Introductory Notes

Section XXII

Page 29 of 468

¹¹⁵³⁵ 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 to² cleanse me.¹⁵³⁶ And Jesus had mercy upon him, and stretched forth his hand, and³ touched him, and said, I will cleanse¹⁵³⁷ thee.¹⁵³⁸ And immediately his leprosy departed⁴ from him, and he was cleansed.¹⁵³⁹ And he sternly charged him, and sent him out,⁵ [Arabic, p. 85] and said unto him,¹⁵⁴⁰ See that thou tell not any man: but go and shew thyself to the priests, and offer an offering for thy cleansing as Moses commanded⁶ for their testimony.¹⁵⁴¹ 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 desert⁷ place.¹⁵⁴² And much people came unto him from one place and another,¹⁵⁴³ to hear⁸ his word, and that they might be healed of their pains.¹⁵⁴⁴ And he used to withdraw from them into the desert, and pray.

⁹¹⁵⁴⁵ And after that, was the feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁰¹⁵⁴⁶ And there was in Jerusalem a place prepared for bathing,¹⁵⁴⁷ which was called in¹¹ Hebrew the House of Mercy, having five porches.¹⁵⁴⁸ And there were laid in them much people of the sick, and blind, and lame, and paralysed, waiting for the moving¹² of the water.¹⁵⁴⁹ And the angel from time to time went down into the place of bathing,¹⁵⁵⁰ and moved the water; and the first that went down after the moving¹³ of the water, every pain that he had was healed.¹⁵⁵¹ And a man was there who had a¹⁴ disease for thirty-eight years.¹⁵⁵² And Jesus saw this man laid, and knew¹⁵⁵³ that he had¹⁵ been thus a long time; and he said unto him, Wouldest thou be made whole?¹⁵⁵⁴ 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 [16, 17] me.¹⁵⁵⁵ Jesus said unto him, Rise, take thy bed, and walk.¹⁵⁵⁶ And immediately that man was healed; and he rose, and carried his bed, and walked.

¹⁸¹⁵⁵⁷ And that day was a sabbath. And when the Jews saw that healed one, they¹⁵⁵⁸ said¹⁹ unto him, It is a sabbath: thou hast no authority to carry thy bed.¹⁵⁵⁹ And he answered and said unto them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take thy bed,²⁰ [Arabic, p. 86] and walk.¹⁵⁶⁰ They asked him therefore, Who is this man that said unto thee,²¹ Take thy bed, and walk?¹⁵⁶¹ 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 multitude²² which was in that place.¹⁵⁶² 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 upon²³ thee what is worse than the first.¹⁵⁶³ And that man went, and said to the Jews that it²⁴ was Jesus that had healed him.¹⁵⁶⁴ And because of that the Jews persecuted Jesus and²⁵ sought to kill him, because he was doing this on the sabbath.¹⁵⁶⁵ And Jesus said unto²⁶ them, My Father worketh until now, and I also work.¹⁵⁶⁶ 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.²⁷¹⁵⁶⁷ Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son cannot do anything of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; what the Father doeth,²⁸ that the Son also doeth like him.¹⁵⁶⁸ The Father loveth his Son, and everything that he doeth he sheweth him: and more than these works will he shew him, that ye²⁹ may marvel.¹⁵⁶⁹ And as the Father raiseth the dead and giveth them life, so the Son³⁰ also giveth life to whomsoever he will.¹⁵⁷⁰ And the Father judgeth no man, but hath³¹ given all judgement unto the Son;¹⁵⁷¹ that every man may honour the Son, as he honoureth the Father. And he that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which³² sent him.¹⁵⁷² 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 from³³ [Arabic, p. 87] death unto life.¹⁵⁷³ 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 those³⁴ which hear shall live.¹⁵⁷⁴ And as the Father hath life in himself,¹⁵⁷⁵ likewise he gave to³⁵ the Son also that he might have life in himself,¹⁵⁷⁶¹⁵⁷⁷ and authority to do judgement also,³⁶ because¹⁵⁷⁸ he is the Son of man.¹⁵⁷⁹ 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:³⁷¹⁵⁸⁰ those that have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those that have done evil deeds, to the resurrection of judgement.

