchs which through men became eunuchs; and there are eunuchs which made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He that is able to be content, let him be content. Mat_19:12   

43 Then they brought to him children, that he should lay his hand upon them, and Mat_19:13   

44 Arabic p. 100 pray: and his disciples were rebuking those that were bringing them. And Jesus saw, and it was distressing to him; and he said unto them, Suffer the children to come unto me, and prevent them not; for those that are like these have Mar_10:13 Mar_10:14   

45 the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever receiveth not the Mar_10:15   

46 kingdom of God as this child, shall not enter it. And he took them in his arms, and laid his hand upon them, and blessed them. Mar_10:16  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Borgian ms. omits among them.

2 Lit. one Syriac idiom.

3 In the present work this word frequently means synagogue.

4 Lit. millstone of an ass.

5 i.e., experiences that test one; or, seductions. The word is variously used.

6 Or, is kindled.

7 See note to Section 25, 175.

8 So the Arabic; but the Syriac versions follow the Greek, and consent is doubtless a very easy, and, in view of the succeeding context, natural clerical error for an original Arabic charge.

9 Or, leaveth.

10 Lit. blame, a mistranslation found also in the British Museum text of Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary of the Syriac word, which is ambiguous cf. even the Greek. For a somewhat similar case see Section 50, 115.

11 Lit. wombs.

 

 

Section XXVI.

 

1, 2 And there came unto him publicans and sinners to hear his word. And the scribes and the Pharisees murmured, and said, This man receiveth sinners, and Luk_15:1 Luk_15:2   

3 eateth with them. And Jesus, when he beheld their murmuring, spake unto them Luk_15:3   

4 this parable: What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if one of them were lost, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go and seek the straying one Luk_15:4   

5 till he found it? Verily I say unto you, When he findeth it, he will rejoice over it Mat_18:13   

6 more than over the ninety-nine that went not astray; and bear it on his shoulders, and bring it to his house, and call his friends and neighbours, and say unto them, Luk_15:5 Luk_15:6   

7 Rejoice with me, since I have found my straying sheep. So your Father which is in heaven willeth1 not that one of these little ones that have strayed should perish, Mat_18:14   

8 and he seeketh for them repentance. I say unto you, Thus there shall be rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-nine righteous persons that do not need repentance. Luk_15:7   

9 And what woman having ten drachmas would lose one of them, and not light a Luk_15:8   

10 lamp, and sweep the house, and seek it with care till she found it; and when she found it, call her friends and neighbours, and say unto them, Rejoice with me, as I Luk_15:9   

11 Arabic p. 101 have found my drachma that was lost? I say unto you, Thus there shall be joy before the angels of God over the one sinner that repenteth, more than over the ninety-nine righteous persons that do not need repentance. Luk_15:10   

12, 13 And Jesus spoke unto them also another parable: A man had two sons: and the younger son said unto him, My father, give me my portion that belongeth to Luk_15:11 Luk_15:12   

14 me of thy goods. And he divided between them his property. And after a few days the younger son gathered everything that belonged to him, and went into a Luk_15:13   

15 far country, and there squandered his property by living prodigally. And when he had exhausted everything he had, there occurred a great dearth in that country. Luk_15:14   

16 And when he was in want, he went and joined himself to one of the people of a city Luk_15:15   

17 of that country; and that man sent him into the field2 to feed the swine. And he used to long to fill his belly with the carob that those swine were eating: and no man Luk_15:16   

18 gave him. And when he returned unto himself, he said, How many hired servants now in my father’s house have bread enough and to spare, while I here perish with Luk_15:17   

19 hunger! I will arise and go to my father’s house, and say unto him, My father, I Luk_15:18   

20 have sinned in heaven and before thee, and am not worthy now to be called thy Luk_15:19   

21 son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But his father saw him while he was at a distance, and was moved with compassion Luk_15:20   

22 for him, and ran,3 and fell on his breast,4 and kissed him. And his son said unto him, My father, I have sinned in heaven and before thee, and am not worthy to be Luk_15:21   

23 called thy son. His father said unto his servants, Bring forth a stately robe, and put Luk_15:22   

24 it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and put on him shoes on his feet: and bring and Luk_15:23   

25 slay a fatted ox, that we may eat and make merry: for this my son was dead, and is Luk_15:24   

26 Arabic p. 102 alive; and was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.5 Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and drew near to the house, Luk_15:25   

27 he heard the sound of many singing.6 And he called one of the lads, and asked him Luk_15:26   

28 what this was. He said unto him, Thy brother hath arrived; and thy father hath Luk_15:27   

29 slain a fatted ox, since he hath received him safe and sound.7 And he was angry, Luk_15:28   

30 and would not enter; so his father went out, and besought him to enter. And he said to his father, How many years do I serve thee in bondage, and I never transgressed a commandment of thine; and thou hast never given me a kid, that I might Luk_15:29   

31 make merry with my friends? but this thy son, when he had squandered thy Luk_15:30   

32 property with harlots, and come, thou hast slain for him a fatted ox. His father said unto him, My son, thou art at all times with me, and everything I have is Luk_15:31   

33 thine. It behoveth thee to rejoice and make merry, since this thy brother was dead, and is alive; and was lost, and is found. Luk_15:32   

34 And he spake a parable unto his disciples: There was a rich man, and he had Luk_16:1   

35 a steward; and he was accused to him that he had squandered his property. So his lord called him, and said unto him, What is this that I hear regarding thee? Give me the account of thy stewardship; for it is now impossible that thou shouldest Luk_16:2   

36 be a steward for me. The steward said within himself, What shall I do, seeing that my lord taketh from me the stewardship? To dig I am not able; and to beg8 I Luk_16:3   

37 am ashamed. I know what I will do, that, when I go out of the stewardship, they Luk_16:4   

38 may receive me into their houses. And he called one after another of his lord’s Luk_16:5   

39 debtors, and said to the first, How much owest thou my lord? He said unto him, An hundred portions9 of oil. He said unto him, Take thy writing, and sit down, and write Luk_16:6   

40 quickly fifty portions.9 And he said to the next, And thou, how much owest thou my lord? He said unto him, An hundred cors of wheat. He said unto him, Take Luk_16:7   

41 Arabic p. 103 thy writing, and sit down, and write eighty cors. And our10 lord commended the sinful steward11 because he had done a wise deed; for the children Luk_16:8   

42 of this world are wiser than the children of the light in this their age. And I also say unto you, Make unto yourselves friends with the wealth of this unrighteousness;12 Luk_16:9   

43 so that, when it is exhausted, they may receive you into their tents for ever. He who is faithful in13 a little is faithful also in much: and he who is unrighteous in a Luk_16:10   

44 little is unrighteous also in much. If then in the wealth of unrighteousness ye were Luk_16:11   

45 not trustworthy, who will intrust you with the truth?14 If ye are not found faithful in what does not belong to you, who will give you what belongeth to you? Luk_16:12  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Strictly, preferreth, but used also as in the text.

2 This word is regularly used throughout this work in this sense.

3 See Section 24, 263.

4 Did not Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary British Museum text also read breast, we might assume it to be a clerical error for a very similar less common word same as the Syriac for neck.

5 A different word.

6 cf. Peshitta.

7 One word.

8 Vatican ms. followed by Ciasca’s text has and if I beg, by a common confusion of grammatical forms.

9 Or otherwise vocalised, farks, a measure variously estimated.

10 cf. Peshitta.

11 Lit. steward of sin.

12 Lit. injustice.

13 Or, intrusted with.

14 Or, true wealth; but cf. Syriac.

 

 

Section XXVII.

