St. Ephrem The Syrian - Selected Prose Works

THE FATHERS
OF THE CHURCH
VOLUME 91
THE FATHERS
OF THE CHURCH
EDITORIAL BOARD
Thomas P. Halton
The Catholic University of America
Editorial Director
Elizabeth Clark Kathleen McVey

Duke University Princeton Theological Seminary
Robert B. Eno, S.S. Robert D. Sider
The Catholic University of America Dickinson College
Frank A. C. Mantello Michael Slusser
The Catholic University of America Duquesne University
Cynthia Kahn White Robin Darling Young
The University of Arizona The Catholic University of America
David J. McGonagle
Director
The Catholic University of America Press
FORMER EDITORIAL DIRECTORS

Ludwig Schopp, Roy J. Deferrari, Bernard M. Peebles,
Hermigild Dressler, O.F.M.
Edward Strickland
Staff Editor
ST. EPHREM
THE SYRIAN
SELECTED PROSE WORKS
COMMENTARY ON GENESIS
COMMENTARY ON EXODUS
HOMILY ON OUR LORD
LETTER TO PUBLIUS
Translated by
EDWARD G. MATHEWS, JR.
The University of Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
and
JOSEPH P. AMAR
The University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana
Edited by
KATHLEEN McVEY
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, New Jersey
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS

Washington, D.C.
The preparation of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from
the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency.
Copyright © 1994
The Catholic University of America Press
All lights reselved
Printed in the United States of America
First paperback edition 2004
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

the American National Standards for Information Science-Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library materials,
ANSI Z39-48-1984
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Ephraem, Syms, Saint, 303-373.
[Selections. English. 1994]
Selected prose works / St. Ephrem the Syrian; translated by Edward G.
Mathews,.Jr. andJoseph P. Amar; edited by Kathleen McVey.
p. cm. - (The Fathers of the church; V. 91)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Contents: Commentary on Genesis - Commentary on Exodus - The
homily on our Lord - Letter to Publius.
ISBN 0-8132-0091-1 (d.) 0-8132-1421-1 (pbk.)
1. Bible. O.T. Genesis-Commentaties-Early works to 1800. 2. Bible.
O.T. Exodus-Commentaries-Early works to 1800. 3.Jesus Christ-
Sermons-Early works to 1800. 4. SpiIituallife-Chlistianity-Early
works to 1800. I. Mathews, Edward G., 19.')4- . II. Amar,Joseph P.,
1946- . III. McVey, Kathleen E., 1944- . IV. Title. v. Selies.
BR60.F3 E64 21 3 1994
[BR632.ES]
270 s-dc20
[270.2] 94-7480
CONTENTS
Foreword vii
Preface ix
Abbreviations XIII
Select Bibliography xv
General Introduction 3
Commentary on Genesis
Introduction
Commentary on Genesis
Commentary on Exodus
Introduction 21 7
Commentary on Exodus 221
The Homily on Our Lord

Introduction
The Homily on Our Lord
Letter to Publius
Introduction 335
Letter to Publius 33 8
Indices
General Index 359
Index of Holy ScIipture 3 88
v
FOREWORD
The Editors presented volume 1 of FOTC, The Apostolic

Fathers (New York, 1947) as the first of a projected series of
seventy-two and promised: "In general, these Fathers will
prove to be a reproach to all narrowness and exclu-
sivism . . . . If ever we forget the part that Christian poetry
has played in the propagation of Christian truth, we have
only to recall the hymns and lyric lines of Ambrose,
Ephraem, Pope Damasus, Prudentius and Boethius." Al-
ready we have gone beyond the projected seventy-two vol-
umes and, while we have had two volumes devoted to the
poetry of Prudentius [FOTC 43 (1962) and 52 (1965)
trans. Sr. M. Clement Eagen], this is our first venture out-
side the Greek and Latin Fathers, and it is particularly ap-
propriate that it be devoted to the "Harp of the Spirit,"
Ephrem.
Like Ambrose, Ephrem composed homilies and commen-
taries as well as hymns, and we are fortunate to have on our
Editorial Board, Professor Kathleen McVey, whose recent
volume, Ephrem the Syrian Hymns, Classics of Western Spiritu-
ality (New York, 1989) will have whetted the appetites of
English-speaking readers for more Ephrem, and who acted
as editor of the present volume of Selected Prose Works. We
hope that this in turn will encourage the appearance of
other volumes devoted to Fathers whose first language was
neither Greek nor Latin.
THOMAS HALTON
Editorial Director
VII
PREFACE
This volume contains a selection of the prose works of

Ephrem the Syrian: the Commentary on Genesis, the Commen-
tary on Exodus, the Homily on Our Lord, and the Letter to Pub-
lius. These four works comprise approximately two-thirds of
Ephrem's genuine Syriac prose works known to have sur-
vived. Among the others, the Commentary on the Diatessaron
will appear in a forthcoming volume in this series, and the
Prose Refutations have already been rendered into English
(see bibliography). While Ephrem is justly renowned for his
poetic works, the works translated here also manifest
Ephrem's genius as spiritual writer, theologian, and teacher.
Study of Ephrem has gained tremendous impetus in the last
two or three decades, particularly in Europe, but of late in
the United States as well. Recent translations of Ephrem's
works published here bear clear witness to this. We are
proud to have made this small contribution to that ongoing
effort and hope that others will soon follow.
With respect to the translations contained in this volume,
the division of our labor has been one of nearly total inde-
pendence. Dr. Amar translated and annotated the Commen-
tary on Exodus and the Homily on Our Lord, while Mathews
was responsible for the Commentary on Genesis and the Letter
to Publius. The introduction, intended to provide a funda-
mental guide to the world of Syriac Christianity as well as to
Ephrem, was researched and written by Mathews, although
the final version benefitted much from comments and sug-
gestions by Dr. Amar. Mathews also compiled the bibliogra-
phy, the purpose of which extends beyond the four works
translated here; it is intended to provide for the reader the
available editions of Ephrem's works, a generous selection
of studies on Ephrem available in English, along with the
IX
x PREFACE
major studies in European languages. Secondary works per-

taining to the Commentary on the Diatessaron will be included
in that volume.
While we each followed our own paths in our transla-
tions, we have both attempted to follow our predecessors to
the best of our ability in steering that dangerous course be-
tween the Scylla of literalness and the Charybdis of para-
phrase. Syriac differs much from English and we confess to
no systematic technique of translation. While we have en-
deavored, following current scholarly practice, to keep the
translations as literal as English syntax will allow, some con-
texts demanded a more periphrastic rendering for the sake
of best conveying to the reader the sense of that passage. In
other passages Ephrem's exegesis demanded an even more
literal translation than might otherwise have been required.
In those places, however, where we have erred in steering
too far one way or the other we can only ask the reader's in-
dulgence.
In the two commentaries, neither of us made any real at-
tempt to force the Syriac biblical text of Ephrem to conform
to any existing English Bible translation. This was all the
more necessary as Ephrem's text preserves readings that dif-
fer not only from the Peshitta, the textus receptus of the Syri-
an churches, but also from the Hebrew and Greek versions
from which our English Bible translations are made. Our
translations follow in the main the divisions to the text as
found in those edited texts from which our translations
were made.
In the notes we have tried to limit ourselves to explaining
Ephrem only by reference to his other works. We have made
every attempt to note at least the most important references
and parallels, though no doubt specialists will find others
that we missed. We have made no systematic effort to draw
parallels to Greek and Latin sources, nor to later Syriac
works. In those cases where it was necessary to draw atten-
tion to Jewish sources or parallels, we thought it best simply
to refer to the collection of Jewish legends collected by
Louis Ginzberg. This collection has the twofold advantage
PREFACE XI
of being generally available while also exempting us from

encumbering the notes and burdening the reader with de-
tailed arguments about the dating of Rabbinic and
Midrashic sources.
Although no doubt numerous errors and omissions re-
main, we would like to give special thanks to several people
who have helped to lessen their number. Dr. Evan Lawn, Mr.
Eugene McGarry, and Dr. Susan Mathews took much of
their own valuable time and kindly read through much or
all of the manuscript. They each made helpful suggestions
and saved us from many errors that had escaped us. To
these and to many others who were kind enough to offer en-
couragement and/or to look at portions of the work, our
most gracious thanks.
The editorial board of Fathers of the Church also deserve
our most heartfelt thanks. Dr. Kathleen McVey read through
the entire manuscript with great care and attention, thus
saving us from numerous omissions, and made many useful
corrections and valuable suggestions. The entire editing
process was handled with patience, kindness, and utmost
professional care and skill by Mr. Edward Strickland. Fr.
Thomas P. Halton's kindness in accepting our invitation to
write the Foreword to this volume is greatly appreciated.
Most sincere thanks must also go to the National Endow-
ment for the Humanities, without whose financial support
this project would not yet be complete. But our deepest
thanks must go to our families whose encouragement,
whose support and whose willingness to bear the brunt of
other responsibilities gave us the freedom necessary to com-
plete this volume. It is to all of them that we humbly and
thankfully offer whatever is of merit in this book.
ABBREVIATIONS
AB AnaiecLa Bollandiana.
ACW Ancient Christian Writen.
ANRW A ufl'lieg und Niedergang der Riimis,.hen Well.
ASTI A nnual oj" the Swedish Theological Institute.
BIRI> Bulletin oj" the John Rylands I>ibrary.
BU; Bulletin de littt:rature eccliisiastique.
CBQ Catholi,. Bibli,.al Quartedy.
CBU Contributions of the Balli,. University.
CH Chunh History.
CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium.
CSS Cistercian Studies Series.
CWS Classics oj" Western Spirituality.
DHCill' Didionnaire d'histoire et de geog7nphie
ea.·wsiastiques.
DS Didionnaire de Spiritualite.
EA Etudes augustiniennes.
ECQ Eastern Churches Quarterly.
ECR Eastern Churches Rcview.
liTL lijJhemerides Theologicae Lovanienses.
GCS Die f,p7echis,.hen Ch,7stli,.hen S,.h17flsteller.
HA Handes Amsmya.
JA Journal Asiatique.
JAC Jahrbuchfur Antihe und Christen tum.
JBI> Journal oj" Biblical I>iterature.
JJS Journal ofJewish Studies.
JRAS Journal of the Rilyal Asiatic Society.
JRS Journal of Rilman Studies.
JSS Journal oj" Semitic Studies.
.fTS Journal oj" Theological Studies .
U;I> I>oeb Classical I>ibrary.
LM LeMuseon.
LNPF Librmy of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathen.
MGW[ Monatsschrifi Jur Geschichte und Wissenschafl desJudentums.
NT Novum Testamentum.
xiii
XIV ABBREVIATIONS
NIS New Testament Studies.

OC (hiens Chlistian us.
OCA (hientalia Chlistiana AnalecLa.
OCP Orientalia Christiana Periodica.
OKS Ostkirchliche Studien.
Or Orientalia.
OS L '(hient SYlien.
PBR Patristit." and Byzantine Review.
PdO Parole de l 'Orient.
PETSE Papers oj" the Estonian Theological Society in Exile.
PC Patrologia Cmeca.
PO Patrologia Orientalis.
PS Patrologia SYliaca.
PWK Pauly-Wissowa-Kriill.
RA Revue Augustinienne.
RAC Reallexicon fur A ntike und Christentum.
RB Revue Biblique.
REA Revue des etudes armeniennes.
RJ-JE Revue d'Histoire lit."desiastique.
ROC Revue de l 'Orient Chretien.
RSR Recherches de Sciences religieuses.
Rn Revue Theologique de T>ouvain.
SA Studia A nselmiana.
SC Sources Chretiennes.
SP Studia Patristica.
SVTQ St. Vladimir\ Theological Quarterly.
1S Texts and Studies.
TU Texte und Untersuchungen.
VC Vigiliae Christianae.
ZKC 7A!itschrififiir Kirchengeschichte.
Other Works
HASOII A. Voobus, History oj A.,uticism in the Syrian Orient. Vol. 2. CSCO
197. Louvain, 1960.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ephrem '5 Works

Assemani, J. S., ed. Sancti Patris Nostri Ephraem Syri Opera Omnia
quae exstant graece, syriace, latine, in sex tomos distributa. Rome,
173 2-43.
Beck, E., ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Carrnina Nisibena. CSCO
218-19,240-41. Louvain, 1961,1963.
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen auf Abraham
Kidunaya und julianos Saba. CSCO 322-23. Louvain, 1972.
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen contra Haereses.
CSCO 169-70. Louvain, 1957.
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de Ecclesia. CSCO
198-99. Louvain, 1960.
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syr-ers Hymnen de Fide. CSCO
154-55· Louvain, 1955·
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de leiunio. CSCO
246-47. Louvain, 1964.
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de Nativitate
(Epiphania). CSCO 186-87. Louvain, 1959.
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de Paradiso und
Contrajulianum. CSCO 174-75. Louvain, 1957.
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de Virginitate.
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Paschahymnen. CSCO
247-48. Louvain, 1964.
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Serrno de Domino Nostro.
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Sermones de Fide. CSCO
212-13. Louvain, 1961.
_ _ , ed. Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Sermones. Vol. 1. CSCO
305-6. Louvain, 1969.
311-12. Louvain, 1970.
320-21. Louvain, 1972.
334-35· Louvain, 1973·
xv
xvi SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
_ _, ed. Ephraem Syrus. Serrnones in Hebdomadam Sanctam. CSCO

412-13. Louvain, 1979.
_ _ , ed. Nachtriige zu Ephraem SYTUS. CSCO 363-64. Louvain,
1975·
Bevan, E. A. and F. C. Burkitt. S. Ephraim's Prose RRfutations of Mani,
Marcion and Bardaisan. Vol. 2. London, 1921.
Bickell, G., ed. Sancti Ephraemi Syri Carmina Nisibena additis prole-
gomenis et supplemento lexicorum syriacorum primus edidit, vertit, ex-
plicavit. Leipzig, 1866.
Bojkovsky, G. Paraenesis. Die altbulgarische UbeTSetzung von Werken
Ephraims des Syr-ers. Monumenta Linguae Slavicae Dialecti Vet-
eris, nos. 20, 22, 24. Freiburg, 1984-87.
Brock, S. P. "Ephrem's Letter to Publius." LM 89 (1976):
261-305.
Ephraem Latinus. Patrologia Latina, Supplementum. Vol. 4. Paris,
1967. 60 4-48 .
Lamy, T. J., ed. Sancti Ephraemi Syri Hymni et Serrnones. 4 vols.
Machelen-lez-Deinze, 1882-1902.
Leloir, L., ed. Saint Ephrern Commentair-e de l'evangile concordant.
Chester Beatty Monographs, no. 8. Dublin, 1963.
_ _, ed. Saint Ephrem Commentaire de l'evangile concordant texte syri-
aque (Manuscript Chester" Beatty 709) Folios Additionnels. Chester
Beatty Monographs, no. 8. Louvain, 1990.
_ _, ed. Saint Ephrern. Commentaire de l'iuangile concordant, version
armenienne. CSCO 137,145. Louvain, 1953, 1954·
_ _ , ed. "S. Ephrem: Ie texte de son commentaire du Sermon de
la Montagne." In Memorial DomJean Gribomont (1920-1986), ed.
Y. de Andia et al. Studia Ephemeridis "Augustinianum," no. 27.
Rome, 1988.
Maries, L. and C. Mercier, eds. Hymnes de S. Ephrem conser"vees en verc
sion arrnenienne. PO 30. Paris, 1961.
Mitchell, C. W. S. Ephraim's Prose RRfutations of Mani, Marcion and
Bardaisan. Vol. 1. London, 1912.
Overbeck, J. J. S. Ephraemi Syri, Rabulae Episcopi Edesseni, Balaei alia-
rumque Opera Selecta. Oxford, 1865.
Rahmani, I. E. Ephrem Hymni de Virginitate. 2 vols. Scharfeh, 1907.
Renoux, c., ed. Ephrem de Nisibe Memre sur Nicomedie. PO 37. Paris,
1975·
Srboyn Ep'r-emi Matenagrut'iwnk'. 4 vols. Venice, 1836. [In Armen-
ian].
Ter Petrossian, L. and B. Outtier. Textes armeniens relatifs it S.
Ephr-em. CSCO 473,474. Louvain, 1985.
Tonneau, R. M., ed. Sancti Ephraern Syri in Genesim et in Exodum com-
mentarii. CSCO 152-53. Louvain, 1955.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY XVII
Zingerle, P., ed. Ephmerni Syri serrnones duo ex codd. syr: Rorn. Brescia,
1868.
Selected Secondary Sources

Amar, J. P. "Byzantine Ascetic Monachism and Greek Bias in the
Vita Tradition of Ephrem the Syrian." OCP.')8 (1992): 123-.')6.
_ _ . "Perspectives on the Eucharist in Ephrem the Syrian." Wore
ship 61 (1987): 441-54.
_ _ . "The Syriac Vita Tradition of Ephrem the Syrian." Ph. D.
dissertation, Catholic University of America, 1988.
_ _ . "An Unpublished Kar:Surlz Arabic Life of Ephrem the Syri-
an." LM 106 (1993): 119-44.
Aprem, Mar. Mar Aprern, Theologian and Poet, 301-373 A.J). Kerala,
1990.
Assemani, J. S. Bibliotheca Orientalis Clernentina-Vaticana. 3 vols.
Rome, 1719-28.
Bardy, G. "Le souvenir de saint Ephrem dans Ie haut moyen age
latin." Revue du Moyen Age Latin 2 (1946): 297-300.
Beck, E. "Asketentum und Monchtum bei Ephram." In Il rnonaches-
irno orientale, 341-62. OCA 153. Rome, 1958.
_ _ . "Le Bapteme chez St. Ephrem." OS 1 (1956): 111-36.
_ _ . "Bardaisan und seine Schule bei Ephram." LM 91 (1978):
27 1-333.
_ _ . "Ein Beitrag zur Terminologie des altesten syrischen
Monchtums." In Antonius Magnus Erernita 356-1956, 254-67.
SA, no. 38. Rome, 1956.
_ _ . "Besra (sarx) und pagra (soma) bei Ephram dem Syrer."
OC70 (1986): 1-22.
_ _ . "Das Bild vom Sauerteig bei Ephram." OC63 (1979): 1-19.
_ _ . "Das Bild vom Spiegel bei Ephram." OCP 19 (19.')3): .')-24.
_ _ . "Das Bild vom Weg mit Meilensteinen und Herbergen bei
Ephraem." OC65 (1981): 1-39.
_ _ . Dorea und Charis.-Die Taufe. Zwei Beitriige zur Theologie
Ephriirns des SyreTS. CSCO 4.')7. Louvain, 1984.
_ _ . Ephriirn der Syn:r: Lobgesang aus der Wiiste. Sophia, no. 7.
Freiburg, 1967.
_ _ . "Ephrams Brief an Hypatios iibersetzt und erklart." OC 58
(1974): 76- 120.
_ _ . "Ephrams des Syrers Hymnik." In Liturgie und Dichtung.
Festschrift fur W Durig, vol. 1, ed. H. Becker and R. Kaczynski,
345-79. St. Ottilien, 1983.
_ _ . Ephriirns des SyreTS. Psychologie und Erkenntnislehr-e. CSCO 419.
Louvain, 1980.
XVlll SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
_ _ . Ephriims Hymnen i1ber das Paradies. SA, no. 26. Rome, 1951.
_ _ . "Ephrams Hymnus de Paradiso XV, 1-8." OC 62 (1978):
24-35·
_ _ . Ephriims Polemik gegen Mani und die Manichiier im Rahmen der
zeitgenossischen griechischen Polemik und der des Augustinus. CSCO
391. Louvain, 1978.
_ _ . "Ephrams Rede gegen eine philosophische Schrift des Bar-
daisan ubersetzt und erkIart." OC60 (1976): 24-68.
_ _ . Ephriims Reden i1ber den Glauben. Ihr theologischer Lehrgehalt
und ihr geschichtlicher Rahmen. SA, no. 33. Rome, 1953.
_ _ . Ephriims TrinitiitslehTe im Bild von Sonne/Feuer; Licht und
Wiirme. CSC0425. Louvain, 1981.
_ _ . "Ephrem der Syrer." RAC 5 (1962): 521-31.
_ _ . "Ephrem Ie Syrien." In DS 4,788-800. Paris, 1960.
_ _ . "Die Eucharistie bei Ephram." OC 38 (1954): 41-67.
_ _ . "Glaube und Gebet bei Ephram." OC66 (1982): 15-50 .
. "Die Hyle bei Markion nach Ephram." OCP 44 (1978):
. "Die Mariologie der echten Schriften Ephrams." OC 40

(195 6 ): 22-39·
_ _ . "Philoxenos und Ephram." OC 46 (1962): 61-76.
_ _ . "Symbolum-Mysterium bei Aphraat und Ephram." OC 42
(195 8): 19-40.
_ _ . "TEXNH und TEXNITHL bei dem Syrer Ephram." OCP 47
(1981 ): 295-331.
_ _ . Die Theologie des Hl. Ephriim in seinem Hymnen i1ber' den
Glauben. SA, no. 21. Rome, 1949.
_ _ . "Zur Terminologie von Ephraems Bildtheologie." In Typus,
Symbol, Allegorie bei den ostlichen Viitern und ihren Parallelen im Mit-
telalter; ed. M. Schmidt, 239-77. Eichstatt, 1982.
_ _ . "Zwei ephramische Bilder." OC 71 (1987): 1-23.
_ _ . "Die zwei Paradoxa des Glaubens bei Ephram." In A Tribute
to Arthur Voobus, ed. Robert H. Fischer, 169-75. Chicago, 1977.
Bestul, T. H. "Ephraim the Syrian and Old English Poetry." Anglia
99 (1981 ): 1-24.
Botha, P. J. "Antithesis and Argument in the Hymns of Ephrem
the Syrian." Hervormde Teologiese Studies 44 (1988 ): 581-95.
_ _ . "Christo logy and Apology in Ephrem the Syrian." Hervor c
mde Teologiese Studies 45 (1989): 19-29.
Bou Mansour, T. "Analyse de quelques termes christologiques chez
Ephrem." Pd~ 15 (1988/89): 3-20.
_ _ . "Aspects de la liberte humaine chez Saint Ephrem Ie
Syrien." ETL60 (1984): 252-82.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY xix
_ _ . "La defense ephremienne de la liberte contre les doctrines

marcionite, bardesanite et manicheenne." OCP So (1984): 331-
46.
_ _ . "Etude de la terminologie symbolique chez Saint Ephrem."
Pd~ 14 (1987): 221-62.
_ _ . "La liberte chez Saint Ephrem Ie Syrien." Pd~ 11 (1983):
89-156,12 (1984/85),3-89.
_ _ . La pensee symbolique de Saint Ephrem le Syrien. Bibliotheque de
l'Universite Saint Esprit, no. 16. Kaslik, 1988.
Bravo, C. Notas intmductorias a la noematica de San Efren. Rome,
1956.
Brock, S. P. "Clothing Metaphors as a Means of Theological Ex-
pression in Syriac Tradition." In Typus, Symbol, Allegorie bei den
ostlichen Vatera und ihnm Parallelen im Mittelalter; ed. M. Schmidt,
11-40. Eichstatt, 1981.
_ _ . "From Ephrem to Romanos." SP20 (1989): 139-5l.
_ _ . The Harp of the Spirit. Studies Supplementary to Sobornost,
no. 4. 2d ed. St. Alban and St. Sergius, 1985.
_ _ . "Introduction to Syriac Studies." In Horizons in Semitic Stud-
ies, ed. J. H. Eaton, 1-33. University Semitics Study Aids, no. 8.
Birmingham, 1980.
_ _ . 'Jewish Traditions in Syriac Sources." ffS 30 (1979):
212-32.
_ _ . The Luminous Eye: The Spiritual World Vision of St. Ephrem.
Rome, 1985. 2d ed., CSS 124. Kalamazoo, 1992.
_ _ . "Mary and the Eucharist, an Oriental Perspective." Sobor c
nost/ECR 1 (1979): 50-59.
_ _ . "Mary in Syriac Tradition." In Mary's Place in Christian Dia-
logue, ed. A. Stacpole, 182-91. Slough, 1981.
_ _ . "The Mysteries Hidden in the Side of Christ." Sobornost 7
(197 8 ): 4 64-7 2.
_ _ . "The Poet as Theologian." Sobornost7 (1977): 243-50.
_ _ . "The Poetic Artistry of St. E phrem: An Analysis of H. Azym.
III." Pd06/7 (197S/76): 21-28.
_ _ . "St. Ephrem on Christ as Light in Mary and in the Jordan
(= Hymns on the Church, 36)." ECR7 (1976): 137-44.
_ _ . St. Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns on Paradise. Crestwood, 1990.
_ _ . "An Unpublished Letter of St. Ephrem." Pd~ 4 (1973):
3 17-22.
_ _ . "World and Sacrament in the Syrian Fathers." Sobornost 6
(1974): 68S-96 .
Bruns, P. "Arius hellenizans?-Ephraem der Syrer und die neoari-
anischen Kontroversen seiner Zeit." ZKG 101 (1990/91):
21-57·
xx SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bundy, D. D. "Ephrem's Critique of Mani: The Limits of Knowl-

edge and the Nature of Language." In Gnosticisme et Monde Hel-
lenistique. Actes du Colloque de Louvain-la-Neuve (I I-I 4 maTS
I9Bo), ed. J. Ries et aI., 289-98. Publications de l'Institut Ori-
entaliste de Louvain, no. 27. Louvain-Ia-Neuve, 1982.
_ _ . "Language and the Knowledge of God in Ephrem Syrus."
Dialogue and Alliance 1 (1988): S6-64.
_ _ . "Language and the Knowledge of God in Ephrem Syrus."
PBR5 (1986): 91-103.
_ _ . "Marcion and the Marcionites in Early Syriac Apologetics."
LM 101 (1988): 21-32.
Burkitt, F. C. S. Ephraim's Quotations from the Gospels. TS, no. 7, part
2. Cambridge, 1905.
Caquot, A. "Une home lie ethiopienne attribuee a saint Mari
Ephrem, sur Ie sejour d'Abraham et Sara en Egypte." In
Melanges Antoine l.uillaumont, ed. R. Coquin, 173-85. Geneva,
1988.
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Nisibe et dans la patristique syriaque anterieure." Etudes Mari-
ales 36/37 (1978/80): 49-80.
Secondary works concerning Ephrem's (,ommentmy on the Diatessaron will be
included in our translation to that work which is to appear in a subsequent vol-
ume of this selies. More comprehensive bibliography for the study of Ephrem,
and for general Syriac studies, can be found by consulting the following works:
xxx SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brock, S. P. "Sytiac Studies 1961-197°, a Classified Bibliography." PdO 4

(1973): 393-46.').
_ _ . "Sytiac Studies 1971-1980, a Classified Bibliography." PriO 10
(1981/82): 29 1-4 12 .
_ _ . "Syriac Studies 1981-1985, a Classified Bibliography." PdO 14 (1987):
289-360.
Moss, C. Catalogue of Syriac Printed Books and Related Literature in the
British Museum. London, 1962.
Ortiz de Urbina, I. Patmlogia Syriaca. 2d ed. Rome, 1965.
Roncaglia, M. P. "Essai de bibliographie sur saint Ephrem." Pd~ 4
(1973): 343-7 0 .
Samir, K "Complements de bibliographie ephremienne." Pd~ 4
(1973): 37 1-9 2.
GENERAL
INTRODUCTION
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
The golden age of Syriac literature, which extended from

the fourth to the eighth centuries, produced a number of
important figures who merit more serious attention than
they have heretofore received: Balai, Cyrillona, Aphrahat,
Jacob of Sarug and Narsai, to name just a few. Unfortunate-
ly, due to the inaccessibility of their writings, knowledge of
these authors is generally limited to Syriac specialists. The
single writer from this period who has achieved any degree
of recognition beyond the realm of the specialist is Ephrem
the Syrian. Unquestionably the greatest writer in the history
of the Syriac-speaking church, Ephrem stands as the pillar
of Syriac Christian literature and culture. His works, which
have survived in considerable quantity, have had an ines-
timable impact on all facets of subsequent Syriac literature.
Known by his contemporaries as the "Harp of the Holy Spir-
it," Ephrem's renown extended from his native Syria
throughout the ancient Christian world. l
(2) Scholars in his native Syriac-speaking tradition have
always held Ephrem in the highest esteem, referring to him
as the "Cicero" and even as the "Homer" of his own literary
tradition. 2 Until recently however, Ephrem has been judged
somewhat less sympathetically by many Western scholars.
The great Cardinal Robert Bellarmine commented pejo-
1. See Y. Azema, ed., Theodoret de Cyr, Correspondance ITT, SC 1 1 1 (Paris,

1965) 190. Epiphanius, in his Panarion, 51.22.7, speaks of "Ephrem the wise
man of the Syrians," K. Holl and]. Dummer, eds., Epiphanius Panarion, GCS 31,
rev. ed. (Leipzig, 198.')) 2:28.'). Jerome also speaks of how distinguished
Ephrem's w1itings were in the churches. See E. C. Richardson, ed., Hieronymul;
I>iber de Viris Inlustribus, TU, no. 14 (Leipzig, 1896) 87. See also the discussion
of Palladius, Sozomen and the Apophthegmata Patrum, below.
2. A. Mingana, "Remarks on the Text of the Prose Refutations of S.
Ephrem,".1RAS (19 22 ): 523.
3
4 GENERAL INTRODUCTION
ratively that Ephrem "was obviously more pious than

learned."? In the early part of this century the well-known
British Syriacist F. C. Burkitt levelled such disparagingjudg-
ments as "[the popularity of Ephrem's works] shows a lam-
entable standard of public taste."4 Some years later the same
author added that "Ephrem is extraordinarily prolix, and
when the thought is unravelled it is mostly commonplace,
his poems make very heavy reading for us moderns."" More
recently, J. B. Segal has wrily commented that Ephrem's
work, "it must be confessed, shows little profundity or orig-
inality of thought, and his metaphors are labored. His
poems are turgid, humorless, and repetitive."6 The motiva-
tion behind such severe judgments as these may be traced to
the frustration on the part of these scholars who were look-
ing for more precise and concrete historical data concern-
ing the events and figures of the early Syriac-speaking
church. 7
(3) Contemporary scholars are more willing to take
Ephrem on his own terms. Sebastian Brock has called
Ephrem "one of the great Christian poets of all times,"8
while Simon Tugwell goes so far as to declare Ephrem to be
"one of the great religious poets of the world."'} Prevailing
scholarly opinion is in general agreement with the assess-
ment of Robert Murray who says, "Personally, I do not hesi-
tate to evaluate Ephrem not only as the true ancestor of Ro-
manos and therefore of the Byzantine Kontakion, but as the
3. Cited, with approbation, by R. Payne Smith, "Ephraim the Syrian," in Di(.c

tionary o/Christian Biography (London, 1880) 2:140; and in "St. Ephraem, Doc-
tor of the Church," in Butler's I>ives o/the Saints, ed. H. Thurston and D. Attwa-
tel', rev. ed. (New York, 1956) 2:574.
4. F. C. Burkitt, Early Eastern Christianity (London, 1904) 99.
5. F. C. Burkitt, "The Christian Church in the East," in The Cambridge Ancient
His/ory (Camblidge, 1939) 12:502.
6. J. B. Segal, Edessa, "The Blessed City" (Oxford, 1971) 89.
7. S. P. Brock, "The Poetic Artistry of St. Ephrem: An Analysis of H. Azym.
III," Pd0617 (1975-76): 22.
8. S. P. Brock, "Dramatic Dialogue Poems," in DCA, no. 229 (Rome, 1987)
135·
9. S. Tugwell, Prayer (Dublin, 1974) 1: 138.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION 5
greatest poet of the patristic age and, perhaps, the only the-
ologian-poet to rank beside Dante."l0
(4) In addition to this greater appreciation of Ephrem
and his writings, there is also an increasing awareness of the
importance of Syriac language and culture, both in its own
right, and as it concerns a number of related disciplines. ll
Syriac is an Eastern dialect of Late Aramaic. During the fifth
and fourth centuries Be, Reichsaramiiische, or Imperial Ara-
maic, was spoken throughout the vast Persian Empire that
ruled over the entire Near East at that time. An early dialect
of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic was the language that Jesus
himself most likely spoke. 12 From the fourth to the seventh
centuries of our era, the Syriac dialect of Aramaic served as
the lingua franca throughout a large part of the Middle East,
and by the middle of the seventh century, Syriac-speaking
Christian missionaries were clearly established in China and
may have ventured as far east as the Mekong delta. 13
(5) The heritage of Syriac-speaking Christianity contin-
ues to be represented by a number of Oriental churches.
These churches are the Maronite, the Syrian Catholic, the
Syrian Orthodox (also known as Jacobite), the Church of
10. See, for example, R. Murray, "Ephrem Syrus, St." in A Catholic Dictionary
o{ Theology (London, 1967) 2:222; idem, Symbols o{ Church and Kingdom (Cam-
bIidge, 1975) 31; S. P. Brock, The HaJj) oj the Spirit, Studies Supplementary to
Sobornost, no. 4, 2d ed. (Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, 1983) 6; and
idem, The Luminous Eye: The Spiritual World Vision o{St. Ephrem (Rome, 198.'); 2d
ed., CSS 124. Kalamazoo, 1992) 145.
11. See S. P. Brock, "An Introduction to Syriac Studies," in Horizons in Semit-
ic Studies, ed. J. H. Eaton, University Semitics Study Aids, no. 8 (Birmingham,
1980) 1-33·
12. For the phases of the Aramaic language, see J. A. Fitzmyer, S. J., A Wan-
dering Aramean: Collected Aramaic Essays, Society of Biblical Literature Mono-
graph SeIies, no. 25 (Missoula, Montana, 1979) especially 6-10, 57-84; and E.
Y. Kutscher, "Aramaic," in Current Trends in T>ingnistics, ed. T. A. Sebeok, Lin-
guistics in South West Asia and North Africa, (Paris, 1970) 6:347-412.
13. See Y. Saeki, The Nestorian Documents and Relics in China, 2d ed. (Tokyo,
1951); K. Enoki, "The Nestorian Christianism in China in Medieval Time ac-
cording to Recent Historical and Archaeological Researches," in COriente cris-
tiano nella stmia della civiiLrL, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, no. 341 (Rome,
1964) 4.')-77; P. Pelliot, Recherches sur les chretiens d'Asie centrale et d'extnrne orient
the East or Assyrian church (also known as Nestorian), and

both the Syro-Malabar and the Syro-Malankar churches of
India. 14 The Melkite church, more correctly known today as
the Greek Catholic church, is of Syriac origin but adopted
Byzantine liturgical practices beginning in the tenth centu-
ry.IS These churches have endured varying degrees of La-
tinization, which in some cases date back to the Crusades,
and are now in the process of restoring their liturgies ac-
cording to their authentic Syriac origins. Hi
(6) As for the origins of Syriac-speaking Christianity, be-
cause of the paucity of material available, nearly every as-
pect of the problem is still matter for debate among scholars
with no easy solution forthcoming. 17 The existence of Christ-
(Leiden, 1973); and B. C. Colless, "The Traders of the Pearl," Abr-Nahrain 9

(1969-70): 17-38, 10 (1970-71): 102-21, 11 (1971): 1-21, 13 (1972-73):
115-35,14 (1973-74): 1-16, 15 (1974-75): 6-17,18 (1978-79): 1-18.
14. For a brief overview see Brock, "An Introduction to Syriac Studies,"
30-33. See also J. Madey, Die Kirchen des Ostens. Fin Finluhrung (Freiburg,
197 2).
IS. See J. Nasrallah, "La liturgie des patriarcats melchites de 969 a 1300,"
OC 71 (1987): IS6-81; and C. Charon, "Le rite byzantin et la liturgie chrysos-
tomienne dans les patliarcats melkites," in Chrisostomika: studi e riarche intomo a
S. Giovanni Crisostomo a cura del Comitato per il XV' centenario della sua morte
(Rome, 1908) 474-S 18.
16. See.J. Vellian, ed., The Rmnanization Tenden,.y, The Syrian Churches Se-
ries, no. 8 (Kottayam, 1975).
17. The best survey of the evidence and arguments involved is still Murray,
Symbol" 4-24. Murray has also dealt with these questions in his later article,
"The Characteristics of the Earliest Christianity," in Fast o{ Byzantium: Syria and
Armenia in the Formative Period, ed. N. G. Garsoian, T. F. Mathews, and R. W.
Thomson (Washington, 1982) 3-16. The most important earlier studies areJ.
Labourt, T>e christianisme dans I'empire perse sous la dynastie sassanide (224-632)
(Paris, 1904) 1-17;.J. M. Fiey, Ialons pour une histoire de I'eglise en Traq, CSCO 3 10
(Louvain, 1970) 32-65; W. Bauer, OrthodfJxy and Hemy in ~'arliest Christianity
(Philadephia, 1971) 1-43; L. W. Barnard, "Origins and Emergence of the
Church in Edessa during the First Two Centuries," VC 22 (1968): 161-75;
idem, "Early SyIiac ChIistianity," in Studies in Church Histmy and Patristics,
Analecta Blatadon, no. 26 (Thessalonica, 1978) 194-223, especially 197-201;
J. B. Segal, "When Did Christianity Come to Edessa?" in Middle Fast Studies and
Libraries: A Felicitation Volume jilr Professor j. D. Pearson, ed. B. C. Bloomfield
(Mansell, 1980) 179-91. For the origins of the Church in the eastern parts of
the Syriac speaking regions, see now M.-L. Chaumont, T>a christianisation de I'em-
ian communities in various regions of Syria and Mesopo-

tamia can, however, be established with reasonable certainty
before the third century. The reference in the canonical Acts
of the Apostles to the presence of "Parthians and Medes and
Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia"18 at the first Pente-
cost suggests that at least by the year 80, the Apostolic
church knew of Christian communities in these areas. Bar-
daisan, in his Book of the Laws of Countries, witnesses to Christ-
ian communities in the eastern regions of the Near East at
the end of the second century. I'} In the mid-third century,
Dionysius of Alexandria speaks of bishoprics in "the Syrias
and Arabia ... and in Mesopotamia."20 Abercius, bishop of
Hierapolis, c. 200, left on an inscription, discovered in
1883, an account of his journey to Rome, in which he de-
scribes "the plain of Syria and all the cities, even Nisibis, hav-
ing crossed the Euphrates. And everywhere I had associates
having Paul as a companion, everywhere faith led the way."21
pire imnien des m7l,rines aux gmndes persecutions du 4' sihle, CSCO 499 (Louvain,
Ig88).
18. Acts 2.g. While some scholars want to dismiss this list as a common
topos for "all the world" [see, for example, S. Weinstock, "The Geographical
Catalogue in Acts H,g-II," jl~S 38 (1948): 43-46; andJ. Blinkman, "The Liter-
ary Background of the Catalogue of Nations," CBQ 2.') (lg63): 418-27], there is
no reason to discount entirely any historical veracity in the verse. See Fiey,jalons
pour une histoire de l'eglise en Iraq, 34-35.
Ig. F. Nau, ed., Bardesanes T>iber T>egwn Regionum (Brepols, Ig07)
2.1:604-8. Bardaisan mentions SyIia, Edessa, Parthia, Media, and Hatra, among
others.
20. Letter to Stephen, bishop of Rome, preserved in Eusebius, History o{ the
Chunh VII.5.2. The Chroni,.le ofArbela, chapters Iff. [Po Kawerau, ed., Die Chroni"
von Arbela, CSCO 467-68 (Louvain, Ig85)] alleges that there were bishops in
that diocese beginning in the early second century, but this document suffers
from much doubt as to its authenticity. Some scholars, e.g., .J.-M. Fiey, "Auteur
et date de la Chronique d'Arbeles," OS 12 (lg67): 265-302, went so far as to
consider this Chronicle the work of its editor, Alphonse Mingana. See S. P.
Brock, "Alphonse Mingana and the Letter of Philoxenos to Abu 'Afr," BjRL 50
(lg67): Igg-206, for a refutation of these scholars and Chaumont, La christi-
anisation de {'empire imnien, 29-38, for an overview of the problems.
21. Translation excerpted from .J. Quasten, Patrolog) (Utrecht, Ig75)
1:171-73. For the insCliption see, W. Wischmeyer, "Die Aberkios inschrift als
Grabepigramm,"JAC23 (lg80): 22-47.
The Chronicle oj Edessa records a flood that destroyed the

Christian church of Edessa in 201. 22
(7) Walter Bauer's now famous study, Orthodoxy and Heresy
in Earliest Christianity, has demonstrated the tendentiousness
of the old assumption that orthodox Christianity was the
first to be established in cities and was only later perverted
by the arrival of heretical teaching (s). His study has also
opened the eyes of scholars to the problems of applying the
anachronistic labels of orthodoxy and heresy to ancient
Christian cultures. While the indications just reviewed tell
us little of the nature of these early Syriac-speaking commu-
nities, there is little question that some form of Christianity
existed very early III vanous regions of Syria and
Mesopotamia. 2?
(8) The classic account that purports to tell of the com-
ing of Christianity to Syria is the Teaching oj Addai. 24 Accord-
ing to this document, King Abgar V Ukhama of Edessa, hav-
ing heard reports of how Jesus was performing miracles and
great healings in Palestine sent missives imploring Jesus to
come to Edessa and heal him of an uncertain malady.2s Jesus
responded by saying that He was unable to come in person
22. See L. HallieI', Untersuchungenuber die Edessenische Chronih. TU, no. 9,

part 1 (Leipzig, 1892) 146. See, however, the arguments of Bauer, OrthodfJxy
and Heresy in ~'arliest Christianity. 12-21, on this passage being an intelpolation.
23. The so-<:alled Bauer thesis has been called into question. For Edessa, see
especially, T. A. Robinson, The Bauer Thesis ~'xamined: The Geography oj Heresy in
the ~'arly Christian Chun.-h (New York and Ontmio, 1988) 45-59; and S. Gero,
"With Walter Bauer on the Tigris: Encratite Orthodm.), and Libertine Heresy in
Syro-Mesopotamian Chlistianity," in Nag Hmnm(uii. Gnosticism. and ~'arly Chris-
tianity. ed. C.W. Hedrick and R. Hodgson,Jr. (Peabody, 1986) 287-307. For a
concise, if not always up-to-date, introduction to the history of early Christianity
in Syria, see W. S. McCullough, A Short History oj Syri(u; Christianity to the Rise oj
Islam (Chico, Califomia, 1982).
24. For text and translation see G. Phillips, ed., The Doctrine of Addai the
Apostle (London, 1876). The same text with a new translation appears in G.
Howard, trans., The Teaching oj Addai (Missoula, Montana, 1981).
2.'). According to the Teaching ofAddai. this disease was a bad case of gout
[Howard, trans., The Teaching oj Addai. z (text), 15 (translation)], while Euse-
bius, HistoTY oj the Church 1.13, records that Abgar '\vas pelishing from terrible
suffering in his body, beyond human power to heal."
but that He would send one of His disciples after He had

been raised up to His Father. Following the ascension of
Jesus, the Apostle Thomas, before he went to India, commis-
sioned his disciple Addai to go to Edessa and preach the
Good News. Mter Addai arrived there he healed Abgar of
his illness, and the king and his court were are all soon con-
verted. The remainder of the book, as the title suggests,
deals with the preaching of Addai to the newly converted
Edessans.
(9) Some form of the Teaching of Addai already existed in
the early fourth century, for Eusebius claims to have had in
his possession a text translated from a Syriac copy reported-
ly found in the archives of Edessa. 26 Nevertheless, the Teach-
ing of Addai in its present form cannot be dated prior to the
early fifth centuryY The ordination of Addai's disciple Palut
by Serapion, bishop of Antioch, indicates, although ana-
chronistically, a concern on the part of the final redactor to
link the Church of Edessa to the greater church of the
Byzantine empire. 28
( 10) Current scholarly opinion offers two theories con-
cerning the origins of the Teaching of Addai. The first, ex-
pressed as early as 1903, argnes that this document is an
adaptation by the Christian community of Edessa of the ac-
count of the conversion of the royal house of Adiabene to
Judaism recorded by the Jewish historian Josephus. 29 This
theory of the origins of the Teaching of Addai is buttressed by
the role played therein by Tobia bar Tobia, a Jew who
lodged Addai in his house and served as the one who
26. The correspondence is cited in Eusebius, HistoTY of the Church 1.13.

