The Diatessaron — Historical footnotes

[27] And they came to Jerusalem. And there was there a man of the Pharisees, [28] named Nicodemus, ruler of the Jews. This man came unto Jesus by night, and said unto him, My Master, we know that thou hast been sent from God as a teacher; and no man can do these signs that thou doest, except him whom God is [29] with. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, If a man [30] be not born a second time, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man who is old be born? can he, think you, return again to [31] his mother’s womb a second time, to enter and be born? Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, If a man be not born of water and the Spirit, [32] he cannot enter the kingdom of God. For he that is born of flesh is flesh; and he that [33] is born of Spirit is spirit. Wonder not that I said unto thee that ye must be born a [34] [Arabic, p. 124] second time. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest its voice, but thou knowest not from what place it cometh, nor whither it goeth: so [35] is every man that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, [36] How can that be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou teaching Israel, [37] and yet knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, What we know [38] we say, and what we have seen we witness: and ye receive not our witness. If I said unto you what is on earth, and ye believed not, how then, if I say unto you [39] what is in heaven, will ye believe? And no man hath ascended up into heaven, except him that descended from heaven, the Son of man, which is in heaven. [40] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so is the Son of man to be [41] lifted up; so that every man who may believe in him may not perish, but have [42] eternal life. God so loved the world, that he should give his only Son; and so every one that believeth on him should not perish, but should have eternal life. [43] God sent not his Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world might [44] be saved by his hand. He that believeth in him shall not be judged: but he that believeth not is condemned beforehand, because he hath not believed in the name [45] of the only Son, the Son of God. This is the judgement, that the light came into the world, and men loved the darkness more than the light; because their deeds [46] were evil. Whosoever doeth evil deeds hateth the light, and cometh not to the [47] light, lest his deeds be reproved. But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be known, that they have been done in God.

[27] And they came to Jerusalem. And there was there a man of the Pharisees, [28] named Nicodemus, ruler of the Jews. This man came unto Jesus by night, and said unto him, My Master, we know that thou hast been sent from God as a teacher; and no man can do these signs that thou doest, except him whom God is [29] with. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, If a man [30] be not born a second time, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man who is old be born? can he, think you, return again to [31] his mother’s womb a second time, to enter and be born? Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, If a man be not born of water and the Spirit, [32] he cannot enter the kingdom of God. For he that is born of flesh is flesh; and he that [33] is born of Spirit is spirit. Wonder not that I said unto thee that ye must be born a [34] [Arabic, p. 124] second time. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest its voice, but thou knowest not from what place it cometh, nor whither it goeth: so [35] is every man that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, [36] How can that be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou teaching Israel, [37] and yet knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, What we know [38] we say, and what we have seen we witness: and ye receive not our witness. If I said unto you what is on earth, and ye believed not, how then, if I say unto you [39] what is in heaven, will ye believe? And no man hath ascended up into heaven, except him that descended from heaven, the Son of man, which is in heaven. [40] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so is the Son of man to be [41] lifted up; so that every man who may believe in him may not perish, but have [42] eternal life. God so loved the world, that he should give his only Son; and so every one that believeth on him should not perish, but should have eternal life. [43] God sent not his Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world might [44] be saved by his hand. He that believeth in him shall not be judged: but he that believeth not is condemned beforehand, because he hath not believed in the name [45] of the only Son, the Son of God. This is the judgement, that the light came into the world, and men loved the darkness more than the light; because their deeds [46] were evil. Whosoever doeth evil deeds hateth the light, and cometh not to the [47] light, lest his deeds be reproved. But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be known, that they have been done in God.

[1] And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, he went up to the temple of God, and found [2] there oxen and sheep and doves. And when he beheld those that sold and those that bought, and the money-changers sitting, he made for himself a scourge of rope, and drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep and the oxen, and the money-changers; and he threw down their money, and upset their tables, and the seats of [3] them that sold the doves; and he was teaching, and saying unto them, Is it not written, My house is a house of prayer for all peoples? and ye have made it a den [4] for robbers. And he said unto those that sold the doves, Take this hence, and [5] make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise. And he suffered not any [6] one to carry vessels inside the temple. And his disciples remembered the scripture, [7] The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. The Jews answered and said unto him, [8] What sign hast thou shewn us, that thou doest this? Jesus answered and said unto [9] them, Destroy this temple, and I shall raise it in three days. The Jews said unto him, This temple was built in forty-six years, and wilt thou raise it in three days? [10] But he spake unto them of the temple of his body, that when they destroyed it, he [11] [Arabic, p. 122] would raise it in three days. When therefore he rose from among the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this; and they believed the scriptures, and the word that Jesus spake.

[16] And he spake unto them this parable, concerning people who trusted in themselves [17] that they are righteous, and despised every man: Two men went up to the [18] temple to pray; one of them a Pharisee, and the other a publican. And the Pharisee stood apart, and prayed thus, O Lord, I thank thee, since I am not like the rest of men, the unjust, the profligate, the extortioners, or even like this publican; [19] but I fast two days a week, and tithe all my possessions. And the publican was [20] standing at a distance, and he would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but was [21] beating upon his breast, and saying, O Lord, have mercy on me, me the sinner. I say unto you, that this man went down justified to his house more than the Pharisee. Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and every one that abaseth himself shall be exalted.