 

1 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who would make a Mat_18:23   

2 reckoning with his servants. And when he began to make it, they brought to him Mat_18:24   

3 one who owed him ten talents.1 And because he had not wherewith to pay, his lord ordered that he should be sold, he, and his wife, and children, and all that he Mat_18:25   

4 had, and payment be made. So that servant fell down and worshipped him, and said unto him, My lord, have patience with me, and I shall pay thee everything. Mat_18:26   

5 And the lord of that servant had compassion, and released him, and forgave him his Mat_18:27   

6 Arabic p. 104 debt. And that servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred pence;2 and he took him, and dealt severely with him, and said Mat_18:28   

7 unto him, Give me what thou owest. So the fellow-servant fell down at his Mat_18:29   

8 feet, and besought him, and said, Grant me respite, and I will pay thee. And he would not; but took him, and cast him into prison, till he should give him his debt. Mat_18:30   

9 And when their fellow-servants saw what happened, it distressed them much; and Mat_18:31   

10 they came and told their lord of all that had taken place. Then his lord called him, and said unto him, Thou wicked servant, all that debt I forgave thee, because Mat_18:32   

11 thou besoughtest me: was it not then incumbent on thee also to have mercy on thy Mat_18:33   

12 fellow-servant, as I had mercy on thee?3 And his lord became wroth, and delivered Mat_18:34   

13 him to the scourgers, till he should pay all that he owed. So shall my Father which is in heaven do unto you, if one forgive not his brother his wrong conduct4 from Mat_18:35   

14 his heart. Take heed within5 yourselves: if thy brother sin, rebuke him; and if he Luk_17:3   

15 repent, forgive him. And if he act wrongly towards thee seven times in a day, and on that day return seven times unto thee, and say, I repent towards thee; forgive him. Luk_17:4   

16 And if thy brother act wrongly towards thee, go and reprove him between thee and Mat_18:15   

17 him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two, and so6 at the mouth of two or three every saying shall Mat_18:16   

18 be established. And if he listen not to these also, tell the congregation;7 and if he listen not even to the congregation, let him be unto thee as a publican and a Gen- Mat_18:17   

19 tile.8 Verily I say unto you, All that ye bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: Mat_18:18   

20 and what ye loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. I say unto you also, If two of you agree on earth to ask, everything shall9 be granted them from my Father Mat_18:19   

21 Arabic p. 105 which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there Mat_18:20   

22 am I amongst them. Then Cephas drew near to him, and said unto him, My Lord, how many times, if my brother act wrongly towards me, should I forgive him? Mat_18:21   

23 until seven times? Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven; but, Until seventy Mat_18:22   

24 times seven, seven.10 And the servant that knoweth his lord’s will, and maketh not Luk_12:47   

25 ready for him according to his will, shall meet with much punishment; but he that knoweth not, and doeth something for which he meriteth punishment, shall meet with slight punishment. Every one to whom much hath been given, much shall be asked of him; and he that hath had much committed to him, much shall be Luk_12:48   

26 required at his hand. I came to cast fire upon the earth; and I would that it had Luk_12:49   

27 been kindled already.11 And I have a baptism to be baptized with, and greatly am Luk_12:50   

28 I straitened till it be accomplished. See that ye despise not12 one of these little ones that believe in me. Verily I say unto you, Their angels at all times see the Mat_18:10   

29 face of my Father which is in heaven. The Son of man came to save the thing which was lost. Mat_18:11   

30 And after that, Jesus walked in Galilee; and he did not like to walk in Judæa, Joh_7:1   

31 because the Jews sought to kill him. And there came people who told him of Luk_13:1   

32 the Galilæans, those whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Jesus answered and said unto them, Do ye imagine that those Galilæans were sinners Luk_13:2   

33 more than all the Galilæans, so that this thing has come upon them? Nay. Verily I say unto you now,13 that ye shall all also, if ye repent not, likewise perish. Luk_13:3   

34 Or perchance those eighteen on whom the palace fell in Siloam, and slew them, do ye imagine that they were to be condemned14 more than all the people that dwell Luk_13:4   

35 Arabic p. 106 in Jerusalem? Nay. Verily I say unto you, If ye do not all repent, ye shall perish like them. Luk_13:5   

36 And he spake unto them this parable: A man had a fig tree planted in his vine- Luk_13:6   

37 yard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. So he said to the husbandman, Lo, three years do I come and seek fruit on this fig tree, and find Luk_13:7   

38 none: cut it down; why doth it render the ground unoccupied? The husbandman said unto him, My lord, leave it this year also, that I may dig about it, and dung Luk_13:8   

39 it; then if it bear fruit – ! and if not, then cut it down in the coming year. Luk_13:9   

40 And when Jesus was teaching on the sabbath day in one of the synagogues, Luk_13:10   

41 there was there a woman that had a spirit of disease eighteen years; and she was Luk_13:11   

42 bowed down, and could not straighten herself at all. And Jesus saw her, and called Luk_13:12   

43 her, and said unto her, Woman, be loosed from thy disease. And he put his hand Luk_13:13   

44 upon her; and immediately she was straightened, and praised God. And the chief15 of the synagogue answered with anger, because Jesus had healed on a sabbath, and said unto the multitudes, There are six days in which work ought to be done; Luk_13:14   

45 come in them and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered and said unto him, Ye hypocrites, doth not each of you on the sabbath day loose Luk_13:15   

46 his ox or his ass from the manger, and go and water it? Ought not this woman, who is a daughter of Abraham, and whom the devil16 hath bound eighteen years, Luk_13:16   

47 to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he said this, they were all put to shame, those standing, who were opposing him:17 and all the people were pleased with all the wonders that proceeded from his hand. Luk_13:17  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. badras, an amount variously estimated.

2 Lit. dinars.

3 The interrogative particle is lacking in the Arabic.

4 Or, folly.

5 A very close reproduction of the Syriac.

6 Or, for.

7 This word usually means synagogue in this work.

8 Or, heathen.

9 Or, to ask everything, it shall.

10 So Vatican ms., following the Syriac versions; Borgian ms. has only one seven.

11 Lit beforehand and so often.

12 Or, repeating a letter, See that ye despise not.

13 Borgian ms. omits now.

14 See note, Section 10, 133.

15 Lit. great man.

16 Lit. calumniator.

17 cf. Syriac versions.

 

 

Section XXVIII.1

 

1, 2 Arabic p. 107 And at that time the feast of tabernacles of the Jews drew near. So the brethren of Jesus said unto him, Remove now hence, and go to Judæa, that Joh_7:2 Joh_7:3   

3 thy disciples may see the deeds that thou doest. For no man doeth a thing secretly Joh_7:4   

4 and wisheth to be apparent. If thou doest this, shew thyself to the world. For Joh_7:5   

5 up to this time not even the brethren of Jesus believed on him. Jesus said unto them, My time till now has not arrived; but as for you, your time is alway ready. Joh_7:6   

6 It is not possible for the world to hate you; but me it hateth, for I bear witness Joh_7:7   

7 against it, that its deeds are evil. As for you, go ye up unto this feast: but I go Joh_7:8   

8 not up now to this feast; for my time has not yet been completed. He said this, and remained behind in Galilee. Joh_7:9   

9 But when his brethren went up unto the feast, he journeyed from Galilee, and to Joh_7:10 Mat_19:1   

10 came to the borders of Judæa, to the country beyond Jordan; and there came after Mat_19:2   

11 him great multitudes, and he healed them all there. And he went out, and proceeded Joh_7:10   

12 to the feast, not openly, but as one that conceals himself. And the Jews sought him Joh_7:11   

13 at the feast, and said, In what place is this man? And there occurred much murmuring there in the great multitude that came to the feast, on his account. For Joh_7:12   

14 some said, He is good: and others said, Nay, but he leadeth the people astray. But no man spake of him openly for fear of the Jews. Joh_7:13   

15 Arabic p. 108 But when the days of the feast of tabernacles were half over, Jesus went Joh_7:14   

16 up to the temple, and taught. And the Jews wondered, and said, How doth Joh_7:15   

17 this man know writing,2 seeing he hath not learned? Jesus answered and said, My doc- Joh_7:16   

18 trine3is not mine, but his that sent me. Whoever wisheth to do his will understandeth my doctrine3 whether it be from God, or whether I speak of mine own accord. Joh_7:17   

19 Whosoever speaketh of his own accord seeketh praise for himself; but whosoever seeketh praise for him that sent him, he is true, and unrighteousness in his heart Joh_7:18   

20 there is none. Did not Moses give you the law, and no man of you keepeth the Joh_7:19   

21 law? Why seek ye to kill me? The multitude answered and said unto him, Thou Joh_7:20   

22 hast demons:4 who seeketh to kill thee? Jesus answered and said unto them, I did Joh_7:21   

23 one deed, and ye all marvel because of this. Moses hath given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but it is from the fathers); and ye on the sabbath Joh_7:22   

24 circumcise a man. And if a man is circumcised on the sabbath day, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I healed on the sabbath Joh_7:23   

25 day the whole man? Judge not with hypocrisy, but judge righteous judgement. Joh_7:24   