27. See Murray, Symbol,; 4.
28. Serapion was bishop in Antioch during the years 199-211, thereby
negating any possibility of having ordained Palut. Many scholars have used this
fact to relocate the story in the reign of Abgar VIII the Great, who ruled Edessa
from 177 to 212. See, for example, E. Kirsten, "Edessa," in RAG 3:569-70; and
Segal, ~'dessa, ''The Blessed City", 70.
29. The legend is found in Josephus, Jewish Antiquities XX. 1 7-48. This theo-
ry, first expounded in J. Marquart, Osteuropiiische und ostasiatische Streijzuge
(Leipzig, 19(3) 300, was reiterated simultaneously by Segal, lidessa, "The Blessed
City", 67-69, and Murray, Symbol,; 8-9.
brought Addai to Abgar. There are other indications that

the earliest missionaries into the Syriac-speaking regions,
taking literally the command of the Apostle Paul to go first
to the Jew and then to the Greek (or, in this case, the
pagan), followed paths that had already been trodden by
itinerant Jews and were at that time dotted with established
Jewish communities. Yoo Support has also come from other
studies that present compelling evidence that Christianity
made greater advances into areas where the Jewish commu-
nity was small or lacked unity, whereas in the case of a large
or strong Jewish presence, the Christian missionaries made
little or no progress. Yo ]
( 1 1) A second theory on the origins of the Teaching oj
Addai has more recently been advanced by H. J. W. Drij-
vers,'!2 who argues that because of many literary similarities
to the activities of Mani and his disciples, one of whom was
named Addai, the Teaching oj Addai should be viewed as an
orthodox version of the founding of the Church in Edessa
based on an anti-Manichean polemic. While Drijvers has ar-
gued this point quite cogently, his theory still has not com-
pletely overturned the position repostulated by Segal and
Murray. Even if his theory has not received full acceptance
Drijvers has, nonetheless, drawn more careful attention to
the importance of Mani in the Syriac-speaking church dur-
ing this early period. Yo ,!
(12) Recent discoveries, such as the documents at Qum-
30. See, for example, Rom 1.16, 2.10.

31. This was already the position of A. Harnack, The A1ission and Expansion
oj Christianity in the First Three Centuries (New York, 1962) 1-18. See now the
studies of Jacob Neusner, especially, "The Conversion of Adiabene," jBL 83
(1964): 60-66; A History of theJews in Babylonia, Brown Judaic Studies, no. 62
(Chico, Califomia, 1984) 1: 180-83; and AjJhmhat and jwiai,wll, Studia Post-Bib-
lica, no. 19 (Leiden, 1971) especially, 1-4. Josephus, Antiquitie,\; XVIII.ix.l, al-
ready mentions Nisibis as one of the centers of Babylonian Jewry.
32. H . .J. W. Drijvers, "Facts and Problems in Early Syriac-Speaking ChIis-
tianity," The Second Century 2 (1982): 157-75.
33. In addition to the study just mentioned, see H . .J. W. Drijvers, "Odes of
Solomon and Psalms of Mani. Cluistians and Manichaeans in Third-Century
SyIia," in Stwiies in Gnosticism and Hellenistir Religions jJresented to Gilles QuisjJel,
ran and Nag Hammadi, and most notably the Cologne

Mani Codex/ 4 have significantly altered our knowledge of
the origins of Syriac-speaking Christianity. It is now known
that Syrian Christianity and various sects indigenous to
the Syrian regions were not simply Hellenistic Christian
missionary movements from Antioch as was heretofore
thought, 'IS but were rather part of a much more complex de-
velopment of various Judeo-Christian sects that also pro-
duced diverse Christian and baptist sects such as the Elka-
sites, Mandeans, and others. While much still remains to be
studied, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Essenes,
the Elkasites, and other similar groups were separate devel-
opments of an ascetic Jewish sectarian ideology that exerted
influence over much of the Near East. As Murray has point-
ed out, the strength of this theory lies in the sectarian "as-
cetical doctrine and practice; it is now clear that such asceti-
cism was not alien to all forms of Judaism, but that in the
extraordinary variety of the latter in the time of Christ the
seeds of not merely temporary but permanent celibacy for
spiritual combat were present."'16
( 13) Certainly, one fact that is agreed upon by scholars is
that early Syriac-speaking Christianity, in all its manifesta-
tions, seems to have been based on strong ascetical tenden-
cies. It was this same asceticism that underlay the encratism
of Tatian, the asceticism of Mani, and that absolute sexual
renunciation demanded by the Acts of Thomas.?7 This ascetic
ed. R. van den Broek and M.J. Vermaseren (Leiden, 1981), 117-30 [reprinted
in H. J. W. Drijvers, East olAntioch. Studies in Early Syriac Christianity (London,
1984) Study Xl.
34. R. Cameron and A. J. Dewey, The Cologne Mani Codex, Society of Biblical
Literature Texts and Translations: Early Christian Literature Series, no. 3 (Mis-
soula, Montana, 1979)'
3.'). See, for example, H. Lietzmann, "Die Anfange des Christentums in
Syrien und seinem Hinterland," in Kleine Schriften, TU, no. 67 (Berlin, 19.')8)
1:94-96 .
36. Murray, Symbols, 17-18.
37. A. F.J. Klijn, The Acts olThomas, Supplements to Novum Testamentum,
nO.5 (Leiden, 1962). See also R. Murray, "Features of the Earliest ChlistianAs-
ceticism," in Christian Spirituality: Essays in Honour ol Gordon Rupp, ed. Peter
tendency affected not only the fringe sects but exerted

strong influence as well on the more mainline community. It
has even been suggested that as late as the beginning of the
fourth century a vow of celibacy had actually been a prereq-
uisite for baptism in the churches of Syria. 38 It is in this still
nebulous period at the beginning of the fourth century that
the fignre of Ephrem appears.
Life
I. Sources and Legends
(14) There is certainly no dearth of sources for the the
life of Ephrem. Already, less than half a century after
Ephrem's death, historians began to recount the deeds of
the great Syrian saint. Palladius, writing about 420, devot-
ed an entire chapter to "Ephrem, the deacon of the church
at Edessa. He had accomplished the journey of the Spirit
in a right and worthy manner, never deviating from the
straight path and he was deemed worthy of the gift of
natural knowledge (YVW(JlS ¢V(JlK~). The knowledge of God
succeeded this, and finally blessedness. He always practiced
the quiet life and edified those whom he met for many years .
• • • "'1') Although Palladius knew that Ephrem was a deacon
in Edessa, he shows no awareness that Ephrem actually

lived nearly all of his life in Nisibis. The single event that Pal-
ladius does recount concerns Ephrem's efforts during a
famine that afflicted Edessa in 373, a famine so severe, ac-
cording to Palladius, that it caused Ephrem to leave his
monastic cell to render his assistance to the city. It was large-
ly through Ephrem's efforts that many Edessan citizens sur-
vived, though Ephrem himself died shortly after this effort.
( 15) Less than a quarter of a century after Palladius
Brooks (London, 1975) 6.')-77; and idem, "The Characteristics of Earliest

Christianity," 3-16.
38. See A. Voobus, Celibacy, A Requirement jilr Admission 10 Baptism in Ihe liarly
Syrian Church, PETSE, no. 1 (Stockholm, 1951); and R. Murray, "The Exhorta-
tion to Candidates for Ascetical Vows at Baptism in the Ancient Syriac Church,"
N1S21 (1974-75): 59-80.
39. Palladius, The I>ausiac History, 40, in Palladia: I>a Storia I>ausiaca, ed. G.].
wrote, the church historian Sozomen devoted a rather

lengthy notice in his History of the Church to Ephrem, calling
him:
the greatest ornament of the Catholic Church ... [who] devoted
his life to monastic philosophy . . . although he received no in-
struction he became, contrary to all expectation, so proficient in
the learning and language of the Syrians, that he comprehended
with ease the most abstruse theorems of philosophy. His style of
writing was so replete with splendid oratory and with richness and
temperateness of thought that he surpassed the most approved
writers of Greece."')
Sozomen adds much new detail and several anecdotes to

the report of Palladius. He is the earliest source that we
have that connects Ephrem with Basil of Caesarea, who was
"universally confessed to have been the most eloquent man
of his age ... was a great admirer of Ephrem and was aston-
ished at his erudition." Sozomen also provides the names of
several of Ephrem's disciples. 41 In addition, Sozomen is the
first to record that Ephrem composed his hymns as an anti-
dote to the hymns of Bardaisan's son, who was perhaps a bit
too appropriately named Harmonius. These hymns of Har-
monius were not only charming the Syrian populace by
their rhythms but were also infecting them with the doc-
trine of his father. 42 As does Palladius, Sozomen ends his no-
tice with the famine that struck Edessa, for which reason
Ephrem "quit the solitary cell in which he pursued philoso-
phy," i.e., his monastic practices.
M. Bartelink (Verona, 1974) 206-8. English translation in R. T. Meyer, trans.,
Palladius: The I>ausiac History, ACW 34 (New York, 1964) 116-17.
40. Sozomen, History o{ the Church, III. 16, in Sozomenus Kirchengeschichte,
ed . .J. Bidez and G. C. Hansen, GCS 50 (Berlin, 1960) 127-31. English trans-
lation in C. D. Hartranft, trans., "The Ecclesiastical History of Salamini-
us Hermias Sozomenus," in LVPF 2d series (reprint, Grand Rapids, 1983)
2:295-97·
41. Sozomen names Abba, Zenobius, Abraham, Moses, Simeon, Paulonas,
and Arad, but see B. Outtier, "Saint Ephrem d'apn's ses biographies et ses oeu-
vres," FriO 4 (1973): 20-21, for the diffeIing traditions concerning Ephrem's
disciples.
42. Ephrem himself confirms the role Bardaisan and his son played in early
SyIiac hymnography; see Hymns against Heresies, 1.17,53.5.
(16) There is also a long Encomium on Ephrem that has

come down to us under the name of Gregory of Nyssa. 4?
This homily, delivered on the feast day of Ephrem, while re-
counting details found in Palladius and Sozomen, clearly de-
rives information from an independent tradition. It was this
Encomium, clearly a product of the Second Sophistic pane-
gyrical tradition, that served Simeon Metaphrastes as the
source for his Life oj Ephrem; Simeon's Life oj Ephrem in turn
served as the source for two other short Byzantine lives of
Ephrem. 44
(17) The author of this Encomium, with great vividness,
describes an Ephrem who:
reckoned the whole earth as foreign to himself and turned his
back on material creation as an enemy for the sake of the unseen
blessedness stored up in heaven . . . . [He] practiced incessant
tears, a life of solitude, withdrawal from one place to another,
flight from evils, fasting and vigils without measure, [used the]
ground for a bed, [practised] an austerity of life beyond words and
poverty and humility taken to the limit ... [he] despised all world-
ly things ... fled the world and the things of the world, and, as
Scripture says, "he wandered far and dwelt in the desert," heedful
of only himself and God and there received a lavish increase in
virtue for he knew precisely that the eremitical life would free the
one who desired it from the turmoil of the world and would pro-
vide silent converse with the angels. 4"
(18) While this Encomium served as the Byzantine proto-

type, Palladius and Sozomen became the primary sources
43. St. Gregory of Nyssa, De Vita S. Patris Ephrae:rn Syri, PC; 46, 820A-849D. A
new edition of this work by A. Spira is in preparation. It will appear in W. Jaeger
and H. Langerbeck, eds., CregmiuI' Nyssenus OjJera: SUjJjJlemenlum, vol. 2. This
work cannot be attributed to Gregory of Nyssa; see the discussion in A. Voobus,
Lilermy, Crilical and Hislmical Slwiies in ~'jJhrern lhe Syrian, PlilSli, no. 10 (Stock-
holm, 1958) 41-45; and E. G. Mathews,Jr. "The Vila Tradition of Ephrem the
Syrian, the Deacon of Edessa," Dialwnia 22 (1988-89): 22-23.
44. For Simeon's Life oj lijJhrern, see Spneon Logotheta Metaphrastes, OjJera
Omnia, PC 114, 1253-68. The two other Byzantine Lives oj lijJhrern do not seem
ever to have been edited. See discussion in Voobus, T>iterary, Critical and Histori-
cal Sludies inlijJhrern lhe Syrian, 41-45.
45. St. Gregory of Nyssa, De Vila S. Palrisliphraern Syri, 824C-825A, 832D.
for Ephrem's biography in the Syriac and oriental tradi-

tions. In the middle of the seventh century, Ananiso, a
monk from the monastery of Beth Abe, compiled in Syriac a
large book about the history and sayings of the monks of
Egypt. 46 In his work, which included a translation of Palla-
dius, he combined the notice of Ephrem with two apoph-
thegmata that he found told of Ephrem. This account of Ana-
niso then became the foundation for the Syriac Life of Eph-
rem. The Chronicle of Seert, which contains two long notices
on Ephrem, survives in an Arabic version, but is clearly de-
pendent on the same tradition as the Syriac Life of Ephrem. 47
(19) This Syriac Life of Ephrem is the only real full-length
work that we possess that can rightly be called a biography
of Ephrem. 48 It alone provides such details as Ephrem was
born of a Christian mother and of a father who was a pagan
priest; he accompanied Jacob of Nisibis to the Council of
Nicea; he spent eight years as a monk in Scetis during which
time he met with the great Egyptian monk, Abba Bishoi; af-
terwards he sailed to Constantinople to meet with Basil the
Great, and that after Ephrem's return to Syria, Basil at-
tempted to ordain him as priest, only to be foiled by Eph-
rem who feigned madness before Basil's emissaries. Eph-
rem's connections with Scetis, the great center of Egyptian
monasticism, and his own eremitic life on a mountain out-
side of Edessa are emphasized throughout the Syriac Life.
46. See E. A. Wallis Budge, The Book a/Paradise, Being the Histories and Sayings
of the Monks and Ascetics of the Egyptian Desert, by Palladius, Hieronymus and Others
(London, 19(4); and now R. Draguet, Les jil171leS ,'Yliaques de la maLiere de l'Hislaire
lausiaque, CSCO 389-90, 399-400 (Louvain, 1978).
47. A. Scher, Histoire nestorienne inedite (Chronique de Seert), PO 4, 5 (Paris,
19(8). For the Chronicle's sources for its mateIial on Ephrem, see Outtier, "Saint
Ephrem d'apn's ses biographies et ses oeuvres," 24-26.
48. This text exists in three different recensions which have now been edit-
ed synoptically with English translations by.J. P. Amar, "The Syriac ViLa TJ'adi-
tion of Ephrem the Syrian," (Ph. D. diss., Catholic University of America,
1988). Previous editions by T.]. Lamy, ed., Sancti Ephraem Syri Hymni et Serrnones
(Machelen-Iez-Deinze, 1886) 2:3-89; and P. Bedjan, ed., Acta MarLyrum el Sanc-
torum Syriace (Paris, 1892),3:621-6.'), not only reflected only a single recension
but each offered a "corrected" version, with the result that neither edition accu-
rately reflected the manusClipt being edited.
(20) In 1933, H. Polotsky showed that the pericope con-

cerning Ephrem's extended sojourn in Egypt and his meet-
ing with Abba Bishoi was purely legendary and, moreover,
betrayed a later tradition concerning the transferral of
Ephrem's relics to the monastery of Abba Bishoi for protec-
tion from being desecrated by barbarian invasions. 49 Subse-
quent to Polotsky's article, Dom O. Rousseau published a
long study that demonstrated that the several pericopes in-
volving the meeting between Ephrem and Basil were also
purely legendary. This meeting was actually fabricated from
two brief references found in Basil's works, one to "a Syrian"
and the other to "a certain Mesopotamian," which were
then combined with the above-mentioned witness of So-
zomen that Basil was an admirer of the works of Ephrem. so
This meeting was subsequently further embellished in a spu-
rious Life oj Basil, attributed to Amphilochius of !conium,
which served as the source for the peri cope in the Life oj
Ephrem. While these studies exposed the legendary nature of
these particular pericopes, scholars continued for some
time to consider the core of the Syriac Life oj Ephrem as his-
torical and even to maintain its claim to be the work of
Ephrem's disciple, Simeon of Samosata. S1
(21) In addition to these biographical works, there exists
a number of texts from antiquity that lay claim to being au-
tobiographical, the most important of which is the so-called
49. H.J. Polotsky, "Ephraems Reise nach Aegypten," Or2 (1933): 269-74.
See also the later Arabic legends in H. G. Evelyn White, The Monasteries 0/ the
Wadi 'n NaLrun (New York, 1932) 2: 114, 316, 420. For recent studies of the re-
lation of Ephrem and Abba Bishoi, see M. Blanchard, "Coptic Heritage of St.
Ephrem the Syrian," in Proceedings o/the Vth International Congress o/Coptic Studies
(Rome, 1993); and idem, "Apa Bishoi and Mar Ephrem," in Middle ~'{L\Le1-n
Christian Studies, no. 1, forthcoming.
50. Basil, Homilies on the Hexaemeron, 2.6; and Homilies on the Holy Spirit,
29.74. See D. O. Rousseau, "La rencontre de saint Ephrem et de saint Basile,"
OS 2 (19.')7): 261-84; 3 (19.')8): 73-90. This legend must have existed already
in the early sixth century as Severus of Antioch seems to have known of a meet-
ing between Basil and Ephrem, see.J. Lebon, ed., Severi Anliocheni liber ("onlm
impium Gmmmaticum, CSCO 102 (Louvain, 1933) 180.
51. Among the scholars who thought thus include E. Bouvy, "Les sources
histOliques de la vie de saint Ephrem," RA 2 (1903): 155-64; S. Schiwietz, Das
morgenliindische Monchtum (Modling bei Wien, 1938) 3:93-165; R. Duval, I>a lit-
Testament of Ephrem. This document survives in a Syriac as

well as in a highly periphrastic Greek version. 52 This docu-
ment purports to record Ephrem's deathbed instructions to
his disciples. As in Palladius, there is no mention here of
any Nisibene period of Ephrem's life. Finally, to these docu-
ments must also be added a number of Syriac ascetic texts
that are attributed to Ephrem in the manuscript tradition.
These texts depict an extreme eremitical lifestyle, not un-
like that described in some of the lives of the Syrian monks
written by Theodoret, fifth-century bishop of eyr. 53
(22) While all these sources may differ in details, they are
all in accord in fostering the legend that Ephrem was a
monk/hermit of nearly Antonine proportions. 54 This has
been the traditional picture of Ephrem throughout the
LemLure ,'Yliaque (PaIis, 19(7) 329; A. Baumstark, GeschichLe der ,'Ylis('hen LiLemLur
(Bonn, 1922) 33-34,66;]. B. Chabot, T>a littf:raturesyriaque (Paris, 193.')) 2.'); P.
Peeters, Le Lrifonds mienLal de l'hagiograjJhie byzanLine (Brussels, 1950) 176; and 1.
Ortiz de Urbina, PaLrologia Syri(u'a (Rome, 196 5) 57 .
.')2. The Syriac text of the Testament can be found in E. Beck, ed., Des Heili-
gen~l)hmem des Syrers Se171wnes IV, CSCO 334 (Louvain, 1973) 43-69. The Greek
text is inJ. S. Assemani, Sandi PaLlis NosLri lijJhmem Syri Opem Omnia quae exsLanL
graece, syriace, latine, in sex tomos distributa (Rome, 1732-43), 2:230C-247A.
There are also later versions in Arabic, Armenian, and Georgian, all listed in M.
Geerard, Clavis PaLrum Gme('orum (Brepols, 1974) 2:397-98. In the introduc-
tion to the translation volume that accompanies his text [Des Heiligen Ephraem
des Syrers Se17nones IV, CSCO 335 (Louvain, 1973) xi-xiv], Beck demonstrates
that this work is a late compilation containing many non-Ephremic features.
See also A. Voobus, HASO II, 70-73. Ephrem himself, in his Hymns on Nisibis
19.15, praised the bishops of Nisibis for not having left behind any such testa-
ment.
.')3. These texts are described in Voobus, T>iterary, Critical and Historical Stud-
ies in liphrem Lhe Syrian, 59-86; and idem, HASO II, 1-10. Three of these texts
have been edited, with German translations, by Beck, Se171wnes IV, 1-43 [Eng-
lish translation of "On Hermits and Desert Dwellers," by]. P. Amar, in Ascetic Be-
havior in GreClrRoman AnLiquiLy: A Sourcebook, ed. V. Wimbush, Studies in Antiqui-
ty and Chlistianity, no. 6 (Minneapolis, 1990) 66-80 J. Editions of the rest of
these texts, with English translations, have been prepared in E. G. Mathews,Jr.,
"Three Memre on Solitaries Attributed to Ephrem the SyIian and Isaac the
Teacher. Editions, Translations and Commentary with an Investigation into
Their Place in the History of Syriac A~ceticism," (Ph. D. diss., Catholic Universi-
ty of Amelica, fllrLhcoming). See also idem, "'On Solitaries': Ephrem or Isaac?"
LM 103 (1990): 91-110 .
.')4. In addition to the studies just mentioned, see]. P. Amar, "Byzantine As-
Christian world, in literature, as the texts just enumerated

demonstrate, as well as in Christian iconography.55 The de-
cree Principi apostolorum Petro, promulgated by Pope Bene-
dict XV on .5 October 1920, declaring Ephrem to be a doc-
tor of the universal Church, is largely based on the
Encomium attributed to Gregory of Nyssa. 56 Therefore, one
must acknowledge that this monastic-inspired picture of
Ephrem has also contributed to his "official" biography as
proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church.
(23) Despite the importance of Ephrem to nearly every
aspect of the fourth-century Syrian church and its sub-
sequent development, no comprehensive study of his life
was attempted until 1960. This surprising fact is no doubt
due not only to the complex nature of the many bio-
graphical documents just mentioned but also to the im-
mense number of writings in nearly all early Christian lan-
guages that claim to have been written by Ephrem. Arthur
Voobus was the first to attempt such an evaluation of the bi-
ographical tradition of Ephrem. 57 Mter having put all the
material to critical scrutiny, he still could only conclude
that:
The historical details of Ephrem's life are very scanty, and in many
points do not allow us to reach a conclusion with desirable certain-
ty. For the stream of the tradition is demonstratively discolored by
the media through which it passed. Therefore the student of his-
cetic Monachism and Greek Bias in the Vita Tradition of Ephrem the Syrian,"
OCP58 (1992): 123-56 .
.')5. See, for example, the study of J. R. Martin, "The Death o{ Ephraim in
Byzantine and Early Italian Painting," Art Bulletin 33 (1951): 217-25, where
Ephrem is always depicted at his death surrounded by a retinue of monks, her-
mits, and even stylites .
.')6. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 12 (1920): 4.')7-73, translated by B. A. Hausman, S.
.J., in The p(lPal~'ncydi,.als, ed. C. Carlen (Raleigh, NC, 1981) 3:195-201.
.')7. Voobus, T>iterary, Critical and Historical Studies in Ephrem the Syrian. Much
of this study reappears in idem, HASa II. More than a decade prior to the
appearance of Voobus' studies, R. Draguet had announced a project to
study the tradition of the life of Ephrem [R. Draguet, T>es Peres du desert (Paris,
1949) viii-ix] but was too detained by other duties ever to bring it to comple-
tion.
tory is faced with a complex problem: Ephrem quite different

from the historical Ephrem.'B
(24) Voobus, predisposed to the life of Ephrem as depict-
ed in the Greek tradition, went on to describe Ephrem as an
athlete in asceticism whose ascetical practices were "equated
with contempt for nature, subjugation of the body and
killing bodily needs."59 Voobus was also the first to introduce
into the discussion those Syriac texts, mentioned above, that
deal with an ascetical lifestyle of the severity for which Syri-
an monks were well known in the fifth and sixth centuries. GO
Voobus defended the attribution, found in the manuscript
tradition, that these texts were written by Ephrem and, on
the basis of his evaluation of the evidence, pronounced
Ephrem to be the founder and foremost practioner of this
solitary ascetic lifestyle that was lived entirely in the moun-
tains or in the desert with no comforts other than what na-
ture itself provided. 61
(25) Voobus seemed, therefore, to have defended the
traditional biography of Ephrem. But, the work of two schol-
ars was soon to change all that. At the same time that
Voobus was bringing his studies to completion, Dom Ed-
mund Beck began what was to be a more than thirty-year
58. Voobus, Litemry, Criti,.al and Historical Studies in~'phrem the Syrian, 46 and
idem, HASO II, 84 .
.')9. Voobus, HASOII, 97.
60. For the lifestyle of these monks see, in addition to Theodoret, Histmy of
the Monks olSyria, cited above, A. Festugiere, Antioche paienne et chretienne (Paris,
19.')9); P. Canivet, T>e monachisme Syrien selon Theodoret de Cyr, Theologie his-
tOlique, no. 42 (PaIis, 1977); P. R. Brown, "The Rise and Function of the Holy
Man in Late Antiquity,".1RS61 (1971): 80-101 [Reprinted in idem, Society and
the Holy in T>ate Antiquity (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1982) 103-.')2]; and I.
Pena, et aI., Les redus ,'Yliens (Jerusalem, 1980).
61. See the arguments and description of this lifestyle in Voobus, HASO II,
1-41. Many of Voobus' positions on Ephrem's life stem from his analysis of
these texts rather than on the works of unquestionable authenticity, with the re-
sult that his picture is of the same "discoloration" as the traditional one from
which he claimed to distance himself. On Voobus' methods see, especially, J.
Gribomont, "Le monachisme au sein de l'eglise en SyIie et en Cappadoce," SM
7 (196.')): 9-12 .
project of editing the Syriac works of Ephrem. Based on this

critical text work, Beck began to notice discrepancies be-
tween the traditional image of Ephrem and the image of
Ephrem that emerged from his genuine writings.
(26) In two extremely important articles, Beck laid the
foundations for what would result in a complete reevalua-
tion of the biography of Ephrem. 62 In the first of these arti-
cles, Beck demonstrated that such terms as 'abile "mourn-
ers," b'nay q'yama "covenanters," and most particularly,
'ihidaye "solitaries," which were commonly used of monks
and ascetics in later texts, were used very differently in the
genuine writings of Ephrem as well as in those of his near
contemporary Aphrahat. For example, Ephrem and Aphra-
hat used the term 'ihidaya simply to designate a celibate per-
son rather than a solitary who lived alone in caves or the
wilderness. 6 '1 In the time of Ephrem and Aphrahat the per-
sons designated by these terms were not only not monks in
any formal sense, but were still very much involved in the
day to day affairs of the life of the Church.
(27) Beck's research further revealed that in Ephrem's
genuine Syriac works there is to be found no concern for
any lifestyle or ascetic practice that can be labelled monastic
or eremitic; Ephrem's overwhelming concern was to serve
his local church community, and to help his bishops defend
it against the influence of various heterodox groups. In sev-
eral articles and monographs, Dom Louis Leloir has since
lent further support to Beck's conclusions. 64
(28) Subsequent to Beck's studies, Dom Bernard Outtier
62. See E. Beck, "Ein Beitrag zur Terminologie des iiltesten syrischen
Monchtums," SA 38 (1956): 2.')4-67, and idem, "Asketentum und Monchtum
bei Ephraem," in Il mon(u.-hesimo oTienlale, OrA, no. 153 (Rome, 1958) 341-62.
63. In the New Testament the term 'ihidaya translates the Greek term
flOVOYEVT)S; see John 1.14, 18; 3.16, 18; I John 4.9. The term was then trans-
ferred to that one who had a special relationship with Christ, Ihe 'ihiday", or
"Only-Begotten." For the importance of this spirituality in the early Syrian
church, see the study of Murray, "Features of the Earliest Christian Asceticism,"
65-77; and, especially, G. Winkler, "The Origins and Idiosyncrasies of the Earli-
est Form of Asceticism," in The Continuing Questfor God, ed. W. Skudlarek (Col-
legeville, Ig82) 9-43.
64. See, especially, L. Leloir, Doctrines el melhodes (le S. lijJhrem d'ajJres son
was asked to give a reassessment of the biographical tradi-

tion of Ephrem at a conference celebrating the sixteenth
centenary of Ephrem's death. 65 In this seminal study, Outti-
er subjected the biographical sources to a meticulous reeval-
uation. The result was that he exposed the tendentious na-
ture of Palladius and Sozomen as sources. Palladius blindly
pasted Evagrian labels on Ephrem. These Evagrian words
that Palladius employed have been cited more than once to
show how little Palladius knew of Ephrem. 66 The final sen-
tence of Palladius' notice concludes that Ephrem "left some
writings, too, most of which are worthy of attention." Such a
comment does not give one the fullest confidence that Pal-
ladius knew anything of the real Ephrem.
(29) The account of Sozomen is such "un veritable pane-
gyrique"67 that it is doubtful in the extreme that it contains
even a kernel of historicity. Some of the anecdotes Sozomen
relates are also told of others. For example, Sozomen re-
counts the story of a woman whom Ephrem encountered.
To Ephrem's rebuke to her for staring at him, she replied,
"Wherefore should I obey your injunction, for I was born
not of the earth, but of you." This same anecdote is told by
Theodoret about Jacob of Nisibis. 68
Commentaire de l'J<,'vangile con("oHumt, CSCO 220 (Louvain, 1961) 53-67; idem,

"La pensee monastique d'Ephrem et Martyrius," in OrA, no. 197 (Rome, 1974)
10.')-34; idem, "Saint Ephrem, moine et pasteur," in Theologie de la vie monastique
(Palis, 1961) 85-97; and idem, "La pensee monastique d'Ephrem Ie Sylien," in
Memorial du Cinquantenaire 1914-64, Travaux de l'Institut Catholique de Palis,
no. 10 (Paris, 1964) 193-206. Leloir, however, maintains that Ephrem did
know of and yearned for that rigorous eremitical life that he considered as the
highest fonn oflife.
65. Outtier, "Saint Ephrem d'apres ses biographies et ses oeuvres," 11-33.
66. Palladius' descliption of Ephrem being "worthy of the gift of natural
knowledge, to which succeeded the knowledge of God, and finally blessedness,"
is taken verbatim from the prologue of Evagrius' Prahtihos; see A. and C. Guil-
laumont, livagre Ie Pontique Traite pratique ou Ie moine II, SC 171 (Paris, 1971)
492. See also, R. Draguet, "L'Histoire Lausiaque-une oeuvre eclite dans l'es-
prit d'Evagre," RHF: 41 (1946): 321-64,42 (1947): 4-9; Amar, "The Syriac Vita
Tradition of Ephrem the Sylian," 9; and Mathews, "The Vita Tradition of
Ephrem the Syrian, the Deacon of Edessa," 19-20.
67. Outtier, "Saint Ephrem d'apres ses biographies et ses oeuvres," 19.
68. See Theodoret, History of the Monic> of Syria, 1.
(30) Outtier then went on to demonstrate that the Syriac

Life oj Ephrem is itself dependent on these same unreliable
sources. In not a few places it can now be seen that the Syri-
ac Life also includes pericopes from Theodoret's Histories
and the Life oj Basil of Ps.-Amphilochius, which the compiler
of the Life oj Ephrem adapted from the original context to
highlight the role of Ephrem. It has thus been made clear
that the Syriac Life oj Ephrem is little more than a pastiche of
earlier texts stemming from a very unreliable Greek hagio-
graphical tradition and can in no way be considered to be a
product of one of his disciples. Ii'}
(31) In striking contrast to this Greek biographical tra-
dition of Ephrem there exists a native Syriac biographi-
cal tradition represented by, in addition to Ephrem's own
genuine works, two noteworthy documents: the Foundation
oj the Schools by Bar Hadbesabba of Halwan (fl. s. VI)1° and
a lWCmra on Mar Ephrem the Teacher by Jacob of Sarug
(d. 521).71 Bar Hadbesabba preserves a tradition that knows
of Ephrem only as a teacher who was appointed by Jacob of
Nisibis as head of the school in that city. Mter Nisibis had
been ceded to the Persians in 363, Ephrem went to Edessa
and there opened another school where his commentaries
were used until those of Theodore of Mopsuestia were trans-
lated into Syriac during the tenure of Qiyore (fl. s. V) as
head of the school.72
(32) A little more than a century after the death of
Ephrem, Jacob of Sarug composed a panegyrical memra, en-
titled On Mar Ephrem the Teacher. The description of Ephrem
provided by Jacob's memra is of particular value since Jacob
69. Further details can be found in Amar, "The Syriac ViLa Tradition of
Ephrem the Syrian," 9-32; and Mathews, "The Vita Tradition of Ephrem the
Syrian, the Deacon ofEdessa," 1.')-42.
70. A. Scher, ed., Mar BarhadJ)"abba 'Arbaya muse de La jimdaLion des ecoles, PO
4.4 (Paris, 1907).
71. Bedjan, ed., Acta Martyrwn et Sanctorwn Syriace, 3:66.')-79. A new edition
of this important work with an English translation is in preparation by.J. P.
Amar.
72. For the history of the school of Nisibis, see A. Voobus, History o{ the
SchooL oj NisiiJi,\; CSCO 266 (Lollvain, 1965).
had studied in Edessa and later became bishop of Sarug, a

town less than 25 miles south of Edessa. 73 Jacob therefore
preserves reliable information about local Edessan tradi-
tions that concerned Ephrem. Although one must admit
that we find little in the way of concrete data concerning
Ephrem in this memra, one cannot but be struck by the fact
that the sole picture Jacob paints is of Ephrem as a teacher.
In the short space of 289 poetic lines Ephrem's teaching or
teaching activity is explicitly mentioned nearly fifty times
without a single mention or even a hint of any ascetical or
monastic practices. Jacob says of him that he is "the chosen
one, head and chief of the teachers ... an athlete who con-
quered by the purity of his teaching."74 In typical Syrian po-
etic fashion Jacob relates how Ephrem taught the Daughters
of the Covenant (in Syriac, b'nat q'yama) to sing his hymns,
which contain the true doctrine as well as an antidote to the
poison of the heretics. 75 Ephrem is described as "the spring
of new wine by whose songs the land is intoxicated so that it
might rejoice in him."76 Jacob has clearly depicted Ephrem
as a teacher and a guide who guards the flock from the het-
erodox teaching of the "wolves," i.e., the followers of Mani,
Marcion, and Bardaisan. We certainly cannot say that these
concerns are not those of a monk, but the picture Jacob
paints is clearly of one who is visibly and actively engaged in
teaching and preserving the orthodoxy of the lay church
community. It is this picture of Ephrem as teacher, with no
mention of any monastic activity, that has been preserved in
the early, native Syrian tradition.
(33) Recent scholarship, having recovered this native Syr-
ian tradition, has thus demonstrated that the traditional bi-
ography of Ephrem is almost totally inaccurate; it presents
not the Ephrem of history but an Ephrem who was the
product of a complex process of Byzantine hagiographical
73. Baumstark, Gesrhirhle tier syrischen Lilemlur, 148-58; and W. Wlight, A

Short History olSyriac I>iterature (London, 1894) 67-72.
74. Bedjan, ed., Ada Marly rum el Sandorum Syri(u'e, 3:665.
75. Ibid., 668.
76. Ibid., 667.
embellishment. Ephrem's own life, insofar as we know it, re-

flects evangelical practices and concerns, not those of the
anchorite. Ephrem lived his life as an unmarried disciple of
Christ wholly engaged in helping and advising his bishops
by preaching, teaching, writing, and fighting against here-
sies, all to keep careful guard over the whole flock of
Christ. 77 Although the particular circumstances of this pas-
toral activity are unknown to us, it is clear that Ephrem's
ministry was not congruent with the lifestyle of the ascetics
described in any of those texts that have come out of the
Greek tradition. It is particularly striking that Ephrem's ser-
vice to the Nisibene hierarchy and his ministry to the
Daughters of the Covenant were the very two things that
monks were warned to avoid above all else, namely, bishops
and women. 78
(34) In light of these recent studies, the fact that Ephrem
is not even once mentioned in Theodoret's History oj the
Monks oj Syria, (written c. 440)19 takes on much greater im-
portance. This glaring absence is made all the more remark-
able by two further observations. Theodoret did not include
Ephrem in his History even though he did include Ephrem's
bishop, Jacob of Nisibis. 80 Moreover, he omits any mention
of Ephrem in spite of the notices of Palladius and Sozomen!
Theodoret was an eyewitness to the development of monas-
ticism in Syria and knew firsthand many of the traditions
and legends. One would think that he certainly should have
77. See E. Beck, "Ephrem del' Syrer," in RAC, 5:524;J.-M. Fiey, "Les eveques
de Nisibe au temps de saint Ephrem," PdO 4 (1973): 123-35; and 1. Ortiz de
Urbina, L'eveque et son role d'apres saint Ephrem," FriO 4 (1973): 137-46.
Hymns on Nisibis 13-17, reveal how much Ephrem identified his theological vo-
cation with his ecclesiastical service.
78. See .J.-C. Guy, ed., Jean Cassien, lnslilulions ci:noiJiliques, SC 109 (Paris,
1965) X1.18: "For neither [bishops nor women] will allow one who has once
engaged in intercourse with God to take any further care for the quiet of his
cell, or to remain with pure eyes in divine contemplation."
79. For the dating of this work, see R. M. Price, trans., A History o/the Monks
o/Syria by Theodoret o/Cyrrhus, CSS 88 (Kalamazoo, 198.')) xiii-xv.
80. Theodoret paired Ephrem withJacob in his Hislory oj lhe Church, L. Par-
mentier and F. Scheidweiler, eds., Theodoret, Kirchengeschichte, GCS 44 (Berlin,
included a monk in his History who was "the greatest orna-

ment of the Catholic Church."81 Therefore, despite what
first appears to be a considerable number of source docu-
ments, after being subjected to critical evaluation, "the chief
facts which remain are deducible from [Ephrem's] authen-
tic writings."82
(35) In the paragraphs that follow we will attempt to
trace out the history of Ephrem's life and the events in
which he was involved insofar as these can be discerned with
any degree of accuracy.
Period in Nisibis
2.
(36) Although no source exists as verification, scholarly

consensus places the birth of Ephrem at c. 309, in or
around Nisibis. Contrary to the Syriac Life of Ephrem in
which Ephrem is portrayed as being born to a father who
was a priest of a pagan cult-one recension speaks of both
his parents being idol worshippers-,83 it is more likely,
based on Ephrem's own admission, that he was born of two
faithful Christian parents: "In the way of truth was I born
even though as a child I did not yet perceive it,"84 and ''Your
truth was in my youth; your truth is in myoId age."85
Ephrem seems to have had at least one sister, as later chroni-
1954) 2:26. Rev. B. Jackson, trans., "The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and
Letters of Theodoret," in LNPF 2d selies (reprint, Grand Rapids, 1983)
3:9 1-9 2 .
81. Bidez and Hansen, eds., Sozomen, Kinhenges,.hi,.hte, 127.
82. Murray, Symbol" 30.
83. Vat. MS. Syr. 117. See Amar, "The Syriac Vita Tradition of Ephrem the
Syrian," 69 (text), 199 (translation).
84. Hymns against Heresies 26.10.
85. Hymn on Virp;inity 37.10. See also Hymns against Heresies 3:13, where
Ephrem refers to his having been baptized in the name of the ninity. Accord-
ing to the Paris recension of the Syriac Life, Ephrem was baptized by Jacob at
age 18, and according to the Vatican recension, at age 28. See Amar, "The Syri-
ac Vita Tradition of Ephrem the SyIian," 92 (text), 226 (translation). But both
these recensions say that Ephrem's baptism occurred after he left Nisibis in
363! For the normal Syriac practice of baptizing young adults and not infants,
see S. P. Brock, "Some Early SyIiac Baptismal CommentaIies," OCP 46 (1980):
20-61.
cles refer to Ephrem's nephew, Absimius, a son of Ephrem's

sister. 86
(37) Nisibis, which Ephrem identifies with ancient Ak-
kad,87 was an acknowledged center of political and commer-
cial activity.88 Long an object of great desire and conten-
tion between the Romans and Persians, Nisibis had been
part of the Roman empire since 297, when Narses, King of
Persia signed a treaty with the Emperor Diocletian ceding
the Eastern frontier to the Roman empire. Diocletian then
quickly built Nisibis into his strongest eastern fortress. s')
When the Sassanians overthrew the Parthians and came into
power in Persia, it was their primary goal to reestablish the
borders of the ancient Achaemenid empire. 'lO The infant
Shapur II ascended to the throne in 309, and during his
reign, which spanned the entire life of Ephrem, the Sassan-
ian empire reached its apex. 'l ! Under his leadership Persia
was constantly engaged in trying to regain the eastern
Roman territories. Thus, Ephrem's busy ecclesiastical in-
volvement was from time to time interrupted by Persian at-
tacks on Nisibis.
(38) In the beginning of the fourth century, Syrian terri-
tory enjoyed a certain measure of peace. Shapur was still an
infant and the Edict of Milan brought a measure of relief
from Roman persecution of Christians. During this period
86. See F. Nau, "Etude sur les parties inedites de la chronique ecclesiastique
attribuee a Denys de Tell Mahre (t845)''' ROC 2 (1897): 62; and]. B. Chabot,
ed., Chmnique de Mi,.helle Syrien, 4 vols. (Pads, 1900-10) 4.169 (text), 2.9 (trans-
lation). Attempts to identify this Absimius with the early Syriac poet, Cyrillona,
have not met with much approval.
87. Commentary on Genesis, VIII. I.
88. Nisibis had a virtual monopoly on the trade between Persia and Rome.
See]. Sturm, "Nisibis," in PWKI7.714-.'i7, andN. Pigulevskaja, I>esvillesdel'etat
imnien aux f:jJoques jmrthe et sas,mnide (Pads, 1963) 49-59.
89. See R. N. Frye, "The Political HistOlY of Iran under the Sasanians," in E.
Yarshater, ed., The Cambridge History of1ran (Cambridge, 1983) 3.1 :131-32; and
Fiey, "Les eveques de Nisibe au temps de saint Ephrem," 123.
90. See A. Christensen, I/Iran sous les Sassanides, 2d ed. (Copenhagen,
1944)·
91. For the reign of Shapur II, see Frye, "The Political History of Iran under
the Sasanians," 1 16-80, especially 132-41.
Jacob, perhaps the first bishop of Nisibis, attended the

