Introductory Notes

Section II

Page 9 of 468

¹ [Arabic, p. 7]¹⁷³ Now¹⁷⁴ 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,² she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.¹⁷⁵ And Joseph her husband was a just man and did not wish to expose her, and he purposed to put her away secretly.³¹⁷⁶ 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 that⁴ which is begotten¹⁷⁷ in her is of the Holy Spirit.¹⁷⁸ She shall bear a son, and thou shalt⁵ call his name Jesus, and he shall save¹⁷⁹ his people from their sins.¹⁸⁰ And all this was that the saying from the Lord by the prophet might be fulfilled:

⁶¹⁸¹ Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,

And they shall call his name Immanuel,

⁷ which is, being interpreted, With us is our God.¹⁸² And when Joseph arose from his⁸ sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife;¹⁸³ and knew her not until she brought forth her firstborn son.

⁹¹⁸⁴ And in those days there went forth a decree from Augustus Cæsar that all the¹⁰ people of his dominion¹⁸⁵ should be enrolled.¹⁸⁶ This first enrolment was¹⁸⁷ while Quirinius [11, 12] was governor of Syria.¹⁸⁸ And every man went to be enrolled in his city.¹⁸⁹ And Joseph went up also from Nazareth, a city of Galilee, to Judæa, to the city of David¹³ which is called Bethlehem (for he was of the house of David and of his tribe),¹⁹⁰ with¹⁴ [Arabic, p. 8] Mary his betrothed, she being with child, to be enrolled there.¹⁹¹ And while¹⁵ she was there the days for her being delivered were accomplished.¹⁹² 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.

¹⁶¹⁹³ And there were in that region shepherds abiding, keeping their flock in the watch¹⁷ of the night.¹⁹⁴ And behold, the angel of God came unto them, and the glory of the¹⁸ Lord shone upon them; and they were greatly terrified.¹⁹⁵ And the angel said unto them, Be not terrified; for I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be to the¹⁹ whole world;¹⁹⁶ there is born to you this day a Saviour, which is the Lord the Messiah,²⁰ in the city of David.¹⁹⁷ And this is a sign for you: ye shall find a babe wrapped²¹ in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger.¹⁹⁸ And there appeared with the angels suddenly many heavenly forces praising¹⁹⁹ God and saying,

²²²⁰⁰ Praise be to God in the highest,

And on the earth peace, and good hope to men.

²³²⁰¹ 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, as²⁴ the Lord made known unto us.²⁰² And they came with haste, and found Mary and²⁵ Joseph, and the babe laid in a manger.²⁰³ And when they saw, they reported the word²⁶ which was spoken to them about the child.²⁰⁴ And all that heard wondered at the²⁷ description which the shepherds described²⁰⁵ to them.²⁰⁶ But Mary kept these²⁰⁷ sayings²⁸ and discriminated²⁰⁸ them in her heart.²⁰⁹ And those shepherds returned, magnifying and praising God for all that they had seen and heard, according as it was described unto them.

²⁹ [Arabic, p. 9]²¹⁰ 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.

³⁰²¹¹ And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were³¹ completed, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him before the Lord²¹² (as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male opening the womb shall be called the³² holy thing of the Lord),²¹³ and to give a sacrificial victim as it is said in the law of³³ the Lord, A pair of doves or two young pigeons.²¹⁴ And there was in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon; and this man was upright and pious, and expecting³⁴ the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.²¹⁵ And it had been said unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death till he had seen with³⁵ his eyes the Messiah²¹⁶ of the Lord.²¹⁷ And this man came by the Spirit to the temple; and at the time when his parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might³⁶ present for him a sacrifice, as it is written in the law,²¹⁸ he bare him in his arms and praised God and said,

³⁷²¹⁹ Now loosest thou the bonds of thy servant, O Lord, in peace,²²⁰

According to thy saying;

³⁸²²¹ For mine eye hath witnessed thy mercy,

³⁹²²² Which thou hast made ready because of the whole world;

⁴⁰²²³ A light for the unveiling²²⁴ of the nations,

And a glory to thy people Israel.

⁴¹²²⁵ And Joseph and his mother were marvelling at the things which were being said⁴² concerning him.²²⁶ 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 contention;⁴³²²⁷ and a spear²²⁸ shall pierce²²⁹ through thine own soul; that the thoughts of the⁴⁴ [Arabic, p. 10] hearts of many may be revealed.²³⁰ And Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, was also advanced in years (and she dwelt⁴⁵ with her husband seven years from her virginity,²³¹ and she remained a widow about eighty-four years); and she left not the temple, and served night and day with⁴⁶ fasting and prayer.²³² And she also rose in that hour and thanked the Lord, and she⁴⁷ spake of him with every one who was expecting the deliverance of Jerusalem.²³³ And when they had accomplished everything according to what is in the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to Nazareth their city.

