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Introductory Notes

Section XLI

Page 48 of 468

12801 Therefore, behold, I, the wisdom of God, am sending unto you prophets, and apostles, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall slay and crucify; and some of them ye shall beat in your synagogues, and persecute2802 from city to2 city:2803 that there may come on you all the blood of the righteous that hath been poured upon the ground2804 from the blood of Abel the pure to the blood of Zachariah the son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the temple2805 and the altar.32806 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.2807

4 [Arabic, p. 155]2808 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, slayer of the prophets, and stoner of them that are sent unto her! how many times did I wish to gather thy children, as5 a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!2809 Your house shall6 be left over you desolate.2810 Verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

72811 And many of the rulers also believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they8 were not confessing him, lest they be put2812 out of the synagogue:2813 and they loved9 the praise of men more than the praising of God.2814 And Jesus cried and said,10 Whosoever believeth in me, believeth not in me, but in him that sent me.2815 And11 whosoever seeth me hath seen him that sent me.2816 I am come a light2817 into the12 world, and so every one that believeth in me abideth not in the darkness.2818 And whosoever heareth my sayings, and keepeth them not, I judge him not: for I came13 not to judge the world, but to give the world life.28192820 Whosoever wrongeth2821 me, and receiveth not my sayings, there is one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, it14 shall judge him at the last day.2822 I from myself did not speak: but the Father which sent me, he hath given me commandment,2823 what I should say, and what I15 should speak; and I know that his commandment2824 is eternal life.2825 The things that I say now, as my Father hath said unto me, even so I say.

162826 And when he said that unto them, the scribes and Pharisees began their evil-doing, being angry with him, and finding fault with his sayings, and harassing2827 him17 in many things;2828 seeking to catch something from his mouth, that they might be able to calumniate him.

182829 And when there gathered together myriads of great multitudes, which almost trode [Arabic, p. 156] one upon another, Jesus began to say unto his disciples, Preserve yourselves19 from the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.2830 For there is nothing20 concealed, that shall not be revealed: nor hid, that shall not be known.2831 Everything that ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and what ye have spoken secretly in the ears in the inner chambers shall be proclaimed on the roofs.

[21, 22]2832 This said Jesus, and he went and hid himself from them.2833 But notwithstanding23 his having done all these signs before them, they believed not in him:2834 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, who said,

My Lord, who is he that hath believed to hear us?

And the arm of the Lord, to whom hath it appeared?

242835 And for this reason it is not possible for them to believe, because Isaiah also said,

252836 They have blinded their eyes, and made dark their heart;

That they may not see with their eyes, and understand with their heart,

And turn,

So that I should heal them.

262837 This said Isaiah when he saw his glory, and spake of him.

272838 And when Jesus went out of the temple, certain of his disciples came forward28 to shew2839 him the buildings of the temple,2840 and its beauty and greatness, and the strength of the stones that were laid in it, and the elegance of its building, and that29 it was adorned with noble stones and beautiful colours.2841 Jesus answered and said30 unto them, See ye these great buildings?2842 verily I say unto you, Days will come, when there shall not be left here a stone upon another, that shall not be cast down.

312843 And two days before2844 the passover of unleavened bread, the chief priests and32 the scribes sought how they might take him by deceit,2845 and kill him:2846 and they said, It shall not be at the feast, lest the people be agitated.

332847 And when Jesus sat on the mount of Olives opposite the temple, his disciples, Simon Cephas and James and John and Andrew, came forward unto him, and said unto him34 between themselves and him,2848 Teacher, tell us when that shall be, and what is the sign35 [Arabic, p. 157] of thy coming and the end of the world.2849 Jesus answered and said unto them, Days will come, when ye shall long to see one of the days of the Son of [36, 37]2850 man, and shall not behold.2851 Take heed lest any man lead you astray. Many shall38 come in my name, and say, I am the Messiah;2852 and they shall say, The time is come39 near, and shall lead many astray: go not therefore after them.2853 And when ye hear of wars and tidings of insurrections, see to it, be2854 not agitated: for these things must40 first be; only the end is not yet come.2855 Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom41 against kingdom:2856 and great earthquakes shall be in one place and another, and there shall be famines and deaths and agitations: and there shall be fear and terror and great signs that2857 shall appear from heaven, and there shall be great [42, 43] storms2858 All these things are the beginning of travail.2859 But before all of that, they shall lay hands upon you, and persecute you, and deliver you unto the synagogues44 and into prisons, and bring you before kings and judges for my name's sake.2860 And45 that shall be unto you for a witness.2861 But first must my gospel be preached unto all46 nations.2862 And when they bring you into the synagogues before the rulers and the authorities, be not anxious beforehand how ye shall answer for yourselves, or what ye [47, 48] shall say:2863 because it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit.2864 Lay it to your heart, not49 [Arabic, p. 158] to be anxious before the time what ye shall say:2865 and I shall2866 give you understanding and wisdom,2867 which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay.502868 And then shall they deliver you unto constraint, and shall kill you: and ye shall be51 hated of all nations because of my name.2869 And then shall many go astray,2870 and they52 shall hate one another, and deliver one another unto death.2871 And your parents, and your brethren, and your kinsfolk, and your friends shall deliver you up, and shall [53, 54] slay some of you.2872 But a lock of hair from your heads shall not perish.2873 And by55 your patience ye shall gain2874 your souls.2875 And many men,2876 false prophets, shall arise,56 and lead many astray.2877 And because of the abounding of iniquity, the love of many57 shall wax cold.2878 But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.2879 And58 this, the2880 gospel of the kingdom, shall be preached in all the world for a testimony to all nations; and then shall come the end of all.

Notes

  1. 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.

  2. 2801

    .

  3. 2802

    cf. 8, 34.

