[281:1] Euseb. Op. iv. p. 1276 (ed. Migne) [Greek: Ammônios men ho Alexandreus … to dia tessarôn hêmin kataleloipen euangelion, tô kata Matthaion tas homophônous tôn loipôn euangelistôn perikopas paratheis, hos ex anankês sumbênai ton tês akolouthias heirmon tôn triôn diaphtharânai, hoson epi tô huphei anagnôseôs]—i.e. 'He placed side by side with the Gospel according to Matthew the corresponding passages of the other Evangelists, so that as a necessary result the connection of sequence in the three was destroyed, so far as regards the order (texture) of reading.'
[281:2] Assem. Bibl. Orient. ii. p. 158. See Hilgenfeld Einleitung p. 77.
[281:3] The confusion of later Syrian writers may be explained without difficulty:—
(i) Bar-Hebræus in the latter half of the thirteenth century (Assem. Bibl. Orient. i. p. 57 sq) writes: 'Eusebius of Cæsarea, seeing the corruptions which Ammonius of Alexandria introduced into the Gospel of the Diatessaron, that is Miscellanies, which commenced, In the beginning was the Word, and which Mar Ephraem expounded, kept the Four Gospels in their integrity, etc.' It is tolerably plain, I think, from the language of this writer, that he had before him the passage of Bar-Salibi (or some corresponding passage), and that he misunderstood him, as if he were speaking of the same work throughout. From the coincidence in the strange interpretation of Diatessaron, it is clear that the two passages are not independent. Assemani has omitted this interpretation in his translation in both cases, and has thus obliterated the resemblance.
(ii) To the same source also we may refer the error of Ebed-Jesu in the beginning of the fourteenth century, who not only confuses the books but the men. He writes (Assem. Bibl. Orient. iii. p. 12): 'A Gospel which was compiled by a man of Alexandria, Ammonius, who is also Tatian; and he called it Diatessaron.' He too supposed the two independent sentences of Bar-Salibi to refer to the same thing. In the preface to his collection of canons however, he gives a description of Tatian's work which is substantially correct: 'Tatianus quidam philosophus cum evangelistarum loquentium sensum suo intellectu cepisset, et scopum scriptionis illorum divinae in mente sua fixisset, unum ex quatuor illis admirabile collegit evangelium, quod et Diatessaron nominavit, in quo cum cautissime seriem rectam eorum, quae a Salvatore dicta ac gesta fuere, servasset, ne unam quidem dictionem e suo addidit' (Mai Script. Vet. Nov. Coll. x. pp. 23, 191).
(iii) In Bar-Bahlul's Syriac Lexicon, s.v. (see Payne Smith Thes. Syr. p. 870), Diatessaron is defined as 'the compiled Gospel (made) from the four Evangelists,' and it is added: 'This was composed in Alexandria, and was written by Tatian the Bishop.' The mention of Alexandria suggests that here also there is some confusion with Ammonius, though neither Ammonius nor Tatian was a bishop. Bar-Bahlul flourished in the latter half of the tenth century; and if this notice were really his, we should have an example (doubtful however) of this confusion, earlier than Bar-Salibi. But these Syrian Lexicons have grown by accretion; the MSS, I am informed, vary considerably; and we can never be sure that any word or statement emanated from the original compiler.
Since writing the above, I am able to say, through the kindness of Dr Hoffmann, that in the oldest known MS of Bar-Bahlul, dated A.H. 611, i.e., A.D. 1214, this additional sentence about Tatian is wanting, as it is also in another MS of which he sends me an account through Professor Wright. It is no part therefore of the original Bar-Bahlul. Thus all the instances of confusion in Syriac writers are later than Bar-Salibi, and can be traced to a misunderstanding of his language.
[282:1] H.E. i. 20. The Syrian lexicographer Bar Ali also, who flourished about the end of the ninth century, mentions that Tatian omitted both the genealogies: see Payne Smith's Thes. Syr. s.v. p. 869 sq.
[283:1] Theodoret Epist. 113 (iv. p. 1190, ed. Schulze).
[283:2] Zahn (Gött. Gel. Anz. p. 184) points out that Aphraates also, a somewhat older Syrian father than Ephraem, appears to have used this Diatessaron. In his first Homily (p. 13, ed. Wright) he says, 'And Christ is also the Word and the Speech of the Lord, as it is written in the beginning of the Gospel of our Saviour—In the beginning was the Word.' The date of this Homily is A.D. 337.