Epistula ad Carpianum

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The Epistula ad Carpianum ( letter to Carpian ) is traditionally a letter that Eusebius of Caesarea wrote to a Christian named Carpianus. The letter played a role in the canonization of the New Testament .

In this text, Eusebius explains his sophisticated system of harmony ( Eusebian canon ) and describes the goals of his ten canonical tables. According to this letter, the Ammonian Sections of Ammonios of Alexandria (Matthew 355, Mark 236, Luke 342, John 232 - a total of 1165 sections) were created. Under each of the 1165 Ammonian sections in their appropriate places in the manuscript, there is a note in colored ink on the number of the Eusebian Canon to which it refers.

text

The original Greek text reads:

"᾿Ευσέβιος Καρπιανᾣ ἀγαπητᾣ ἀδελφᾣ ἐν κυρίῳ χαἳρειν.

Αμμώνιος μὲν ὁ Αλεξανδρεὺς πολλὴν ὡς εἰκὸς φιλοπονίαν καὶ σπουδὴν εἰσαγηοχὼς τὸ διὰ τεσσάρων ἡμῖν καταλέλοιπεν εὐαγγέλιον, τᾣ κατὰ Ματθαῖον τὰς ὁμοφώνους τῶν λοιπῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν περικοπὰς παραθείς, ὡς ἐξ ἀνάγκης συμβῆναι τὸν τῆς ἀκολουθίας εἱρμὸν τῶν τριῶν διαφθαρῆναι ὅσον ἐπὶ τᾣ ὕφει τῆς ἀναγνώσεως · ἵνα δὲ σωζομένου καὶ τοῦ τῶν λοιπῶν δι 'ὅλου σώματός τε καὶ εἱρμοῦ εἰδέναι ἔχοις τοὺς οἰκείους ἑκάστου εὐαγγελιστοῦ τόπους, ἐν οἷς κατὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ἠνέχθησαν φιλαλήθως εἰπεῖν, ἐκ τοῦ πονήματος τοῦ προειρημένου ἀνδρὸς εἰληφὼς ἀφορμὰς καθ' ἑτέραν μέθοδον κανόνας δέκα τὸν ἀριθμὸν διεχάραξά σοι τοὺς ὑποτεταγμένους . ὧν ὁ μὲν πρῶτος περιέχει ἀριθμοὺς ἐν οἷς τὰ παραπλήσια εἰρήκασιν οἱ τέσσαρες, Ματθαῖος Μάρκος Λοῦκας Ιωάννης · ὁ δεύτερος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ τρεῖς, Ματθαῖος Μάρκος Λουκᾶς · ὁ τρίτος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ τρεῖς, Ματθαῖος Λουκᾶς Ιωάννες · ὁ τέταρτος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ τρεῖς, Ματθαῖος Μάρκος Ιωάννης · ὁ πέμπτος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ δύο, Ματθαῖος Λουκᾶς · ὁ ἕκτος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ δύο, Ματθαῖος Μάρκος · ὁ ἕβδομος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ δύο, Ματθαῖος Ιωάννης · ὁ ὄγδοος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ δύο, Λοuκᾶς Μάρκος · ὁ ἕνατος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ δύο, Λουκᾶς ᾿Ιωάννης · ὁ δέκατος, ἐν ᾧ ἕκαστος αὐγτῶν περί τιωων ἰνρ τινων ἰνρν τινων ἰνρρ τέίνων ἰνρ τέίνων ἰνρψ τέίνων ἰνρν τννων ἰνρ τέννων ἰνρ τέωων αὕτη μὲν οὖν ἡ τῶν ὑποτεταγμένων κανόνων ὑπόθεσις, ἡ δὲ σαφὴς αὑτῶν διήγησίς ἐστιν ἥδε. ἐφ 'ἑκάστῳ τῶν τεσσάρων εὐαγγελίων ἀριθμός τις πρόκειται, κατὰ μέρος ἀρχόμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου, εἶτα δευτέρου καὶ τρίτου, καὶ καθεξῆς προϊὼν δι' ὅλου μέχρι τοῦ τέλους τῶν βιβλίων. καθ 'ἕκαστον δὲ ἀριθμὸν ὑποσημείωσις πρόκειται διὰ κινναβάρεως, δηλοῦσα ἐν ποίῳ τῶν δέκα κανόνων κείμενος ὁ ἀριθμὸς τυγχάνει. οἷον εἰ μὲν αʹ, δῆλον ὡς ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ · εἰ δὲ βʹ, ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ · καὶ οὕτως μέχρι τῶν δέκα. εἰ οὖν ἀναπτύξας ἔν τι τῶν τεσσάρων εὐαγγελίων ὁποιονδήποτε βουληθείης ἐπιστῆσαί τινι ᾧ βούλει κεφαλαίῳ, καὶ γνῶναι τίνες τὰ παραπλήσια εἰρήκασιν, καὶ τοὺς οἰκείους ἐν ἑκάστῳ τόπους εὑρεῖν, ἐν οἷς κατὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ἠνέχθησαν, ἧς ἐπέχεις περικοπῆς ἀναλαβὼν τὸν προκείμενον ἀριθμόν, ἐπιζητήσας τε αὐτὸν ἔνδον ἐν τῷ κανόνι ὃν ἡ διὰ τοῦ κινναβάρεως ὑποσημείωσις ὑποβέβληκεν, εἴσῃ μὲν εὐθὺς ἐκ τῶν ἐπὶ μετώπου τοῦ κανόνος προγραφῶν ὁπόσοι τε καὶ τίνες περὶ οὗ ζητεῖς εἰρήκασιν · ἐπιστήσας δὲ καὶ τοῖς τῶν λοιπῶν εὐαγγελίων ἀριθμοῖς τοῖς ἐν τῷ κανόνι ᾧ ἐπέχεις ἀριθμῷ παρακειμένοις, ἐπιζητήσας τε αὐτοὺς ἔνδον ἐν τοῖς οἰκείοις ἑκάστου εὐαγγελίου τόποις, τὰ παραπλήσια λέγοντας αὐτοὺς εὑρήσεις. "

