Introductory Notes

Section VIII

Page 15 of 468

¹⁶⁰² And the Pharisees went out, and consulted together concerning him, that they² might destroy him.⁶⁰³ And Jesus perceived, and removed thence: and great multitudes³ followed him; and he healed all of them:⁶⁰⁴ and he forbade them that they should⁴ not make him known:⁶⁰⁵⁶⁰⁶ that the saying in Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which said,

⁵⁶⁰⁷ Behold, my servant⁶⁰⁸ with whom I am pleased;

My beloved in whom my soul hath delighted:⁶⁰⁹

My spirit have I put upon him,

And he shall proclaim to the nations judgement.

⁶⁶¹⁰ He shall not dispute, nor cry out;

And no man shall hear his voice in the marketplace.

⁷⁶¹¹ And a bruised reed shall he not break,

And a smoking lamp⁶¹² shall he not extinguish,

Until he shall bring forth judgement unto victory.

⁸⁶¹³ And the nations shall rejoice in his name.⁶¹⁴

⁹⁶¹⁵ And in those days Jesus went out to the mountain that he might pray, and he¹⁰ spent the night⁶¹⁶ there in prayer to God.⁶¹⁷ And when the morning was come, he called the disciples.⁶¹⁸ And he went towards the sea: and there followed him much people¹¹ from Galilee that he might pray,⁶¹⁹⁶²⁰ and from Judæa, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumæa, and from beyond Jordan, and from Tyre, and from Sidon, and from Decapolis;¹² and great multitudes came unto him, which had heard what he did.⁶²¹ And he spake to his disciples to bring him the boat because of the multitudes, that they¹³ might not throng him.⁶²² And he healed many, so that they were almost falling on [Arabic, p. 31] him⁶²³ on account of their seeking to get near him. And⁶²⁴ those that had¹⁴ plagues and unclean spirits,⁶²⁵ as soon as they beheld him, would fall, and¹⁵ cry out, and say, Thou art the Son of God.⁶²⁶ And he rebuked them much, that they¹⁶ should not make him known.⁶²⁷ And those that were under the constraint of⁶²⁸ unclean¹⁷ spirits were healed.⁶²⁹ And all of the crowd were seeking to come near⁶³⁰ him; because power went out from him, and he healed them all.

[18, 19]⁶³¹ And when Jesus saw the multitudes, he went up to the mountain.⁶³² And he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve; and they are those whom he named²⁰ apostles:⁶³³ Simon, whom he named Cephas, and Andrew his brother, and James and²¹ John, and Philip and Bartholomew,⁶³⁴ and Matthew and Thomas, and James the son²² of Alphæus, and Simon which was called the Zealot,⁶³⁵ and Judas the son of James,²³ and Judas the Iscariot, being he that had betrayed him.⁶³⁶⁶³⁷ And Jesus went down with them and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and the great²⁴ multitude of people.⁶³⁸ And these twelve he chose to be with him, and that he might²⁵ send them to preach, and to have power to heal the sick and to cast out devils.

²⁶⁶³⁹ Then he lifted up his eyes unto them, and opened his mouth,⁶⁴⁰ and taught them, and said,

²⁷⁶⁴¹ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

²⁸⁶⁴² Blessed are the sorrowful: for they shall be comforted.

²⁹⁶⁴³ Blessed are the humble: for they shall inherit the earth.

³⁰⁶⁴⁴ Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be satisfied.

³¹⁶⁴⁵ Blessed are the merciful: for on them shall be mercy.

³² [Arabic, p. 32]⁶⁴⁶ Blessed are the pure in their hearts: for they shall see God.

³³⁶⁴⁷ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the sons of God.

³⁴⁶⁴⁸ Blessed are they that were persecuted⁶⁴⁹ for righteousness' sake: for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

³⁵⁶⁵⁰ Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and separate you from them, and persecute you, and reproach you,⁶⁵¹ and shall speak against you with all evil talk, for my³⁶ sake, falsely.⁶⁵² Then rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets before you.

