Diatessaron

Tatian, ANF 9

And after that, Jesus knew that all things were finished; and that the scripture might be…

And after that, Jesus knew that all things were finished; and that the scripture might be accomplished, he said, I thirst. 2And there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and in that hour one of them hasted, and took a sponge, and filled it with that vinegar, 3and fastened it on a reed, and brought it near¹ his mouth to give him a drink. 4And when Jesus had taken that vinegar, he said, Everything is finished. 5But the rest said, Let be, that we may² see whether Elijah cometh to save him. 6And Jesus said, My Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. 7And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and said, My Father, into thy hands I commend³ my spirit. He said that, and bowed his head, and gave up his spirit. 8And immediately the face of⁴ the door of the temple was rent into two parts from top to bottom; 9and the earth was shaken; and the stones were split to pieces; and the tombs were opened; and the bodies of many saints which slept, arose and came forth; 10and after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many. 11And the officer of the footsoldiers, and they that were with him who were guarding Jesus,⁵ when they saw the earthquake, and the things which came to pass, feared greatly, and praised God, and said, 12This man was righteous; and, Truly he was the Son of God. 13And all the multitudes that were come together to the sight, when they saw what came to pass, returned and smote upon their breasts.

And the Jews, because of the Friday, said, Let these bodies not remain on their crosses,⁶ because it is the morning of the sabbath (for that sabbath was a great day); and they asked of Pilate that they might break the legs of those that were crucified, and take them down. 15And the soldiers came, and brake the legs of the first, and that other which was crucified with him: 16but when they came to Jesus, they saw that he had died before, so they brake not his legs: 17but one of the soldiers pierced⁷ him in his side with a spear, and immediately there came forth blood and water. 18And he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he hath said the truth, that ye also may believe. 19This he did, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, 20A bone shall not be broken in him; and the scripture also which saith, Let them look upon him whom they pierced.⁸

And there were in the distance all the acquaintance of Jesus standing, and the women that came with him from Galilee, those that followed him and ministered. 22One of them was Mary Magdalene; and Mary the mother of James the little and Joses, 23and the mother of the sons of Zebedee, and Salome, and many others which came up with him unto Jerusalem; and they saw that.

And when the evening of the Friday was come, because of the entering of the sabbath, there came a rich man,⁹ a noble¹⁰ of Ramah,¹¹ a city of Judah,¹² named Joseph, and he was a good man and upright; 25and he was a¹³ disciple of Jesus, but was concealing himself for fear of the Jews. 26And he did not agree with the accusers in their desire and their deeds: and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 27And this man went boldly, and entered in unto Pilate, and asked of him the body of Jesus. 28And Pilate wondered how he had died already: and he called the officer of the footsoldiers, and asked him concerning his death before the time. 29And when he knew, he commanded him to deliver up his body unto Joseph. 30And Joseph bought for him a winding cloth of pure linen, and took down the body of Jesus, and wound it in they came and took it. 31And there came unto him Nicodemus also, who of old came unto Jesus by night; and he brought with him perfume¹⁴ of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 32And they took the body of Jesus, and wound it in the linen and the perfume, as was the custom of the Jews to bury.

And there was in the place where Jesus was crucified a garden; and in that garden a new tomb cut out in a rock,¹⁵ wherein was never man yet laid. 34And they left Jesus there because the sabbath had come in, and because the tomb was near. 35And they pushed¹⁶ a great stone, and thrust¹⁷ it against the door of the sepulchre, and went away. 36And Mary Magdalene and Mary that was related to Joses came to the sepulchre after them,¹⁸ 37and sat opposite the sepulchre,¹⁹ and saw the body, how they took it in and laid it there. 38And they returned, and ointment²⁰ and perfume,²¹ and prepared²² it, that they might come and anoint him. 39And on the day which was the sabbath day they desisted according to the command.

And the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered unto Pilate, and said unto him, 41Our lord, we remember that that misleader said, while he was alive, After three days I rise. 42And now send beforehand and guard the tomb²³ until the third day,²⁴ lest his disciples come and steal him by night, and they will say unto the people that he is risen from the dead: and the last error shall be worse than the first. 43He said unto them, And have ye not guards?²⁵ go, and take precautions as ye know how. 44And they went, and set guards at the tomb, and sealed that stone, with the guards.

And in the evening of the sabbath, which is the morning of the first day, and in the dawning²⁶ while the darkness yet remained, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and other women to see the tomb. 46They brought with them the perfume which they had prepared, and said among themselves, 47Who is it that will remove for us the stone from the door of the tomb? for it was very great. 48And when they said thus, there occurred a great earthquake; and an angel came down from heaven, and came and removed the stone from the door. 49And they came and found the stone removed from the sepulchre, and the angel sitting upon the stone. 50And his appearance was as the lightning, and his raiment white as the snow: 51and for fear of him the guards were troubled, and became as dead men. 52And when he went away, the women entered into the sepulchre; and they found not the body of Jesus. 53And they saw there a young man sitting on the right, strayed in a white garment; and they were amazed.²⁷ 54And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear ye not: for I know that ye seek Jesus the Nazarene, who hath been crucified. He is not here; but he is risen, as he said. 55Come and see the place where our Lord lay.

Notes

cf. §12, 13, note.
Or, Let us.
Lit. lay down.
cf. Syriac versions and Ibn-aṭ-Ṭayyib’s Commentary. Vat. MS. omits the face of.
This sentence is a good example of word-for-word translation of the Peshitta.
The word is probably plural
Lit. ripped.
Lit. ripped.
Mt. 27, 57.
Borg. MS. omits.
Lk. 23, 51b.
Syriac versions.
Lit. the.
The preparation used in embalming.
Mk. 15, 46. Lit. a stone.
On the plural, which is to be found also in Ibn-aṭ-Ṭayyib’s Commentary, see §38, 43, note (end). The word chosen might be simply a clerical error for an original Arabic rolled.
Lit. cast (cf. Sinaitic).
Dual. The clause (from came) is found verbatim in Sin. and Cur. at Lk. 23, 55. Here, after the word Luke of the reference, at the end of leaf 117 of Vat. MS., is a note by a later hand: “Here a leaf is wanting.” This second and last lacuna extends from §52, 37, to §53, 4.
Mt. 27, 61b.
cf. Sinaitic.
The two Arabic words are practically synonymous (cf. Lk. 23, 56, Pesh.).
Lk. 23, 56.
The MS. omits the tomb.
Lit. three days.
The word might be taken as a collective noun, singular. But cf. Peshitta and §52, 51.
cf. Peshitta. The Arabic word is variously explained.
The diacritical points of the first letter must be corrected.