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Tatians Diatessaron Composition Redaction Recension and Reception James W Barker Full Chapter
Tatians Diatessaron Composition Redaction Recension and Reception James W Barker Full Chapter
Tatians Diatessaron Composition Redaction Recension and Reception James W Barker Full Chapter
OX F O R D E A R LY C H R I ST IA N ST U D I E S
General Editors
Gillian Clark Andrew Louth
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 07/09/21, SPi
Tatian’s Diatessaron
Composition, Redaction,
Recension, and Reception
JA M E S W. BA R K E R
1
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/08/21, SPi
1
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Acknowledgments
The kernel of this book germinated in preparation for the 2016 annual meeting of
the Society of Biblical Literature. Led by Matthew R. Crawford and Mark
DelCogliano, the Development of Early Christian Theology unit convened a
panel on the Diatessaron. I thank them for inviting me to present, and I thank the
other presenters, Charles E. Hill, Nicholas Perrin, and Francis Watson, for such a
stimulating session. Jan Joosten, Ian N. Mills, Timothy B. Sailors, Ulrich Schmid,
and Nicholas J. Zola presented in a related session in 2017. Both sessions pro-
pelled Crawford and Zola’s 2019 edited volume, The Gospel of Tatian, to which I
contributed and from which I draw at the end of Chapter 2. Another section of
Chapter 2 overlaps with my forthcoming essay in The Oxford Handbook of the
Synoptic Gospels, edited by Stephen P. Ahearne-Kroll. Part of Chapter 3 originated
in my 2016 conference paper and overlaps with a 2020 article in New Testament
Studies; I appreciate the feedback I received from the journal’s anonymous
reviewer and from the general editor, Simon Gathercole.
I honed many of the skills for this project by participating in the 2015 National
Endowments for the Humanities Summer Institute entitled “The Materiality of
Medieval Manuscripts: Interpretation through Production” at the University of
Iowa, organized by Jonathan Wilcox with assistance from Timothy Barrett,
Heather Estelme, Cheryl Jacobsen, Julie Leonard, Erin Mann, Jesse Meyer, and
Sara Sauers. I learned so much from them and from my fellow participants, Scott
Bevill, Heather Blatt, Nancy Blomgren, Paul Gaffney, Susanne Hafner, Marjorie
Harrington, Jane Jeffrey, Eric F. Mason, Rhonda L. McDaniel, Rebecca Mouser,
Sarah Noonan, Paul Peterson, David Porter, Ellen K. Rentz, and Michelle M. Sauer.
More than fifty librarians, manuscript specialists, and assistants have directly
aided me over the past four years, and I am pleased to thank individually Flurina
Angus (Zentralbibliothek Zürich), Robert Arpots (Tilburg University Library),
Nicola Beech (British Library), Sandra Besser (Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek
Hamburg), Jen Burford (Oxford, Bodleian Library), Daniëlle van den Brink
(Hague, Royal Library), Alan Brown (Oxford, Bodleian Library), Helle Brünnich
Pedersen (Kongelige Bibliotek Copenhagen), Birgit Bucher (Staatsbibliothek
Berlin), Hasan Cobdak (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Munich), Lorraine Coney
(Oxford, Bodleian Library), Thierry Dewin (Brussels KBR), Susanne Dietel
(Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig), Sebastian Doll (Staatsbibliothek Berlin), Kati
Döring (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Munich), Lisa Dotzauer (Oxford, Bodleian
Library), Susanne Edelmann (Nürnberg Stadtsbibliothek), Matthias Eifler
(Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig), Emmanuelle Federbe (Valenciennes Bibliothèque),
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vi Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Abbreviationsix
Introduction1
1. An Overview of Diatessaron Witnesses 7
1.1 Eastern Witnesses 7
1.2 Western Witnesses 9
1.3 Unrelated and Distantly Related Harmonies 18
1.4 The Dura Europos Fragment as a Bridge between
East and West 22
1.5 Summary 28
2. Tatian’s Compositional Practices 29
2.1 Mental Processes and Material Production 29
2.2 How Long was Tatian’s Diatessaron? 39
2.3 Tatian’s Authorial Expectations 42
3. Characteristics of the Diatessaron’s Sequence 44
3.1 Jewish Festivals and the Chronology of Jesus’s Ministry 44
3.2 A Nonviolent Conclusion to Jesus’s (First) Sermon at Nazareth 53
3.3 A Blessing upon Jesus’s Mother, Who Happens to be Nearby 54
3.4 Intercalating the Pharisees’ Warning after the Transfiguration 55
3.5 A Sukkoth Parade of Money Men 56
3.6 Gathering the Pharisees in Jerusalem 56
3.7 Tatian’s Redactional Tendencies 57
4. Quintessential Changes in the Western Archetype 59
4.1 Eliminating Redundancies 61
4.2 Combining the Sermon on the Mount/Plain and
Mission Discourse 66
4.3 Relocating Capernaum Miracles to Nain 67
4.4 Editorial Fatigue in the Return of the Twelve 68
4.5 Grouping the Shrewd Steward with the Sukkoth Money Men 70
4.6 Nicodemus, the Adulteress, and the Fig Tree 70
4.7 The Timing of Judas’s Suicide 73
4.8 The Western Recensionist’s Redactional Tendencies 73
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viii Contents
Bibliography 139
Scripture Index 149
Index of Medieval Manuscripts 153
Index of Modern Authors 155
Subject Index 156
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List of Abbreviations
Introduction
This book re-evaluates the sources, redaction, recension, and reception of Tatian’s
Diatessaron.1 In the late-second century, Tatian wrote Oratio ad Graecos, which
concludes with a self-description that he was born in the land of the Assyrians
and was instructed in the philosophy of the Greeks (42.1).2 Also, he twice
mentions Justin Martyr (Or. Graec. 18.2; 19.1), and Irenaeus claimed that Tatian
studied under Justin before veering into heresy (Haer. 1.28; SC 264).3 In the
fourth century, Eusebius of Caesarea said that Tatian constructed ‘the Diatessaron’
(τὸ διὰ τεσσάρων; Hist. eccl. 4.29.6; GCS NF 6), meaning that Tatian’s Gospel came
‘out of the four’ that Eusebius deemed canonical (Hist. eccl. 3.24–25). I follow
Matthew Crawford in accepting the traditional attribution of the Diatessaron to
Tatian.4 Unfortunately, the Diatessaron had already gone missing in antiquity,
and modern scholars work with numerous witnesses to discern how Tatian made
his harmony.
Regarding terminology, I interchangeably refer to the Diatessaron as a harmony
and a Gospel. Crawford has argued persuasively that Tatian called his work “the
Gospel,” not the Diatessaron; Crawford adds that the term “harmony” might
detract from understanding the composition as a full “Gospel.”5 Francis Watson
refers to the Diatessaron as “a gospel rather than gospel harmony;”6 Watson
means that a harmony would be subordinate to its sources, while a Gospel would
be authoritative in its own right.7 Nicholas Zola similarly connects the nomenclature
1 Emily J. Hunt’s Christianity in the Second Century: The Case of Tatian (London: Routledge, 2003)
offers an excellent overview of Tatian’s intellectual milieu.
2 For the text of the Oratio, I have used Edgar J. Goodspeed, ed., Die ältesten Apologeten (Göttingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1915).
3 Tatian’s alleged heresies were forbidding marriage and denying Adam’s salvation. Eusebius quotes
this testimony in Hist. eccl. 4.29.3.
4 Matthew R. Crawford, “‘Reordering the Confusion’: Tatian, the Second Sophistic, and the
So-Called Diatessaron,” ZAC 19 (2015): pp. 235–6.
5 Matthew R. Crawford, “Diatessaron, a Misnomer? The Evidence from Ephrem’s Commentary,”
Early Christianity 4 (2013): p. 365.
6 Francis Watson, “Towards a Redaction- Critical Reading of the Diatessaron Gospel,” Early
Christianity 7 (2016): p. 96.
7 Francis Watson, “Harmony or Gospel? On the Genre of the (So-Called) Diatessaron,” in The
Gospel of Tatian: Exploring the Nature and Text of the Diatessaron, ed. Matthew R. Crawford and
Nicholas J. Zola, RJT 3 (London: T&T Clark, 2019), p. 70.
Tatian’s Diatessaron: Composition, Redaction, Recension, and Reception. James W. Barker, Oxford University Press.
© James W. Barker 2021. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780192844583.003.0001
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2 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
of harmony versus Gospel with the question whether Tatian intended to supplement
or supplant the fourfold gospel.8
I have argued elsewhere that Tatian could not have reasonably expected to
replace his source texts,9 and I do not draw a sharp distinction between
“harmony” and “Gospel.” By calling the Diatessaron a harmony, I simply mean
that we know Tatian’s sources and can discern how intricately he combined them.
In my mind, a harmony is necessarily derivative, but that need not diminish the
text’s prestige or the evangelist’s accomplishments. While Tatian apparently added
no original content to the fourfold gospel, the Diatessaron hardly lacked
originality. If anything, I hope that my study accentuates Tatian’s creativity, and I
agree that the Diatessaron should be read as a Gospel in its own right.
William Petersen masterfully compiled the history of Diatessaron research
through 1992,10 and Ulrich Schmid outlined key developments through 2009.11
Here I simply want to sketch the trajectory leading to my study. Johann Christian
Zahn is the “father of modern Diatessaronic studies,”12 and in the early nineteenth
century he was comparing the foremost eastern and western witnesses to Tatian’s
text, the Arabic harmony and the Latin Codex Fuldensis respectively.13 By the
end of the nineteenth century, there were critical editions of both harmonies,14
and there was a modern Latin translation of the Armenian version of Ephrem’s
commentary on the Diatessaron.15 The Middle Dutch Cambridge, Liège, and
Stuttgart harmonies had also emerged.16
8 Nicholas J. Zola, “Evangelizing Tatian: The Diatessaron’s Place in the Emergence of the Fourfold
Gospel Canon,” PRSt 43 (2016): p. 399.
