Introductory Notes

Section LII

Page 59 of 468

¹³⁶¹⁸ And after that, Jesus knew that all things were finished; and that the scripture² might be accomplished, he said, I thirst.³⁶¹⁹ And there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and in that hour one of them hasted, and took a sponge, and filled it with that³ vinegar,³⁶²⁰ and fastened it on a reed, and brought it near³⁶²¹ his mouth to give him a⁴ drink.³⁶²² And when Jesus had taken that vinegar, he said, Everything is finished.⁵³⁶²³ But the rest said, Let be, that we may³⁶²⁴ see whether Elijah cometh to save him. [6, 7]³⁶²⁵ And Jesus said, My Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and said, My Father, into thy hands I commend³⁶²⁶ my spirit.³⁶²⁷ He said that, and bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.

⁸³⁶²⁸ And immediately the face of³⁶²⁹ the door of the temple was rent into two parts from⁹ top to bottom;³⁶³⁰ and the earth was shaken; and the stones were split to pieces; and the [Arabic, p. 197] tombs were opened; and the bodies of many saints which slept, arose and¹⁰ came forth;³⁶³¹ and after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and¹¹ appeared unto many.³⁶³² And the officer of the footsoldiers, and they that were with him who were guarding Jesus,³⁶³³ when they saw the earthquake, and the things which came¹² to pass, feared greatly, and praised God, and said,³⁶³⁴ This man was righteous; and,¹³ Truly he was the Son of God.³⁶³⁵ And all the multitudes that were come together to the sight, when they saw what came to pass, returned and smote upon their breasts.

¹⁴³⁶³⁶ And the Jews, because of the Friday, said, Let these bodies not remain on their crosses,³⁶³⁷ because it is the morning of the sabbath (for that sabbath was a great day); and they asked of Pilate that they might break the legs of those that were¹⁵ crucified, and take them down.³⁶³⁸ And the soldiers came, and brake the legs of the¹⁶ first, and that other which was crucified with him:³⁶³⁹ but when they came to Jesus,¹⁷ they saw that he had died before, so they brake not his legs:³⁶⁴⁰ but one of the soldiers pierced³⁶⁴¹ him in his side with a spear, and immediately there came forth blood and¹⁸ water.³⁶⁴² And he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true: and he¹⁹ knoweth that he hath said the truth, that ye also may believe.³⁶⁴³ This he did, that²⁰ the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, A bone shall not be broken in him;³⁶⁴⁴ and the scripture also which saith, Let them look upon him whom they pierced.³⁶⁴⁵

²¹³⁶⁴⁶ And there were in the distance all the acquaintance of Jesus standing, and the women that came with him from Galilee, those that followed him and ministered.²²³⁶⁴⁷ One of them was Mary Magdalene; and Mary the mother of James the little and²³ [Arabic, p. 198] Joses,³⁶⁴⁸ and the mother of the sons of Zebedee, and Salome, and many others which came up with him unto Jerusalem;³⁶⁴⁹ and they saw that.

²⁴³⁶⁵⁰ And when the evening of the Friday was come, because of the entering of the²⁵ sabbath,³⁶⁵¹ there came a rich man,³⁶⁵² a noble³⁶⁵³ of Ramah,³⁶⁵⁴ a city of Judah,³⁶⁵⁵ named Joseph, and he was a good man and upright;³⁶⁵⁶ and he was a³⁶⁵⁷ disciple of Jesus, but²⁶ was concealing himself for fear of the Jews.³⁶⁵⁸ And he did not agree with the accusers²⁷ in their desire and their deeds:³⁶⁵⁹ and he was looking for the kingdom of God.³⁶⁶⁰ And this man went boldly, and entered in unto Pilate, and asked of him the body of²⁸ Jesus.³⁶⁶¹ And Pilate wondered how he had died already: and he called the officer of²⁹ the footsoldiers, and asked him concerning his death before the time.³⁶⁶² And when³⁰ he knew, he commanded him to deliver up his body unto Joseph.³⁶⁶³ And Joseph bought for him a winding cloth of pure linen, and took down the body of Jesus,³¹ and wound it in it; and they came and took it.³⁶⁶⁴ And there came unto him Nicodemus also, who of old came unto Jesus by night; and he brought with him perfume³⁶⁶⁵³² of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.³⁶⁶⁶ And they took the body of Jesus, and wound it in the linen and the perfume, as was the custom of the Jews to bury.

