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| The Story Concerning the King of Edessa.
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Ancient Syriac
Documents
Relating to the Earliest Establishment
of Christianity in Edessa and the Neighbouring Countries.
————————————
From the History of the
Church.2903
| 2903 By Eusebius
of Cæsarea.—Tr. The
ms. from which this extract from Eusebius is
taken is numbered 14,639, fol. 15 b. It is described in
Cureton’s Corpus Ignatianum, p. 350. |
————————————
The Story2904
| 2904 Book I.
chapter the thirteenth.—Tr. |
Concerning the King of Edessa.2905
| 2905 Properly
Urrhoi, or Orrhoi (***). It seems probable that the
word is connected with Osrhoene, the name of the province in
which Edessa held an important place, the correct form of which is
supposed to be Orrhoene. The name Edessa (***) occurs only once
in these Documents, viz., in the “Acts of Sharbil,”
sub init.—Tr. |
Now the story relating to
Thaddæus was on this wise:—
While the Godhead of our Saviour and Lord Jesus
Christ was proclaimed among all men by reason of the astonishing
mighty-works which He wrought, and myriads, even from countries remote
from the land of Judæa, who were afflicted with sicknesses and
diseases of every kind, were coming to Him in the hope of being healed,
King Abgar2906
| 2906 “By this
title all the toparchs of Edessa were called, just as the Roman
emperors were called Cæsars, the kings of Egypt Pharaohs or
Ptolemies, the kings of Syria Antiochi.” Assem., Bibl.
Or., vol. i. p. 261. Assemani adds: “Abgar in
Syriac means lame.” Moses of Chorene, however, with
more probability, derives it from the Armenian Avag-aïr,
“grand homme, à cause de sa grande mansuétude et de sa
sagesse, et de plus, à cause de sa taille.” See below
the extract from his History of Armenia, book ii. ch.
26. | also, who was
renowned among the nations on the east of the Euphrates for his valour,
had his body wasting away with a grievous disease, such as there is no
cure for among men. And when he heard and was informed of the
name of Jesus, and about the mighty works which He did,—for every
one alike bore witness concerning Him,—he sent a letter of
request by a man belonging to him,2907
and
besought Him to come and heal him of his disease.
But our Saviour at the time that he asked Him did
not comply with his request. Yet He deigned to give him2908
| 2908 Lit.
“deemed him worthy of.”—Tr. | a letter in reply: for He
promised him that He would send one of His disciples, and heal his
sicknesses, and give salvation2909
| 2909 Gr. σωτηρίαν:
and so the Syriac word, meaning “life,” is generally to be
translated in this collection.—Tr. | to him and to all
who were connected with him.2910
| 2910 Syr. “near to
him;” Gr. τῶν
προσηκόντων. | Nor did He
delay to fulfil His promise to him: but after He was risen from
the place of the dead, and was received into heaven, Thomas2911
the apostle, one of the twelve, as by an
impulse from God, sent Thaddæus,2912
| 2912 The name is taken
from Eusebius, but in the original Syriac treatises, which follow, he
is called Addæus. |
who was himself also numbered among the seventy2913
| 2913 In The
Teaching of the Apostles he is said to have been one of the
“seventy two apostles.” His name, like that of
Thomas, seems to have been the very common one, Judas. | disciples of Christ, to Edessa, to be a
preacher and proclaimer of the teaching of Christ; and the promise of
Christ was through him fulfilled.
Thou hast in writing the evidence of these things,
which is taken from the Book of Records2914
| 2914 These were
kept in the archives of the kingdom, which were transferred by Abgar
from Nisibis to Edessa when he made it the capital of his
dominions. See Moses Chor. B. ii. ch. 27, infra. The
archives appear to have been still kept at Edessa in a.d. 550. [Compare this fact with Tertullian’s
statement, vol. iii. p. 164.] |
which was at Edessa: for at that time the kingdom was still
standing.2915
| 2915 The kingdom of
Edessa was brought to an end and entirely subjected to the Romans in
a.d. 217 or 218. | In the
documents, then, which were there, in which was contained whatever was
done by those of old down to the time of Abgar, these things also are
found preserved down to the present hour. There is, however,
nothing to prevent our hearing the very letters themselves, which have
been taken by us2916
| 2916 The extract
from the archives was probably made by Sextus Julius Africanus, and
copied by Eusebius from his Chronographia. | from
the archives, and are in words to
this effect, translated from Aramaic into Greek.