9 See my essay, “Tatian’s Diatessaron and the Proliferation of Gospels,” in The Gospel of Tatian:
Exploring the Nature and Text of the Diatessaron, ed. Matthew R. Crawford and Nicholas J. Zola, RJT
3, (London: T&T Clark, 2019), pp. 111–41, which I summarize in §2.3.
10 William L. Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron: Its Creation, Dissemination, Significance, and History in
Scholarship, VCSupp 25 (Leiden: Brill, 1994).
11 Ulrich B. Schmid, “The Diatessaron of Tatian,” in The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary
Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis, ed. Bart D. Ehrman and Michael W. Holmes, NTTSD 42
(Leiden: Brill, 2013), pp. 115–42.
12 Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron, 92.
13 Johann Christian Zahn, “Ist Ammon oder Tatian Verfasser der ins Lateinische, Altfränkische
und Arabische übersetzten Evangelien- harmonie? und was hat Tatian bei seinem bekannten
Diatessaron oder Diapente vor sich gehabt und zum Grunde gelegt?” Analekten für das Studium der
exegetischen und systematischen Theologie 2.1 (1814): pp. 165–210.
14 Ernest Ranke, ed., Codex Fuldensis (Marburg and Leipzig: N. G. Elwert, 1868); Augustinus
Ciasca, ed., Tatiani Evangeliorum harmoniae arabice (Rome: Typographia Polyglotta, 1888).
15 Jean Baptiste Aucher and Georg Moesinger, eds., Evangelii concordantis expositio facta a Sancto
Ephraemo Doctore Syro (Venice: Lazari, 1876); the Armenian version had been published in 1836
(Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron, p. 114 n. 111).
16 J. Armitage Robinson (“Tatian’s Diatessaron and a Dutch Harmony,” The Academy 45 (1894):
pp. 249–50) mentioned the Cambridge and Liège harmonies; see also Jan Bergsma, De Levens van
Jezus in het Middlenederlandsch, 3 vols. Bibliotheek van Middelnederlandsch letterkunde 54, 55, 61
(Leiden: A. W. Sijthoff, 1895–8), which printed the Liège and Stuttgart harmonies on facing pages.
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Introduction 3
Evidence suggests that the macrolevel sequence of one pericope after another is
likely to be more stable than the microlevel sequence of one word after another,
since in the transmission of harmonies it takes a minor editorial intervention to
rearrange the words within an episode but a major intervention to relocate an
entire episode somewhere else in the narrative sequence.23
17 J. Hamlyn Hill, ed. and trans., The Earliest Life of Christ Ever Compiled from the Four Gospels
Being the Diatessaron of Tatian (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1894), pp. 31–6.
18 F. C. Burkitt, “Tatian’s Diatessaron and the Dutch Harmonies,” JTS 25 (1924): pp. 114–20.
19 Theodor Zahn, Forschungen zur Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons der altkirchlichen
Literatur, Teil I: Tatian’s Diatessaron (Erlangen: Andreas Deichert, 1881); Theodor Zahn, “Die
Geschichte von Tatians Diatessaron im Abendland,” NKZ 5 (1894): pp. 85–120; Petersen, Tatian’s
Diatessaron, pp. 126–9.
20 Burkitt, “Tatian’s Diatessaron,” pp. 124–30.
21 Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron, pp. 22–4; cf. Jan Joosten, “Tatian’s Sources and the Presentation of
the Jewish Law in the Diatessaron,” in The Gospel of Tatian: Exploring the Nature and Text of the
Diatessaron, ed. Matthew R. Crawford and Nicholas J. Zola, RJT 3 (London: T&T Clark, 2019), p. 62.
22 Tjitze Baarda, Essays on the Diatessaron (Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1994); Jan Krans and Joseph
Verheyden, eds., Patristic and Text-Critical Studies: The Collected Essays of William L. Petersen,
NTTSD 40 (Leiden: Brill, 2012).
23 Matthew R. Crawford and Nicholas J. Zola, “Introduction,” in The Gospel of Tatian: Exploring the
Nature and Text of the Diatessaron, ed. Matthew R. Crawford and Nicholas J. Zola, RJT 3 (London:
T&T Clark, 2019), p. 6.
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4 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
They add that a better understanding of the Diatessaron’s order would illuminate
“Tatian’s own editorial techniques and strategies.”24 Along these lines, I published
an article on the chronology of Jesus’s ministry in the Diatessaron (see also
§3.1),25 and this book offers the first full-scale investigation of the Diatessaron’s
narrative sequence.
My methodology is straightforward. I begin by comparing the order of
pericopes across every extant witness to the Diatessaron. For the western
witnesses, I have worked with images of the manuscripts rather than editions
wherever possible, because sometimes paratextual features can be just as
important as the text itself. When sources disagree in order, I use redaction
criticism to determine which one is more likely to be derivative.26 Arguments
from order have been called into question when studying the Synoptic Problem,27
since different theories can dictate a priori who changed whose order. Yet even in
Synoptic studies, there are discernible tendencies, such as Luke’s repositioning
events earlier in the narrative.28 The Diatessaron proves much easier, for there is
no question that Tatian was working with the fourfold gospel.29
The main question is how to sort the different witnesses to the Diatessaron. My
findings confirm the priority of the eastern sources. Accordingly, the western
witnesses attest a thoroughgoing recension of Tatian’s Gospel. The most crucial
aspect of my study is what to do when the western harmonies disagree among
themselves. The prevailing theory is that the Middle Dutch and Middle High
German Stuttgart, Liège, and Zurich harmonies directly descend from the Latin
Fuldensis text. Schmid writes:
Introduction 5
My book not only offers “better evidence” but also reveals the generalization
“broadly speaking” to be highly problematic. That is, the Middle Dutch and
Middle High German harmonies do not agree with Fuldensis at every turn. And
in rare, yet significant instances, the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich harmonies align
with the Arabic harmony in ways that cannot reasonably be explained as
accidental.
I am deeply indebted to Schmid’s painstaking analysis of the Latin harmony
tradition, and he has precisely demonstrated that medieval texts such as the
Munich harmony and Peter Comestor’s Historia Evangelica derive from Fuldensis
(see §1.3).31 And in some cases, Schmid and August den Hollander have shown
conclusively that medieval glossed manuscripts of the Fuldensis text explain
aspects of the Liège harmony.32 Conversely, I can show that the glossed
manuscripts fail to explain key differences in the Middle Dutch and Middle High
German harmonies’ narrative sequence, as compared with Fuldensis. If the same
redactional criteria are applied equally across the board, then sometimes these
vernacular harmonies preserve a more primitive sequence than Fuldensis does.
Moreover, while Hollander and Schmid have jettisoned the theory of an Old Latin
Diatessaron,33 I have discerned clear traces of the Old Latin Gospels preserved in
Middle Dutch, wording that cannot be explained by Fuldensis or any of its glossed
copies (see §6.4.2). In the end, I argue that Fuldensis and the Stuttgart–Liège–
Zurich harmonies are twin branches descending from a Western Archetype in
Old Latin; I leave open the possibility that the archetype also circulated in Greek.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of witnesses to the Diatessaron. I maintain the
traditional geographic distinction between eastern and western sources. Ephrem’s
commentary and the Arabic harmony are the most important eastern texts
preserving Tatian’s narrative sequence, and the western witnesses comprise
Fuldensis and its copies along with the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich harmonies. I also
6 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
defend the Dura fragment as a witness to the Diatessaron, one that potentially
bridges the eastern and western branches.34
Chapter 2 elucidates Tatian’s compositional practices. He had to know the
Gospels’ contents remarkably well via repetitive reading. Whether as an individual
or in a group, Tatian could manipulate four source texts simultaneously, and he
could have written on waxed tablets, bookrolls, and codices. I also calculate that
the Diatessaron would have been 78 percent as long as the fourfold gospel, which
would save approximately five days of copying. Tatian lived in an era of Gospel
proliferation, and I consider that his most reasonable expectation would have
been for his Gospel to be read alongside—not instead of—its eventually canonical
counterparts.
Chapter 3 identifies the main characteristics of the Diatessaron’s sequence. The
chronology of Jesus’s ministry is paramount, for the Diatessaron included all
the festivals from the Gospel of John, but Tatian rearranged the feasts and some
of the events surrounding them. Also, Tatian thematically clustered characters
and events.
Chapter 4 introduces quintessential changes common to all the western
sources. An anonymous recensionist methodically eliminated perceived
redundancies. The recensionist also relocated Jesus’s long mission discourse as an
extension of the Sermon on the Mount. Other alterations, interpolations, and
relocations confirm that the western witnesses are dependent on the narrative
sequence of the eastern ones.
Chapters 5 and 6 reveal a bifurcation in the western witnesses. The Latin Codex
Fuldensis and its copies fall to one side, and the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich
harmonies stand opposite. Chapter 5 identifies interpolations, relocations, and an
elimination in the Middle Dutch and Middle High German harmonies; in these
cases, the Fuldensis text is primary. Chapter 6, however, argues for the priority of
the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich harmonies at three crucial points. Without special
pleading, the priority of Fuldensis cannot be maintained in every instance.
Chapter 7 defends the Western Archetype as a sufficient hypothesis. In other
words, Fuldensis is the sibling, not the parent, of the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich
harmonies. Glossed copies of the Fuldensis text cannot explain characteristics of
the vernacular harmonies, and a lost Old Latin Gospel harmony deserves strong
reconsideration.
