Introductory Notes
Section XXXIX
Page 46 of 468
12653 And Jesus six days before the passover2654 came to Bethany, where was Lazarus,2 whom Jesus raised from among the dead.2655 And they made2656 a feast for him there:3 and Martha was serving; while Lazarus was one of them that sat with him.2657 And4 at the time of Jesus' being at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,2658 great multitudes of the Jews heard that Jesus was there: and they came, not because of Jesus alone, but [Arabic, p. 147] that they might look also on Lazarus, whom he raised from among the dead. [5, 6]2659 And the chief priests considered how they might kill Lazarus also;2660 because7 many of the Jews were going on his account, and believing in Jesus.2661 And Mary took a case of the ointment of fine nard, of great price,2662 and opened it, and poured8 it out on the head of Jesus as he was reclining;2663 and she anointed his feet, and wiped them with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. [9, 10]2664 But Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, he that was to betray him, said,2665 Why was11 not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given unto the poor?2666 This he said, not because of his care for the poor, but because he was a thief, and the chest12 was with him, and what was put2667 into it he used to bear.2668 And that displeased the rest of the disciples also within themselves, and they said, Why went this ointment13 to waste?2669 It was possible that it should be sold for much, and the poor be given14 it.2670 And they were angry with2671 Mary.2672 And Jesus perceived it, and said unto them,2673 Leave her; why molest ye her? a good work hath she accomplished on me:2674 for the15 day of my burial kept she it.2675 At all times the poor are with you, and when ye16 wish ye can do them a kindness:2676 but I am not at all times with you.2677 And for this cause, when she poured2678 this ointment on my body, it is as if she did it for my burial,17 and anointed my body beforehand.2679 And verily I say unto you, In every place where this my gospel shall be proclaimed in all the world, what she did shall be told for a memorial of her.
[18, 19] [Arabic, p. 148]2680 And when Jesus said that, he went out leisurely to go to Jerusalem.2681 And when he arrived at Bethphage and at Bethany, beside the mount which is20 called the mount of Olives,2682 Jesus sent two of his disciples, and he said unto them, Go21 into this village that is opposite you:2683 and when ye enter it, ye shall find an ass tied, and22 a colt with him,2684 which no man ever yet mounted: loose him, and bring them2685 unto me.2686 And if any man say unto you, Why loose ye them? say unto him thus, We23 seek them for our Lord; and straightway send them hither.2687 All this was, that what was said in the prophet might be fulfilled, which said,
242688 Say ye unto the daughter of Zion,
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee,
Meek, and riding upon an ass,
And upon a colt the foal of an ass.
252689 And the disciples did not know this at that time: but after that Jesus was glorified, his disciples remembered that these things were written of him, and that this26 they had done unto him.2690 And when the two disciples went, they found as he had27 said unto them, and they did as Jesus charged them.2691 And when they loosed them,28 their owners said unto them, Why loose ye them?2692 They said unto them, We seek29 them for our Lord.2693 And they let them go. And they brought the ass and the colt,30 and they placed on the colt their garments; and Jesus mounted it.2694 And most of the multitudes spread their garments on the ground before him: and others cut branches31 from the trees, and threw them in the way.2695 And when he neared his2696 descent from [Arabic, p. 149] the mount of Olives, all the disciples began to rejoice and to praise God with32 a loud voice for all the powers which they had seen;2697 and they said, Praise in the highest; Praise to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name33 of the Lord;2698 and blessed2699 is the kingdom that cometh, that of2700 our father David:2701 Peace in heaven, and praise in the highest.
342702 And a great multitude, that which came to the feast, when they heard that Jesus35 was coming to Jerusalem, took young palm branches,27032704 and went forth to meet him, and cried and said, Praise: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, the36 King of Israel.2705 Certain therefore of the Pharisees from among the multitudes37 said unto him, Our Master, rebuke thy disciples.2706 He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If these were silent, the stones would cry out.