26 And some people from Jerusalem said, Is not this he whom they seek to slay? Joh_7:25   

27 And lo, he discourseth with them openly, and they say nothing unto him. Think Joh_7:26   

28 you that our eiders have learned that this is the Messiah indeed? But this man is5 known whence he is; and the Messiah, when he cometh, no man knoweth whence Joh_7:27   

29 he is. So Jesus lifted up his voice as he taught in the temple, and said, Ye both know me, and know whence I am; and of my own accord am I not come, but he Joh_7:28   

30 Arabic p. 109 that sent me is true, he whom ye know not: but I know him; for I am Joh_7:29   

31 from him, and he sent me. And they sought to seize him: and no man Joh_7:30   

32 laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. But many of the multitude believed on him; and they said, The Messiah, when he cometh, can it be that he will do more than these signs that this man doeth? Joh_7:31   

33 And a man of that multitude said unto our Lord, Teacher, say to my brother Luk_12:13   

34 that he divide with me the inheritance. Jesus said unto him, Man, who is it that Luk_12:14   

35 appointed me over you as a judge and divider? And he said unto his disciples, Take heed within yourselves of all inordinate desire; for it is not in abundance of Luk_12:15   

36 possessions that life shall be. And he gave them this parable: The ground of a Luk_12:16   

37 rich man brought forth abundant produce: and he pondered within himself, and Luk_12:17   

38 said, What shall I do, since I have no place to store my produce? And he said, I will do this: I will pull down the buildings of my barns, and build them, and make Luk_12:18   

39 them greater; and store there all my wheat and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid by for many years; take thine ease, eat, Luk_12:19   

40 drink, enjoy thyself. God said unto him, O thou of little intelligence, this night shall thy soul be taken from thee; and this that thou hast prepared, whose shall it Luk_12:20   

41 be? So is he that layeth up treasures for himself, and is not rich in God. Luk_12:21   

42 And while Jesus was going in the way, there came near to him a young man6 of the rulers,7 and fell on his knees, and asked him, and said, Good Teacher, what is Mar_10:17   

43 it that I must do that I may have eternal life? Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Mar_10:18   

44 me good, while there is none good but the one, even God?8 Thou knowest the commandments.9 Mar_10:19   

45 Arabic p. 110 If thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments.9 The young man said unto him, Which of the commandments?10 Jesus said unto him, Mat_19:17 Mat_19:18   

46 Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shall not do injury, Honour thy father Mar_10:19   

47 and thy mother: and, Love thy neighbour as thyself. That young man said unto Mat_19:19 Mat_19:20   

48 him, All these have I kept from my youth: what then is it that I lack? And Jesus Mar_10:21   

49 looked intently at him, and loved him, and said unto him, If thou wouldest be perfect, what thou lackest is one thing:11 go away and sell everything that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and take thy Mat_19:21   

50 cross, and follow me. And that young man frowned at this word, and went away Mat_19:22 Luk_18:23   

51 feeling sad; for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw his sadness, he looked towards his disciples, and said unto them, How hard it is for them that have possessions to enter the kingdom of God! Luk_18:24 Mar_10:23  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 On margin of Vatican ms., in another hand: “This is the beginning of the second part of Diatessaron, which means The Four” See p. 467 of Ciasca’s Essay, mentioned above Introduction, 5.

2 Or, the scripture.

3 This word ordinarily means knowledge but is used in this world in the sense of doctrine. The commoner form occurs perhaps only in Section 50, 2.

4 cf. Section 14, 12.

5 Or, will be.

6 From Matthew.

7 From Luke

8 The scribe who wrote the Vatican ms. wrote first God, the one, and then reversed the order by writing the Coptic letters for B and A over the words. See Introduction, 5.

9 Different words.

10 The same word as in Mar_10:19

11 From Mark.

 

The Text of the Diatessaron. (Cont.)

Section XXIX.

 

1 Verily I say unto you, It is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Mat_19:23   

2 heaven. And I say unto you also, that it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of Mat_19:24   

3 a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples were wondering at these sayings. And Jesus answered and said unto them again, My children, how hard it is for those that rely on their possessions to enter the Mar_10:24   

4 kingdom of God! And those that were listening wondered more, and said amongst Mar_10:26   

5 themselves, being agitated,1 Who, thinkest thou, can be saved? And Jesus looked at them intently, and said unto them, With men this is not possible, but with God it is: Mar_10:27   

6 Arabic p. 111 it is possible for God to do everything. Simon Cephas said unto him, Lo, we have left everything, and followed thee; what is it, thinkest thou, that we Luk_18:28 Mat_19:27   

7 shall have? Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, Ye that have followed me, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also Mat_19:28   

8 shall sit on twelve thrones, and shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Verily I say unto you, No man leaveth houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or kinsfolk, or lands, because of the kingdom of God, or for my Mar_10:29   

9 sake, and the sake of my gospel, who shall not obtain2 many times as much in this Luk_18:30   

10 time, and in the world to come inherit eternal life: and now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecution; Mar_10:30   

11 and in the world to come everlasting life. Many that are first shall be last,3 and that are last shall be first. Mar_10:31   

12 And when the Pharisees heard all this, because of their love for wealth they Luk_16:14   

13 scoffed at him. And Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and said unto them, Ye are they that justify yourselves before men; while God knows your hearts: the thing that is lofty with men is base before God. Luk_16:15   

14 And he began to say, A certain man was rich, and wore silk and purple, and en- Luk_16:19   

15 joyed himself every day in splendour: and there was a poor man named Lazarus, and Luk_16:20   

16 he was cast down at the door of the rich man, afflicted with sores, and he longed to fill his belly with the crumbs that fell from the table of that rich man; yea, Luk_16:21   

17 Arabic p. 112 even4 the dogs used to come and lick his sores. And it happened that that poor man died, and the angels conveyed him into the bosom of Abraham: and the Luk_16:22   

18 rich man also died, and was buried. And while he was being tormented in Hades, Luk_16:23   

19 he lifted up his eyes from afar, and saw Abraham with5 Lazarus in his bosom. And he called with a loud voice, and said, My father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to wet the tip of his finger with water, and moisten my tongue Luk_16:24   

20 for me; for, behold, I am burned in this flame. Abraham said unto him, My son, remember that thou receivedst thy good things in thy life, and Lazarus his afflic- Luk_16:25   

21 tions: but now, behold, he is at rest here, and thou art tormented. And in addition to all this, there is between us and you a great abyss placed, so that they that would cross unto you from hence cannot, nor yet from thence do they cross unto Luk_16:26   

22 us. He said unto him, Then I beseech thee, my father, to send him to my father’s Luk_16:27   

23 house; for I have five brethren; let him go, that they also sin not,6 and come to Luk_16:28   

24 the abode of this torment.7 Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the Luk_16:29   

25 prophets; let them hear them. He said unto him, Nay,8 my father Abraham: but Luk_16:30   

26 let a man from the dead go unto them, and they will repent. Abraham said unto him, If they listen neither to Moses nor to the prophets, neither if a man from the dead rose would they believe him. Luk_16:31   

27 The kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a householder, which went out early Mat_20:1   

28 in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. And he agreed with the labourers on Mat_20:2   

29 one penny a day for each labourer, and he sent them into his vineyard. And he went Mat_20:3   

30 Arabic p. 113 out in three hours, and saw others standing in the market idle. He said unto them, Go ye also into my vineyard, and what is right I will pay you. Mat_20:4   

31 And they went. And he went out also at the sixth and the ninth hour, and did like- Mat_20:5   

32 wise, and sent them. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said unto them, Why are ye standing the whole day idle? Mat_20:6   

33 They said unto him, Because no one hath hired us. He said unto them, Go ye Mat_20:7   

34 also into the vineyard, and what is right ye shall receive. So when evening came, the lord of the vineyard said unto his steward, Call the labourers, and pay them Mat_20:8   

35 their wages; and begin with the later ones, and end with the former ones. And Mat_20:9   

36 those of eleven hours9 came, and received each a penny. When therefore the first came, they supposed that they should receive something more; and they also Mat_20:10   

37 received each a penny. And when they received it, they spake angrily against the Mat_20:11   

38 householder, and said, These last worked one hour, and thou hast made them equal Mat_20:12   

39 with us, who have suffered the heat of the day, and its burden. He answered and said unto one of them, My friend, I do thee no wrong: was it not for a penny that Mat_20:13   

40 thou didst bargain with me? Take what is thine, and go thy way; for I wish to Mat_20:14   

41 give this last as I have given thee. Or am I not entitled to do with what is mine10 Mat_20:15   

42 what I choose? Or is thine eye perchance evil, because I am good? Thus shall the last ones be first, and the first last. The called are many, and the chosen are few. Mat_20:16   

43 And when Jesus entered into the house of one of the chiefs of the Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, and they were watching him to see what he would Luk_14:1   

44, 45 do, and there was before him a man which had the dropsy, Jesus answered and Luk_14:2 Luk_14:3   

46 Arabic p. 114 said unto the scribes and the Pharisees, Is it lawful on the sabbath to heal? But they were silent. So he took him, and healed him, and sent him away. Luk_14:4   

47 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have his son or his ox fall on the sabbath day into a well, and not lift him up straightway, and draw water for Luk_14:5   

48 him? And they were not able to answer him a word to that. Luk_14:6  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 cf. note, Section 1, 142. As. Borgian ms. omits being agitated.

