conclude, he must have had a Greek translation of it. But Origen, who has also repeatedly quoted it, had some knowledge of the Hebrew; yet there is not the slightest appearance, in any of his quotations, that he cited from the Hebrew copy of the Gospel zar Epoxious. There can be scarcely a doubt, that a Greek translation of this was current in some degree at Alexandria, in the time of Clement and Origen; but it would seem that this must have perished, however, before the time of Jerome, inasmuch as he made a new Greek version of the Hebrew copy.

Two or three questions more must be briefly discussed, before our way is clear to put a right estimate upon the testimony of the fathers respecting a Hebrew original of Matthew.

(1) Was the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the same in all important respects as our canonical Matthew, so far as we can gather from the fathers; or was it an interpolated and in many respects a spurious Matthew?

The latter beyond all reasonable question, as the facts which follow will shew. If we except some passages in Justin Martyr, which some critics suppose to have been taken from the Gospel according to the Hebrews, we find no quotations of a decisive character, until we come down to Clement of Alexandria. Although Eichhorn, Credner, and several other writers, earnestly contend that Justin must have quoted from the Gospel according to the Hebrews, yet as Justin no where makes mention of such a work, and as he appeals constantly to his Απομνημονεύματα τῶν ̓Αποστόλων, we cannot be safe in taking it for granted that he used the Nazarene Gospel. That which he seems to have quoted from it, may be naturally accounted for, from his acquaintance with Jews and Jewish traditions, which repeated many things found in the Gospel according to the Hebrews.

Clement gives us different ground, on which we may with more safety take our stand. "It is written," says he (Opp. Strom. II. p. 453 ed. Potteri), "in the Gospel xa Eppalovs Ο θαυμάσας βασιλεύσει, καὶ ὁ βασιλεύσας αναπαύσεται.” Such an expression is no where found in our canonical Matthew.

Origen (Tract. VIII. in Matt.), in the old Latin translation of him which has been preserved, says: "In a certain Gospel, which is called Secundum Hebraeos, it is written: Another rich man said to him [Jesus], Master, what good thing shall I do that I may live? He said to him: Obey the law and the

prophets. He answered: I have done so. He said to him; Go, sell all which thou hast, and give it to the poor; then come and follow me. But the rich man began to scratch his head (coepit scalpere caput suum), and it did not please him; and the Lord said to him: How canst thou say, I have obeyed the law and the prophets, since it is written in the law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself? Behold! many of my brethren, the sons of Abraham, are clothed with filth, and dying by reason of hunger; yet thy house is full of many good things, and still nothing at all goes from it to them. Then turning to Simon his disciple, sitting near him, he said: Simon, son of Joanne, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man [to enter] into the kingdom of heaven."

What a tasteless compiler he must have been, who furnished out such a paragraph as this for the Jewish converts of early times, is evident enough from the bare perusul of it. But this is not all. Take another quotation by Origen from this Gospel of the Nazarenes, in his Comm. in Jer. Homil. XV. Opp. Vol. III. According to Origen, the following words are put, by this Gospel, into the mouth of the Saviour: ori haßé ue n μήτηρ μου, τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, ἐν μιᾷ τῶν τριχῶν μου, καὶ ἀπένεγ κέ με εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ μέγα, Θαβώρ, i. e. I then my mother, the Holy Spirit, took me by one of the hairs of my head, and carried me to the great mountain, Tabor.'

Beyond this we can gather no definite materials from Clement and Origen, which will help us to determine the condition of the Gospel according to the Hebrews.

Eusebius (III. 39) says: "Papias in his 'Enyos has told a story of a woman accused to the Saviour of many sins." He then adds: ἣν τό καθ ̓ Εβραίους εὐαγγέλιον κατέχει, i. e. which [story] the Gospel according to the Hebrews contains. What this story was, we are not informed; but it seems probable enough, that it was the account of the woman taken in adultery (John 8: 2-11), which had been added to the Nazarene or Ebionite Gospel of Matthew, by some interpolating hand. At any rate, it plainly consisted of matter foreign to our present canonical Gospel.

We have already seen, that Epiphanius expressly testifies concerning the Ebionites, that they used an adulterated and curtailed Gospel of Matthew, although the Nazarenes made use of one which was πληρέστατον. In another place he has disVOL. XII. No. 31.

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closed more fully his meaning, by telling us that the two first chapters of Matthew were wanting in the copies of the Ebionites, and that their Gospel began with the third chapter of Matthew in this manner: Εγένετο ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ηρώδου τοῦ βασιλέως τῆς ̓Ιουδαίας, ἦλθεν ̓Ιωάννης βαπτίζων κ. τ. λ. Haeres. XXX. 13.

In the same place Epiphanius inakes several long quotations from, the Gospel in question, which are adapted to give us a fuller insight into the true condition of this work. I shall merely exhibit a translation of some of these; referring the reader, who wishes to verify this, to the original in Epiphanius, or to Olshausen who has exhibited the originals in his work on the Genuineness of the Gospels, pp. 52 seq.

The passages now to be cited must have stood very near the commencement of the Ebionite Gospel.

"There was a certain man named Jesus, and he was about thirty years of age, who chose us; and coming to Capernaum, he entered into the house of Simon who is called Peter, and opening his mouth he said: Passing along the Lake of Tiberius, I chose John and James, sons of Zebedee, and Simon and Andrew, and Thaddeus and Simon Zelotes, and Judas Iscariot; and thee Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom, I called, and thou didst follow me. I will, therefore, that there should be twelve apostles for a testimony to Israel. And John was baptizing, and there went out to him, etc." The sequel is nearly in the words of Matthew 3: 4-7, with some few changes in the order of words, and some in the diction.