  4. 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).

  5. 2803

    .

  6. 2804

    Or, earth.

  7. 2805

    Or, sanctuary.

  8. 3

    Par[alem]phthenai is perhaps supported by paralabontes, .

  9. 2806

    .

  10. 2807

    See § 1, 49, note.

  11. 4

    I know no other instance of stauriskein.

  12. 2808

    .

  13. 5

    cf. , where Syr. Pesch. reads: "They say, These bodies shall not remain on the cross, because the sabbath dawneth."

  14. 2809

    .

  15. 6

    The text here is corrupt: for epesanto I have provisionally read epesan te.

  16. 2810

    .

  17. 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.)

  18. 2811

    .

  19. 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.

  20. 2812

    Lit. become.

  21. 2813

    .

  22. 9

    The form of the question in the Greek suggests a negative answer.

  23. 2814

    .

  24. 10

    [cf. John passim.]

  25. 2815

    .

  26. 11

    [cf. .]

  27. 2816

    .

  28. 2817

    The text as it stands ought to mean I am a light. I am come; but it is a word-for-word reproduction of the Peshitta, and should therefore doubtless be rendered as above.

  29. 12

    [cf. ; .]

  30. 2818

    .

  31. 13

    [cf. .]

  32. 2819

    Or, to save the world (cf. § 1, 78, note).

  33. 2820

    .

  34. 2821

    See § 20, 28, note.

  35. 14

    [cf. ; .]

  36. 2822

    .

  37. 2823

    Not the same word.

  38. 15

    [cf. .]

  39. 2824

    Not the same word.

  40. 2825

    .

  41. 16

    [cf. .]

  42. 2826

    .

  43. 2827

    So Ciasca, following Vat. ms. The true reading, however, is probably that underlying the Borg. ms. If we restore diacritical points to the radical letters we get deceiving (cf. § 41, 31), an alternative meaning (or the word laying wait for, used in the Peshitta. The Arabic follows the Peshitta very closely in this and the following verse.

  44. 17

    For further explanation of the method followed see 20.

  45. 2828

    .

  46. 18

    See notes to § 7, 47, and § 52, 36, of the present translation.

  47. 2829

    .

  48. 19

    See below, 12, (2).

  49. 2830

    .

  50. 20

    See also below, 6, and 20.

  51. 2831

    .

  52. 2832

    b.

  53. 2833

    .

  54. 23

    cf. Zahn, Forschungen, i., 294 ff.

  55. 2834

    .

  56. 24

    See below, § 7, 47, note, and § 52, 36, note.

  57. 2835

    .

  58. 25

    See below, § 28, 43, note.

  59. 2836

    .

  60. 26

    See below, foot-notes, passim.

  61. 2837

    .

  62. 27

    The first leaf bears a more pretentious Latin inscription, quoted by Ciasca, p. vi.

  63. 2838

    .

  64. 28

    Can this be a misprint for 95?

  65. 2839

    Or, and shewed.

  66. 2840

    b; b.

  67. 29

    See below, 13.

  68. 2841

    a.

  69. 30

    He does not state, in so many words, that the list is absolutely exhaustive.

  70. 2842

    a; b [or rather b, or b].

  71. 31

    See, e.g., below, § 13, 42, note, and § 14, 43, note.

  72. 2843

    .

  73. 2844

    Lit. before two days would be (cf. Sin. and above, § 39, 1, note).

  74. 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.

  75. 2845

    cf. § 41, 16, note.

  76. 2846

    .

  77. 33

    cf.the foot-notes passim, e.g., § 13, 14, § 14, 24.

  78. 2847

    .

  79. 34

    See below, note to Subscription.

  80. 2848

    b; b.

  81. 35

    See a glaring case in § 52, 11.

  82. 2849

    a; b; b.

  83. 2850

    a.

  84. 2851

    b.

  85. 38

    The text is given below in full at its proper place.

  86. 2852

    b; c.

  87. 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.

  88. 2853

    a; b; b.

  89. 2854

    Or, that ye be, if we suppose the present text to have resulted from the loss of the second of two alifs.

  90. 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).

  91. 2855

    a.

  92. 41

    Prof. Harris promises an edition of this commentary.

  93. 2856

    .

  94. 2857

    Or, omit that.

  95. 2858

    .

  96. 2859

    .

  97. 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.

  98. 2860

    .

  99. 45

    Migne, Patrol. græc., tom. lxxxiii., col. 369, 372.

  100. 2861

    .

  101. 46

    Published at Venice in 1836.

  102. 2862

    .

  103. 2863

    b.

  104. 2864

    .

  105. 49

    Forschungen zur Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons, I. Theil.

  106. 2865

    .

  107. 2866

    The Arabic text lacks a letter.

  108. 2867

    Borg. ms. reads you the fruits of wisdom.

  109. 50

    Edited by Ernestus Ranke, Marb. and Lips., 1868.

  110. 2868

    .

  111. 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.

  112. 2869

    .

  113. 2870

    See § 25, 17, note.

  114. 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.

  115. 2871

    .

  116. 2872

    .

  117. 2873

    .

  118. 55

    See notes to § 1, 81, and § 4, 29.

  119. 2874

    Or, possess.

  120. 2875

    .

  121. 2876

    So the Arabic text; but it doubtless simply represents the Syriac, which here agrees with the Greek.

  122. 56

    See note to § 55, 17.

  123. 2877

    .

  124. 57

    The Armenian version of Ephraem is supposed to date from the fifth century.

  125. 2878

    .

  126. 2879

    .

  127. 58

    Mai, Script. vet. nov. Coll., x., 191.

  128. 2880

    So the Arabic text; but it doubtless simply represents the Syriac, which here agrees with the Greek.

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.