2 Lit. meet with; or, be recompensed with.

3 The Arabic words are not so strong.

4 Or, so that.

5 Or, and.

6 The Syriac and Arabic versions here agree with the Greek. For a plausible suggestion as to the origin of the strange reading in the text, see Harris, The Diatessaron of Tatian, p. 21, who cites a parallel from Aphraates.

7 This may be simply a corruption of the Peshitta.

8 Or, Surely. The word is omitted by Borgian ms.

9 i.e., probably the eleventh hour cf. Section 21, 10.

10 Lit. my thing.

 

 

Section XXX.

 

1 And he spake a parable unto those which were bidden there, because he saw Luk_14:7   

2 them choose the places that were in the highest part of the sitting room: When a man invites thee to a feast, do not go and sit at the head of the room; lest there Luk_14:8   

3 be there a man more honourable than thou, and he that invited you come and say unto thee, Give the place to this man: and thou be ashamed when thou risest and Luk_14:9   

4 takest1 another place. But when thou art invited, go and sit last; so that when he that invited thee cometh, he may say unto thee, My friend, go up higher: and Luk_14:10   

5 thou shalt have praise before all that were invited with thee. For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and every one that abaseth himself shall be exalted. Luk_14:11   

6 And he said also to him that had invited him, When thou makest a feast a or a banquet,2 do not invite thy friends, nor even thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor thy Luk_14:12   

7 rich neighbours; lest haply they also invite thee, and thou have this reward. But when thou makest a feast, invite the poor, and those with withered hand, and the Luk_14:13   

8 lame, and the blind: and blessed art thou, since they have not the means to reward Luk_14:14   

9 thee; that thy reward may be at the rising of the righteous. And when one of them that were invited heard that, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Luk_14:15   

10, 11 Arabic p. 115 Jesus answered again in parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven hath been likened to3 a certain king, which made a feast4 for his son, and prepared a Mat_22:1 Mat_22:2 Luk_14:16   

12 great banquet,5 and invited many: and he sent his servants at the time of the feast to inform them that were invited, Everything is made ready for you; come. And Luk_14:17 Mat_22:3   

13 they would not come, but began all of them with one voice to make excuse. And the first said unto them, Say to him, I have bought a field, and I must needs go out Luk_14:18   

14 to see it: I pray thee to release6 me, for I ask to be excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them: I pray thee Luk_14:19   

15 to release me, for I ask to be excused. And another said, I have married a wife, Luk_14:20   

16 and therefore I cannot come. And the king sent also other servants, and said, Say to those that were invited, that my feast is ready, and my oxen and my fatlings are Mat_22:4   

17 slain, and everything is ready: come to the feast. But they made light of it, and Mat_22:5   

18 went, one to his field, and another to his merchandise: and the rest took his Mat_22:6   

19 servants, and entreated them shamefully, and killed them. And one of the servants Luk_14:12   

20 came, and informed his lord of what had happened. And when the king heard, he became angry, and sent his armies; and they destroyed those murderers, and Mat_22:7   

21 burned their cities. Then he said to his servants, The feast is prepared, but those Mat_22:8   

22 that were invited were not worthy. Go out quickly into the markets and into the partings of the ways of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and those with pains, and the lame, and the blind. And the servants did as the king commanded them. Luk_14:21   

23 And they came, and said unto him, Our lord, we have done all that thou commandedst Luk_14:22   

24 us, and there is here still room. So the lord said unto his servants, Go out into the roads, and the ways, and the paths, and every one that ye find, invite Luk_14:23 Mat_22:9   

25 Arabic p. 116 to the feast, and constrain them to enter, till my house is7 filled. I say unto you, that no one of those people that were invited shall taste of my feast. Luk_14:23 Luk_14:24   

26 And those servants went out into the roads, and gathered all that they found, good and Mat_22:10   

27 bad: and the banquet-house was filled with guests. And the king entered to see those Mat_22:11   

28 who were seated, and he saw there a man not wearing a festive garment: and he said unto him, My friend, how didst thou come in here not having on festive garments? Mat_22:12   

29 And he was silent. Then the king said to the servants, Bind his hands and his feet, and put him forth into the outer darkness; there shall be weeping and Mat_22:13   

30 gnashing of teeth. The called are many; and the chosen, few. Mat_22:14   

31 And after that, the time of the feast of unleavened bread of the Jews arrived, Joh_5:1   

32 and Jesus went out to go to Jerusalem. And as he went in the way, there met him Luk_17:11 Luk_17:12   

33 ten persons who were lepers, and stood afar off: and they lifted up their voice, and Luk_17:13   

34 said, Our Master, Jesus, have mercy upon us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go and shew yourselves unto the priests. And when they went, they Luk_17:14   

35 were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw himself cleansed, returned, and Luk_17:15   

36 was praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face before the feet of Luk_17:16   

37 Jesus, giving him thanks: and this man was a Samaritan. Jesus answered and said, Luk_17:17   

38 Were not those that were cleansed ten? where then are the nine? Not one of them turned aside to come and praise God, but this man who is of a strange Luk_17:18   

39 people. He said unto him, Arise, and go thy way; for thy faith hath given thee life.8 Luk_17:19   

40 And while they were going up in the way to Jerusalem, Jesus went in front of them; and they wondered, and followed him fearing. And he took his twelve disciples apart, Mar_10:32   

41 Arabic p. 117 and began to tell them privately9 what was about to befall him. And he said unto them, We are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things shall be fulfilled Luk_18:31   

42 that are written in the prophets concerning the Son of man. He shall be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, Mar_10:33   

43 and deliver him to the peoples;10 and they shall treat him shamefully, and scourge Mar_10:34   

44 him, and spit in his face, and humble him,11 and crucify him, and slay him: and on Luk_18:33   

45 the third day he shall rise. But they understood not one thing of this; but this word was hidden from them, and they did not perceive these things that were addressed to them. Luk_18:34   

46 Then came near to him the mother of the (two) sons of Zebedee, she and her (two) sons, and worshipped him, and asked of him a certain thing. And he said Mat_20:20 Mat_20:21   

47 unto her, What wouldest thou? And James and John, her two sons, came forward, and said unto him, Teacher, we would that all that we ask thou wouldest Mar_10:35   

48 do unto us. He said unto them,12 What would ye that I should do unto you? Mar_10:36   

49 They said unto him, Grant us that we may sit, the one on thy right, and the other So Mar_10:37   

50 on thy left, in thy kingdom and thy glory. And Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I am to drink? and with the Mar_10:38   

51 baptism that I am to be baptized with, will ye be baptized? And they said unto him, We are able. Jesus said unto them, The cup that I drink ye shall drink; and Mar_10:39   

52 with the baptism wherewith I am baptized ye shall be baptized: but that ye should sit on my right and on my left is not mine to give; but it is for him for whom my Father hath prepared it. Mar_10:40  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. at thy rising and taking.

2 Practically synonymous words.

3 Borgian ms., is like.

4 Used specially of a marriage feast.

5 Lit: bread, the Syriac word for which not that in the versions means feast.

6 Or, omit.

7 Or, that any house may be.

8 Or, saved thee.

9 Lit. between himself and them.

10 i.e., Gentiles.

11 An obscure expression perhaps it was originally a repetition of the preceding clause. It might be emended into point at him the finger of scorn.

12 Lit. of course the two of them, and so all through the conversation.

 

 

Section XXXI.