Notes

1
Parechein mikropsuchian, 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.
173
.
174
This is preceded in Vat. ms. by the genealogy, (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 on 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
This translation is based on 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).
175
.
3
Par[alem]phthenai is perhaps supported by paralabontes, .
176
.
4
I know no other instance of stauriskein.
177
The Arabic might even more naturally be rendered born, thus giving us the reading that Ishodad tells us was that of the Diatessaron (Harris, Fragments, p. 16 f.); but throughout the whole genealogy (see § 1, 81, note) this word has been used by the Vat. ms. in the sense of begat. Here the Borg. ms. has of her for in her; but Ibn-at-Tayyib in his Commentary discusses why Matthew wrote in and not of.
178
.
5
cf. , where Syr. Pesch. reads: "They say, These bodies shall not remain on the cross, because the sabbath dawneth."
179
cf. § 1, 78.
180
.
6
The text here is corrupt: for epesanto I have provisionally read epesan te.
181
.
7
For autos horas we must read autes horas (cf. Clem., Hom., xx., 16); aute is the equivalent in later Greek literature of ekeine, as in the modern tongue (cf. Lc. x. 7, 21, and xii. 12; || ekeine, Mt., Mc.)
182
.
8
I have ventured to substitute meta, "together with" (cf. ), for kata, "down upon." Dr. Swete, however, keeps kata, and interprets it as "against," i.e., to guard the sepulchre against.
183
a.
9
The form of the question in the Greek suggests a negative answer.
184
.
10
[cf. John passim.]
185
The Arabic expression is clearly meant to represent that used in the Peshitta.
186
.
187
This is the most natural meaning of the Arabic sentence; which, however, is simply a word-for-word reproduction.
188
.
189
.
13
[cf. .]
190
.
14
[cf. ; .]
191
.
15
[cf. .]
192
.
16
[cf. .]
193
.
17
For further explanation of the method followed see 20.
194
.
18
See notes to § 7, 47, and § 52, 36, of the present translation.
195
.
19
See below, 12, (2).
196
.
20
See also below, 6, and 20.
197
.
21
Bibl. Or., i., 619.
198
.
199
The Arabic represents Syr. idiom.
22
Mai, Vet. script. nova. collect., iv., 14.
200
.
23
cf. Zahn, Forschungen, i., 294 ff.
201
.
24
See below, § 7, 47, note, and § 52, 36, note.
202
.
25
See below, § 28, 43, note.
203
.
26
See below, foot-notes, passim.
204
.
27
The first leaf bears a more pretentious Latin inscription, quoted by Ciasca, p. vi.
205
cf. § 1, 66, note.
206
.
207
Borg. ms. inserts all above the line, after these. The meaning ought then to be, these things, namely, all the sayings.
28
Can this be a misprint for 95?
208
The Arab. might mean set them apart; but the Syriac is against this.
209
.
29
See below, 13.
210
.
30
He does not state, in so many words, that the list is absolutely exhaustive.
211
.
31
See, e.g., below, § 13, 42, note, and § 14, 43, note.
212
.
32
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 Introd. to the Crit. of the N.T., 4th ed., ii., 162.
213
.
33
cf.the foot-notes passim, e.g., § 13, 14, § 14, 24.
214
.
34
See below, note to Subscription.
215
.
35
See a glaring case in § 52, 11.
216
Or, anointed.
217
.
36
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.
218
.
37
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-Assal 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-Assal himself; of No. 2 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.
219
.
220
For order cf. (in part) Sin. Syriac.
38
The text is given below in full at its proper place.
221
.
39
Prof. Gottheil, indeed, announced in 1892 in the Journal of Biblical 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 Ishodad" 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.
222
.
40
Attention was called to these by Profs. Isaac H. Hall and R. J. H. Gottheil (Journ. of Bibl. Lit., x., 153 ff.; xi., 68 ff.); then by Prof. J. R. Harris (Contemp. Rev., Aug., 1895, p. 271 ff., and, more fully, Fragments of the Com. of Ephr. Syr. on the Diatess., London, 1895) and by Goussen (Studia Theologica, fasc. i., Lips., 1895).
223
.
224
i.e., becoming manifest.
41
Prof. Harris promises an edition of this commentary.
225
.
42
Harris, Fragments, p. 14, where the Syriac text is quoted.
226
.
43
Bib. Or., ii., 159 f. Most of them are repeated again by Bar Hebræus (d. 1286), although some confusion is produced by his interweaving some phrases from Eusebius of Cæsarea. (Bib. Or., i., 57 f., and a longer quotation in English in Contemp. Rev., Aug., 1895, p. 274 f.)
227
.
228
So also in Syriac versions and the quotation of Isho'dad from Ephraem (Harris, Fragments, p. 34), but not the Armenian version.
229
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.
44
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.
230
.
45
Migne, Patrol. græc., tom. lxxxiii., col. 369, 372.
231
.
46
Published at Venice in 1836.
232
.
47
The two Armenian mss. are dated a.d. 1195.
233
.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe (1885–96). Public domain. Text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.