43The Text of the Diatessaron.

————————————

[Section I]

[1] ⁷⁵⁷⁵    John i. 1.In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God is the [2,3] Word.  ⁷⁶⁷⁶    John i. 2.This was in the beginning with God.  ⁷⁷⁷⁷    John i. 3.Everything was by his hand, and [4] without him not even one existing thing was made.  ⁷⁸⁷⁸    John i. 4.In him was life, and the life [5] is the light of men.  ⁷⁹⁷⁹    John i. 5.And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not.

[6] ⁸⁰⁸⁰    On the margin of the Vatican ms., fol. 1a, are written by a later hand these words, The first of his Gospel.  The first of the Evangel (is) the Gospel of Luke; followed by the text of the first four verses of Luke, and that in turn by the words, Four complete Gospels, Matthew, and Mark, and Luke, and John.  See Ciasca’s Essay, cited above (Introduction, 5), p. 468. ⁸¹⁸¹    Luke i. 5.There was in the days of Herod the king a priest whose name was Zacharias, of the family of Abijah; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name [7] was Elizabeth.  ⁸²⁸²    Luke i. 6.And they were both righteous before God, walking in all his commands, [8] and in the uprightness of God without reproach.  ⁸³⁸³    Luke i. 7.And they had no son, for [9] Elizabeth was barren, and they had both advanced in age.  ⁸⁴⁸⁴    Luke i. 8.And while he discharged [10] [Arabic, p. 2] the duties of priest in the order of his service before God, ⁸⁵⁸⁵    Luke i. 9.according to the custom of the priesthood it was his turn to burn incense; so he entered the [11] temple of the Lord.  ⁸⁶⁸⁶    Luke i. 10.And the whole gathering of the people were praying without at the [12] time of the incense.  ⁸⁷⁸⁷    Luke i. 11.And there appeared unto Zacharias the angel of the Lord, standing [13] at the right of the altar of incense; ⁸⁸⁸⁸    Luke i. 12.and Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, [14] and fear fell upon him.  ⁸⁹⁸⁹    Luke i. 13.But the angel said unto him, Be not agitated,⁹⁰⁹⁰    This word is constantly recurring in the sense of fear. Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt [15] call his name John; ⁹¹⁹¹    Luke i. 14.and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice [16] at his birth.  ⁹²⁹²    Luke i. 15.And he shall be great before the Lord, and shall not drink wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit⁹³⁹³    Everywhere, except in the introductory notes, the Arabic is the Spirit of Holiness, as in the Arabic versions. while he is in his mother’s [17] womb.  ⁹⁴⁹⁴    Luke i. 16.And he shall turn back many of the children of Israel to the Lord their [18] God.  ⁹⁵⁹⁵    Luke i. 17.And he shall go before him in the spirit, and in the power of Elijah the prophet, to turn back the heart of the fathers to the sons, and those that obey not to the knowledge⁹⁶⁹⁶    See § 28, 17, note. of the righteous; and to prepare for the Lord a perfect people.  [19] ⁹⁷⁹⁷    Luke i. 18.And Zacharias said unto the angel, How shall I know this, since I am an old man [20] and my wife is advanced in years?  ⁹⁸⁹⁸    Luke i. 19.And the angel answered and said unto him, I am Gabriel, that standeth before God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and give [21] thee tidings of this.  ⁹⁹⁹⁹    Luke i. 20.Henceforth thou shalt be speechless, and shalt not be able to speak until the day in which this shall come to pass, because thou didst not trust [22] this my word, which shall be accomplished in its time.  ¹⁰⁰¹⁰⁰    Luke i. 21.And the people were standing [Arabic, p. 3] awaiting Zacharias, and they were perplexed at his delaying in the temple.  [23]¹⁰¹¹⁰¹    Luke i. 22.And when Zacharias went out, he was not able to speak unto them:  so they knew that he had seen in the temple a vision; and he made signs unto them, and [24] continued dumb.  ¹⁰²¹⁰²    Luke i. 23.And when the days of his service were completed, he departed to his dwelling.

[25] ¹⁰³¹⁰³    Luke i. 24.And after those days Elizabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five [26] months, and said, ¹⁰⁴¹⁰⁴    Luke i. 25.This hath the Lord done unto me in the days when he looked upon me, to remove my reproach from among men.

