Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol IX:
The Diatessaron of Tatian.: Section XVIII

Section XVIII.

[1]  1266 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and all the things which came to pass at his hand;  1267 and he marvelled, for he had obtained excellent [2] information concerning him. 1268    1269 And some men said that John the Baptist was risen [3] from among the dead;  1270 and 1271 others said that Elijah had appeared; and others, Jeremiah; [4] and others, that a prophet of the old prophets was risen;  1272 and others said that he [5] was a prophet like one of the prophets.   1273 Herod said to his servants, This is John the Baptist, he whom I beheaded; he is risen from among the dead:  therefore mighty [6] [Arabic, p. 70] works result from him.   1274 For Herod himself had sent and taken John, and cast him into prison, for the sake of Herodias his brother Philip’s wife, whom he [7] had taken.   1275 And John said to Herod, Thou hast no authority to take the wife of thy [8] brother.   1276 And Herodias avoided him and wished to kill him; and she could not.  [9]  1277 But Herod feared John, for he knew that he was a righteous man and a holy; and [10] he guarded him, and heard him much, and did, and obeyed him with gladness.   1278 And he wished to kill him; but he feared the people, for they adhered to him as the [11] prophet.   1279 And there was a celebrated day, and Herod had made a feast for his great men on the day of his anniversary, 1280 and for the officers and for the chief men [12] of Galilee.   1281 And the daughter of Herodias came in and danced in the midst of the company, and pleased Herod and those that sat with him.  And the king said to the [13] damsel, Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it thee.   1282 And he sware unto her, [14] Whatsoever thou shalt ask, I will give it thee, to the half of my kingdom.   1283 And she went out, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask him? 1284   She said unto her, The [15] head of John the Baptist.   1285 And immediately she came in hastily to the king, and said unto him, I desire in this hour that thou give me on a dish the head of John [16] the Baptist.   1286 And the king was exceeding sorry; but because of the oath and the [17] guests he did not wish to refuse her.   1287 But immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded that he should bring the head of John:  and he went and cut off p. 72 [18] the head of John in the prison,  1288 and brought it on a dish, and delivered it to the [19] damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother.   1289 And his disciples heard, and came [Arabic, p. 71] and took his body, and buried it.   1290 And they came and told 1291 Jesus what [20] had happened.   1292 And for this cause Herod said, I beheaded John:  who [21] is this, of whom I hear these things.  And he desired to see him.   1293 And Jesus, when he heard, removed thence in a boat to a waste place alone, to the other side of the sea of the Galilee of Tiberias. 1294

[22]  1295 And many saw them going, and knew them, and hastened by land 1296 from all the cities, and came thither beforehand;  1297 for they saw the signs which he was doing on the [23, 24] sick.   1298 And Jesus went up into the mountain, and sat there with his disciples.   1299 And [25] the feast of the passover of the Jews was near.   1300 And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw great multitudes coming to him.   1301 And he was moved with compassion for them, for [26] they were like sheep that were without a shepherd.   1302 And he received them, and spake to them concerning the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.