 

1 And when the ten heard, they were moved with anger against James and John. Mar_10:41   

2 And Jesus called them, and said unto them, Ye know that the rulers of the nations Mar_10:42   

3 Arabic p. 118 are their lords; and their great men are set in authority over them. Not thus shall it be amongst you: but he amongst you that would be great, let him be to you a Mar_10:43   

4 servant; and whoever of you would be first,1 let him be to every man a Mar_10:44   

5 bond-servant: even as the Son of man also came not to be served, but to serve, and Mat_20:28   

6 to give himself a ransom in place of the many. He said this, and was going about Luk_13:22   

7 the villages and the cities, and teaching; and he went to Jerusalem. And a man asked him, Are those that shall be saved few? Jesus answered and said unto Luk_13:23   

8 them, Strive ye to enter at the narrow door: I say unto you now, that many shall Luk_13:24   

9 seek to enter, and shall not be able2 – from the time when the master of the house riseth, and closeth the door, and ye shall be standing without, and shall knock at the door, and shall begin to say, Our lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and Luk_13:25   

10 say, I say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: and ye shall begin to say, Luk_13:26   

11 Before thee we did eat and drink, and in our markets didst thou teach; and he shall say unto you, I know you not whence ye are; depart3 from me, ye servants Luk_13:27   

12 of untruth. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, while ye are Luk_13:28   

13 put forth without. And they shall come from the east and the west, and from the Luk_13:29   

14 north and the south, and shah sit down in the kingdom of God. And there shall then be last that have become first, and first that have become last. Luk_13:30   

15, 16 And when Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, there was a man named Zacchæus, Luk_19:1 Luk_19:2   

17 rich, and chief of the publicans. And he desired to see Jesus who he was; and he was not able for the pressure of the crowd, because Zacchæus was little of stature. Luk_19:3   

18 Arabic p. 119 And he hastened, and went before Jesus, and went up into an unripe fig Luk_19:4   

19 tree4 to see Jesus: for he was to pass thus. And when Jesus came to that place, he saw him, and said unto him, Make haste, and come down, Zacchæus: Luk_19:5   

20 to-day I must be in thy house. And he hastened, and came down, and received Luk_19:6   

21 him joyfully. And when they all saw, they murmured, and said, He hath gone in Luk_19:7   

22 and lodged with a man that is a sinner. So Zacchæus stood, and said unto Jesus, My Lord, now half of my possessions I give to the poor, and what I have unjustly Luk_19:8   

23 taken5 from every man I give him fourfold. Jesus said unto him, To-day is salvation Luk_19:9   

24 come to this house, because this man also is a6 son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and save the thing that was lost. Luk_19:10   

25 And when Jesus went out of Jericho, he and his disciples, there came after him Luk_18:35 7 Mat_20:29   

26 a great multitude. And there was a blind man sitting by the way side begging. Luk_18:35   

27 And his name was Timæus, the son of Timæus. And he heard the sound of the Mar_10:46 Luk_18:36   

28 multitude passing, and asked, Who is this? They said unto him, Jesus the Nazarene Luk_18:37   

29 passeth by. And when he heard that it was Jesus, he called out with a loud Mar_10:47 Luk_18:38   

30 voice, and said, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And those that went before Jesus were rebuking him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried the Luk_18:39 Mar_10:48   

31 more, and said, Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded that they should call him. And they called the blind man, and said unto Mar_10:49   

32 him, Be of good courage, and rise; for, behold, he calleth thee. And the blind Mar_10:50   

33 man threw away his garment, and rose, and came to Jesus. Jesus said unto him, What dost thou wish that I should do unto thee? And that blind man said unto him, My Lord and Master, that my eyes may be opened, so that I may see thee.8 Mar_10:51   

34 Arabic p. 120 And Jesus had compassion on him, and touched his eyes, and said unto Mat_20:34   

35 him, See; for thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight,9 and came after him, and praised God; and all the people that saw praised God. Luk_18:42 Luk_18:43   

36 And he spake a parable because he was nearing10 Jerusalem, and they supposed Luk_19:11   

37 that at that time the kingdom of God was about to appear. He said unto them, A man, a son of a great race, went into a far country, to receive a kingdom, and Luk_19:12   

38 return. And he called his ten servants, and gave them ten shares, and said unto Luk_19:13   

39 them, Trade till the time of my coming. But the people of his city hated him, and Luk_19:14   

40 sent messengers after him, and said, We will not that this man reign over us. And when he had received a11 kingdom, and returned, he said that the servants to whom he had given the money should be called unto him, that he might know what each Luk_19:15   

41 of them had traded. And the first came, and said, My lord, thy share hath gained Luk_19:16   

42 ten shares. The king said unto him, Thou good and faithful servant, who hast Luk_19:17   

43 been found faithful in a little, be thou set over ten districts. And the second came, Luk_19:18   

44 and said, My lord, thy portion hath gained five portions. And he said unto him Luk_19:19   

45 also, And thou shall be set over five districts. And another came, and said, My Luk_19:20   

46 lord, here is thy portion, which was with me laid by in a napkin: I feared thee, because thou art a hard man, and takest what thou didst not leave, and seekest Luk_19:21   

47 what thou didst not give, and reapest what thou didst not sow. His lord said unto him, From thy mouth shall I judge thee, thou wicked and idle servant, who wast untrustworthy. Thou knewest that I am a hard man, and take what I did not Luk_19:22   

48 leave, and reap what I did not sow: why didst thou not put my money at usury, Luk_19:23   

49 and so I might come and seek it, with its gains? And he said unto those that were standing in front of him, Take from him the share, and give it to him that hath Luk_19:24   

50, 51 Arabic p. 121 ten shares. They said unto him, Our lord, he hath ten shares. He said unto them, I say unto you, Every one that hath shall be given unto; and Luk_19:25 Luk_19:26   

52 he that hath not, that which he hath also shall be taken from him. And those mine enemies who would not that I should reign over them, bring them, and slay them before me. Luk_19:27  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. advanced.

2 Lit. find, like the Syriac

3 This rendering requires the omission of the diacritical point over the middle radical. The text as printed means perish.

4 cf. the extract from Isho’dad Harris, Fragments p. 19.

5 A diacritical point must be restored to the second letter of this word. As it stands it gives no sense.

6 Lit. the.

7 Rather, Mat_20:29 + Mar_10:46

8 cf. Mat_20:33, and Luk_18:41, both in Curetonian.

9 Lit. saw.

10 Or, near.

11 Doubtless a misinterpretation of the Syriac.

 

 

Section XXXII.

 

1 And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, he went up to the temple of God, and found Mat_21:12 Joh_2:14   

2 there oxen and sheep and doves. And when he beheld those that sold and those that bought, and the money-changers sitting, he made for himself a scourge of rope, and drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep and the oxen, and the money-changers; and he threw down their money, and upset their tables, and the seats of Mat_21:12 Joh_2:14 Mat_21:12   

3 them that sold the doves; and he was teaching, and saying unto them, Is it not written, My house is a house of prayer for all peoples? and ye have made it a den Mat_21:13   

4 for robbers. And he said unto those that sold the doves, Take this hence, and Joh_2:16   

5 make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise. And he suffered not any Mar_11:16   

6 one to carry vessels inside the temple. And his disciples remembered the scripture, Joh_2:17   

7 The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. The Jews answered and said unto him, Joh_2:18   

8 What sign hast thou shewn us, that thou doest this? Jesus answered and said unto Joh_2:19   

9 them, Destroy this temple, and I shall raise it in three days. The Jews said unto him, This temple was built in forty-six years, and wilt thou raise it in three days? Joh_2:20   

10 But he spake unto them of the temple of his body, that when1 they destroyed it, he Joh_2:21   

11 Arabic p. 122 would raise it in three days. When therefore he rose from among the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this; and they believed the scriptures, and the word that Jesus spake. Joh_2:22   

12 And when Jesus sat down over against the treasury, he observed how the multitudes were casting their offerings into the treasury: and many rich men were Mar_12:41   

13, 14 throwing in much. And there came a poor widow, and cast in two mites. And Jesus called his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor Mar_12:42 Luk_21:3   

15 widow cast into the treasury more than all the people: and all of these cast into the place of the offering of God2 of the superfluity of their wealth; while this woman of her want threw in all that she possessed. Mar_12:44   

16 And he spake unto them this parable, concerning people who trusted in them- Luk_18:9   

17 selves that they are righteous, and despised every man: Two men went up to the Luk_18:10   

