- ANF09. The Gospel of Peter, The Diatessaron of Tatian, The Apocalypse of Peter, the Vision of Paul, The Apocalypse of the Virgin and Sedrach, The Testament of Abraham, The Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena, The Narrative of Zosimus, The Apology of Aristides, The Epistles of Clement (complete text), Origen’s Commentary on John, Books 1–10, and Commentary on Matthew, Books 1, 2, and 10

Section XVIII.

[1] ¹²⁶⁶

¹²⁶⁶ Matt. xiv. 1; Luke ix. 7b.
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and all the things which came to pass at his hand; ¹²⁶⁷

¹²⁶⁷ Mark vi. 14b.
and he marvelled, for he had obtained excellent [2] information concerning him.¹²⁶⁸

¹²⁶⁸ 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.
¹²⁶⁹

¹²⁶⁹ Luke ix. 7c.
And some men said that John the Baptist was risen [3] from among the dead; ¹²⁷⁰

¹²⁷⁰ Luke ix. 8a; Matt. xvi. 14b.
and¹²⁷¹

¹²⁷¹ Here begins verse 8a in Greek.
others said that Elijah had appeared; and others, Jeremiah; [4] and others, that a prophet of the old prophets was risen; ¹²⁷²

¹²⁷² Luke ix. 8b; Mark vi. 15b.
and others said that he [5] was a prophet like one of the prophets. ¹²⁷³

¹²⁷³ Mark vi. 16; Matt. xiv. 2b.
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

¹²⁷⁴ Mark vi. 17.
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

¹²⁷⁵ Mark vi. 18.
And John said to Herod, Thou hast no authority to take the wife of thy [8] brother. ¹²⁷⁶

¹²⁷⁶ Mark vi. 19.
And Herodias avoided him and wished to kill him; and she could not. [9] ¹²⁷⁷

¹²⁷⁷ Mark vi. 20.
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

¹²⁷⁸ Matt. xiv. 5.
And he wished to kill him; but he feared the people, for they adhered to him as the [11] prophet. ¹²⁷⁹

¹²⁷⁹ Mark vi. 21.
And there was a celebrated day, and Herod had made a feast for his great men on the day of his anniversary,¹²⁸⁰

¹²⁸⁰ 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).
and for the officers and for the chief men [12] of Galilee. ¹²⁸¹

¹²⁸¹ Mark vi. 22.
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

¹²⁸² Mark vi. 23.
And he sware unto her, [14] Whatsoever thou shalt ask, I will give it thee, to the half of my kingdom. ¹²⁸³

¹²⁸³ Mark vi. 24.
And she went out, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask him?¹²⁸⁴

¹²⁸⁴ Or simply ask.
She said unto her, The [15] head of John the Baptist. ¹²⁸⁵

¹²⁸⁵ Mark vi. 25.
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

¹²⁸⁶ Mark vi. 26.
And the king was exceeding sorry; but because of the oath and the [17] guests he did not wish to refuse her. ¹²⁸⁷

¹²⁸⁷ Mark vi. 27.
But immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded that he should bring the head of John: and he went and cut off [18] the head of John in the prison, ¹²⁸⁸

¹²⁸⁸ Mark vi. 28.
and brought it on a dish, and delivered it to the [19] damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother. ¹²⁸⁹

¹²⁸⁹ Mark vi. 29.
And his disciples heard, and came [Arabic, p. 71] and took his body, and buried it. ¹²⁹⁰

¹²⁹⁰ Matt. xiv. 12b.
And they came and told¹²⁹¹

¹²⁹¹ Or, to tell.
Jesus what [20] had happened. ¹²⁹²

¹²⁹² Luke ix. 9.
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

¹²⁹³ Matt. xiv. 13a; John vi. 1b.
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

¹²⁹⁴ A misunderstanding or slavish reproduction of the Syriac. The Brit. Mus. text of Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary has of Galilee, Tiberias.