[38, 39]2707 And when he drew near, and saw the city, he wept over it, and said,2708 Would that thou hadst known the things that are2709 for thy peace, in this thy day! now that is40 hidden from thine eyes.2710 There shall come unto thee days when thine enemies41 shall encompass thee, and straiten thee from every quarter,2711 and shall get possession of2712 thee, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
422713 And when he entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was agitated, and they said,43 Who is this?2714 And the multitudes said, This is Jesus, the prophet that is from Nazareth44 of Galilee.2715 And the multitude which was with him bare witness that he called45 Lazarus from the grave, and raised him from among the dead.2716 And for this cause great multitudes went out to meet him, because they heard the sign which he did.
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.
- 2653
.
- 2654
cf. the Greek phrase.
- 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).
- 2655
.
- 2656
Lit. he made (cf. first note to § 38, 43, last sentence).
- 3
Par[alem]phthenai is perhaps supported by paralabontes, .
- 2657
a.
- 4
I know no other instance of stauriskein.
- 2658
.
- 2659
.
- 2660
.
- 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.)
- 2661
a.
- 2662
b.
- 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.
- 2663
b.
- 2664
.
- 2665
.
- 11
[cf. .]
- 2666
.
- 12
[cf. ; .]
- 2667
Lit. fell (cf. § 25, 18).
- 2668
.
- 13
[cf. .]
- 2669
.
- 14
[cf. ; .]
- 2670
b.
- 2671
Or, spake angrily to.
- 2672
a.
- 2673
b.
- 2674
b.
- 15
[cf. .]
- 2675
a.
- 16
[cf. .]
- 2676
b.
- 2677
.
- 2678
Lit. cast, as in Greek.
- 17
For further explanation of the method followed see 20.
- 2679
b; .
- 2680
.
- 2681
a; b.
- 20
See also below, 6, and 20.
- 2682
a; b.
- 21
Bibl. Or., i., 619.
- 2683
b; b.
- 22
Mai, Vet. script. nova. collect., iv., 14.
- 2684
Sic.
- 2685
Dual in Arabic.
- 2686
c; a.
- 23
cf. Zahn, Forschungen, i., 294 ff.
- 2687
b; .
- 24
See below, § 7, 47, note, and § 52, 36, note.
- 2688
.
- 25
See below, § 28, 43, note.
- 2689
.
- 26
See below, foot-notes, passim.
- 2690
a; b.
- 27
The first leaf bears a more pretentious Latin inscription, quoted by Ciasca, p. vi.
- 2691
b; .
- 28
Can this be a misprint for 95?
- 2692
.
- 29
See below, 13.
- 2693
b; .
- 30
He does not state, in so many words, that the list is absolutely exhaustive.
- 2694
.
- 31
See, e.g., below, § 13, 42, note, and § 14, 43, note.
- 2695
.
- 2696
The Syriac versions have the.
- 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.
- 2697
b [or better a.].
- 33
cf.the foot-notes passim, e.g., § 13, 14, § 14, 24.
- 2698
a.
- 2699
Or, and, Blessed.
- 2700
The Arabic has to, but it probably represents the Syriac text with the meaning given above.
- 2701
c.
- 34
See below, note to Subscription.
- 2702
b.
- 35
See a glaring case in § 52, 11.
- 2703
Lit. the heart (or, pith) of the palm. The word pith, which occurs also in the Æhiopic version (; Jubilees, ch. 16) and in Ibn-at-Tayyib's exposition, though not in the Brit. Mus. gospel text, is perhaps used here of the inner branches from its resemblance to the post-biblical Hebrew word employed in accounts of the Feast of Tabernacles.
- 2704
.
- 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.
- 2705
.
- 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.
- 2706
.
- 2707
.
- 2708
.
- 2709
Lit. are found, a rendering due to the Syriac.
- 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).
- 2710
.
- 41
Prof. Harris promises an edition of this commentary.
- 2711
.
- 2712
So Ciasca's text, following Vat. ms. The other ms. has drag, which by restoring a diacritical point to the third radical would give destroy, the reading of the Syriac versions. Ibn-at-Tayyib's Commentary has hide.
- 42
Harris, Fragments, p. 14, where the Syriac text is quoted.
- 2713
.
- 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.)
- 2714
.
- 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.
- 2715
.
- 45
Migne, Patrol. græc., tom. lxxxiii., col. 369, 372.
- 2716
.