Re: Is *Ev a source of the Gospel of the Ebionites?
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2024 2:39 am
As an aside on the Ebionites and the Nazoraeans: they arose from the area of Pella, the very place that Epiphanius reports that the original disciples and their followers went just before Jerusalem fell.John2 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 1:55 pm As far as Ebionites go, I view the Jewish Christians who hated Paul in Acts as "proto-Ebionites," and given the subject of this thread, I think it's worth noting that these Jews are said to have come from "the province of Asia," which is close to where Marcion is said to have come from
Epiphanius's Panarion:
Chapter 29: Against the Nazoraeans
7:7 This sect of Nazoraeans is to be found in Beroea37 near Coelesyria, in the Decapolis near Pella, and in Bashanitis at the place called Cocabe38—Khokhabe in Hebrew.
7:8 For that was its place of origin, since all the disciples had settled in Pella after their remove from Jerusalem—Christ having told them to abandon Jerusalem and withdraw from it39 because of the siege it was about to undergo. And they settled in Peraea for this reason and, as I said, lived their lives there. It was from this that the Nazoraean sect had its origin.
8:1 But they too are wrong to boast of circumcision...
9:4 They have the Gospel according to Matthew in its entirety in Hebrew.48 For it is clear that they still preserve this as it was originally written, in the Hebrew alphabet. But I do not know whether they have also excised the genealogies from Abraham till Christ.
Chapter 30: Against the Ebionites
2:7 Their [Ebionites] origin came after the fall of Jerusalem. For since practically all who had come to faith in Christ had settled in Peraea then, in Pella, a town in the 'Decapolis'10 the Gospel mentions, which is near Batanaea and Bashanitis—as they had moved there then and were living there, this provided an opportunity for Ebion.
2:8 And as far as I know, he [Ebion] first lived in a village called Cocabe in the district of Qarnaim—also called Ashtaroth—in Bashanitis. There he began his evil teaching—the place, if you please, where the Nazoraeans I have spoken of came from.
2:9 For since Ebion was connected with them and they with him, each party shared its own wickedness with the other. Each also differed from the other to some extent, but they emulated each other in malice. But I have already spoken at length, both in other works and in the other Sects, about the locations of Cocabe and Arabia.
...
3:7 They too accept the Gospel according to Matthew. Like the Cerinthians and Merinthians, they too use it alone. They call it, 'According to the Hebrews,' and it is true to say that only Matthew expounded and preached the Gospel in the Hebrew language and alphabet16 in the New Testament.
...
18:1 Ebion too preached in Asia and Rome...
7:7 This sect of Nazoraeans is to be found in Beroea37 near Coelesyria, in the Decapolis near Pella, and in Bashanitis at the place called Cocabe38—Khokhabe in Hebrew.
7:8 For that was its place of origin, since all the disciples had settled in Pella after their remove from Jerusalem—Christ having told them to abandon Jerusalem and withdraw from it39 because of the siege it was about to undergo. And they settled in Peraea for this reason and, as I said, lived their lives there. It was from this that the Nazoraean sect had its origin.
8:1 But they too are wrong to boast of circumcision...
9:4 They have the Gospel according to Matthew in its entirety in Hebrew.48 For it is clear that they still preserve this as it was originally written, in the Hebrew alphabet. But I do not know whether they have also excised the genealogies from Abraham till Christ.
Chapter 30: Against the Ebionites
2:7 Their [Ebionites] origin came after the fall of Jerusalem. For since practically all who had come to faith in Christ had settled in Peraea then, in Pella, a town in the 'Decapolis'10 the Gospel mentions, which is near Batanaea and Bashanitis—as they had moved there then and were living there, this provided an opportunity for Ebion.
2:8 And as far as I know, he [Ebion] first lived in a village called Cocabe in the district of Qarnaim—also called Ashtaroth—in Bashanitis. There he began his evil teaching—the place, if you please, where the Nazoraeans I have spoken of came from.
2:9 For since Ebion was connected with them and they with him, each party shared its own wickedness with the other. Each also differed from the other to some extent, but they emulated each other in malice. But I have already spoken at length, both in other works and in the other Sects, about the locations of Cocabe and Arabia.
...
3:7 They too accept the Gospel according to Matthew. Like the Cerinthians and Merinthians, they too use it alone. They call it, 'According to the Hebrews,' and it is true to say that only Matthew expounded and preached the Gospel in the Hebrew language and alphabet16 in the New Testament.
...
18:1 Ebion too preached in Asia and Rome...
It's quite stunning to me that the earliest known Jewish sects -- the Nazoraeans and the Ebionites -- arose from the very place that the original disciples from Jerusalem and 'practically all who had come to faith in Christ' had settled, at least according to Epiphanius. And both groups believed that Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary and used a version of the Gospel of Matthew.