Editing Papias of Hierapolis (section)

=== Gospel origins ===
{{further|logia}}

[[File:Pasquale Ottino San Marcos escribe sus Evangelios al dictado de San Pedro Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux.jpg|right|thumb|Pasqualotto, ''St. Mark writes his Gospel at the dictation of St. Peter'', 17th century.]]

Papias provides the earliest extant account of who wrote the [[Canonical Gospels|Gospels]]. [[Eusebius]] preserves two (possibly) verbatim excerpts from Papias on the origins of the Gospels, one concerning [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]]<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.15">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085440/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html |date=2017-10-14 }}.15. Translations from {{harvtxt|Bauckham|2006}} p. 203.</ref> and then another concerning [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]].<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.16a">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085440/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html |date=2017-10-14 }}.16a. Translations from {{harvtxt|Bauckham|2006|p=203}}</ref>

On [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]], Papias cites [[New Testament people named John#John the Presbyter|John the Elder]]:
{{blockquote|The Elder used to say: [[Mark the Evangelist|Mark]], in his capacity as [[Saint Peter|Peter]]’s interpreter, wrote down accurately as many things as he recalled from memory—though not in an ordered form—of the things either said or done by the Lord. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied him, but later, as I said, Peter, who used to give his teachings in the form of ''[[chreia]]i'',{{NoteTag|name=chreia|A chreia was a brief, useful ("χρεία" means useful) anecdote about a particular character. That is, a chreia was shorter than a narration—often as short as a single sentence—but unlike a maxim, it was attributed to a character. Usually it conformed to one of a few patterns, the most common being "On seeing..." (ἰδών or ''cum vidisset''), "On being asked..." (ἐρωτηθείς or ''interrogatus''), and "He said..." (ἔφη or ''dixit'').}} but had no intention of providing an ordered arrangement of the ''logia'' of the Lord. Consequently Mark did nothing wrong when he wrote down some individual items just as he related them from memory. For he made it his one concern not to omit anything he had heard or to falsify anything.}}

The excerpt regarding [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] says only:
{{blockquote|Therefore [[Matthew the Apostle|Matthew]] put the ''logia'' in an ordered arrangement in the Hebrew language, but each person interpreted them as best he could.{{NoteTag|name=Eusebius|Eusebius, "History of the Church" 3.39.14-17, c. 325 CE, Greek text 16: "ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἱστόρηται τῷ Παπίᾳ περὶ τοῦ Μάρκου· περὶ δὲ τοῦ Ματθαῖου ταῦτ’ εἴρηται· Ματθαῖος μὲν οὖν Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ τὰ λόγια συνετάξατο, ἡρμήνευσεν δ’ αὐτὰ ὡς ἧν δυνατὸς ἕκαστος. Various English translations published, standard reference translation by [[Philip Schaff]] at [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html CCEL]: "[C]oncerning Matthew he [Papias] writes as follows: 'So then(963) Matthew wrote the oracles in the Hebrew language, and every one interpreted them as he was able.'(964)" (Online version includes footnotes 963 and 964 by Schaff).}}}}

How to interpret these quotations from Papias has long been a matter of controversy, as the original context for each is missing and the Greek is in several respects ambiguous and seems to employ technical rhetorical terminology. It has been questioned if Papias is even referring to the canonical Gospels bearing those names. However Eusebius, who had the complete text and context before him, understood Papias in these passages to be referring to the canonical Gospels.

The word ''[[logia]]'' (''{{lang|grc|λόγια}}'')—which also appears in the title of Papias' work—is itself problematic. In non-Christian contexts, the usual meaning was ''oracles'', but since the 19th century it has been interpreted as ''sayings'', which sparked numerous theories about a lost "Sayings Gospel", now called ''[[Q source|Q]]'', resembling the [[Gospel of Thomas]].<ref>{{cite book | title=The Gospel Behind the Gospels: Current Studies on Q | last=Lührmann | first=Dieter | year=1995 | editor-last=Piper | editor-first=Ronald Allen | chapter=Q: Sayings of Jesus or Logia? | pages=97–116 | isbn=9004097376 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_KbL5s6h_kC&pg=PA97 }}</ref> But the parallelism implies a meaning of ''things said or done'', which suits the canonical Gospels well.{{sfnp|Bauckham|2006|pp=214 & 225}}<ref name="Thomas">{{cite book | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QtE1orv4Xg0C&pg=PA39 | title=The Jesus Crisis: The Inroads of Historical Criticism Into Evangelical Scholarship | chapter=The Synoptic Gospels in the Ancient Church | last1=Thomas | first1=Robert L. | last2=Farnell | first2=F. David | year=1998 | pages=39–46 | isbn=082543811X | editor-last=Thomas | editor-first=Robert L. | editor2-last=Farnell | editor2-first=F. David }}</ref>

