Introductory Notes

Section XVIII

Page 25 of 468

¹¹²⁶⁶ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and all the things which came to pass at his hand;¹²⁶⁷ and he marvelled, for he had obtained excellent² information concerning him.¹²⁶⁸¹²⁶⁹ And some men said that John the Baptist was risen³ from among the dead;¹²⁷⁰ and¹²⁷¹ others said that Elijah had appeared; and others, Jeremiah;⁴ and others, that a prophet of the old prophets was risen;¹²⁷² and others said that he⁵ was a prophet like one of the prophets.¹²⁷³ Herod said to his servants, This is John the Baptist, he whom I beheaded; he is risen from among the dead: therefore mighty⁶ [Arabic, p. 70] works result from him.¹²⁷⁴ For Herod himself had sent and taken John, and cast him into prison, for the sake of Herodias his brother Philip's wife, whom he⁷ had taken.¹²⁷⁵ And John said to Herod, Thou hast no authority to take the wife of thy⁸ brother.¹²⁷⁶ And Herodias avoided him and wished to kill him; and she could not.⁹¹²⁷⁷ But Herod feared John, for he knew that he was a righteous man and a holy; and¹⁰ he guarded him, and heard him much, and did, and obeyed him with gladness.¹²⁷⁸ And he wished to kill him; but he feared the people, for they adhered to him as the¹¹ prophet.¹²⁷⁹ And there was a celebrated day, and Herod had made a feast for his great men on the day of his anniversary,¹²⁸⁰ and for the officers and for the chief men¹² of Galilee.¹²⁸¹ 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 the¹³ damsel, Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it thee.¹²⁸² And he sware unto her,¹⁴ Whatsoever thou shalt ask, I will give it thee, to the half of my kingdom.¹²⁸³ And she went out, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask him?¹²⁸⁴ She said unto her, The¹⁵ head of John the Baptist.¹²⁸⁵ 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 John¹⁶ the Baptist.¹²⁸⁶ And the king was exceeding sorry; but because of the oath and the¹⁷ guests he did not wish to refuse her.¹²⁸⁷ But immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded that he should bring the head of John: and he went and cut off¹⁸ the head of John in the prison,¹²⁸⁸ and brought it on a dish, and delivered it to the¹⁹ damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother.¹²⁸⁹ And his disciples heard, and came [Arabic, p. 71] and took his body, and buried it.¹²⁹⁰ And they came and told¹²⁹¹ Jesus what²⁰ had happened.¹²⁹² And for this cause Herod said, I beheaded John: who²¹ is this, of whom I hear these things. And he desired to see him.¹²⁹³ 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.¹²⁹⁴

²²¹²⁹⁵ And many saw them going, and knew them, and hastened by land¹²⁹⁶ from all the cities, and came thither beforehand;¹²⁹⁷ for they saw the signs which he was doing on the [23, 24] sick.¹²⁹⁸ And Jesus went up into the mountain, and sat there with his disciples.¹²⁹⁹ And²⁵ the feast of the passover of the Jews was near.¹³⁰⁰ And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw great multitudes coming to him.¹³⁰¹ And he was moved with compassion for them, for²⁶ they were like sheep that were without a shepherd.¹³⁰² And he received them, and spake to them concerning the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.

²⁷¹³⁰³ And when the evening approached,¹³⁰⁴ his disciples came to him, and said unto²⁸ him,¹³⁰⁵ The place is desert, and the time is past; send away the multitudes of the people,¹³⁰⁶ that they may go to the towns and villages which are around us, and buy for²⁹ themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.¹³⁰⁷ But he said unto them, They have³⁰ no need to go away; give ye them what may be eaten.¹³⁰⁸ They said unto him, We have not here enough.¹³⁰⁹ He said unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? [31, 32]¹³¹⁰ And he said that proving him; and he knew what he was resolved to do.¹³¹¹ Philip said [Arabic, p. 72] unto him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread would not suffice them after¹³¹²³³ every one of them hath taken a small amount.¹³¹³ One of his disciples said unto³⁴ him (namely, Andrew the brother of Simon Cephas),¹³¹⁴ Here is a lad having five loaves³⁵ of barley and two fishes: but this amount, what is it for all these?¹³¹⁵ But wilt thou that we go and buy for all the people what may be eaten? for we have no more³⁶ than these five loaves and the two fishes.¹³¹⁶ And the grass was plentiful in that place. Jesus said unto them, Arrange all the people that they may sit down on the grass,³⁷ fifty people in a company.¹³¹⁷ And the disciples did so. And all the people sat down³⁸ by companies, by hundreds and fifties.¹³¹⁸ Then Jesus said unto them, Bring hither³⁹ those five loaves and the two fishes.¹³¹⁹ And when they brought him that, Jesus took the bread and the fish, and looked to heaven, and blessed, and divided, and gave to⁴⁰ his disciples to set before them;¹³²⁰ and the disciples set for the multitudes the bread⁴¹ and the fish; and they ate, all of them, and were satisfied.¹³²¹ And when they were satisfied, he said unto his disciples, Gather the fragments that remain over, that nothing⁴² be lost.¹³²² 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 two⁴³ fishes.¹³²³ And those people who ate were five thousand, besides the women and children.⁴⁴ [Arabic, p. 73]¹³²⁴ 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 he⁴⁵ himself should send away the multitudes.¹³²⁵ And those people who saw the sign which⁴⁶ Jesus did, said, Of a truth this is a prophet who hath come into the world.¹³²⁶ 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.

