Epistle to Carpian

The Epistula ad Carpianum (Letter to Carpian) or Letter of Eusebius 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 Marc, Luke and John next to their parallel sections in Matthew. As this disrupted the normal text order of the gospels of Marc, 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" 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 χαἳρειν.

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.

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