The Conclusion summarizes my findings and charts paths for further study. In
particular, the Stuttgart harmony needs to be considered right alongside Fuldensis
and the Arabic harmony in future Diatessaron studies. Finally, for reference
throughout this study, the Appendix provides a detailed chart comparing the
narrative sequences of the Arabic harmony, the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich har
monies, and Codex Fuldensis.
34 Carl H. Kraeling, ed., A Greek Fragment of Tatian’s Diatessaron from Dura, SD 3 (London:
Christophers, 1935).
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1
An Overview of Diatessaron Witnesses
For narrative sequence, the main eastern witnesses to the Diatessaron are the
Arabic harmony, Ephrem’s commentary, and Aphrahat’s Demonstrations.1
The Arabic harmony is the single most important Diatessaron witness in the
east.2 The oldest extant MS is from the Vatican Library (Vat.ar. 14) and is dated to
1 For Tatian’s wording, there are additional eastern witnesses, such as the commentaries on the
separate Gospels by Ishoʿdad of Merv in the ninth century and Dionysius (aka Jacob) bar Salibi in the
twelfth century.
2 See esp. Peter Joosse, “An Introduction to the Arabic Diatessaron,” OrChr 83 (1999): pp. 72–129;
see also William Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron: Its Creation, Dissemination, Significance, and History in
Scholarship, VCSupp 25 (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994), pp. 133–8. Hope W. Hogg’s English translation
appeared in Allan Menzies, ed., Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 9, 5th ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s,
1906), pp. 42–130. I do not object to the designation “Arabic Diatessaron,” since I argue that this
harmony is the closest we can get to Tatian’s narrative sequence. I nonetheless refer to it as the “Arabic
harmony” throughout this book.
Tatian’s Diatessaron: Composition, Redaction, Recension, and Reception. James W. Barker, Oxford University Press.
© James W. Barker 2021. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780192844583.003.0002
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 17/08/21, SPi
8 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
the twelfth or thirteenth century.3 Augustinus Ciasca used that MS along with a
fourteenth-century Vatican MS (Borg.ar. 250) for his 1888 edition.4 A.-S. Marmardji’s
1935 edition is based on additional MSS,5 some of which identify Ibn at ̣-Ṭayyib
(died 1043) as the translator. The source language was undoubtedly Syriac,
although the underlying text had been conformed to the Peshitta, so the Arabic
harmony does not necessarily reflect Tatian’s wording in every instance.6 More
importantly, the Arabic harmony is indispensable for discerning Tatian’s narrative
sequence.7 A new critical edition remains the foremost desideratum in
Diatessaron studies.
3 https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.ar.14.
4 Augustinus Ciasca, Tatiani Evangeliorum harmoniae arabice (Rome: Typographia Polyglotta, 1888).
5 A.-S. Marmardji, Diatessaron de Tatien (Beirut: Imprimerie Catholique Beyrouth, 1935).
6 Joosse (“An Introduction to the Arabic Diatessaron,” p. 127) points out that even when the
Arabic harmony diverges from Ephrem’s commentary due to the Peshitta’s influence, the harmony
may still attest Tatian’s text, so variants must be weighed case by case.
7 The main discrepancy among Arabic MSS is the placement of the genealogies. Vat.ar. 14 (et al.)
includes each one in its canonical location, whereas Borg.ar. 250 (et al.) appends the genealogies after
the ascension and conclusion to the harmony.
8 Christian Lange (Ephraem der Syrer: Kommentar zum Diatessaron, 2 vols., Fontes Christiani 54,
(Turnhout: Brepols, 2008), vol. 1, pp. 53–55, 81–106) makes a strong argument that the commentary
comes from a school associated with Ephrem rather than Ephrem himself.
9 For the Syriac, see Louis Leloir, ed. and trans., Saint Éphrem: Commentaire de l’Évangile
Concordant (Chester Beatty MS 709), 2 vols., CBM 8 (Dublin: Hodges Figgis & Co., 1963 [vol. 1];
Leuven: Peeters, 1990 [vol. 2, additional folios]); for the Armenian, see Louis Leloir, ed. and trans.,
Saint Éphrem: Commentaire de l’Évangile Concordant, version arménienne, 2 vols., CSCO 137, 145
(Leuven, 1953–4); for an English translation, see Carmel McCarthy, ed. and trans., Saint Ephrem’s
Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron: An English Translation of Chester Beatty Syriac MS 709 with
Introduction and Notes, Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement 2 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993).
10 Lange, Kommentar zum Diatessaron, vol. 1, pp. 56–66.
11 Louis Leloir, Le Témoignage d’Éphrem sur le Diatessaron, CSCO 227 (Leuven: CSCO, 1962).
12 F. C. Burkitt, “Tatian’s Diatessaron and the Dutch Harmonies,” JTS 25 (1924): pp. 115–16;
Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron, 138.
13 Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron, p. 135.
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I divide the western witnesses into two branches. One comprises the Latin Codex
Fuldensis, its copies, and its translation into Old High German. The other
comprises the Middle Dutch and Middle High German Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich
harmonies. These western witnesses are clearly related, but one of my main
contentions throughout this book is that these medieval vernacular harmonies do
not derive from exant Latin MSS as easily as recent scholarship has claimed.
10 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
19 Fulda Bonifatianus 1 (Victor-C odex). For an overview, see Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron,
pp. 45–51, 85–6. For the MS, see http://fuldig.hs-fulda.de/viewer/ppnresolver?id=PPN325289808.
The edition by Ernest Ranke (Codex Fuldensis (Marburg/Leipzig: N. G. Elwert, 1868)) will be superseded
by Nicholas Zola’s.
20 In the fourth century, Eusebius of Caesarea assembled a cross-referencing system of canons and
sections. Each Gospel was divided into hundreds of sections, and each section was sorted into ten
canons. Canon I identified stories or sayings appearing in all four Gospels, and Eusebius arranged
various combinations of material found in two or three Gospels (Canons II–IX), while Canon X
signified material unique to each Gospel. The definitive work on the Eusebian apparatus is now
Matthew R. Crawford, The Eusebian Canon Tables: Ordering Textual Knowledge in Antiquity, OECS
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019).
21 For the text and translation, see Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron, pp. 45–8.
22 Nicholas J. Zola, “Tatian’s Diatessaron in Latin,” Ph.D. diss., Baylor University, 2014, pp. 28–9.
23 St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek Cod. Sang. 56; http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/thumbs/csg/0056/
Sequence-262. See Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron, pp. 87–9. The edition by Eduard Sievers, Tatian:
lateinisch und altdeutsch, 2nd ed. (Münster: Paderborn, 1892) has been superseded by Achim Masser,
ed., Die lateinisch-althochdeutsche Tatianbilingue Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen Cod. 56, Studien zum
Althochdeutschen 25 (Göttingen: Vandenhoech & Ruprecht, 1994). The incomplete seventeenth-
century Old High German Bodleian MS 5125 (aka MS Junius 13) also follows the Fuldensis sequence.
24 Kassel Landesbibliothek 2° MS Theol. 31; https://orka.bibliothek.uni-kassel.de/viewer/image/
1327304807613/29/LOG_0011/. Edition: C. W. M. Grein, Die Quellen des Heliand. Nebst einem Anhang:
Tatians Evangelienharmonie herausgegeben nach dem Codex Cassellanus (Cassel: Theodor Kay, 1869).
25 Reims MS 46; http://beta.biblissima.fr/ark:/43093/mdatae6ce77b7fa875d40adc4069fc15abc
398a062a36.
26 Munich BSB Clm 23346 (microfilm).
27 Houghton Library (Harvard University) MS Richardson 25: https://id.lib.harvard.edu/curiosity/
medieval-renaissance-manuscripts/34-990098858370203941. I have not seen this MS cited in any
previous Diatessaron study.
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MS 15,28 Copenhagen GKS 1350 4°,29 Mazarin MS 292,30 Cambrai MS 361,31 and
British Library Add MS 21060.32
In the mid- twelfth century, Zacharias Chrysopolitanus (aka Zachary of
Besançon, died c.1155) wrote a commentary on the Fuldensis text.33 At least two
MSS are harmony texts intended to be read alongside Zachary’s commentary.
One is Cambridge Corp. Chr. Coll. MS 475,34 and another is Darmstadt MS
1003.35 There are dozens of MSS of Zachary’s commentary, which was one of the
earliest printed books, having been published in Strasbourg in 1473 and in
Cologne in 1535.
In the late-twelfth century, Peter Cantor (aka Peter the Chanter, died 1197)
wrote another commentary on the Fuldensis text. As Ulrich Schmid has
scrupulously shown, Cantor argued that the nativity sequence of the Fuldensis
text should be rearranged so that the magi arrive on Epiphany, when Jesus was
thirteen days old—after the circumcision on day eight but before Mary’s
purification on day forty.36 From the twelfth century onwards, the majority of
MSS of the Fuldensis text present Cantor’s revised sequence. These include Arras
MS 291,37 Laon MS 100, Bodleian MS 2761 (formerly Auct. D. 1. 8), Vatican MS
Reg. lat. 47,38 and BL Royal MSS 2 C IX, 2 D XXV, 3 B VIII, 3 B XV, 4 A IV,39 as
12 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
well as Leipzig MSS 192 and 193,40 Berlin MS Phill. 1707,41 and Brussels KBR MS
2748–9.42
The aforementioned Latin harmonies are listed in Table 1.1. As pertinent
genealogical traits, the table also notes which MSS are glossed, the century to
which each MS is dated, how many chapters into which the text is divided, and
which prologue appears first. Regarding the prologues, approximately half the
MSS follow Codex Fuldensis in placing Luke 1:1–4 ahead of John 1:1–5; the other
half place the Johannine prologue first, so that Luke 1:1–4 is grouped with Luke
1:5ff.; only Darmstadt MS 1003 lacks Luke 1:1–4.43 Except for these slight
variations in the order of prologues and nativity sequence, all of these MSS evince
the same macrostructure of pericopes. The glossed MSS factor heavily into later
chapters of this book when I scrutinize the relation between Fuldensis and the
Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich harmonies.