Council of Nicea, bringing back to his native church the
foundations of Nicean orthodoxy, though the report that
Ephrem accompanied Jacob to the Council of Nicea is al-
most certainly to be rejected. 92 Ephrem would later look
back on the careers of the various bishops he served and
refer to Jacob as the one who gave birth to the Nisibene
church, and as the one who weaned the flock in the faith,
and gave milk to the infants. 93 It was Jacob who had the first
church built in Nisibis during the years 313-20.94 Although
Ephrem worked closely with all the bishops whom he
served, the Syriac Life of Ephrem preserves the tradition that
Jacob was as influential in Ephrem's early formation as he
was in rearing the church ofNisibis in the orthodox faith.95
(39) In 338, after the death of Constantine, Shapur II,
now firmly in control of his own army, began his attempt to
take back from Rome all that he considered Persian territo-
ry and laid siege to Nisibis. When the city repulsed his at-
tack,96 Shapur resorted to levying a double poll tax on all
Christians living within the borders of his empire. Simeon
bar Sabbae, bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, stood forth on
behalf of the Christians in his flock for whom this tax was an
unbearable burden. Shapur responded by setting into mo-
92. See Life of~'phrem. 5. in Amar. "The Syriac Vita Tradition of Ephrem the
Syrian."' 82-83 (text). 214-16 (translation). For a discussion of the problem of
the actual order of the first bishops of Nisibis. see J.-M. Fiey. Nisibe: metropole syri-
aque orientale et ses suJJmgants (Ies origines (l nos jours. CSCO 388 (Louvain. 1977)
21-33·
93. See Hymns on Nisibis 14.
94. Fiey. Nisibe. 23; and idem. "Les eveques de Nisibe au temps de saint
Ephrem."' 126-27.
9.'). See T4e o/Ephrern. 3-7, in Amar. "The Syriac Vita Tradition of Ephrem
the Syrian," 73-89 (text). 203-23 (translation).
96. The sources confuse the roles of Jacob and Ephrem in the defense of
the city. Jacob alone is involved in Theodoret, History o/the Monks o/Syria. 1.11;
Ephrem beseeches Jacob in idem, History of the Chun.-h. 11.26; but in the Life of
Ephrem. 6. Ephrem plays the dominant role. See Amar. "The Syriac Vita Tradi-
tion ofEphrem the Syrian," 84-88 (text). 217-22 (translation). For discussion.
see P. Peeters, "La legende de saint Jacques de Nisibe." AD 38 (1920):
28.')-373; Canivet, T>e monachisme syrien. 71-72. and Amar, "The Syriac Vita Tra-
tion a vicious persecution against the Christians of Persia in

which many, including Bishop Simeon bar Sabbae, lost their
lives. 97 Early Syriac literature is full of martyr acts that stem
from these persecutions, although they may not all, in fact,
be the work of Marutha of Maipherkat, their traditional au-
thor.'l8 In 338 Jacob died and Babu succeeded him as bishop.'l'l
(40) In May of 345, Constantius arrived in Nisibis, after
having regained Adiabene from Shapur and the Persians,
thus winning the title Adiabenicus. lOo Shapur attempted a
second siege of Nisibis in 346, but was again repulsed. The
ensuing truce lasted less than two years, at which time Sha-
pur recommenced his efforts to regain Mesopotamia for the
Persian empire. In 350 Shapur was again at the walls of Nisi-
bis, this time followed by a convoy of elephants from India
and accompanied by hosts of Persia's best archers.lOl When
the elephants were slow to succeed, Shapur dammed up the
Mygdonius River and then managed to breach the wall by
unleashing the stored up water. Still, Shapur was unsuccess-
ful in his attempt to take over the city as the Nisibenes were
able to refortify the battered walls before the Persian forces
could enter. Shortly after this defeat Shapur had to set aside
this western campaign in order to stave off assaults from the
Chionites, apparently a Hunnish people, who were making
dition of Ephrem the SyIian," 15-18. The Life also telescopes the siege of 338
and that of 3.')0 into one single siege.
97. See account in Sozomen, History a/the Church, 1I.9.
98. The SyIiac acts are found in Bedjan, ed., Ada MarLymm eL SancLorum SY1'i-
ace. For a study of the Syriac tradition of these Acts, see G. Wiessner, Unter-
suchungen zur syrischen I>iteraturgeschichte: Zur Miirtyreriiberlieferung aus der Christen-
ve1ji!lgung SchajJuT!.; 2 vols., Abhandlungen del' Akademie del' Wissenschaften in
GOttingen, philologisch-historische Klasse, Dritte Folge, No. 67 (Gottingen,
1967). These persecutions are also recorded in Greek traditions; see H. Dele-
haye, ed., Les versions r,,rrecques des Ades des marLyrs jwrsans sous SajJor 11, PO 2-4
(Brepols, 1905), and Sozomen, History a/the Church, 11.9-1.').
99. Fiey, "Les eveques de Nisibe au temps de saint Ephrem," 122.
100. See A. Piganiol, L 'emjJire chretien (Paris, 1972) 84.
101. See Theodoret, History a/the Church, 11.26; Amar, "The Syriac Vita Tra-
dition of Ephrem the Syrian," 84-88 (text), 217-22 (translation); and the rele-
vant description in W. C. Wlight, ed., The Wode, of Lhe ~'mjJemr julian, LCL (New
York, 1913), 1 :68-72.
mcursIOns on the eastern borders in the regIOn of the

Caspian Sea.102
(41) This retreat of Shapur and his army once again left
Nisibis in relative peace for a short period. Sometime short-
ly after Shapur's retreat, c. 3.50-.52, Vologeses, who had now
succeeded Babu as bishop, constructed a baptistery in Nisi-
bis. This monument, the oldest Christian edifice in the en-
tire East, is still in existence and has been called "the most
beautiful Christian construction in the East."103
(42) Ephrem was now nearing fifty years of age, and had
spent his entire life in service to the church of Nisibis and as
a faithful servant to her three bishops: Jacob, Babu, and
Vologeses. Tradition, beginning with Palladius, has nearly
unanimously named Ephrem a deacon. The word Ephrem
uses to describe his own position is 'allana,104 which is most
often interpreted, with reference to the Greek tradition, as
deacon. While 'allan a is not the usual Syriac term to desig-
nate a deacon, there is little reason to doubt this tradition,
although there is no source to locate his ordination in Nisi-
bis or in Edessa. A little more problematic is the tradition
that Jacob of Nisibis had appointed Ephrem as head or in-
terpreter (in Syriac, m 'passqana) of the Christian school at
Nisibis. lo5 Even if one were to grant that the School of Nisi-
bis existed this early and that Ephrem was involved in the
early years of this school, still his exact role cannot be deter-
mined on the basis of the scanty evidence that has sur-
vived. 10G Of Ephrem's role as defensor fidei, there can be no
doubt; Ephrem often assumed the role that he demanded
of a good bishop.lo7
102. Frye, "The Political History ofIran under the Sasanians," 137.
103. Fiey, "Les eveques de Nisibe au temps de saint Ephrem," 129. For the
Greek inscription on the baptistery, seeJ.Jarry, "Inscriptions syriaques et arabes
inedites du Tur 'Abdin," Annales Islamologiqnes 10 (1972): 242-43.
1°4. Hymns against Heresies 56.10.
10.'). Scher, ed., Mar BarhadbSabba 'Arbaya canse de lafandation des iicoles, 377.
106. For a negative judgment, see Voobus, History o/the School o/Nisibis, 8-9;
and idem, "Afrem and the School of Urhai," in lijJhrem Hnnayn Festival (Bagh-
dad, 1974) 209-16.
107. See Ortiz de Urbina, "L'eveque et son role d'apres saint Ephrem,"
(43) It was very likely during this period that Ephrem

took the opportunity to reflect on the ecclesiastical life of his
native city. He saw three periods in the history of the church
of Nisibis, each corresponding to the guidance of the three
bishops whom he served:
Three illustrious priests, after the manner of the two great
luminaries,
have carried on and then handed down the See, the Au-
thority and the Flock.
To us who mourn so for the first two, this last one is whol-
ly a consolation.
He Who created two great luminaries chose for Himself
these three lights,
and set them in the three dark seasons of siege that have
taken place here.
When one pair of lights was dimmed the other shone
wholly forth.
These three priests were treasures who held in their faith-
fulness the key of the Trinity. 108
(44) Although the chronology of Ephrem's wntmgs is

by no means clear,109 a number of his hymns probably date
from this period-most notably the Hymns on Paradise, many
of the Hymns on Nisibis, and perhaps some of his litur-
gical hymns, particularly those anti-jewish Hymns on the
Paschal Feast. Nisibis had a large Jewish community in the
fourth century and Ephrem composed many hymns that
dealt with the Jews, which show him to be much more acer-
bic than was his younger contemporary, Aphrahat. 110 The
Chronicle of Seert records that Ephrem left in Nisibis a liturgy
137-46. On Jacob's role as bishop, see now D. Bundy, ':Jacob of Nisibis as a

Model for the Episcopacy," U\!f 104 (1991): 235-49. See also R. Murray, "St.
Ephrem the SyIian on Church Unity," i','CQ 15 (1963): 164-76.
108. Hymns on Nisibis 13.1-3. Hpnns 13-21 concern these three bishops.
See also Fiey, "Les eveques de Nisibe au temps de saint Ephrem."

1 09. See E. Beck, lijJhriim rier Sym; Lobgesang aus rier WilsLe, Sophia: Quellen
ostlicher Theologie, no. 7 (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1967) 14-17.
110. See Murray, Symbols, 41-68; andA. P. Hayman, "The Image of the Jew
in the SyIiac AntHewish Polemical Literature," in "if) See Ourselves as OLhen See
that he composed. This liturgy, which has not survived, re-

mained in use until the reforms of Is6yab of Adiabene (c.
650).111
(45) Ephrem's activity in Nisibis reached its conclusion
when Shapur II began his fourth, and what would prove to
be his final and most successful, assault on the Roman em-
pire. This time Shapur bypassed Nisibis in order to strike
deeper into Roman territory. Repulsed in this effort, Sha-
pur returned and besieged Amid. Victorious in this endeav-
or, he had all the inhabitants of this city either killed or sent
to Khuzistan as slaves.1l2 With the death of Constantius in
361 the pagan emperor Julian l13 succeeded to the throne
and mounted a final assault against the Persian forces. But
by the time Julian and his army marched forth Shapur had
already taken Singara and Bezabde.
(46) Julian's campaign against the Persians met with ini-
tial success and he regained certain outposts. Shapur, how-
ever, lured him deep into Persian territory, before the very
walls of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian capital. Here the
Roman army was thoroughly routed and Julian himself was
slain. As the body ofJulian was brought back to Nisibis on its
way to Tarsus where he had requested to be buried, Ephrem
noted the juxtaposition of the Persian flag flying on the
ramparts of Nisibis and the slain corpse of the pagan em-
peror:
Us": Christians, Jews, "Others" in [>ate Antiquity, ed. J. Neusner and E. S. Frerichs
(Chico, Califomia, 1985) 423-41. Murray, Symbol,; 19, points out, however,
that "the ChIistians in Mesopotamia lived at the door of the Jews like poor rela-
tions not on speaking terms. Ephrem's bitterness is less surprising than Aphl<l-
hat's courtesy."
I l l . Scher, ed., Histoire nestorienne inedite (Chronique de Seert), PO 4, 83-85.
112. Frye, "The Political History ofIran under the Sasanians," 137.
113. Julian the Apostate was a popular figure in Syriac literature. See.J. H.
C. Hoffman, ed., Julianos tier Abtruennige. Syrische ~'TZaehlungen (Leiden, 1880)
[English translation in H. Gollancz,Julian the Apostate (Oxford, 1928) J. See also
the texts, including Ephrem's hpnns, translated in S. N. C. Lieu, The limperorJu-
lian: Panegyric and Polemic, 2d ed. (Liverpool, 1989)' For modern studies, see R.
Browning, The EmperorJulian (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1976); C. Bowersock,
Julian the Apostate (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1978); and D. Bowder, The Age of
Constantine antiJulian (New York, 1978).
There I saw a foul sight:

the banner of the captor, which was fixed on the tower,
the body of the persecutor, which was lying on the bier.
Believe in ''Yes and No," the word that is true,
I went and came, my brethren, to the bier of the defiled
one
and I stood over it and I derided his paganism,
I said, "Is this he who exalted himself
against the living name and who forgot that he is dust?"
[God] has returned him to within his dust that he might
know that he is dust." 4
While Ephrem proclaimed the final victory over pagan-

ism, he was also forced to decry the sins and pagan prac-
tices of his native Nisibis that had brought on this catastro-
phe. ll5
(47) The emperor Jovian, who succeeded the slain Ju-
lian, saw that the Roman troops were much too depleted to
continue fighting against the Persians. He was thus forced
to conclude a treaty with Shapur II in 363 that ceded several
eastern territories to Persia, including Nisibis, Singara and
Bezabde. That ignobile decretum1l6 stated that Nisibis was to be
Persian for 120 years, and the inhabitants were to be al-
lowed to go to Amid freely and not to be forcibly relocated
as the inhabitants of Amid had been just four years previous-
ly. Shapur had to content himself with destroying all the
idols that had been reintroduced by Julian.
(48) The chronology concerning when Ephrem left Nisi-
bis and went to Edessa remains very vague. ll7 Ammianus
Marcellinus relates that all the Christians were forced to
114. Hymns againstfulian 3.3-4. Translation ofJudith Lieu in S. N. C. Lieu,
The EmperorJulian: Panegyric and Polemic, 1 18.

115. See Hymns againsLJulian 2.20-21. See also Hymns on Niamzetiia, espe-
cially, hymns 10-11, where he exhorts the inhabitants ofNisibis to repent. Iron-
ically, Julian had declined aid to Nisibis against the Persian assault on the
grounds that Nisibis was wholly ChIistianized. See Sozomen, HisLoTY oj Lhe
Church, V.3.
116. J. C. Rolfe, ed., Ammianus Marcellinus, U;T> (Cambridge, 1939)
XXV·7· 1 3·
117. Hymns on Nisibis 22-25 may deal with this period of Ephrem's life, but
they are lost. See Beck, Ephram der Syrer. T>obgesang aus der Wuste, 1 S.
leave Nisibis and went directly to Amid.l18 Contemporary

scholars are generally in the habit of saying that Ephrem
went very quickly to Edessa and spent the remaining ten
years of his life there.ll9 The little evidence that exists, how-
ever, does not support this presumption. 120 Ephrem's own
writings, contrary to the witness of Ammianus Marcellinus
(XXV9.1-6), offer hints that he remained in Nisibis some
time after the Persian-Roman treaty of 363 was signed. l2l
Other evidence, albeit later and of more dubious trustwor-
thiness, suggests that Ephrem went from Nisibis to Beth
Garbaye. 122
3. Period in Edessa
(49) The city which was known to native speakers of Syri-
ac as Urhai, was renamed Edessa, after the Seleucian capital
in Macedonia, by its founder Seleucus I Nicator in 303/2
BC.123 Ephrem, following a long-standing and widespread tra-
dition, identifies Edessa as the city of Erekh that was built by
Nimrod. 124 Edessa, like Nisibis, had been under Roman con-
118. Rolfe, ed., Ammianus MarallinuI; XXV.9.
119. See, most recently, K. McVey, lijJhrem Lhe Syrian Hymn.l; CWS (New York,
1989) 23; and S. P. Brock, St. Ephrem the Syrian Hymns on Paradise (Crestwood,
1990) 11.
120. A. Scher maintains that Ephrem did not leave Nisibis until 369. See his
Kaldu wa-AturII (Beimt, 1913) 47 (in Arabic).
121. Hymns againsLjulian 2.26-27, for example, suggests, contrary to Am-
miamis, tIlat tile Cluistians were not forced to leave as tIley had been in other
cities.
122. See Amar, "The Syliac Vila Tradition of Ephrem tile Sylian, 92 (text),
226 (translation).
123. The city, located in modern southeastern Turkey, is now called Ulfa.
DUling tile time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Edessa was known as Antioch by
the Callirhoe, or "beautiful flowing," refening to the liver Daisan. See R. Duval,
Histoire politique, religieuse et litteraire d'Edesse jusqu'a la premiere croisade (Paris,
1892); Segal, ii'dessa "The Blessed Cily"; H . .J. W. Drijvers, "Hatra, Palmyra und
Edessa. Die Stidte del' syrischmesopotamischen Wuste in politischer, kul-
turgeschichtIicher und religionsgeschichtIicher Beleuchtung," in ANRW
(Berlin-New York, 1977) 2.8:799-906; and idem, Culls and Belief. al lidessa,
Etudes pl'i'liminaires aux religions Olientales dans I'empire Romain, no. 90
(Leiden, 1980) especially, 9-18.
124. Cf. Commenlmy on Genesis VIII. 1. Muslim commentators later claimed
that it was Edessa where Abraham offered his son Isaac up as sacrifice. See
trol since the time of Diocletian. A fortress of exceptional

importance, Edessa had also long been an object of the
struggles between Rome and both the Parthian and Sassan-
ian dynasties of Persia. 12s Beginning in 132 Be, Edessa was
ruled by a long line of Nabatean kings under whom it grew
very prosperous due to its strategic position on the Roman
silk route.
(50) When Ephrem arrived in Edessa he found a cos-
mopolitan city with a very syncretistic or, as H. J. W. Drijvers
calls it, poly-interpretable/ 26 culture. Cults of Nebo and Bel,
Atargatis, Azizos and Monimos and Sin, Lord of the gods,
were still thriving in Edessa, as well as other lesser known
cults. 127 Edessa also had a certain reputation as a great center
of learning, for which reason it came to be known as the
"Athens of the East."128 The writings of Bardaisan witness to a
thriving Edessene tradition of classical philosophy.
(51) As mentioned above, Edessa had traditions that
traced its Christian origins back to Apostolic times; it al-
ready venerated the letter of Jesus to Abgar which was pur-
ported to protect the city against invasion. The body of the
Apostle Thomas was brought back from India and buried in
the crypt of the "great church" of Edessa which bore his
name. 129 Many martyrs are also associated with Edessa, the
most famous being Shamona, Guria and Habib,I?oo as well as
Sharbil and Barsamya.1'\1
Segal, fidessa "The Blessed Cily". 1-4; and Duval, Hisloire jJolilique. religieuI'e el lil-
temire d 'Edesse, 104.
125. Segal, fi(lessa "The Blessed Cily': 115; and Drijvers, Cults and Belie!, al
ii'(lessa, 1 1 .
126. Drijvers, Cults and Beliefs at Edessa, 17.
127. Ibid.
128. Ibid., 14.
129. The T4'e of EjJhrern, 33, refers to a Church of St. Thomas (in Syriac,
haykla rabiJa d'Mar Torna). The Spanish pilgIim Etheria came to Edessa exclu-
sively to pray at his tomb; see H. Petre, ed., ii'lherie, journal de Voyage, SC 21
(Paris, 1957) 158, and his comments on page .')4.
130. F. C. Burkitt, ii'ujJhernia and Ihe Golh, Text and Translation Society, no.
2 (Dublin and London, 1897). The Life ofEfJhrern, 35, claims that Ephrem wrote
hymns in commemoration of these famous martyrs. If he did, they have not sur-
vived.
131. W. Cureton, Anrienl Syri(u' Dorurnenls (London, 1864) 41-72, and R.
(52) Ephrem arrived in Edessa, some time after 363, to

find the surviving Christian community to be a minority
among many various heterodox groups and still thriving pa-
gan cults. The Syriac Life of Ephrem specifies that Ephrem
"found nine heresies ... most notably those of Bardaisan,
Arius, Mani and of Marcion."132 Ephrem was also appalled to
find that the members of the Christian community there
who shared his adherence to the canons of the Council of
Nicea were known as "Palutians," after a certain Palut, an
early bishop of Edessa, while it was the community of the
Marcionites who were known as the "Christians."133 The Syri-
ac Life of Ephrem emphasizes Ephrem's struggle against Bar-
daisan, although Ephrem waged constant battle against all
these heterodox groups during the few remaining years of
his life. 134
(53) While details are few and imprecise, Ephrem's activi-
ty in Edessa was such that he is remembered in the bio-
graphical traditions either as a lifelong Edessan or at least as
one who made no mark until his arrival there. As already
mentioned, Palladius knew nothing of a Nisibene period of
Ephrem's life. Sozomen mentions Nisibis as his birthplace,
but only in passing. The author of the spurious Testament of
Ephrem expresses concern only for the fortunes of Edessa;
Nisibis is not mentioned once. The Syriac Life speaks at
length of Jacob and various political events, but only after
Ephrem leaves Nisibis is he baptized, and only after his ar-
rival in Edessa did he begin his writing and his fight against
the heretics. The Encomium on Ephrem, attributed to Gregory
of Nyssa, most clearly expresses this traditional disparage-
Duval, "Les Actes de Scharbil et les actes de Barsamya,".fA ser. 8, 14 (1889):

40-58. These martyrdoms are depicted as having taken place in the time of
Tr:c~an, but it is more likely that they belong to the period of the Decian perse-
cution. See now S. A. Harvey, "The Edessan Martyrs and Ascetic Tradition," in
DCA, no. 236 (Rome, 1990) 19.')-206.
132. See Amar, "The SyIiac Vita Tradition of Ephrem the Syrian," 154
(text), 293 (translation). Ephrem himself enumerates a number of heresies in
Hymns against Heresies 22.
133. See Hymns against Heresies 22.5.
134. For a brief overview, see D. Bundy, "Language and the Knowledge of
God in Ephrem Syrus," PER 5 (1986): 91-103.
ment toward Nisibis saying that Ephrem "came to the city of

Edessa, for it was not right that the sun be hidden under the
earth any longer."l?s
(54) Tradition relates that Ephrem undertook the writ-
ing of sacred songs as an antidote to the hymns of Bardaisan
that were still being sung in the city. Ephrem gathered to-
gether the Daughters of the Covenant to sing his hymns.
Scholars generally consider this Edessan period as the peri-
od in which Ephrem produced the greater part of his liter-
ary compositions; the majority of his surviving hymns and
commentaries seem to stem from this period. Tradition also
maintains that Ephrem set up a school in Edessa after the
manner of the one he had directed in Nisibis. His biblical
commentaries, probably written during this period, were
long used as the standard commentaries in this school.l?'(i
(55) Perhaps the best known, and certainly the most doc-
umented, event of his life was also the last task that Ephrem
was ever to accomplish. Recounted first by Palladius, less
than 50 years after the death of Ephrem, it was repeated by
Sozomen and then incorporated into the Syriac Life oj
Ephrem. m In the spring of 373, Edessa was beset with such a
severe famine that the entire city was thrown into confusion.
The rich of the city had large quantities of grain in their
storehouses but were unwilling to part with any of it for fear
of being cheated. Ephrem, therefore, offered himself as me-
diator between those well-fed rich and the rest of the city
who were in dire straits. He distributed the grain and also
saw to the needs of the sick and dying in what might have
been Edessa's first emergency relief effort.
(56) Shortly after this effort, on gJune 373, as recorded
in the Chronicle oj Edessa, Ephrem departed this life.l?s Ac-
135. St. Gregory of Nyssa, De Vita S. PatTi.I~·jJhmem Syri, 833A.

136. Scher, ed., Mar Barh(ulb.'abiJa 'Arbaya muse rie La jimriation des h.·ole.l;
381-82. Most of these commentaries, however, sUlvive only in Armenian ver-
sions; see further, below.
137. Palladius, The Lausi(u.· History, 40; Sozomen, The Histmy oj the Church,
III. 16; and Amar, "The Syriac Vita Tradition of Ephrem the Syrian," 184-87
(text), 327-31 (translation).
138. HallieI', Untersw-hungen uber die lidessenische Chroni", 149. In many ac-
cording to a tradition preserved in the Syriac Life as well as

in the Testament, it was Ephrem's desire that he be laid to
rest in the cemetery designated for strangers. 139 It was not
too long afterwards, however, that the citizens of Edessa ex-
humed his body and moved it into a cave which was the
burial ground traditionally reserved for the bishops of
Edessa. 140
Writings
(57) Much of Syriac Christian literature prior to the
fourth century seems to have emanated from heterodox cir-
cles. The first of these, the Book of the Laws of the Countries
(written c. 220-25) and almost certainly the same book Eu-
sebius refers to as On Fate, was written by Phillip, a disciple
of Bardaisan of Edessa. 14I The Odes of Solomon, which have
heretofore defied efforts to find their original context, seem
to come from around the same time as the Book of the Laws of
counts the date 378 appears as the year of Ephrem's death, see P. Peeters, Bib-
lioLhera Hag;ogTfljJhira OrienLali,\; Subsidia Hagiographica, no. 10 (Brussels, 1910)
63. The general concensus now is to follow the Chronicle oj,[<;dessa. The Roman
Church celebrates the feast of Ephrem onJune 9, while the Greek Church cele-
brates it onJanuary 18, and the Maronite Church onJune 18. TheJune dates
are probably more correct as the harvest normally took place in April/May; see
W. WIight, ed., The Chronicle oj joshua Lhe SLyliLe (CambIidge, 1882) XLIV, 40
(text), 34 (translation).
139. Testament, 297-98, in Beck, Serlnones IV; .')2. Amar, "The Syriac Vita
Tradition of Ephrem the SyIian," 189 (text), 333-34 (translation).
140. According to the PaIis recension; see Voobus, HASO II, 91-92. The
Vatican recension reads "beneath his [i.e., Ephrem'sl church"; see Amar, "The
Syriac ViLa Tradition of Ephrem the Syrian," 189 (text), 333 (translation). This
church became the Armenian monastery Dair Sargis, now Khidhir Elias; see
Fiey, "Les eveques de Nisibe au temps de saint Ephrem," 13.'). The Vatican re-
cension of the Life oj lijJhrem also records the presence of "a blessed retinue of
hermits, stylites and monks" at his funeral; see Amar, "The SyIiac ViLa Tradition
of Ephrem the Syrian," 189 (text), 333-34 (translation). This anachronistic
picture was a favOlite in Byzantine and Italian painting, see Martin, "The DeaLh
ojlijJhmim in Byzantine and Early Italian Painting," 217-25.
141. H.J. W. Drijvers, The Book o/the T>aws o/Countries, Dialogue on Fate o/Bar-
daisan oj ii',lessa (Assen, 1965); idem, Barriaisan oj ii'dessa, Studia Semitica Neer-
landica, no. 6 (Assen, 1966); and studies XI-XIII in idem, ii'asL oj AnLiorh. SLwl-
ies in Early Syriac Christianity.
the Countries. 142 The apocryphal Acts of Thomas probably also

date from the third century.143 In the fourth century, howev-
er, we find a sudden proliferation of orthodox Christian
literature in Syriac; in addition to the works of Aphrahat
and of Ephrem there have survived collections of poems by
Balai and Cyrillona, in addition to the slightly later Book of
Steps.
(58) From nearly everyone of our sources it is clear that
Ephrem was a prolific writer; Sozomen, for example, num-
bered his writings at three million verses. 144 But, even more
than the sheer quantity of his writings, Ephrem was known,
even beyond his native Syria, for the beauty and divinely in-
spired teaching found in his compositions. One of several
apophthegmata that was told of Ephrem gives some indication
of the esteem in which he was held:
When the holy Mar Ephrem was a child he had a dream or vision
which he related to people and which he also wrote about in his
testament: A vine sprouted on his tongue and grew up, and every-
thing under heaven was filled by it. It bore abundant clusters, and
even the birds of the sky came and ate of its fruit. The more they
ate, the more its clusters increased. 145
142 . .J. H. Charlesworth, The Odes of Solomon, Society of Biblical Literature

Texts and Translations, no. 13, Pseudepigrapha Series 7 (Chico, California,
1977). See also studies VII-X, in Dlijvers, lifLIt of Antioch. Studies in ii'ady SYl'i(u'
Christianity. While scholars tend towards either a second century date (e.g.,
Charlesworth) or a third century date (Drijvers), dates ranging from .')0 BC to
300 AD have been proffered. Also still unsettled are tlte questions of whetlter
tltese Odes were originally wIitten in SyIiac or Greek (or Hebrew?) and whether
they emanated from Christian, Jewish, Baptist, or Gnostic circles.
143. Klijn, The Acts of Thomas.
144. The figure "three hundred thousand" in the translation of Hartranft,
trans., "The Ecclesiastical History of Salaminius Hermias Sozomenus," 29.'), is a
mistranslation of the Greek. In addition to tlte works about to be discussed, in
tlte liturgical books of all the SyIian churches, there are many prayers and writ-
ings attributed to Ephrem that have not yet begun to be sifted. Many may corre-
spond to tltose tltat survive in Armenian; see St. Ephraem Syrus, Alat'k' (Venice,
1879); and 5mbynlijJ'l'emiMatenagTut'iwnk: vol. 4 (Venice, 1836).
14.'). From the Paris recension; see Amar, "The Syriac Vita Tradition of
Ephrem the SyIian," 101 (text), 237 (translation) and his discussion, 7-10.
Theodoret of Cyr calls Ephrem the "lyre of the Spirit, who

daily waters the Syrian nation with streams of grace."146 So-
zomen and Jerome both marvel that Ephrem's writings lost
none of their beauty even in translation. 147
(59) It is this very quantity and popularity of Ephrem's
works, however, that has given rise to the considerable prob-
lems concerning his literary legacy. Ephrem wrote only in
Syriac but translations were made, perhaps beginning even
in his own lifetime, into nearly every langnage of the Christ-
ian world: Greek, Armenian, Latin, Arabic, Coptic, Ethiopic,
Slavonic, Georgian, and Syro-Palestinian. 148 Of these, it is the
Greek corpus which presents the greatest conundrum to
scholars. The Greek works attributed to Ephrem are so nu-
merous that even in the native Greek patristic tradition only
the works of John Chrysostom exceed them. These Greek
texts, which are primarily concerned with ascetical subjects,
do not exist in Syriac, and are almost certainly not by
Ephrem.14;1 The origin of these works may perhaps be traced
to disciples of Ephrem or to writers who somehow identified
themselves with him. These Greek texts, and the ascetic cir-
cles out of which they came, have contributed in large part
to the hagiographical picture of Ephrem in the Byzantine
tradition, such as we find embodied in the Encomium on
Ephrem attributed to Gregory of Nyssa. 150
(60) With the exception of the Armenian corpus, nearly
146. See Azema, ed., Theo(unet de Cyl; CO/TesjJon(umct 111, SC I I I (Patis,

1965) 190. George Syncellus refers to Ephrem as "that tongue which pours
forth like the ocean," A. Mosshammer, ed., George Syncellus, Ecloga Chronographia
(Leipzig, 1984) 15.
147. Sozomen, History of the Chunh IIL16; Jerome, De Viris Inluslribus
115·
148. See, especially, E. Beck, D. Hemmerdinger-Iliadou, andJ. Kirchmeyer,
"Ephrem Ie Syrien," in DS, 4:788-822; and other studies in bibliography, above.
149. See Geerard, Clavis PatrUln Graecorum, 2:366-468; D. Hemmerdinger-
Iliadou, "Ephrem grec et latin," in DS, 4:800-822; and A. de Halleux, "Ephrem
Ie Sytien," RTL 14 (1983): 338-43.
1.')0. St. Gregory of Nyssa, De Vita S. Patris EjJhraem Syri. See discussion
above. The author of this work was acquainted with many of the Greek texts at-
tlibuted to Ephrem.
all of the texts that survive in languages other than Syriac

can be traced back to this spurious Greek collection. lSI The
Armenian corpus of works attributed to Ephrem constitutes
an immense collection, comprising well over five volumes of
edited text, with much still to be edited. Most of this Ar-
menian corpus, consisting primarily of biblical commen-
taries and a small number of hymns, appears to be gen-
uine. lS2 Still, with the exception of the greater portion of the
Commentary on the Diatessaron and small fragments of the
Hymns on Nicomedia, no Syriac originals of these texts sur-
VIVe.
(61) The corpus of Ephrem's Syriac works has long exist-
ed in partial editions which were based on very faulty manu-
scripts. Due principally to the efforts of Dom Edmund Beck,
begun in 1955, scholars now have available reliable critical
texts of all Ephrem's genuine Syriac works. m Although
there are complete translations in German and many in
French, English translations of the works of Ephrem have,
until recently, been much less numerous, and are scattered
151. J. Kirchmeyer, "Autres versions d'Ephrem," in DS, 4:819-22; and de
Halleux, "Ephrem Ie Syrien," 338-43.
152. See the Worhs of Saint Ephrem, edited in four volumes by the Mechitarist
Fathers in Srobyn lip'remi MalenagTuI'iwnk'. Ephrem's Commenlmy on Ihe Diales-
saron has been reedited by Dom L. Leloir. See L. Leloir, ed., Saint Ephrem. Com-
mentaire de l'evangile concordant, version arrnenienne, CSCO 137, 145 (Louvain,
1953, 1954 [for the Syriac Oliginal, see idem, ed., Sainlli'phrern Commenlaire de
l'evangile concordant, Chester Beatty Monographs, no. 8 (Dublin, 1963); idem,
ed., Saint Ephrem Cmmnentaire de l'evangile concordant Texte Syriaque (lVfanuscript
Chesler Beally 7(9) N,lios Addilionnels, Chester Beatty Monographs, no. 8 (Lou-
vain, 1990) J. See also idem, trans., Ephrem de Nisibe: Commentaire de l'Evangile
Concordant ou Diatessaron, SC 121 (Paris, 1966). To these volumes should be
added L. Maries and C. Mercier, eds., Hymnes de Sainlliphrern ("onservees en venion
armenienne, PO 30.1 (Paris, 1961); C. Renoux, ed., Ephrem de Nisibe Me1nIT sur
Nicornedie, PO 37.2-3 (Brepols, 197.'))' and several editions of short texts scat-
tered in various journals. See also C. Renoux, "Vel's Ie commentaire de Job
d'Ephrem de Nisibe," PdO 6/7 (1975/76): 63-68; and E. G. Mathews,Jr., "The
Armenian Version of Ephrem's Commentary on Genesis," forthcoming.
153. Each of these Syriac texts has an accompanying German translation.
For list, see bibliography. For a review of the histOlY of the editions of Ephrem's
works, seeJ. Melki, "Saint Ephrem Ie Syrien, un bilan de l'edition critique," PdO
11 (1983): 3-88.
in journals not always accessible to the average reader. 154

The few collections of Ephrem's works that do exist in such
series as Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, are based on
the unsatisfactory editions that existed prior to Beck's edi-
tions and are often so literal that one must have recourse to
the original Syriac in order to decipher the English. 155
(62) The genuine Syriac works of Ephrem fall into two
basic categories: poetry and prose. The poetry, for which
Ephrem was most famous, can be subdivided into madrase,
or hymns, and memre, or metrical homilies. 156 The madrase,
which survive in a number of collections assembled by later
compilers,157 are varied in meter and are clearly a more
proper vehicle for Ephrem's poetic genius. Utilizing more
than .50 different syllable patterns, these madrase comprise
the greatest portion of Ephrem's genuine Syriac works.
These madrase have been edited under such headings as On
Faith, On Fasting, Against Heresies, On Virginity, On the Nativity,
On the Church, On Paradise, Against julian, On Nisibis, On Holy
Week, On the Paschal Feast, as well as the Hymns on Abraham
Kidunaya and julian Saba, which are of questionable authen-
ticity.158
(63) The memra, composed of unvarying isosyllabic lines,
154. Many of these works can conveniently be found in Brock, The Harp of
the Spirit, 87-88; see also bibliography, above.
155. "Selections Translated into English from the Hymns and Homilies of
Ephraim the Syrian, and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian
Sage," in LVPF, 13: 113-412. English translations of a selection of eighteen of
Ephrem's hymns can be found in Brock, The Hml' of the Spirit. The Hymns On the
Nativity, Hymns On Virp;inity and the Hymns againstfulian, have now appeared in
McVey, Ephrem the Syrian Hymns. The Hymns onfulian have also been translated
in Lieu, The ~'mpemr julian, 89-128. The fifteen Hymns on Paradise, perhaps
Ephrem's most beautiful hymns, have now been translated in Brock, Hymns on
Paradise. For Ephrem's Hymns on the Pearl, see E. G. Mathews,Jr., "St. Ephrem,
M(uira"i; On Faith, 81-85: Hymns on the Pearl, I-V," SVTQ38 (1994): 45-72.
156. E. Beck, "Ephrams des Syrers Hymnik," in I>itur:l!;ie und Dichtung, ed. H.
Becker and R. Kaczynski (St. Ottilien, 1983) 1:345-79.
157. See A. de Halleux, "Une ele pour les hymnes d'Ephrem dans Ie ms.
Sinai syr. 10," IJ1;[ 85 (1972): 171-99; idem, "La transmission des Hymnes
d'Ephrem d'apres Ie ms. Sinai syr. 10," in OCA, no. 197 (Rome, 1974) 21-63.
158. See the arguments ofE. Beck in his accompanying translation volume.
was a favorite genre of many Syriac writers of the fifth-sev-

enth centuries. Balai (d. c. 435) popularized a pattern of
5+5 syllables per line; Jacob of Sarug wrote in lines of 12+ 12
syllables. The 7+7 syllable pattern was known as the meter of
Ephrem. While he no doubt wrote many such memre, many
that were written in this pattern came to be attributed to
Ephrem; this is due perhaps to the stature of Ephrem and to
his preeminent place in the history of Syriac literature, or
simply to the ignorance or negligence of certain scribes. On
the basis of Beck's editions and studies, though he edited six
volumes of Syriac memre attributed to Ephrem, very few can
be held to be undoubtedly authentic. ls,) As discussed above,
the several ascetical memre, whose authenticity Voobus vigor-
ously defended, have been shown to be of later origin.
(64) Ephrem's genuine Syriac prose works, with which
this volume deals, can also be further subdivided into two
groups: expository prose and rhetorical prose. The former
category includes the Commentaries on Genesis and Exodus,
Ephrem's famous Commentary on the Diatessaron (which sur-
vives in a complete version in Armenian only) and his Prose
Refutations oj Mani, Marcion, and Bardaisan.
(65) Ephrem was certainly a prolific commentator on the
Bible. Both Syriac and Greek traditions remember Ephrem
as having commented on all the books of the Bible. While
the Commentary on Genesis is the only commentary to have
been preserved in its entirety in Syriac, there is little doubt
that Ephrem did in fact comment on most of the books of
the Bible. Many of these commentaries survive in Armenian
translation; there are also partial versions that survive in Syr-
iac in fragments preserved in later Syriac commentaries and
catenae.I(iO
(66) In several of the works that purport to narrate the
159. See the remarks in Beck's editions of these memre, Se17lwnes I-IV, and
also the warnings of S. P. Brock, "A Sytiac Verse Homily on Elijah and the
Widow of Sarepta," Uif 102 (1989): 93, and especially, 98.
160. A partial list can be found in Ortiz de Urbina, PaLmlf)gia Syri(u'a, 61-64.
See also T . .J. Lamy, "L'exegese en Olient au IVo siecle ou les commentaires de
Saint Ephrem," RB 2 (1893): .')-17. To date, these fragments have not under-
gone any ctitical study.
biography of Ephrem there appears the story of how

Ephrem received a heavenly scroll from a choir of angels
while he sat meditating in his cell on Mt. Edessa. In the Syri-
ac Life of Ephrem, there immediately follows the fanciful ac-
count of how, on the very next morning after his reception
of the scroll, Ephrem began "writing the commentary on
the first book of Moses ... and when he completed the first
book, he began the second." When a fellow hermit showed
these commentaries to the teachers in the Christian school
of Edessa, they were "astounded and amazed at their teach-
ing and wisdom."161 Thus was Ephrem's renown as a biblical
scholar and exegete remembered in later tradition.
(67) The Life of Ephrem refers to both the Commentary on
Genesis and the Commentary on Exodus as pusaqe, although in
the manuscript the two works are given different titles: Gen-
esis is called a pusaqa, "exposition" or "explanation," while
Exodus is titled a turgama, "interpretation" or "transla-
tion."162 There seems to be nothing in either text, or in
Ephrem's other writings, to suggest that he did not employ
these two terms synonymously.163
(68) As both of the commentaries translated here bear
witness, Ephrem's method of exegesis is not intended to
provide a continuous, verse by verse, exposition of the bib-
lical text. Rather, Ephrem dwells on texts that have a partic-
ular theological significance for him, or whose orthodox
interpretation needs to be reasserted in the face of contem-
porary heterodox ideas. For example, the two accounts of
creation together with the narrative concerning Adam and
Eve in the garden occupy fully a third of the Commentary
on Genesis. On the other hand, much of the Patriarchal nar-
161. Amar, "The Syriac Vita Tradition ofEphrem the Syrian," 102-3 (text),
238-39 (translation).
162. Turgmna is cognate to the Hebrew term, LargurIl, which designates the
Aramaic translations-sometimes somewhat embellished-of the Hebrew Scrip-
tures.
163. See, for example, E. A. Bevan and F. C. Burkitt, eds., S. lijJhmim\ Pmse
Refutations olA1ani, A1arcion and Bardaisan (London, 1921), 2:222.30-32, where
the two terms are used interchangeably, and also the discussion in S. Hidal, In-
In1mLaLif) Syria,.a (Lund, 1974) 8-9.
ratives are treated summarily or not at all. In the Commentary

on Exodus chapters 22 and 26-30 of Exodus are not treated
at all and chapter 15, the Canticle of Moses, is merely para-
phrased without comment.
(69) With respect to the other prose category, the rhetor-
ical or artistic prose works are represented by only two com-
positions: The Homily on Our Lord and the Letter to Publius,
both translated below. Although these two works are the
only two surviving examples of this genre from Ephrem,
other examples exist in early Syriac literature: in many of
Aphrahat's Demonstrations, in parts of the Acts oj Thomas and
in sections of some of the Acts oj the Persian Martyrs. 164
(70) In the Homily on Our Lord and the Letter to Publius
one finds elaborate rhetorical figures and stylistic devices
joined with a Semitic love for both parallelism and paradox.
With rhythmic cadences and elaborate chiastic structures,
Ephrem succeeds in creating language and imagery nearly
as striking as his poetry. Sebastian Brock provides a long list
of passages which exemplify the stylistic features of the Letter
to Publius together with short examples from the Homily on
Our Lord and Aphrahat's Demonstrations. The following two
samples, the first from the Letter to Publius and the second
from the Homily on Our Lord, are taken from Brock's list: 16s
luqbal l)ewware 'akwaton hawya
wdluqbal 'ukkame badmuton ~al)ma
wdluqbal summaqe 'akwaton summaqa
wdluqbal ~app1re 'akwaton ~apra
wdluqbal snl'e 'akwaton mka'ra
taybuta qerbat ldpume mdgaddpane

w'ebdat 'en nun kinnare mdsabbl)ane
mettul hana netlun kul pumln subl)a
ldhaw dakla menhun memar guddapa
164. See R. Murray, "Some RhetOlical Patterns in Early SyIiac Literature,"

in A Tribute to Arthur Voobus. Some Studies in Early Christian T>iterature and its Envi-
ronment, Primarily in the Syrian East, ed. Robert H. Fischer (Chicago, 1977)
109-31.
165. S. P. Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to Publius," U\!f89 (1976): 263 (from
T>etter), and 264 (from Homily on Our T>ord).
(71) Ephrem's writings show strong influence from both

Jewish and his native Mesopotamian backgrounds. 166 In many
of his hymns, especially in his Hymns on Paradise, Ephrem
makes use of an haggadic style of interpretation and em-
ploys what undoubtedly were opinions of the Jewish com-
munity of his time. 167 From his native Mesopotamian tradi-
tion, Ephrem inherited important vocabulary items, such as
samm hayye ("medicine of life"), one of his terms for the Eu-
charist. 168 He also composed a number of dialogue poems, a
genre of poetry that has been demonstrated to have early
Mesopotamian origins. 169
Theological Method
(72) Ephrem's renown as one of the world's preeminent
religious poets is primarily due to the penetrating theologi-
cal thought developed in his madrase. 170 It was as a poet that
Ephrem himself saw his true vocation.l71 In his hymns
Ephrem employs his favorite Semitic poetic devices with
marvelous technical artistry and fashions a poetry that can
at times be almost breathtaking. 172 Due to the nature of
Ephrem's poetry, however, his theological method is not
166. See Brock, The Luminous ~ye, 6-9.

