Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IX/The Diatessaron of Tatian/The Diatessaron/Section XXXVIII

by Tatian

Section XXXVIII.

[1, 2] ^[1]And Jesus came to Bethany, and found him already four days in the grave.  ^[2]And Bethany was beside Jerusalem, and its distance from it was a sum of fifteen furlongs;^[3] [3] ^[4]and many of the Jews came unto Mary and Martha, to comfort their heart [4] because of their brother.  ^[5]And Martha, when she heard that Jesus had come, went [5] out to meet him:  but Mary was sitting in the house.  ^[6]Martha then said unto Jesus, [6] My Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.  ^[7]But I know now that, [7] whatever thou shalt ask of God, he will give thee.  ^[8]Jesus said unto her, Thy brother shall [8] rise.  ^[9]Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise in the resurrection at the last day.  [9] ^[10]Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life:  whosoever believeth in [10] [Arabic, p. 144] me, even though he die, he shall live:  ^[11]and every living one that believeth [11] in me shall never die.  Believest thou this?  ^[12]She said unto him, Yea, my Lord:  I believe that thou art the Messiah, the Son of God, that cometh into the [12] world.  ^[13]And when she had said that, she went and called Mary her sister secretly, [13] and said unto her, Our Master hath come, and summoneth thee.  ^[14]And Mary, when [14] she heard, rose in haste, and came unto him.  ^[15](And Jesus then had not come into [15] the village, but was in the place where Martha met him.)  ^[16]And the Jews also that were with her in the house, to comfort her, when they saw that Mary rose up and went out in haste, went after her, because they supposed that she was going to the [16] tomb to weep.  ^[17]And Mary, when she came to where Jesus was, and saw him, fell at his feet, and said unto him, If thou hadst been here, my Lord, my brother had [17] not died.  ^[18]And Jesus came; and when he saw her weeping, and the Jews that were [18] with her weeping, he was troubled^[19] in himself, and sighed; and he said, ^[20]In what [19] place have ye laid him?  And they said unto him, Our Lord, come and see.  ^[21]And [20] the tears of Jesus came.^{[22]  [23]}The Jews therefore said, See the greatness of his love for [21] him!  ^[24]But some of them said, Could not this man, who opened the eyes of that [22] blind man, have caused that this man also should not die?  ^[25]And Jesus came to the place of burial, being troubled within himself.  And the place of burial was a cave, [23] and a stone was placed at its door.  ^[26]Jesus therefore said, Take these stones away.  Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said unto him, My Lord, he hath come to [24] stink for some time:  he hath been^[27] four days dead.  ^[28]Jesus said unto her, Did not I say [25] [Arabic, p. 145] unto thee, If thou believest, thou shalt see the glory of God?  ^[29]And they removed those stones.  And Jesus lifted his eyes on high, and said, My Father, [26] I thank thee since thou didst hear me.  ^[30]And I know that thou at all times hearest me:  but I say this unto thee because of this multitude that is standing, that they [27] may believe that thou didst send me.  ^[31]And when he had said that, he cried with a [28] loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.  ^[32]And that dead man came out, having his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped in a scarf.  Jesus said unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

[29] ^[33]And many of the Jews which came unto Mary, when they saw the deed of Jesus, [30] believed in him.  ^[34]But some of them went to the Pharisees, and informed them of all that Jesus did.

[31] ^[35]And the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered, and said, What shall we do? [32] for lo, this man doeth many signs.  ^[36]And if we leave him thus, all men will believe [33] in him:  and the Romans will come and take our country and people.  ^[37]And one of them, who was called Caiaphas, the chief priest he was in that year, said unto them, [34] ^[38]Ye know not anything, nor consider that it is more advantageous for us that one [35] man should die instead of the people, and not that the whole people perish.  ^[39]And this he said not of himself:  but because he was the chief priest of^[40] that year, he [36] prophesied that Jesus was to die instead of the people; ^[41]and not instead of the people alone, but that he might gather the scattered children of God together.  [37] ^[42]And from that day they considered how to kill him.

[38] [Arabic, p. 146] ^[43]And Jesus did not walk openly amongst the Jews, but departed thence to a place near the wilderness, to a town^[44] called Ephraim; and he was there, going [39] about with his disciples.  ^[45]And the passover of the Jews was near:  and many went [40] up from the villages unto Jerusalem before the feast, to purify themselves.  ^[46]And they sought for Jesus, and said one to another in the temple, What think ye of his [41] holding back from the feast?  ^[47]And the chief priests and the Pharisees had given commandment, that, if any man knew in what place he was, he should reveal it to them, that they might take him.

[42] ^[48]And when the days of his going up were accomplished, he prepared himself that [43] he might go^[49] to Jerusalem.  ^[50]And he sent messengers before him, and departed,^[51] and [44] entered into a village^[52] of Samaria, that they might make ready for him.  ^[53]And they [45] received him not, because he^[54] was prepared for going to Jerusalem.  ^[55]And when James and John his disciples saw it, they said unto him, Our Lord, wilt thou that we speak, and fire come down from heaven, to extirpate them, as did Elijah also?  [46] ^[56]And Jesus turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not of what spirit ye are.  [47] ^[57]Verily the Son of man did not come to destroy lives, but to give life.  And they went to another village.

Footnotes

1. John xi. 17.
2. John xi. 18.
3. Arabic mil, a somewhat indefinite distance.
4. John xi. 19.
5. John xi. 20.
6. John xi. 21.
7. John xi. 22.
8. John xi. 23.
9. John xi. 24.
10. John xi. 25.
11. John xi. 26.
12. John xi. 27.
13. John xi. 28.
14. John xi. 29.
15. John xi. 30.
16. John xi. 31.
17. John xi. 32.
18. John xi. 33.
19. This is the Syriac word (cf. the versions, and below, § 44, 44; see also Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, ad loc).
20. John xi. 34.
21. John xi. 35.
22. So in Syriac versions.
23. John xi. 36.
24. John xi. 37.
25. John xi. 38.
26. John xi. 39.
27. Borg. ms. omits some time:  he hath been.
28. John xi. 40.
29. John xi. 41.
30. John xi. 42.
31. John xi. 43.
32. John xi. 44.
33. John xi. 45.
34. John xi. 46.
35. John xi. 47.
36. John xi. 48.
37. John xi. 49.
38. John xi. 50.
39. John xi. 51.
40. So both mss.; but the Vat. ms. had originally a reading equivalent to the text above with of omitted.
41. John xi. 52.
42. John xi. 53.
43. John xi. 54.
44. The Arabic word as printed (following Vat. ms.) means a place for monks to live in, but we should certainly restore a diacritical point over the last letter, and thus obtain another Syriac loan-word (that used here in the Peshitta), meaning town.  See also Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, ad loc.
45. John xi. 55.
46. John xi. 56.
47. John xi. 57.
48. Luke ix. 51.
49. The present Arabic reading in going could pretty easily arise from that assumed in the translation above.
50. Luke ix. 52.
51. This and the following verb are singular in the printed Arabic (against the versions), although Ciasca renders them plural.  A copyist using a carelessly written Arabic exemplar might conceivably overlook the plural terminations.  Besides, they are often omitted in Syriac mss.
52. cf. note, § 1, 40.
53. Luke ix. 53.
54. Lit. his body.
55. Luke ix. 54.
56. Luke ix. 55.
57. Luke ix. 56.