The oldest extant Middle Dutch witness is the Liège harmony (c.1280).44 The
preface identifies the work as a single story from the four Gospels translated from
Latin into Dutch. The preface also lists patterns of Gospel parallels, which are
undoubtedly influenced by the Eusebian canons and sections; yet the Eusebian
apparatus is not copied in any extant Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich harmony. The Liège
preface also mentions that the harmony adds explanations from “Augustine,
Jerome, Gregory, Bede, and many other good men.”45 Glosses are variously
labeled addicio, continuacio, expositio, and glosa, and numerous ones correspond
to the Glossa Ordinaria, which originated at Laon c.1100.46 However, the glosses
of this MS are not characteristic of the other MSS in the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich
tradition.
14 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
The next oldest Middle Dutch MS is the Stuttgart harmony (1332),47 and the
oldest Middle High German witness is the Zurich harmony (c.1300).48 The
Stuttgart and Zurich harmonies follow the same narrative sequence as the Liège
harmony. Although Codex Sangallensis had already translated the Fuldensis
harmony into Old High German in the ninth century, it is crucial to recognize
that the Middle High German harmonies do not descend from the Old High
German.49 In terms of narrative sequence, the Old High German always follows
Fuldensis, whereas the Middle High German and Middle Dutch harmonies all
diverge in the same ways (see Chapters 5 and 6).
Other MSS following the same narrative sequence as the Liège, Stuttgart, and
Zurich harmonies include the Haaren harmony,50 the Hague harmony,51 and the
(incomplete) Cambridge harmony,52 as well as Stadtbibliothek Berlin MSS germ.
qu. 167, 503, and 1091,53 along with Hamburg SUB Cod. theol. 1066, HAS
Cologne Best. 7004 (GB 4°) 198, and Brussels KBR MS II 2851, which breaks off
in the middle of ch. 205.54 The main difference among these harmonies is the
presence or absence of Mark’s blind man at Bethsaida (see §4.1.3). Also, except
for one minor deviation, Munich BSB Cgm 532 adheres to the Stuttgart–Liège–
Zurich sequence.55 Table 1.2 lists these twelve witnesses in addition to two others
which show greater degrees of variation.56 The table also lists the date, language,
and limits of the prologue; none of the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich harmonies includes
the Lukan prologue (see §6.1).57
47 Stuttgart Landesbibliothek Cod. theol. et phil. 8° 140 (digitization); Jan Bergsma, ed., De Levens
van Jezus in het Middlenederlandsch, Bibliotheek van Middelnederlandsch letterkunde 54, 55,
61, 3 vols. (Leiden: A. W. Sijthoff, 1895–1898); Bergsma’s edition prints the Liège and Stuttgart harmonies
on facing pages.
48 Zentralbibliothek Zürich MS C 170 (digitization); Christoph Gerhardt, ed., Diatessaron
Theodiscum, CSSN 1.4 (Leiden: Brill, 1970).
49 Contra Petersen’s stemma (Tatian’s Diatessaron, p. 490, i.e., Appendix II).
50 Tilburg Theologische Fakultät MS 1; C. C. de Bruin, Diatessaron Haarense, CSSN 1.2 (Leiden:
Brill, 1970). The fragility of the manuscript’s binding does not allow complete digitization, but I am
very grateful to Robert Arpots for facilitating a handful of images in a crucial passage.
51 Königl. Bibl. Cod. 73 H 9 (formerly K 28; M 421); I have not been able to view images of this MS,
but its variants are noted in Bergsma’s Stuttgart edition (1895–8) and Gerhardt’s Zurich edition (1970).
52 Cambridge University Library MS Dd. 12.25 (microfilm); C. C. de Bruin, ed., Diatessaron
Cantabrigiense, CSSN 1.3 (Leiden: Brill, 1970a).
53 SB Berlin MS germ. qu. 167: https://digital.staatsbibliothek- berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=
PPN780344146&PHYSID=PHYS_0005&DMDID=DMDLOG_0004; SB Berlin MS germ. qu. 503
(microfilm); SB Berlin MS germ. qu. 1091 (microfilm). To answer Petersen’s (Tatian’s Diatessaron,
p. 477) question about MS germ. qu. 1091, f. 120 completes the harmony with the ascension, and f. 121
begins a new passion harmony.
54 Hamburg SUB Cod. theol. 1066 (microfiche) and Brussels KBR MS II 2851 (microfilm); HAS
Cologne Best. 7004 (GB 4°) 198 (microfilm).
55 Munich BSB Cgm 532 (http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0002/bsb00022853/images/)
f. 25r locates Jesus’s evening exorcisms and healings at Peter’s house in Capernaum, where they occur in
the Synoptics; all the other western witnesses relocate this even to the widow’s house at Nain (see §4.3).
56 There are numerous other passion harmonies in Middle Dutch and Middle High German which
I have not investigated because they lack most of the points of comparison in the remainder of
my study.
57 Another witness, the Utrecht Harmony (MS 1009), has been lost, but A.A. den Hollander has
attempted a reconstruction: Virtuelle Vergangenheit: Die Textrekonstruktion einer verlorenen
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16 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
yet another chronology, according to which the holy family stayed in Egypt
between one and three weeks.59
The Nuremberg MS and Berlin MS germ. qu. 987 diverge from the standard
Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich sequence in another instance. The Western Archetype
characteristically eliminated redundancies, including the early Lukan anointing
(see §4.1.4). However, these two MSS reinserted the early Lukan anointing after
the Beelzebub controversy. In the Gospel of Luke, the anointing story transitions
to the women who followed Jesus (8:1–3) and the parables discourse (Luke 8:4ff.
and parallels). Accordingly, Nuremberg MS and Berlin MS germ. qu. 987 skipped
ahead several pericopes in the harmony so that the women who followed Jesus
and the parables discourse (as well as the rejection at Nazareth) followed the
anointing;60 then these harmonies went back to include the pericopes that had
been passed over. Table 1.4 illustrates these large-block rearrangements.
A final noteworthy aspect of the revised sequence in the Nuremberg MS and
Berlin MS germ. qu. 987 is that they include John 6:4, the reference to Passover
(literally called Easter), at the feeding of the five thousand.61 Although Tatian
included this chronological marker, the Western Archetype eliminated it, thereby
shortening Jesus’s ministry by nearly a year (see §3.1.2). In all likelihood, the
Passover reference in the western harmonies originated as a gloss.62
When I refer to ‘the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich harmonies’ throughout this book,
I am bracketing the moderate deviations of Nuremberg MS Cent. VI 51 and
Berlin MS germ. qu. 987, the one rearrangement in Munich BSB Cgm 532,
and the presence or absence of Mark 8:22–26 (see §4.1.3). Otherwise, the narra-
tive follows the same order in all the witnesses, so the sequence of the
59 According to the Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World (orbis.stanford.edu),
travel roundtrip from Jerusalem to Pelusiam took nine days by sea and eighteen days by land. Placing
the magi between the circumcision (day eight) and purification (day forty) reflects the liturgical date
of January 6 (day thirteen) for the magi’s visit.
60 As will be demonstrated throughout this study, there is a discernible redactional tendency to
revise a harmony’s narrative sequence by relocating episodes back to their canonical locus.
61 Nuremberg MS Cent. VI 51 f. 57v; Berlin MS germ. qu. 987 f. 49r. Hamburg SUB Cod. theol.
1066 had also included John 6:4, and Gerhardt (Leben Jhesu, 1969, pp. 18–21) groups these three MSS,
given shared variants in wording.
62 At the feeding of the five thousand, John 6:4 is glossed in the following Latin witnesses: Cambrai MS
361 f. 33v and Laon MS 100 f. 60r as well as BL Royal MSS 3 B VIII f. 26v, 3 B XV f. 47v, and 4 A IV f. 45v.
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63 Theo Coun, “De vertaling van de vier evangeliën,” in Boeken voor de eeuwigheid:
Middelnederlands geestelijk proza, ed. Thom Mertens (Amsterdam: Prometheus, 1993), pp. 87–107,
395–400. Coun found numerous untranslated Latin words in both the Stuttgart harmony and the
South Dutch version of the New Testament, but these words are translated into Dutch in the Liège
harmony. Accordingly, the text of the Stuttgart harmony—albeit not the artifact itself—must be older
than the text of the Liège harmony (Coun, “De vertaling van de vier evangeliën,” p. 106).
64 The so-called S-version comprises the Stuttgart and Hague harmonies (Bergsma, Levens van
Jezus, p. 14) as well as the Haaren harmony (de Bruin, Diatessaron Haarense, p. 4) along with SB
Berlin MS germ. qu. 1091 (f. 5r) and HAS Cologne Best. 7004 (GB 4°) 198 (f. 6v).
65 The glosses explain inter alia that Matthew’s genealogy has proceeded downwards, but that Luke
proceeds upwards from Jesus to Adam; a gloss adds, “But since many of them have been named by
Saint Matthew, it is not necessary that they are renamed here’ (de Bruin, Diatessaron Leodiense,
pp. 14–15). Compared with the Liège harmony, BL Add MS 26663 uses same initial gloss on f. 119r and
a similar concluding one on f. 119v.
