Diatessaron

Tatian, ANF 9

Then went the Pharisees and considered how they might ensnare him in a word, and deliver …

Then went the Pharisees and considered how they might ensnare him in a word, and deliver him into the power of the judge,¹ and into the power of the ruler. 2And they sent unto him their disciples, with the kinsfolk of Herod; and they said unto him, Teacher, we know that thou speakest the truth, and teachest the way of God with equity,² and art not lifted up³ by any man: for thou actest not so as to be seen of any man. 3Tell us now, What is thy opinion? Is it lawful that we should pay the tribute to Caesar, or not? shall we give, or shall we not give? 4But Jesus knew their deceit, and said unto them, 5Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the penny of the tribute. 6So they brought unto him a penny. Jesus said unto them, To whom belongeth this image and inscription? They said unto him, To Caesar. 7He said unto them, Give what is Caesar’s to Caesar, and what is God’s to God. 8And they could not make him slip in a single word before the people; and they marvelled at his word, and refrained.

And on that day came the Sadducees, and said unto him,⁴ There is no life for the dead. 10And they asked him, and said unto him, Teacher, Moses said unto us, If a man die, not having children, let his brother take his wife, and raise up seed for his brother. 11Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children; 12and the second took his wife, and died without children; 13and the third also took her; and in like manner the seven of them also, and they died without leaving children. 14And last of them all the woman died also. 15At the resurrection, then, which of these seven shall have this woman? for all of them took her. 16Jesus answered and said unto them, Is it not for this that ye have erred, because ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God? 17And the sons of this world take wives, and the women become the men’s;⁵ 18but those that have become worthy of that world, and the resurrection from among the dead, do⁶ not take wives, and the women also do⁷ not become the men’s. 19Nor is it possible that they should die; but they⁸ are like the angels, and are the children of God, because they have become the children of the resurrection. 20For in⁹ the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read in the book of Moses, how from the bush God said unto him, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 21And God is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all of them are alive with him. And ye have erred greatly.

And when the multitudes heard, they were wondering at his teaching. 23And some of the scribes answered and said unto him, Teacher, thou hast well said. 24But the rest of the Pharisees, when they saw his silencing the Sadducees on this point, gathered against him to contend with him.

And one of the scribes, of those that knew the law, when he saw the excellence of his answer to them, desired to try him, and said unto him, 26What shall I do to inherit eternal life? and, Which of the commandments is greater, and has precedence in the law? 27Jesus said unto him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one:¹⁰ 28and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy thought, and with all thy strength. 29This is the great and preëminent¹¹ commandment. 30And the second, which is like it, is, Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. And another commandment greater than these two there is not. 31On these two commandments, then, are hung the law and the prophets. 32That scribe said unto him, Excellent! my Master;¹² thou hast said truly that he is one, and there is no other outside of him: 33and that a man should love him with all his heart, and with all his thought, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, and that he should love his neighbour as himself, is better than all savours and sacrifices. 34And Jesus saw him that he had answered wisely; and he answered and said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. 35Thou hast: spoken rightly: do this, and thou shalt live. 36And he, as his desire was to justify himself, said unto him, And who is my neighbour? 37Jesus said unto him, A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and the robbers fell upon him, and stripped¹³ him, and beat him, his life remaining in him but little,¹⁴ and went away. 38And it happened that there came down a certain priest that way; and he saw him, and passed by. 39And likewise a Levite also came and reached that place, and saw him, and passed by. 40And a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to¹⁵ the place where he was, and saw him, and had compassion on him, and came near, and bound up his strokes,¹⁶ and poured on them wine and oil; 41and he set¹⁷ him on the ass, and brought him to the inn, and expended his care upon him. 42And on the morrow of that day he took out two pence, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said unto him, Care for him; and if thou spendest upon him more, when I return, I shall give thee. 43Who of these three now, thinkest thou, is nearest to him that fell among the robbers? 44And he said unto him, He that had compassion on him. 45Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou also likewise. And no man dared afterwards to ask him anything.

And he was teaching every day in the temple. But the chief priests and scribes and the eiders of the people sought to destroy him: and they could¹⁸ not find what they should do with him; 47and all the people were hanging upon him to hear him. 48And many of the multitude believed on him, and said, The Messiah, when he cometh, can it be that he will do more than these signs that this man doeth? 49And the Pharisees heard the multitudes say that of him; and the chief priests sent officers¹⁹ to seize him. 50And Jesus said unto them, I am with you but a short time yet, and I go to him that sent me. 51And ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I shall be, ye shall not be able to come. 52The Jews said within themselves, Whither hath this man determined to go that we shall not be able²⁰ to find him? can it be that he is determined to go to the regions of the nations,²¹ and teach the heathen? 53What is this word that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, ye cannot come?

Notes

Vat. MS. omits the power. We should then translate (with Pesh. and Sin.) unto judgement.
see note, §3, 53.
Possibly this is the meaning of the Arabic phrase, which occurs also in Ibn-aṭ-Ṭayyib’s Commentary (Brit. Mus. text).
cf. the Syriac versions.
cf. the Syriac versions.
Or, shall.
Or, shall.
Borg. MS., all of them instead of but they.
Or, Moreover, regarding.
Mark xii. 30a; Matt. xxii. 37b [rather, Mark xii. 30b.].
This simply represents first in Syriac.
Vat. MS. has a corruption of Excellent! Rabbi, better preserved by Borg. MS., which, however, adds our translator’s ordinary rendering of Rabbi-my Master. This explanation is confirmed by Ibn-aṭ-Ṭayyib’s Commentary. Ciasca’s emended text cannot be right.
The diacritical point over the third radical must be removed.
cf. Peshitta.
Ciasca’s Arabic text (apparently following Borg. MS.) has till he before came. This is unsupported by any of the three Syriac texts, although they differ from one another. Perhaps till and came should be transposed. The translation would then be as given in the text above; but this rendering may also be obtained according to §54, 1, note
The Syriac word used means both wounds and strokes.
The Arabic word is a favourite of the translator’s, and may therefore be original. One cannot help thinking, however, that it is a clerical error for mounted (cf. Cur. and Sin.).
In Syriac could and found are represented by the same word. The Arabic translator has chosen the wrong one.
see note, §11, 11.
see note above, on §34, 46.
i.e., Gentiles.