The apparent claim that Matthew wrote in Hebrew—which in Greek could refer to either [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] or [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]{{sfnp|Bauckham|2006|p=223}}—is echoed by many other ancient authorities.<ref>E.g., Irenaeus, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140213060423/http://www.hypotyposeis.org/synoptic-problem/2004/11/external-evidence-irenaeus.html ''Adv. Haer.'' 3.1.1]}}; Ephrem, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140221070554/http://www.hypotyposeis.org/synoptic-problem/2006/09/external-evidence-ephraem-syrus.html ''Comm. in Diatess. Tatiani'' App. I, 1]}}; Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.x.xi.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 5.10] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009015750/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.x.xi.html |date=2014-10-09 }}.3.</ref> Modern scholars have proposed numerous explanations for this assertion, in light of the prevalent view that canonical Matthew was composed in [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] and not translated from Semitic.<ref name="Thomas" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Raymond E.|title=An Introduction to the New Testament|year=1997|isbn=0385247672|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontone00brow_0/page/158 158ff. & 208ff.]|author-link=Raymond E. Brown|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontone00brow_0/page/158}}</ref> One theory is that Matthew himself produced firstly a Semitic work and secondly a recension of that work in Greek. Another is that others translated Matthew into Greek rather freely. Another is that Papias simply means "Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ" as a ''Hebrew style'' of Greek. Another is that Papias refers to a distinct work now lost, perhaps a sayings collection like [[Q source|Q]] or the so-called [[Gospel according to the Hebrews]].{{sfn|Turner|2008|p=15–16}} Yet another is that Papias was simply mistaken.

As for Mark, the difficulty has been in understanding the relationship described between Mark and Peter—whether Peter recalled from memory or Mark recalled Peter's preaching, and whether Mark translated this preaching into Greek or Latin or merely expounded on it, and if the former, publicly or just when composing the Gospel; modern scholars have explored a range of possibilities.{{sfnp|Bauckham|2006|pp=205–217}} Eusebius, after quoting Papias, goes on to say that Papias also cited [[1 Peter]],<ref name="Eusebius 3.39.16">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014085440/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html |date=2017-10-14 }}.16.</ref><ref name="Eusebius 2.15.2">Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.vii.xvi.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 2.15] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009010942/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.vii.xvi.html |date=2014-10-09 }}.2.</ref> where Peter speaks of "my son Mark",<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Pet|5:13}}.</ref> as corroboration. Within the 2nd century, this relation of Peter to Mark's Gospel is alluded to by [[Justin Martyr|Justin]]<ref>Justin Martyr, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140211184733/http://www.hypotyposeis.org/synoptic-problem/2004/10/external-evidence-justin-martyr.html ''Dial.'' 106.3]}}.</ref> and expanded on by [[Clement of Alexandria]].<ref>Clement of Alexandria, ''Hypotyposeis'' 8, apud Eusebius, ''Hist. Eccl.'' [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.vii.xvi.html 2.15.1–2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009010942/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.vii.xvi.html |date=2014-10-09 }}, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140221061258/http://www.hypotyposeis.org/synoptic-problem/2006/09/external-evidence-clement-of.html 6.14.5–7]}}; Clement of Alexandria, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.vi.iv.ix.html#fna_vi.iv.ix-p2.4 ''Adumbr. in Ep. can. in 1 Pet. 5:13''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729103223/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.vi.iv.ix.html#fna_vi.iv.ix-p2.4 |date=2014-07-29 }}, apud Cassiodorus, ''In Epistola Petri Prima Catholica'' 1.3.</ref>

We do not know what else Papias said about these or the other Gospels—he certainly treated [[Gospel of John|John]]<ref name="Hill">{{cite journal|last=Hill|first=Charles E.|title=What Papias Said about John (and Luke): A 'New' Papian Fragment|journal=Journal of Theological Studies|year=1998|volume=49|issue=2|pages=582–629|doi=10.1093/jts/49.2.582}}</ref>—but some see Papias as the likely unattributed source of at least two later accounts of the Gospel origins. Bauckham argues that the [[Muratorian Canon]] (c. 170) has drawn from Papias; the extant fragment, however, preserves only a few final words on Mark and then speaks about [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] and [[Gospel of John|John]].{{sfnp|Bauckham|2006|pp=425–433}} Hill argues that Eusebius' earlier account of the origins of the four Gospels<ref>Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxiv.html ''Hist. Eccl.'' 3.24] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215123715/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxiv.html |date=2013-12-15 }}.5–13.</ref> is also drawn from Papias.<ref name="Hill" /><ref>{{cite book|title=The Legacy of John: Second-Century Reception of the Fourth Gospel|editor-last=Rasimus|editor-first=Tuomas|series=Supplements to Novum Testamentum|volume=132|year=2010|author-last=Hill|author-first=Charles E.|chapter=‘The Orthodox Gospel’: The Reception of John in the Great Church Prior to Irenaeus|pages=285–294|doi=10.1163/ej.9789004176331.i-412.55|isbn=9789047429777}}</ref>