³⁷⁶⁵³ But woe unto you rich! for ye have received your consolation.

³⁸⁶⁵⁴ Woe unto you that are satisfied! ye shall hunger.

Woe unto you that laugh now! ye shall weep and be sad.

³⁹⁶⁵⁵ Woe unto you when men praise you! for so did their fathers use to do to the false prophets.

⁴⁰⁶⁵⁶ Unto you do I say, ye which hear,⁶⁵⁷ 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, but⁴¹ is thrown outside, and men tread upon it.⁶⁵⁸ Ye are the light of the world. It is⁴² impossible that a city built on a mountain should be hid.⁶⁵⁹ Neither do they light a lamp and place it under a bushel, but on the lamp-stand, and it giveth light to all⁴³ who are in the house.⁶⁶⁰ So shall⁶⁶¹ your light shine before men, that they may see⁴⁴ your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.⁶⁶² There is nothing⁴⁵ secret that shall not be revealed, or hidden that shall not be known.⁶⁶³ Whoever hath ears that hear, let him hear.

⁴⁶⁶⁶⁴ Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy,⁴⁷ but to complete.⁶⁶⁵ Verily I say unto you, Until heaven and earth shall pass, there [Arabic, p. 33] shall not pass one point or one letter of the law, until all of it shall be⁴⁸ accomplished.⁶⁶⁶ 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 shall⁶⁶⁷ be called great in the kingdom⁴⁹ of heaven.⁶⁶⁸ 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.

⁵⁰⁶⁶⁹ Ye have heard that it was said to the ancients, Do not kill; and every one that⁵¹ killeth is worthy of the judgement.⁶⁷⁰ 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 condemned⁶⁷¹ by the synagogue; and whosoever⁵² saith to him, Thou fool, is worthy of the fire of Gehenna.⁶⁷² If thou art now offering thy gift at the altar, and rememberest there that thy brother hath conceived⁵³ against thee any grudge,⁶⁷³ leave thy gift at the altar, and go first and satisfy thy⁵⁴ brother, and then return and offer thy gift.⁶⁷⁴ Join⁶⁷⁵ thine adversary quickly,⁶⁷⁶ and while thou art still with him in the way, give a ransom and free thyself from him;⁵⁵ lest thine adversary deliver thee to the judge,⁶⁷⁷ and the judge deliver thee to the tax-collector,⁵⁶ and thou fall into prison.⁶⁷⁸ And verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt not go out thence until thou payest the last farthing.

[57, 58]⁶⁷⁹ Ye have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery:⁶⁸⁰ but I now say unto you, that every one that looketh at a woman lusting after her hath forthwith already⁵⁹ [Arabic, p. 34] committed adultery with her in his heart.⁶⁸¹ If thy right eye injure thee, put it out and cast it from thee; for it is preferable for thee that one of thy⁶⁰ members should perish, and not thy whole body go into the fire of hell.⁶⁸² And if thy right hand injure thee, cut it off and cast it from thee; and it is better for thee that⁶¹ one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body fall into Gehenna.⁶⁸³ It was said that he that putteth away his wife should give her a writing of divorcement:⁶²⁶⁸⁴ but I say unto you, that every one that putteth away his wife, except for the cause of adultery, hath made it lawful for⁶⁸⁵ her to commit adultery: and whosoever taketh one that is put away committeth adultery.