167. See N. Sed, "Les hymnes sur Ie paradis de saint Ephrem et les tradi-
tionsjuives," LM 81 (1968): 455-501. We have also noted many parallels in the
notes to our translations, below.
168. See Homily on Our T>ord, 3, below and note ad lac.
169. See, especially, S. P. Brock, "The Dispute Poem: From Sumer to Syri-
ac," Bayn al-Nahmyn 7 (1979): 417-26; idem, "Dialogue Hymns of the SyIiac
Churches," Sobornost.') (1983): 35-4.'); and idem, "Dramatic Dialogue Poems,"
135-47·
170. See, above all, E. Beck, Die Theologie des hi. EfJhriim in seinen Hymnen w)er
den Glauben; A. de Halleux, "Mar Ephrem theologien," PdO 4 (1973): 3.')-.')4; S.
P. Brock, "The Poet as Theologian," Sobornost 7 (1977): 243-50; and T. Bou
Mansour, La pensee "ymbolique de Saint liphrem Ie Syrien, Bibliotheque de I'Univer-
site Saint-Esprit, no. 16 (Kaslik, 1988).
172. Ephrem gained his reputation on the basis of these lyrical hymns, yet
the theological vision of Ephrem is by no means confined to the madras!:: The
artistic prose pieces translated below are representative of his method and con-
easily systematized. This is not to say that Ephrem had no

system-much less that his thought was diffuse-it is only
that his method does not conform well to standard Western
models. Contrary to all that we associate with Western theol-
ogy, Ephrem preferred to express his theology in poetry
and, therefore, in images. Ephrem had the particular genius
to comprehend that the vehicle of poetry was the least inac-
curate way to describe the Christian mystery which is, as the
term suggests, essentially beyond human understanding. To
the thought of Ephrem, any theology which "constitutes it-
self into a system is always dangerous. It imprisons in the en-
closed sphere of thought the reality to which it must open
thought."17? It is, therefore, extremely difficult to convey
Ephrem's thought in short quotations from his work. 174 To
appreciate Ephrem fully one must read extended selections
of his writings very carefully; nevertheless some general
characteristics of Ephrem's thought can be outlined in very
broad strokes. 175
(73) Ephrem's theological method consciously avoids the
kind of "precision" that generally characterized contempo-
tain some of his most beautiful and sublime reflections. Although the commen-
taIies tend to be literal exegesis of the text, parts of the Commentary on the Diates-
s([ron reveal the same lyIical qualities found in the artistic prose pieces translat-
ed here.
173. This apt explication is borrowed from V. Lossky, Orthodox Theology: An
introdw.·tion (Crestwood, NY, 1978) 15. Many readers of Ephrem see this
method as a revitalizing contrast to an ever increasing dogmatism-even legal-
ism-in WestelTI theology.
174. See 1. H. Dalmais, "L'apport des eglises syIiennes a l'hpnnographie
chretienne," OS 2 (1957): 251: "He who has the patience to follow the mean-
dering courses will impregnate himself little by little with the mystery of faith
which discloses itself in the discrete light of contemplation."
175. For general characteristics of Ephrem's poetry see Beck, "Ephrams
Hymnik"; Brock, "The Poetic Artistry of St. Ephrem: an Analysis of H. Azpn.
III," 21-28; R. Murray, "The Theory of Symbolism in St. Ephrem's Theology,"
Pd06/7 (1966-67): 1-20; P. Yousif, "La Croix de Jesus et la Paradis d'Eden
dans la typologie biblique de Saint Ephrem," PdO 6/7 (1975-76): 29-48;
idem, "Spnbolisme ChIistologique dans la Bible et dans la Nature chez S.
Ephrem de Nisibe," PdO 8 (1977-78): 5-66; Brock, The I>uminous Eye; and Bou
Mansour, La pensee .Iymbolique de Saint liphrem Ie Syrien.
rary theological inquiry informed by Hellenistic philosophi-
cal categories. His thought on a given subject remains fluid.
It is perhaps for this reason that the theological writings of
Ephrem continued to be used by Chalcedonians, Mono-
physites, and Nestorians alike. This fluidity has led some
modern commentators to observe wrily that the distinct ad-
vantage of "doing theology" in Syriac lies in the fact that
one's orthodoxy remains impenetrable. 176
(74) Ephrem's emphasis on the obvious sense of the
words of Scripture, and his treatment of the two economies
of salvation and the two Adams places him in a position
much closer to the Antiochian tradition of scriptural exege-
sis than to the Alexandrian which preferred the allegorical
method. 177 Taking for granted the dynamic convergence of
the Old and New Testaments, Ephrem shows his true genius
by the way he draws out the full significance or the inner
sense of the words and sets them in their typological context
within the rest of the sacred text. 178 The bond that unites the
two Testaments is so intimate that there is virtually no inci-
dent or detail in one which does not have its typological par-
allel in the other. 179
176. See, for example, Brown, "The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in
Late Antiquity," 92.
177. For a general overview of typology, seeJ. Danielou, SacmmenLumFuluri.
Etudes sur les origines de la typologie biblique, Etudes de theologie historique (Paris,
1950); in English translation, idem, From Shadows Lo Rmlily (Westminster, MD,
1960) .
178. For typology in Ephrem, see Leloir, Doctrines et methodes de S. Ephrem, es-
pecially, 40-52; idem, "Symbolisme et parallelisme chez Ephrem," in A la ren-
conlre rie Dieu. MemorialAU)erL Gelin (Lyon, 1961) 363-74; idem, "La ChIistologie
de S. Ephrem dans son Commentaire du Diatessaron," HA 7.') (1961): 449-66;
C. Bravo, NoLas inlrodw.·lorias ala noemaLif'a de San lifrtn (Rome, 1956); and Mur-
ray, Symbol" passim.
179. This position of Ephrem's is too integral to his method simply to say
that he held it in opposition to Marcion. Nowhere in his wIitings does Ephrem
show any concern for Marcion's amputated biblical canon. See F. C. Burkitt,
"Introductory Essay," in S. Ephraim's Prose Re/utations oj'A1ani, Marcion, and Bar-
riai.mn, ed. E. A. Bevan and F. C. Burkitt, 2:cxvii; and H . .J. W. Dlijvers, "Mar-
cionism in SyIia: Principles, Problems, Polemics," The Second CenLury 8
(1987-88): 167.
(75) While Ephrem would accept many more biblical

passages as historical than would the modern biblical ex-
egete, he cannot at all be labelled a fundamentalist. In fact,
Ephrem himself chides those who interpret Scripture in a
rigid, literal fashion.180 On the other hand, Ephrem recog-
nized the symbolic nature of biblical discourse without hav-
ing to turn to the allegorism of the Alexandrian school.
(76) Perhaps no other writer has ever made such creative
use of typology. Nevertheless, to treat Ephrem's theology as
merely typological would be a gross misrepresentation of his
thought. His theological method, often labelled symbolic
theology, is an intricate weave of parallelism, typology,
names and symbols. In the creative application of these
tools, Ephrem displays a genius admirably suited to express
the various paradoxes of the Christian mystery. The formu-
lation of Ephrem's theology clearly manifests his concep-
tion of the grand harmony that exists between God and all
His creation. Types (in Syriac tupse, in Greek TlJTTOL) and
symbols (in Syriac raze, in Greek (Jl)~~oAa) 181 can be found
throughout all creation simply by reason of the fact that the
world was created by God; they point both to His existence
and to His activity as Creator.
(77) For Ephrem the Bible stands as part of this world
and its history, but is, at the same time, the interpreter of
the world's history. The types found in Scripture and the
symbols found in nature all direct one to the truth (in Syri-
ac srara):
In his book Moses
described the creation of the natural world
so that both nature and Scripture
might bear witness to the Creator:
nature, through man's use of it,
180. See, for example, Hymns on Faith 31.1, Hymns on Paradise 11.6-7, and
Commentary on the Diatessaron, 22.3.
181. These Greek terms are only the most common parallels to the Syriac
terms, they are in no way exact correspondences. For a discllssion of these and
other terms that Ephrem employs, see Bou Mansour, T>a pensee symbolique,
23-71.
Scripture, through his reading of it.

These are the witnesses
which reach everywhere,
they are to be found at all times,
present at every hour
confuting the unbeliever
who defames the Creator. 182
In his Hymns on Virginity, Ephrem says more concisely:

"Wherever you look, God's symbol is there; wherever you
read, there you will find His types. For by Him all creatures
were created, and He stamped all his possessions with His
symbols when He created the world."l8'1 It is by the very rea-
son that God created the world that these types and symbols
can be found everywhere; they are pointers to His existence
and to His creative activity.
(78) Another fundamental position of Ephrem's theolo-
gy is his insistence on the unity of God and the absolute and
unbridgeable gap between God and creature. God is the only
true self-subsistent being (in Syriac, 'ituta) and it is He who
created all else that exists. Ephrem maintains this very rigid
creatio ex nihilo position against Bardaisan and his followers,
who claim that there are five eternal substances (in Syriac,
'itye) and against the Marcionites and the Manicheans, both
of whom follow a teaching that all things come from hule, or
eternal primal matter. Ephrem argues that the 'itye of Bar-
dais an and the huze of Mani and Marcion are nothing more
than elements or created natures (in Syriac, kyane), created
by the sole Being who created all that is not Himself. 184
(79) As noted above, Ephrem's method deliberately es-
chews any definition of the divine nature. Ephrem considers
any attempt to define God as a setting of limits on that
which is limitless, as confining that which cannot be con-
182. Hymns on Paradise .').2. Translation by Brock, Hymns on Paradise,

102-3·
183. Hymns on ViTl,:iniLy 20.12. See also 6.T "Creation gives birth to the spn-
bois of Christ, as Mary gave birth to His limbs."
184. See Hymns against Heresies 14.7-10, and passim, and Commentary on Gen-
esis, I. 2, below, and notes ad [oe.
fined. As one might expect, Ephrem's arguments for what

can and cannot be said about God are nearly always formu-
lated in apologetic contexts. Ephrem was continually de-
fending the Christian faith against many heterodox teach-
ings, but primarily against the teachings of Mani, Bardaisan,
Marcion, and the Arians. 185
(80) The challenge posed by Arian speculation on the
Godhead caused Ephrem to insist even more vigorously on
the absolute incomprehensibility of God, who is Creator,
Eternal, and Spirit. No creature who is subject to time and
corporeality can know anything of God in Himself. For a
creature to presume to know that which is beyond the limit-
ed capacity of its nature to know is not only futile but blas-
phemous. The divine nature is completely incomprehen-
sible to the human mind and should not be "pried into."186
Those who engage in such intellectual "prying" or "investi-
gating" show that they have "ceased to believe," that they
have "renounced their faith and annulled their baptism."187
Ephrem further says that these "priers" and "investiga-
tors" have succeeded the idolaters as the latest offensive
of Satan. IllS He also accuses them of blindness, presump-
tion, mental inflexibility, literalism and an inability to distin-
guish levels of discourse. Their rational scrutiny and argu-
ment lead only to disputes and quarrels, forcing great
185. See, especially, Ephrem's Hymns against Heresie,,; Pmse RPjutations and
his Hymns on Faith. In Hymns against Heresies, 22.2-4, Ephrem enumerates also
the Paulinians, Sabellians, Photinians, Barbarians, Cathars, Audiens, and Mes-
salians as enemies of the Nicean, ChIistian faith. See also Beck, Die Theolog;e,
and idem, Ephriims Polemik gegen Mani und die Manichiier im lWhmen der zeitgenos-
sischen g1iechischen Polemil< und tier ties Augustinus, CSCO 391 (Louvain, 1978).
186. This word (in Syriac b'ata) is one of several terms that Ephrem em-
ploys, particularly in his Hymns on Faith, in a very pejorative sense, specifically
to describe the Arian intellectual endeavor. The other most common terms
Ephrem uses are: bsatrl, 'uqqabrl and tim"a -"search into," "investigate," and
"dispute." For Ephrem and the Arians, see Beck, Die Theologie, and P. Bmns,
"A1ius hellenizans?-Ephram del' Syrer und die neoaIianischen Kontroversen
seiner Zeit," £KG 101 (1990/91): 21-57.
187. See, for example, Hymns on Faith 9.10,23.2.
188. See Hymns on Virginity 13.9,14.2-3.
breaches of charity and bringing division into the body of

Christ. 189
(81) Ephrem is very insistent that only what God Himself
has chosen to reveal to humanity (in Syriac, galyata) can
now be an object of consideration by the human intellect-
although still not to be defined, for these revelations remain
only partial. Moreover, those things that God has not re-
vealed but has kept hidden (in Syriac, kasyata) , most partic-
ularly those things pertaining to His own nature, to the gen-
eration of the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, cannot be
subjected to any human intellectual scrutiny.190
(82) God Himself, in His great goodness and love for hu-
manity, chose to cross that ontological chasm which sepa-
rates Him from His creation in order to reveal something of
Himself. He left His perfect silence, as it were, to speak to
humanity. Ephrem speaks of three primary means by which
God chose to reveal Himself, all of which he refers to as
"changes" (in Syriac, suMapli) .191 Ephrem is very careful
to emphasize that none of these "changes" that God takes
on nor the names by which He accepts to manifest Him-
self affects His essential nature in any way. God has willed
to undergo these "changes" out of love for humanity and
His awareness of human weakness. These "changes" served
to dim the divine brightness for the sake of humanity, but
God Himself loses absolutely nothing of His nature or
His majesty. The first of these three means are the types and
the symbols found in Scripture and in nature, discussed
above. God has also allowed Himself to be called by certain
names in the Scriptures, such as Creator, Father, Healer,
18g. See, especially his Hymns on Faith and Prose Refutations, passim, and dis-
cussion in de Halleux, "Mar Ephrem Theologien."
190. Hymns on Faith 44.T "If God had not wished to reveal Himself to ns
there would have been nothing in creation that would be able to say anything
at all about Him." See also 19.7 and.') 1.2-3, and G. NOl~aim, "Anthropologie
et economie de salnt chez S. Ephrem: antonr des notions de ghalyata, kasyata
et kasya," PdOg (lg79/80) 313-1.').
191. See, especially, Hymns on Virp;inity 28.11, Hymns on Faith .').7, l1.g,
31.5, and Hymns on Paradise 11.6-7.
etc.; these provide humanity with a certain revelation of

God. 192
(83) The greatest "change" to God was, of course, His
taking on human flesh (in Syriac, lbes basra). m This is the
central mystery of the faith and the heart and pinnacle of
God's revelation to humanity. Ephrem often marvels at the
awesome paradox of God having condescended to take on
human flesh. In one of his madrase, he says:
Your mother is a cause for wonder: the Lord entered her
and became a servant; He who is the Word entered
-and became silent within her; thunder entered her
-and made no sound; there entered the Shepherd of all,
and in her He became the lamb, bleating as He came forth.
Your mother's womb has reversed the roles:

the Establisher of all entered in His richness,
but came forth poor; the Exalted One entered her,
but came forth meek; the Splendrous One entered her,
but came forth having put on a lowly hue.
The Mighty One entered, and put on insecurity

from her womb; the Provisioner of all entered
-and experienced hunger; He who gives drink to all entered
-and experienced thirst: naked and stripped
there came forth from her He who clothes all. 194
It is here, in his theology of the Incarnation, that Ephrem

demonstrates his greatest genius. He develops and refines a
typology and a symbolism to such a degree that together
they become a unique vehicle for proclaiming this Good
192. For a treatment of some of those names that apply to Jesus, see I.
Hausherr, "La philo sophie du nom chez Ephrem," in idem, Noms du Christ et
voies d'omison, DCA, no. 1.')7 (Rome, 1960) 64-72; and Murray, Symbols,
1.')9-204, especially 166-70.
193. The SyIiac expression means literally, "to put on/clothe oneself in
flesh." Ephrem develops this especially in Hymns on Faith 31-4,32.8-13; Hymns
against Heresies 30.4. See also S. P. Brock, "Clothing Metaphors as a Means of
Theological Expression in SyIiac Tradition," in TyjJu\; Symbol, Allegvrie bei ,len
ostlichen Vatern und ihren Pamllelen im Mittelalter, ed. M. Schmidt (Eichstatt,
1981) 11-40 .
194. Hymns on the Nativity 11.6-8. Translation from Brock, The Luminous
Eye, 12.
News. Symbols and types, from both nature and Scripture,

now operate for Ephrem on two distinct planes: the hori-
zontal, between the Old and New Testaments, and the verti-
cal, between this world and Paradise. 195 All these types and
symbols find their fulfillment in Christ, the one who reveals
their true meaning, whom Ephrem often calls "the Lord of
the Symbols."196 Nature and the two Testaments constitute
three harps on which the Divine Musician plays.E17 In the vi-
sion of Ephrem these symbols are so plentiful that they can
hardly be grasped for their multitude. In one place Ephrem,
overcome with the quantity of these types and symbols, says
in mock despair: "This Jesus has so multiplied His symbols
that I have fallen into their many waves."198 To list all the
symbols that Ephrem uses or to treat any in detail would be
beyond the limited scope of this brief introduction. 199 A few
examples of Ephrem's use of symbol, however, should indi-
cate something of the complexity of images that he is able
to evoke.
(84) Ephrem's development of the theme of the new
Adam and the new Eve leads him to some very interesting
observations. For instance, Ephrem speaks of the Incarna-
tion occurring when the Word entered into the ear of Mary
as an antidote to the poison that the serpent had put into
the ear of Eve. The word oflife that Mary heard and accept-
ed undid the word of death that Eve had previously heard
and accepted. 20o
19S. Murray, "The TheOlY of Symbolism."
196. This title occurs, among other places, in Hymns on Faith 9.11, Commen-
tmy on the Diatessamn 1.1, Hymns on Virginity 6.7, and in the refrain to Hymns on
Unleavened Bread 3.
197. This theme occupies Ephrem in his Hymns on Virl,:inity 27-30. See
translations in McVey, ~'phrem the Syrian Hymn.'; 382-97.
198. Hymns on Nisibis 39. 1 7.
199. While he shares some images with other wIiters, Western as well as
Eastern, Ephrem is without parallel among tlte Fathers in tlte broad range of
symbols he employs. See Bou Mansour, I>a pensee symbolique. For a briefer, less
technical, discussion of some of Ephrem's favOIite images, see Brock, The Lumi-
nous iiye, 37-91.
200. See Hymns on the Church 49.7. See also R. Murray, "MaIY, the Second
Eve, in the SyIian Fathers," ~'CR 3 (1971): 372-84; and E. Beck, "Die Mariolo-
gie del' echten Scluiftum des Ephraems," OC 40 (1956): 29-34.
(85) Ephrem views the scene of Christ on the cross in a

similar vein. At the very moment Christ was pierced with the
lance there were removed from the Garden of Eden the
cherub that had been placed there and the sword that he
had wielded to prohibit anyone's reentry. It was at that mo-
ment that access into Paradise became possible once again
for humanity.20[
(86) Ephrem develops an elaborate exegesis of the gar-
ments of the old and new Adam. When Adam and Eve were
banished from Paradise, they lost the garment of glory with
which they had been clothed, but the new Adam restored
that garment: "Blessed is He who took pity on the leaves of
Adam and sent down a garment of glory to cover his naked-
ness."202 This same fact is also indicated by the Gospel ac-
count that Christ abandoned His garments in the sepul-
chre upon His resurrection. Humanity will now be re-
clothed in the garment of glory that it had before the sin of
Adam and Eve. 20 'l This reclothing of humanity also presents
to Ephrem the only comprehensible solution to the prob-
lematic Gospel passage where Jesus curses the fig tree caus-
ing it to wither. To the thought of Ephrem, Jesus is rather
showing His disciples that fig leaves will no longer be need-
ed as humanity will be reclothed in glory.204
(87) Perhaps Ephrem's favorite and best known image is
that of the pearl. In five of his Hymns on Faith, Ephrem
"picked up a pearl ... , [and] it became a fountain and
from it [he] drank of the mysteries of the Son."20" As he
turned the pearl over in his hands it took on different hues.
201. See R. Murray, "The Lance Which Reopened Paradise," O(,P 39

(1973): 224-34·
202. Hymns on Fasting 3. 2.
203. See Brock, The Luminoul ~ye, 65-76.
204. Commentary on the Diatessaron 16.10. See S. P. Brock, The Holy Spirit in
the Syrian Baptismal Tradition, The Syrian Churches Series, vol. 9 (Poona, 1979)
48-5 2 .
205. Hymns on Faith 81.1. A French translation of all five of these beautiful
hymns can be found in F. Graffin, "Les hymnes sur la perle de Saint Ephrem,"
OS 12 (1967): 129-49. A new English translation is found in Mathews, "St.
Ephrem, Madras!: On Faith."
Likewise, as Ephrem considered the Incarnation from dif-

ferent angles, he saw different and more profound facets to
the meaning of the Incarnation.
(88) Another favorite image of Ephrem is the mirror. 206
The Gospel, with its proclamations and demands, is a mir-
ror in which we can see ourselves as we truly are. In the Let-
ter to Publius (see translation below), Ephrem develops that
image to very profitable lengths; in the mirror, as an image
of the Gospel, one can see with unsettling clarity the final
destiny of those who have died. Ephrem also finds fruitful
sources of contemplation in the olive tree and its various
properties and products;207 even the milk congealed into yo-
gurt by a housewife symbolizes to Ephrem faith and its
power to bring stability to the ever fickle human mind and
heart. 208 Other images that he uses to great advantage are
those related to clothing, medicine, and to conception and
giving birth.
(8g) The entire aim of Ephrem's poetry is not to explain
the system of the universe nor to impose any rigid ideas of
his own about the Christian message on others, but rather
to give birth in God's creatures to that true worship of the
Creator of all, to instill a desire to live the mystery of God's
love toward humanity. Types and symbols are but a simple
invitation to the one who perceives them to participate in
the divine life offered to all; they are not proof texts to co-
erce the unbeliever. Grace is never forceful.20 9 The believer
should follow the Apostles and Prophets, who serve as the
inns and milestones on the path of life, to seek the inner
sense of Scripture. 210
(go) The resultant growth in faith clears the eye of the
seeker to see more symbols and to see them more clearly. As
206. See E. Beck, "Das Bild yom Spiegel bei Ephrim," OCP 19 (1953):
5- 2 4.
207. See Hymns on Virginity 4-7.
208. See Hymns on Faith 5.20.
209. See Hymns on Nisibis 16.6.
210. See E. Beck, "Das Bild vom Weg mit Meilensteinen und Herbergen
bei Ephraem," OC65 (1981): 1-39.
light is necessary for sight, so is faith necessary for recogni-

tion of God's symbols. Faith thus leads one to a more pro-
found sense of God's activity on behalf of humanity. This
deeper sense of the divine economy engenders a wonder
and awe before the goodness of God, and it is this awe that
leads one to the only proper activity of a human being,
which is to give praise. For Ephrem, the pinnacle of human
activity is to live with God in an engagement of love and
wonder which, all the while, leads one to render Him praise.
(91) As one prominent contemporary theologian and
Syriacist states, "It is truly marvelous to us that such
thought, so ingrained in its own time, so conditioned by an
intellectual horizon that is today considered out-of-date,
continues to speak with a voice so fresh and so contempo-
rary. Perhaps, it is because one encounters the Eternal only
in the concrete of the present moment and not in the ab-
stractions of times long past."211 It is no doubt for this reason
that Ephrem has recently been recovered from the obscurity
in which he had been cast for far too long.
211. de Hallellx, "Mar Ephrem theologien," 38. See also L. Leloir, "L'actll-
alite du message d'Ephrem," Pd04 (1973): .').')-72.
INTRODUCTION
Ephrem's Commentary on Genesis stands at the head of a long

history of Syriac literature that finds its source in this first
book of the Bible. This literature comprises other narrative
commentaries, several treatises in question and answer for-
mat, as well as numerous poetic treatments, by such figures
as Narsai and Jacob of Sarug, that have themes from Genesis
as their subject, e.g., Paradise, the Fall, Cain and Abel, etc.
Ephrem's Commentary also serves as the starting point of a
Syriac Hexaemeral tradition that includes such figures as
Jacob of Sarug, Jacob of Edessa, Moshe bar Kepha and Em-
manuel bar Shaharre. 1
(2) The book of Genesis was a book to which Ephrem re-
turned on more than one occasion. He drank from that
source not only here and in his Hymns on Paradise, but
throughout his hymns. Ephrem found that "the book of cre-
ation is the treasure house of the Ark, the crown of the
Law."2 Genesis was such a treasure store to Ephrem that in
the prologue to his Commentary on Genesis, he claims that he
"had not wanted to write a commentary on the first book of
Creation, lest we should now repeat what we had set down
in the madrase and in the memre. Nevertheless, compelled by
the love of friends, we have written briefly on those things of
which we wrote at length in the madrase and in the memre."Y>
If this prologue is genuine, this would most probably place
the composition of the Commentary on Genesis during the
short time at the end of his life when he dwelt in Edessa.
Whether this be true or not, the account preserved in the
1. For a concise overview, see E. Ten Napel, "Some Remarks on the Hexae-
meral Literature in SyIiac," in OrA, no. 229 (Rome, 1987) 57-69.
2. Hymns on Paradise 6.1. Translation in Brock, Hymns on Paradise, 109.
3. Commentary on Genesis, Prologue 1.
59
60 ST. EPHREM THE SYRIAN
Syriac Life oj Ephrem that Ephrem wrote the Commentary

while a hermit in the mountains outside of Edessa is com-
pletely anachronistic. 4
(3) As this prologue indicates, Ephrem, on the whole,
does not deal with the text in such depth, or in the same
ways, as he did in his hymns. Throughout the entire Com-
mentary on Genesis, Ephrem rarely engages in the typological
or symbolic exegesis that so characterizes his hymns. Most
of the Commentary is a close literal reading of the text. In
fact, much of that portion of the Commentary that treats the
text subsequent to Genesis 4 is simply a paraphrasing of the
biblical text. The entire first half of the Commentary on Gene-
sis is devoted to only three pericopes: the six days of cre-
ation; the fall of Adam and Eve; and the flood that occurred
in the days of Noah.
(4) In independent studies, T. Jansma and A. Guillau-
mont have shown that Ephrem's entire account of the six
days of creation, on the surface a very literal commentary, is
a polemic aimed primarily against the teachings of Bard-
aisan." Ephrem's polemic is centered on his position that
God is a) the only self-subsistent being and b) the creator of
everything else. To take any other position would, in
Ephrem's view, be to make God an "arranger" and not "the
Creator." This is the very teaching that Moses 6 had set down,
"to set right once more those things that had become con-
fused in Moses' generation, lest this evil tradition (i.e. con-
sidering created things to be gods) be transmitted through-
4. This account of the composition of the Commentmy on Genesis is used by

the two longer recensions, MS. Vat. 117, and MS. Par. 23.'), to explain the vi-
sion of the vine found in the AjJojJhthegrnata Patrum. See Amar, "The SyIiac Vita
Tradition of Ephrem the SyIian," 102-3 (text), 238-39 (translation) and in-
troduction, above.
5. See T. Jansma, "Ephraems Beschreibung des ersten Tages del' Schop-
fung," ()('P 37 (1971): 300-305; and A. Guillaumont, "Genese 1,1-2 selon les
commentateurs syriaques," in IN PRINCIPIO: InterjJretations des premiers versets de
Ea Genese, M, no. 152 (PaIis, 1973) 115-32. This important observation also
goes a long way toward explaining the disproportional time that Ephrem
spends on the "primeval history" account.
6. See Hymns against Heresies, 48.2.
COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 61
out the entire world."7 The distinction between Creator and

creature was infinite and could not be traversed without
committing blasphemy.s
(5) Bardaisan who, according to Ephrem, composed 150
hymns as did David,9 taught that there were five eternal
principles (in Syriac, 'ityli) 10 each in its own region: light in
the East, wind in the West, fire in the South, water in the
North, while darkness inhabited the lower regions. The
Lord of all (another 'itya) occupied the region above. Due
to some sort of mingling of these eternal elements chaos en-
sued, and from the mixture of the elements the Lord of all
made the world and set it into order.ll
(6) While there is now little doubt that Ephrem is deal-
ing here with the false teachings of Bardaisan, Ephrem's
polemic extends also to the teachings of Marcion and Mani
against all of whom Ephrem was engaged in constant bat-
tle. 12 The teaching of all three of Ephrem 's primary protago-
nists contained the idea, in one form or another, that the
world was fashioned out of various preexistent substances.
Ephrem in several places calls Bardaisan the teacher of
Mani, particularly vis-a-vis his cosmology. "Because Mani was
unable to find another way out, he entered, though unwill-
7. Commentary on Genesis, Prologue, 2.

8. See Prose RPjutations II, 219 (text), civ (translation); and T. Kronholm,
Motif' from Genesis I - I I in the Genuine Hymns oj ~'phrern the Syrian, Coniectanea
Biblica Old Testament Series, no. 11 (Uppsala, 1978) 35-39.
9. See Hymns against Heresies, 53.6.
10. See Commentmy on Genesis 1. 2, and note (viloe., below, for a discussion
of this term.
11. See Hymns against Heresies, 3.4, 41.7, and Prose iIPjutations, passim. For
Bardaisan's myth, see Drijvers, Bardai.mn oJ~'des.m, 96-126, for Ephrem's treat-
ment of Bardaisan, 133-43. See also E. Beck, "Bardaisan und Seine Schule bei
Ephram," LM 91 (1978): 271-333, especially 271-88; B. Ehlers, "Bat'de-
sanes-ein Syrische Gnostiker," ZKG 81 (1970): 334-51; studies XI-XIII in
Drijvers, East of Antioch. Studies in Early Syriac Christianity; H. Kruse, "Die
'mythologischen Irrtumer' Bar-Dai~ans," OC 71 (1987): 24-52; and most re-
cently, though not most reliably, .J. Teixidor, B(mle.mne d'Jidesse: La jnemiere
philosophie syriaque (Paris, 1992).
12. See, especially, Hymns against Heresies and Prose RPjutations 1 and 11, and
references below.
ingly, by the door which Bardaisan opened."I? To Ephrem,

Mani was the "quintessence of heresy."14 Mani's cosmology
also included the eternal hyle, introduced first by Marcion
"the first thorn, the firstborn of the briar of sin, the weed
earliest to groW."15 Apparently, both Bardaisan and Mani had
to allegorize the biblical account of the creation to make it
accord with their respective cosmologies. Iii
(7) From an exegetical viewpoint Ephrem, in his Commen-
tary on Genesis, offers interpretations of many passages that
are otherwise attested only, or primarily, in Jewish tradi-
tions. Particularly in Nisibis, Ephrem was engaged in heated
debate with the Jews and it would be most unlikely that he
had no more than a simple passing acquaintance with aJew-
ish tradition of exegesis. However, because of the nature of
their sources, problems of dating the texts, etc., one cannot
always pinpoint a precise source, but the parallels are too
numerous to be dismissed. 17 In certain places in the Com men-
13. C. W. Mitchell, ed., S. Ephraim's Prose Refutations o/Mani, Marcion and

Bardaisan (London, 1912) 1: 1 22 (text), xc (translation).
14. Hymns against Heresies 22.13-22, 41.8, 51.14. See also Pmse
Re/utations 1.9. For Mani's intricate cosmological myth see S. N. C. Lieu,
Manichaeism in the T.ater lWman Empire and Medieval China, 2d ed. (Tlibingen,
1992) 7-32. See also Beck, liphriims Polemik gegen Mani und die Manirhiier; D.
Bundy, "Ephrem's Critique of Mani: The Limits of Knowledge and the Nature
of Language," in Gnosticisme et Monde Helliinistique. Actes du Colloque de T.ouvain-
la-Neuve (II-I4 maTS I98o), ed . .J. Ries, et aI., Publications de l'Institut Orien-
taliste de Louvain, no. 27 (Louvain-la-Neuve, 1982) 289-98; and idem, "Lan-
guage and the Knowledge of God in Ephrem Syrus," 91-103.
15. Hymns against Heresies 22.17. For Marcion, see A. von Harnack, Manion:
Das Evangelium vom Fremden Gott, TU, no. 45 (Leipzig, 1924); E. C. Blackmann,
Marcion and His TnfLuence (London, 1948); R. J. Hoffman, Marcion: On the Resti-
tution of Christianity, AAR Academy SeIies, no. 46 (Chico, California, 1984). See
also E. Beck, "Die Hyle bei Markion nach Ephriim," OCP 44 (1978): 5-30; and
D. Bundy, "Marcion and the Marcionites in Early Syriac Apologetics," T.M 101
(1988): 21-3 2.
16. See H . .J. W. Drijvers, "Mani und Bardaisan. Ein Beitrag zur
Vorgeschichte des Manichiiismus" in East o/Antioch, and idem, "Edessa und das
Judische Cillistentum, VC 24 (1970): 32-33. See also Commentmyon Genesis 1.1,
below, where Ephrem strongly insists at the outset that there is nothing allegor-
ical to be found in the first verse of Genesis.
17. For general studies of the Jewish background of Ephrem's method of
tary, Ephrem is reading a text that preserves Targumic tradi-

tions against the reading of the Peshitta version, the Syriac
textus receptus. 18 In the notes to our translation, we have
made many references to Jewish sources, particularly to
those found in Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews. These
should be taken simply as parallels not as indicating
Ephrem's source. The primary purpose of these references
are to highlight, by means of a readily available resource,
the Jewish-and not Hellenistic-milieu out of which
Ephrem wrote. E) The attentive reader will also quickly note
that Ephrem's very method of exegesis is much more close
to Jewish Haggadah than to the more familiar exegesis of
Western Christianity.
(8) The text of the Commentary on Genesis was published
on the basis of a single manuscript: MS. Vat. Syr. 110, dated
to the sixth century.20 The text was first edited by Peter Mo-
barek, SJ., with Latin translation, in the great Roman edi-
tion of Ephrem's works. 21 In 1955, R. M. Tonneau, a.p.,
exegesis, see D. Gerson, "Die Commentarien des Ephraem Syrus im Verhiiltnis

zur judischen Exegese: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte del' Exegese," MGWJ 17
(1868): 15-33,64-72, g8-1Og, 141-49; R. Tonneau, "Moise dans la tradition
Syrienne," in Moise, l'homme de l'Alliance (Paris, Ig.').') 242-.')4; A. Guillaumont,
"Un midrash d'Exode 4,24-26 dans Aphraate et Ephrem de Nisibe," in A Trib-
ute to Arthur Viiiibus, ed. R. Fischer, 109-31; Kronholm, Motif'; S. P. Brock, ':Jew-
ish Traditions in Syriac Sources," IJS 30 (1979); and P. Feghali, "Influence des
Targums sur la pensee exegetique d'Ephrem?" in OrA, no. 22g (Rome, Ig84)
71-82. A concise summary of the difficulties of detecting Ephrem's sources, al-
beit written with respect to his hymns, can be found in Sed, "Les hymnes sur Ie
paradis de saint Ephrem," 455-5(H: "En general, les attaches judaiques des
spnboles d'Ephrem sont evidentes. La presence d'un ensemble de faits conver-
gents constitue ici un indice probant. Cependant, nous ne trouvons jamais
d'emprunts mateIiels, copies serviles de fonnules ou de sentences rab-
biniques," 456.
18. See notes to translation below. See also Brock, 'Jewish Traditions in Syr-
iac Sources," 21g; and Feghali, "Influence des Targums," 71-82.
Ig. A detailed study of the Jewish background of Ephrem's Commentmyon
Genesis, is being undertaken by the present translator.
20. This manuscIipt comes from the famous monastery of Our Lady of the
SyIians in Egypt. See S. E. andJ. S. Assemani, Bibliothecae AjJostolicae Vaticanae
Codicorum manuscriptorumque Catalogus (Rome, 1769) 1 :3, 76.
2 1. J. S. Assemani, ed., Saneli Patris Nostri ~'jJhmem Syri OjJera Omnia
published a more reliable text based on the same manu-

script together with a new Latin translation. 22 Subsequent to
the publication of Tonneau's text, T. Jansma has published
several articles with corrections and suggested emendations
to both the text and translation of Tonneau. 2?'
(9) Most modern scholars accept the Commentary as gen-
uine Ephrem. P. Feghali, however, has made the claim that
this text has the flavor of'" notes prises' ou d'une tradition
qui demeura orale avant d'etre consignee par ecrit."24 The
text seems rather to be quite tightly written with an orga-
nized general purpose throughout. The text sustains the
polemic against the heresies of Marcion, Bardaisan, and
Mani into Section II on the Fall of Adam and Eve. Refuta-
tions of these figures were genuine ongoing concerns of
Ephrem and such a sustained polemic would be unlikely in
a collection of later notes. We have also attempted, through-
out our translation of the Commentary, to make reference
to Ephrem's hymns where he manifests similar exegesis
and/or concerns. The large number of concurrences and
the style argue for authenticity. On the basis of all these con-
siderations, therefore, it is difficult to accept these remarks
of Feghali.
( 10) More recently, David Bundy has noted the discrep-
ancy between this Commentary as found in MS. Vat. Syr. 1 10
and an early Armenian version, long thought to be simply a
translation of the published Syriac text. 25 Bundy is quite
1 :1-115. This six volume edition of Ephrem's works also contains three
m(uim"eon Genesis (2:316-29), but they cannot be by Ephrem.
22. R. M. Tonneau, San(,ti ~l)hraem Syri in Genesim et in ~'xodum Commentarii,
CSC01.';2 (Louvain, 19.';5) 3-121.
23. Jansma, "Ephraems Beschreibung," 309-16; idem, "Beitrage zur
BeIichtigung einzelner Stellen in Ephraems Genesiskommentar," OC 56
(1972): 59-79; and idem, "Weitere Beitrage zur Berichtigung einzelner
Stellen in Ephraems Komment:c'ire zu Genesis und Exodus," OC 58 (1974):
121-31.
24. Feghali, "Influence des Targums," 72. See also his "Notes sur l'exegese
de S. Ephrem; commentaire sude deluge (Gen. 6,1-9,17)," Pd08 (1977/78):
67-70 .
2.';. D. Bundy, "Ephrem's Exegesis ofIsaiah," in SP 18.4 (Kalamazoo/Leu-
ven, 1990) 235-36 (he lists here all the scholars who hold the text as
right to point this out; the Armenian version, for all intents
and purposes heretofore overlooked, is a different commen-
tary.26 The pervasive Judaic background underlying the Syri-
ac Commentary also argues in favor of Ephrem's authorship.
Syria underwent substantial Hellenization after the death of
Ephrem and it is unlikely a later commentary would not re-
flect that movement. These factors, coupled with those ob-
servations noted above in regard to the comments of
Feghali, preclude Bundy's too hasty, in the opinion of this
translator, conclusion that this Syriac text is spurious. 27 Until
further study has been done on the Armenian and the
other Syriac versions, however,judgment must wait. 28
( 11) Outside of the very periphrastic Latin version of Mo-
barek and the more recent Latin translation of Tonneau,
complete translations of Ephrem's Commentary on Genesis
exist only in Spanish and Dutch. 29 Apart from these, only
short excerpts have been translated into modern languages:
genuine). Bundy also notes here that certain other manusctipts, still unedited,
contain Syriac texts of a Commentary on Genesis, attributed to Ephrem, which di-
verge from the Sytiac text as found in MS. Vat. SYI'. 110. An Arabic version, sim-
ilar to these unedited Sytiac versions, is edited inJ. Tabet, Taf,ir li-sifi- altakwin
(Kaslik, 1982). For further comments on this text, see P. Feghali, "Un commen-
taire de la Genese attlibue a saint Ephrem," in Ades du deuxieme Congres interna-
tional d'etudes arabes chretiennes, ed. K. Samir, S. .J., OCA 226 (Rome, 1986)
159-75·
26. The position of G. Zatp'analean, Matenruiamn hayiwJwn t'aTgmanut'eanc'
naxneru.·' [Catalogue of Ancient Armenian Translation,) (Venice, 1889) 444, that
the Armenian version is based on a Syriac epitome, which he claims Ephrem
himself was wont to do with his works, is completely untenable; the work is in
no way a simple epitome and there exists no source that tells of Ephrem's epit-
omizing his own works.
27. Feghali, "Un commentaire de la Genese attribue a saint Ephrem,"
159-75, demonstrates that the Arabic version, to which Bundy makes appeal, is
rather a work of Cyril of Alexandria.
28. The only edited text of the Armenian version, based on a single manu-
sctipt, is found in the Srobyn lijJ'remi MatenagT1Lt'iwnk' (Venice, 1836) 1: 1-131. A
new edition of the Armenian Commentary on Genesis attributed to Ephrem with a
translation and a study of its relationship to all the extant oriental versions
claiming to be Ephrem's Commentary on Genesis is being undertaken by the pre-
sent translator.
29. A. P. Torres, ComentaTio al Genesis de San liJim (Madrid, 1978); A. G. P.
the Prologue and Section I have been translated into

French,'Io while Section II has recently been rendered into
English.?[ The emendations suggested by Jansma and all of
these translations have also been consulted in the present
translation.
Hanson and L. Van Rompay, ~Jrem de Syriiir: UiLleg van hel boek Genesis (Kampen,
1993) .
30. P. Feghali, "Les premiers jours de la creation, commentaire de Gn.
1,1-2,4 par Saint Ephrem," PriO 13 (1986): 3-30.
31. Brock, Hymns on Paradise, 197-224. On p. 233 of this work, Brock
notes that there is on deposit in the Bodleian Library at Oxford an unpub-
lished M. Litt. thesis, by Kathatine Refson, which contains an English transla-
tion of the ('ommenlmy on Genesis.
COMMENTARY ON GENESIS
Commentary of Ephrem on the

First Book of the Torah
Prologue
HAD NOT WAN TED to write a commentary on the
first book of Creation, lest we should now repeat what
we had set down in the metrical homilies and hymns.
Nevertheless, compelled by the love of friends, we have writ-
ten briefly of those things of which we wrote at length in the
metrical homilies and in the hymns.!
2. The reason that Moses 2 wrote [this book] is as follows:
the Creator had been manifest to the mind of the first
generations, even up until the [generation of] the Tower.?
The fact that creatures were created was also publicly
taught. Moreover, from [the generation of] the Tower to
[the generation of] Moses, there was no lack of men
among the sons of Shem to preach these things. But, when
the sons of Abram went astray in Egypt and deserved to
become godless along with the entire world, they too be-
came estranged from those noble commandments that are
fixed in our nature and they considered substances, which
had come into being out of nothing, to be self-existent be-
1. See Kronholm, ]Vfotijs, for a discussion of Gen 1-11 in the genuine
hymns of Ephrem. For the two types of poetry mentioned here, see general in-
troduction above.
2. Here, as in Hymns on Paradise 1.1,4.3,5.2, etc., Ephrem specifically des-
ignates Moses as author of the Pentateuch. On occasion, Ephrem will say
"ScIipture says." In most places, however, Ephrem simply wIites "he/it says,"
leaving the subject to be supplied. In our translation we have supplied Moses as
subject even in places where it could just as reasonably be translated "as Scrip-
ture says" as does Brock, Hymns on Paradise, passim.
3. That is, the Tower of Babel. See Gen 11.1-9.
67
ings: and they called created things that had been made
out of something 5 "gods." Still, God willed to set right once
more, through Moses, those things that had become con-
fused in Moses' generation, lest this evil tradition 6 be trans-
mitted throughout the entire world.
3. Therefore [God] sent Moses to the Egyptians so that
where error had arisen he might blunt its edge with the
bright rays of true knowledge. [God] wrought through the
hand [of Moses] mighty works and miracles lest they be in
any doubt about what [Moses] was going to write down. On
account of these things He enlightened him and ... 7 More-
over, Moses was also anointed with a radiance so that the ra-
diance of his face would manifest the Spirit who spoke with
his tongue. 8
4- Mter the mighty works [of God that occurred] in
Egypt, both in the sea and in the desert, [Moses] wrote
about the substances that were created out of nothing so
that [the descendants of Abraham] might know that they
were falsely called self-existent beings. And [Moses] wrote
about the creatures that were made out of something9
and were erroneously worshipped as gods. He wrote that
God, who had been set up alongside thousands and myri-
ads, is One. 10 He wrote about the mysteries of the Son that
were inscribed when creatures were created. He also in-
scribed the types [of the Son] that were depicted in the just
ones who preceded Him as well as the allegorical and sym-
bolic ll meanings that were signified by the works of his
4. I.e., 'itye. See note 26, below.

