Neither of these passages is found in the actual text of “Tatian.” Finally, we may quote the other instance pointed out by Mr. Harris:
The Docetic quotation from the Psalm “My Power, my Power, hast thou forsaken me?” is peculiar in this respect, that the second possessive pronoun is wanting, so that we ought to translate it “Power, my Power ...” Now, it is curious that Tatian’s text had a similar peculiarity, for Ephrem gives it as “God, my God,” and the Arabic Harmony as _Yaiil, Yaiili_, where the added suffix belongs to the possessive pronoun. This is a remarkable coincidence, and makes one suspect that Tatian had “Power, my Power” in his text, and that it has been corrected away. And it is significant that Ephrem in commenting on the passage, says: “The divinity did not so far depart from the humanity as to be cut off from it, but only as regards the _power_ of the divinity, which was hidden both from the Slain and the slayers.” This looks very suspicious that Ephrem found something in his text of Tatian differing from the words “God, my God.”(69)
Mr. Harris reserves his final judgment on this relation between Tatian and the Gospel according to Peter; but as in a later article(70) he is not unwilling to allow the date of A.D. 130 to be assigned to the fragment, it is scarcely to be decided as Peter quoting Tatian. Mr. Harris throughout these passages, however, states the case in a most impartial manner, and the reader must form his own opinion.
We may, before leaving “Tatian,” point out another instance of agreement to which Mr. Harris does not allude. In the Commentary there is the following passage: “_Et dederunt ei bibere acetum et fel._ Acetum ei porrexerunt, pro felle autem magna ejus miseratio amaritudinem gentium dulcem fecit.”(71) It will be remembered that this agrees with the representation of the fragment that they gave Jesus “vinegar and gall” to drink.
All these instances may, indeed, throw a new light upon the _Diapente_ in the text of Victor, which has so exercised apologists, and lead to the opinion that Tatian’s Harmony was not composed out of four Gospels, but out of five. If it be agreed, as it is by a majority of critics, that Justin made use of the Gospel of Peter, the probability that his pupil Tatian likewise possessed the same work, and used it for his Harmony, is immensely increased.