Introductory Notes

Section V

Page 12 of 468

¹³⁷⁶ Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou² shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve.³⁷⁷ And when the³ devil³⁷⁸ had completed all his temptations, he departed from him for a season.³⁷⁹ And behold, the angels drew near and ministered unto him.

[4, 5]³⁸⁰ And next day John was standing, and two of his disciples;³⁸¹ and he saw Jesus as⁶ he was walking, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God!³⁸² And his two disciples heard⁷ him saying this,³⁸³ and they followed Jesus.³⁸⁴ And Jesus turned and saw them coming after him, and said unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Our master,⁸ where art thou staying?³⁸⁵ 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.⁹³⁸⁶ One of the two which heard from³⁸⁷ John, and followed Jesus, was Andrew the¹⁰ brother of Simon.³⁸⁸ And he saw first Simon his brother, and said unto him, We have¹¹ found the Messiah.³⁸⁹ And he brought him unto Jesus. And Jesus looked upon him and said, Thou art Simon, son of Jonah: thou shalt be called Cephas.³⁹⁰

¹²³⁹¹ And on the next day Jesus desired to go forth to Galilee, and he found Philip,¹³ [Arabic, p. 19] and said unto him, Follow me.³⁹² Now Philip was of Bethsaida, of the city¹⁴ of Andrew and Simon.³⁹³ And Philip found Nathanael, and said unto him, He of whom Moses did write in the law and in the prophets, we have found that¹⁵ he is Jesus the son of Joseph of Nazareth.³⁹⁴ Nathanael said unto him, Is it possible that there can be any good thing from Nazareth? Philip said unto him, Come and¹⁶ see.³⁹⁵ And Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, This is indeed a³⁹⁶¹⁷ son of Israel in whom is no guile.³⁹⁷ And Nathanael said unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus said unto him, Before Philip called thee, while thou wast under the¹⁸ fig tree, I saw thee.³⁹⁸ Nathanael answered and said unto him, My Master, thou art¹⁹ the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.³⁹⁹ Jesus said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, hast thou believed? thou shalt see what is²⁰ greater than this.⁴⁰⁰ 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.

²¹⁴⁰¹ And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.

²²⁴⁰² And on the third day there was a feast in Cana,⁴⁰³ a⁴⁰⁴ city of Galilee; and the²³ mother of Jesus was there:⁴⁰⁵ and Jesus also and his disciples were invited to the²⁴ feast.⁴⁰⁶ And they lacked wine: and his mother said unto Jesus, They have no wine.²⁵⁴⁰⁷ And Jesus said unto her, What have I to do with thee, woman? hath not mine²⁶ hour come?⁴⁰⁸⁴⁰⁹ And his mother said unto the servants, What he saith unto you, do.²⁷⁴¹⁰ And there were there six vessels of stone, placed for the Jews' purification, such as²⁸ [Arabic, p. 20] would contain two or three jars.⁴¹¹ And Jesus said unto them, Fill the vessels²⁹ with water. And they filled them to the top.⁴¹² He said unto them, Draw³⁰ out now, and present to the ruler of the feast. And they did so.⁴¹³ 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 called³¹ the bridegroom,⁴¹⁴ 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 until³² now.⁴¹⁵ And this is the first sign⁴¹⁶ which Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested³³ his glory; and his disciples believed on him.⁴¹⁷ And his fame spread in all the country³⁴ which was around them.⁴¹⁸ And he taught in their synagogues, and was glorified³⁵ by⁴¹⁹ every man.⁴²⁰ 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 stood³⁶ up to read.⁴²¹ And he was given the book of Isaiah the prophet. And Jesus opened the book and found the place where it was written,

³⁷⁴²² 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,⁴²³ and sight to the blind,

And to bring the broken into forgiveness,⁴²⁴

³⁸⁴²⁵ And to proclaim an acceptable year of the Lord.

³⁹⁴²⁶ And he rolled up the book and gave it to the servant, and went and sat down:⁴⁰ and the eyes of all that were in the synagogue were observing him.⁴²⁷ And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled which ye have heard with⁴¹ your ears.⁴²⁸ And they all bare him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which were proceeding from his mouth.

⁴² [Arabic, p. 21]⁴²⁹ And from that time began Jesus to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom⁴³ of God, and to say, Repent ye, and believe in the gospel.⁴³⁰ The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven hath come near.

⁴⁴⁴³¹ 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 into⁴⁵ the sea; for they were fishers.⁴³² And Jesus said unto them, Follow me, and I will⁴⁶ make you fishers of men.⁴³³ And they immediately left their nets there and followed⁴⁷ him.⁴³⁴ 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, mending⁴⁸ their nets; and Jesus called them.⁴³⁵ And they immediately forsook the ship and their father Zebedee, and followed him.