Copy of the letter which was written by
King2917
Abgar to Jesus, and sent to Him by the
hand of Hananias,2918
| 2918 Called Hanan in
the original Syriac document; and so in Moses Chor.; Eusebius has
᾽Ανανίας, which is
copied here. | the
Tabularius,2919
| 2919 Gr. ταχυδρόμου. But the post held by Hananias must have been one of more
dignity than that of a courier. He was probably a
Secretary of State. In The Acts of Addæus
(infra) he is called, in connection with the name Tabularius, a
sharir, or confidential servant.
It would seem that Tabularius has
been confounded with Tabellarius, a letter-carrier.—Tr. | to
Jerusalem:—
“Abgar the Black,2920
sovereign2921
| 2921
“Head,” or “chief.”—Tr. | of the country,
to Jesus, the good Saviour, who has appeared in the country of
Jerusalem: Peace. I have heard about Thee,2922
| 2922 Comp. Matt. iv. 24; “And His fame went throughout all
Syria,” etc. See also Moses Chor. B. ii. c. 30. | and about the healing which is wrought
by Thy hands without drugs and roots. For, as it is reported,
Thou makest the blind to see, and the lame to walk; and Thou cleansest
the lepers, and Thou castest out unclean spirits and demons, and Thou
healest those who are tormented with lingering diseases, and Thou
raisest the dead. And when I heard all these things about Thee, I
settled in my mind one of two things: either that Thou art God,
who hast come down from heaven, and doest these things or that Thou art
the Son of God, and doest these things. On this account,
therefore, I have written to beg of Thee that Thou wouldest weary
Thyself to come to me, and heal this disease which I have. For I
have also heard that the Jews murmur against Thee, and wish to do Thee
harm. But I have a city, small and beautiful, which is sufficient
for two.”
Copy of those things which were written2923
| 2923 Gr. ἀντιγραφέντα,
“written in reply.” | by Jesus by the hand of Hananias, the
Tabularius, to Abgar, sovereign of the country:—
“Blessed is he that hath believed in me, not
having seen me. For it is written2924
| 2924 [Bible:Isa.52.15 Bible:Isa.53.1">John ix. 39, and xx. 29, 31; Hab. i. 5; with Isa.
lii. 15, liii. 1.] | concerning me, that those who see me
will not believe in me, and that those will believe who have not seen
me, and will be saved. But touching that which thou hast written
to me, that I should come to thee—it is meet that I should finish
here all that for the sake of which I have been sent and, after I have
finished it, then I shall be taken up to Him that sent me; and, when I
have been taken up, I will send to thee one of my disciples, that he
may heal thy disease, and give salvation to thee and to those who are
with thee.”
To these letters, moreover, is appended the following
also in the Aramaic tongue:—
“After Jesus was ascended, Judas Thomas sent to
him Thaddæus the apostle, one of the Seventy. And, when he
was come, he lodged with Tobias, son of Tobias. And, when the
news about him was heard, they made it known to Abgar: “The
apostle of Jesus is come hither, as He sent thee word.”
Thaddæus, moreover, began to heal every disease and sickness by
the power of God, so that all men were amazed. And, when Abgar
heard the great and marvellous cures which he wrought, he bethought
himself that he was the person about whom Jesus had sent him word and
said to him: When I have been taken up, I will send to thee one
of my disciples, that he may heal thy disease. So he sent and
called Tobias, with whom he was lodging, and said to him: I have
heard that a mighty man has come, and has entered in and taken up his
lodging in thy house: bring him up, therefore, to me. And
when Tobias came to Thaddæus he said to him: Abgar the king
has sent and called me, and commanded me to bring thee up to him, that
thou mayest heal him. And Thaddæus said: I will go up,
because to him have I been sent with power. Tobias therefore rose
up early the next day, and took Thaddæus, and came to Abgar.
“Now, when they were come up, his princes
happened to be standing2925
| 2925 Cureton,
“were assembled and standing;” nearly as Euseb.:
παρόντων
καὶ
ἑστώτων. But in
2 Sam. xx. 1, the only reference given by Castel for
the word *** is used for the Heb. ארקנ, “he
chanced.”—Tr. | there. And
immediately, as he was entering in, a great vision appeared to Abgar on
the countenance of Thaddæus the apostle. And, when Abgar saw
Thaddæus, he prostrated himself before him.2926
| 2926 ***, like the
προσεκύνησε
of Eusebius, may be rendered
“worshipped.”—Tr. | And astonishment seized upon all
who were standing there: for they had not themselves seen that
vision, which appeared to Abgar alone. And he proceeded to ask
Thaddæus: Art thou in truth the disciple of Jesus the Son of
God, who said to me, I will send to thee one of my disciples, that he
may heal thee and give thee salvation? And Thaddæus answered
and said: Because thou hast mightily2927
| 2927 ***; Gr.