18 temple to pray; one of them a Pharisee, and the other a publican. And the Pharisee stood apart,3 and prayed thus, O Lord, I thank thee, since I am not like the rest of men, the unjust, the profligate, the extortioners, or even like this publican; Luk_18:11   

19, 20 but I fast two days a week, and tithe all my possessions.4 And the publican was standing at a distance, and he would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but was Luk_18:12 Luk_18:13   

21 beating upon his breast, and saying, O Lord, have mercy on me, me the sinner. I say unto you, that this man went down justified to his house more than the Pharisee. Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and every one that abaseth himself shall be exalted. Luk_18:14   

22 Arabic p. 123 And when eventide was come, he left all the people, and went outside the Mar_11:19 Mat_21:17   

23 city to Bethany, he and his twelve, and he remained there. And all the people, because they knew the place, came to him, and he received them; and them that Luk_9:11   

24 had need of healing he healed. And on the morning of the next day, when he returned Mar_11:12   

25 to the city from Bethany, he hungered. And he saw a5 fig tree at a distance on the beaten highway, having on it leaves. And he came unto it, expecting to find something on it; and when he came, he found nothing on it but the leaves – it6 was not Mar_11:13   

26 the season of figs – and he said unto it, Henceforward for ever let no man eat fruit of thee. And his disciples heard. Mar_11:14   

27 And they came to Jerusalem. And there was there a man of the Pharisees, Mar_11:15 Joh_3:1   

28 named Nicodemus, ruler of the Jews. This man came unto Jesus by night, and said unto him, My Master, we know that thou hast been sent from God as a teacher; and no man can do these signs that thou doest, except him whom God is Joh_3:2   

29 with. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, If a man Joh_3:3   

30 be not born a second time, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man who is old be born? can he, think you, return again to Joh_3:4   

31 his mother’s womb a second time, to enter and be born? Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, If a man be not born of water and the Spirit, Joh_3:5   

32 he cannot enter the kingdom of God. For he that is born of flesh is flesh; and he that Joh_3:6   

33 is born of Spirit is spirit. Wonder not that I said unto thee that ye must be born a Joh_3:7   

34 Arabic p. 124 second time. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest its voice, but thou knowest not from what place it cometh, nor whither it goeth: so Joh_3:8   

35 is every man that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, Joh_3:9   

36 How can that be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou teaching7 Israel, Joh_3:10   

37 and yet knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, What we know Joh_3:11   

38 we say, and what we have seen we witness: and ye receive not our witness. If I said unto you what is on earth, and ye believed not, how then, if I say unto you Joh_3:12   

39 what is in heaven, will ye believe? And no man hath ascended up into heaven, except him that descended from heaven, the Son of man, which is in heaven. Joh_3:13   

40 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so is the Son of man to be Joh_3:14   

41 lifted up; so that every man who may believe in him may not perish, but have Joh_3:15   

42 eternal life. God so loved the world, that8 he should give his only Son; and so every one that believeth on him should not perish, but should have eternal life. Joh_3:16   

43 God sent not his Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world might Joh_3:17   

44 be saved by his hand. He that believeth in him shall not be judged: but he that believeth not is condemned beforehand, because he hath not believed in the name Joh_3:18   

45 of the only Son, the Son of God.9 This is the judgement, that the light came into the world, and men loved the darkness more than the light; because their deeds Joh_3:19   

46 were evil. Whosoever doeth evil deeds hateth the light, and cometh not to the Joh_3:20   

47 light, lest his deeds be reproved. But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be known, that they have been done in God. Joh_3:21  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Or, if.

2 Lit. house of the offering of God, as in the ms. described by Gildemeister at Luk_21:4; but it is simply a reproduction of the phrase used in the Peshitta at Luk_21:3. The parallel passages are a good deal fused together.

3 Lit. between him and himself.

4 Or, gains.

5 Lit. one Syriac.

6 Lit. and it.

7 Or, the teacher of.

8 The Arabic particle means in order that. Perhaps it is a clerical error for so that; or it may be meant to represent the Syriac.

9 The translator has followed too closely the order of words In his Syriac original, which agrees with the Text. Rec.

 

 

Section XXXIII.

 

1 Arabic p. 125 And when evening came, Jesus went forth outside of the city, he and his Mar_11:19   

2 disciples. And as they passed in the morning, the disciples saw that fig tree Mar_11:20   

3 withered away from its root. And they passed by, and said, How did the fig tree dry Mat_21:20   

4 up immediately? And Simon remembered, and said unto him, My Master, behold, Mar_11:21   

5 that fig tree which thou didst curse hath dried up. And Jesus answered and said Mar_11:22   

6 unto them, Let there be in you the faith of God. Verily I say unto you, if ye believe, and doubt not in your hearts, and assure yourselves that that will be which Mar_11:23   

7 ye say, ye shall have what ye say. And if ye say to this mountain, Remove, and Mat_21:21   

8 fall1 into the sea, it shall be. And all that ye ask God in prayer, and believe, he Mat_21:22   

9, 10 will give you. And the apostles2 said unto our Lord, Increase our3 faith. He said unto them, If there be in you faith like a grain of mustard, ye shall say to this fig tree, Be thou torn up, and be thou planted in the sea; and it will obey you. Luk_17:5 Luk_17:6   

11 Who of you hath a servant driving a yoke of oxen or tending sheep, and if he Luk_17:7   

12 come from the field, will say unto him straightway, Go and sit down? Nay,4 he will say unto him, Make ready for me wherewith I may sup, and gird thy waist, and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink also. Luk_17:8   

13 Doth that servant haply, who did what he was bid, receive his praise? I think Luk_17:9   

14 not. So ye also, when ye have done all that ye were bid, say, We are idle servants; what it was our duty to do, we have done. Luk_17:10   

15 For this reason I say unto you, Whatever ye pray and ask, believe that ye Mar_11:24   

16 Arabic p. 126 receive, and ye shall have. And when ye stand to pray, forgive what is in your heart against any man; and your Father which is in heaven will Mar_11:25   

17 forgive you also your wrong-doings. But if ye forgive not men their wrong-doings, neither will your Father forgive you also your wrong-doings. Mar_11:26   

18 And he spake unto them a parable also, that they should pray at all times, and Luk_18:1   

19 not be slothful: There was a judge in a city, who feared not God, nor was ashamed Luk_18:2   

20 for men: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, and said, Luk_18:3   

21 Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a long time: but afterwards he said within himself, If of God I have no fear, and before men I have no shame; Luk_18:4   

22 yet because this widow vexeth me, I will avenge her, that she come not at all times Luk_18:5   

23, 24 and annoy me. And our Lord said, Hear ye what the judge of injustice said. And shall not God still more do vengeance for his elect, who call upon him in the night Luk_18:6 Luk_18:7   

25 and in the day, and grant them respite? I say unto you, He will do vengeance for them speedily. Thinkest thou the Son of man will come and find faith on the earth? Luk_18:8   

26, 27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, on one of the days, as Jesus was walking in the temple, and teaching the people, and preaching the Mar_11:15 Luk_20:1   

28 gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came upon him, and said unto him, Tell us: By what power doest thou this? and who gave thee this Luk_20:2 Mar_11:28   

29 power to do that? And Jesus said unto them, I also will ask you one word, and if Mar_11:29 Mat_21:24   

30 ye tell me, I also shall tell you by what power I do that. The baptism of John, from Mat_21:25   

31 Arabic p. 127 what place is it? from heaven or of men? Tell me. And they reflected within them- selves, and said, If we shall say unto him, From heaven; he will say unto Mar_11:30 Mat_21:25   

32 us, For what reason did ye not believe him? But5 if we shall say, Of men; Mat_21:26   

33 we fear6 that the people will stone us, all of them. And all of them were holding7 Luk_20:6 Mar_11:32   

34 to John, that he was a true prophet. They answered and said unto him, We know Mar_11:33   

35 not. Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you also by what power I work. What think ye? A man had two sons; and he went to the first, and said unto him, My Mat_21:28   

36 son, go to-day, and till in the vineyard. And he answered and said, I do not wish Mat_21:29   

37 to: but finally he repented, and went. And he went to the other, and said unto Mat_21:30   

38 him likewise. And he answered and said, Yea, my lord: and went not. Which of these two did the will of his father? They said unto him, The first. Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, The publicans and harlots go before you into Mat_21:31   

39 the kingdom of God. John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and harlots believed him; and ye, not even when ye saw, did ye repent at last, that ye might believe in him. Mat_21:32   

