Introductory Notes

Section XXXI

Page 38 of 468

¹²¹²⁰ And when the ten heard, they were moved with anger against James and John.²²¹²¹ And Jesus called them, and said unto them, Ye know that the rulers of the nations³ are their lords; and their great men are set in authority over them.²¹²² Not thus shall it [Arabic, p. 118] be amongst you: but he amongst you that would be great, let him be to you a⁴ servant;²¹²³ and whoever of you would be first,²¹²⁴ let him be to every man a⁵ bond-servant:²¹²⁵ even as the Son of man also came not to be served, but to serve, and⁶ to give himself a ransom in place of the many.²¹²⁶ He said this, and was going about⁷ the villages and the cities, and teaching; and he went to Jerusalem.²¹²⁷ And a man asked him, Are those that shall be saved few? Jesus answered and said unto⁸ them, Strive ye to enter at the narrow door:²¹²⁸ I say unto you now, that many shall⁹ seek to enter, and shall not be able²¹²⁹—²¹³⁰ from the time when the master of the house riseth, and closeth the door, and ye shall be standing without, and shall knock at the door, and shall begin to say, Our lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and¹⁰ say, I say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:²¹³¹ and ye shall begin to say,¹¹ Before thee we did eat and drink, and in our markets didst thou teach;²¹³² and he shall say unto you, I know you not whence ye are; depart²¹³³ from me, ye servants¹² of untruth.²¹³⁴ There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, while ye are¹³ put forth without.²¹³⁵ And they shall come from the east and the west, and from the¹⁴ north and the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.²¹³⁶ And there shall then be last that have become first, and first that have become last.

[15, 16]²¹³⁷ And when Jesus entered and passed through Jericho,²¹³⁸ there was a man named Zacchæus,¹⁷ rich, and chief of the publicans.²¹³⁹ And he desired to see Jesus who he was; and he was not able for the pressure of the crowd, because Zacchæus was little of stature.¹⁸ [Arabic, p. 119]²¹⁴⁰ And he hastened, and went before Jesus, and went up into an unripe fig¹⁹ tree²¹⁴¹ to see Jesus: for he was to pass thus.²¹⁴² And when Jesus came to that place, he saw him, and said unto him, Make haste, and come down, Zacchæus:²⁰ to-day I must be in thy house.²¹⁴³ And he hastened, and came down, and received²¹ him joyfully.²¹⁴⁴ And when they all saw, they murmured, and said, He hath gone in²² and lodged with a man that is a sinner.²¹⁴⁵ So Zacchæus stood, and said unto Jesus, My Lord, now half of my possessions I give to the poor, and what I have unjustly²³ taken²¹⁴⁶ from every man I give him fourfold.²¹⁴⁷ Jesus said unto him, Today is salvation²⁴ come to this house, because this man also is a²¹⁴⁸ son of Abraham.²¹⁴⁹ For the Son of man came to seek and save the thing that was lost.

²⁵²¹⁵⁰ And when Jesus went out of Jericho, he and his disciples, there came after him²⁶ a great multitude.²¹⁵¹ And there was a blind man sitting by the way side begging.²⁷²¹⁵² And his name was Timæus, the son of Timæus. And he heard the sound of the²⁸ multitude passing, and asked, Who is this?²¹⁵³ They said unto him, Jesus the Nazarene²⁹ passeth by.²¹⁵⁴ And when he heard that it was Jesus, he called out with a loud³⁰ voice, and said, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.²¹⁵⁵ And those that went before Jesus were rebuking him, that he should hold his peace:²¹⁵⁶ but he cried the³¹ more, and said, Son of David, have mercy on me.²¹⁵⁷ And Jesus stood, and commanded that they should call him. And they called the blind man, and said unto³² him, Be of good courage, and rise; for, behold, he calleth thee.²¹⁵⁸ And the blind³³ man threw away his garment, and rose, and came to Jesus.²¹⁵⁹ Jesus said unto him, What dost thou wish that I should do unto thee? And that blind man said unto him, My Lord and Master, that my eyes may be opened, so that I may see thee.²¹⁶⁰³⁴ [Arabic, p. 120]²¹⁶¹ And Jesus had compassion on him, and touched his eyes, and said unto³⁵ him, See; for thy faith hath saved thee.²¹⁶² And immediately he received his sight,²¹⁶³ and came after him, and praised God; and all the people that saw praised God.