³⁸¹⁵⁸¹ I am not able of myself to do anything; but as I hear, I judge: and my judgement³⁹ is just; I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me.¹⁵⁸² I¹⁵⁸³ bear witness⁴⁰ of myself, and so¹⁵⁸⁴ my witness is not true.¹⁵⁸⁵ It is another that beareth witness⁴¹ of me; and I know that the witness which he beareth of me is true.¹⁵⁸⁶ Ye have sent⁴² unto John, and he hath borne witness of the truth.¹⁵⁸⁷ But not from man do I seek⁴³ witness; but I say that ye may live.¹⁵⁸⁸¹⁵⁸⁹ That¹⁵⁹⁰ was a lamp which shineth and⁴⁴ giveth light: and ye were pleased to glory now¹⁵⁹¹ in his light.¹⁵⁹² But I have witness greater than that of John: the works which my Father hath given me to accomplish,⁴⁵ those works which I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.¹⁵⁹³ And the Father which sent me, he hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his⁴⁶ voice at any time, nor seen his appearance.¹⁵⁹⁴ And his word abideth not in you; because⁴⁷ in him whom he hath sent ye do not believe.¹⁵⁹⁵ Search the scriptures, in which ye rejoice¹⁵⁹⁶⁴⁸ that ye have eternal life;¹⁵⁹⁷ and they bear witness of me; and ye do not wish to come to [49, 50] [Arabic, p. 88] me, that ye may have eternal life.¹⁵⁹⁸ I seek not praise of men.¹⁵⁹⁹ But I know⁵¹ you, that the love of God is not in you.¹⁶⁰⁰ I am come in the name of my Father, and ye received me not; but if another come in his own name, that one will⁵² ye receive.¹⁶⁰¹ And how can ye believe, while ye receive praise one from another, and⁵³ praise from God, the One, ye seek not?¹⁶⁰² Can it be that ye think that I will accuse you before the Father? Ye have one that accuseth you, Moses, in whom ye have⁵⁴ rejoiced.¹⁶⁰³¹⁶⁰⁴ If ye believed Moses, ye would believe me also; Moses wrote of me.⁵⁵¹⁶⁰⁵ And if ye believed not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

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.
1535
.
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).
1536
.
3
Par[alem]phthenai is perhaps supported by paralabontes, .
1537
Lit. to cleanse.
1538
.
4
I know no other instance of stauriskein.
1539
.
5
cf. , where Syr. Pesch. reads: "They say, These bodies shall not remain on the cross, because the sabbath dawneth."
1540
.
6
The text here is corrupt: for epesanto I have provisionally read epesan te.
1541
a.
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.)
1542
.
1543
This phrase does not occur in the Syriac versions (Cur. wanting), but is obviously a Syriac construction.
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.
1544
.
9
The form of the question in the Greek suggests a negative answer.
1545
.
10
[cf. John passim.]
1546
.
1547
Or, baptism. The phrase almost exactly reproduces the Syriac versions.
11
[cf. .]
1548
.
12
[cf. ; .]
1549
.
1550
Or, baptism. The phrase almost exactly reproduces the Syriac versions.
13
[cf. .]
1551
.
14
[cf. ; .]
1552
.
1553
Or, learned.
15
[cf. .]
1554
.
1555
.
1556
.
18
See notes to § 7, 47, and § 52, 36, of the present translation.
1557
.
1558
Vat. ms. has he.
19
See below, 12, (2).
1559
.
20
See also below, 6, and 20.
1560
.
21
Bibl. Or., i., 619.
1561
.
22
Mai, Vet. script. nova. collect., iv., 14.
1562
.
23
cf. Zahn, Forschungen, i., 294 ff.
1563
.
24
See below, § 7, 47, note, and § 52, 36, note.
1564
.
25
See below, § 28, 43, note.
1565
.
26
See below, foot-notes, passim.
1566
.
27
The first leaf bears a more pretentious Latin inscription, quoted by Ciasca, p. vi.
1567
.
28
Can this be a misprint for 95?
1568
.
29
See below, 13.
1569
.
30
He does not state, in so many words, that the list is absolutely exhaustive.
1570
.
31
See, e.g., below, § 13, 42, note, and § 14, 43, note.
1571
.
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.
1572
.
33
cf.the foot-notes passim, e.g., § 13, 14, § 14, 24.
1573
.
34
See below, note to Subscription.
1574
.
1575
Borg. ms. reads his person.
35
See a glaring case in § 52, 11.
1576
Borg. ms. reads his person.
1577
.
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.
1578
Lit. that; or, Verily.
1579
.
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.
1580
.
38
The text is given below in full at its proper place.
1581
.
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.
1582
.
1583
So Ciasca's Arabic text. Borg. 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.
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).
1584
So Ciasca's Arabic text. Borg. 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.
1585
.
41
Prof. Harris promises an edition of this commentary.
1586
.
42
Harris, Fragments, p. 14, where the Syriac text is quoted.
1587
.
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.)
1588
Or, be saved.
1589
.
1590
Or, that (man).
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.
1591
Were it not also in Ibn-at-Tayyib's Commentary (Brit. Mus. text) we should assume now to be a corruption of an original Arabic reading, for a season (cf. Syr.).
1592
.
45
Migne, Patrol. græc., tom. lxxxiii., col. 369, 372.
1593
.
46
Published at Venice in 1836.
1594
.
47
The two Armenian mss. are dated a.d. 1195.
1595
.
1596
This word (often used by our translator) means in Syriac (transposed) believe, think, hope (cf. § 8, 8, note).
48
Evangelii Concordantis Expositio, facta a S. Ephraemo (Ven., 1876).
1597
.
1598
.
1599
.
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.
1600
.
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.
1601
.
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).
1602
.
54
Nachrichten von der Königl. Gesellsch. der Wiss., etc., March 17, 1886, No. 4, p. 151 ff.
1603
This word (often used by our translator) means in Syriac (transposed) believe, think, hope (cf. § 8, 8, note).
1604
.
55
See notes to § 1, 81, and § 4, 29.
1605
.

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.