40 Hear another parable: A man was a householder, and planted a vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge, and digged in it a winepress, and built in it a tower, Mat_21:33   

41, 42 and gave it to husbandmen, and went to a distance for a long time. So when the time of the fruits came, he sent his servants8 unto the husbandmen, that they might Luk_20:9 Mat_21:34   

43 send him of the produce9 of his vineyard. And those husbandmen beat him, and Mar_12:3   

44 sent him away empty. And he sent unto them another servant also; and they Mar_12:4   

45 stoned him, and wounded10 him, and sent him away with shameful handling. And he sent again another; and they slew him. And he sent many other servants unto Mar_12:5   

46 them. And the husbandmen took his servants, and one they beat, and another they Mat_21:35   

47 stoned, and another they slew. So he sent again other servants more than the first; and Mat_21:36   

48 Arabic p. 128 they did likewise with them. So the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will see him and be Luk_20:13   

49, 50 ashamed. So at last he sent unto them his beloved son that he had. But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said amongst themselves, This is the heir. Mar_12:6 Mat_21:38   

51, 52 And they said, We will slay him, and so the inheritance will be ours. So they took Luk_20:14 Mat_21:39   

53 him, and put him forth without the vineyard, and slew him. When then the lord Mat_21:40   

54 of the vineyard shall come, what will he do with those husbandmen? They said unto him, He will destroy them in the worst of ways,11 and give the vineyard to Mat_21:41   

55 other husbandmen, who will give him fruit in its season. Jesus said unto them, Have ye never read in the scripture, The stone which the builders declared to be base, The same came to be at the head of the corner: Mat_21:42 Luk_20:17   

56 From God was this, And it is wonderful in our eyes? Mat_21:42   

57 Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and Mat_21:43   

58 given to a people that will produce fruit. And whosoever falleth on this stone shall be broken in pieces: but on whomsoever it falleth, it will grind him to Mat_21:44   

59 powder. And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they Mat_21:45   

60 perceived that it was concerning them he spake. And they sought to seize him; and they feared the multitude, because they were holding to him as the prophet. Mat_21:46  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Syr.

2 The Syriac word.

3 Lit. Increase us in.

4 Or But.

5 Mat_21:26 begins here in the Greek.

6 From Mark.

7 cf. Syriac.

8 The difference between singular and plural is very slight in Arabic.

9 Lit. property.

10 A word used specially of wounding the head.

11 cf. Syriac versions.

 

 

Section XXXIV.

 

1 Then went the Pharisees and considered how they might ensnare him in a word, Mat_22:15   

2 Arabic p. 129 and deliver him into the power of the judge,1 and into the power of the ruler. And they sent unto him their disciples, with the kinsfolk of Herod; and they said unto him, Teacher, we know that thou speakest the truth, and teachest the way of God with equity,2 and art not lifted up3 by any man: for thou actest not so as to Luk_20:20 Mat_22:16   

3 be seen of any man. Tell us now, What is thy opinion? Is it lawful that we should Mat_22:17   

4 pay the tribute to Caesar, or not? shall we give, or shall we not give? But Jesus knew Mar_12:15   

5 their deceit, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the Mat_22:18 Mat_22:19   

6 penny of the tribute. So they brought unto him a penny. Jesus said unto them, To whom belongeth this image and inscription? They said unto him, To Caesar. Mat_22:20   

7,8 He said unto them, Give what is Caesar’s to Caesar, and what is God’s to God. And they could not make him slip in a single word before the people; and they marvelled at his word, and refrained. Mat_22:21 Luk_20:26   

9 And on that day came the Sadducees, and said unto him,4 There is no life for Mat_22:23   

10 the dead. And they asked him, and said unto him, Teacher, Moses said unto us, If a man die, not having children, let his brother take his wife, and raise up seed Mat_22:24   

11 for his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first took a wife, Mat_22:25 Luk_20:29   

12 and died without children; and the second took his wife, and died without children; Luk_20:30   

13 and the third also took her; and in like manner the seven of them also, and they Luk_20:31   

14, 15 died without leaving children. And last of them all the woman died also. At the resurrection, then, which of these seven shall have this woman? for all of them took Mat_22:27 Mat_22:28   

16 her. Jesus answered and said unto them, Is it not for this that ye have erred, Mat_22:29 Mar_12:24   

17 because ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? And the sons of this Luk_20:34   

18 world take wives, and the women become the men’s;5 but those that have become worthy of that world, and the resurrection from among the dead, do6 not take Luk_20:35   

19 Arabic p. 130 wives, and the women also do7 not become the men’s. Nor is it possible that they should die; but they8 are like the angels, and are the children of Luk_20:36   

20 God, because they have become the children of the resurrection. For in9 the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read in the book of Moses, how from the bush God said unto him, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? Mat_22:30 Mar_12:26   

21 And God is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all of them are alive with him. And ye have erred greatly. Luk_20:38 Mar_12:27   

22, 23 And when the multitudes heard, they were wondering at his teaching. And Mat_22:33 Luk_20:39   

24 some of the scribes answered and said unto him, Teacher, thou hast well said. But the rest of the Pharisees, when they saw his silencing the Sadducees on this point, gathered against him to contend with him. Mat_22:34   

25 And one of the scribes, of those that knew the law, when he saw the excellence Mat_22:35 Mar_12:28   

26 of his answer to them, desired to try him, and said unto him, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? and, Which of the commandments is greater, and has precedence Luk_10:25 Mar_12:28   

27 in the law? Jesus said unto him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Mar_12:29   

28 Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy thought, and with all thy Mar_12:30 Mat_22:37 10   

29, 30 strength. This is the great and preëminent11 commandment. And the second, which is like it, is, Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. And another commandment Mat_22:38 Mar_12:31   

31 greater than these two there is not. On these two commandments, then, are hung the Mat_22:40   

32 Arabic p. 131 law and the prophets. That scribe said unto him, Excellent! my Master;12 thou hast said truly that he is one, and there is no other outside of him: Mar_12:32   

33 and that a man should love him with all his heart, and with all his thought, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, and that he should love his neighbour as Mar_12:33   

34 himself, is better than all savours and sacrifices. And Jesus saw him that he had answered wisely; and he answered and said unto him, Thou art not far from the Mar_12:34   

35, 36 kingdom of God. Thou hast: spoken rightly: do this, and thou shalt live. And he, as his desire was to justify himself, said unto him, And who is my neighbour? Luk_10:28 Luk_10:29   

37 Jesus said unto him, A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and the robbers fell upon him, and stripped13 him, and beat him, his life remaining in him but little,14 Luk_10:30   

38 and went away. And it happened that there came down a certain priest that way; Luk_10:31   

39 and he saw him, and passed by. And likewise a Levite also came and reached Luk_10:32   

40 that place, and saw him, and passed by. And a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, Luk_10:33   

41 came to15 the place where he was, and saw him, and had compassion on him, and came near, and bound up his strokes,16 and poured on them wine and oil; and he set17 him on the ass, and brought him to the inn, and expended his care upon him. Luk_10:34   

42 And on the morrow of that day he took out two pence, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said unto him, Care for him; and if thou spendest upon him more, Luk_10:35   

43 when I return, I shall give thee. Who of these three now, thinkest thou, is nearest Luk_10:36   

44 to him that fell among the robbers? And he said unto him, He that had compas- Luk_10:37   

45 Arabic p. 132 sion on him. Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou also likewise. And no man dared afterwards to ask him anything. Mar_12:34   

46 And he was teaching every day in the temple. But the chief priests and scribes and the eiders of the people sought to destroy him: and they could18 not find what Luk_19:47 Luk_19:48   

47 they should do with him; and all the people were hanging upon him to hear him.   

48 And many of the multitude believed on him, and said, The Messiah, when he Joh_7:31   

49 cometh, can it be that he will do more than these signs that this man doeth? And the Pharisees heard the multitudes say that of him; and the chief priests sent Joh_7:32   

50 officers19 to seize him. And Jesus said unto them, I am with you but a short time Joh_7:33   

51 yet, and I go to him that sent me. And ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: Joh_7:34   

52 and where I shall be, ye shall not be able to come. The Jews said within themselves, Whither hath this man determined to go that we shall not be able20 to find him? can it be that he is determined to go to the regions of the nations,21 and teach Joh_7:35   

53 the heathen? What is this word that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, ye cannot come? Joh_7:36  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Vatican ms. omits the power. We should then translate with Pesh. and Sin. unto judgement.