5. Read here rndrn for qdrn, asJansma, "Ephraems Beschreibung," 31 1.
6. Read here rnslrnnut'for rnsz,nut', asJansma, "Weitere Beitrage," 122.
7. There is a lacuna in the manuscIipt at this point.
8. Cf. Exod 34.35.
g. Delete here the negative particle I; as Jansma, "Ephraems Beschrei-
bung," 311.
10. Cf. Dan 7.10.
11. These two words are supplied to fill a lacuna in the text-only the first
has been conjectured by Tonneau. Ephrem's use of allegory here is not to be
equated with that more highly developed form of allegorical interpretation
associated with the School of Alexandria. For Ephrem's use of the term, see
Bou Mansour, La pensee "yrnbolique, 52-57.
staff.12 He wrote about the true commandments that had be-

come forgotten, while adding those that were necessary for
the infantile state of the Uewish] people .
.5. [Moses] then wrote about the work of the six days that
were created by means of a Mediator who was of the same
nature and equal in skill to the Maker. And after [Moses]
said, "This is the book of the generations of heaven and
earth,"13 he turned back and recounted those things that he
had left out and not written about in his first account. He
spoke of the origin of the house of Adam and of their
dwelling in Paradise, of the coming of the serpent, of his de-
ceit, of their rashness concerning the tree which had been
forbidden them, and of their being cast out from there as
punishment.
(2) He spoke of the offering that Cain and Abel brought,
of the murder of Abel, of the curses that were decreed
against Cain, the story of their seven generations reaching
unto the words that Lamech, the son of Cain, spoke to his
WIves.
(3) He spoke of the ten generations from Adam unto
Noah.
(4) He spoke of the wickedness that the two tribes culti-
vated in Noah's generation. 14
(.5) He spoke of the construction of the ark and of the
preservation of everything that had been created.
(6) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of their departure
from the ark and about Noah's offering and about the bow
in the clouds that was granted him for the covenant of
peace. 15
(7) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the vineyard that
Noah planted, how he became drunk, fell asleep and was
uncovered, and of the curse of Canaan and the blessings of
his brothers.
12. Cf. Exod 4.2ff., 7.9ff., 8.5ff., 10.13, 14.16, 17.5-9.

13. Gen 2-4-
14. That is, the tribe of Cain and the tribe of Seth.
15. This phrase "covenant of peace" is often used in the Bible to designate
the covenant between God and Noah. See, for example, Num 25.12, Isa 54.10,
Ezek 34.2.'), 37.26.
(8) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the seventy-

two sons who were born to the sons of Noah, of the build-
ing of the Tower, of the tongues that they received,l6 and
how they were scattered from there throughout the entire
earth.
(9) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the next ten gen-
erations from Shem unto Abraham.
(10) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of Abraham's de-
parture from Ur, of his dwelling at Haran, his settling in the
land of Canaan and of Sarah being led to Pharaoh's house
and being returned on account of the plagues that came
upon Pharaoh's household.
(11) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of Lot's separation
from Abraham, of Lot's being taken captive along with the
Sodomites, and of his deliverance by Abraham who was
blessed by Melchizedek when he gave him a tenth of all the
goods that he had rescued.
( 1 2) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of [Abraham's]
faith in his seed, of his asking to know how his seed would
inherit a land that was already full of inhabitants, and of his
offering and the covenant of peace that God established
with him on that very day.
(13) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of how Abraham
was persuaded by Sarah to enter into Hagar, how after
Hagar had conceived, she held her mistress contemptible in
her eyes, despised her and fled, how an angel saw her and
sent her back to serve her mistress.
(14) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the covenant of
circumcision that God gave to [Abraham] and of how
[Abraham] circumcised Ishmael and all the sons of his
household.
( 15) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the vision that
came to [Abraham] while he was sitting in the doorway of
his tent, of the coming of the angels who came in the guise
of strangers, of how they promised Isaac to Sarah, and how
she laughed within herself.
(16) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the [angels']
16. Read here dqblwfor dhblw, asJansma, "Beitrage," 62.

going to Sodom, of Abraham's intercession for [the Sod-

omites], of the [angels'] going into Lot's house, of the mob
of Sodomites, of the departure of Lot and his daughters,
and of the punishment that the Sodomites received for
their effrontery.
( 17) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of Lot's daughters
who made their father drink wine and sleep with them with-
out knowing it.
( 18) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of Abimelech who
took Sarah and how God did not allow him to touch her.
(19) Mter these things [Moses spoke] of the birth of
Isaac, of his circumcision, of his weaning, and of the depar-
ture of the handmaid and her son because he had laughed
at the son of the free woman.
(20) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the covenant
that Abimelech established with Abraham.
(21) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the testing of
Abraham, of how he raised up Isaac upon the altar, of
Isaac's deliverance from heaven, and of the ram in the tree
that became the sacrifice in Isaac's stead.
(22) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the death of
Sarah and her burial in the double cave of the sons of
HemY
(23) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the oath that
Abraham made Eliezer swear, of [Eliezer's] journey to
Mesopotamia, of the prayer of his servant at the well, and of
his bringing Rebekah back to the house of Abraham to be-
come Isaac's wife.
(24) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of Rebekah's bar-
renness, of how Isaac prayed and she conceived, of how she
inquired of the Lord and it was told to her, "Two nations are
in your womb and the elder shall serve the younger."
(25) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the birthright of
Esau which was sold to Jacob.
(26) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the covenant
17. Concerning this cave, Ephrem consistently refers to it as belonging to

the sons of Hem and not to the sons of Heth, or the Hittites, as do all the ver-
sions.
that the king of the Philistines established with Isaac just as

he had done with Abraham.
(27) After these things [Moses] spoke of how Jacob, with
the counsel of his mother, seized the blessings of Esau.
(28) After these things [Moses] spoke of Jacob's going
down to the house of Laban and of the vision of the ladder
that he saw while he slept.
(29) After these things [Moses] spoke of how Jacob be-
came betrothed to the one woman of his desire and ended
up marrying three others whom he did not desire.
(30) After these things [Moses] spoke of Uacob's] return
to his father's house, of Laban's coming in anger, of how
God restrained him from doing Jacob any harm, and of
their covenant of peace on the mountain of Gilead.
(31) After these things [Moses] spoke of the host of an-
gels that met him.
(32) After these things [Moses] spoke of the ambassadors
of peace whom Uacob] sent to Esau, of the offering that he
sent ahead to Esau, of Jacob's struggle with the angel, of
how the angel touched his hip joint and it became dislocat-
ed, and of how Esau, his brother, joyfully received him.
(33) After these things [Moses] spoke of Uacob's]
dwelling in Shechem, of the force [with which Shechem]
took their sister, of how Uacob's sons] destroyed the whole
city by fraud, and of how displeasing this was to their father.
(34) After these things [Moses] spoke of the death of
Rachel near Ephratha, of Jacob's coming to his father, and
of the death and burial of Isaac.
(35) After these things [Moses] spoke of the descendants
of Esau and of the kings who reigned in Edam before a king
reigned in the house of Israel.
(36) After these things [Moses] spoke of the dreams of
Joseph.
(37) After this [Moses] spoke of Tamar's marriage, of the
violent death of her husbands, how she beguiled and de-
ceived Judah, how, in his first judgment, Judah condemned
her to the fire but, in his final judgment, reversed [his deci-
sian], acquitted her and raised her to greater honor than
himself.
(38) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of how Joseph

was sent out with his brothers, of how they cast him into
a pit, of his being sold to Arabs, of his going down to Egypt,
of his flight from his mistress, of his being cast into prison,
of how he interpreted dreams for Pharaoh's servants and
even for Pharaoh, of the dignity that he attained, of the
corn he gathered in the seven years of plenty, and of the
great quantity of money he collected during the years of
famine.
(39) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of how Joseph's
brothers came to him, of how he was concealed from them
and how he tormented them, of how he then revealed him-
self to them and kissed them. 18
(40) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of their telling
Jacob the good news about Joseph, of the seventy souls who
went down with him to Egypt, of Joseph's coming out to
meet his father, his bringing Jacob in to Pharaoh, Uacob's]
blessing of Pharaoh, of how Pharaoh settled [Joseph's] broth-
ers in the best part of the land of Egypt, of how Joseph
bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh with the exception
of the lands belonging to the priests.
(41) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the illness of
Jacob and of the blessings he gave to Joseph's sons, making
the younger Ephraim greater than Manasseh, his older
brother.
(42) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the blessings
with which Jacob blessed his own sons, of how, after he had
finished his words, he straightened up his feet in the bed
and was gathered to his people. [Moses then spoke of] how
Joseph took Jacob up and buried him where Abraham and
Isaac were buried.
(43) Mter these things [Moses] spoke of the death of
Joseph and of how he made his brothers swear to take up
his bones with them to the land of their inheritance.
(44) All these things Moses wrote down in the first book
of Creation and to begin his discourse he said:
18. Ephrem here plays on the words snq---"torment," and nsq---"kiss."

Section I
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,19 that
1.
is, the substance of the heavens and the substance
of the earth.20 So let no one think that there is anything alle-
gorical in the works of the six days.21 No one can rightly say
that the things that pertain to these days were symbolic, nor
can one say that they were meaningless names or that other
things were symbolized for us by their names. Rather, let us
know in just what manner heaven and earth were created in
the beginning. They were truly heaven and earth. There was
no other thing signified by the names "heaven" and "earth."
The rest of the works and things made that followed were
not meaningless significations either, for the substances of
their natures correspond to what their names signify.22
19. Gen 1.1.
20. In the Peshitta text of Gen 1.1, the particle yat, as it does in the early
Targums, precedes both "heaven" and "earth." In the thirteenth century, the
Jacobite polymath Bar Hebraeus pointed out that yal, preselved only here in
the Syriac version of the Old Testament, is the Palestinian Aramaic equivalent
to l(a) in SyIiac, i.e., a marker to designate the direct object, like 'el in Hebrew
[M. Sprengling and W. C. Graham, eds., Barhelmleu," Sf'holia on Ihe Old Tesla-
ment. Part I: Genesis-JJ Samuel (Chicago, 1931) 5]. This obselvation, together
with the fact that the rabbis interpreted 'tl of the Hebrew text as indicating
"substance," has caused commentators to say that Ephrem is intelpreting the
particle in similar fashion. Though this interpretation is no doubt philological-
ly correct, it seems more in line with Ephrem's literal reading of the text to un-
derstand that he is reading yal as the construct (the genitive construction in
Syriac) of the Syriac word yata-"essence, substance," and is simply interpret-
ing this term for his readers. This interpretation subsequently became the stan-
dard exegesis of this passage in NestOlian tradition, see T. Jansma, "Investiga-
tions into the Early Syrian Fathers on Genesis," in Studies on the Bool< oj' Genesis,
ed. B. Gemser et aI., Oudtestamentische Studien, no. 12 (New York, 1958)
101.
The word yata, derives from 'it [for the background of which, see J.
Bethune-Baker, Nesioriul anti His Teru-hing (Cambridge, 19(8) 212-17], a root
which is of fundamental importance for Ephrem's polemics and his whole the-
ological outlook. See Beck, Die Theologie, .')-13; and N. El-KhoUly, Der Interpreta-
lion tier Welt bti~l)hmern dern Syrer (Tubingen, 1976) 42-46. Also, see 1. 2, below
and note (ullof',
21. See El-Khoury, Der Interpretation der Welt bei Ephmem, 49-62; and Kron-
holm, Molif'; 41-43. Hymns on Ihe Nalivily 26 is a meditation on the work of the
six days in their relation to the Incarnation.
22. In the thought of Ephrem, for something to have a name is to have a
2. In the beginning God created heaven and earth.23 At this

point these comprised the only things that had been made,
for there was nothing else created along with heaven and
earth. Even the elements24 that were created on that day had
not yet been created. If the elements had been created
along with heaven and earth, Moses would have said so. But
he did not, lest he give the names of the elements prece-
dence over their substances. Therefore, it is evident that
heaven and earth came to be from nothing because neither
water nor wind had yet been created, nor had fire, light or
darkness been given their natures, for they were younger
than 25 heaven and earth. These things were created things
that came after heaven and earth and they were not self-sub-
sistent beings26 for they did not exist before [heaven and
earth]Y
qnomrl. or substance, and that name designates just what that substance is. See
Hymns on Faith 16.2: "in the names are the substances"; Hymns against Heresies
48.2: "the name Creator testifies to God who created everything"; Sermons on
Failh 2; and El-Khoury, Der inleJjJrelalion tier Welt bei lijJhmem, 45. See also 1.12,
below.
23. Gen 1.1.
24. This Syriac word, kyane, is the same word just translated "natures" in the
previous paragraph. See the discussion of Beck, Die Theologie, 13-15, and idem,
Ephriims Reden iiber den Glauben. Ihr theologischer I>ehr[!;ehalt und ihr geschichtlicher
i&lhmen, SA, no. 33 (Rome, 1953) 4-8, for the vaIious usages of this word in
Ephrem.
2.'). To designate age is the normal manner in Syriac to express posteriority
or pliOlity. These five elements that Ephrem enumerates are those elements
that Bardaisan postulated as 'ity;', or self-subsistent beings [see next note]. See
Jansma, "Ephraems Beschreibung," 300-30.'); and Drijvers, Bardaisan, 96-126.
26. I.e., 'ilye. For Ephrem the term 'ily" (and its derivative 'ilulrl), denoting
self-subsistent being, can be used only of God. He is the only 'ituta, or "Being."
To give to a created thing the name 'itya is, to Ephrem, more blasphemous
than any idol-worshiping that was committed in the Old Testament. See Hymns
against Heresies .')3, devoted specifically to this subject, especially 11-12: "Moses
witnessed to us that he called no other by the name of 'ituta. They were called
gods but not 'ilye . .. [God] revealed to Moses his name. He called himself ehyeh
(cf. Exod 3.14) for that is the name of 'ituta." See also Hymns against Heresies
16.9; and Beck, Die Theologie, 11-13. For the question ofEphrem's treatment of
Bardaisan in his hpnns, see also Beck, "Bardaisan und Seine Schule," 271-333.
27. Here, as throughout this first section, Ephrem is emphasizing, against
the teachings of the Bardaisanites, Marcionites, and Manicheans, that every-
thing that exists was created by God. His argument here centers on the water,
3. After this [Moses] spoke not of the things that were

above the firmament, but rather of those things that were
between the firmament and the earth which is within [the
womb].28 [Moses] wrote about [the things within the firma-
ment] for us, although he did not write about everything for
us, for he did not record for us the day on which the spiritu-
al beings were created. 29
(2) [Moses] then goes on to write that the earth was tohu
and bohu/o that is, void and desolation. This is to show that
even the void and desolation were older than'll the ele-
ments. 1 am not saying that the void and desolation were
something. Rather [I am saying] that the earth, which does
exist, was known [to exist] in something which does not
exist, for the earth existed alone without any other thing.'I2
wind, fire, light, and darkness, Bardaisan's eternal principles [see Drijvers, Bar-
daisan, 96-126]; for Ephrem they were the fundamental elements (kyane),
which were created by God. Ephrem's arguments that water, wind, fire and
light were in fact created elements and that darkness had no real existence of
its own (see 1.16, below) completely undermine Bardaisan's cosmology.
This position is the focal point of Ephrem's polemic in this commentary;
see introduction above. He stresses the same points in his hymns, especially in
his Hymns against Heresies. "Out of nothing God created everything," Hymns
against Heresie,,; 28.8. See also Hymns against Heresies 3, which is devoted specifi-
cally to the subject of creatio ex nihilo, against Bardaisan. See also Hidal, Interpre-
tatio Syriaca, 76-78; and El-Khoury, Die Interpretation der Welt bei Ephmem, 6.')-81.
28. See 1.17, below.
29. Although according to Hymns on the Nativity 26 ..'), the angels had been
created by the second day, it is possible that here Ephrem betrays acquaintance
with the Jewish debate over whether the angels were created on the second day
or on the fifth day of creation. See Genesis Rabbah 1.3. Whether Ephrem was
aware of this debate or not, his point is that the angels were also created and
they were created after heaven and earth. See W. Cramer, Die ~'ngelvontellungen
bei Ephmem dem Syrer, OCA, no. 173 (Rome, 196.')) 1 1 2, 170; Hidal, Interpretatio
Syriaca, 67; and El-Khoury, Die Interpretation der Welt bei Ephmem, 64-6.').
30. Gen 1.2. The words toh and boh of the Hebrew text are here transliterat-
ed in the Peshitta. In the later Nestorian tradition, it is the vocabulary of the
Greek tradition, i.e., a6paTos KaL aKaTaCJKEuaCJTos, that becomes the focal
point of the standard exegesis of this passage. See Jansma, "Investigations,"
102-3·
31. See above, note 2.').
32. Ephrem here asserts that even something that mayor may not have any
existence in and of itself preceded those elements that Bardaisan calls 'itye, or
4. Mter [Moses] spoke about the creation of heaven and
earth and showed that the waste and desolation preceded
the elements that were created by the length of that mo-
ment that followed [their creation] ,33 he turned to write
about those elements saying, Darkness was upon the face of the
abyss.34 For the abyss of waters was created at that time. But
how was it created on the day on which it was created? Even
though it was created on this day and at this moment, Moses
does not tell us here how it was created. For now, we should
accept the creation of the abyss as it is written, while we wait
to learn from Moses how it was created.
(2) As for the darkness that was upon the face of the
abyss, some posit that it was a cloud of heaven. Now, if the
firmament had been created on the first day they would
speak rightly. If the upper heavens were similar to the firma-
ment, then there would have been a thick darkness between
the two heavens, for the light had not been created nor af-
fixed there to dissipate the darkness by its rays. But if the
place between the two heavens is light as Ezekiel,35 Paul,36
and Stephen37 bear witness, then how could the heavens,
which had dissipated the darkness with their lights, spread
darkness over the abyss?
.5. Because everything that was created was created in
those six days,38 whether it was written down that it was creat-
eternal principles. He may, however, also be alluding to still another of Bar-

daisan's false teachings. Bardaisan placed great importance on the concept of
space, a matetial substance which contained and enclosed everything, includ-
ing God. Ephrem considers this to be a resttiction of the nature of God, see
Prose Refutations 1:129-33 (text), xciv-xcvi (translation), 2:16 (text) iv-viii
(translation), with Burkitt's remarks, 2:cxxiii-cxxiv. See also Dlijvers, Bar-
daisan, 136.
33. Again Ephrem insists on the creation of everything. There was a length
of time between the creation of heaven and earth and the creation of the first
elements. See Hymns on Faith 26.2, where Ephrem implies that time began
when God began the creation, and discussion in Hidal, Tnterpretatio Syriaca,
76-78.
34. Gen 1.2. 35. Cf. Ezek 1.1, 22.
36. Cf.Acts 9.3, 22.6; 26.13. 37. Cf. Acts 7 ..')5-56.
38. See Hymns on the Nativity 26; and EI-Khoury, Der intnlJretation rier Well bei
~'jJhmnn, 49-62.
ed or not, the clouds must also have been created on the

first day, just as fire was created along with wind, although
Moses did not write about the fire as he did about the wind.
Thus, the clouds were created along with the abyss although
Moses did not write that the clouds were created along with
the abyss, just as he did not record the creation of fire along
with that of the wind when he wrote about the creation of
the wind.
(2) It was necessary that everything be known to have
its beginning in those six days. The clouds were surely creat-
ed along with the abyss, for how many times were these
brought forth from the abyss? Elijah saw a cloud rising up
out of the sea.?g Solomon also said, By his knowledge the depths
broke forth and the clouds sprinkled down dew. 40 It was not only
because of their substance that they should have been creat-
ed at this point, but they were created on that first night be-
cause they also rendered service on that first night. Just as
the clouds covered Egypt for three days and three nights/1
clouds were spread over all of Creation on the first night
and on the first day. If the clouds had been dispersed, light
would not have been required on the first day because the
brightness of the upper heavens would have been sufficient
to fill the place of the light that was created on the first day.
6. Mter one night and one day were completed, the fir-
mament was created on the second evening and henceforth
its shadow rendered service for all subsequent nights.
Therefore, heaven and earth were created on the evening of
the first night. Along with the abyss that was created, there
were also created those clouds which, when they were
spread out, brought about the requisite night. Mter their
shadow had served for twelve hours, light was created be-
neath them and the light dispersed their shadow that had
been spread over the waters all night.
7. Mter Moses spoke of the darkness that was spread over
the face of the abyss, he then said, the wind of God was hover-
ing over the face of the waters. 42 Because Moses called it the wind
39. Cf. 1 Kings 18.44. 40. Prav 3.20.
41. Cf. Exod 10.22 42. Gen 1.2.
of God and said it was hovering, some posit that this is the
Holy Spirit43 and, because of what is written here, associate it
with the activity of creation. Nevertheless, the faithful 44 do
not make this connection, for these things cannot be so re-
lated. Rather, by those things that are truly said about it,
they associate it with that element:5 just as, on the basis of
the names employed, they cannot posit the Spirit as maker;6
for it is said that an evil spirit of God consumed Sau1. 47
43. The Syriac word ri1.ha, as does the Hebrew cognate ruah, can mean ei-
ther "wind" or "spirit." For a discussion of this wind/spiIit in Ephrem's hymns,
see Kronholm, Motifs, 43-44.
44. I.e., the orthodox, Nicene Christians, who were probably a small but
growing minOlity at this time. See Bauer, Orthodoxy and Heresy in liadiest Chris-
tianity, 1-43; and H.J. W. Drijvers, "Rechtgliiubigkeit und Ketzerei im iiItesten
syrischen Christentum," in Symposiam Syriacam I972, OCA, no. 197 (Rome,
1974) 29 1-308 .
4.'). I.e., the natural wind. Targum Onkelos also interprets this as the natural
wind [see M. Aberbach and B. Grossfeld, Targum Onkelos to Genesis (Denver,
1982) 21, n. 4.J. This interpretation of Ephrem may again be in consideration
of Bardaisan's teaching. According to Ephrem, Hymns against Heresies .').'),
Bardaisan taught that the Spirit bore two daughters: "the shame of dry land"
and the "image of the waters." In the same hymn, Ephrem accuses Bardaisan of
"dishonoring the beautiful name of the Holy Spirit who is too pure even for a
mirror."' See discussion in Drijvers, Bardaisan, 143-.')2.
46. See also Hymns against Heresies 50.8, where "the wind hovers over the
water kyana'zt-"naturally."· See also the discussion of the histOlY of interpreta-
tion of this passage in Syriac tradition in Jansma, "Investigations,"' 104-6. In the
Hymns on lijJijJhany 8.15, Ephrem seems to maintain the very opposite position,
but see Beck's remarks on the authenticity of these hymns in E. Beck, ed., Des
Heiligen Ji'jJhmem des Syren Hymnen de Nativitate (lijJijJhania), CSCO 187 (Louvain,
1959) viii-xiii. In any case, it is certain that the Ephrem who wrote this com-
mentary cannot be that "certain Syrian" from whom Basil got his information
on the meaning of the Syriac word here. Recently, S. Giet, ed., Basile de Ce.mree,
Home/ies sar l'Hexaemeron, SC 26bis (PaIis, 1968) 169, n. 3, seems to have opted
for Ephrem by default. This long-debated question of Basil"s source has finally
been resolved in favor of Eusebius of Emesa, through the intermediary of
Diodore of Tarsus. See.J. Pouchet, "Les rapports de Basile de Cesaree avec
Diodore de Tarse,"' BIE 87 (1986): 243-72, especially, 260-68; and L. Van
Rompay, "L'informateur Syrien de Basile de Cesaree. A propos de Genese 1,2,"
O(,P 58 (1992): 245-51.
47. Cf. 1 Sam 16.14. Here the Peshitta reads mdyb'-"consume" against the
Hebrew or Greek text. This reading does survive in some targumic passages.
See, for example, A. Sperber, The ProjJhets (u'amiing to the Codex R£w.-hlinianas
(Leiden, 1969) 63-64.
(2) It is indeed said that it was hovering, but what came

forth from the waters on the first day when [the wind] was
hovering over the waters? If on the day that it was written
that it was hovering over the waters nothing came out of the wa-
ters, and then on the fifth day when the waters brought
forth reptiles and birds, it was not written that the wind was
hovering, how then can anyone say that this wind took part in
the activity of creation? For, although Scripture said it was
hovering, it did not say that anything came out of the waters
on the day that it was hovering.
(3) Just as through the service of the clouds, that is, the
shadow of the first night, we infer the creation of the clouds
that came to be on the first day, so too through the service
of the wind, which is its breeze/s Moses wished to make
known to us the creation [of the wind]. For just as clouds do
not exist without a shadow, neither does wind exist without
a breeze. It is in their service then that we infer those things
that are not otherwise made apparent to us. Therefore that
wind was blowing because it was created for this purpose.
After it blew and manifested its creation through its service
on the first night, it once again became calm on the first day
just as the clouds were once again dispersed on the first day.
8. After [Moses] spoke of heaven and earth, of the dark-
ness, the abyss and the wind that came to be at the begin-
ning of the first night, he then turned to speak about the
light that came to be at dawn of the first day. At the end of
the twelve hours of that night, the light was created between
the clouds and the waters and it chased away the shadow of
the clouds that were overshadowing the waters and making
them dark. For Nisan was the first month; in it the number
of the hours of day and night were equal.
(2) The light remained a length of twelve hours so that
each day might also obtain its [own] hours just as the dark-
ness had obtained a measured length of time. Although the
light and the clouds were created in the twinkling of an eye,
the day and the night of the first day were each completed
in twelve hours.
48. On the breezes as ministers in Paradise, see Hymns on Prlr(uiise, 9.7-13.
(3) The light then was like a bright mist over the face of
the earth. Whether it was like the dawn or like the pillar
that gave light to the people in the wilderness,49 it is obvious
that it would have been unable to chase away the darkness
that was spread over the face of everything, unless it had
spread out completely over everything, either by its sub-
stance or by its brightness. The light was released so that it
might spread over everything without being fastened down.
It dispersed the darkness that was over everything although
it did not move. It was only when [the light] went away and
when it came that it moved, for when [the light] went away
the rule was given to the night and at [the light's] coming
there would be an end to [the night's] rule.
9. Mter the brightness [of the light] rendered its service
for three days,50 lest, like nothing, it return to nothing, God
bore clear witness that the light was very good. 51 Although
God did not [actually] say that the works that preceded the
light were very good, He did [in fact] say it about them, for
although He did not say it of them in the beginning when
only these things had come into existence out of nothing,
He did say it of them after everything else had come into ex-
istence; for [Moses] included all that had been made to-
gether with all that was created in six days, when he said on
the sixth day: God saw everything that he had made, and behold,
it was very good. 52
(2) Because that first light was indeed created good, it
rendered its service by its brightness for three days and it
also served, as we say,53 for the conception and the birth of
everything that the earth brought forth on the third day.
The sun was in the firmament in order to ripen whatever
had sprouted under that first light. It is said that from this
light, now diffused, and from fire, which were both created
on the first day, the sun, which was in the firmament, was
49. Cf. Exod 13.21.

50. See Hymns on Virginity .'i 1.2: "For three days the light rendered its ser-
vice and [then] was hidden."
51. Gen 1.4.
52. Gen 1.31.
53. Read )amT'nnfor )anl1yn, asJanSITla, "Weitere Beitrage," 122.
fashioned, while the moon and the stars also came to be

from that same first light.
(3) Just as the sun, which rules the day by the fact that it
gives light to the earth,"4 actually causes the fruits of the earth
to ripen, so too does the moon, which rules the night and
tempers the strength of the night by its brightness, also
bring forth, according to its first nature, fruits and vegeta-
tion. For Moses speaks in his blessings of the yield which the
moon brought forth,S5 along with the other things on account
of which the light was created, although they say that, for
the sake of the things that were to come forth, the light was
created on the first day. After the earth brought forth every-
thing during the course of the third day, then [the moon]
came to be in the manner of the light on the fourth day, so
that through the moon, as well as through the light, all fruit
would have its beginning, and then through the sun all veg-
etation would become ripe.
10. Thus, through light and water the earth brought
forth everything. While God is able to bring forth every-
thing from the earth without these things, it was His will to
show that there was nothing created on earth that was not
created for the purpose of mankind or for his service. 56
(2) The waters that the earth drank on the first day were
not saltyY Even if these waters were like the deep on the sur-
face of the earth, they were not yet seas. For it was in the
seas that these waters, which were not salty before being
gathered together, became salty. When they were sent
throughout the entire earth for the earth to drink they were
sweet, but when they were gathered into seas on the third
54. Cen 1.17·
55. Cf. Deut 33.14. The manuscIipt here readsJacob where Moses is clear-
ly intended. The text Ephrem cites differs from both the Hebrew and the
Greek text.
56. Ephrem is at great pains to emphasize that everything that has been
made has been made for the sake of humanity; see Hymns on Nisibis 38,9 and
Hymns on Paradise 6.6. See also discussion of Kronholm, Moti/s, 67.
57. See Genesis lUlbbah 5.3, where it is argued that these waters were sweet.
The question whether these waters were sweet or salty seems not to have been a
concern of Christian exegetes.
day, they became salty, lest they become stagnant due to

their being gathered together, and so that they might re-
ceive the rivers that enter into them without increasing. For
the quantity that a sea requires for nourishment is the mea-
sure of the rivers that flow down into it. Rivers flow down
into seas lest the heat of the sun dry them up. The saltiness
[of the seas] then swallows up [the rivers] lest they increase,
rise up, and cover the earth. Thus the rivers turn into noth-
ing, as it were, because the saltiness of the sea swallows them
Up.58
1 1. The seas had been created when the waters were cre-
ated and were hidden in those waters, and although the seas
became bitter, the waters above them were not bitter. Just as
there were seas in the flood, but they were covered over [by
those waters], they were not able to change into their bitter
nature the sweet waters of the flood which came from
above. If these waters had been bitter, how would the olives
and all the plants have been preserved in them? How did
those of the house of Noah and those with them drink from
them?
(2) Although Noah had commanded that all sorts offood
be brought for himself and those with him because there
would be no food anywhere, he did not allow water to be
brought because those who had entered the ark would be
able to take from the water outside of the ark to drink.
Therefore, just as the waters of the flood were not salty
while the seas were hidden within them, neither were the
waters that were gathered on the third day bitter even
though the seas below them were bitter.
12. Just as the gathering of the waters did not precede
that word which said, "Let the waters be gathered and let the dry
land appear;"59 neither did the seas exist until that moment
when God called the gathering of water "seas."60 When they re-
ceived their name they were changed. G1 In their [new] place
the [waters] attained that saltiness that had not been theirs
58. Cf. Eccles 1.7. 59. Gen 1.g.

60. Gen 1.10. 61. See note 22 above.
[even] outside of their [old] place. For [their place] be-

came deep at that very moment when [God] said, ''Let the
waters be gathered into one place." Then either the land
[under] the sea was brought down below the [level of the]
earth to receive within it its own waters along with the waters
that were above the entire earth, or the waters swallowed
each other so that the place might be sufficient for them, or
the place of the sea shook and it became a great depth and
the waters quickly hastened into that basin. Although the
will of God had gathered these waters when the earth was
created, a gate was opened for them to be gathered into one
place. Just as in the gathering of the first and second waters
there was found no gathering place because there was no
place from which they might go out, so now do these waters
come down with all the rains and showers and are gathered
into seas along paths and roads which had been prepared
for them on the first day.
13. The upper waters, because they had been separated
on the second day from the lower waters by the firmament
set between them, were also sweet like the lower waters.
(The upper waters are not those that became salty in the
seas on the third day, but are those that were separated from
them on the second day.) They were not salty, therefore, be-
cause they would not have become stagnant, for they had
not been left on the land to become stagnant. The air there
does not serve to cause [things] to be born or to swarm, nor
do rivers flow into them to keep them from evaporating for
there is no sun there to generate heat that would cause
them to evaporate. They remain there for the dew of bless-
ing and are kept there for the floodgates ofwrath. 62
(2) The waters that are above the firmament do not move
about because something made does not move about with-
in something that is not made, nor does something move
about within nothing. Something that is created within
something6 ? possesses, at its creation, all of that thing; that
62. See Deut 33.28, where the "dew of heaven" is used in context ofa bless-
ing (in Cen 27.39, for curse) and Cen 7.11, for the floodgates of wrath.
63. Delete negative particle [' as Jansma, "Ephraems Beschreibung,"
3 12- 1 3.
is, that thing moves, rises and falls within that thing in
which it was created. But nothing surrounded the upper wa-
ters. Therefore, the upper waters were unable either to turn
or to move about because they had nothing in which they
might turn or move about.
14. Heaven, earth, fire, wind, and water were created
from nothing as Scripture bears witness, whereas the light,
which came to be on the first day along with the rest of the
things that came to be afterwards, came to be from some-
thing. For when these other things came to be from noth-
ing, [Moses] said, God created heaven and earth. Although it is
not written that fire, water, and wind were created, neither is
it said that they were made. 64 Therefore, they came to be
from nothing just as heaven and earth came to be from
nothing.
15. After God began to make [things] from something,
Moses wrote, God said, ''Let there be light," and so on. Al-
though Moses did say, God created the great serpents, neverthe-
less "let the waters swarm with swarming things" had been [said]
prior to that. Therefore those five created things were creat-
ed from nothing and everything else was made from those
[five] things that came to be from nothing.
(2) Fire was also created on the first day, although it is
not written down that it was created. Since [fire] had no ex-
istence in and of itself but existed in something else, it was
created together with that thing in which it came to be. It is
not possible that a thing which does not exist of itself can
precede that thing which is the cause of its existence. That
[fire] is in the earth, nature bears witness, but that it was not
created together with the earth, Scripture affirms, when it
said, In the beginning God created heaven and earth.6s Fire too
then, since it does not exist of itself, will remain in the
earth, even if the earth and the waters have been command-
ed at every moment to bring forth fire from their wombs
along with the waters and the wind and the clouds.
64. Ephrem distinguishes (though not with rigid consistency) the term br',
meaning "to create," i.e., from nothing, from the term 'bd meaning "to make,"
i.e., out of existing mateIials.
65. Gen 1.1.
16. Darkness, too, is neither a self-subsistent being66 nor a

created thing; it is a shadow, as Scripture makes clear. It was
created neither before heaven nor after the clouds, for it
was with the clouds and was brought forth from the clouds.
[Darkness] also exists in another [thing], for it has no sub-
stance of its own. When that in which it exists vanishes, the
darkness likewise vanishes with it. For whatever comes to an
end along with another thing when it vanishes is without its
own existence, because that other thing is the cause of its
existence. 57
(2) So, how could darkness, whose existence is due to the
clouds and to the firmament and not to the first light or to
the sun, exist of itself? It is [a thing] which one thing brings
forth by its cover and another destroys by its brightness. If
one thing creates it and causes it to become something
while another thing turns it back into nothing, how can it
be a self-subsistent being? The clouds and the firmament,
which were created at the beginning, bring it forth and the
light that was created on the first day brings it to an end. If
one created thing can create something and another creat-
ed thing can destroy it-for subsequent to that, one thing
can bring it into visibility at any moment-and another, at
that very moment that it itself returns to nothing, turns it
back into nothing, it is under the compulsion of that [one
thing] which causes it to begin and [that other thing] that
causes it to go away. If created things cause it to come into
existence and also cause it to vanish then it is a created from
created things. [The darkness then] is but a shadow of the
firmament and it vanishes in the presence of another thing,
as it disappears before the sun. Some teachings 68 posit that
66. I.e., an 'itya, as Bardaisan held. In fact, Ephrem will show that it is not
even a created thing. In Prose RPjutations 1:52, Ephrem claims that Bardaisan
had said that it was the assault of darkness on the other 'itye that introduced
disorder into the universe.
67. On the non-existence of darkness, see also Prose RPjutations 1:98-100
(text) and lxxvii-lxxviii (translation), and Hymns against Heresies 11.2,16.20,
17· 1ff., 21.5,41.7·
68. Or, "sects." Feghali, "Les premiersjours de la creation," 22, n. 36, iden-
tifies this as the teaching of Mani. See also, Lieu, Manirhaeism, 12-15; and C.
this [darkness], which is at all times subject to created

things, is an adversary of creatures, and they make that
thing which has no substance of its own a self-existent being.
17. Mter [Moses] spoke of those things that came to be
on the first day, he began to write about those things that
came to be on the second day, saying, And God said, "Let there
be a firmament between the waters and let it separate the waters
below the firmament from the waters above the firmament."69 The
firmament between the waters was pressed together from
the waters. 70 It was of the same measure as the waters that
were spread out over the surface of the earth. Then if, in its
origin, [the firmament] was above the earth (for the earth,
water, and fire were beneath it, while water, wind, and dark-
ness were above it), how do others posit that this [firma-
ment], which is enveloped like an embryo in the uterus
within the womb, is the womb of everything created be-
tween everything?
(2) For if the firmament had been created between every-
thing, light, darkness, and wind, which were above the fir-
mament when it was created, would have been confined
above the firmament. If the creation [of the firmament]
had occurred at night, the darkness and wind would also
have remained there together with the waters which re-
mained there. But if the creation [of the firmament] had
occurred in the day, the light and the wind also would have
remained there along with the waters. And if they had re-
mained there then the [wind, water, and lights] that are
here would be different things. When, then, could they have
been created? But if they did not remain there, how did
those elements that were above [the firmament] when they
were created move down below it?
18. The firmament was created on the evening of the sec-
Widengren, Mesopotamian Elements in Manichaeism (U ppsala, 1946) 31-.') 1. It
should not, however, be restlicted to Mani, as Bardaisan held a similar position.
69. Cf. Gen 1.7-8.
70. That is, the firmament was composed of the solidified water. Cf. Job
38.3°. See also Genesis Rd,bah 4.2, Josephus, Antiquities, L30. See Hymns on the
Nativity 26 ..'). This interpretation was also preserved in later Nestorian tradi-
tion; see Jansma, "Investigations," 114-16.
ond night, just as the heavens came to be on the evening of

the first night. But when the firmament came into exis-
tence, the covering of clouds that had served for a night
and a day in the place of the firmament dissipated. Because
[the firmament] had been created between the light and
the darkness, no darkness remained above it, for the shadow
of the clouds was dispelled when the clouds themselves were
dispelled. Nor did any of this light remain there, for its alot-
ted measure of time had come to an end and so it sank into
the waters that were beneath [the firmament] .71
(2) The wind could not have remained there either be-
cause it did not even exist there. For, it was on the first night
that [Moses] said it hovered and not on the second night. If
the firmament had been created on the first night when
[the wind] was blowing there could then be some debate.
But, since it is not written that [the wind] was blowing when
the firmament was created, who would say that the wind was
there when Scripture does not say so?
19. After the wind hovered on the first day, manifested its
service by its blowing and returned to its stillness, then the
firmament came to be. It is evident, therefore, that [the
wind] neither remained above nor descended below, for
how can one seek in any position or place for something
whose very substance only exists at the moment of its service
and whose service comes to an end when it ceases to blow?
The wind underwent three things on the day of its creation:
it was created from nothing, it blew in and through some-
thing, and it reverted to being hidden in its stillness.
20. After the wind had undergone these three things, the
firmament was created on the evening of the second day.
There was then nothing that rose along with it, because
there was nothing that remained above it. It made a separa-
tion between the waters that it was commanded to separate,
but not between the light, the wind, or darkness, for this
had not been commanded.
71. For the lights sinking into water inJewish tradition, see L. Ginzberg,
T.egends olthefews (Philadelphia, 1939) 1:2.').
(2) There was no light, therefore, on the first night. On

the night of the second and third day, it sank into the waters
beneath the firmament and rose up as we said [above]. But
on the fourth day, when the waters were gathered into one
place, they say that [the firmament] was formed and that
the sun, the moon, and the stars were formed from [the fir-
mament] and from fire, and there were places set apart for
the lights. Therefore, the moon would rise in the west of the
firmament, the sun in the east, and at that same moment,
the stars were dispersed in orderly fashion throughout the
entire firmament.
(3) Although God said that the light which came to be on
the first day was very good, He did not say this about the
firmament which came to be on the second day, because
the firmament had not yet been finished, neither in its
structure nor in its adornment. The Creator delayed until
the lights came to be so that when [the firmament] was
adorned with the sun and the moon and the stars, and the
strength of the darkness that was weakened by the lights
that shone from it, He would then say of [the firmament],
included with the rest [of creation], that it was very good. 72
21. Mter [Moses] spoke of the firmament that came to be
on the second day, he then turned to write about the gath-
ering of the waters and about the grass and the trees that
the earth brought forth on the third day, saying, And God
said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one
place, and let the dry land appear."73 From the fact that He said,
"Let the waters be gathered into one place, "it is evident that it is
the earth that supports the seas and that the abysses be-
neath the earth do not stand on nothing. Although the wa-
ters, by the word of God, were gathered in the night, the
surface of the earth still became dry in the twinkling of an
eye.
22. Mter these two things had occurred, God command-
ed the earth to bring forth at dawn grass and herbs of every
72. Gen 1.31.