μεγάλως, lit.
“greatly;” C. “nobly.” But nothing more
than intensity is necessarily denoted by either word.
Compare, for the Syriac, Dan. ii. 12" id="ix.iii-p45.2" parsed="|Ps|19|107|0|0;|Ps|19|167|0|0;|Dan|2|12|0|0" osisRef="Bible:Ps.19.107 Bible:Ps.19.167 Bible:Dan.2.12">Ps. cxix. 107, 167; Dan. ii.
12.—Tr. | believed on Him that sent me, therefore
have I been sent to thee; and again, if thou shalt believe on Him, thou
shalt have the requests of thy heart. And Abgar said to
him: In such wise have I believed on Him, that I have even
desired to take an army and extirpate those Jews who crucified Him;
were it not that I was restrained by reason of the dominion of the
Romans.2928
| 2928 Compare
the letters of Abgar and Tiberius, infra. | And
Thaddæus said: Our Lord has fulfilled the will of His
Father; and, having fulfilled it, has been taken up to His
Father. Abgar said to him: I too have believed
in Him and in His
Father. And2929
| 2929 In another
piece, The Teaching of Addæus, i.e., Thaddæus, we have
a portion of the original Syriac from which Eusebius’ translation
was made. The only portions that correspond are: in the
present piece, from this place to “—accept that of
others,” near the end; and, in the following one, from the
beginning to “—that which is not ours.” Some of
the variations are worthy of notice. | Thaddæus
said: Therefore do I lay my hand upon thee in His name. And
when he had done this, immediately he was healed of his sickness and of
the disease which he had. And Abgar marvelled, because, like as
he had heard concerning Jesus, so he saw in deeds by the hand of
Thaddæus His disciple: since without drugs and roots he
healed him; and not him only, but also Abdu,2930
| 2930 See note 9,
p. 657, infra. |
son of Abdu, who had the gout: for he too went in, and fell at
his feet,2931
| 2931 This answers
sufficiently well to the Greek: ὁς
καὶ
αὐτὸς
προσελθὼν
ὑπὸ τοὺς
πόδας αὐτοῦ
ἔπεσεν; but, as the original
Syriac, p. 12, reads “he too brought his feet to him, and he laid
his hands upon them and healed him,” the Greek translation must
have been at fault.
For brought read
presented.—Tr. | and when he
prayed over him he was healed. And many other people of their
city did he heal, and he did great works, and preached the word of
God.
“After these things Abgar said to him: Thou,
Thaddæus, doest these things by the power of God; we also marvel
at them. But in addition to all these things I beg of thee to
relate to me the story about the coming of Christ, and in what manner
it was; and about His power, and by what power He wrought those things
of which I have heard.
“And Thaddæus said: For the
present I will be silent;2932
| 2932 The original
Syriac has “I will not hold my peace from declaring
this.” | but, because I
have been sent to preach the word of God, assemble me tomorrow all the
people of thy city, and I will preach before them, and sow amongst them
the word of life; and will tell them about the coming of Christ,
how it took place; and about His mission,2933
| 2933 So Euseb.
The orig. Syr. has “His sender.” | for what purpose he was sent by His
Father; and about His power and His deeds, and about the mysteries
which He spake in the world, and by what power He wrought these things,
and about His new preaching,2934
and about His
abasement and His humiliation, and how He humbled and emptied and
abased Himself, and was crucified, and descended to Hades,2935
| 2935 Or
“Sheol,” as in Hebrew. The orig. Syr. gives
“the place of the dead.” | and broke through the enclosure2936
which had never been broken through
before, and raised up the dead, and descended alone, and
ascended with a great multitude to His Father.2937
“Abgar, therefore, commanded that in the morning
all the people of his city should assemble, and hear the preaching of
Thaddæus. And afterwards he commanded gold and silver to be
given to him; but he received it not, and said: If we have
forsaken that which was our own, how shall we accept that of
others?”
These things were done in the year 340.2938
In order, moreover, that these things may not have been
translated to no purpose word for word from the Aramaic into Greek,
they are placed in their order of time here.
Here endeth the first book.
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