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18 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
Zurich harmony and its allies place Matthew’s genealogy (ch. 8; Matt 1:1–17)
between Luke 1:80 (ch. 7) and Joseph’s dream (ch. 9; Matt 1:18–25) without
glosses and without the Lukan supplement.66 In terms of parsimony, the Stuttgart
harmony best preserves the Middle Dutch and Middle High German harmonies’
Archetype in this instance.
On the basis of the wording of test passages (as opposed to narrative sequence),
Elisabeth Meyer diagrams this tradition as follows.67 The archetype was a Middle
Dutch translation of a glossed Latin harmony. The S-version, represented by the
Stuttgart harmony and others, preserved the text but removed the glosses found
in the archetype. The L-version, represented solely by the Liège harmony, both
condensed and expanded the text of the archetype while reproducing its glosses.
The L/S-version, represented by the Zurich harmony and others, used the text of
the Liège harmony but—like the Stuttgart harmony—removed the glosses.
A glossed Vorlage undeniably stands atop the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich tradition,
and in Meyer’s words, “ . . . am Anfang waren auch die Glossen.”68 The Vorlage is
assumed to be a glossed MS of the Fuldensis text. However, by focusing on
narrative sequence, my findings show that not only the text but also the glosses of
the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich Archetype stand somewhat removed from the
Fuldensis text. In other words, extant glossed MSS of the Fuldensis text cannot
explain all the narrative sequential differences from the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich
harmonies. It is thus methodologically unsound to subsume the Stuttgart
harmony under Fuldensis from the outset.
66 The so-called L/S-version comprises the Zurich (Gerhardt, Diatessaron Theodiscum, 8) and
Cambridge (de Bruin, Diatessaron Cantabrigiense, 4) harmonies, as well as SB Berlin MSS germ. qu.
167 (f. 176r), 503 (f. 3r), and 987 (f. 5v), along with SB Nuremberg MS Cent. VI 51 (f. 6) and Hamburg
SUB Cod. theol. 1066 (f. 133v). There is one short gloss between Matt 1:17 and 18 in SB Berlin MSS
germ. qu. 503, but this MS lacks the L-version’s longer glosses before Matt 1:1 and after Matt 1:18.
67 Meyer, “Schone Historie und Ewangelien,” p. 247; Meyer’s stemma is more accurate than Cebus
Cornelis de Bruin’s (Middelnederlandse vertalingen van het Neiuwe Testament (Groningen:
J. B. Wolters, 1934), p. 535), followed by Gerhardt (Leben Jhesu, 1969, p. 53), which subsumed the
S-version under the L/S-version.
68 Meyer, “Schone Historie und Ewangelien,” p. 248; Meyer’s ellipsis and italics.
69 Giuseppe Messina, ed., Diatessaron Persiano, BibOr 14 (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute,
1951); on the Persian harmony’s independence, see Tjitze Baarda, “In Search of the Diatessaron Text,”
in Early Transmission of Words of Jesus: Thomas, Tatian, and the Text of the New Testament: A
Collection of Studies, ed. J. Helderman and S. J. Noorda (Amsterdam: VU Boekhandel/Uitgeverij,
1983), pp. 65–89.
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proceeds through Sukkoth (2.8), Hanukkah (2.38), the unnamed festival from
John 5 plus relocated Sukkoth material (2.47–57) and Jesus’s dialogue with
Nicodemus (2.58); finally, there is a single Passover, which coincides with the pas-
sion and includes Jesus’s temple disruption (3.37). This narrative chronology
bears no resemblance to that of the Arabic harmony or the Fuldensis and the
Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich harmonies. The same goes for the ninth-century Heliand,
a much-abbreviated life of Christ that includes a single Passover.70
Conversely, the Middle Italian harmonies are derived from Fuldensis. These
are the Tuscan and Venetian harmonies, both of which follow Peter Cantor’s
liturgical nativity sequence.71 There are more than two dozen copies of the Tuscan
harmony dated to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and this harmony closely
follows the Fuldensis sequence throughout. There is only one MS of the Venetian
harmony, Venice Codex Marciano 4975, which is dated to the thirteenth or
fourteenth century. Both Middle Italian harmonies typically proceed block by
block, and they must be based on pre-existing vernacular translations of the
Gospels. Thus, they often lack the Fuldensis text’s extensive harmonizations
within a paragraph or even a single sentence, so the Middle Italian harmonies
cannot be trusted for Tatian’s wording. They also diverge in sequence on occasion,
and I occasionally cite them for comparison. Changes in the Middle Italian
harmonies by no means reveal what Tatian did, but the alterations do show what
medieval harmonists were doing—for example, relocating a story to its canonical
locus if the Fuldensis harmony had placed it elsewhere. The Middle Italian
harmonies, therefore, provide helpful contrast with the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich
harmonies, which consistently resist these types of relocations.
In the late twelfth century, Peter Comestor compiled the Historia Evangelica,72
the Gospels portion of the Historia Scholastica. For the Gospels, Comestor used
the Fuldensis sequence as a framework, but he also worked closely with
Augustine’s treatise on the harmony of the Gospels. Accordingly, the Historia
Evangelica reveals a marked reorientation towards the Johannine chronology; for
example, the wedding at Cana and the first temple disruption occur as soon as
Jesus begins calling disciples.73
70 James E. Cathey, ed., Hêliand: Text and Commentary, Medieval European Studies II (Morgantown:
West Virginia University Press, 2002).
71 Venanzio Todesco and Alberto Vaccari, eds., Il Diateesaron in Volgare Italiano, Studi e Testi 81
(Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1938).
72 Migne PL 198: 1537–1644.
73 After narrating the baptism and temptation, Tatian used John 1:35–51 to begin Jesus’s calling of
the disciples; Fuldensis and the Liège–Stuttgart–Zurich harmonies stop there, while the Arabic har-
mony continues with the wedding at Cana (John 2:1–11); yet none of the strongest witnesses to the
Diatessaron includes an early temple eviction.
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20 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
74 There are four MSS, dated to the fourteenth century: Munich BSB Clm 7946, 10025, 23977, and
Brussels Bibl. Royale MS 11053–4 (microfilm); for a very helpful comparison of the sequence of
Fuldensis, Comestor’s Historia Evangelica, and the Munich harmony, see Ulrich B. Schmid, Unum Ex
Quattuor: Eine Geschichte der lateinischen Tatianüberlieferung, VL 37 (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder,
2005) pp. 283–300, i.e., Appendix I.
75 For example, Schmid (Unum ex Quattuor, 171–2) perceptively noticed that the Munich har-
mony aligns with Fuldensis against Comestor in the placement of Matt 4:18–22.
76 There are two MSS, dated to the fifteenth century: Munich BSB Clm 721 (ff. 96r–169v including
canon tables) and 5599 (microfilm).
77 For the rhyming Bible, see J. David, ed., Rymbybel van Jacob van Maerlant, vol. 2 (Brussels:
M. Hayez, 1859); the Gospels are found on pp. 381–691, i.e., lines 20945–27102. On History Bibles,
see Maria C. Sherwood-Smith, Studies in the Reception History of the Historia Scholastica of Peter
Comestor: The Schwarzwälder Predigten, the Weltchronik of Rudolf von Ems, the Scholastica of Jacob
van Maerlant and the Historiebijbel van 1360, Medium Ævum Monographs, new series 20 (Oxford:
The Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature, 2000), pp. 147–64, i.e., ch. 5.
78 Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron, p. 480. 79 Petersen, Tatian’s Diatessaron, p. 475.
80 BL Add MS 26663 (microfilm). Liège MS 2635 may be another example of this harmony;
J.A.A.M. Biemans (Codices manuscripti sacrae scripturae Neerlandicae, CSSN (Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1984), pp. 62–3) describes this MS as a Middle Dutch Gospel harmony of the L/S type, with the
prologue to the four Gospels by the translator of 1360.
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surrounding the Nicodemus discourse (f. 157r). This History Bible is a fascinating
example of a text that intentionally intertwined the Latin and Middle Dutch
branches, but it is clearly derivative and cannot uncover the redactional work of
Tatian or the anonymous recensionist underlying the western Diatessaronic
tradition.
Clement of Llanthony’s twelfth-century Concordia quattuor evangelistarum
does not share the characteristic sequences of the Diatessaron (see Chapter 3) and
should be considered almost entirely independent.81 For example, all of John
1:35–3:36 follows the baptism and temptation—a more pronounced Johannine
chronology than even the Munich harmony or Hermann Zoest’s provides.82
Moreover, Clement includes two temple disruptions, and his festival sequence
follows the Fourth Gospel’s precisely, with none of the characteristic alterations
shared by the Arabic harmony, Fuldensis, and the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich
harmonies. Clement’s text was a source for the Anglo-Norman harmony,83 which
was in turn the source for the Pepysian harmony,84 so these should not be
considered witnesses to Tatian’s harmony.
Clement’s harmony also served as a source for SB Berlin Theol. Lat. Fol. 7,
which is occasionally cited in Diatessaron studies;85 to my knowledge, Clement’s
influence has not been observed in previous research. The fifteenth-century
Berlin MS begins with John 1:1–5, 14, 16–18, which is followed by Matthew’s
genealogy (1:1–18a) before transitioning to Luke 1:5ff. That is, SB Berlin Theol.
Lat. Fol. 7 matches Clement’s idiosyncratic opening sequence exactly. At the same
time, the Berlin MS later inserts Luke’s sermon at Nazareth without Jesus’s
immediate rejection (see §3.2), thereby aligning with the Fuldensis sequence
against Clement’s harmony. A full description of its sequence lies beyond the
scope of my project, but at this point it is sufficient to identify SB Berlin Theol.
Lat. Fol. 7 as a derivative harmony dependent upon Clement of Llanthony and
the Fuldensis harmony. The Berlin MS is thus excluded as a primary Diatessaron
witness.
