Eusebian canons , Eusebian sections or Eusebian apparatus , also known as Ammonian sections , are the system of dividing the four Gospels used between late Antiquity and the Middle Ages . The divisions into chapters and verses used in modern texts date only from the 13th and 16th centuries, respectively. The sections are indicated in the margin of nearly all Greek and Latin manuscripts of the Bible , but can be also found in periphical Bible transmissions as Syriac and Christian Palestinian Aramaic ( Codex Sinaiticus Rescriptus ) 5th to 8th century, and in Ethiopian manuscripts until the 14th and 15th centuries, with a few produced as late as the 17th century. These are usually summarized in canon tables at the start of the Gospels. There are about 1165 sections: 355 for Matthew , 235 for Mark , 343 for Luke , and 232 for John ; the numbers, however, vary slightly in different manuscripts.
19-490: Eusebian may mean: of or relating to the Eusebian Canons of or relating to the historiography and historical philosophy of Eusebius a follower of Eusebius of Nicomedia Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Eusebian . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
38-488: A sense of divinity within the reader’s soul, to understand and reflect upon the various colors and patterns to achieve a higher connection with God. Until the 19th century it was mostly believed that these divisions were devised by Ammonius of Alexandria , at the beginning of the 3rd century ( c. 220), in connection with a Harmony of the Gospels , now lost, which he composed. It was traditionally believed that he divided
57-610: Is the title traditionally given to a letter from Eusebius of Caesarea to a Christian named Carpianus. In this letter, Eusebius explains his ingenious system of gospel harmony , the Eusebian Canons (tables) that divide the four canonical gospels , and describes their purpose, ten in number. Eusebius explains that Ammonius the Alexandrian had made a system in which he placed sections of the gospels of Mark, Luke and John next to their parallel sections in Matthew. As this disrupted
76-2806: Is written in the margin of a manuscript, and underneath these numbers, another number was written in coloured ink. The coloured numbers referred to one of the ten Eusebian canons, in which the reference numbers were to be found of the parallel sections in the other gospels. The text of this epistle in Koine Greek is: ᾿Ευσέβιος Καρπιανῷ ἀγαπητῷ ἀδελφῷ ἐν κυρίῳ χαίρειν. Ἀμμώνιος μὲν ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεὺς πολλὴν ὡς εἰκὸς φιλοπονίαν καὶ σπουδὴν εἰσαγηοχὼς τὸ διὰ τεσσάρων ἡμῖν καταλέλοιπεν εὐαγγέλιον, τῷ κατὰ Ματθαῖον τὰς ὁμοφώνους τῶν λοιπῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν περικοπὰς παραθείς, ὡς ἐξ ἀνάγκης συμβῆναι τὸν τῆς ἀκολουθίας εἱρμὸν τῶν τριῶν διαφθαρῆναι ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ ὕφει τῆς ἀναγνώσεως· ἵνα δὲ σωζομένου καὶ τοῦ τῶν λοιπῶν διʼ 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 καθʼ 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 Ἰωάννης· ὁ δεύτερος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ τρεῖς, Ματθαῖος Μάρκος Λουκᾶς· ὁ τρίτος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ τρεῖς, Ματθαῖος Λουκᾶς Ἰωάννες· ὁ τέταρτος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ τρεῖς, Ματθαῖος Μάρκος Ἰωάννης· ὁ πέμπτος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ δύο, Ματθαῖος Λουκᾶς· ὁ ἕκτος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ δύο, Ματθαῖος Μάρκος· ὁ ἕβδομος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ δύο, Ματθαῖος Ἰωάννης· ὁ ὄγδοος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ δύο, Λοuκᾶς Μάρκος· ὁ ἕνατος, ἐν ᾧ οἱ δύο, Λουκᾶς Ἰωάννης· ὁ δέκατος, ἐν ᾧ ἕκαστος αὐτῶν περί τινων ἰδίως ἀνέγραψεν. αὕτη μὲν οὖν ἡ τῶν ὑποτεταγμένων κανόνων ὑπόθεσις, ἡ δὲ σαφὴς αὑτῶν διήγησίς ἐστιν ἥδε. ἐφʼ ἑκάστῳ τῶν τεσσάρων εὐαγγελίων ἀριθμός τις πρόκειται, κατὰ μέρος ἀρχόμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου, εἶτα δευτέρου καὶ τρίτου, καὶ καθεξῆς προϊὼν διʼ ὅλου μέχρι τοῦ τέλους τῶν βιβλίων. καθʼ 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. English translation: Eusebius to Carpianus his beloved brother in
95-508: 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