2 See note, Section 3, 5311.

3 Possibly this is the meaning of the Arabic phrase, which occurs also in Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary British Museum text.

4 cf. the Syriac versions.

5 cf. the Syriac versions.

6 Or, shall.

7 Or, shall.

8 Borg, ms., all of them instead of but they.

9 Or, Moreover, regarding.

10 Rather, Mar_12:30.

11 This simply represents first in Syriac.

12 Vatican ms. has a corruption of Excellent! Rabbi better preserved by Borgian ms., which, however, adds our translator’s ordinary rendering of Rabbi — my Master. This explanation is confirmed by Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary. Ciasca’s emended text cannot be right.

13 The diacritical point over the third radical must be removed.

14 cf. Peshitta.

15 Ciasca’s Arabic text apparently following Borgian ms. has till he before came. This is unsupported by any of the three Syriac texts, although they differ from one another. Perhaps till and came should be transposed. The translation would then be as given in the text above, but this rendering may also be obtained according to Section 54, 11.

16 The Syriac word used means both wounds and strokes.

17 The Arabic word is a favourite of the translator’s, and may therefore be original. One cannot help thinking, however, that it is a clerical error for mounted cf. Cur. and Sin..

18 In Syriac could and found are represented by the same word. The Arabic translator has chosen the wrong one.

19 See note, Section 11, 112.

20 See note above, on Section 34, 4618.

21 i.e., Gentiles.

 

 

Section XXXV.

 

1 And on the great day, which is the last of the feast, Jesus stood, crying out and Joh_7:37   

2 saying, If any man is thirsty, let him come unto me, and drink. Every one that believeth in me, as the scriptures said, there shall flow from his belly rivers of pure Joh_7:38   

3 water. He said that referring to the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet granted; and because Jesus had not yet been Joh_7:39   

4 Arabic p. 133 glorified. And many of the multitude that heard his words said, This is Joh_7:40   

5 in truth the prophet. And others said, This is the Messiah. But others Joh_7:41   

6 said, Can it be that the Messiah will come from Galilee? Hath not the scripture said that from the seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the village of David, the Joh_7:42   

7 Messiah cometh? And there occurred a dissension in the multitude because of him. Joh_7:43   

8 And some of them were wishing to seize him; but no man laid a hand upon him. Joh_7:44   

9 And those officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees: and the priests said Joh_7:45   

10 unto them, Why did ye not bring him? The officers said, Never spake man thus Joh_7:46   

11 as speaketh this man. The Pharisees said unto them, Perhaps ye also have gone Joh_7:47   

12, 13 astray? Hath any of the rulers or the Pharisees haply believed in him? except Joh_7:48 Joh_7:49   

14 this people which knows not the law; they are accursed. Nicodemus, one of them, Joh_7:50   

15 he that had come to Jesus by night, said unto them, Doth our law haply condemn Joh_7:51   

16 a man, except it hear him first and know what he hath done? They answered and said unto him, Art thou also haply from Galilee? Search, and see that a prophet riseth not from Galilee. Joh_7:52   

17, 18 And when the Pharisees assembled, Jesus asked them, and said, What say ye of Mat_22:41 Mat_22:42   

19 the Messiah? whose son is he? They said unto him, The son of David. He said unto them, And how doth David in the Holy Spirit call him Lord? for he said, Mat_22:43   

20 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on my right hand, That I may put thine enemies under thy feet. Mat_22:44   

21, 22 If then David calleth him Lord, how is he his son? And no one was able to answer him; and no man dared from that day again to ask him of anything. Mat_22:45 Mat_22:46   

23 And Jesus addressed them again, and said, I am the light of the world; and he that Joh_8:12   

24 Arabic p. 134 followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall find the light of life. The Pharisees said unto him, Thou bearest witness to thyself; thy witness is not true. Jesus Joh_8:13   

25 answered and said unto them, If I bear witness to myself, my witness is true; for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye know not whence I came, or Joh_8:14   

26, 27 whither I go. And ye judge after the flesh; and I judge no man. And even if I judge, my judgement is true; because I am not alone, but I and my Father which Joh_8:15 Joh_8:16   

28, 29 sent me. And in your law it is written, that the witness of two men is true. I am he that beareth witness to myself, and my Father which sent me beareth witness to Joh_8:17 Joh_8:18   

30 me. They said unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye know not me, nor my Father: for did ye know me, ye would know my Joh_8:19   

31 Father. He said these sayings in the treasury, where he was teaching in the Joh_8:20   

32 temple: and no man seized him; because his hour had not yet come. Jesus said unto them again, I go truly, and ye shall seek me and not find me, and ye shall die Joh_8:21   

33 in your sins: and where I go, ye cannot come. The Jews said, Will he haply kill Joh_8:22   

34 himself, that he saith, Where I go, ye cannot come? He said unto them, Ye are from below; and I am from above: ye are of this world; and I am not of this Joh_8:23   

35 world. I said unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: if ye believe not that I am Joh_8:24   

36 he, ye shall die in your sins. The Jews said, And thou, who art thou? Jesus said Joh_8:25   

37 unto them, If I should begin to speak unto you, I have concerning you many words and judgement: but he that sent me is true; and I, what I heard from him is what Joh_8:26   

38, 39 Arabic p. 135 I say in the world. And they knew not that he meant by that the Father. Jesus said unto them again, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then ye shall know that I am he: and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father Joh_8:27 Joh_8:28   

40 taught me, so I speak. And he that sent me is with me; and my Father hath not Joh_8:29   

41 left me alone; because I do what is pleasing to him at all times. And while he was saying that, many believed in him. Joh_8:30   

42 And Jesus said to those Jews that believed in him, If ye abide in my words, truly Joh_8:31   

43 ye are my disciples: and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Joh_8:32   

44 They said unto him, We are the seed of Abraham, and have never served any man Joh_8:33   

45 in the way of slavery: how then sayest thou, Ye shall be free children? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that doeth a sin is a slave of Joh_8:34   

46 sin. And the slave doth not remain for ever in the house; but the son remaineth Joh_8:35   

47, 48 for ever. And if the Son set you free, truly ye shall be free children. I know that ye are the seed of Abraham; but ye seek to slay me, because ye are unable for my Joh_8:36 Joh_8:37   

49 word. And what I saw with my Father, I say: and what ye saw with your father, Joh_8:38   

50 ye do. They answered and said unto him, Our father is Abraham. Jesus said unto them, If ye were the children of Abraham, ye would do the deeds of Abraham. Joh_8:39   

51 Now, behold, ye seek to kill me, a man that speak1 with you2 the truth, that I Joh_8:40   

52 heard from God: this did Abraham not do. And ye do the deeds of your father. They said unto him, We were not born of fornication;3 we have one Father, who is Joh_8:41   

53 God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: I proceeded and came4 from God; and it was not of my own self that I came,4 but he sent Joh_8:42   

54 Arabic p. 136 me. Why then do ye not know my word? Because ye cannot hear my word. Joh_8:43   

55 Ye are from the father, the devil,5 and the lust of your father do ye desire to do, who from the beginning is a slayer of men, and in the truth standeth not, because the truth is not in him. And when he speaketh untruth, he speaketh from Joh_8:44   

56 himself: for he is a liar, and the father of untruth. And I who speak the truth, ye Joh_8:45   

57 believe me not. Who of you rebuketh me for a sin? And if I speak the truth, ye Joh_8:46   

58 do not believe me.6 Whosoever is of God heareth the words of God: therefore do Joh_8:47   

59 ye not hear, because ye are not of God. The Jews answered and said unto him, Joh_8:48   

60 Did we not say well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast demons? Jesus said unto them, As for me, I have not a devil; but my Father do I honour, and ye dishonour Joh_8:49   

61 me. I seek not my glory: here is one who seeketh and judgeth. Joh_8:50  

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 Lit. speaketh, according to Arabic idiom.

2 Borgian ms. omits with you.

3 Borgian ms. has adulteress, mistaking the less common Arabic word for a clerical error.

4 Different words are used in the Arabic, so in the Greek, but not in the Peshitta. Sin. and Cur. are wanting.

5 Lit. backbiter.

6 This is probably simply a clerical error for the ordinary reading, why have ye not believed me? The Arabic words why and not having the same consonants, one of them was purposely or accidentally omitted by a copyist.