the_cave

(Feel free to correct my Greek transliteration if it is faulty.)

The version of the TF found in Agapius is slightly different (based on the translation) than that found elsewhere. Agapius says of Jesus that “his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous” whereas the standard TF says that “he was a doer of wonderful/paradoxical works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure”.

Note that there is another Josephean passage related to goodness and virture, with respect to a Christian figure:
Here John is spoken of as good [agathon andra] and a teacher of virtue [keleuonta arethn epaskouin], in a way that Jesus is not.

So why does Agapius use language associated in Josephus (whether authentic or no) with John, to describe Jesus? Is he conflating the passages? (It is suggested that all he had were notes from Eusebius.) Is it polemic?

While we’re at it, the John and Jesus passages are themselves linked by language. Jesus is said to be “a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure [hdonh]”. Meanwhile, the John passage says of John that “they were very greatly moved/pleased [hsthhsan] by hearing his words”. These seem to express the same idea, though of course they are not identical. I don’t know what this indicates, but it’s a curious fact. (Note also that for some reason this phrase is absent from the Arabic version.)

Roger Pearse

The supposed TF in Agapius (10th century Arabic Christian writer) does not appear in the publication of Agapius in the Patrologia Orientalis. It seems to be a reconstruction, using the 13th century writer al-Makin. I am trying to obtain a translation of the relevant section of the latter.