³⁶²¹⁶⁴ And he spake a parable because he was nearing²¹⁶⁵ Jerusalem, and they supposed³⁷ that at that time the kingdom of God was about to appear.²¹⁶⁶ He said unto them, A man, a son of a great race, went into a far country, to receive a kingdom, and³⁸ return.²¹⁶⁷ And he called his ten servants, and gave them ten shares, and said unto³⁹ them, Trade till the time of my coming.²¹⁶⁸ But the people of his city hated him, and⁴⁰ sent messengers after him, and said, We will not that this man reign over us.²¹⁶⁹ And when he had received a²¹⁷⁰ kingdom, and returned, he said that the servants to whom he had given the money should be called unto him, that he might know what each⁴¹ of them had traded.²¹⁷¹ And the first came, and said, My lord, thy share hath gained⁴² ten shares.²¹⁷² The king said unto him, Thou good and faithful servant, who hast⁴³ been found faithful in a little, be thou set over ten districts.²¹⁷³ And the second came,⁴⁴ and said, My lord, thy portion hath gained five portions.²¹⁷⁴ And he said unto him⁴⁵ also, And thou shalt be set over five districts.²¹⁷⁵ And another came, and said, My⁴⁶ lord, here is thy portion, which was with me laid by in a napkin:²¹⁷⁶ I feared thee, because thou art a hard man, and takest what thou didst not leave, and seekest⁴⁷ what thou didst not give, and reapest what thou didst not sow.²¹⁷⁷ His lord said unto him, From thy mouth shall I judge thee, thou wicked and idle servant, who wast untrustworthy. Thou knewest that I am a hard man, and take what I did not⁴⁸ leave, and reap what I did not sow:²¹⁷⁸ why didst thou not put my money at usury,⁴⁹ and so I might come and seek it, with its gains?²¹⁷⁹ And he said unto those that were standing in front of him, Take from him the share, and give it to him that hath [50, 51] [Arabic, p. 121] ten shares.²¹⁸⁰ They said unto him, Our lord, he hath ten shares.²¹⁸¹ He said unto them, I say unto you, Every one that hath shall be given unto; and⁵² he that hath not, that which he hath also shall be taken from him.²¹⁸² And those mine enemies who would not that I should reign over them, bring them, and slay them before me.

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.
2120
.
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).
2121
.
3
Par[alem]phthenai is perhaps supported by paralabontes, .
2122
.
4
I know no other instance of stauriskein.
2123
.
2124
Lit. advanced.
5
cf. , where Syr. Pesch. reads: "They say, These bodies shall not remain on the cross, because the sabbath dawneth."
2125
.
6
The text here is corrupt: for epesanto I have provisionally read epesan te.
2126
.
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.)
2127
.
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.
2128
.
9
The form of the question in the Greek suggests a negative answer.
2129
Lit. find, like the Syriac.
2130
.
10
[cf. John passim.]
2131
.
11
[cf. .]
2132
.
2133
This rendering requires the omission of the diacritical point over the middle radical. The text as printed means perish.
12
[cf. ; .]
2134
.
13
[cf. .]
2135
.
14
[cf. ; .]
2136
.
2137
.
2138
.
17
For further explanation of the method followed see 20.
2139
.
18
See notes to § 7, 47, and § 52, 36, of the present translation.
2140
.
19
See below, 12, (2).
2141
cf. the extract from Ishodad (Harris, Fragments, p. 19).
2142
.
20
See also below, 6, and 20.
2143
.
21
Bibl. Or., i., 619.
2144
.
22
Mai, Vet. script. nova. collect., iv., 14.
2145
.
23
cf. Zahn, Forschungen, i., 294 ff.
2146
A diacritical point must be restored to the second letter of this word. As it stands it gives no sense.
2147
.
24
See below, § 7, 47, note, and § 52, 36, note.
2148
Lit. the.
2149
.
25
See below, § 28, 43, note.
2150
a [rather, a + a.]; b.
26
See below, foot-notes, passim.
2151
b.
27
The first leaf bears a more pretentious Latin inscription, quoted by Ciasca, p. vi.
2152
b; .
28
Can this be a misprint for 95?
2153
.
29
See below, 13.
2154
a; .
30
He does not state, in so many words, that the list is absolutely exhaustive.
2155
a.
2156
b.
31
See, e.g., below, § 13, 42, note, and § 14, 43, note.
2157
.
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.
2158
.
33
cf.the foot-notes passim, e.g., § 13, 14, § 14, 24.
2159
.
2160
cf. , , both in Curetonian.
34
See below, note to Subscription.
2161
a.
35
See a glaring case in § 52, 11.
2162
b; .
2163
Lit. saw.
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.
2164
b.
2165
Or, near.
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.
2166
.
38
The text is given below in full at its proper place.
2167
.
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.
2168
.
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).
2169
.
2170
Doubtless a misinterpretation of the Syriac.
41
Prof. Harris promises an edition of this commentary.
2171
.
42
Harris, Fragments, p. 14, where the Syriac text is quoted.
2172
.
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.)
2173
.
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.
2174
.
45
Migne, Patrol. græc., tom. lxxxiii., col. 369, 372.
2175
.
46
Published at Venice in 1836.
2176
.
47
The two Armenian mss. are dated a.d. 1195.
2177
.
48
Evangelii Concordantis Expositio, facta a S. Ephraemo (Ven., 1876).
2178
.
49
Forschungen zur Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons, I. Theil.
2179
.
2180
.
2181
.
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.
2182
.

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.