[47, 48]¹³²⁷ And when the nightfall was near, his disciples went down unto the sea, and sat¹³²⁸ in a boat, and came to the side of Capernaum.¹³²⁹ And the darkness came on, and Jesus⁴⁹ had not come to them.¹³³⁰ And the sea was stirred up against them by reason of a violent⁵⁰ wind that blew.¹³³¹ And the boat was distant from the land many furlongs, and they were much damaged by the waves, and the wind was against them.

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.
1266
; b.
1267
b.
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).
1268
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.
1269
c.
3
Par[alem]phthenai is perhaps supported by paralabontes, .
1270
a; b.
1271
Here begins verse 8a in Greek.
4
I know no other instance of stauriskein.
1272
b; b.
5
cf. , where Syr. Pesch. reads: "They say, These bodies shall not remain on the cross, because the sabbath dawneth."
1273
; b.
6
The text here is corrupt: for epesanto I have provisionally read epesan te.
1274
.
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.)
1275
.
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.
1276
.
9
The form of the question in the Greek suggests a negative answer.
1277
.
10
[cf. John passim.]
1278
.
11
[cf. .]
1279
.
1280
Perhaps appointment (cf. Moesinger, p. 165; but Ishodad [Harris, Fragments, p. 65] and the Brit. Mus. text of Ibn-at-Tayyib's Commentary have the ordinary reading).
12
[cf. ; .]
1281
.
13
[cf. .]
1282
.
14
[cf. ; .]
1283
.
1284
Or simply ask.
15
[cf. .]
1285
.
16
[cf. .]
1286
.
17
For further explanation of the method followed see 20.
1287
.
18
See notes to § 7, 47, and § 52, 36, of the present translation.
1288
.
19
See below, 12, (2).
1289
.
1290
b.
1291
Or, to tell.
20
See also below, 6, and 20.
1292
.
21
Bibl. Or., i., 619.
1293
a; b.
1294
A misunderstanding or slavish reproduction of the Syriac. The Brit. Mus. text of Ibn-at-Tayyib's Commentary has of Galilee, Tiberias.
22
Mai, Vet. script. nova. collect., iv., 14.
1295
a.
1296
cf. Syriac versions and margin of R.V.
1297
b.
1298
.
1299
.
25
See below, § 28, 43, note.
1300
a.
1301
b.
26
See below, foot-notes, passim.
1302
b.
27
The first leaf bears a more pretentious Latin inscription, quoted by Ciasca, p. vi.
1303
a.
1304
Or, came.
28
Can this be a misprint for 95?
1305
.
1306
cf. the addition in the Sinaitic Syriac.
29
See below, 13.
1307
.
30
He does not state, in so many words, that the list is absolutely exhaustive.
1308
a.
1309
b.
1310
.
1311
.
1312
Probably a mistaken rendering of the ordinary Syriac reading.
33
cf.the foot-notes passim, e.g., § 13, 14, § 14, 24.
1313
.
34
See below, note to Subscription.
1314
.
35
See a glaring case in § 52, 11.
1315
b; considerably changed.
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.
1316
b; and b, 15a.
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.
1317
.
38
The text is given below in full at its proper place.
1318
.
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.
1319
a.
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).
1320
b.
41
Prof. Harris promises an edition of this commentary.
1321
a; .
42
Harris, Fragments, p. 14, where the Syriac text is quoted.
1322
.
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.)
1323
.
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.
1324
.
45
Migne, Patrol. græc., tom. lxxxiii., col. 369, 372.
1325
.
46
Published at Venice in 1836.
1326
.
1327
.
1328
cf. Syriac versions.
1329
.
49
Forschungen zur Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons, I. Theil.
1330
.
50
Edited by Ernestus Ranke, Marb. and Lips., 1868.
1331
.

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.