In  Matthew,  in  obedience  to  the  order  of  the  angel  to
go  and  tell  his  disciples,  none  of  which  is  given  in
Peter,  it  is  said  (xxviii.  8) :  '  And  they  departed  quickly
from  the  tomb  with  fear  and  great  joy  '  (/cat  aneXOovcraL
Ta)(y  ttTTO  70V  fJivr)ix€LOV  [xeTOL  (f)6fiov  /cat  ^apa?  /xeyctXiys),
and  ran  to  bring  his  disciples  word.'  In  Mark  (xvi.  8)
it  is  said  :  '  And  they  went  out  and  fled  from  the  tomb  ;
for  trembling  and  astonishment  had  come  upon  them
(Kttt  i^ekOovaaL  €<j)V'yov  ano  rov  [ivrjixeiov  '  elKev  yaf>
avras  rpoixos  koll  e/ccrTacrt?).  And  they  said  nothing  to
any  one  :  for  they  were  afraid '  {e(f>o^ovvTo  yoip).  The
running  to  bring  the  disciples  word,  in  the  first,  and
the  saying  nothing  to  any  one,  of  the  second.  Synoptic,  is
a  case  of  curious  contradiction  in  details.  The  third
Gospel  twice  over  repeats  the  statement  that  the  women
told  what  they  had  heard  '  to  the  eleven  and  to  all  the
rest '  (xxiv.  9,  10),  but  says  nothing  of  the  emotions
excited  by  the  interview,  except  the  double  statement
(xxiv.  8),  'And  they  remembered  his  words,'  and,  11,
'  And  these  words  appeared  in  their  sight  as  idle  talk,
and  they  disbelieved  them.'

In  the  first  Synoptic,  however  (xxviii.  9  f.),  as  the
women  go,  the  risen  Jesus  himself  meets  them  and
delivers  the  same  order  to  tell  the  disciples  to  depart
into  Galilee,  M'here  they  shall  see  him.  The  genuine
portion  of  the  second  Synoptic  ends  with  the  words
quoted  above,  and  it  is  only  in  the  added  conclusion
(xvi.    9.   20)  that  we  meet  with  an  account  of  an  ap-


PECULIARITIES   OF  THE  FRAGMENT  103

pearance  to  Mary  Magdalene  in  the  morning.  The
third  Synoptic  relates  no  appearance  to  the  women  or
any  one  that  morning ;  but  the  fourth  Gospel  has  the
appearance  of  Jesus  to  Mary  Magdalene,  and  a  long
interview  between  them.  Now  all  this  is  quite  dis-
tinctly excluded  from  the  Gospel  according  to  Peter,
and  those  who  argue  for  the  dependence  of  the  work
on  our  Gospels  have  to  explain  this  deliberate
omission.
