On the Diatessaron

All those that have worked on the Diatessaron in depth have made the observation that the ultimate purpose of research on the Diatessaron is to recover it. This is worth doing for five reasons. (1) The Diatessaron was the standard Gospel text for all commentators and theologians writing in Syriac (and Armenian and Georgian) for several centuries, including a major creative period. (2) The readings of the Diatessaron permeate the extant mss. of the four separate Gospels. (3) The Old Latin Diatessaron was the basis of preaching and liturgy in Europe for centuries till replaced by the Vulgate of the four separate Gospels. Although the Latin has perished, it can be seen in translation in many European vernaculars, Dutch, English, Italian etc. The text as transmitted over time has been partly overlaid by the Vulgate (except in the case of the Dutch version), but must originally have faithfully mirrored the Diatessaron. I think this applies to the period of your own research. I am told there is still much in the full form of the Roman liturgy that alludes to the wording of the Diatessaron. (4) As said yesterday, the Diatessaron is not the result of combining the four Gospels as we have them. There are variations of content (meaning, not just wording) at the level of words and phrases and sentences. This variation is not tendentious and goes back to the process of formation of the Gospels in their final form. The same can be said of Marcion’s text. (5) Many authors remark on the extraordinary beauty of the text of the Diatessaron in both wording and sentiment, to an extent beyond the received text of the separate Gospels.

Because of the diverse history of transmission of the text and the use of the Diatessaron from Europe to Syria to Georgia to Iraq to Iran, no one person has the expertise to handle all of the evidence. Many can handle more of it than I can. I can still become competent in a part of it.

The connection between the Diatessaron and Marcion’s text of the Gospel and Epistles, on the one hand, and my usual direction of research, on the other hand, is real. I won’t try to explain this statement, since I have already inflicted too much information on you. I just wanted to make it clear that I have carefully weighed up what I can and can’t manage, and also what I still have to finish.