³³³⁶⁶⁷ And there was in the place where Jesus was crucified a garden; and in that garden³⁴ a new tomb cut out in a rock,³⁶⁶⁸ wherein was never man yet laid.³⁶⁶⁹ And they left³⁵ Jesus there because the sabbath had come in, and because the tomb was near.³⁶⁷⁰ And they pushed³⁶⁷¹ a great stone, and thrust³⁶⁷² it against the door of the sepulchre, and³⁶ went away.³⁶⁷³ And Mary Magdalene and Mary that was related to Joses came to³⁷ [Arabic, p. 199] the sepulchre after them,³⁶⁷⁴³⁶⁷⁵ and sat opposite the sepulchre,³⁶⁷⁶ and saw the³⁸ body, how they took it in and laid it there.³⁶⁷⁷ And they returned, and bought ointment³⁶⁷⁸ and perfume,³⁶⁷⁹ and prepared³⁶⁸⁰ it, that they might come and anoint him.³⁹³⁶⁸¹ And on the day which was the sabbath day they desisted according to the command.

[40, 41]³⁶⁸² And the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered unto Pilate, and said unto him,³⁶⁸³ Our lord, we remember that that misleader said, while he was alive, After three days⁴² I rise.³⁶⁸⁴ And now send beforehand and guard the tomb³⁶⁸⁵ until the third day,³⁶⁸⁶ lest his disciples come and steal him by night, and they will say unto the people that he⁴³ is risen from the dead: and the last error shall be worse than the first.³⁶⁸⁷ He said unto them, And have ye not guards?³⁶⁸⁸ go, and take precautions as ye know how.⁴⁴³⁶⁸⁹ And they went, and set guards at the tomb, and sealed that stone, with the guards.

⁴⁵³⁶⁹⁰ And in the evening of the sabbath, which is the morning of the first day, and in⁴⁶ the dawning³⁶⁹¹ while the darkness yet remained, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and other women to see the tomb.³⁶⁹² They brought with them the⁴⁷ perfume which they had prepared, and said among themselves,³⁶⁹³ Who is it that will⁴⁸ remove for us the stone from the door of the tomb? for it was very great.³⁶⁹⁴ And when they said thus, there occurred a great earthquake; and an angel came down⁴⁹ from heaven, and came and removed the stone from the door.³⁶⁹⁵ And they came and found the stone removed from the sepulchre, and the angel sitting upon the⁵⁰ stone.³⁶⁹⁶ And his appearance was as the lightning, and his raiment white as the⁵¹ snow:³⁶⁹⁷ and for fear of him the guards were troubled, and became as dead men.⁵²³⁶⁹⁸ And when he went away, the women entered into the sepulchre; and they found⁵³ [Arabic, p. 200] not the body of Jesus.³⁶⁹⁹ And they saw there a young man sitting on the⁵⁴ right, arrayed in a white garment; and they were amazed.³⁷⁰⁰³⁷⁰¹ And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear ye not: for I know that ye seek Jesus the⁵⁵ Nazarene, who hath been crucified. He is not here; but he is risen, as he said.³⁷⁰² Come and see the place where our Lord lay.

