Ἔστιν δὲ καὶ ταῦτα φερόμενα μετὰ τὸ ἐφοβοῦντο γάρ.
Ἀναστὰς δὲ πρωί πρώτη σαββάτου.
κανόνας ... διεχάραξά σοι τοὺς ὑποτεταγμένους. This at least is decisive as to the authorship of the Canons. When therefore Jerome says of Ammonius,—“Evangelicos canones excogitavit quos postea secutus est Eusebius Cæsariensis,” (De Viris Illust. c. lv. vol. ii. p. 881,) we learn the amount of attention to which such off-hand gain statements of this Father are entitled.
What else can be inferred from the account which Eusebius gives of the present sectional division of the Gospels but that it was also his own?—Αὕτη μὲν οὖν ἡ τὼν ὑποτεταγμένων κανόνων ὑπόθεσις: ἡ δὲ σαφὴς αὐτῶν διήγησις, ἔστιν ἤδε. Ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστῳ τῶν τεσσάρων εὐαγγελίων ἀριθμός τις πρόκειται κατὰ μέρος, ἀρχόμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου, εἶτα δευτέρου, καὶ τρίτου, καὶ καθεξῆς προιὼν δι᾽ ὅλου μέχρι τοῦ τέλους τοῦ βιβλίου. He proceeds to explain how the sections thus numbered are to be referred to his X Canons:—καθ᾽ ἕκαστον δὲ ἀριθμὸν ὑποσημείωσις διὰ κινναβάρεως πρόκειται, δηλοῦσα ἐν ποίῳ τῶν δέκα κανόνων κείμενος ὁ ἀριθμὸς τυγχάνει.
“Frustra ad Ammonium aut Tatianum in Harmoniis provocant. Quæ supersunt vix quicquam cum Ammonio aut Tatiano commune habent.” (Tischendorf on S. Mark xvi. 8).—Dr. Mill (1707),—because he assumed that the anonymous work which Victor of Capua brought to light in the vith century, and conjecturally assigned to Tatian, was the lost work of Ammonius, (Proleg. p. 63, § 660,)—was of course warranted in appealing to the authority of Ammonius in support of the last twelve verses of S. Mark's Gospel. But in truth Mill's assumption cannot be maintained for a moment, as Wetstein has convincingly shewn. (Proleg. p. 68.) Any one may easily satisfy himself of the fact who will be at the pains to examine a few of the chapters with attention, bearing in mind what Eusebius has said concerning the work of Ammonius. Cap. lxxiv, for instance, contains as follows:—Mtt. xiii. 33, 34. Mk. iv. 33. Mtt. xiii. 34, 35: 10, 11. Mk. iv. 34. Mtt. xiii. 13 to 17. But here it is S. Matthew's Gospel which is dislocated,—for verses 10, 11, and 13 to 17 of ch. xiii. come after verses 33-35; while ver. 12 has altogether disappeared.
The most convenient edition for reference is Schmeller's,—Ammonii Alexandrini quæ et Tatiani dicitur Harmonia Evangeliorum. (Vienna, 1841.)
Allusion is made to the Rev. John A. Broadus, D.D.,—“Professor of Interpretation of the New Testament in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Greenville, S.C.,”—the author of an able and convincing paper entitled “Exegetical Studies” in “The Baptist Quarterly” for July, 1869 (Philadelphia), pp. 355-62: in which “the words and phrases” contained in S. Mark xvi. 9-20 are exclusively examined.
If the present volume should ever reach the learned Professor's hands, he will perceive that I must have written the present Chapter before I knew of his labours: (an advantage which I owe to Mr. Scrivener's kindness:) my treatment of the subject and his own being so entirely different. But it is only due to Professor Broadus to acknowledge the interest and advantage with which I have compared my lucubrations with his, and the sincere satisfaction with which I have discovered that we have everywhere independently arrived at precisely the same result.
It may be convenient, in this place, to enumerate the several words and expressions about to be considered:—
(i.) πρώτη σαββάτου (ver. 9.)—See above.