81 Clement of Llanthony was, however, familiar with the work of Zacharias Chrysopolitanus;
see J. Rendel Harris, “The Gospel Harmony of Clement of Llanthony,” JBL 43 (1924): p. 354.
82 Paul Smith is planning an edition of Clement’s harmony; for now, he has made a working copy of
the text available online: http://www.wycliffitebible.org/4.html.
83 Brent A. Pitts, The Anglo-Norman Gospel Harmony: A Translation of the Estoire de l’Evangile
(Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral, C6.1.1, Liber niger), Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies
453 (Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2014).
84 Pitts, Anglo-Norman Gospel Harmony, p. 17; Margery Goates, ed., The Pepysian Gospel Harmony
(London: Oxford University Press, 1922).
85 For example, Ulrich Schmid (“Lateinische Evangelienharmonien—Die Konturen der abendlän-
dischen Harmonietradition,” in Evangelienharmonien des Mittelalters, ed. Christoph Burger, August
den Hollander, and Ulrich Schmid, Studies in Theology and Religion 9 (Assen: Royal Van Gorcum,
2004), p. 26) describes SB Berlin Theol. Lat. Fol. 7 as a “single example of an anonymous harmony”
that is unrelated to the Diatessaron.
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22 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
86 Pasquale Orsini and Willy Clarysse (“Early New Testament Manuscripts and Their Dates: A
Critique of Theological Paleography,” ETL 88 (2012): p. 472) date the Dura fragment (aka GA 0212) to
175–225 ce.
87 Carl H. Kraeling, ed., A Greek Fragment of Tatian’s Diatessaron from Dura, SD 3 (London:
Christophers, 1935).
88 D. C. Parker, D. G. K. Taylor, and M. S. Goodacre, “The Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony,” in
Studies in the Early Text of the Gospels and Acts: The Papers of the First Birmingham Colloquium on the
Textual Criticism of the New Testament, ed. David G. K. Taylor (Piscataway: Gorgias, 2013), pp.
192–228. Whereas Kraeling compared the Dura fragment with the Arabic harmony, Codex Fuldensis,
and the Liège harmony (Greek Fragment of Tatian’s Diatessaron pp. 19–35), Parker, Taylor, and
Goodacre considered such comparison inadequate (p. 199). Thus, they added the Tuscan, Venetian,
Persian, and Pepysian harmonies, as well as the Heliand for comparison (pp. 216–25). As I have
shown above (see §1.3), these are distantly related or unrelated harmonies, so the Dura fragment’s
disagreements with those sources do not support the conclusion that it “is not a part of Tatian’s
Diatessaron” (p. 228).
89 Jan Joosten, “The Dura Parchment and the Diatessaron,” VC 57 (2003): pp. 159–75;
Matthew R. Crawford, “The Diatessaron, Canonical or Non-canonical? Rereading the Dura Fragment,”
NTS 62 (2016): pp. 253–77.
90 Ian N. Mills, “The Wrong Harmony: Against the Diatessaronic Character of the Dura Parchment,”
in The Gospel of Tatian: Exploring the Character and Text of the Diatessaron, ed. Matthew R. Crawford
and Nicholas J. Zola, RJT 3 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2019), pp. 145–70.
91 Mills, “Wrong Harmony,” 154.
92 Mills, “Wrong Harmony,” 163; also, Mills too simplistically attributes significant redactional
activity to Victor’s scribe (p. 160) without considering whether the scribe faithfully followed a Vorlage,
which was already a recension of Tatian’s harmony.
93 Mills, “Wrong Harmony,” 169.
94 My English translation of the Arabic harmony is based on Marmardji’s French translation
(Diatessaron de Tatien, vol. 2, pp. 500–3).
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John 19:31–37
. . . of Zebedee (Matt 27:56) . . . of Zebedee (Matt 27:56)
and Salome (Mark 15:40) and Salome (Mark 15:40) . . . and Salome (Mark 15:40),
and many others who and the women of those the mother of the sons of
followed with him to who followed with him from Zebedee (Matt 27:56). And
Jerusalem (Mark 15:41) the Galilee watching they were following him in
to see these things the crucified one Galilee (Mark 15:41).
(Luke 23:49). (Luke 23:49). John 19:31–37
And when Friday evening It was the day of preparation, When it became evening,
had come, for it was the the Sabbath dawned (Luke
beginning of the Sabbath 23:54). Becoming evening
(Mark 15:42), (Matt 27:57) on the day of
preparation that is before
Sabbath (Mark 15:42),
there came a rich man (Matt a person approached (Matt there came a rich person
27:57), a noble (Mark 15:43 27:57), being a council (Matt 27:57), a noble of the
Greek or Luke 23:50 Syriac) member (Luke 23:50) from council (Mark 15:43) from
from Ar-rama, a city of Erinmathaia, a city of the Arimathea, a city of the Jews
Judah (Luke 23:51) named Jews (Luke 23:51), named (Luke 23:51), named Joseph.
Joseph; and he was a good Joseph, good, just (Luke He was good and just (Luke
man and just (Luke 23:50), 23:50), 23:50)
and he was a disciple of being a disciple of Jesus, but and who himself (Matt
Jesus, but he hid himself due hidden due to fear of the 27:57) was a secret disciple of
to fear of the Jews (John Jews (John 19:38). And he Jesus due to fear of the Jews
19:38). And he did not agree anticipated the kingdom of (John 19:38), who
with the accusers in their God (Luke 23:51b). This one anticipated the kingdom of
motive and their deeds. And had not been in agreement God (Luke 23:51b). This one
he anticipated the kingdom with the council . . . (Luke had not agreed with the
of God (Luke 23:51). 23:51a). council and their deeds
(Luke 23:51a).
The Arabic harmony is the Dura fragment’s nearest relative. Both witnesses
place Salome after the mother of the sons of Zebedee, and the conjunction “and”
differentiates these two women; Fuldensis reverses the order and omits the
conjunction so that Salome is identified as Zebedee’s wife.95 The Arabic harmony
combines Mark 15:41 with Luke 23:49 to describe the other women who had
come from Galilee, whereas the Dura fragment uses only Luke 23:49, and
Fuldensis uses only Mark 15:41. In the ensuing sentence, Dura more intricately
combines Luke 23:54, Matt 27:57, and Mark 15:42 regarding Sabbath preparations,
whereas the Arabic harmony uses only Mark 15:42. Fuldensis simply refers to
95 Like Fuldensis, the Liège (ch. 230) and Stuttgart/Zurich (ch. 226) harmonies place Salome
before the mother of Zebedee’s children; however, like the Arabic harmony and Dura fragment, the
medieval Dutch and German harmonies do not identify Salome as Zebedee’s wife.
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24 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
evening, but this notice comes after the description of Jesus’s side being pierced
from John 19:31–37. The Arabic harmony had already included that detail, and
Dura apparently did so as well.96
The descriptions of Joseph of Arimathea are also similar. Most distinctively,
however, the Dura fragment does not describe Joseph as rich. This may well
reflect Tatian’s original decision, since he coded wealthy characters negatively and
grouped them together at the Feast of Tabernacles (see §3.5).97 The Arabic har-
mony calls Joseph “a noble” (=)ܡܝܩܪܐ, Dura calls him “a council member”
(βουλευτ[ής]), and Fuldensis calls him “a noble of the council” (nobilis decurio).98
For the rest of the information about Joseph of Arimathea, however, the Dura
fragment and Codex Fuldensis align against the Arabic harmony by reversing the
two clauses in Luke 23:51, although all three witnesses ultimately include the
same information.
The Dura fragment is not identical to the Arabic harmony or to Fuldensis, but
that does not mean Dura is unrelated. Fuldensis and the Arabic harmony are
undoubtedly related to one another, even though they are far from identical, and
the Dura fragment shares distinctive traits with each of them. Matthew Crawford
helpfully points out that the “changes we see in Codex Fuldensis and in the Arabic
harmony may all be interpreted as attempts to bring Tatian’s version back in line
with the standard gospel text.”99
At the very least, it is inaccurate to describe Dura as “another gospel harmony
altogether.”100 I say so because there are, in fact, unrelated harmonies available for
comparison. The Munich harmony and Hermann Zoest’s are independent of each
other, but both are dependent on Peter Comestor, who was himself dependent on
96 Mills (“Wrong Harmony,” p. 164) argues too strongly that the commentary unambiguously
aligns with Fuldensis against the Arabic harmony and Dura fragment for the timing of the piercing of
Jesus’s side. It is undeniable that Ephrem first mentions Jesus’s acquaintances standing at a distance
(Luke 23:49; Comm. Diat. 21.8), followed by the piercing with the lance (John 19:34; Comm. Diat.
21.10), which precedes the introduction of Joseph of Arimathea (Luke 23:51; Comm. Diat. 21.20). Yet
this sequence should not be ossified, given the sometimes sporadic nature of the commentary. In
between the piercing of Jesus’s side and Joseph’s request for Jesus’s corpse, both the Syriac and
Armenian versions of the commentary (21.18) have Ephrem repeat the western interpolation of the
forgiveness saying (Luke 23:34; Arabic 52.6), which had been quoted earlier (21.3). Jesus could not
have uttered the saying after the piercing of his side (John 19:33–34; Arabic 52.6), so Ephrem is not
providing a running commentary in this instance. In fact, this chapter of the commentary began by
flashing forwards to Jesus’s dying words, “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46; Comm.
Diat. 21.1; Arabic 52.7).
97 Joosten (“Dura Parchment and the Diatessaron,” p. 172) did not note the gathering of rich men
at the Feast of Sukkoth, but he did surmise that Tatian would omit Joseph’s wealth on the basis of the
discussion of wealth and poverty in Oratio ad Graecos 11.
