they pass over his name in silence. The Lord Himself, we may be sure, knew to what person it was that He despatched them. And in order that those also whom He was thus sending might be able to discover the individual meant, He gave them, before they set out, a particular sign which they were to follow, namely, the appearance of a man bearing a pitcher or a vessel of water,-and told them, that if they went after him, they would reach the house which He intended. Hence, seeing that it was not competent here to employ the phraseology, Go to any one you please, which is indeed legitimate enough, so far as the demands of linguistic propriety are concerned, but which an accurate statement of the matter dealt with here renders inadmissible in this passage, with how much less warrant could an expression like this have been used here (by the speaker Himself), Go to such a man, which the usage of correct language can never admit at all? But it is manifest that the disciples were sent by the Lord, plainly, not to any man they pleased, but to such a man, that is to say, to a certain definite individual. And that is a thing which the evangelist, speaking in his own person, could quite rightly have related to us, by putting it in this way: "He sent them to such a man,1 in order to say to him, I will keep the passover at thy house." He might also have expressed it thus: "He sent them to such a man, saying, Go, say to him, I will keep the passover at thy house." And thus it is that, after giving us the words actually spoken by the Lord Himself, namely, "Go into the city," he has introduced this addition of his own, to such a man, which he does, however, not as if the Lord had thus expressed Himself, but simply with the view of giving us to understand, although the name is left unrecorded, that there was a particular person in the city to whom the Lord's disciples were sent, in order to make ready the passThus, too, after the two [or three] words brought in in that manner as an explanation of his own, he takes up again the order of the words as they were uttered by the Lord Himself, namely, "And say unto him, The Master saith." And if you ask now to whom they were to say this, the correct reply is given [at once] in these terms, To that particular man · 1 Ad quendam.

over.

to whom the evangelist has given us to understand that the Lord sent them, when, speaking in His own person, he introduced the clause, to such a man. The clause thus inserted inay indeed contain a rather unusual mode of expression, but still it is a perfectly legitimate phraseology when it is thus understood. Or it may be, that in the Hebrew language, in which Matthew is reported to have written, there is some peculiar usage which might make it entirely accordant with the laws of correct expression, even were the whole taken to have been spoken by the Lord Himself. Whether that is the case, those who understand that tongue may decide. Even in the Latin language itself, indeed, this kind of expression might also be used, in terms like these: "Go into the city to such a man as may be indicated by a person who shall meet you carrying a pitcher of water." If the instructions were conveyed in such words as these, they could be acted upon. without any ambiguity. Or again, if the terms were anything like these, "Go into the city to such a man, who resides in this or the other place, in such and such a house," then the note thus given of the place and the designation of the house would make it quite possible to understand the commission delivered, and to execute it. But when these instructions, and all others of a similar order, are left entirely untold, the person who in such circumstances uses this kind of address, Go to such a man, and say unto him, cannot possibly be listened to intelligently for this obvious reason, that when he employs the terms, to such a man, he intends a certain particular individual to be understood by them, and yet offers us no hint by which he may be identified. But if we are to suppose that the clause referred to is one introduced as an explanation by the evangelist himself, [we may find that] the requirements of brevity will render the expression somewhat obscure, without, however, making it incorrect. Moreover, as to the fact, that where Mark speaks of a pitcher1 of water, Luke mentions a vessel," the simple explanation is, that the one has used a word indicative of the kind of vessel, and the other a term indicative of its capacity, while both evangelists have nevertheless preserved the real meaning actually intended.

1 Lagenam, bottle.

Amphoram, large measure.

158. Matthew proceeds thus: "Now when the even was come, He sat down with the twelve disciples; and as they did eat, He said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say, Lord, is it I?" and so on, down to where we read, "Then Judas, which betrayed Him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said." In what we have now presented for consideration here, the other three evangelists, who also record such matters, offer nothing calculated to raise any question of serious difficulty.

1

1 Matt. xxvi. 20-25.

Mark xiv. 17-21; Luke xxii. 14-23; John xiii. 21-27.

BOOK THIRD.

THIS BOOK CONTAINS A DEMONSTRATION OF THE HARMONY OF THE EVANGELISTS FROM THE ACCOUNT OF THE SUPPER ON TO THE END OF THE GOSPEL, THE NARRATIVES GIVEN BY THE SEVERAL WRITERS BEING COLLATED, AND THE WHOLE ARRANGED IN ONE ORDERLY CONNECTION.

PROLOGUE

1. NASMUCH as we have now reached that point in the history at which all the four evangelists necessarily hold their course in company on to the conclusion, without presenting any serious divergence the one from the other, if it happens anywhere that one of them makes mention of something which another leaves unnoticed, it appears to me that we may demonstrate the consistency maintained by the various evangelists with greater expedition, if from this point onwards we now bring all the statements given by all the writers together into one connection, and arrange the whole in a single narration, and under one view. I consider that in this way the task which we have undertaken may be discharged with greater convenience and facility than otherwise might be the What we have now before us, therefore, is to attempt the construction of a single narrative, in which we shall include all the particulars, and for which we shall possess the attestation of those evangelists who, (each selecting for recital out of the whole number of facts those which he had either the ability or the desire to relate,) have prepared these records for us:. this being done in such a manner, moreover, that all these state1 The text gives: et in unam narrationem faciemque digeramus. For faciem the reading seriem, series, also occurs.

case.

The text gives: ut aggrediamur narrationem omnia commemorantes, cum eorum evangelistarum attestatione qui ex his omnibus, etc. Some editions have cum eorundem evangelistarum attestatione quid ex his, etc. the same evangelists as to what, etc.

the attestation of

ments, in regard to which we have to prove an entire freedom from contradictions, are taken as made by all the evangelists together.

CHAP. I.-Of the method in which the four evangelists are shown to be at one in the accounts given of the Lord's Supper and the indication of His betrayer.

2. Let us commence here, accordingly, with the notice presented by Matthew, [which runs thus]: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to His disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body."1 Both Mark and Luke also gave this section. It is true that Luke has made mention of the cup twice over: first before He gave the bread; and, secondly, after the bread has been given. But the fact is, that what is stated in that earlier connection has been introduced, according to this writer's habit, by anticipation, while the words which he has inserted here in their proper order are left unrecorded in those previous verses, and the two passages when put together make up exactly what stands expressed by those other evangelists. John, on the other hand, has said nothing about the body and blood of the Lord in this context; but he plainly certifies that the Lord spake to that effect on another occasion,3 with much greater fulness than here. At present, however, after recording how the Lord rose from supper and washed the disciples' feet, and after telling us also the reason why the Lord dealt thus with them, in expressing which He had intimated, although still obscurely, and by the use of a testimony of Scripture, the fact that He was being betrayed by the man who was to eat of His bread, at this point John comes to the section in question, which the other three evangelists also unite in introducing. He presents it thus: "When Jesus had thus said, He was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, That one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked (as the same John subjoins) one on another, doubting of whom He spake."* "And (as Matthew and Mark tell us) they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto Him, Is it I? And He answered and said (as Matthew proceeds to state), He that dippeth his hand with

1 Matt. xxvi. 26.

John vi. 32-64.

Mark xiv. 22; Luke xxii. 49. ♦ John xiii. 21, 22.