Translated into German, it reads something like this:

“Eusebius to Carpianus, his beloved brother in the Lord: Greetings! Ammonius of Alexandria left us a harmonized record of the four Gospels, although he put in much more energy and effort than was necessary. In addition to the Gospel according to Matthew, he arranged the corresponding sections of the other Gospels. But the inevitable consequence was that he ruined the order of the other three Gospels as far as continuous reading of the text was concerned. Instead, I made 10 tables according to a different system on the raw material of the above-mentioned man, leaving both the body and the order of the other Gospels completely intact, so that you can tell which evangelist wrote which passage to which she of love were pushed to the truth to write about the same things. The tables are listed here for you.

The first lists the reference numbers of similar things reported in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The second contains similar things of the three, Matthew, Mark and Luke; the third of the three Matthew, Luke and John; the fourth of the three Matthew, Mark and John; the fifth of the two Matthew and Luke, the sixth the two Matthew and Mark; the seventh the two Matthew and John, the eighth the two Mark and Luke; the ninth the two Luke and John; the tenth is for unique things recorded in every gospel.

Now that I've outlined the structure of the tables for you, I'd like to explain how to use them. In each of the four Gospels, sequential reference numbers are assigned to each section, beginning with the first, then the second, and the third, and so on and continuing through the entire gospel to the end of the book. Each reference number has a red mark that shows which of the ten tables the reference number is in. If the red designation is an I, the reference number is clearly in the first table, and if it is an II, in the second, and so on up to number ten.

So suppose you are opening one of the four gospels at one point and want to go to a specific chapter to find out which gospel tells similar things and to find in each gospel the related passage to which the evangelist was guided by love to report the same things. By looking up the reference number assigned to the section you are interested in in the table indicated by the red marking, you will immediately know from the heading at the top of the table how many and which Gospels report similar things. By going to and looking up the reference numbers of the other gospels on the same line as the reference number you looked up, you can find the related passages of each gospel and similar things mentioned. "

Copies of this letter with the canonical tables appear on the first page of many Gospel manuscripts (e.g. 65 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 117, etc.). The letter is also included in modern editions of the New Testament.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ FHA Scrivener : A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament. London 1861, pp. 50-53.
  2. ↑ The translation into English was done by Mark DelCogliano, who put it in the public domain in 2004. The English text is: TO CARPIANUS, ON THE GOSPEL CANONS Eusebius to Carpianus his beloved brother in the Lord: greetings. Ammonius the Alexandrian, having exerted a great deal of energy and effort as was necessary, bequeaths to us a harmonized account of the four gospels. Alongside the Gospel according to Matthew, he placed the corresponding sections of the other gospels. But this had the inevitable result of ruining the sequential order of the other three gospels, as far as a continuous reading of the text was concerned. Keeping, however, both the body and sequence of the other gospels completely intact, in order that you may be able to know where each evangelist wrote passages in which they were led by love of truth to speak about the same things, I drew up a total of ten tables5 according to another system, acquiring the raw data from the work of the man mentioned above. These tables are set out for you below. The first of them lists the reference numbers for similar things recounted in the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the second in the three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke; the third in the three, Matthew, Luke, and John; the fourth in the three, Matthew, Mark, and John; the fifth in the two, Matthew, and Luke; the sixth in the two, Matthew and Mark; the seventh in the two, Matthew and John; the eighth in the two, Mark and Luke; the ninth in the two, Luke and John; the tenth is for unique things recorded in each gospel. Now that I have outlined the structure of the tables set out below, I will explain how to use them. In each of the four gospels, consecutive reference numbers are assigned to each section, starting from the first, then the second, and the third, and so on in sequence, proceeding through the whole gospel to the book's end. Every reference number has a numeral written below it in red that indicates in which of the ten tables the reference number is located. If the red numeral is a I, the reference number is clearly in the first table, and if it is a II, in the second, and thus in sequence to the numeral ten. And so, suppose you open one of the four gospels at some point, wishing to go to a certain chapter in order to know what gospels recount similar things and to find in each gospel the related passages in which the evangelists were led to speak about the same things. By using the reference number assigned for the section in which you are interested and looking for it within the table indicated by the red numeral below it, you will immediately discover from the titles at the head of the table how many and which gospels recount similar things . By going to the other gospels' reference numbers that are in the same row as the reference number in the table you are at and looking them up in the related passages of each gospel, you will find similar things mentioned. , Internet address: http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_letter_to_carpianus.htm
  3. ^ E. Nestle, K. Aland: Novum Testamentum Graece , Volume 26. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart 1979/1991, pp. 73 * -74 *.

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