98 In Greek the phrase “being a council member” (βουλευτὴς ὑπάρχων) occurs in Luke 23:50, as
compared with the bare “council member” (βουλευτής) in Mark 15:43. In Syriac, the couplet “noble
member of the council” ( )ܡܝܩܪܐ ܒܘܠܘܛܐoccurs in the Old Syriac Sinaitic and Peshitta versions of
Mark 15:43, as compared with the single term for councilman (spelled ܒܠܘܛܐor )ܒܘܠܘܛܐin the Old
Syriac Sinaitic and Curetonian as well as Peshitta versions of Luke 23:50.
99 Crawford, “Diatessaron, Canonical or Non-canonical?” p. 275.
100 Contra Mills, “Wrong Harmony,” p. 145.
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101 Munich harmony: Munich BSB Clm 10025 f. 76v; Herrmann Zoest: Clm 721 f. 160.
102 Mills, “Wrong Harmony,” p. 154.
103 Joosten, “Dura Parchment and the Diatessaron,” p. 166.
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26 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
There were there many There were there many women Standing at a distance were all
women at a distance at a distance (Matt 27:55) those known to him and many
who had followed him watching (Mark 15:40) who who had followed him from
from Galilee ministering had followed Jesus from Galilee Galilee; they saw these things
to him. Among them ministering to him (Matt (Luke 23:49). Among them
were Mary Magdalene, 27:55). Among them were were Mary Magdalene, and
and Mary mother of Mary Magdalene, Mary mother Mary the mother of Jacob the
Jacob and Joseph, and of Jacob the Less and Joseph, Less and Joseph, and Salome
the mother of the sons and Salome (Mark 15:40), and (Mark 15:40) the mother of
of Zebedee (Matt the mother of the sons of the sons of Zebedee (Matt
27:55–56). Zebedee (Matt 27:56). And 27:56). And when they were
when they were in Galilee, they in Galilee, they followed him
followed him and ministered to and ministered to him, and
him and many others who many others likewise came up
likewise came up with him to to Jerusalem with him (Mark
Jerusalem (Mark 15:41). 15:41).
John 19:31–37 John 19:31–37 John 19:31–37
When it became evening When it became evening (Matt After this (John 19:38), when
(Matt 27:57), look, a 27:57), for it was the day of it became evening, for it was
man named Joseph who preparation, which is before the the day of preparation, which
was a member of the Sabbath (Mark 15:42), there is before the Sabbath (Mark
council, a man good and came a rich person from 15:42), look (Luke 23:56),
just—this one did not Arimathea (Matt 27:57), a city there came a rich person
agree with the council of the Jews (Luke 23:51), named named Joseph (Matt 27:57),
and their deeds—from Joseph (Luke 23:50), a noble of who was a noble of the council
Arimathea, a city of the the council (Mark 15:43), a (Mark 15:43), a man good and
Jews, who even himself man good and just (Luke just—this one had not agreed
anticipated the kingdom 23:50), who himself was a with the council and their
of God (Luke 23:50–51), disciple of Jesus (Matt 27:57), deeds—from Arimathea, a
who was a disciple of secretly due to fear of the Jews city of the Jews, who
Jesus (Matt 27:57), (John 19:38), anticipating the anticipated even himself the
secretly due to fear of kingdom of God (Luke 23:51). kingdom of God (Luke
the Jews (John 19:38). This one had not agreed with 23:50–51). This one
This one went to Pilate the council and their deeds approached (Luke 23:52) and
and asked for the body (Luke 23:51), and he boldly boldly went in to Pilate and
of Jesus (Matt 27:58). (Mark 15:43) went to Pilate asked for the body of Jesus
(Matt 27:58//Luke 23:52) and (Mark 15:43). For he was a
asked for the body of Jesus disciple of Jesus, but secretly
(Matt 27:58//Mark 15:43//Luke due to fear of the Jews (John
23:52). 19:38).
Table 1.7 The Dura Fragment’s Gospel transitions compared with other harmonies
Arabic Dura Fuldensis Tuscan Venetian Munich Hermann Zoest Clement of Llanthony
Matt 27:56 Matt 27:56 Mark 15:40 Matt 27:55 Luke 23:49
Mark 15:40–41 Mark 15:40 Matt 27:56 Matt 27:56 Matt 27:55–56 Matt 27:56 Mark 15:40 Mark 15:40
Luke 23:49 Luke 23:49 Mark 15:41 Mark 15:41 Matt 27:55 Matt 27:56
28 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
fragment should be considered a bridge between the eastern and western witnesses
to Tatian’s harmony.
1.5 Summary
The Arabic harmony is the single most important witness to the narrative
sequence of Tatian’s Diatessaron. The significance of Ephrem’s commentary lies in
its independent corroboration of the Arabic harmony’s sequence in numerous
instances. Conversely, there are times when Ephrem’s commentary skips episodes
or mentions something out of order, so it cannot by itself establish Tatian’s order
completely. Codex Fuldensis is the most important Latin witness, and all of its
copies keep the order of pericopes intact. The glossed copies of the Fuldensis text
are interrelated, and they purportedly explain differences in the vernacular
harmonies, particularly the Stuttgart–Liège–Zurich harmonies. In subsequent
chapters I will show where this is the case, but I will also show where divergences
in the medieval Dutch and German narrative sequence cannot be explained by
glosses in the Latin harmonies. Against the recent trend in Diatessaron
scholarship, in the end I place the Stuttgart harmony on an equal footing with
Fuldensis when it comes to the order of pericopes in the western recension of
Tatian’s Diatessaron.
I end with a note of caution when it comes to sorting texts: the language of a
given harmony is not ipso facto a genetic marker. Petersen mistakenly assumed
that the Middle High German harmonies descended from the Old High German
ones. I have found, though, that the Old High German harmonies follow the
order of pericopes in Fuldensis, whereas the Middle High German harmonies
diverge in several significant cases. By examining a harmony’s macrostructure,
one can always find its nearest relative. For example, a cursory inspection of SB
Berlin Theol. Lat. Fol. 7 revealed it to be a hybrid of the Fuldensis text and
Clement of Llanthony’s harmony. There may be numerous medieval harmonies
that have not yet been studied, for they could be catalogued as Gospels or
lectionaries rather than harmonies.104 For any future discovery, then, narrative
sequence should be the primary means of determining whether or how a harmony
is related to the Diatessaron. The Arabic harmony, Codex Fuldensis, and the
Stuttgart harmony would be the most useful points of comparison.
104 In this chapter, I have adduced three copies of the Fuldensis text that I have not seen previously
cited, i.e., Houghton MS Richardson 25, Brussels KBR MS 2748–49, and Darmstadt MS 1003; BnF MS
Lat. 11964 should also be consulted.
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2
Tatian’s Compositional Practices
This section explains how Tatian produced the Diatessaron.3 Regarding source
texts, he employed the mental processes of repetitive reading, recollection, and
copying via visual contact; Tatian might even have constructed a rudimentary
cross-referencing system. For the material production of his Gospel, Tatian could
have used waxed tablets, bookrolls, and codices. Considering the time it took to
write by hand, cannibalizing bookrolls of his sources, particularly the Gospel of
John, would have been a surprisingly efficient means of drafting a harmony.
Tatian’s Diatessaron: Composition, Redaction, Recension, and Reception. James W. Barker, Oxford University Press.
© James W. Barker 2021. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780192844583.003.0003
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30 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
It is conceivable that Tatian made his own copies of the fourfold gospel at
some point,4 and he achieved excellent memory control over their contents via
repetitive reading. But that is not to say he had the texts memorized, as some
scholars posit for the Ebionites’ and Justin Martyr’s harmonizations.5 To be sure,
there are extraordinary examples of textual recollection in antiquity: Augustine
marveled at his friend Simplicius, who could recite Virgil’s Aeneid forward and
backward (Nat. orig. 4.7.9; PL 44).6 That was the exception rather than the rule,
however. Quintilian writes about students memorizing famous sayings and selec-
tions by visual copying and repeated reading (Inst. 1.1.36; 2.7.2; LCL 124–127),
but students were not typically learning entire literary works by heart.7 I consider
visual contact the modus operandi behind Justin’s harmonizations, the Ebionite
harmony, and the Diatessaron.
Extant witnesses reveal the Diatessaron’s wording to be conglomerations of
verbatim extracts from the fourfold gospel. The scale of identical wording required
ongoing visual contact with four source texts. One way of combining sources was
dictation in a group setting.8 William Johnson has discerned comparable schol-
arly projects at Oxyrhynchus.9 One group collected and studied works of classical
drama,10 and there are noteworthy examples where a single papyrus evinces
annotations from multiple contemporaneous hands.11 According to this model,
Tatian could have led a group in collecting, studying, and comparing the earlier
Gospels before writing one of their own. Four individuals could each read from
one of the Gospels at a time, and a fifth person could draft the harmony, but
numerous other scenarios involving more or fewer participants would be equally
plausible.
It is also plausible for Tatian to have worked by himself. Scholars typically
object to this possibility because they presume it too difficult to maintain visual
contact with multiple source texts simultaneously.12 It is often observed that there
4 For building a personal library by making copies yourself, see George W. Houston, Inside Roman
Libraries: Book Collections and Their Management in Antiquity, Studies in the History of Greece and
Rome (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2014), pp. 13–14.
5 John S. Kloppenborg, “Macro- C onflation, Micro- C onflation, Harmonization and the
Compositional Practices of the Synoptic Writers,” ETL 95 (2019): pp. 635–8.
6 Mary Carruthers, The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture, 2nd ed., Cambridge
Studies in Medieval Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), pp. 21–2; the Aeneid is
comparable in length to the fourfold gospel, and Simplicius also knew Cicero’s Orations by heart.