[27] ¹⁰⁵¹⁰⁵    Luke i. 26.And¹⁰⁶¹⁰⁶    The Vat. ms. has over this verse, The second section, from the Gospel of Luke, i.e., as divided in the Syriac and Arabic versions. in the sixth month Gabriel the angel was sent from God to Galilee¹⁰⁷¹⁰⁷    The Borgian ms. omits to Galilee. to a [28] city called Nazareth, ¹⁰⁸¹⁰⁸    Luke i. 27.to a virgin given in marriage to a man named Joseph, of the [29] house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.  ¹⁰⁹¹⁰⁹    Luke i. 28.And the angel entered unto her and said unto her, Peace be unto thee, thou who art filled with grace.  Our Lord 44[30] is with thee, thou blessed amongst women.  ¹¹⁰¹¹⁰    Luke i. 29.And she, when she beheld, was agitated [31] at his word, and pondered what this salutation could be.  ¹¹¹¹¹¹    Luke i. 30.And the angel said unto [32] her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God.  ¹¹²¹¹²    Luke i. 31.Thou shalt now conceive, [33] and bear a son, and call his name Jesus.  ¹¹³¹¹³    Luke i. 32.This shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of [34] David his father:  and he shall rule over the house of Jacob for ever; ¹¹⁴¹¹⁴    Luke i. 33.and to his [35] kingdom there shall be no end.  ¹¹⁵¹¹⁵    Luke i. 34.Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be to [36] me when no man hath known me?  ¹¹⁶¹¹⁶    Luke i. 35.The angel answered and said unto her, The [Arabic, p. 4] Holy Spirit will come, and the power of the Most High shall rest upon thee, and therefore shall he that is born of thee be pure, and shall be called the Son [37] of God.  ¹¹⁷¹¹⁷    Luke i. 36.And lo, Elizabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old [38] age; and this is the sixth month with her, her that is called barren.  ¹¹⁸¹¹⁸    Luke i. 37.For nothing is [39] difficult for God.  ¹¹⁹¹¹⁹    Luke i. 38.Mary said, Lo, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be unto me according unto thy word.  And the angel departed from her.

[40] ¹²⁰¹²⁰    Luke i. 39.And then Mary arose in those days and went in haste into the hill country,¹²¹¹²¹    Vat. ms., like that described by Gildemeister (see Introduction, 20) has into Galilee (cf. § 8, 10, note). to a¹²²¹²²    Lit. the, a form due to Syriac influence (cf. § ii. 12, and passim). [41] city of Judah; ¹²³¹²³    Luke i. 40.and entered into the house of Zacharias, and asked for the health of [42] Elizabeth.  ¹²⁴¹²⁴    Luke i. 41.And when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in [43] her womb.  ¹²⁵¹²⁵    Luke i. 42.And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit; and cried with a loud voice and said unto Mary, Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the [44] fruit that is in thy womb.  ¹²⁶¹²⁶    Luke i. 43.Whence have I this privilege, that the mother of my [45] Lord should come unto me?  ¹²⁷¹²⁷    Luke i. 44.When the sound of thy salutation reached my ears, [46] with great joy rejoiced the babe in my womb.  ¹²⁸¹²⁸    Luke i. 45.And blessed is she who believed [47] that what was spoken to her from the Lord would be fulfilled.  ¹²⁹¹²⁹    Luke i. 46.And Mary said,

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

[48] ¹³⁰¹³⁰    Luke i. 47.And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour,

[49] ¹³¹¹³¹    Luke i. 48.Who hath looked upon the low estate of his handmaiden:

Lo, henceforth, all generations¹³²¹³²    The Arabic word ordinarily means tribe or nation, but in this work it regularly represents the Syriac word used in the N.T. for generation. shall pronounce blessing on me.

[50] ¹³³¹³³    Luke i. 49.For¹³⁴¹³⁴    The Arabic would naturally be rendered, the blessing on me, That; but a number of passages in this work seem to justify the rendering given in the text (cf., e.g., § 46, 54, and especially § 15, 40). he hath done great things for me, who is mighty,

And holy is his name.

[51] ¹³⁵¹³⁵    Luke i. 50.And his mercy embraceth them who fear him,

Throughout the ages and the times.

[52] [Arabic, p. 5] ¹³⁶¹³⁶    Luke i. 51.He wrought the victory with his arm,

And scattered them that prided themselves in their opinions.

[53] ¹³⁷¹³⁷    Luke i. 52.He overthrew them that acted haughtily from their thrones,

And raised the lowly.

[54] ¹³⁸¹³⁸    Luke i. 53.He satisfied with good things the hungry,

And left the rich without anything.

[55] ¹³⁹¹³⁹    Luke i. 54.He helped Israel his servant,

And remembered his mercy

[56] ¹⁴⁰¹⁴⁰    Luke i. 55.(According as he spake with our fathers)

Unto Abraham and unto his seed for ever.