73. Gen 1.9·
kind and all the various fruit-bearing trees.74 Although the

grasses were only a moment old at their creation, they ap-
peared as if they were months old. Likewise, the trees, al-
though only a day old when they sprouted forth, were never-
theless like [trees] years old as they were fully grown and
fruits were already budding on their branches. 75
(2) The grass that would be required as food for the ani-
mals who were to be created two days later was [thus] made
ready. And the new corn that would be food for Adam and
his descendants, who would be thrown out of Paradise four
days later, was [thus] prepared.
23. After [Moses] spoke about the gathering of the waters
and about the sprouting of the vegetation on the earth on
the third day, he turned to write about the lights that were
created in the firmament saying, And God said, "Let there be
lights in the firmament oj the heavens to separate the day Jrom the
night, "that is, "one to rule over the day and the other [to rule} over
the night." 76
(2) That [God] said, "Let them be Jor signs," [refers to]
measures of time, and "let them be Jor seasons," clearly indi-
cates summer and winter. ''Let them be Jor days, "are measured
by the rising and setting of the sun, and "let them be Jor
years," 77 are comprised of the daily cycles of the sun and the
monthly cycles of the moon. 78
(3) Indeed [Moses] said, God made the two great lights, the
greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night;
and [He made} the stars. 79 Although all that was done before
the fourth day was begun in the evening, the works on the
fourth day were fashioned at dawn. Because the third day
had been completed, in that [Moses] said, It was evening and
it was morning; day three,So God did not create the two lights
74. Cf. Cell 1.11-12.

7.'). For the trees being created fruit-bearing in Jewish tradition, see
Cillzberg, Legend" 1:59,5:107.
76. Cell 1.14, 16. 77. Cell 1.14.
78. Compare Genesis lWbbah 6.1.
79. Cell 1.16.
80. Cell 1.13.
in the evening lest night be changed into day and morning

be given priority over evening.
24. Because the days followed the same order in which
the first day was created, the night of the fourth day, like
that of the other days, preceded its day. And if its evening
preceded its dawn, the lights were not created in the
evening, but rather at dawn. But to say that one of them was
created in the evening and the other at dawn cannot be al-
lowed for Moses said, ''Let there be lights, "and God made the two
great lights. 81 If they were great when they were created and
they were created at dawn, then the sun would have stood in
the east and the moon opposite it in the west. The sun
would have been set very low because it was created in the
place where it set out over the earth, whereas the moon
would have been set higher because it was created in the
place where it stands on the fifteenth day. Indeed, at the
moment the sun appears over the earth, the lights see each
other and the moon sinks. From the position of the moon,
from its size and from the light it produced, it is clear, then,
that it was fifteen days old when it was created.
25. Just as the trees, the vegetation, the animals, the
birds, and even mankind were old, so also were they young.
They were old according to the appearance of their limbs
and their substances, yet they were young because of the
hour and moment of their creation. Likewise, the moon was
both old and young. It was young, for it was but a moment
old, but was also old, for it was full as it is on the fifteenth
day.
(2) If the moon had been created a day old or even two,
it would have given no light; because of its proximity to the
sun, it would not even have been visible. If it had been creat-
ed about four days old, although it might have been visible,
it would still not have given any light. This would have ren-
dered false the verse God created the two great lights,82 as well as
He said, ''Let there be lights in heaven to give light upon the
81. Cen 1.14, 16.

82. Cen 1.16.
earth."S?, Therefore, the moon had to be fifteen days old. The

sun, although it was only one day old, was nevertheless four
days old, for it is according to the sun that each day is count-
ed and will be reckoned. Accordingly, those eleven days, by
which the moon was older than the sun, that were added to
the moon at that first moment are also added to it each year,
for these [days] are used in the lunar reckoning.
(3) There was nothing lacking in that year for Adam and
his descendants, for any deficiency in the measure of the
moon had been filled in when the moon was created. Thus,
Adam and his descendants learned from this year that,
henceforth, eleven days were to be added to every year.
Clearly then, it was not the Chaldeans who arranged the sea-
sons and the years; these things had been arranged before
[the creation of] Adam.
26. After Moses spoke about the lights that came to be in
the firmament, he turned to write about the swarming
things, the birds, and the serpents that were created from
the waters on the fifth day, saying, And God said, "Let the wa-
ters cause living things to swarm, and let the birds fly above the
earth. " And God created the great serpents and every living creature
with which the waters swarmed according to their kind. s4
(2) When the waters were gathered, which had been or-
dered on the second day, there appeared rivers as well as
springs, lakes, and ponds. At the word of God these waters
dispersed throughout Creation and brought forth swarming
things and fish from within them; the serpents were created
in the abysses and the birds soared in flocks out of the waves
into the air.SO
(3) As for the great serpents that were created, although
the Prophets said that Leviathan dwelt in the sea,S6 Job said
that the Behemoth dwelt on dry land. s7 David too, speaking
83. Gen1. 1 4·
84. Gen 1.20-21.
85. Compare Ginzberg, Legend,; 1:28, where "the birds are fashioned out
of marshy ground saturated with water."
86. Cf. Isa 27.1; Ps 74.13-14,104.26.
87· Cf.Job 40.15.
of this beast, said that on a thousand mountains is Behemoth's

pasture land,".8 that is, his place of repose. Perhaps it was after
they were created that their places were separated so that
Leviathan should dwell in the sea and Behemoth on dry
land. 89
27. Mter [Moses] spoke about the creation of the swarm-
ing things and of the birds and the sea serpents on the fifth
day, he turned to write about the creeping things and the
animals and the beasts that were created on the sixth day,
saying, And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures
according to their kinds: cattle and reptiles and beasts."9o Al-
though the entire earth was swarming with swarming things,
nevertheless the cattle and the beasts were set along the bor-
der of Paradise so that they might dwell near Adam. 91
(2) Therefore, the entire earth stirred with creeping
things as had been commanded. [The earth] also brought
forth the beasts of the field as companions to the wild
beasts, and it brought forth as many beasts as would be suit-
able for the service of that one who, on that very day, was to
transgress the commandment of his Lord.
28. Mter [Moses] spoke about the reptiles, the beasts and
the cattle that were created on the sixth day, he turned to
write about the creation of that man who was fashioned on
the sixth day, saying, "And God said . ... "92 But to whom was
God speaking? Here, as in every place where He creates, it is
88. Cf. Ps 50.10. Jansma, "Beitl"<clge," 60, wants to read 'Iny'-"in Hebrew."
This version of Ps 50.10 does occur in the Hebrew text, but this emendation
would constitute the only time that Ephrem makes a reference to the Hebrew
text. See discussion in Hidal, inteJ1Jretatio Syri(u'a, 71. I find this reading in no
extant Targum.
89. It was a widespread Jewish tradition that the great serpents were to be
equated with Leviathan and Behemoth, see Ginzberg, Legend" 1:26-29, Genesis
RdJiJah 7-4. The Targums also witness to this tradition. At Gen 1.21, Targum
Neofiti reads, "And the Lord created the two great monsters, "while Targum Pseu-
do-jonathan reads, "God created the great sea monsters, Leviathan and his com-
jJanion." See also 1 Enoch 60.7-8, and 2 Bar 29-4.
90. Gen 1.24.
91. Cf. Hymns on Paradise 3.4
92. Gen 1.26.
clear that He was speaking to His Son. 93 The Evangelist said

about Him that everything came to be through Him and without
Him not one thing came to be. 94 Paul too confirms this when he
said, In Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, all
that is visible and all that is invisible. 95
29. And God said, "Let us make man in our image." 96 Accord-
ing to what has been the rule until now, namely, if it pleases
God He will make it known to us, Moses explains in what
way we are the image of God, when he said "Let them have do-
minion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds, and over the cat-
tle, and over all the earth."97 It is the dominion that Adam re-
ceived over the earth and over all that is in it that constitutes
the likeness of God who has dominion over the heavenly
things and the earthly things. 98
(2) Then [Moses] said, male and female He created them/9
to make known that Eve was inside Adam, in the rib that
was drawn out from him. Although she was not in his mind
she was in his body, and she was not only in his body with
him, but she was also in soul and spirit with him, for God
added nothing to that rib that He took out except the struc-
ture and the adornment. If everything that was suitable for
Eve, who came to be from the rib, was complete in and from
that rib, it is rightly said that male and female He created
them. loo
93. For Ephrem, the Son was clearly the intermediary for all creation; see
Hymns on Faith 6.6-16, Sermons on Faith 1.75-77, Hymns on the Nativity 26, Com-
mentary on the Diatessaron 1.6, and also discussion in Kronholm, lVfotifs, 39-43.
94. John 1·3· 95. COlI. 16.
96. Gen 1.26. 97. Gen 1.26.
98. See also II. 1 0, below. Dominion over the earth constituting the divine
image was particularly characteristic of Jewish and Antiochene Christian tradi-
tion. See, for example, John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 2,8; Severns ofGa-
bala, On the Creation oithe World, .'); and Theodoret of Cyr, Questions on Genesis,
20. For summary, see M. Alexandre, T.e commencement du livre Genese T-V (Paris,
1988) 175-88, especially 184; andJ. Barr, "The Image of God in the Book of
Genesis," B1RT• .')1 (1968): 11-26.
99. Gen 1. 2 7.
100. Gen 1.27. For Eve being in Adam at his creation, see Hymns on the
Church 45.2, Hymns on Nisibis 48.1 0, and Hymns against Heresies 8 ..'), and discus-
sion of Kronholm, Motifs, 81-83. See also II.12, below.
30. And God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and
multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over
the fish of the sea, over the birds and over every animal that crawls
upon the earth."101 They were blessed on this earth, as if this
dwelling place had been prepared for them before they
sinned. Although they had not yet sinned, [God] knew that
they were about to sin.
(2) Be fruitful and multiply and fill, not Paradise, but the
earth, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds and
over all the beasts. 102 But how was Adam to rule over the fish of
the sea unless he were to be in proximity to the sea? And
how was he to rule over the birds that fly throughout every
region unless his descendants were to dwell in every region?
And how was Adam to rule over every beast of the earth un-
less his offspring were to inhabit the entire earth?
31. Although Adam was created and was blessed to rule
over the earth and over everything that was created and
blessed therein, God had indeed made him to dwell within
Paradise. God truly manifested His foreknowledge in His
blessing and manifested His grace in the place where He set
Adam to dwell. Lest it be said that Paradise was not created
for [Adam's] sake, [God] set him there in Paradise to dwell.
And lest it be said that God did not know that Adam would
sin, He blessed him on this earth. And everything with
which God blessed Adam preceded the transgression of the
commandment, lest by the transgression of him who had
been blessed, the blessings of Him who gave the blessings be
withheld and the world be turned back into nothing on ac-
count of the folly of that one for whose sake everything had
been created.103
(2) Therefore, God did not bless Adam in Paradise, be-
cause that place and all that is in it is blessed. But God
blessed him on the earth first so that by that blessing with
which [His] grace blessed beforehand, the curse of the
earth, which was about to be cursed by [His] justice, might
[thus] be diminished. But even though the blessing was one
101. Gen 1.28. 102. Gen 1.28.
103. See note 56 above.
of promise, in that it was fulfilled after his expulsion from

Paradise, His grace, nevertheless, was of actuality, for on
that same day, [God] set [Adam] in the garden to dwell,
clothed him with glorylO4 and made him ruler over all the
trees of Paradise.
32. After Moses spoke about the reptiles, the cattle, and
the beasts, about mankind and about their blessing on the
sixth day, he turned to write about God's rest that took
place on the seventh day saying, Thus heaven and earth were
finished, and all their host. And God rested on the seventh day from
all His work which He had done. lOS
(2) From what toil did God rest? For the creatures that
came to be on the first day came to be by implication,to6 ex-
cept for the light which came to be through His word. And
the rest of the works which came to be afterwards came to
be through His word. What toil is there for us when we
speak one word, that there should be toil for God due to the
one word a day that He spoke?107 If Moses, who divided the
sea by his word and his rod, did not tire and Joshua, son of
Nun, who restrained the luminaries by his word, did not
tire, then what toil could there have been for God when He
created the sea and the luminaries by [His] word?
33. It was not because He rested on [that day] that God,
who does not weary, blessed and sanctified the seventh day,
nor because He was to give it to that people, who did not
understand that since they were freed from their servitude,
they were to give rest to their servants and maidservants. He
gave it to them so that, even if they had to be coerced, they
would rest. For it was given to them in order to depict by a
temporal rest, which He gave to a temporal people, the mys-
tery of the true rest which will be given to the eternal peo-
ple in the eternal world.
(2) Also because a full week was required, God exalted by
104.Ps 8 ..'), Peshitta. See General Introduction above and notes ad loe.
105.Cen 2.1-2.
106. In Sytiac, remzr2. That is, the creation of these creatures is implied and
not explicitly stated in the account of creation for the first day.
107. Compare Genesis&lbbah 10.g, 12.10.
His word that seventh day which His works had not exalted
so that, because of the honor accorded that day, it might be
united to its companions, and that the reckoning of the
week, which is required for the service of the world, might
be completed.
Section II
1. Mter Moses spoke of the sabbath rest, of how God
blessed and sanctified this day, he returned to the account
of how the Creation was first fashioned, briefly passing over
those things of which he had already spoken, while recount-
ing in detail those things that he had left out. He then
began to write about the creation account a second time,
saying, These are the generations of heaven and earth when they
were created. In the day that God made heaven and earth, when no
tree of the field existed and no vegetation had sprouted-for God
had not brought down rain upon the earth and Adam was not
there108 to till the earth; but a spring rose up and watered the whole
face of the earth.109
2. Understand, 0 hearer, that although the days of cre-
ation were finished and [God] had blessed the Sabbath day
which was sanctified and he had completed [his account],
Moses still returned to tell the story of the beginning of Cre-
ation even after the days of creation had been finished.
(2) These are the generations of heaven and earth,l1O that is,
this is the account of the fashioning of heaven and earth on
the day when the Lord made heaven and earth for as yet no
tree of the field existed and no vegetation had sprouted. 111 Even ifll2
these things were not actually created on the first day-for
108. Whereas in Hebrew the word Adam could mean either "man" or "any-
one" as well as indicating a proper name [see R. S. Hess, "Splitting the Adam:
the Usage of' adam in Genesis i-v," in Stwiies in the Pentateuch, ed . .J. A. Emerton,
Supplement to Vetus Testamentum, no. 41 (Leiden, Igg0) 1-15], when one
finds it in Syriac it can only be taken as a proper name. Similarly, Adam occurs
as a proper name at Gen 2.5 in Targum Neojiti.
109. Gen 2.5-6.
110. Gen 2.4.
I l l . Gen 2.5.
112. Read 'jmfor 'f}\vithJansma, "Beitrage," 62.

they had been made on the third day-still [Moses] did not
rashly introduce, on the first day, the report of those things
that were created on the third day.
3. For [Moses] said, no trees existed and no vegetation had
sprouted-Jor the Lord had not brought down rain upon the earth;
but a spring rose up out oj the earth and watered the whole Jace oj
the earth.1I'\ Because everything that has been born and will
be born from the earth [will be] through the conjunction of
water and earth, [Moses] undertook to show that no tree
nor vegetation had been created along with the earth, be-
cause the rain had not yet come down. But after the great
spring rose up from the great abyss and watered the whole
face of the earth, and after the waters had been gathered to-
gether on the third day, then the earth brought forth all the
vegetation.
(2) These waters, then, over which the darkness had been
spread on the first day are the same ones that rose up from
the spring and, in the blink of an eye, covered the entire
earth. This was also the [same spring] that was opened in
the days of Noah and that covered the surface of all the
mountains on the earth. This spring did not rise up from
below the earth but out of the earth, for [Moses] said, the
spring rose up not from below the earth but, out oj the earth.
The earth itself, which bears these waters in its womb, bears
witness that these waters were not prior to the earth.1l4
(3) The spring then rose up out oJthe earth, as Scripture says,
and watered the whole Jace oj the earth. Thus [the earth] pro-
duced trees, grasses, and plants. It was not that God was un-
able to bring forth everything from the earth in any other
way. Rather, it was His will that [the earth] should bring
forth by means of water. [God] began the creation [of the
vegetation] this way right from the beginning so that this
procedure would be perpetuated until the end of time.
4. After [Moses] spoke about those things that had been
113. Cen 2.5-6.

114. Ephrem seems to be basing his interpretation here on such biblical
passages as Ps 24.2, where the Lord "founded the earth upon the seas."
omitted and that had not been recounted on the first day,
he turned to write about how Adam was fashioned saying,
Adam was not there to till the earth. Obviously, Adam did not
exist in the days that preceded the sixth day, since he was
created on the sixth day. Then, on the sixth day the Lord formed
Adam from the dust of the earth and blew into his nostrils the breath
of life; and Adam became a living being. 1l5 Even though the
beasts, the cattle, and the birds were equal [to Adam] in
their ability to procreate and in that they had life, God still
gave honor to Adam in many ways: first, in that it was said,
God formed 116 him with His own hands and breathed life into him; 117
God then set him as ruler over Paradise and over all that is
outside of Paradise; God clothed Adam in glory; and God
gave him reason and thought so that he might perceive the
majesty [of God] .118
.5. Mter Moses spoke of how Adam was so gloriously fash-
ioned, he turned to write about Paradise and Adam's entry
therein saying, The Lord had previously planted Paradise in Eden
and there He placed Adam whom He had fashioned. 119
(2) Eden is the land of Paradise and [Moses] said previ-
ousli20 because God had [already] planted it on the third
day. He explains this by saying, the Lord caused every tree that is
1 1.').Cen 2.7.
116. The SyIiac verb used here. gbl, is used of forming something from ex-
isting material, such as a sculpture. See Hymns against Heresies 48.2.
117. Cen 2.7. This divine breath is what distinguishes humanity from the
animals, a theme which Ephrem develops more fully in his hpnns; see Kron-
holm, Motifs, .')7-67.
118. The special love and care that God took for Adam, evident through-
out this section of the ('ommenLmy, is also prominent in Ephrem's hymns. In
Hymns on Faith 67.1 g, Ephrem says that "from the velY beginning God opened
up the treasUlY of His Mercy when He formed Adam." For the great impor-
tance of God's special love for Adam in Ephrem's hpnns, see also discussion in
Kronholm, Motifs, .')7-81.
11 g. Cen 2.8.
120. The SyIiac word qdm can also mean "in the East," but Ephrem's com-
ments here clearly militate against this translation. The normal English render-
ing "of old," would also be unsuitable here. In Jewish tradition, Paradise was
also created "previously," on the third day; see Genesis iiflbiJah 15.3, 21.g; and
Ginzberg, I>egends, 1: 18-20.
pleasant to the sight and good Jor Jood to sprout Jorth Jrom the
earth.l2l And to show that he was talking about Paradise,
[Moses] said, and the tree oj life was in the midst oj Paradise, and
the tree oj the knowledge oj good and evil. 122
6. After [Moses] spoke about Paradise and about which
day it had been planted, about Adam's entry therein, and
about the tree of life and its companion, he turned to write
about the river that flowed out from Paradise and which,
once outside of it, divided into four distinct sources, saying,
A river flowed out ojEden to water Paradise. m
(2) Here too Moses calls that delightful land of Paradise
Eden. If that river had indeed watered Paradise, it would not
have divided into the four rivers outside it. I would suggest
that it was perhaps due to convention that it is said to water,
since the spiritual trees of Paradise had no need of water.
But if [someone should say that] because they are spiritual,
they drink from the blessed and spiritual waters there, I
would not quarrel over this.
(3) The four rivers that flowed from that river were not
similar in taste to the head spring. For if the waters of our
lands vary, all being placed under the sentence of a curse,
how much more distinct should the taste of the blessed land
of Eden be from the taste of that land which had been
placed under the curse of the Just One due to Adam's trans-
gression of the commandment?124
(4) The four rivers, then, are these: the Pishon, which is
the Danube;12s the Gihon, which is the Nile; and then the
121. Cen 2.9.

122. Cen 2.9. In Hymns on Paradise 3.2, all the other trees bowed down to
the tree of life for it was "the captain of the host and the king of the trees." In
3.3, the tree of knowledge of good and evil was "endowed with awe and hedged
with dread so that it may serve as a boundary to the inner edge of Paradise."
See also 12.15, and Hymns on FaiLh 6.14.
123. Cen 2.10.
124. Ephrem has a particularly descriptive passage concerning the fra-
grances of Paradise in his Hymns on Paradise 11.9-15.
125. The identification of the Pishon with the Danube is fairly common in
Syriac commentaries. It is found, for example, in Severus of Antioch and the
commentmies of Mose bar Kepha and of Iso'dad of MelW as well as in SeveIian
Tigris and the Euphrates, between which we dwell. 126 Al-

though the places from which they flow are known, the
source of the spring is not [known]. Because Paradise is set
on a great height,127 the rivers are swallowed up again and
they go down to the sea as if through a tall water duct128 and
so they pass through the earth which is under the sea into
this land. 129 The earth then spits out each one of them: the
Danube, which is the Pishon, in the west; the Gihon in the
south; and the Euphrates and the Tigris in the north.
7. After [Moses] spoke about Paradise and the rivers that
were divided outside of it, he turned to speak about Adam's
entry into Paradise and about the law that was laid down for
him saying, The Lord God took Adam and put him in the Paradise
ofEden to till it and to guard it. l'\()
(2) But with what did Adam till the garden since he had no
tools for tilling? How could he have tilled it since he was not
capable of tilling it by himself? What did he have to till since
there were no thorns or briars there? Moreover, how could
he have guarded it as he could not possibly encompass it?
And from what did he guard it since there were no thieves
of Gabala. For an overview of various Greek intelpretations, see Alexandre, Le

commencement, 2.')9-60.
126. In his hymns, Ephrem is more inclined to intelpret these livers in
more typological fashion; see, for example, Hymns on ViTl,:inity 4.14, and Hymns
on Faith 48.10, where the Gospels are compared to these four rivers.
127. Ephrem conceived of Paradise as a mountain higher than all other
mountains (see Hymns on P(lr(uiise 1.4), perhaps deriving his imagery from such
passages as Isa 2.2, Ezek 28.13-14, and Ps 1.').1, 24.3. See Brock, Hymns on Par-
(uiise, 49-57; Sed, "Les hymnes sur Ie paradis de saint Ephrem," 457-59; and,
for the importance of the Near Eastern my tho-religious background of this
concept, see G. A. Anderson, "The Cosmic Mountain: Eden and its Early Inter-
preters in Syliac Chlistianity," in Genesis I-3 in the History oj ~'xegesi,,; ed. G. A.
Robbins (Lewiston, 1988) 187-224.
128. This loan word, in Greek, Kclv8apoS', normally means "a drinking
cup," "a beetle," or "a boat." The translation canthaTus of R. Tonneau, in Gene,le
im et ~'xodum, 21, is, therefore, not satisfactory. Kronholm, Motif.; 70, n. 81, sug-
gests aquaeductus, canalis, which is closer to the meaning required here.
129. Thus, the earth receives blessing and healing from Paradise; see
Hymns on Paradise 1 1.1 1.
130. Gen 2.15.
to enter it? Indeed, the fence that was erected after the trans-
gression of the commandment bears witness that as long as
Adam kept the commandment, no guard was required.
(3) Adam had nothing to guard then except the law that
had been set down for him. Nor was any other "tilling" en-
trusted to him except to fulfill the commandment that had
been commanded him. But if [someone were to say that
Adam] had or would have these two things [to perform]
along with the commandment, I would not oppose this [in-
terpretation] .m
8. After he spoke about Adam's entry into Paradise and
why he had been put there, [Moses] turned to write about
the law that was set down for him, saying, and the Lard God
commanded Adam, saying, "You may eat of every tree that is in Par-
adise; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not
eat, far on the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."l'\2
(2) This commandment was an easy one, for God gave to
Adam all of Paradise and withheld from him only one tree.
If a single tree were sufficient to provide nourishment for
someone and many were withheld, [that single tree] would
offer relief from the torment [of hunger] by providing
nourishment for one's hunger. But if God gave Adam many
trees instead of a single one which would have been suffi-
cient for him, any transgression would be due not to any
constraint but to disdain. B '\
(3) [God] withheld from Adam a single tree and set
death around it, so that if Adam would not keep the law out
of love for the One who had set down the law, then at least
the fear of death that was set around the tree would frighten
him away from overstepping the law.
131. The idea that Adam was to "till" the commandment plays on the dou-
ble meaning of jJlh-"to till, labor; to selve, worship." The word (mr-"to
guard, keep"-more readily lends itself to Ephrem's interpretation. See Hymns
on Prlr(uiise 3.16,4.1-5. This same interpretation of this verse is also found in
Jewish tradition. See Ginzberg, Legend,; 1:70, 5:92, n.54, and Genesis iiflbiJah
16 ..'). For this verse, the texts of Targum Neofiti and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan
specifically state the objects "the law" and "the commandments."
132. Gen 2.16-17.
133. Compare Hymns against Heresies 11.7, where Ephrem makes clear that
God did all he could for Adam.
g. Mter he spoke about Adam's entry into Paradise and

about the law that had been set down for him, Moses turned
to write about the names that [Adam] gave to the animals
saying, the Lord formed out of the ground every beast of the field
and every bird of the sky and brought them to Adam to see what he
would call them. L14
(2) They were not really formed,135 for the earth brought
forth the animals and the water the birds. l36 When he said,
"He formed," [Moses] wished to make known that every ani-
mal, reptile, beast, and bird comes into being from the con-
junction of earth and water.
(3) That [Moses] said, He brought them to Adam, is so that
God might make known the wisdom of Adam and the har-
mony that existed between the animals and Adam before
he transgressed the commandment. The animals came to
Adam as to a loving shepherd. Without fear they passed be-
fore him in orderly fashion, by kinds and by species. They
were neither afraid of him nor were they afraid of each
other. A species of predatory animals would pass by with a
species of animal that is preyed upon following safely right
behind.
10. Adam thus began his rule over the earth when he be-
came lord over all on that day according to the blessing he
was given. 137 The word of the Creator came to pass in actuali-
ty and His blessing was indeed fulfilled on the same day that
he was made ruler over everything, even though he would
soon rebel against the Lord of everything. For God gave
Adam not only rule over everything, which had been
promised to him, but He also allowed him to bestow names
[on the animals], which had not been promised to him. If
then God did for Adam even more than he had expected,
how could God have deprived Adam of these things unless
Adam had sinned?
(2) For someone to give a few names to be remembered
134. Gen 2.19·

135. I.e., not in the same sense that Adam was "fanned" by God's hands.
See above 11.4, and note ad loco
136. Cf. Gen 1.20, 24.
137. See Kronholm, Motif" 67-81, for the theme of Adam's lordship.
is not a great thing, but it is too large and too great a thing
for any human being to bestow thousands of names in a sin-
gle moment, without repeating any. It is possible for some-
one to bestow many names on many kinds of insects, ani-
mals, beasts, and birds, but never to name one kind by the
name of another belongs either to God or to someone to
whom it has been granted by God.l?s
(3) If God did indeed give Adam ruling authority, make
him a participant in creation, clothe him with glory, and
give him a garden, what else should God have done that
Adam heed the commandment but did not do?l?g
1 1 • After he spoke of the formation of the animals and of
the names they received, [Moses] turned to write of Adam's
sleep and of the rib that was taken from him and made into
a woman, saying, But for Adam there was not found a helper like
him. Moses called Eve helper because even though Adam had
helpers among the beasts and animals he still required one
like him of his own kind. Inside,l4O Eve was very diligent; she
was also attentive to the sheep and cattle, the herds, and
droves which were in the fields. She would also help Adam
with the buildings, pens, and with any other task that Adam
was capable of doing. The animals, even though they were
subservient, were not able to help him with these things. For
this reason God made for Adam a helper who would be so-
licitous for everything for which he was [solicitous] and who
would indeed help him in many things. l41
12. And the Lord cast sleep upon Adam and he slept. God took
138. The naming of all the animals without a single repitition was the sign
of Adam's divine wisdom inJewish tradition; see Genesis iiflbiJah 17.4, Numben
lWbbah 1 9.3; and Kronholm, Motifs, 80, n. 103 for other references. There is
also a tradition, found in Ginzberg, T.egends, 1 :63, whereby it was by his inability
to name any creatures that Satan was cast out of the heavenly court.
139. Compare Hymns against Heresies 20.8 (read 'bd for 'br), Armenian
Hymns 42.g-11, Hymns on Faith 62.2, and Hymns on the Church 48.9, where
Ephrem is again amazed at Adam's fall after God did so much to make him
happy.
140. I.e., within the gates of Paradise. The contrast here is inside and out-
side of Paradise as the animals were not permitted inside the gates of Paradise.
See Hymns on Paradise 3.4.
141. See Kronholm, Motifs, 83-84.
one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the Lard
fashioned the rib which He had taken from Adam into a woman
and brought her to Adam.142 That man, awake,143 anointed with
splendor, and who did not yet know sleep, fell on the earth
naked and slept. It is likely that Adam saw in his dream
what was done to him as if he were awake. Mter Adam's rib
had been taken out in the twinkling of an eye, God closed
up the flesh in its place in the blink of an eyelash. Mter
the extracted rib had been fashioned with all sorts of beauti-
ful things to adorn it, God then brought her to Adam, who
was both one and two. He was one in that he was Adam
and he was two because he had been created male and fe-
male. 144
13. Mter he spoke of Adam's sleep, of the rib that
had been taken out, and of the woman who had been fash-
ioned from it and brought to [Adam], [Moses] wrote that
Adam said, "This time she is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.
This one shall be called woman because she was taken out of
man."145
(2) This time-that is, this one who came after the ani-
mals was not like them for they were from the earth, but
this one is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Adam
said this either as a prophecy or because he had seen it
and knew it from the vision in his dream, as we just said
above.
(3) Just as each animal had received from Adam the
name of its species on that day, Adam did not call the rib
that was fashioned [into the woman] Eve, by her own name,
but named her woman, the name that was set down for all
her kind. Then [Adam] said, Let the man leave his father and
his mother and cling to his wife so that they might be joined and the
142. Gen 2.21-22.

143. The word used here, 'irr2, is also the early Syriac word for "angel,
watcher," that is, one who is always wakeful and watchful. For etymology, see R.
Murray, "The Origin of Aramaic 'iI'," Or53 (1984): 303-17.
144. Cf. Gen 1.27. This thought is also amply represented inJewish tradi-
tion; see Kronholm, Motif'; 81, n. 106, for references.
14.'). Gen 2.23. The word-play in Hebrew, 'is-''man'' from 'isa-"woman,"
does not work in SyIiac nor in English.
two might become one 146 without division as they were from the
beginning.
14. Mter these things Moses said, The two of them were
naked and were not ashamed. 147 That they were not ashamed
does not mean that they did not know what shame was. If
they were children, as [the pagans]148 say, [Moses] would
neither have said, They were naked and were not ashamed, nor,
Adam and his wife, if they had not been young adults. 149 The
names that Adam bestowed should be sufficient to convince
us of [the level of] his wisdom. And the fact that [Moses]
said, he will till it and keep it, should make known to us
Adam's strength. The law that was set for them testifies to
their full maturity and their transgression of the command-
ment should bear witness to their arrogance.
(2) It was because of the glory with which they were
clothed that they were not ashamed. It was when this glory was
stripped from them after they had transgressed the com-
mandment that they were ashamed because they were
naked. 150 The two of them then hastened to cover them-
selves with leaves-not their entire bodies but only their
shameful members.
15. Mter [Moses] spoke of how their nakedness had been
adorned with a heavenly garment and was no cause for
shame, he turned to write about the cunning of the serpent,
saying, and the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the
146. Cen 2.24.

147. Cen 2.25·
148. Syriac bray" = Creek oL E~W "those outside," i.e., "those not of our
party." The term could refer to pagans, heretics, Jews, or even Jewish Chlis-
tians. I have not been able to discern exactly who is meant here.
149. In his hymns, Ephrem uses the same term, in Syriac, sbry, as he uses
here, but he seems to be refening to the innocence of tlteir minds rather than
to their physical ages; see Hymns on the Nativity 26.8, Hymns on Virginity 12.12,
and Hymns on the Chnrch 46.7. The Jewish tradition is that Adam and Eve were
born 20 years old. See Cinzberg, Legends, 1:59,5:78, n.21.
150. For tlte importance of tlte garment of glory in the thought of
Ephrem, see Brock, "Clothing Metaphors," 11-40; idem, The [.nminons Eye,
65-76; and idem, Hymns on Paradise, 66-72. The vocabulary stems from Ps 8.6,
Peshitta.
field that the Lard had made. 151 Although the serpent was cun-
ning, it was [only] more cunning than the dumb animals
that were governed by Adam; it is not true that because [the
serpent] surpassed the level of animals in cleverness, it was
immediately raised up to the level of mankind. It was [only]
more clever than those animals that lack reason and was
[only] more crafty than the animals that had no mind. For,
it is clear that the serpent, who did not have the mind of
man, did not possess the wisdom of mankind. Adam was also
greater than the serpent by the way he was formed, by his
soul, by his mind, by his glory, and by his place. 152 Therefore,
it is evident that in cunning also Adam was infinitely greater
than the serpent. 153
(2) Adam, who was set up as ruler and governor over all
the animals, was wiser than all the animals. He who set down
names for them all is more clever than any of them. Just as
Israel, without a veil, was unable to look upon the face of
Moses,154 neither were the animals able to look upon the
splendor of Adam and Eve;155 when the beasts passed before
Adam and they received their names from him, they would
cast their eyes downwards, for their eyes could not endure
Adam's glory. Although the serpent was more clever than all
the animals, before Adam and Eve, who were the rulers over
the animals, it was a fool.
16. Mter he spoke of the cleverness of the serpent, Moses
turned to write about how that deceitful one came to Eve,
saying, the serpent said to the woman, "Did God truly say, 'You
shall not eat of any of the trees of Paradise'?"156 As for the ser-
151. Cen 3.1.

152. I.e., Paradise, outside of which the serpent had to dwell. See note 140,
above.
153. Similar emphasis on the serpent's relative lack of intelligence vis-a-vis
Adam and Eve is found in Hymns on the Church 46.10, 47 passim, and 48.1. For
the considerable attention that Ephrem gives to the cunning of the selpent in
his hymns, see Kronholm, Moti/s, 86-94.
154. Cf. Exod 34.33-35.
155. Literally, "the house of Adam," but, of course, Adam and Eve were the
only two human beings alive at this time.
156. Cen 3.1. See also note 75 above.
pent's speech, either Adam understood the serpent's own

mode of communication, or Satan spoke through it, or the
serpent posed the question in his mind and speech was
given to it, or Satan sought from God that speech be given
to the serpent for a short time. JS7 The words of the tempter
would not have caused those two to be tempted to sin if
their avarice had not been so helpful to the tempter. Even if
the tempter had not come, the tree itself, by its beauty,
would have caused them a great struggle due to their
avarice. Their avarice then was the reason that they followed
the counsel of the serpent. The avarice of Adam and Eve
was far more injurious to them than the counsel of the ser-
pent. ISS
17. For [Moses] said, when the woman saw that the tree was
good to eat and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree
was desirable to look at, she took of its fruit and she ate. IS') Indeed,
she was overcome by the beauty of the tree and by desire for
its fruit. She was not overcome by the counsel that came
into her ear; rather, she succumbed to the avarice that came
from within herself.
(2) Because a commandment had been set down for
those who were to be tempted, it was fitting that the tempter
come along soon after. Because God, in his goodness, had
given Adam all that was in Paradise and all that was outside
of Paradise, demanding nothing of him, either by reason of
his being created or because of the glory with which God
had clothed him.
(3) God, in His justice, withheld one tree from that one
157. Despite these unresolved choices, at 11.19, below, and in his hpnns,
Ephrem presumes that it was Satan who spoke through the serpent. In Hymns
on Paradise 15.14, "the serpent is the instrument of the Evil One." In Hymns
against Heresies 20.1, the selpent is "the halp on which Satan's melodies were
played." See also Hymns on Paradise 3.4,1.').13; Hymns on Nisibis 77.6; Hymns
against Heresies 1 1.7, 21.6-11,43.1-6; and Prose Refutations 1 :88. See discussion
in Kronholm, Motif'; 86-95, and Ginzberg, Legend" 1 :95, where Satan persuad-
ed the serpent to be his vessel.
158. The Syriac text is confusing here, but the sense seems to be as translat-
ed.
159. Gen 3.6.
to whom He, in His goodness, had given everything in Par-

adise, on the earth, in the air, and in the seas. For, when
God created Adam, He did not make him mortal, nor did
He fashion him immortal, so that Adam, by either keeping
or transgressing the commandment, might acquire from
one of the trees, the [life] that he preferred. 160
(4) God created the tree oflife and hid it from Adam and
Eve. This was so that the tree would not cause any great
struggle with them by its beauty and thus double their
agony. In addition, it was not right that they heed a com-
mandment from Him who could not be seen for the sake of
a reward that was before their eyes. 161
(5) Even though God, in His goodness, had given them
everything else, He wanted, in His justice, to give them im-
mortal life that was to be conferred by their eating from the
tree of life. Therefore, God set down for them a command-
ment. It was not a great commandment relative to the great
reward that He had prepared for them; He withheld from
them one tree, only enough for them to be under a com-
mandment. God gave them all of Paradise so that they
would be under no constraint to transgress the law.
18. As I said above, a tempter was required. For this pur-
pose, however, Satan was not permitted to send any of the
angels, nor any of the seraphim nor any of the cherubim.
Nor was Satan himself permitted to come to Adam in the
garden, neither in human appearance nor in a divine vi-
sion, as he came to our Lord on the mountain. 162 Neither
did Behemoth or Leviathan, the giant beasts of renown,
come nor did any of the other beasts nor any of the clean
animals come, lest any of these be the reason that Adam and
Eve transgressed the commandment. Rather, a serpent was
allowed to come to them which, albeit cunning, was utterly
despicable and hideous.
160. I.e., a life of mortality or a life of immortality. God created the tree of
knowledge of good and evil as Adam's judge; see Hymns on Paradise 3.10, 13,
16; 12.15, 17.
161. See Hymns on Paradise 3.9, 17; 15.2, for the tree of life being hidden
from Adam and Eve.
162. Cf. Matt 4.1-11, and parallels.
(2) And when the serpent came, it performed no signs

that could be trusted nor did it fashion some deceitful vi-
sion, but it came alone, lowly, eyes cast down because it was
unable to look upon the splendor of that one who would be
tempted by it. Out of fear it did not go to Adam but went
rather to Eve so that it might make her eat more quickly
from the tree from which she was commanded not to eat.
Prior to this she had tasted nothing from the thousands and
millions [of trees] that were permitted her. That she had
not yet tasted from them was not because she was fasting,
but rather that hunger had not yet exerted any power over
her for she had just been created at that very moment.
(3) The serpent was completely unhindered from coming
in all haste because even the serpent's haste [worked]
against the serpent. For, since Eve had just been created, she
did not yet know what hunger was, nor had she yet been en-
gaged in any inner struggle caused by the beauty of the tree.
Therefore, because she was neither fasting nor had been en-
gaged in any contest due to the tree, the serpent was com-
pletely unhindered from coming to tempt her.
(4) If [Eve] had been victorious in that momentary bat-
tle, in that brief contest, the serpent and that one who was
in the serpent would [still] have received the punishment
that they received, while she, together with her husband,
would have eaten of the tree of life and would have lived for
ever. Along with this promised life that [Adam and Eve]
would have acquired, they would also have had by Justice all
that had previously been given to them by Grace.
(5) The tempter, then, came in haste and was not hin-
dered so that because it came, as tempter, at the time the
commandment was given, [Adam and Eve] might know that
it was the tempter and they might take precautions against
his cunning. Then that one who was unable to give himself
even the smallest of names offered them great counsel. 16'1
19. That one who was in the serpent then spoke to the
163. See 11.10, above, for Adam's bestowal of the names of all the animals,
and note ad lOf". for the underlying Jewish tradition of Satan's inability to be-
stow a single name.
woman, through the serpent, saying, "Did God truly say, 'You
shall not eat of any of the trees of Paradise'?"We ought to under-
stand here that if they had been commanded [not to eat]
from all the trees, as the serpent said, then the command-
ment would have been great. The fact is, they had been
commanded just the opposite; it was hardly a command-
ment at all, because it was so small, and it had been given to
them for only that short time before the tempter departed
from them.
(2) Eve responded and said to the serpent, "We may eat of the
fruit of the trees in Paradise; but [God] said, 'You shall not eat from
the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of Paradise, neither shall
you draw near to it, lest you die.' "164 When the serpent and that
one who was in the serpent heard that [Adam and Eve]
were permitted to eat from any of the trees of Paradise and
that only one had been withheld from them, they seemed
covered in shame for they saw no opportunity to offer their
counsel.
20. The tempter then turned its mind to the command-
ment of Him who had set down the commandment, that
[Adam and Eve] were not only commanded not to eat from
one single tree, but they were not even to draw near to it.
The serpent then realized that God had forewarned them
about even looking at it lest they become entrapped by its
beauty.165 With this in mind, the serpent said, enticing Eve to
look upon it, "You will surely not die. For God knows that when
you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil."166 But Eve failed to discern the import
of the words of the serpent, who as tempter, had said the op-
posite of what God had said. She also failed to respond to
164. Cen 3.2-3. The Syriac word qrb, can also mean to touch, as it is nor-
mally translated in English texts of this passage. As is clear, however, from
Ephrem's ensuing comments, he means they were not even to draw near the
tree.
165. The tempter's apprehension of the meaning of this commandment is
more fully developed in Ephrem's hymns; see Hymns on Paradise 3 ..'), 12.2-3,
and discussion in Kronholm, Motif'; 97-98, especially n. 31, forJewish paral-
lels.
166. Cen 3.4-.').
the serpent by saying, "How can my eyes be opened when

they are not closed? How will I, by eating of the fruit, come
to know between good and evil when, even before I have
eaten, they are here in my presence?" 167 But she neglected
these things that she ought to have said to the serpent and,
just as the serpent desired, she directed her eyes away from
the serpent who was before her and began to look upon the
tree to which she had been commanded not to draw near.
(2) The serpent remained silent, for it perceived immedi-
ately that Eve was about to succumb. It was not so much the
serpent's counsel that entered her ear and provoked her to
eat from the tree as it was her gaze, which she directed to-
ward the tree, that lured her to pluck and eat of its fruit.
She could have said to the serpent, "If I cannot see, how is it
that I see all that is to be seen? And if I do not know be-
tween good and evil, how can I discern whether your coun-
sel is good or evil? How will I come to know whether the di-
vinity is good or that having [my] eyes opened is good? And
whence am I to discern that death is evil? If I already possess
these things, why have you come to me? Your coming unto
us is testimony that we have these things. Therefore, by the
sight that I possess and by the ability to discern between
good and evil that I have, I will examine your counsel. And
if I do possess these things that you counsel me, where is all
your craftiness that is unable to disguise your deceit?" She,
however, said none of these things to the serpent so as to
overcome it, but instead fixed her gaze on the tree and thus
quickly brought about her own defeat. HiS
(3) She then went after that which her eyes desired and,
being enticed by the divinity that the serpent had promised
her, she stole away from her husband and ate. Mterwards,
she gave some to her husband and he ate with her. Because
she believed the serpent she ate first, thinking that she
would be clothed with divinity in the presence of that one
167. Compare Hymns on the Church 47.3: "She did not ask it 'Are you a ser-
vant or a freeman? A heavenly being, a beast, or an angel?'" See also 48.3; and
Hymns on Paradise 3.6.
168. See Hymns on the Church 47.3,48.3; and Kronholm, Moti/s, 99 ff.
from whom she, as woman, had been separated. 169 She has-
tened to eat before her husband that she might become
head over her head, that she might become the one to give
command to that one by whom she was to be commanded
and that she might be older in divinity than that one who
was older than she in humanity.
21. Mter she ate, Eve neither grew nor did she shrink,
nor were her eyes opened. She neither received the divinity
for which she had been looking, nor did she find that the
opening of [her] eyes had taken her to Paradise. She then
brought the fruit to her husband and made him eat after
much entreaty, even if it is not written that she had to per-
suade him. Mter Eve ate, she did not surely die, as God had
said, nor did she find divinity, as the serpent had said. And,
if Eve had been stripped naked Adam would have been
afraid and would not have eaten. Although Adam would not
have been guilty, since he had not eaten, he would not have
been victorious, either, for he would not really have been
tempted. It would have been the nakedness of his wife that
made him desist from eating and not the love or fear of his
Commander. Thus, Adam was to be tested immediately by
the seductive pleas of Eve who, having been tested by the
counsel of the serpent, had drawn near and eaten, but had
not become naked.
22. Then, after [Eve] had enticed Adam into eating,
Scripture says, the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew
that they were naked. no The opening of their eyes was not so
that they would become like God as the serpent had said
but so that they would see their nakedness as that enemy
had expected.
(2) Before, their eyes had been both open and closed:
open in that they could see everything, but closed in that
they could see neither the tree of life nor their own naked-
169. That is, on the sixth day when Eve was made from the lib extracted
from Adam. See Hymns on Nisibis 75.8, where the same verb is lIsed to express
the rib being extracted from Adam.
17 0 . Gen 3.7.
ness.l7l The enemy was also jealous because [Adam and Eve]
were richer in glory and reason than any other creature on
the earth and because they alone had been promised the
eternal life that is given by the tree of life.172 The enemy,
jealous of Adam and Eve both for the things that belonged
to them and also for the things that they were soon to re-
ceive, set its traps, and in a momentary battle took from
[Adam and Eve] those things they ought not to have lost
even in a great battle.
23. If the serpent had been rejected along with sin, Adam
and Eve would have eaten from the tree of life and the tree
of knowledge would not have been withheld from them;
from the one they would have gained infallible knowledge
and from the other they would have received immortal life.
They would have acquired divinity with their humanity, and
if they had acquired infallible knowledge and immortal life,
they would have possessed them in those same bodies. Thus,
by its counsel, the serpent brought to nought everything
that was soon to have become theirs. The serpent made
them think that they would receive these things when they
transgressed the commandment so that the transgression
would be committed and they would not receive what they
would have received if they had kept the commandment.173
Thus, the serpent, through the divinity that he promised
them, prevented them [from receiving] divinity. The ser-
pent also brought it about that those to whom it had been
promised that their eyes would be opened by the tree of
knowledge, would not have their eyes opened by the
promise of the tree oflife.
(2) If Adam and Eve had sought to repent after they had
transgressed the commandment, even though they would
171. Compare Hymns on Paradise 3.6.