[27]  1303 And when the evening approached, 1304 his disciples came to him, and said unto [28] him,  1305 The place is desert, and the time is past; send away the multitudes of the people, 1306 that they may go to the towns and villages which are around us, and buy for [29] themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.   1307 But he said unto them, They have [30] no need to go away; give ye them what may be eaten.   1308 They said unto him, We have not here enough.   1309 He said unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?  [31, 32]  1310 And he said that proving him; and he knew what he was resolved to do.   1311 Philip said [Arabic, p. 72] unto him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread would not suffice them after 1312 [33] every one of them hath taken a small amount.   1313 One of his disciples said unto [34] him (namely, Andrew the brother of Simon Cephas),  1314 Here is a lad having five loaves [35] of barley and two fishes:  but this amount, what is it for all these?   1315 But wilt thou that we go and buy for all the people what may be eaten? for we have no more [36] than these five loaves and the two fishes.   1316 And the grass was plentiful in that place.  Jesus said unto them, Arrange all the people that they may sit down on the grass, [37] fifty people in a company.   1317 And the disciples did so.  And all the people sat down [38] by companies, by hundreds and fifties.   1318 Then Jesus said unto them, Bring hither [39] those five loaves and the two fishes.   1319 And when they brought him that, Jesus took the bread and the fish, and looked to heaven, and blessed, and divided, and gave to [40] his disciples to set before them;  1320 and the disciples set for the multitudes the bread [41] and the fish; and they ate, all of them, and were satisfied.   1321 And when they were satisfied, he said unto his disciples, Gather the fragments that remain over, that nothing [42] be lost.   1322 And they gathered, and filled twelve baskets with fragments, being those that remained over from those which ate of the five barley loaves and the two [43] fishes.   1323 And those people who ate were five thousand, besides the women and children.  [44] [Arabic, p. 73]  1324 And straightway he pressed his disciples to go up into the ship, and that they should go before him unto the other side to Bethsaida, while he [45] himself should send away the multitudes.   1325 And those people who saw the sign which [46] Jesus did, said, Of a truth this is a prophet who hath come into the world.   1326 And Jesus knew their purpose to come and take him, and make him a king; and he left them, and went up into the mountain alone for prayer.

[47, 48]  1327 And when the nightfall was near, his disciples went down unto the sea, and sat 1328 in a boat, and came to the side of Capernaum.   1329 And the darkness came on, and Jesus [49] had not come to them.   1330 And the sea was stirred up against them by reason of a violent [50] wind that blew.   1331 And the boat was distant from the land many furlongs, and they were much damaged by the waves, and the wind was against them.

Footnotes

Matt. 14:1, Luke 9:7b.

Mark vi. 14b.

There can be little doubt that this is the meaning of the Arabic.  There is nothing like it in the Peshitta; the Curetonian is of course lacking; but the phrase in the Sinaitic is very similar.

Luke ix. 7c.

Luke 9:8, Matt. 16:14.

Here begins verse 8a in Greek.

Luke 9:8, Mark 6:15.

Mark 6:16, Matt. 14:2b.

Mark vi. 17.

Mark vi. 18.

Mark vi. 19.

Mark vi. 20.

Matt. xiv. 5.

Mark vi. 21.

Perhaps appointment (cf. Moesinger, p. 165; but Isho‘dad [Harris, Fragments, p. 65] and the Brit. Mus. text of Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary have the ordinary reading).

Mark vi. 22.

Mark vi. 23.

Mark vi. 24.

Or simply ask.

Mark vi. 25.

Mark vi. 26.

Mark vi. 27.

Mark vi. 28.

Mark vi. 29.

Matt. xiv. 12b.

Or, to tell.

Luke ix. 9.

Matt. 14:13, John 6:1.

A misunderstanding or slavish reproduction of the Syriac.  The Brit. Mus. text of Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary has of Galilee, Tiberias.

Mark vi. 33a.

cf. Syriac versions and margin of R.V.

John vi. 2b.

John vi. 3.

John vi. 4.

John vi. 5a.

Mark vi. 34b.

Luke ix. 11b.

Matt. xiv. 15a.

Or, came.

Mark vi. 36.

cf. the addition in the Sinaitic Syriac.

Matt. xiv. 16.

Matt. xiv. 17a.

John vi. 5b.

John vi. 6.

John vi. 7.

Probably a mistaken rendering of the ordinary Syriac reading.

John vi. 8.

John vi. 9.

Luke ix. 13b; considerably changed.

John 6:10, Luke 9:14, 15.

Mark vi. 40.

Matt. xiv. 18.

Mark vi. 41a.

Matt. xiv. 19b.

Matt. 14:20, John 6:12.

John vi. 13.

Matt. xiv. 21.

Mark vi. 45.

John vi. 14.

John vi. 15.

John vi. 16.

cf. Syriac versions.

John vi. 17.

John vi. 18.

Matt. xiv. 24.