Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IX/The Diatessaron of Tatian/The Diatessaron/Section XVIII

Section XVIII.

[1] At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and all the things which came to pass at his hand; and he marvelled, for he had obtained excellent [2] information concerning him. &#160; And some men said that John the Baptist was risen [3] from among the dead; and others said that Elijah had appeared; and others, Jeremiah; [4] and others, that a prophet of the old prophets was risen; and others said that he [5] was a prophet like one of the prophets.&#160; Herod said to his servants, This is John the Baptist, he whom I beheaded; he is risen from among the dead:&#160; therefore mighty [6] [Arabic, p. 70] works result from him.&#160; For Herod himself had sent and taken John, and cast him into prison, for the sake of Herodias his brother Philip&#8217;s wife, whom he [7] had taken.&#160; And John said to Herod, Thou hast no authority to take the wife of thy [8] brother.&#160; And Herodias avoided him and wished to kill him; and she could not.&#160; [9] But Herod feared John, for he knew that he was a righteous man and a holy; and [10] he guarded him, and heard him much, and did, and obeyed him with gladness.&#160; And he wished to kill him; but he feared the people, for they adhered to him as the [11] prophet.&#160; And there was a celebrated day, and Herod had made a feast for his great men on the day of his anniversary, and for the officers and for the chief men [12] of Galilee.&#160; And the daughter of Herodias came in and danced in the midst of the company, and pleased Herod and those that sat with him.&#160; And the king said to the [13] damsel, Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it thee.&#160; And he sware unto her, [14] Whatsoever thou shalt ask, I will give it thee, to the half of my kingdom.&#160; And she went out, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask him? &#160; She said unto her, The [15] head of John the Baptist.&#160; And immediately she came in hastily to the king, and said unto him, I desire in this hour that thou give me on a dish the head of John [16] the Baptist.&#160; And the king was exceeding sorry; but because of the oath and the [17] guests he did not wish to refuse her.&#160; But immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded that he should bring the head of John:&#160; and he went and cut off [18] the head of John in the prison, and brought it on a dish, and delivered it to the [19] damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother.&#160; And his disciples heard, and came [Arabic, p. 71] and took his body, and buried it.&#160; And they came and told Jesus what [20] had happened.&#160; And for this cause Herod said, I beheaded John:&#160; who [21] is this, of whom I hear these things.&#160; And he desired to see him.&#160; And Jesus, when he heard, removed thence in a boat to a waste place alone, to the other side of the sea of the Galilee of Tiberias.

[22] And many saw them going, and knew them, and hastened by land from all the cities, and came thither beforehand; for they saw the signs which he was doing on the [23, 24] sick.&#160; And Jesus went up into the mountain, and sat there with his disciples.&#160; And [25] the feast of the passover of the Jews was near.&#160; And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw great multitudes coming to him.&#160; And he was moved with compassion for them, for [26] they were like sheep that were without a shepherd.&#160; And he received them, and spake to them concerning the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.

[27] And when the evening approached, his disciples came to him, and said unto [28] him, The place is desert, and the time is past; send away the multitudes of the people, that they may go to the towns and villages which are around us, and buy for [29] themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.&#160; But he said unto them, They have [30] no need to go away; give ye them what may be eaten.&#160; They said unto him, We have not here enough.&#160; He said unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?&#160; [31, 32] And he said that proving him; and he knew what he was resolved to do.&#160; Philip said [Arabic, p. 72] unto him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread would not suffice them after [33] every one of them hath taken a small amount.&#160; One of his disciples said unto [34] him (namely, Andrew the brother of Simon Cephas), Here is a lad having five loaves [35] of barley and two fishes:&#160; but this amount, what is it for all these?&#160; But wilt thou that we go and buy for all the people what may be eaten? for we have no more [36] than these five loaves and the two fishes.&#160; And the grass was plentiful in that place.&#160; Jesus said unto them, Arrange all the people that they may sit down on the grass, [37] fifty people in a company.&#160; And the disciples did so.&#160; And all the people sat down [38] by companies, by hundreds and fifties.&#160; Then Jesus said unto them, Bring hither [39] those five loaves and the two fishes.&#160; And when they brought him that, Jesus took the bread and the fish, and looked to heaven, and blessed, and divided, and gave to [40] his disciples to set before them; and the disciples set for the multitudes the bread [41] and the fish; and they ate, all of them, and were satisfied.&#160; And when they were satisfied, he said unto his disciples, Gather the fragments that remain over, that nothing [42] be lost.&#160; And they gathered, and filled twelve baskets with fragments, being those that remained over from those which ate of the five barley loaves and the two [43] fishes.&#160; And those people who ate were five thousand, besides the women and children.&#160; [44] [Arabic, p. 73] And straightway he pressed his disciples to go up into the ship, and that they should go before him unto the other side to Bethsaida, while he [45] himself should send away the multitudes.&#160; And those people who saw the sign which [46] Jesus did, said, Of a truth this is a prophet who hath come into the world.&#160; And Jesus knew their purpose to come and take him, and make him a king; and he left them, and went up into the mountain alone for prayer.

[47, 48] And when the nightfall was near, his disciples went down unto the sea, and sat in a boat, and came to the side of Capernaum.&#160; And the darkness came on, and Jesus [49] had not come to them.&#160; And the sea was stirred up against them by reason of a violent [50] wind that blew.&#160; And the boat was distant from the land many furlongs, and they were much damaged by the waves, and the wind was against them.