172. As he does in his hpnns, Ephrem here maintains that Satan's fall is
due to his jealousy at humanity's exalted position in creation; see Hymns on the
Church 11.1, Hymns on Faith 50.5-6, Hymns on the Nativity 21.15, and Hymns on
Nicomedia 10.22, and discussion in Kronholm, Motif" 90-92. See also II.26, 32,
below.
173. Compare Hymns on Paradise 3.12.
COMMENTARY ON GENESIS lIS
not have regained that which they had possessed before

their transgression of the commandment, they would have
escaped from the curses that were decreed on the earth and
upon them. God tarried in coming down to them for the
sole reason that they might admonish each other and so
plead for mercy when the judge came to them. The coming
of the serpent had not been delayed lest their trial be too
great when they looked upon the sight of that beautiful
tree, whereas the judge delayed His coming to them so that
He might give them an occasion to prepare their entreaty.
But the haste of the tempter did not help them, even
though its haste was for the purpose of helping them, nor
did they benefit by the delay of the Judge, although His
delay was for this same reason.
24- And they heard the sound of the Lord walking in Paradise in
the cool of the day and they hid themselves from the presence of the
Lord among the trees in Paradise. 174 It was not only by the pa-
tience He exhibited that God wished to help them, He also
wished to benefit them by the sound of His feet. God en-
dowed His silent footsteps with sound so that Adam and Eve
might be prepared, at that sound, to make supplication be-
fore Him who made the sound. But since they did not come
before Him in supplication, neither because of His delay
nor because of the sound that was sent before Him, God
then made a sound with His lips, just as He had made a
sound for His footsteps and said, "TVhere are you, Adam?"175
But Adam, instead of confessing his folly and asking for
mercy before the judgment came upon him, said, "1 heard
the sound of your [jeet] in Paradise and 1 was afraid because 1 saw
that 1 was naked and 1 hid myseif."176 Now the sound of feet
that went before God, who would soon reveal Himself in the
punishment upon the house of Adam, prefigured the voice
ofJohn, who was to come before the Son, holding a winnow-
ing fork in his hands in order to clean out His granaries,
174. Gen 3.8.

175. Gen 3.8.
176. Gen 3.10.
burning the straw in fire and purifying the wheat to bring

into His granaries. 177
25. "1 heard the sound of your [jeet} and 1 hid myself. "When
did you hear any sound from Him as you did now? For when
He formed you, brought you into Paradise, cast sleep on
you, took out your rib, formed and brought to you a woman,
you did not hear any sound from Him. If you heard a sound
from Him now for the first time, understand that the sound
of His steps was bestowed for the purpose of a supplication
from your lips. Speak to God now, before he asks you about
the coming of the serpent and about the transgression that
you and Eve committed. Perhaps then, the confession of
your lips will absolve you from the sin of [eating] the fruit
that your fingers plucked. But Adam and Eve refused to con-
fess that thing which they had done and they related to Him
who knows all only what had been done to them.
26. "VVhere are you, Adam?" In the divinity that the serpent
promised you? Or in subjection to the death that I decreed
for you? Would that you had considered the fruitsp78 Sup-
pose, Adam, that instead of a serpent, the most despicable
creature of all, an angel or some other god had come to
you? Would you have despised the commandment of Him
who gave you all these things, heeding instead the counsel
of one who had not yet done you any good? Would you have
considered evil the one who formed you from nothing and
made you a second god over Creation while considering
good the one who gave you only a verbal promise of some
good?
(2) If another god were to come to you in power, should
you not have rejected his advice? How much more then in
the case of a serpent who came to you with no power, with
no wonderous deeds but with only the empty word that it
177. Cf.Matt3·11-12,andparallels.
178. See Hymns on Heresies 26:4 where Ephrem says, "The fruit is the goal
of the right way that mns from this tree to the Cross." These trees were two
crowns in Adam's contest. See Hymns on Paradise 3.10, g.l, 12.17-18; Hymns on
the Chunh 19.7; Hymns on Nisibis 68.3; Hymns against Heresies 21.6; Sermons on
Faith 3.1-38.
spoke to you? You have been unfaithful to your God and you
have believed your betrayer. You have denied Him who has
done good things for you, who made you ruler over every-
thing, and you have put your faith in that crafty one who, by
its cunning, has taken away your rule completely.179
(3) If the serpent had been withheld from coming to test
Adam, those who complain about its having come would
now complain about its being hindered from coming. For
they say that it was out of jealousy that the serpent was hin-
dered from coming so that [Adam], after a momentary trial,
might acquire eternal life. Those who say that if the serpent
had not come Adam would not have erred would now be
saying that if the serpent had come, Adam and Eve would
not have erred; just as those who say that if the serpent had
not come Adam would not have sinned, would now think
they are all the more right when they say, "If the serpent had
come, Adam and Eve would not have gone astray." For who
would have believed, if it had not actually happened, that
Adam would listen to Eve 180 or that Eve would be persuaded
by a reptile?
27. "1 heard the sound of [your feet] and 1 was afraid and hid
myself. "Because Adam forgot what was required of him and
said instead that which was not required-for, instead of
confessing what he had done, which would have helped
him, he related what had been done to him, which did not
help him at all-God said to him, "Who told you that you were
naked? Have you then eaten of the tree of which 1 commanded you
not to eat?181 Did you see that you were naked with the sight
bestowed on you by that tree, from which you were pro-
mised that glorious divine sight?"
(2) Adam again failed to confess his folly and blamed the
woman who was like him, saying, "The woman whom you set
179. That Adam and Eve rejected God so quickly and without reflection is
also found in Hymns on the Church 48.3-9, Hymns on the Nativity 5 ..'), Hymns on
Nisibis 35-4, and Hymns against Heresies 11.7.
180. Read hw'-"Eve" for hWy'-"serpent," which would make no sense
here, asJansma, "Beitrage," 63.
181. Gen 3.11.
with me gave me of the tree and I ate. 182 I neither drew near to
the tree myself nor did I dare to stretch out my hand to-
wards the fruit." It is for this reason the Apostle said, Adam
did not sin but Eve transgressed the commandment. 183 If God gave
you the woman, 0 Adam, He gave her to you to help you,
not to cause you harm, and as one to be commanded, not
one to give command. 184
28. Since Adam did not wish to confess his folly, God
came down to question Eve and said to her; "What is this that
you have done?"185 Eve too, instead of making supplication
with her tears and bearing the fault herself so that mercy
might take hold of both her and her husband responded,
not by saying, "The serpent counseled or seduced me," but
simply said, "The serpent deceived me and I ate. "186
29. When the two of them had been questioned and were
both found to be wanting in remorse or true contrition,
God went down to the serpent, not to make inquiry but to
render punishment. For where there is opportunity for re-
pentance, it would be right to inquire, but to one who is a
stranger to repentance judgment is fitting. It is so that you
might know that the serpent is not capable of repentance,
that when God said to it, "Because you have done this, cursed are
you above every beast,"187 the serpent did not say, "I did not do
it," because it was afraid to lie, nor did it say, "I did it," be-
cause it was a stranger to repentance.
(2) "Cursed are you are above every beast, " because you de-
ceived those who rule over all the beasts. Instead of being
more clever than all the beasts you will be more cursed than
all the beasts and "on your belly shall you go,"l88 because you
brought birth pangs upon the race of women. And "dust you
182. Cen 3.12.

183. 1 Tim 2.14.
184. Compare Cinzberg, I.egends, 1 :77, where an attempted reversal of
roles is depicted as the reason for Eve's taking the fruit.
185. Cen 3.13.
186. Cen 3.13.
187. Cen 3.14.
188. Cen 3.14. Compare Hymns on Paradise 3.1.'); see also Kronholm, Mo-
tifs, 113, n. 72.
shall eat all the days ofyour life,"189 because you deprived Adam
and Eve from eating of the tree of life. "1 will put enmity be-
tween you and the woman and between your seed and her seed,"190
for in your pretence of love you have deceived and subject-
ed to death both her and her offspring.
(3) Then [God] made known the enmity that was put be-
tween the serpent and the woman and between its seed and
her seed when He said, "He will tread on your head, " that is,
that one who wishes to escape the subjection of her seed [to
death], "and you will strike him, " not in his ear, but "in his
heel. "191
30. Even though the punishment decreed against the ser-
pent was justly decreed-because to the place where folly
begins, the punishment also returns-the entire reason
God began with this impious creature was so that, when Jus-
tice appeased its anger on this creature, Adam and Eve
should grow afraid and repent so that there might be a pos-
sibility for Grace to preserve them from the curses of Jus-
tice. E12 But when the serpent had been cursed and Adam
and Eve had still made no supplication, God came [to
them] with punishment. He came to Eve first, because it was
through her that the sin was handed on to Adam.
(2) God then rendered his judgment against Eve saying,
"1 will greatly multiply your pains and your conceptions. With
pangs you shall bring forth children."193 Even though she would
have given birth because she had received the blessing of
birth along with all the animals, she would not have given
birth to many, for those to whom she would have given birth
would have remained immortal. She would have been pre-
served from the pangs of their births, from the ignominy of
having to raise them, and from wailing over their deaths.
"You shall turn toward your husband, "to be counseled and not
189. Gen 3.14.

190. Gen 3.15.
191. Gen 3.15. See also Kronholm, Motifs, 112-18.
192. See Hymns on the Church 4,';.33, where "God had compassion on Adam
and gave him opportunity for conversion."
193. Gen 3.16.
to give counsel and "he shall rule over you, "194 because you
thought that by eating of the fruit you would then rule over
him.
31. Mter God had set down His judgment against Eve
and still no repentance had risen up in Adam, He then
turned to him, too, with punishment and said, "Because you
listened to the voice of your wife and were deceived into eating of the
tree of which I said to you, 'You shall not eat of it, ' cursed is the
ground because ofyou."195 Although the earth, which had com-
mitted no folly, was struck on account of Adam, [God] still
made Adam, who could suffer, suffer by the curse of [the
earth], which could not suffer. For it was in that earth,
which received the curse, that he, who did not receive the
curse, was, in fact, cursed.
(2) Adam did not escape direct punishment by the fact
that the earth received this curse. God also decreed against
him, saying, "All the days of your life you shall eat in pain,"l96
that which, had you kept the commandment, you would
have eaten without pain. "Thorns and thistles it shall bringforth
to you,"197 after the sin; had there been no sin, it would not
have brought forth these things. "You shall eat the plants of the
jield,"198 because on account of a trifling enticement on the
part of your wife you have rejected the most pleasing fruits
of Paradise. "In the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, "199 for
you were not pleased to enjoy yourself in the garden without
toil. These things will come upon you "until you return to the
earth from which you were taken,"200 because you have despised
the commandment which now could have given you eternal
life through the fruit of the tree of life which would have
been lawful for you to eat. Because "you are from the dust,"201
and have forgotten yourself, "you shall return to your dust,"202
so that, through your state of humiliation, you shall come to
know your true essence. 203
194. Gen 3.16. 195. Gen 3.17.

196. Gen 3.17. 197. Gen 3.18.
198. Gen 3.18. 199. Gen 3.19.
200. Gen 3.19. 201. Gen3.19.
202. Gen 3.19.
203. In Syriac, qnomut'. See Beck, Reden, 8-14.
32. Even Satan, who was created, along with his deep
abyss, within those six days, was fair until the sixth day, like
Adam and Eve who were fair until they transgressed the
commandment. Satan, who secretly became Satan on that
sixth day, was, on that same day, secretly judged and con-
demned. For God did not wish to make known Satan's con-
demnation in the presence of those who had not even per-
ceived that he was the tempter. Remember, the woman said,
"the serpent, "and not Satan, "deceived me."204
(2) Therefore, Satan was judged in secret and all his hosts
were condemned along with him, because the sin was a
great one and to condemn any of them alone would have
been too small a punishment. Therefore, just as pangs were
decreed against Eve and her daughters, and thorns and
death against Adam and his posterity, and just as it [was de-
creed] against the serpent that he and all his seed were to
be trod upon, so it was also decreed against him who was in
the serpent that he go to the fire together with all his hosts.
For our Lord revealed in the New Testament that which had
been hidden in the Old Testament when He said that "con-
cerning the judgment of the ruler of this world, this one is con-
demned. " 205
33. After he spoke of the punishments that both the
tempter and the tempted received, Moses wrote, the Lord
made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed
them.206 Were these garments from the skins of animals or
were they created like the thistles and thorns that were cre-
ated after the other works of creation had been completed?
Because it was said that the Lord made . .. and clothed them, it
seems most likely that when their hands were placed over
their leaves they found themselves clothed in garments of
skin. Why would beasts have been killed in their presence?
Perhaps, it was so that by the animal's flesh Adam and Eve
might nourish their own persons, and that with the skins
they might cover their nakedness, and also so that by the
204. Cen 3.13.

205. John 16.11.
206. Cen 3.20.
death [of the animals] Adam and Eve might see the death
of their own bodies.
34. After he finished these things [God] said, "Behold,
Adam has become like one oj us, knowing good and evil."207 Even
though by saying, ''He has become like one oJus, "he symbolical-
ly reveals the Trinity, [the point is] rather that [God] was
mocking Adam in that Adam had previously been told, "You
will become like God knowing good and evil."208
(2) Now, even though after they ate the fruit Adam and
Eve came to know these two things, before [they ate] the
fruit they had perceived, in reality, only good and they
heard about evil only by hearsay. After they ate, however, a
change occurred so that now they would only hear about
good by hearsay, whereas in reality they would taste only
evil. For the glory with which they had been clothed passed
away from them, while pain and disease which had been
kept away from them now came to hold sway over them.
35. ''And now, lest he put Jorth his hand and take also oj the tree
oj life, and eat, and live Jorever. ... "209 If Adam had rashly eaten
from the one tree he was commanded not to eat, how much
faster would he hasten to that one about which he had not
been so commanded? But it was now decreed that they
should live in toil, in sweat, in pains, and in pangs. There-
fore, lest [Adam and Eve], after having eaten of this tree,
live forever and remain in eternal lives of suffering, [God]
forbade them to eat, while they were clothed with a curse,
that which He had been prepared to give them before they
incurred the curse and when they were still clothed with
glory.
(2) [God did this,] lest this life-giving gift that they would
receive through the tree of life become misery, and thus
bring worse evil upon them than what they had already ob-
tained from the tree of knowledge. From the latter [tree]
they obtained temporal pains, whereas the former [tree]
would have made those pains eternal. From the latter they
207. Cell 3.22.

208. Cell 3 ..').
209. Cell 3.22.
obtained death which would cast off from them the bonds
of their pains. The former [tree], however, would have
caused them [to live] as if buried alive, leaving them to be
tortured eternally by their pains. [God], therefore, withheld
from them the tree of life. It was not right either that a life
of delights be allowed in the land of curses or that eternal
life be found in a transitory world.
(3) If they had eaten, however, one of two things would
have occurred. Either the decree of death would have be-
come a lie, or the life-giving capacity of the tree of life
would have been denied. Therefore, lest the decree of
death be loosed or the life-giving capacity of the tree of life
become false, God took Adam far away from there lest he
also incur loss from the tree of life just as he had been
harmed by the tree of knowledge. He sent him then to till the
earth from which he was taken,2l0 so that he who had been
harmed in the leisure of the garden might be aided by the
toil of the earth.211
36. Then, after Adam was cast out from Paradise [Moses]
wrote, [God] set in the east of the Paradise of Eden a cherub and a
sharp sword 212 to go about in every direction and to guard the way
to the tree of liJe. 213 That fence was a living being214 who itself
marched around to guard the way to the tree of life from
anyone who dared try to pluck its fruit, for it would kill,
with the edge of its sword, any mortal who came to steal im-
mortallife.215
210. Gen 3.23.

211. Compare Hymns on Paradise 1.10: "In His Grace, God granted Adam
the low ground near Paradise, settling him in the valley below the foothills of
Paradise." See also 12.1.').
212. The Peshitta, Targwn Neofiti, and Targum Pseudrrfonathan all read
"sharp" here instead of "fiery". See M. Alexandre, "L'epee de flamme (Gen
3,24): Textes chretiens et traditions juives," in Hellenica etfudaica. H01mnage a v.
Nikiprowetsky, ed. A. Caquot et al. (Louvain-Paris, 1986) 403-41. For the impor-
tance of this sword in Ephrem's view of salvation history, see R. Murray, "The
Lance," 224-34,491.
213. Gen 3.24.
214. In SyIiac, hayyrl. See Ginzberg, Legend" 1 :83-84, where angels are dis-
tinguished from "the holy Hayyot."
21.'). See Hymns on Paradise 2.1,4.1-6, 11.3.
Section III
Mter Moses spoke of Adam's expulsion from the gar-
1.
den, of the cherub and of the sharp sword by which Par-
adise was enclosed, he turned to write about the birth of
Cain and Abel and about their offerings, saying Adam knew
Eve, and she bore Cain and she said, ''1 have gotten a man, ''----not
by Adam who knew her, but- "by the Lord,"216 who had
formed him in the womb. She again gave birth, to Abel, and
Abel became a shepherd and Cain a tiller oj the earth. And it hap-
pened aJter some time, that is, after they were reared or while
they were shepherding or tilling, that Cain brought to the Lord
an oJJering oj the Jruits oj the earth and Abel brought oj the firstborn
oj his flock and oj their Jat portions. 217
2. Abel was very discriminate in his choice of offerings,
whereas Cain showed no such discrimination. Abel selected
and offered the choicest of his first born and of his fat ones,
while Cain either offered young grains or [certain] fruits
that are found at the same time as the young grains. Even if
his offering had been smaller than that of his brother, it
would have been as acceptable as the offering of his brother,
had he not brought it with such negligence. They made
their offerings alternately; one offered a lamb of his flock,
the other the fruits of the earth. But because Cain had
taken such little regard for the first offering that he offered,
God refused to accept it in order to teach Cain how he was
to make an offering. For Cain had bulls and calves and an
abundance of animals and birds that he could have offered.
But he offered none of these on that day when he offered
the first fruits of his land. 218
(2) What would have been the harm if he had brought
ripe grains or if he had chosen the fruits of his best trees?
Although this would have been easy, he did not do even
216. Gen 4.1.

217. Gen 4.2-4.
218. For Cain's negligent offeIing in Jewish tradition, see Genesis iiflbiJah
22 . .'), Philo, On the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain, XIII.5 2 , and Ginzberg, f.egends,
1 :107-8. See also V. Aptowitzer, Kain und Abel in tier Ag(uia, tien AjJo/"yphen, der
hellenistichen, rhrisLlirhen und muhmnme(umisrhen Litemtur (Leipzig, 1922).
this. It was not that he had other intentions for his best
grains or his best fruits; it was that, in the mind of the offer-
er, there was no love for the One who would receive his of-
fering. Therefore, because Cain brought his offering with
negligence, God despised it on that account, lest Cain think
either that God did not know of Cain's negligence, or that
God preferred the offerings rather than those who were of-
fering them.
3. Thus, God despised Cain's offering not only because of
what he had done, but also because of what he was about to
do. He was cruel toward his parents and bitter toward his
brother and gave no honor to God. Abel's offering was ac-
cepted, therefore, because of his discrimination whereas
that of Cain was despised because of his negligence.
(2) Cain was very angry/E) not because his offering had
been despised, for he could have satisfied with a choice of-
fering that One whom he angered with his negligent offer-
ing; nor was it due to the fact that he had been despised
that his face became gloomy,220 for it would have been easy for
him to offer a prayer.
(3) Whether the offering that Cain had chosen to bring
was accepted or not, Cain had already made known his will,
and whether he had been persuaded to offer a prayer or
not, God had already seen his true request. Since Cain did
not bring a choice offering in the place of his negligent one
which was despised, nor did he offer a prayer on account of
the contempt that he had shown to God, it became clear
that he was angry. He was angry because the offering of his
brother had been accepted. Cain became angry on account
of the fire that had come down and distinguished between
the offerings. His face became gloomy because there was laugh-
ter in the eyes of his parents and his sisters when his offer-
ing was rejected. They had seen that Cain's offering had
been placed in the midst of the fire and yet the fire did not
touch it.
21 9. Gen 4.5.
220. Gen 4 ..').
4. God said to [Cain}, "VVhy are you angry and why is your face
gloomy?22! Instead of being filled with anger you ought to be
filled with distress. Instead of your face being gloomy tears
ought to be flowing from your eyes. If you do well, I will accept
it." 222 Notice then, that it was not because of the small size of
Cain's offering that it was rejected; it was not accepted be-
cause of his spitefulness and his lack of virtue.
(2) ''If you do well, I will accept it, even though I did not ac-
cept it before, and it will be accepted along with the chosen
offering of your brother even though it was not accepted be-
fore. But if you do not do well, sin is couching at the first door."22?
Abel will hearken to you through his obedience, for he will
go with you to the plain. There you will be ruled over by sin,
that is, you shall be completely filled with it.
(3) But, instead of doing well so that the offering which
had been rejected might be credited to him as acceptable,
Cain then made an offering of murder to that One to whom
he had [already] made an offering with negligence.
5. And Cain said to Abel, ''Let us go out to the field." 224 That he
said, ''Let us go out to the field," [means] either that they dwelt
on a mountain on the outskirts of Paradise 22s and that Cain
led Abel down to the field, or that Abel was grazing his
flocks on a mountain and [Cain] went up and brought him
down to a field, which was more suitable for him because of
its standing grain and its soil. For in the standing grains
Cain killed Abel and in the earth he easily hid him. For
[Moses] said when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his
brother Abel and killed him.226
(2) After Cain had killed his brother, he persuaded his
parents with lies that Abel had entered Paradise because he
was pleasing to God, and that his offering was accepted bore
witness to his entry; that it was by keeping the command-
ment that he entered Paradise just as by transgressing the
commandment you were cast out from there. Then, just
221. Gen 4.6. 222. Gen 4.7.
223· Gen 4.7. 224· Gen 4.8.
225. See note 127, above, for geography of Paradise.
226. Gen 4.8.
when Cain thought that he had deceived his parents and

that there would be no one to seek vengeance for Abel, God
appeared to Cain and said to him, "Where is Abel your broth-
er.'2"227
6. God appeared to Cain with kindness so that if he re-
pented, the sin of murder that his fingers had committed
might be effaced by the compunction on his lips. If he did
not repent, however, there would be decreed on him a bitter
punishment in proportion to his evil folly. But Cain was
filled with wrath instead of compunction. To Him who
knows all, who asked him about his brother in order to win
him back, [Cain] retorted angrily and said, "1 do not know,
am 1 my brother's keeper?"228
(2) [God] then spoke to him again, saying, "What have you
done?"229 If you do not know where Abel is because you are
not his keeper, tell Him who asked you what you have done.
Why should He ask someone else concerning what you have
done? Confess, therefore, what have you done to Him who
would not have asked about what you did unless He knew
what you had done. Then, when Cain refused to recount
what he had done, his knowledge and his shame were ex-
posed when [God] said, "Your brother's blood is crying to me from
the earth." 230
7. What then would you say, Cain? Should Justice take
vengeance for the blood which cried out to it or not? Did it
not delay so that you might repent? Did it not alienate itself
from its own knowledge and ask you as if it did not know, so
that you might confess? Did what it said to you not please
you that you came to that sin to which it had warned you be-
forehand not to come? "Cursed are you from all the earth,"231
because you have grieved Adam and Eve, the parents of all
the earth. "Cursed are you from the face of all the earth, "because
227· Cen 4.9. 228. Cen 4.9.

22g. Cen 4.10.
230. Cen 4.10. While the supplied subject of the Biblical quote is undoubt-
edly Cod, the verb is feminine. suggesting that Ephrem had in mind a personi-
fied attribute of Cod, such asJustice. See next section.
231. Cen 4.11.
you opened the gate of Sheol before the entire earth.232

"When you till the earth, it shall no longer yield to you its
strength," 233 because you wished that you alone should eat of
its strength. "You shall wander about on the earth in fear;" 234 be-
cause you have walked on it in arrogance and in haughti-
ness.
8. At the very moment that these curses [were decreed],
the matter of the curses was fulfilled in him who, before the
curses, had said in his pride, "Am I my brother's keeper?" After
the curses, when his anger had subsided due to the trem-
bling and wandering that had been laid upon him, Cain
said, "My offence is greater than I can bear." 235 This was not ac-
cepted as repentance, for he said it after it had been sought
from him. Now, he said it as if under constraint, as if he said
it due to his terror and wandering.
(2) But Cain, instead of seeking God's longsuffering
kindness so that he might persuade Justice by his petition,
said, either out of fear or of cunning, "You have driven me
away from the face of the earth,236 in that you cursed me from
the earth and henceforth from your face I will be hidden. 237 I
will no longer be able to stand before you because I spoke
impudently before you and said that I am not my brother's
keeper. Because I have become one who is to wander about the
earth in fear; it will be that whoever finds me will kill me." 238
(3) 0 Cain, are you asking for death or are you afraid of
death? How can these things that were decreed against you
be fulfilled if you die? If your life is dear to you even among
these miseries, how much more dear was it to Abel who was
far from these things?
(4) Although some say that Cain begged not to die, still
others say that he asked for death, on account of which God
said to him, "It will not be as you say concerning the killers who
come after yoU. 239 Although the killers who come after you
232. In Hymns on Nisibis 39.16, Death says, "Through the sword of Cain I
was glad for the first time." See also Kronholm, Moti/s, 142-4.').
233. Gen 4.12. 234. Gen 4.12.
235· Gen 4.13. 236. Gen 4.14.
237. Gen 4.14. 238. Gen 4.14.
239. Cf. Gen 4.1.').
will die the moment they are found, still Cain shall be avenged
sevenfold,"240 that is, because Cain sought death so that no
one would mock his lowly state, seven generations would
come and see his lowly state and then he would die.
g. Some say that the seven generations were those of his
tribe who died with him. This [interpretation], however,
cannot be maintained. For, even if the flood overtook them,
it overtook that seventh generation. And if that one genera-
tion perished with [Cain], how can they say that seven gen-
erations perished with Cain when they cannot even show
that the flood occurred in the seventh generation of Cain's
descendants?241
(2) Scripture says that Cain begot Enoch and Enoch
begot Edar242 and Edar begot Mehujael and Mehujael begot
Methushael and Methushael begot Lamech and Lamech
begot Jabal.2 43 Jabal was the father of those who dwell in tents and
have cattle. 244 Those who dwell in tents and have cattle were
not preserving their virginity in their tents. How aptly then
does Scripture say, All flesh had corrupted its path. 245
(3) If then there are found to be nine generations from
Cain to the descendants of those who dwell in tents and
have cattle and the flood had still not come, how can we as-
sent to [the notion that] seven generations perished with
Cain? Rather, it has been determined that there were nine
generations that passed away, as we just said, and still the
flood had not occurred. Therefore it was rightly stated that
the shame of Cain, who had sought from that first day to
flee from shame by a death, was spread out over seven gen-
erations.
(4) That Cain remained alive until the seventh genera-
tion is clear. First, because it had been so decreed concern-
ing him and secondly, the length of the lives of those first
240. Gen 4.15.

241. See Ginzberg, I>egends, 1: 163, where Cain is numbered among the vic-
tims of the flood. Compare anotherJewish tradition about the death of Cain in
n. 2.')7, below.
242. RSV, Irad. The letters rand d are easily confused in Syriac.
243. Cf. Gen 4.17-20. 244. Gen 4.20.
24.'). Gen 6.12.
generations also testifies to it. For if his father Adam re-

mained alive until the ninth generation, that of Lamech,
and was gathered from the world in the fifty-sixth year of
Lamech, it is no great thing that Cain should remain until
the seventh generation.
10. Because Cain sought to escape from reproach, he did
not escape from reproach as he sought and, further, a sign
which he had not expected was added to the first punish-
ment. For [Moses] said, The Lord put a sign on Cain lest anyone
who finds him should kill him.246 Those who would find him
were the sons of Seth who were compelled to seek revenge
for the blood of Abel, their uncle. They cut themselves off
from Cain and did not intermarry with him because of his
reproach and because of their fear of him, but they did not
dare to kill him because of his sign.
1 1. After Cain received the punishment and the sign had
been added to it (although we spoke of why it was necessary,
we will not speak here of what it was, for that is not neces-
sary) , [Moses] said that Cain went away Jrom the presence oj the
Lord and dwelt in the land oj Nod, east oj Eden. 247 Cain, there-
fore, separated himself from his parents and his kin because
he saw that they would not intermarry with him. The land
of Nod is so called because it was the land in which Cain
wandered about in fear and trembling. 24s But [the land] also
received a second curse, when God said, "VVhen you till the
earth it shall no longer yield to you its strength." 249
Section IV
1. After Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch,
he built a city and he named it aJter his son, Enoch. 2so He did this
lest this city, too, be named after his wandering in fear, that
is the city of Nod. 251 And to Enoch was born Edar. And Edar
begot Mehujael and Mehujael begot Methushael and
247. Gen 4.16.

248. In Hymns on Paradise 1.11, the land of Nod is "a place lower still than
that of Seth and Enosh."
249. Gen 4.12. The earth had already received a curse in Gen 3.17.
250. Gen 4.17. 251. "Nod" means "wandeIing."
Methushael begot Lamech. And Lamech took two wives. He

begot Jabal through Adah, and Jabal became the father of
those who dwell in tents and of those who possess cattle.
The name of his brother was Jubal. Jubal became the father
of all those who play the lyre and the pipe. And Zillah bore
Tubal-Cain, an artisan in every craft of bronze and iron, and
the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. 252
(2) And Lamech said to his wives, "Hear my voice because 1
have slain a man for wounding me and a young man for striking
me. Because Cain was avenged sevenfold, Lamech [will be avenged]
seventy-seven fold." 253
2. There are some who say, concerning Lamech's words
to his wives, that his wives were daughters of Seth and they
were exhorting him to do well, and he said to them, "What
have you seen in me that is detestable or similar to my fa-
ther Cain? For I, like Cain, have killed a man for wounding
me. Just as he struck the cheeks of Abel as [one would] a
youth and so killed him, so have I also killed a youth for
beating me. If I have done as Cain did and Cain was
avenged seven times, then I decree that I should be avenged
seventy-seven times."
(2) Others, because they think that Cain was avenged for
seven generations, say that Lamech was evil, because God
had said, "All flesh has corrupted its path," 254 and also because
the wives [of Lamech] saw that the line of their generation
would be cut off. They were giving birth not to males but to
females only, for [Moses] said that it was when men multiplied
on the earth and daughters were born to them. 255 When these
wives saw the plight of their generation, they became fearful
and knew that the judgment decreed against Cain and his
seven generations had come upon their generation.
(3) [Lamech] then, in his cleverness, comforted them,
saying, "1 have killed a man for wounding me and a youth for
striking me. 256 Just as God caused Cain to remain so that seven
252. Gen 4.17-22. 253. Gen 4.18-24.

254. Gen 6.12. 255. Gen 6.1.
256. Gen 4.23.
generations would perish with him, so [God] will cause me

to remain, because I have killed two, so that seventy-seven
generations should die with me. Before the seventy-seven
generations come, however, we will die, and through the
cup of death that we taste we will escape from that punish-
ment which, because of me, will extend to seventy-seven
generations. "
3. Still others say that Lamech, who was cunning and
crafty, saw the plight of his generation: that the Sethites re-
fused to intermingle with them because of the reproach of
their father Cain, who was still alive, and that the lands
would become uncultivated from the lack of ploughmen
and their generation would thus come to an end. Lamech,
therefore, moved by zeal, killed Cain together with his one
son whom he had begotten and who resembled him lest,
through this one son who resembled him, the memory of
his shame continue through their generations. 257
(2) When he killed Cain, who had been like a wall be-
tween the two tribes to keep them from tyrannizing each
other, [Lamech] said to his wives as if in secret, "A man and
a youth have been killed but take and adorn your daughters
for the sons of Seth. Because of the murders that I have
committed and because of the adornment and beauty of
your daughters, those who refused to be married to us in
the past six generations might now consent to marry with us
in our generation."
(3) Their daughters then adorned themselves for the
sons of Seth, and Jabal enticed them with the choice por-
tions of the flesh of animals andJubal captivated them with
the sweet sounds of his lyres. Then the sons of Seth yielded
and, because of these things, they forgot that noble coven-
ant that had been established by their father and they came
down from their place, for it was higher than where the de-
scendants of Cain dwelt. Thus, Lamech, by his cunning
ploys, intermarried those tribes so that when "God takes pity
257. For aJewish version of the tradition that it was Lamech who slew Cain,
see Ginzberg, I.egends, 1:116-17.
on the tribe of Seth, who have mixed with us, so that it not
perish, God might also have mercy on us so that we might
escape from the punishment of murder on account of those
who are married to us, for they have committed no murder."
Section V
1. Then after he had finished writing about the tribes of
the descendants of Cain and had completed the story of the
words of Lamech to his wives, [Moses] turned to record the
generations of the house of Seth, beginning from Adam,
saying that when Adam had lived one hundred thirty years, he
begot a son in his own likeness according to his image. 258 In Seth,
who was like Adam in all things, was depicted the likeness of
the Son, who was sealed by the Father his progenitor259 just
as was Seth by Adam his begetter. 26o
(2) Mter Seth begot Enosh, [Moses] wrote at that time he
began to call on the name of the Lord. 261 Because Seth had sepa-
rated himself from the house of Cain, the Sethites were
called by the name of the Lord, that is, the just people of
the Lord. 262
2. Mter Adam begot Seth and Seth Enosh and Enosh
Kenan and Kenan Mahalalel and MahalalelJared andJared
Enoch,263 [Moses] wrote about Enoch who was pleasing to
God and was not. 264 Some say that while Adam was looking at
him God transported him to Paradise lest [Adam] think
that Enoch was killed as was Abel and so be grieved. This
25 8. Gen 5.3.
259. Cf.John 6.27·
260. In Hymns against Heresies 5.1 1-12, Ephrem says that God restored the
image of God, undone by Cain, in Adam's son Seth. This restoration of the di-
vine image is what suggests the parallel between Seth and ChIist. See also
Hymns on the Nativity 1.21, and discussion in Kronholm, Motifs, 1.')0-54.
261. Gen 4.26.
262. This cmious interpretation, moving from the active "calIon" to the
passive "called by," is also found in Eusebius of Emesa and Didymus of Alexan-
dIia. See S. D. Fraade, linmh and His Genemtion, Society of Biblical Literature
Monagraph Series, no. 30 (Chico, California, 1984).
263. Cf. Gen 5.3-18.
264. Gen 5.24.
was also so that [Adam] might be comforted by this just son

of his and that he might know that for all who were like this
one, whether before death or after the resurrection, [Par-
adise] would be their meeting-place. 265
(2) Enoch begot Methuselah and Methuselah begot
Lamech and Lamech begot Noah and Lamech prophesied
about his son and said, "This one shall bring us relief from our
work and from the toil of our hands and from the earth which the
Lord cursed,266 by his offering which will be pleasing to God
who, because of the sin of its inhabitants, will destroy in the
waters of wrath the buildings that we have made and the
plants over which our hands have toiled."
Section VI
1. After recounting the ten generations from Adam to
Noah, [Moses] said, Noah was five hundred years old and begot
Shem and Ham and japhet. 267 During this entire time Noah
was an example to his sons by his virtue, for he had pre-
served his virginity for five hundred years among those of
whom it was said, All flesh corrupted its path. 268
2. After he spoke of the virtue of Noah, [Moses] turned
to speak about the evil desire that was working in the chil-
dren of his generation saying, and it came to pass that when
men increased and daughters were born to them . . . .269 For he
called those of the house of Cain men, and said that daugh-
ters were born to them to show that the line of their genera-
tion had been cut off as we said above. 27o
3. And the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beau-
tiful and they took to wife such of them as they chose.271 He called
the sons of Seth sons of God, those who, like the sons of Seth,
265. In Hymns on Ihe Chun.-h 11.1, Ephrem says that it was because of
Enoch's "love for the new life" that he was the first to defeat death. For the
prominent place that Enoch plays in Ephrem's hymns, see Kronholm, Moti/s,
154-63.
266. Cen 5.29. "Noah" means "relief' in Hebrew and in Syriac.
267. Cen 5.32. 268. Cen 6.12.
269. Gen 6.1. 270. See IV. 2 , above.
271. Cen 6.2. See also Hymns on Paradise 1.11-12.
had been called "the righteous people of God."272 The beau-

tiful daughters of men whom they saw were the daughters of
Cain who adorned themselves and became a snare to the
eyes of the sons of Seth. Then Moses said, they took to wife
such of them as they chose, because when they took them, they
acted very haughtily over those whom they chose. A poor
one would exalt himself over the wife of a rich man and an
old man would sin with one who was young. The ugliest of
all would act arrogantly over the most beautiful.
(2) The sons of Cain were interested in neither the
wealth nor the appearance of those women; they were seek-
ing ploughmen for their lands that had been left uncultivat-
ed. Although this thing began because of the licentious and
poor men-the licentious being driven by beauty and the
poor being attracted to wealth-the entire tribe of Seth fol-
lowed suit and was stirred to a frenzy over them.
(3) Because the sons of Seth were going into the daugh-
ters of Cain, they turned away from their first wives whom
they had previously taken. Then these wives, too, disdained
their own continence and now, because of their husbands,
quickly began to abandon their modesty which up until that
time they had preserved for their husbands' sake. It is be-
cause of this wantonness that assailed both the men and the
women, that Scripture says, all flesh corrupted its path. 273
4. Then the Lord said, "My spirit shall not abide in man for
ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be one hundred and twenty
years. 274 This generation will not live nine hundred years like
the previous generations, for it is flesh and its days are filled
with the deeds of flesh. Therefore, their days will be one
272. See V.l, above. In his hymns, Ephrem argues strongly against the
identification of the "sons of God" being angels or heavenly creatures, as com-
monly held by many other traditions. See Hymns on the Nativity 1,48, Hymns on
Faith 46.9, and Hymns against Heresies 19.1-8. The sons of Seth are explicitly
called "sons of God" in Hymns on Nisibis 1.4, and Hymns on Paradise 1.11. For
discllssion, see Kronholm, Motif" 166-68. Compare also Ginzberg, Legend,;
1: 151-.')2, where the sons of Seth descend the mountain and act wantonly with
the daughters of Cain.
273. Gen 6.12. 274. Gen 6.3.
hundred and twenty years. If they repent during this time

they will be saved from the wrath that is about to come upon
them. But if they do not repent, by their deeds they will call
down [the wrath] upon themselves." Grace granted one
hundred and twenty years for repentance to a generation
that, according to Justice, was not worthy of repentance. 27S
5. After these things [Moses] wrote of the offspring pro-
duced from the union of the daughters of Cain and the sons
of Seth saying, There were mighty men in those days; and also af
terward, because judges went into the daughters of men, they bore
the mighty men who were of old, the mighty men of renown. 276 The
mighty men who were born were born to the feeble tribe of
Cain and not to the mighty tribe of Seth. The house of Cain,
because the earth had been cursed so as not to give them its
strength, produced small harvests, deprived of its strength,
just as it is today that some seeds, fruits, and grasses give
strength and some do not. Because, at that time, they were
cursed and sons of the cursed and were dwelling in the land
of curses, they would gather and eat produce that lacked nu-
trition, and those who ate these were without strength just
like the food that they ate. As for the Sethites, on the other
hand, because they were the descendants of the blessed
[Seth] and were dwelling in the land along the boundary of
the fence of Paradise, their produce was abundant and full
of strength. So too were the bodies of those that ate that
produce strong and powerful.
(2) Therefore, these mighty sons of Seth went into the
daughters of Cain, that fearful wanderer, and they begot for
the descendants of Cain mighty men of renown. [Moses] adds
of old, because those thus born to the descendants of Cain
were like Seth and Enosh, the first mighty men of renown.
275. See Ginzberg, T.egends, 1:1.')3, where God, in His mercy, granted this
same time for the repentance of the sinners.
276. Gen 6,4, Peshitta. ':Judges" here is another reading that occurs in the
Peshitta and Targum Neofiti-both here and at Exod 22.7. This is also the inter-
pretation found in Genesis iiflbiJah 26.5. For a history of this intelpretation, see
P. Alexander, "The Targumim and Early Exegesis of 'Sons of God' in Genesis
6,"IJS23 (1972): 60-71.
6. After Moses spoke about the mighty men who were

born into the tribe of Cain, whose women, even though
beautiful, were nevertheless smaller than the sons of Seth,
he then said, the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their
hearts was always evil,277 for in the years given to them for re-
pentance they had increased their sins. The wickedness of
mankind was great in the earth, that is, evil extended and
spread throughout both those tribes. The inclination of the
thoughts of their hearts was always evil, for their sins were not
committed only occasionally, but their sins were incessant;
night and day they would not desist from their wicked
thought.
7. Because of all this evil they committed, the Lord said, "1
will blot out [everything] from man to beast to reptile and bird, for 1
am sorry that 1 have made them."278 God was sorry does not
mean that God did not know that they would come to this,
but rather that He wished to make their great wickedness
manifest before the generations to come, that they had
committed such wantonness that they even brought to re-
morse God, who does not feel remorse. In addition, God de-
fended His justice; He did not drown them in the flood
without reason. That Nature that does not feel remorse
humbled Itself to say, "1 am sorry," so that that rebellious
generation might hear and quake in fear, and so that re-
morse might be sown in those whose heart rebelled against
remorse. 279
(2) If there had been any blemish in the works of God,
He would have created a new world and would not have pre-
served in the ark anything that had caused remorse to Him
277. Cen 6·5·