[22] ¹²⁹⁵

¹²⁹⁵ Mark vi. 33a.
And many saw them going, and knew them, and hastened by land¹²⁹⁶

¹²⁹⁶ cf. Syriac versions and margin of R.V.
from all the cities, and came thither beforehand; ¹²⁹⁷

¹²⁹⁷ John vi. 2b.
for they saw the signs which he was doing on the [23, 24] sick. ¹²⁹⁸

¹²⁹⁸ John vi. 3.
And Jesus went up into the mountain, and sat there with his disciples. ¹²⁹⁹

¹²⁹⁹ John vi. 4.
And [25] the feast of the passover of the Jews was near. ¹³⁰⁰

¹³⁰⁰ John vi. 5a.
And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw great multitudes coming to him. ¹³⁰¹

¹³⁰¹ Mark vi. 34b.
And he was moved with compassion for them, for [26] they were like sheep that were without a shepherd. ¹³⁰²

¹³⁰² Luke ix. 11b.
And he received them, and spake to them concerning the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.

[27] ¹³⁰³

¹³⁰³ Matt. xiv. 15a.
And when the evening approached,¹³⁰⁴

¹³⁰⁴ Or, came.
his disciples came to him, and said unto [28] him, ¹³⁰⁵

¹³⁰⁵ Mark vi. 36.
The place is desert, and the time is past; send away the multitudes of the people,¹³⁰⁶

¹³⁰⁶ cf. the addition in the Sinaitic Syriac.
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

¹³⁰⁷ Matt. xiv. 16.
But he said unto them, They have [30] no need to go away; give ye them what may be eaten. ¹³⁰⁸

¹³⁰⁸ Matt. xiv. 17a.
They said unto him, We have not here enough. ¹³⁰⁹

¹³⁰⁹ John vi. 5b.
He said unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? [31, 32] ¹³¹⁰

¹³¹⁰ John vi. 6.
And he said that proving him; and he knew what he was resolved to do. ¹³¹¹

¹³¹¹ John vi. 7.
Philip said [Arabic, p. 72] unto him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread would not suffice them after¹³¹²

¹³¹² Probably a mistaken rendering of the ordinary Syriac reading.
[33] every one of them hath taken a small amount. ¹³¹³

¹³¹³ John vi. 8.
One of his disciples said unto [34] him (namely, Andrew the brother of Simon Cephas), ¹³¹⁴

¹³¹⁴ John vi. 9.
Here is a lad having five loaves [35] of barley and two fishes: but this amount, what is it for all these? ¹³¹⁵

¹³¹⁵ Luke ix. 13b; considerably changed.
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

¹³¹⁶ John vi. 10b; and Luke ix. 14b, 15a.
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

¹³¹⁷ Mark vi. 40.
And the disciples did so. And all the people sat down [38] by companies, by hundreds and fifties. ¹³¹⁸

¹³¹⁸ Matt. xiv. 18.
Then Jesus said unto them, Bring hither [39] those five loaves and the two fishes. ¹³¹⁹

¹³¹⁹ Mark vi. 41a.
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

¹³²⁰ Matt. xiv. 19b.
and the disciples set for the multitudes the bread [41] and the fish; and they ate, all of them, and were satisfied. ¹³²¹

¹³²¹ Matt. xiv. 20a; John vi. 12.
And when they were satisfied, he said unto his disciples, Gather the fragments that remain over, that nothing [42] be lost. ¹³²²

¹³²² John vi. 13.
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

¹³²³ Matt. xiv. 21.
And those people who ate were five thousand, besides the women and children. [44] [Arabic, p. 73] ¹³²⁴

¹³²⁴ Mark vi. 45.
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

¹³²⁵ John vi. 14.
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

¹³²⁶ John vi. 15.
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

¹³²⁷ John vi. 16.
And when the nightfall was near, his disciples went down unto the sea, and sat¹³²⁸

¹³²⁸ cf. Syriac versions.
in a boat, and came to the side of Capernaum. ¹³²⁹

¹³²⁹ John vi. 17.
And the darkness came on, and Jesus [49] had not come to them. ¹³³⁰

¹³³⁰ John vi. 18.
And the sea was stirred up against them by reason of a violent [50] wind that blew. ¹³³¹

¹³³¹ Matt. xiv. 24.
And the boat was distant from the land many furlongs, and they were much damaged by the waves, and the wind was against them.
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