[57] ¹⁴¹¹⁴¹    Luke i. 56.And Mary abode with Elizabeth about three months, and returned unto her house.

[58, 59] ¹⁴²¹⁴²    Luke i. 57.And Elizabeth’s time of delivery was come; and she brought forth a son.  ¹⁴³¹⁴³    Luke i. 58.And her neighbours and kinsfolk heard that God had multiplied his mercy towards her; [60] and they rejoiced with her.  ¹⁴⁴¹⁴⁴    Luke i. 59.And when¹⁴⁵¹⁴⁵    The text is indistinct in the Vat. ms.  The reading seems to be conflate, the doublets being when it was, which is the reading of Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, and on. it was the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and called him Zacharias, calling him by the name of his father.  [61] ¹⁴⁶¹⁴⁶    Luke i. 60.And his mother answered and said unto them, Not so; but he shall be called John.  [62] ¹⁴⁷¹⁴⁷    Luke i. 61.And they said unto her, There is no man of thy kindred that is called by this name.  [63, 64] ¹⁴⁸¹⁴⁸    Luke i. 62.And they made signs to his father, saying, How dost thou wish to name him?  ¹⁴⁹¹⁴⁹    Luke i. 63.And he asked for a tablet, and wrote and said, His name is John.  And every one wondered.  [65] ¹⁵⁰¹⁵⁰    Luke i. 64.And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue, and he spake and [66] praised God.  ¹⁵¹¹⁵¹    Luke i. 65.And fear fell on all their neighbours:  and this was spoken of¹⁵²¹⁵²    Lit. described (cf. § ii. 46). in all 45[67] the mountains of Judah.  ¹⁵³¹⁵³    Luke i. 66.And all who heard pondered in their hearts and said, What shall this child be?  And the hand of the Lord was with him.

[68] ¹⁵⁴¹⁵⁴    Luke i. 67.And Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied and said,

[69] ¹⁵⁵¹⁵⁵    Luke i. 68.Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,

Who hath cared for his people, and wrought for it salvation;

[70] ¹⁵⁶¹⁵⁶    Luke i. 69.And hath raised for us the horn of salvation

[Arabic, p. 6] In the house of David his servant

[71] ¹⁵⁷¹⁵⁷    Luke i. 70.(As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets from eternity),

[72] ¹⁵⁸¹⁵⁸    Luke i. 71.That he might save us from our enemies,

And from the hand of all them that hate us.

[73] ¹⁵⁹¹⁵⁹    Luke i. 72.And he hath performed his mercy towards our fathers,

And remembered his holy covenants,

[74] ¹⁶⁰¹⁶⁰    Luke i. 73.And the oath which he sware unto Abraham our father,

[75] ¹⁶¹¹⁶¹    Luke i. 74.That he would give us deliverance from the hand of our enemies,

And without fear we shall¹⁶²¹⁶²    Or, should. serve before him

[76] ¹⁶³¹⁶³    Luke i. 75.All our days with equity and righteousness.

[77] ¹⁶⁴¹⁶⁴    Luke i. 76.And as for thee, O child, prophet of the Most High shalt thou be called.

Thou shalt go forth before the face of the Lord to prepare his way,

[78] ¹⁶⁵¹⁶⁵    Luke i. 77.To give the knowledge of salvation¹⁶⁶¹⁶⁶    Here and elsewhere the Arabic translator uses life and live and give life, as in Syriac, for salvation, etc. unto his people,

For the forgiveness of their sins,

[79] ¹⁶⁷¹⁶⁷    Luke i. 78.Through the mercy of¹⁶⁸¹⁶⁸    Borg. ms. has and for of. the compassion of our God,

With which he careth for¹⁶⁹¹⁶⁹    The word used in the Peshitta means visit, either in the sense of caring for or in that of frequenting.  See § 24, 29. us, to appear¹⁷⁰¹⁷⁰    So Borg. ms.  The Vat. ms. is very indistinct.  Lagarde (see Introduction, 13, note), quoting Guidi, prints Whereby there visiteth us the manifestation from on high.  The difference in Arabic is in a single stroke. from on high

[80] ¹⁷¹¹⁷¹    Luke i. 79.To give light to them that sit in darkness and under the shadow of death,

And to set straight our feet in the way of peace.

[81] ¹⁷²¹⁷²    Luke i. 80.And the child grew and became strong in the spirit, and abode in the desert until the time of his appearing unto the children of Israel.