In the same chapter of Epiphanius is contained another paragraph of the Gospel before us, which has respect to the baptism of John, and which should be presented to the reader as another specimen of the Hebrew Gospel.

"Now when the people were baptized, Jesus came and was baptized by John; and when he came up from the water, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit of God in the shape of a dove descending and coming upon him; and there was a voice from heaven saying: Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And again: This day have I begotten thee. And straightway a great light shone about the place. John, beholding this, said: Who art thou Lord? And again there was a voice from heaven to him: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Then John, falling down before him, said: I beseech thee, Lord, baptize thou me.

But he forbade him, saying: Suffer it, for it is meet that all things should thus be fulfilled."

In Haeres. XXX. 14 Epiphanius cites another passage from the Ebionite Gospel, which, as I apprehend, gives us a very fair specimen of the general tenor of this Gospel, and its near relation to the genuine one of Matthew. That the reader may make the comparison of the two with facility, I here present them both in the Greek, that of the Nazarene Gospel being a copy of the Greek version (if it be a version) which Epiphanius has given us.

Matt. ΧΙΙ. 47-50. Ειπε δέ τις αὐτῷ· Ιδού, ἡ μή της σου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου ἔξω ἑστήκασι, ζητοῦντές σοι λαλῆσαι· ̔Ο δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπε τῷ εἰπόντι αὐτῷ· Τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου; καὶ τίνες εἰσὶν οἱ ἀδελφοί μου; Καὶ ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα αὑτοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς αὑτοῦ εἶπεν· ̓Ιδού, ἡ μήτηρ μου, καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί μου. Οστις γὰρ ἂν ποιήσῃ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, αυτός μου ἀδελφὸς καὶ ἀδελφὴ καὶ μήτηρ ἐστίν.

Gospel according to the Hebrews.

Σώτης, ἐν τῷ ἀναγγελῆναι αὐτόν, ὅτι ἰδου! ἡ μήτηρ σου καὶ οἱ ἀδελ φοί σου ἔξω ἑστήκασιν, εἶπε· “Οτι τίς μου ἐστὶν μήτηρ μου καὶ ἀδελ φοί; Καὶ ἐκτείνας ἐπὶ τοὺς μαθε τὰς τὴν χεῖρα, ἔφη· Οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἀδελφοί μου καὶ ἡ μήτηρ, οἱ ποιοῦντες τὰ θελήματα τοῦ πατρός μου.

The reader will see, that in the present case, the Gospel according to the Hebrews is a mere abridgment of our canonical Matthew.

In Haeres. XXX. 16, Epiphanius expressly cites the Gospel among the Ebionites as containing the following passage: "I came to abolish the sacrifices; and if ye will not cease from offering sacrifices, wrath will not cease from you.”

In XXX. 22 Epiphanius complains of the Ebionites for having altered the sense of a passage in Matthew 26: 17, Where wilt thou that we make ready to eat the passover? inasmuch as their Gospel makes him say: "I have not much desired to eat this passover-flesh with you." Here is a passage transferred, as it would seem, from Luke 22: 15, with the negative un added to it, so as to reverse the true sense of the expression.

These are the principal passages which Epiphanius has given us from the Gospel according to the Hebrews. Jerome, who obtained a copy of this Gospel from the Nazarenes at Beroea in Syria, and who translated it into Greek and Latin, has pre

served here and there in his works, more fragments of the like nature. I shall present a few of them; in order that the reader may be enabled more fully to understand the tenor and condition of this Gospel.

In commenting on Isaiah 11: 1, "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, etc.," after giving his views of the phrase, The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, he says: "Sed, juxta Evangelium quod Hebraeo sermone conscriptum legunt Nazaraei: Descendet super eum omnis fons Spiritus Sancti."

Again; "Porro in Evangelio cujus supra fecimus mentionem, haec scripta reperimus: Factum est, autem, quum accendisset Dominus de aqua, descendit fons omnis Spiritus Sancti et requievit super eum, et dixit illi: Fili mi, in omnibus prophetis expectabam te, ut venires et requiescerem in te. Tu es enim requies mea, tu es filius meus primogenitus, qui regnas in sempiternum."

In Cont. Pelag. III. 2, Jerome says: "In Evangelio juxta Hebraeos. . . narrat historia: Ecce, mater Domini et fratres ejus dicebant ei: Joannes Baptista baptizat in remissionem peccatorum ; eamus ut baptizemur ab eo. Dicit autem eis: Quid peccavi, ut vadam et baptizer ab eo? Nisi forte hoc ipsum, quod dixi, ignorantia est.

Again; Et in eodem volumine: Si peccaverit frater tuus in verbo [citing nearly the words of Matt. 18: 21, 22, then adding] Etenim in prophetis quoque, postquam uncti sunt Spiritu sancto, inventus est sermo peccati."

Again, in Comm. in Mich. 7: 6: "Qui legerit Canticum Canticorum. . . . credideritque in Evangelio quod secundum Hebraeos editum nuper transtulimus [i. e. I have lately translated], in quo, ex persona Salvatoris, dicitur: Modo tulit me mater mea, Sanctus Spiritus, in uno capillorum meorum."

In his Comm. on Matt. 12: 13 he says: In Evangelio quo utuntur Nazaraeni et Ebionitae, quod nuper in Graecum de Hebraeo sermone transtulimus, et quod vocatur a plerisque Matthaei authenticum, homo iste, qui aridam manum habet, coenentarius scribitur, istiusmodi auxilium precans: Coementarius eram, manibus victum queritans; precor te, Jesu, ut mihi restituas sanitatem, ne turpiter mendicem cibos."

Comm. in Matt. 23: 25: "In Evangelio quo utuntur Nazaraeni, pro filio Barachine reperimus scriptum filium Jojadae. De Viris Illust. II., Jerome says: Evangelium quoque, quod