7 Contra Alan Kirk, Q in Matthew: Ancient Media, Memory, and Early Scribal Transmission of the
Jesus Tradition, LNTS 564 (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016), pp. 96–7.
8 Sharon Lea Mattila, “A Question Too Often Neglected,” NTS 41 (1995): p. 215; Kloppenborg,
“Macro-Conflation, Micro-Conflation, Harmonization,” p. 639.
9 William A. Johnson, Readers and Reading Culture in the High Roman Empire: A Study of Elite
Communities, Classical Culture and Society (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 179–92,
i.e., ch. 9.
10 Johnson, Readers and Reading Culture, pp. 180–3.
11 Johnson, Readers and Reading Culture, pp. 186–7.
12 e.g., Mattila, “Question Too Often Neglected,” p. 215; Kloppenborg, “Macro-Conflation, Micro-
Conflation, Harmonization,” p. 639.
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13 Jocelyn Penny Small, Wax Tablets of the Mind: Cognitive Studies of Memory and Literacy in
Classical Antiquity (London: Routledge, 1997), p. 167; Kirk, Q in Matthew, p. 54; Kloppenborg,
“Macro-Conflation, Micro-Conflation, Harmonization,” p. 636.
14 T. C. Skeat, “The Use of Dictation in Ancient Book Production,” Proceedings of the British
Academy 42 (1956): pp. 179–208, repr. in J. K. Elliott, ed., The Collected Biblical Writings of T.C. Skeat,
NovTSup 113 (Leiden: Brill 2004), p. 14.
15 Contra Kloppenborg’s (“Macro-Conflation, Micro-Conflation, Harmonization,” 636) claim that
scrolls required two hands and were thus “too unwieldy to use for copying purposes.” I have used
Michael W. Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers, 3rd ed. (2007).
16 Theodor Birt, Die Buchrolle in der Kunst: archäologisch-antiquarische Untersuchungen zum
antiken Buchwesen (Leipzig: Teubner, 1907), pp. 155–70.
17 For a table of column widths in prose bookrolls at Oxyrhynchus, see William A. Johnson,
Bookrolls and Scribes in Oxyrhynchus (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004), pp. 162–74.
18 For comparison, an open copy of The Critical Edition of Q (ed. James M. Robinson, Paul
Hoffmann, and John S. Kloppenborg; Hermeneia; Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000) measures
46 cm across.
19 e.g., R. S. O. Tomlin, “ ‘The Girl in Question’: A New Text from Roman London,” Britannia 34
(2003): p. 41; Elizabeth A. Meyer, “Roman Tabulae, Egyptian Christians, and the Adoption of the Codex,”
Chiron 37 (2007): pp. 295–347; Michael Alexander Speidel, Die römischen Schreibtafeln von Vindonissa:
Lateinische Texte des miltärischen Alltags und ihre geschichtliche Bedeutung, Veröffentlichungen der
Gesellschaft Pro Vindonissa 12 (Brugg: Gesellschaft Pro Vindonissa, 1996), p. 24.
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32 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
pages measure 16 × 10 cm. Like codices, tablets were bound inside the long edge.
Unlike codices, tablets were typically written horizontally with top and bottom
pages, not transversa with left and right pages. A writing area of 12 × 10 cm com-
fortably fitted in 300 letters.20 Accordingly, even with one page intentionally left
blank, 2,000 letters could fit in the pentaptych depicted in a wall painting at
Herculaneum.21
It is inaccurate to call tablets unwieldy,22 and it is misleading to allege their
limited capacity.23 Works were drafted on waxed tablets from the Hellenistic
period through the Middle Ages, and Quintilian’s Institutio Oratoria is longer
than the entire New Testament; three of Quintilian’s books exceed the length of
Luke, the longest of the canonical Gospels. Assuming Quintilian practiced what
he preached by drafting on tablets, the longest book of the Institutes would fill
fifty-six pentaptychs spanning approximately 1.7 m spine to spine. It would
become difficult to keep track of so many tablets, so authors likely transferred the
contents of tablets to reused bookrolls at regular intervals;24 this draft would be
subjected to further revisions. We cannot know exactly how many tablets authors
typically used, but Anselm of Canterbury had enough to draft nearly half of Luke’s
Gospel.25 Waxed tablets would be the most efficient medium for drafting complex
harmonizations. For example, the death of John the Baptist comprises just over
1,600 letters in Codex Fuldensis (ch. 80), and Jesus’s ensuing feeding of the five
thousand and walking on water (chs. 81–82) comprise just over 2,000 letters.
It is also inaccurate to claim that repositioning within a bookroll, particularly
backwards, was unwieldy. Such mischaracterizations underlie some scholars’
objections to the simultaneous use of multiple sources.26 In fact, when a reader
finished a bookroll, it had to be rewound to the beginning. Since bookrolls pre-
dominated through the second century,27 every reader of a scroll necessarily
knew how to roll it in reverse, a task that was hardly irksome.28 More importantly,
29 For example, the 775 letters in Matt 1:18–25 NA28 take me two minutes to read aloud but four-
teen minutes to scribble, reading and writing miniscule with quill and ink on papyrus and with a sty-
lus on wax; reading and writing majuscule in scriptio continua takes me twenty-five minutes.
30 Michael Gullick, “How Fast Did Scribes Write? Evidence from Romanesque Manuscripts,” in
Making the Medieval Book: Techniques of Production, ed. Linda L. Brownrigg (Los Altos Hills, CA:
Anderson-Lovelace, 1995), pp. 46–7, 49.
31 Gullick, “How Fast Did Scribes Write?” 46–7. Gullick uses line counts, which I have converted to
letter counts, since mise-en-page varies among MSS. Gullick cites one daily line count higher than the
Munich MS, i.e., Valenciennes MS 59, a copy of Jerome’s commentary on Jeremiah; by my count of PL
24: 705–936, that scribe averaged between 13,000 and 14,000 letters per day.
32 Matthew R. Crawford, “Do the Eusebian Canon Tables Represent the Closure or the Opening of
the Biblical Text? Considering the Case of Codex Fuldensis,” in Canones: The Art of Harmony: The
Canon Tables of the Four Gospels, ed. Alessandro Bausi, Bruno Reudenbach, and Hanna Wimmer,
Studies in Manuscript Cultures 18 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2020), p. 24.
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34 Tatian ’ s Diatessaron
"Uskotteko, etten ole enään sama tyhjä, itsekäs olento, mikä olin
vielä toissapäivänä, eilen…"
"Näen sen."
"Voi sanokaa!"
"Kiitän teitä!"
"Ei enään! Nyt tuntuu kuin olisin saanut kiinni kultaisen langan
päästä, jota seuraamalla aavistan löytäväni sen suuren, kaivatun…
sen, jota sanotaan elämäntehtäväksi. —"
"Kaikesta siitä mitä minulla on, kiitän teitä, — kiitän teitä vaan!"
virkkoi Helvi lämpimästi ja salataksensa mielenliikutustaan kääntyi
hän nopeasti taloon vievälle puistotielle.
Suurin osa siitä opista, jota hän koulun penkillä oli päähänsä
puinut, näytti niin tuiki tarpeettomalta, tyhjältä. — — Sen sijaan että
sielläkin olisi opastettu kaikkeen siihen, elävään välttämättömyyteen,
innostutettu suuriin aatteisiin, hyviin töihin ja käytännöllisyyteen,
pantiin pääpaino kuolleisiin, homehtuneisiin numeroihin ja
ijänikuisten tapausten häirähtämättömään muistamiseen, joista henki
ei kohonnut, eikä järki avartunut.
Miksei ollut kotikaan antanut hänelle niitä aatteita, joita hän oli
tietämättään janonnut?
(Koskenlaskijan morsiamet).
"Petturi!"
"Kätke kaikkien katseilta se, joka kirveltää, moni muu ennen sinua
on tehnyt niin…"
Sydänmaan rakkautta.
"No ei sinne niin pitkä matka ole", vastasi hän sitten lapselle,
yhtäkkiä rohkaistuen ja ottaen tämän syliinsä.
"Anna toki pojan istua… Tämähän on niin hyvä poika tämä pikku
Kaapro."
Tuskin oli Jaakko päässyt ovesta ulos, kun kalvava kaiho täytti
hänen rintansa ja hän olisi tahtonut jälleen lämpimään, armaaseen
tupaan katselemaan Hiljaa ja pitelemään poikaa polvillansa…
*****
Sitten alkoi siellä ja täällä kuulua lisäksi ääniä, että isäntä aikoo
ottaa häneltä mökin pois, kun saapi sen annetuksi toiselle
paremmilla ehdoilla.
"Voiko sitä olla vieras, vaikka on oma —-?" kysyi lapsi ja hänen
silmiinsä tuli miettivä, lohduton ilme.
Kun hän kerran tällaisella retkellään sai kuulla että merten takaa
oli Kaapro Kalposen kuoleman viesti saapunut, — tunsi hän suurta
levotonta iloa sydämessänsä, sellaista ikiääretöntä, joka vain
aniharvoin ihmissieluun hulvahtaa, loistavana, mahtavana,
rinnanääriä repien, — niinkuin tila siellä olisi asunnoksi ahdas ja
matala riemun suurelle majesteetille…!
*****
Miina.
Miinalla oli tapana iltasin, kun tupa oli lämmitetty ja pelti pantu
kiinni, lähteä sukanneuleineen vähäksi aikaa kylään "häkää pakoon."
Niitä varten pani Miina aina oluen, keitti lämpimät ruuat ja kahvin
— ja jos sattui olemaan jouluinen aika, saattoi hänellä toisinaan olla
ryypytkin.
"Vaikka teidän nenänne olisi sata syltä pitkä, niin kyllä mie sen
niistän…" huusi hän niin että musta yö raikui.