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.
3618
.
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).
3619
a; .
3
Par[alem]phthenai is perhaps supported by paralabontes, .
3620
b.
3621
cf. § 12, 13, note.
4
I know no other instance of stauriskein.
3622
a.
5
cf. , where Syr. Pesch. reads: "They say, These bodies shall not remain on the cross, because the sabbath dawneth."
3623
; .
3624
Or, Let us.
3625
a.
3626
Lit. lay down.
3627
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.
3628
.
3629
cf. Syriac versions and Ibn-at-Tayyib's Commentary. Vat. ms. omits the face of.
9
The form of the question in the Greek suggests a negative answer.
3630
.
10
[cf. John passim.]
3631
.
11
[cf. .]
3632
.
3633
This sentence is a good example of word-for-word translation of the Peshitta.
12
[cf. ; .]
3634
b; b.
13
[cf. .]
3635
.
14
[cf. ; .]
3636
.
3637
The word is probably plural.
15
[cf. .]
3638
.
16
[cf. .]
3639
.
17
For further explanation of the method followed see 20.
3640
.
3641
Lit. ripped.
18
See notes to § 7, 47, and § 52, 36, of the present translation.
3642
.
19
See below, 12, (2).
3643
.
20
See also below, 6, and 20.
3644
.
3645
Lit. ripped.
21
Bibl. Or., i., 619.
3646
a; b.
22
Mai, Vet. script. nova. collect., iv., 14.
3647
a; b.
23
cf. Zahn, Forschungen, i., 294 ff.
3648
c; c, 41c.
3649
b.
24
See below, § 7, 47, note, and § 52, 36, note.
3650
.
25
See below, § 28, 43, note.
3651
.
3652
.
3653
Borg. ms. omits.
3654
b.
3655
Syriac versions.
3656
b.
3657
Lit. the.
26
See below, foot-notes, passim.
3658
a.
27
The first leaf bears a more pretentious Latin inscription, quoted by Ciasca, p. vi.
3659
c.
3660
b.
28
Can this be a misprint for 95?
3661
.
29
See below, 13.
3662
a.
30
He does not state, in so many words, that the list is absolutely exhaustive.
3663
b; a.
31
See, e.g., below, § 13, 42, note, and § 14, 43, note.
3664
d; .
3665
The preparation used in embalming.
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.
3666
.
33
cf.the foot-notes passim, e.g., § 13, 14, § 14, 24.
3667
.
34
See below, note to Subscription.
3668
. Lit. a stone.
3669
.
35
See a glaring case in § 52, 11.
3670
b.
3671
On the plural, which is to be found also in Ibn-at-Tayyib's Commentary, see § 38, 43, note (end). The word chosen might be simply a clerical error for an original Arabic rolled.
3672
Lit. cast (cf. Sinaitic).
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.
3673
a.
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.
3674
Dual. The clause (from came) is found verbatim in Sin. and Cur. at . Here, after the word Luke of the reference, at the end of leaf 117 of Vat. ms., is a note by a later hand: "Here a leaf is wanting." This second and last lacuna extends from § 52, 37, to § 53, 4.
3675
b.
3676
b.
38
The text is given below in full at its proper place.
3677
a; b.
3678
cf. Sinaitic.
3679
The two Arabic words are practically synonymous (cf. , Pesh.).
3680
.
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.
3681
c.
3682
.
3683
.
42
Harris, Fragments, p. 14, where the Syriac text is quoted.
3684
.
3685
The ms. omits the tomb.
3686
Lit. three days.
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.)
3687
.
3688
The word might be taken as a collective noun, singular. But cf. Peshitta and § 52, 51.
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.
3689
.
45
Migne, Patrol. græc., tom. lxxxiii., col. 369, 372.
3690
a; b.
46
Published at Venice in 1836.
3691
cf. Peshitta. The Arabic word is variously explained.
3692
b; d.
47
The two Armenian mss. are dated a.d. 1195.
3693
.
48
Evangelii Concordantis Expositio, facta a S. Ephraemo (Ven., 1876).
3694
b; a.
49
Forschungen zur Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons, I. Theil.
3695
; b.
50
Edited by Ernestus Ranke, Marb. and Lips., 1868.
3696
.
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.
3697
.
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.
3698
.
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).
3699
b.
54
Nachrichten von der Königl. Gesellsch. der Wiss., etc., March 17, 1886, No. 4, p. 151 ff.
3700
The diacritical points of the first letter must be corrected.
3701
.
55
See notes to § 1, 81, and § 4, 29.
3702
.

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.