Subject: tc-list Re: Matthew 12:47 and the Diatessaron

From: [email-masked] (William L. Petersen)
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 12:32:19 +0100

S. Carlson wrote:

>>Matthew 12:47 ("But someone said to him, Behold your mother and your
>>brothers are standing outside asking to speak to you.") is enclosed
>>in brackets and given a grade of {C} for its inclusion.  Although
>>reasons for and against including the verse are interesting (and
>>would be appreciated), the focus of my question is the following:
>>
>>My UBS4 lists the Diatessaron as a witness for inclusion.  If it is
>>possible that Mt12:47, if not original, is a harmonization to Mk3:32
>>and/or Lk8:20, how can the Diatessaron, itself a harmony, be evidence
>>one way or another on this passage of Matthew?

A few observations:

(1) There *are* differences in the parallels in Matt, Mark, and Luke.  For
instance:

*"Behold," for example, is missing in Luke, but present in Matt and Mark.
*"sisters" in only in Mark, and only in some MSS.
*"standing" is only in Matt and Luke.
*"to see" is only in Luke.
*"to speak to you" is distinctly Matt.
*who tells Jesus this differs in each gospel.

Therefore, if one is working from the Greek text, it is relatively easy to
see what gospel (or elements from what gospels) are being employed.  Your
question presumes that there is no difference among the gospels here.
(Tatian could *not* have cobbled together the same passage *unless* it
stood in Matt, for only Matt has "to speak to you.")

So if we find the passage, there is a way to test whence it comes (from
Matt, Mark or Luke) and, if it is harmonized, to determine what elements
come from where.

(2)  In the UBS edition, "Diatessaron" reference means that Ephrem has it
in his *Commentary* (extant in the original Syriac and also in an Armenian
translation, both edited by L. Leloir). I have looked in both the Armenian
and the Syriac, and discovered something very strange.  Neither edition
have the reading as indicated in the UBS apparatus.  It appears to be an
error--although I can guess how it arose.  First, the reading in Ephrem.

The indices in all three of Leloir's editions (he also did a French
translation, based on the Armenian and the Syriac, for *Sources
chretiennes,* Vol. 121), and *none* list a parallel for Matt 12:47.  This
suggests that Leloir didn't think Ephrem quoted the passage.  I checked the
parallels, however, and found that Leloir lists Ephrem as citing Mark 3:32
(Leloir lists no parallel for Luke 8:20).  Checking the Mark 3:32 citation,
it is in Chap. XI.9 (p. 107 in the Latin translation of the Armenian [CSCO
145, Ser. Arm. 2], and pp. 58-59 in the Syriac).  The text runs "Et in eo
iterum quod (dicitur): Ecce mater tua et frates tui quaerunt te."  ("Behold
your mother and your brothers are seeking you.")  An introduction to the
quotation is lacking (no gospel citation, to help guide us), so we are left
to parse the quotation.  "Behold" narrows the text to Mark or Matthew;
"seeking" is also Matt or Mark, but not Luke.  The omission of "standing"
agrees with Mark, against Luke and Matt.  So Leloir's attribution to Mark
seems correct: the quotation lacks the features one would need to see to
attribute it to Luke;  it also lacks the features one would need to
attribute it to Matt.

How, then, did UBS end up attributing it to *Matt*?  The reason may well
turn on the fact that Ephrem is citing Matt 12:39-40, 12:41, 12:43, 12:44,
and 12:45 in XI.1 through XI.8.  The citations are Matthean, and it is
obvious that Ephrem, presumably following the Diatessaron's text, is giving
Matthew's account and commenting upon it.  Then comes this abrupt shift to
Mark for Mark 3:32.  The editors of UBS may have concluded that since
Ephrem (and, presumably, the Diatessaron) were following a Matthean text,
and then suddenly this passage stands at precisely the place where one
would expect it, it also stood in Matthew in the Diatessaron at this point.
(No other Marcan references are in this vacinity in Ephrem.)

Therefore, while *I* certainly would not have done it this way, and I
disagree with the reference in the apparatus of UBS--it simply appears
wrong--I can infer how they arrived at their conclusion.

*IMPORTANT POSTSCRIPT*

While I have not checked all the major Diatessaronic witnesses (which would
mean about 15 texts in about a dozen languages), the Liege Harmony (in
Middle Dutch) does present the Matthean form ("someone" tells him;  the
relatives "want to speak to him").  It may be that--despite the UBS's
apparent blunder (for their apparatus is here based solely on Ephrem)--the
reading, ironically, actually *is* Diatessaronic.

*Not proofed, and in haste.*

--Petersen, Penn State University,
Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies.

---

From: "Stephen C. Carlson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 22:47:28

>A few observations:
[omitted]

Thank you very much for your response.  It was very clear and helpful.

>your mother and your brothers are seeking you.")

Just a thought.  This being the case, could Ephraem's Diatesseron then be
considered a witness to the lack of KAI hAI ADELFAI SOU ("and your sisters")
in Mk3:32?  I think it meets the criteria for a patristic citation explained
on p. 29* of UBS4.

Stephen Carlson
--
Stephen C. Carlson                   : Poetry speaks of aspirations,
[email-masked]              : and songs chant the words.
http://www.mindspring.com/~scarlson/ :               -- Shujing 2.35