⁴⁹⁴³⁶ And when the multitude gathered unto him to hear the word of God, while he⁵⁰ was standing on the shore of the sea of Gennesaret,⁴³⁷ he saw two boats standing beside the sea, while⁴³⁸ the two fishers which were gone out of them were washing their⁵¹ nets.⁴³⁹ 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 into⁵² the water. And he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.⁴⁴⁰ And when he had left off his speaking, he said unto Simon, Put out into the deep, and cast your⁵³ net for a draught.⁴⁴¹ And Simon answered and said unto him, My Master, we toiled⁵⁴ all night and caught nothing; now⁴⁴² at thy word I will cast the net.⁴⁴³ And when they did this, there were enclosed⁴⁴⁴ a great many fishes; and their net was on the⁵⁵ point of breaking.⁴⁴⁵ 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.

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.
376
.
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).
377
.
3
Par[alem]phthenai is perhaps supported by paralabontes, .
378
Lit. backbiter, a different word from that used above in § 4, 43, 47.
379
b.
380
.
381
.
6
The text here is corrupt: for epesanto I have provisionally read epesan te.
382
.
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.)
383
Or, speaking.
384
.
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.
385
.
9
The form of the question in the Greek suggests a negative answer.
386
.
387
cf. Peshitta.
10
[cf. John passim.]
388
a.
11
[cf. .]
389
a.
390
The Arabic word used throughout this work means Stones.
12
[cf. ; .]
391
.
13
[cf. .]
392
.
14
[cf. ; .]
393
.
15
[cf. .]
394
.
16
[cf. .]
395
.
396
Lit. the (cf. note to § 1, 40).
17
For further explanation of the method followed see 20.
397
.
18
See notes to § 7, 47, and § 52, 36, of the present translation.
398
.
19
See below, 12, (2).
399
.
20
See also below, 6, and 20.
400
.
21
Bibl. Or., i., 619.
401
a.
22
Mai, Vet. script. nova. collect., iv., 14.
402
.
403
Arabic Qatna; at § 5, 32, Qatina, following the Syriac form.
404
Lit. the (cf. note to § 1, 40).
23
cf. Zahn, Forschungen, i., 294 ff.
405
.
24
See below, § 7, 47, note, and § 52, 36, note.
406
.
25
See below, § 28, 43, note.
407
.
26
See below, foot-notes, passim.
408
The reading of Cur. and Sin. is not known; but cf. Moesinger, p. 53, and Isho'dad quoted in Harris, Fragments, etc., p. 46.
409
.
27
The first leaf bears a more pretentious Latin inscription, quoted by Ciasca, p. vi.
410
.
28
Can this be a misprint for 95?
411
.
29
See below, 13.
412
.
30
He does not state, in so many words, that the list is absolutely exhaustive.
413
.
31
See, e.g., below, § 13, 42, note, and § 14, 43, note.
414
.
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.
415
.
416
Perhaps a comma should be inserted after sign.
33
cf.the foot-notes passim, e.g., § 13, 14, § 14, 24.
417
b.
34
See below, note to Subscription.
418
.
35
See a glaring case in § 52, 11.
419
If the text does not contain a misprint the word for by is wanting in both mss. It should doubtless be restored as in § 7, 3.
420
.
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.
421
.
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.
422
.
423
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.
424
See preceding note.
38
The text is given below in full at its proper place.
425
.
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.
426
.
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).
427
.
41
Prof. Harris promises an edition of this commentary.
428
a.
42
Harris, Fragments, p. 14, where the Syriac text is quoted.
429
a.
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.)
430
.
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.
431
.
45
Migne, Patrol. græc., tom. lxxxiii., col. 369, 372.
432
.
46
Published at Venice in 1836.
433
.
47
The two Armenian mss. are dated a.d. 1195.
434
.
48
Evangelii Concordantis Expositio, facta a S. Ephraemo (Ven., 1876).
435
.
49
Forschungen zur Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons, I. Theil.
436
.
50
Edited by Ernestus Ranke, Marb. and Lips., 1868.
437
.
438
Or, but.
51
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.
439
.
52
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.
440
.
53
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).
441
.
54
Nachrichten von der Königl. Gesellsch. der Wiss., etc., March 17, 1886, No. 4, p. 151 ff.
442
Borg. ms. has but. The Arabic expressions are very similar.
443
.
444
Borg. ms. has he did this, he enclosed, on which see § 38, 43, note (end). Either reading could spring from the other, within the Arabic.
55
See notes to § 1, 81, and § 4, 29.
445
.

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.