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.
602
.
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).
603
.
3
Par[alem]phthenai is perhaps supported by paralabontes, .
604
.
4
I know no other instance of stauriskein.
605
Lit. lead to him.
606
.
5
cf. , where Syr. Pesch. reads: "They say, These bodies shall not remain on the cross, because the sabbath dawneth."
607
.
608
The Arabic word strictly means young man.
609
Or, rested.
6
The text here is corrupt: for epesanto I have provisionally read epesan te.
610
.
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.)
611
.
612
Or, wick.
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.
613
.
614
The Arab. might also mean, And he shall preach (the good tidings) to the peoples in his name (cf. § 22, 47, note).
9
The form of the question in the Greek suggests a negative answer.
615
.
10
[cf. John passim.]
616
This phrase, in this case adopted from the Syriac, really means, in Arab., morning found him.
617
a.
618
.
11
[cf. .]
619
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 § 8, 9, above.
620
.
12
[cf. ; .]
621
.
13
[cf. .]
622
.
623
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.
624
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.
14
[cf. ; .]
625
.
15
[cf. .]
626
.
16
[cf. .]
627
.
628
Or, troubled with.
17
For further explanation of the method followed see 20.
629
.
630
This is the meaning of the Arabic word, as it is the primary meaning of the Syriac; 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 § 12, 13 (cf. also § 12, 35).
631
a.
632
b.
20
See also below, 6, and 20.
633
.
21
Bibl. Or., i., 619.
634
.
22
Mai, Vet. script. nova. collect., iv., 14.
635
.
23
cf. Zahn, Forschungen, i., 294 ff.
636
So Vat. ms., followed by Ciasca (cf. Sin.). Borg. ms. has he that was betraying or was a traitor (cf. Peshitta).
637
a.
24
See below, § 7, 47, note, and § 52, 36, note.
638
.
25
See below, § 28, 43, note.
26
See below, foot-notes, passim.
639
.
640
.
27
The first leaf bears a more pretentious Latin inscription, quoted by Ciasca, p. vi.
641
.
28
Can this be a misprint for 95?
642
.
29
See below, 13.
643
.
30
He does not state, in so many words, that the list is absolutely exhaustive.
644
.
31
See, e.g., below, § 13, 42, note, and § 14, 43, note.
645
.
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.
646
.
33
cf.the foot-notes passim, e.g., § 13, 14, § 14, 24.
647
.
34
See below, note to Subscription.
648
.
649
This word, the ordinary meaning of which is expel, is freely used by our translator in the sense of persecute.
35
See a glaring case in § 52, 11.
650
a.
651
b.
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.
652
.
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.
653
.
38
The text is given below in full at its proper place.
654
.
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.
655
.
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).
656
.
657
.
41
Prof. Harris promises an edition of this commentary.
658
.
42
Harris, Fragments, p. 14, where the Syriac text is quoted.
659
.
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.)
660
.
661
Or, let (cf. § 4, 20, note).
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.
662
.
45
Migne, Patrol. græc., tom. lxxxiii., col. 369, 372.
663
.
46
Published at Venice in 1836.
664
.
47
The two Armenian mss. are dated a.d. 1195.
665
.
48
Evangelii Concordantis Expositio, facta a S. Ephraemo (Ven., 1876).
666
.
667
Lit. this (man) shall.
49
Forschungen zur Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons, I. Theil.
668
.
50
Edited by Ernestus Ranke, Marb. and Lips., 1868.
669
.
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.
670
.
671
See § 10, 13, note.
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.
672
.
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).
673
.
54
Nachrichten von der Königl. Gesellsch. der Wiss., etc., March 17, 1886, No. 4, p. 151 ff.
674
a.
675
The text is rather uncertain.
676
a.
55
See notes to § 1, 81, and § 4, 29.
677
c.
56
See note to § 55, 17.
678
.
679
.
680
.
59
Overbeck, S. Ephraemi, etc., Opera Selecta, p. 220, lines 3-5.
681
.
60
Phillips, Doct. Add., p. 36, 15-17 [E. Tr. p. 34].
682
.
61
Moesinger, Evang. Concord., etc., p. xi.
683
.
62
The latest discussion of the question whether this really was Tatian is Mr. Rendel Harris's article in the Contemp. Rev., Aug., 1895.
684
.
685
The text is probably corrupt. Vat. ms. has on margin, i.e., caused her.

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.