114-487: 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
133-405: The four Gospels into small numbered sections, which were similar in content where the narratives are parallel. He then wrote the sections of the three last Gospels, or simply the section numbers with the name of the respective evangelist , in parallel columns opposite the corresponding sections of the Gospel of Matthew, which he had chosen as the basis of his gospel harmony . It is now believed that
152-506: The idea of drawing up ten tables ( kanones ) in which the sections in question were so classified as to show at a glance where each Gospel agreed with or differed from the others. In the first nine tables he placed in parallel columns the numbers of the sections common to the four, or three, or two, evangelists; namely: (1) Matt., Mark, Luke, John; (2) Matt., Mark, Luke; (3) Matt., Luke, John; (4) Matt., Mark, John; (5) Matt., Luke; (6) Matt., Mark; (7) Matt., John; (8) Luke, Mark; (9) Luke, John. In
171-401: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eusebian&oldid=914497119 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Eusebian Canons The canon tables were made to create
190-473: The margin of the manuscripts. Opposite each section was written its number, and underneath this the number of the Eusebian table to be consulted in order to find the parallel texts or text; a reference to the tenth table would show that this section was proper to that evangelist. These marginal notes are reproduced in several editions of Tischendorf 's New Testament. Eusebius's explanatory letter to Carpianus
209-402: 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
SECTION 10
#1732765526572228-439: The normal text order of the gospels of Mark, Luke and John, Eusebius used a system in which he placed the references to the parallel texts in ten tables or 'canons'. By using these tables, the parallel texts could easily be looked up, but it also remained possible to read a gospel in its normal order. (The number of sections was: Matthew 355, Mark 236, Luke 342, John 232 – together 1165 sections). The number of each "Ammonian section"
247-412: 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;
266-427: 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
285-572: The tables are the only decoration in the whole book, perhaps other than some initials. In particular, canon tables, with Evangelist portraits , are very important for the study of the development of manuscript painting in the earliest part of the Early Medieval period, where very few manuscripts survive, and even the most decorated of those have fewer pages illuminated than was the case later. Epistula ad Carpianum The Epistula ad Carpianum ("Letter to Carpian") or Letter of Eusebius
304-485: The tenth he noted successively the sections special to each evangelist. Sections "Mark, Luke, John" and "Mark, John" are absent because no text is common to Mark and John without a parallel in at least Matthew. The usefulness of these tables for the purpose of reference and comparison soon brought them into common use, and from the 5th century the Ammonian sections, with references to the Eusebian tables, were indicated in
323-447: 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 tables 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
342-446: The work of Ammonius was restricted to what Eusebius of Caesarea (265-340) states concerning it in his letter to Carpianus , namely, that he placed the parallel passages of the last three Gospels alongside the text of Matthew, and the sections traditionally credited to Ammonius are now ascribed to Eusebius, who was always credited with the final form of the tables. The harmony of Ammonius suggested to Eusebius, as he says in his letter,
361-535: Was also very often reproduced before the tables. The tables themselves were usually placed at the start of a Gospel Book ; in illuminated works they were placed in round-headed arcade-like frames, of which the general form remained remarkably consistent through to the Romanesque period. This form was derived from Late Antique book-painting frames like those in the Chronography of 354 . In many examples
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