278. Gen 6.7.
279. God took on this remorse and other "human characteristics due to
human weakness." See Hymns on Faith 31.1-4, Hymns against Heresies 20.1,30.2,
36.13 (and Beck's note ad lor.). It was the Marcionites, "the children of the left
hand," who understood these verses anthropomOlphically; see Hymns on Virl,:in-
ity 29.6. See discussion in Kronholm, Motifs, 204-6; and Hidal, Interpretatio Syri-
(v·a,93- 100.
who made it. Notice that by saying, ''/ am sorry," He shows

that He was not sorry. If God were sorry on account of the
sinners, why would He be sorry concerning the beasts
and the reptiles and the birds that had committed no sin?
And if He were not sorry concerning them, why did He say,
''/ am sorry, "when He was not sorry? This remorse which, on
account of the offenders, was extended to those who com-
mitted no evil vindicates God who said, "1 am sorry," for it
was out of love for those sinners who were to perish that He
said it and not because He was announcing His ignorance.
That they should perish in their deeds was a great sorrow to
that Grace that had made them, but if they did not perish,
future generations would have been corrupted because of
them.
8. But when they showed no fear and did not repent, nei-
ther when their lives had been shortened nor when He said,
''/ am sorry, " [God] then said to Noah, "Because the end of all flesh
is before me, make yourself an ark of gopher wood: three hundred cu-
bits in length, fifty cubits in width and thirty cubits in height and
finish it to a cubit above. Make it three stories and daub it with
pitch on the outside."280 [God] brought that difficult task to
this just man in the hope that He would not have to bring
the flood upon them.
(2) Where was Noah to get gopher wood? pitch? iron? or
rope? With the assistance of what craftsmen would he con-
struct [the ark] and where would he procure laborers to
help? Who, in that generation in which all flesh corrupted its
path, would listen to him? If he and the sons of his house-
hold were to make the ark, who of all those who saw it would
not mock it? Noah began the ark in the first year that was al-
lowed that generation for repentance and he finished it in
one hundred years.
g. Although Noah was an example to that generation by
his righteousness and had, in his uprightness, announced to
280. Gen 6.13-16. In general, Ephrem uses the Syriac word qbu.ta for the
ark in this Commentary, whereas in his hpnns he uses the word /ucwelrl. See Kron-
holm, Motif'; 183, for precise references.
them the flood during that one hundred years, they still did
not repent. 281 So Noah said to them, "Some of all flesh will
come to be saved with me in the ark." But they mocked him
[saying], "How will all the beasts and birds that are scattered
throughout every corner of the earth come from all those
regions?" His Lord then said to him, "Go into the ark, you and all
your household, for I have seen that you are righteous in this genera-
tion. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals and two pairs
of the animals that are unclean." 282 He called the gentle ani-
mals clean and the vicious ones unclean, for even in the be-
ginning God had multiplied the clean ones. [Hoping] that
something visible might persuade those whom words could
not persuade, "in seven days I will send rain upon the earth for
forty days and nights and I will blot out all that I have made."28?
(2) On that same day elephants came from the east, apes
and peacocks approached from the south, other animals
gathered from the west, and still others hastened to come
from the north. Lions came from the jungles and wild
beasts arrived from their lairs. Deer and wild asses came
from their lands and the mountain beasts gathered from
their mountains.
(3) When those of that generation gathered [to see] this
novel sight, it was not to repent, but rather to amuse them-
selves. Then, in their very presence, the lions began to enter
the ark and the bulls, with no fear, hurried in right on their
heels to seek shelter with the lions. The wolves and the
lambs entered together and the hawks and the sparrows to-
gether with the doves and the eagles. 284
10. When those of that generation were still not persuad-
ed, neither by the gathering of all the animals at that time
nor by the love that instantly grew between [the animals],
281. See Hymns on Faith .')6.2. In 2 Pet 2 ..'), Noah is called "the herald of
righteousness."
282. Gen 7.2.
283. Gen 7.4.
284. In Ephrem's hymns, this peace on the ark is sign of a new beginning,
of a pre-fall state, and is thus also a type of the Church. See Kronholm, Motif"
186-90, for references.
the Lord said to Noah, ''In seven days, I will blot out everything
that I have made." 285
(2) He who granted one hundred years while the ark was
being made to that generation, and still they did not repent,
who summoned beasts that they had never seen and still
they showed no remorse, and who established a state of
peace between the predatory animals and those who are
preyed upon and still they did not fear, delayed yet seven
more days for them, even after Noah and every creature had
entered the ark, leaving the gate of the ark open to them.
This is a wonderous thing that no lion remembered its jun-
gle and no species of beast or bird visited its customary
haunt! Although those of that generation sawall that went
on outside and inside the ark, they were still not persuaded
to renounce their evil deeds. 286
(3) This long-suffering patience of one hundred and
twenty years was foremost so that they might repent and that
the righteous among them might remain so that by them
that generation might be judged, and so that the righteous
might complete their lives lest it be said, "Why did He not
leave those who did not sin?" Because God had already en-
dured the trial of that generation for one hundred years,
He subtracted twenty years. But the seven days which He de-
layed after the beasts had entered [the ark] were more than
the twenty years He subtracted from them because of the
signs [done in them] .287
1 1. If they did not repent because of the signs done in
those seven days, it was clear that they would not have re-
pented in the twenty years in which there would have been
no signs. Therefore God sent off, with many fewer sins,
those whose lives He had shortened by twenty years.
(2) For this reason, at the end oj the seven days, in the six
285. Gen 7.4.

286. See Hymns on NiamzediaS.9S-114.
287. The idea that God gave that evil generation more than sufficient time
to repent is deeply rooted in Jewish tradition. See Ginzberg, T.egends, 1 :1.')4
(where the extra week is out of regard for the memory of Methuselah) , and fur-
ther references in Kronholm, Motif" 18S, 191.
hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seven-

teenth day of the month, the springs of the great abyss burst forth
and the flood gates of heaven were opened. The Lord shut the door
before Noah,288 lest those left behind come at the time of the
floods and break down the gate of the ark. The deluge came
and God blotted out all flesh. Only Noah was left and those that
were with him in the ark. 289 The springs of the abyss and the
flood gates of heaven were open forty days and forty
nights 290 and the ark was afloat for one hundred fifty days.291
12. But after one hundred fifty days the waters began to subside
and the ark came to rest on Mt. Qardu. 292 In the tenth month the
tops of the mountains were seen. In the six hundred and first year,
in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried
from off the earth. In the second month, that is, Iyor, on the twenty-
seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.293 Therefore, Noah
and those with him had been in the ark three hundred sixty-
five days, for from the seventeenth of the second month,
that is, Iyor, until the twenty-seventh of the same month the
following year, according to the lunar reckoning, there were
three hundred sixty-five days.294 Notice then that even the
generation of the house of Noah employed this reckoning
288. Gen7.11,16.
289. Gen 7.23.
290. Cf. Gen 7.12. See Hymns on Nicomedia 5.145-46, where Ephrem also
echoes Jewish exegesis that the flood waters came from beneath the earth as
well as from the skies. See also A. Levene, The ~'arly Syrian Fathers on Genesis
(London, 1951) 82-83, 186.
291. Cf. Gen 7.24, 8.3-4.
292. Following the Peshitta, Josephus, Antiquities 1.3, 5-6, Genesis iiflbiJah
33-4, the Eu'gums on this verse; see P>eudo-jonathan at 2 Kings 19.37 and Isa
37.38, Ephrem locates the resting of the ark not on Ararat but on Mt. Qardu,
in northern Iraq. See Kronholm, Motif" 201. For the history of the tradition of
the resting place of the ark, see L. R. Bailey, Noah: The Penon and the Story in His-
tory and Tradition (Columbia, South Carolina, 1989) 61-82, especially, 65-68;
and GillZberg, Legend.,; 5: 186, n-48.
For Ephrem, the landing of the ark on Mt. Qardu signaled the final and
complete separation of humanity from Paradise. See Hymns on Paradise 1.10.
293· Gen 8'3-5, 13-14.
294. Compare the chronology of the various stages of the flood found in
Ginzberg, I>egends, 1:163.
of three hundred sixty-five days in a year. Why then should

you say that it was the Chaldeans and Egyptians who invent-
ed and developed it?29S
(2) Then God said to Noah, "Go out, you and your wife and
your sons and your sons' wives." 296 Those whom he had
brought in one by one in order to maintain chastity on the
ark, he brought out two by two so that they might be fruitful
and multiply in creation.2m Even with respect to the animals
that had preserved their chastity in the ark [God} said, "Bring
forth with you every animal that is with you of all flesh that they
might breed on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on it."2'lS
13. Mter Noah and all those with him went out, [Noah}
took of every clean animal and offered up a whole burnt offering on
an altar. 2'l'l Now, either every clean bird and beast was com-
pletely obedient to Noah after they came out, or on the day
that they went out from the ark, [Noah] took from all the
clean flesh and offered an acceptable sacrifice to God and
so made the flood pass away from the earth.
(2) The Lord smelled,'lOo not the smell of the flesh of ani-
mals or the smoke of wood, but He looked out and saw the
simplicity of heart with which [Noah] offered the sacrifice
from all and on behalf of all. And his Lord spoke to him, as
He desired that Noah hear, "Because of your righteousness, a
remnant was preserved and did not perish in that flood that took
place. And because of your sacrifice that was from all flesh and on
behalf of all flesh, I will never again bring a flood upon the
earth."?'O[ God thus bound Himself beforehand by this
promise so that even if mankind were constantly to follow
the evil thoughts of their inclination, He would never again
bring a flood upon them.
2g5. Ephrem makes the same point in Hymns on the Crucifixion 6.1 8.
2g6. Cen 8.16.
2g7. For the animal's preselvation of chastity on the ark, see VI.2, above,
the Commentary on the Diatessaron II.6, Hymns on Nisibis 1.g, Hymns on the Nativity
28.1. See also Cinzberg, Legend,; 1: 166, for this same celibacy inJewish tradi-
tion. Although Ephrem does not mention it here, Noah also kept chastity on the
ark. See Hymns on the Nativity 1.22, Armenian Hymns 4.13, Hymns on Nisibis 1-4.
2g8. Cen 8.17. 2gg. Cen 8.20.
300. Cen 8.21. 301. Cf. Cen g.11-15.
(3) And because there was neither planting nor harvest

during that year and the seasonal cycles had been disturbed,
God restored to the earth that which had been taken away
in His anger and then said, "All the days of the earth, planting
and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter; day and night
shall not cease from the earth."302 For throughout the entire
forty days of rain it had been night, and throughout the en-
tire year, until the earth dried up, winter, with no summer,
had been upon them.
14. [God] also blessed Noah and his sons that they might
be fruitful and multiply and that fear of them should fall
upon all flesh both in the sea and on dry land. 303 "Only you
shall not eat flesh with its life," 304 that is, you shall eat no flesh
that has not been slaughtered and whose blood, which is its
life, has not been drained. God established three covenants
with Noah: one, that they should not eat blood; one of retal-
iation, that God will require the blood of animals; and one
that a murderer is to be put to death.305
15. "1 will require your blood from every beast and from the hand
ofman."306 He requires it now and in the future. He requires
it now in the case of a death that He decreed for a murder-
er, and also a stoning with which a goring bull is to be
stoned. 307 At the end, at the time of the resurrection, God
will require that animals return all that they ate from the
flesh of man.
(2) God said, "From the hand of a man and of his brother 1 will
require the life of a man," 308 just as satisfaction for the blood of
Abel was required from Cain, that is, whoever sheds the blood of
man, by man shall his blood be shed. 309 The phrase in the image of
God He made . .. ,310 concerns his authority for, like God, he
has the power to grant life and to kill.
(3) Mter these things God made a covenant with Noah
and with all those who came out of the ark with him, saying,
302. Gen 8.22. 303. Cf. Gen 9.1-2.

304· Gen 9-4- 305. Cf. Gen 9.5-7.
306. Gen 9 ..'). 307. Cf. Exod 21.28.
308. Gen 9 ..'). 309. Gen 9.6.
310. Gen 9.6.
''All flesh shall never again perish in the waters oj a flood. I will set
my bow in the clouds and it shall be a sign oj the eternal covenant
between God and all flesh that is on the earth." m
Section VII
1. After these things [Moses] wrote of how Noah planted a
vineyard and drank oj its wine, got drunk, Jell asleep, and lay un-
covered in his tent. Ham saw the nakedness oj his Jather and told
his two brothers outside. m Noah's drunkenness was not from
an excess of wine but because it had been a long time since
he had drunk any wine. In the ark he had drunk no wine; al-
though all flesh was going to perish Noah was not permitted
to bring any wine onto the ark. During the year after the
flood Noah did not drink any wine. In that [first] year after
he left the ark, he did not plant a vineyard, for he came out
of the ark on the twenty-seventh of Iyor, the time when the
fruit should be starting to mature and not the time for
planting a vineyard. Therefore, seeing that it was in the
third year that he planted the vineyard from the grape
stones that he brought with him on the ark, and that it was
three or even four years before they would have become a
productive vineyard, there were, then, at least six years dur-
ing which the just one had not tasted any wine.
2. Another indication that it was the long absence of wine
that had caused Noah to become so drunk is when Moses
said, Ham went out into the street and told his brothers.'Il'\ How
could there be a street there, unless they had built a village
for themselves? If they had built a village it would have
taken them several years to build. Therefore the building of
a village and the laying out of its streets also bear witness
that it had been many years, as we said, since the old man
had drunk any wine, and that is the reason he became so
drunk.'I14
311. Cen 9.13. 312. Cen 9.21-22.

313. Cen 9.22. "Into the street" is the reading in the Peshitta and Tarl,:um
Pseudrrlonathan.
314. Here, and in Hymns on Nisibis 57.5, Ephrem goes to great lengths to
ensure that no guilt is impugned to Noah. See, however, Hymns on VilbriniLy
(2) The brothers of [Ham], knowing the nobility of their

father and that he, like Jacob, was protected by angels both
while awake and while asleep, hid his nakedness, trembling
all the while; their faces did not see his nakedness.315
3. When Noah awoke and realized everything that his youngest
son had done to him 316-for Noah had been both sleeping and
awake. He was sleeping in that he had not perceived his
nakedness, but awake in that he had been aware of every-
thing that his youngest son had done to him. [Noah] cursed
Canaan, saying, "Cursed be Canaan. A slave of slaves shall he be
to his brothers." 317 But what sin could Canaan have committed
even if he had been right behind his father when Ham ob-
served the nakedness of Noah?
(2) Some say that because Ham had been blessed along
with those who entered the ark and came out of it, Noah did
not curse Ham himself, even though his son, who was
cursed, grieved him greatly. Others, however, say that from
that the fact that Scripture says, Noah knew everything that his
youngest son had done to him, it is clear that it was not Ham,
for Ham was the middle son and not the youngest. For this
reason they speak of the youngest son, who was Canaan, and
say that Canaan the youngest told of the nakedness of the
old man. Then Ham went out into the street and jokingly
told his brothers. For this reason then, even though it might
be thought that Canaan was cursed unjustly, in that he did
what he did in his youth, still he was cursed justly for he was
not cursed in the stead of another. For Noah knew that un-
less Canaan was to deserve the curse in his old age, he
would not have been cursed in his youth.
(3) Ham was justly withheld from both the blessing and
from the curse. If he had been cursed even because of his
laughter, he would have been cursed justly, but had he been
1.10, where "wine exposed and cast down Noah, the head of families." By im-
pugning no guilt to Noah Ephrem differs frornJewish tradition. See Cinzberg,

I>egends, 1:167-68, and Genesis Rabbah 26-32, passim.
315. See also Hymns on Faith 9.2. For a more typological interpretation, see
Hymns on the Nativity 1.23.
316. Cen 9.24. 317. Cen 9.25.
cursed, all the sons of Ham who had taken no part in the
jesting or the laughing would have been cursed along with
Ham. Therefore, Canaan was cursed because of his jesting
and Ham was deprived of the blessing because of his laugh-
ter.
4. After Ham had been cursed through his one son,
[Noah] blessed Shem andJaphet and said, "May God increase
Japhet and may He dwell in the tent oj Shem, and let Canaan be
their slave." YoW J aphet increased and became powerful in his
inheritance in the north and in the west. And God dwelt in
the tent of Abraham, the descendant of Shem, and Canaan
became their slave when in the days of Joshua bar-Nun, the
Israelites destroyed the dwelling-places of [Canaan] and
pressed their leaders into bondage. Yo19
Section VIII
1. After those things, [Moses] wrote about the nations
that came from Noah. From and including Japhet there
were fifteen nations. From and including Ham there were
thirty nations, apart from the Philistines and the Cappado-
cians who later came from them. From and including Shem
there were twenty-seven nations, a total of seventy-two na-
tions. Each of these nations dwelt in its own distinct place
with its own people and [spoke] its own tongue.'I20
(2) Concerning Nimrod, [Moses] said, He was a mighty
hunter before the Lord/ 21 because, according to the will of the
Lord, it was he who fought with each of these nations and
chased them out from there so that they would go out and
settle in the regions that had been set apart for them by
God. Therefore it is said, like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the
Lord.'I22 One used to bless a chief or a ruler by saying, "May
318. Gen 9.27.

320. See Hymns against Heresies 7.7, and Se17lwnes II.248{ff.
321. Gen 10.g.
322. Gen 10.g. For Ephrem's view of Nimrod in relation to other Christian
traditions, see P. W. van der Horst, "Nimrod after the Bible," in idem, ~\says on
the Jewish World oJEady Christianity, Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus, no.
14 (Fribourg-Gottingen, Igg0) 220-32.
you be like Nimrod, a mighty hunter who was victorious in

the battles of the Lord." Nimrod reigned in Erech, which is now
Edessa, and in Accad, which is now Nisibis, and in Calah,
which is now Seleucia-Ctesiphon, Rehoboth, which is now Adi-
abene, Calah,323 which is now Hatra, and Resen, the great city
(that is, at that time) ,324 which is now Reshaina.
2. Then Moses said, the whole earth had one language, and
they said, "Let us build a city and a tower with its top in the heav-
ens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over
the face of the earth."325 For what purpose would those who had
nothing to fear build a fortified city or a tower that reaches
to heaven, since they had a firm covenant that there would
be no flood? They said, "Lest we be scattered over the face of the
whole earth. " But who else was there, apart from themselves,
to scatter them? From the fact that they said, "Let us make a
name for ourselves, " it is clear that their vainglory and their
unity, which built both the city and the tower, were brought
to nought because of the division that came upon them.
3. And the Lord came down to see the city/26 that is, the Lord
saw the work of their mad folly and said, "Nothing that they
propose will be impossible for them,"327 that is, they will not es-
cape punishment, for the opposite of that which they said,
"lest we be scattered, "will befall them. "Come, let us go down and
there confuse their languages." 328 Here, God was not speaking to
one, for this "Come, let us go down, "would be superfluous [if
only said] to one. He said it both to the Son and to the Spir-
it so that neither the ancient nor the more recent
languages 329 be given without the Son and the Spirit.
(2) "Let us confuse their tongues, so that they will not under-
stand one another's language."33o It is likely that they lost their
323. For the two Calah's, see Jansma, "Investigations," 164. For similar
equations, compare Genesis lUlbbah 37.4.
324. Cen 10.10-12. 32.'). Cen 11.1,4.
326. Cen 11..'). 327. Cen 11.6.
328. Gen 11.7.
329. Ephrem perhaps has in mind here the "new tongues" of Mark 16.17,
or Acts 2.4.
330. Gen 11.7.
common language when they received these new languages,

for if their original language had not perished their first
deed would not have come to nought. It was when they lost
their original language, which was lost by all the nations,
with one exception, that their first building came to nought.
In addition, because of their new languages, which made
them foreigners to each other and incapable of understand-
ing one another, war broke out among them on account of
the divisions that the languages brought among them.
4. Thus, war broke out among those who had been build-
ing that fortified city out of fear of others. And all those who
had been keeping themselves away from [the city] were scat-
tered throughout the entire earth.
(2) It was Nimrod who scattered them. It was also he who
seized Babel and became its first ruler. If Nimrod had not
scattered them each to his own place, he would not have
been able to take that place where they all [had lived be-
fore].
Section IX
1. After these things, [Moses] once again began to enu-
merate the generations from Noah to Abraham saying that
Noah begot Shem and his brothers and Shem begot
Arpachshad, and Arpachshad Shelah, and Shelah Eber, and
Eber Peleg, and Peleg Reu, and Reu Serug, and Serug
Nahor, and Nahor Terah, and Terah Abraham, Nahor, and
Haran. Haran begot Lot and Milcah and Iscah, that is,
Sarah, who was called Iscah for her beauty.??[ These two
[married] their uncles. gg2
2. And Terah took Abraham his son, Lot his grandson, and
Sarah his daughter-in-law out of Ur of the Chaldees and he went
and dwelt in Haran. gg ? God appeared to Abram g?4 and said to him,
331. For the vatious interpretations of the natne Iscah in SyIiac tradition,
see Jansma, "Investigations," 164-65. This identification ofIscah with Sarah is
commonplace in Jewish tradition. Sarah was held to be so beautiful that even
the most beautiful women were as apes in comparison. See Ginzberg, Legend.,;
1:60, 203,222,2 8 7.
332. Cf. Gen 11.10-29. 333. Gen 11.31.
334. Although Ephrem makes nothing of the change in Abrahatn's natne,
"Go out from your father's house to the land that I will show you.
And I will make of you a great nation." 335 So Abraham left his
parents who did not wish to go out with him and took Lot
who believed the promise made to him. Since [God] had
not made [Lot] ajoint heir [with Abraham], neither did He
allow the descendants of Abraham to enter into the inheri-
tance with the descendants of Lot. Abraham then took
Sarah and Lot and went to Canaan. 336
3. And there was afamine in the land and Abram went down to
Egypt and said to Sarah, "When the Egyptians see you and say to
you, 'She is his wife, ' say 'I am his sister, , so that my life may be
spared because of yoU."337 Abraham gave a human reason as
human beings do. Nevertheless, because Sarah thought it
was Abraham who was sterile, she was taken to the palace:
first, so that she might learn that it was she who was bar-
ren;338 secondly, so that her love for her husband might be
seen, for she did not exchange [her husband] for a king
while she was a sojourner; and [lastly], so that the mystery
of her descendants might be depicted in her. Just as she had
no love for the kingdom of Egypt, they would not love the
idols, the garlic, or the onions of Egypt. Just as the entire
house of Pharaoh was struck by Sarah's deliverance, so too
would all Egypt be struck down by the deliverance of her de-
scendants. 339
(2) Pharaoh's household was struck down because they
honored [Sarah] above [Pharaoh], and because they de-
he preserves the form Abram wherever the Peshitta text does. Therefore. our
translation reads Abram on each occasion that Ephrem does.
33.'). Gen 12.1-2. 336. Cf. Gen 12 ..').
337. Gen 12.10-13.
338. Compare Hymns on Virginity 1.9: "Sarah was chaste in the bosom of
Pharaoh:' See also Hymns on Virginity 22.16-17. Jewish tradition also held
Sarah to have been saved from this impmity; see Genesis Rd,bah 53.6. A mlmlra,
later attributed to Ephrem, develops this idea further. See S. P. Brock and S.
Hopkins, "A Verse Homily on Abraham and Sarah in Egypt: Syriac Original
with Early Arabic Translation," LM 105 (1992): 87-146; and, for a later version
of the same mf,nra, A. Caquot, "Une homelie ethiopienne attribuee a saint Mari
Ephrem sur Ie sejour d'Abraham et Sara en Egypte," in Mi/anges Antoine Guil-
laumonl (Geneva, 1988) 173-85.
339. Cf. Exod 14.26-28.
sired [Pharaoh] to marry her. Pharaoh was also struck down

because he forced her to become his wife, although she was
unwilling. Only to avoid their killing her and her husband
would she have yielded in this matter.
Section X
1. And a quarrel arose between the herdsmen of Abram and the
herdsmen of Lot.'I40 Justice sent the contentious servants of Lot
to the quarrelsome Sodomites to be chastised along with
them and so that Lot might be delivered from them. Al-
though the land had been promised to Abraham, he al-
lowed Lot to choose the land of the Jordan, that is, all the
land of Sodom, which was watered by the Jordan.
2. After Lot had departed, the Lord appeared to Abram and said
to him, "Rise, walk through the land, its length and its width, for I
will give it to you." 'I4! Here the cross is clearly delineated.
Thus that land promised to the forefathers through the
mystery of the cross, because of the cross, repudiated any
other heirs.
Section Xl
1. After these things, Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam,
came with three allied kings to wage war against the king of
Sodom and his four allies. The king of Sodom and his allies
fled, and those with Chedorlaomer seized all the goods of
Sodom as well as Lot and his goods and went off. Then
Abraham led his 318 servants along with Aner and two of
his companions, who were his allies. Abraham overtook
them, routed them, and brought back the spoil and their
goods and Lot his nephew and his goods.'I42 But, because the
goods of the Sodomites had been intermingled with those
of the kings, Abraham refused [to take] any plunder from
the kings.
2. Melchizedek, the King of Salem, brought out bread and wine.
He was a priest of God Most High. And he blessed [Abram} and
340. Cell 13.7.

341. Cell 13.11, 13-14.
342. Cf. Cell 14.1-2, 10-16.
said, "Blessed is the Lord who has delivered your enemies into your
hand. "And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 343
(2) This Melchizedek is Shem, who became a king due to
his greatness; he was the head of fourteen nations. 344 In ad-
dition, he was a priest. He received this from Noah, his father,
through the rights of succession. Shem lived not only to the
time of Abraham, as Scripture says, but even to [the time of]
Jacob and Esau, the grandsons of Abraham. It was to him
that Rebekah went to ask and was told, "Two nations are in
your womb and the older shall be a servant to the younger." 345 Re-
bekah would not have bypassed her husband, who had been
delivered at the high place, or her father-in-law, to whom rev-
elations of the divinity came continually, and gone straight
to ask Melchizedek unless she had learned of his greatness
from Abraham or Abraham's son.
(3) Abraham would not have given him a tenth of every-
thing unless he knew that Melchizedek was infinitely greater
than himself. Would Rebekah have asked one of the
Canaanites or one of the Sodomites? Would Abraham have
given a tenth of his possessions to anyone of these? One
ought not even entertain such ideas.
(4) Because the length of Melchizedek's life extended to
the time of Jacob and Esau, it has been stated, with much
probability, that he was Shem. His father Noah was dwelling
in the east and Melchizedek was dwelling between two
tribes, that is, between the sons of Ham and his own sons.
Melchizedek was like a partition between the two, for he was
afraid that the sons of Ham would turn his own sons to idol-
atry.
343. Cen 14.18-20.

344. Contra Heb 7.3. Ephrem makes the same identification of
Melchizedek with Shem in Armenian Hymns 9.11-12 (mistranslated by Mmies
because he did not realize Ephrem made this equation; see n.12.') on p. 249).
For Jewish background, see Ginzberg, T>egends, 1:233,314 (where he is consult-
ed by Rebekah); s.v. "Shem" in ~'ncy,.l()jJediaJudaim 5:225-26, and discussion in
Hidal, TnterjJretatio Syriaca, 116-18. Epiphanius, Panarion .').').6, claims that it was
the Samaritans who made the identification of Shem and Melchizedek.
345. Gen 25.22-23. Jewish tradition also holds that Sarah consulted
Melchizedek. See Ginzberg, T>egends, 1 :314, and Genesis Rabbah 4.').1 o.
Section XII
AJter these things, God appeared to Abraham in a vision and
1.
said to him, "Your reward will be very great," '146-because of your
righteous action toward the captives whom you rescued. But
Abraham said, "VVhat will you give me, Jor I continue to be childless
and a slave born in my house will become my heir?" God brought
Abraham outside and said to him, "Look toward heaven and num-
ber the stars if you are able to number them. " Then God said, "So
shall your descendants be. " Abraham believed and this too was reck-
oned to him as great righteousness.?47 Because he believed in a
matter that was so difficult that few would have believed, it
was reckoned to him as righteousness.
(2) At that same moment that God praised Abraham for
his faith, God said to him, "I am the Lord who brought you Jrom
Ur oj the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess. " But Abraham
said, ''How shall I know that I am to possess this land?"'14S
2. There are those who say that it was because Abraham
doubted this that it was said to him, ''Know oj a surety that
your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs." '14')
But let those who say this know that at that same time Abra-
ham believed his descendants would become like the
sand. goO If Abraham believed a matter so great as that from
one old sterile woman his descendants would become like
the sand, would he have any doubts, then, about such a little
matter as that of land?
(2) If Abraham, who had not doubted about that great
matter, was in doubt [about this small matter], why did
[God} say to him, "Take a three-year old goat, a three-year old ram,
a turtledove and a pigeon"? 'IS! Abraham was told these things
in the night and then he did them in the day. From dawn to
evening Abraham stood before his offering and chased away
all the birds that wished to feed on his sacrifice.'1S2 After the
fire had come down upon Abraham's acceptable sacrifice
346. Cell 15.1.
347. Cf. Cen 1.').2-6; and Rom 4.3, 22.
348. Cen 1.').7-8. 349. Cen 15. 13.
350. Cf. Cell 13.16. 351. Cell 15·9·
3.')2. Cen 15.11.
that evening, God appeared to him and spoke to him.gSg If

God had spoken to Abraham as if to punish him, He would
not have accepted his sacrifice, nor would He have estab-
lished a covenant with him on that day, nor would He have
promised him that ten nations would become servants to his
descendants, nor would it have been said that he would be
buried at a ripe old age. gS4
(3) If all these good things came to him on that day be-
cause he believed and it was accounted to him as righteousness,
then how can anyone say that on the very same day a man
became worthy of great rewards because of his faith, his
seed received punishment because of his lack of faith?
3. In that difficult matter, Abraham believed that a world
of people would pour forth from the dead womb of Sarah.
With respect to the matter of the land, Abraham did not
question if it would come to pass but asked how it would
come to pass. Abraham had seen the land of Canaan with its
kings and its armies and had seen how populated it was,
filled with its inhabitants. He had also heard, at that time,
that the land was to be given not to him but rather to his
seed. Abraham wished, therefore, since this was not to occur
in his days, that God let him know how it would come about
that his seed would enter and possess it.
(2) Abraham thought, "Perhaps these kings will destroy
each other or other peoples might rise up and destroy them
and empty out the land for us. Perhaps my seed will become
strong and will go and slay its inhabitants and possess it, or
maybe the land will swallow [its inhabitants] because of
their deeds. Perhaps, the [inhabitants] might go into exile
into another land because of hunger or rumor or some such
reason. Abraham sought to know which of these [would
happen], but he had no doubts whatsoever.
(3) Then God, who knew what he sought, showed him
what he did not seek in addition to what he did seek. For by
the offering that Abraham made [when] the birds came
down and he chased them away, God clearly showed him
3.')3. Gen 1.').17·
354. Gell 15.18-20.15.
that his descendants would sin and be oppressed but would

be saved through the prayers of their righteous ones. And
by the pot of fire that came down, God made known that
even if all their righteous ones should come to an end, deliv-
erance from heaven would come to them. By the three-year
old calf and the three-year old ram and the three-year old
goat [God showed him] that either they would be delivered
after three generations or that kings, priests, and prophets
would soon arise from among his descendants. By the limbs
of the animals that Abraham cut in two [God] depicted
their many tribes, and by the bird that Abraham did not cut
in two [God] signified their unity.
4. After He showed him these things [God} said to [Abra-
ham}, "You will surely know" what you desired to know, "that
your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs." 'ISS
But they will not go down as if into captivity; they will go
down with cattle and oxen that will be sent after them, and
"they will become slaves for four hundred years," '1S6 for they will
not be persuaded to go unless they have been enslaved. "But
I will bring judgment on the nation who will enslave them and they
shall come out with great possessions and, as for yourself, you will be
gathered to your fathers at a ripe old age and the fourth generation
shall return here." '1S7
(2) The verse the iniquity of the Amorites is not complete'lS8 is
to show that not until the full measure of their sins would
they receive their just punishment by the sword.
5. And [Moses] said, Sleep fell upon Abram.'1s') It was the
same deep sleep that fell upon Abimelech. The sleep fell
upon Abraham when God appeared to him and established
a covenant with him that ten nations would become slaves
to his descendants and that God would give his descendants
the land from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates River as
an inheritance.'160
355. Cell 15. 13. 356. Cell 15.3.

3S7. Cen 15. 14-16. 3S8. Cen 15.16.
359. Cell 15. 12. 360. Cell 15.18-20.
Section XIII
1. In that same year when Sarah saw that she was barren
she said to Abraham, "Behold, the Lard has prevented me from
bearing children. Go into my maid that perhaps I may be comforted
by her."361 Mter Abraham counseled her to be patient and she
refused, [Moses] wrote that Abraham hearkened to the voice of
his wife/ 52 and she gave him Hagar, the Egyptian, whom
Pharaoh had given her along with all the other things he
gave her when he had taken her as a wife.
2. And when Hagar conceived, she looked with contempt on her
mistress,363 for Hagar thought that it would be her seed that
would enter and possess the promised land. Although Sarah
could have taken her and punished her, she saw that, even
though Hagar had been her maid up to the time that Sarah
gave her to her husband, she had now become her rival
wife. Then, lest she disgrace Abraham by showing contempt
to his concubine, Sarah said to him, "My wrong be upon you; 364 I
did not exchange you for a king, yet now you prefer a maid
to me. Hagar, whom I gave to you for the sake of the com-
fort that might come to me, instead of announcing to me
that my prayer had been heard and that she had conceived,
has rendered me evil instead of the good that I did to her,
for she has made me a bitter reproach in the eyes of all her
fellow servants."
3. When Hagar, who trusted in Abraham, saw that he
took and handed her over to her mistress, after Sarah had
been made an object of reproach, she took fright and fled.
An angel found her and said to her, "Return to your mistress
and submit to her; for your descendants will multiply so that they
cannot be numbered for their multitude, because the Lord has given
heed to your servitude, " that you have given yourself up to re-
turn and serve your mistress. "You shall bear a son and you
shall name him Ishmael. He shall be a wild ass of a man because he
will dwell in the wilderness and, like a wild ass, he will not enter in-
habited land. His hand will be against everyone, "to do them vi-
361. Gen 16.2. 362. Gen 16.2-3.

363. Gell 16+ 364. Gell 16.5.
olence "and everyone's hand will be against him, " for he will
strike at all peoples and all peoples will strike at him. ''He
shall dwell along the border of all his kinsmen," '165 that is, the sons
of Sarah and Keturah, for the inheritances have been divid-
ed among the sons of Shem.
4. Hagar heard that Abraham was to have many sons, but
not from her. Hagar was convinced that Abraham would not
again come into her, for she knew that he would only have
intercourse with her until it was known that she had con-
ceived. Mter that he would not touch her again. Abraham
went into her to do the will of Sarah, so that Sarah might
have a little comfort from Hagar until God should make her
joyful with fruit from her own womb.
(2) Hagar said, "You are a God of seeing/66 who truly conde-
scends to appear to those who worship you. "Then she added, ''/
have seen a vision after you saw me," Yom because, prior to this, an
angel had appeared to her in silence so that she would not
be afraid. Then after the angel spoke with her there ap-
peared to her a vision within the vision, that is, God in the
angel. Therefore she called the well "the well of the Living One has
seen me."Yo68
5. Then Hagar went and sought her mistress. When
Hagar recounted to Abraham and Sarah the vision that she
had seen and that the angel had said that her son would
dwell at the boundary of his kinsmen, the grief that had afflicted
Sarah was now blotted out by the good news that she
brought to Sarah. Then Hagar gave birth and Abraham named
his son Ishmael as he had been instructed by Hagar. Yo6'l
Section XIV
1. VVhen [Abraham} was ninety-nine years old, the Lord ap-
peared to him and said, "Be blameless in the covenant that I am
about to make with you and I will multiply you and will set you up
as many nations," that is, tribes. But it was also fulfilled con-
cerning the sons of Esau, the sons of Keturah, and Ishmael
365. Gell 16.7-12. 366. Gell 16.13.

367. Gell 16.13. 368. Gell 16.14.
369. Cell 16.1.').
who became nations. "And kings shall come forth from you, "
that is, from the house of Judah and Ephraim and the
Edomites. But "this is my covenant: you shall circumcise every
male in the flesh of the foreskin." 370
2. And God said to Abraham, "I will give you a son from Sarah,
and I will bless him and he will become nations. " Then Abraham
fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, "Can a child be
born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is nine-
ty years old, bear a child?" And he said, "0 that Ishmael might live
in your sight!" 371
(2) Now Abraham was not guilty of any doubt by his
laughter, for he showed his love towards Ishmael in what he
said. He had clung to this hope for twenty-five years. Abra-
ham had manifested his faith in every vision that had come
to him. However great his contest with barrenness became,
he manifested the victory of his faith. But when old age was
added to the barrenness he laughed in his heart. That his
Lord would do these two things for him was a marvel to
him. For [God] had said to him, "Truly, Sarah, your wife, will
bear you a son; I would in no wise test you, [to see] whether you
would also believe in something that I would not do for you. As for
Ishmael, I have heard you, behold, I have blessed him and multi-
plied him." 372
3. For if Abraham had had the smallest doubt, God would
not have sworn to him in truth, nor would He have heeded
him concerning Ishmael, nor would He have announced to
Abraham that in another year a son would be born to him.
[God] would have brought censure and reproof upon him.
Then [God] said concerning Ishmael, "He shall become the fa-
ther of twelve princes,"373 for he became twelve Arab tribes, like
Jacob who became twelve tribes. Then, on that very day, Abra-
ham circumcised himself and his son Ishmael and all the males of
his household. 374
(2) Because the Giver had committed himself to give
Abraham the gift the following year, Abraham began to re-
370. Gen 17.1-2,6,10. 371. Gen 17.16-18.

372. Gen 17.19-20. 373. Gen 17·20.
374· Gen 17·23·
flect on when he would be blessed and when the closed

womb of Sarah would be opened. Would this occur in a vi-
sion or not? While he was reflecting on this, the Lord appeared
to him while he was sitting at the door of his tent in the heat of the
day.?7s But, while Abraham was seeking to fill the eyes of his
heart with this revelation, God took Himself up from him.
4. Then, while Abraham was considering why God had
appeared and then hid Himself without speaking to him, he
looked, and behold, he saw three men standing above him. He for-
got his thoughts and ran from the tent door to meet them.'!76
Section XV
1. Although Abraham ran from the tent toward them as if
toward strangers, he ran to receive those strangers with love.
His love for strangers was thus proved by the haste with
which he ran to meet those strangers. Therefore, the Lord,
who had just appeared to him at the door of the tent, now
appeared to Abraham clearly in one of the three.
(2) Abraham then fell down and worshipped Him, seek-
ing from Him in whom majesty dwelt that He vouchsafe to
enter his house and bless his dwelling. ''If I have found favor
in your sight, do not pass by your servant." '177 God did not op-
pose him, for He said, ''Do as you have said. "Then Abraham
ran to Sarah [telling her] to make three measures of wheat
and then he ran to the herd to get a fatted calp78
2. The bread and meat, which was in abundance, was not
to satisty the angels, but rather so that the blessing might be
distributed to all the members of his household. After the
angels had washed and sat down beneath a tree, Abraham
brought and set before them what he had prepared; he did not
dare recline with them, but like a servant stood apart from
them.'!7')
(2) After they had eaten, they inquired about Sarah. She,
375. Gen 18.1.

376. Gen 18.2. Armenian Hymns 31-32 are devoted to this peIicope. See
also Armenian Hymns 44. 1 - 1 4; 4.').
377. Gen 18·3· 378. Cf. Gen 18.6-7.
379. Gen 18.8.
who even in her old age had preserved her modesty, came
out from inside the tent to the door of the tent. 380 From
Abraham's haste and from the silence that Abraham im-
posed on everyone with his gestures, those of his household
knew that these who, because of the man of God, allowed
their feet to be washed like men were not men.
3. Then [God] said of Sarah, "At this time I will return to you
and Sarah will have a son. " But Sarah, even though Abraham
was standing behind her to strengthen her, laughed to herself
and said, "After I have grown old shall I [again] have youthful-
ness? My husband is also old." 381 A sign would have been given
her if she had asked to hear or to see and then believe: first,
because she was a woman, old and barren; and secondly, be-
cause nothing like this had ever been done before. God
then gave a sign specifically to her who had not asked for a
sign, and said, "Why did you laugh Sarah, and say, 'Am 1, who
am old, to bear a child?"'382 But Sarah, instead of accepting
the sign that was given to her, persisted, by this falsehood, in
denying the true sign that had been given to her. Even
though she had denied it because she was afraid, neverthe-
less, in order to make her know that a false excuse did not
convince Him, God said to her, "But you did laugh 383 in your
heart; 10, even your heart is denying the foolishness of your
tongue."
Section XVI
1. Mter the three men promised Sarah fruit, they arose and
they looked toward Sodom. 384 It was not revealed to Sarah that
they were going to Sodom lest, on the same day that they
had given her joy in the promise that a son was to be hers,
she be grieving over her brother on account of that sen-
tence of wrath decreed on Sodom and the nearby villages.
They hid this from Sarah lest she never cease weeping, but
they revealed it to Abraham 385 so that he not cease praying,
and so that it be announced to the world that nowhere in
380. Gen 18.9-10. 381. Gen 18.10-12.

382. Cen 18.13. 383. Cen 18.15.
384. Cen 18.16. 38.'). Cen 18.17-19.
Sodom was there found a single just man for whose sake it
might be saved.
(2) The cry against Sodom and Gomarrah was great and their
sins were very grave.?86 (The cry just mentioned is explained
by the sins which he recounts below.) Then God said, "1 have
come down to see if they have done altogether according to the outcry
that has come to me and if not, 1 will know." '187 It was not that
God, who had just said, their sins were very grave, did not know
that they had sinned. This was an example to judges not to
prejudge a case, even based on very reliable hearsay. For if
He who knows all set aside His knowledge lest He exact
vengeance without full knowledge before the trial, how
much more should they set aside their ignorance and not ef-
fect judgment before the case is heard.
2. Then two angels set out for Sodom and they went di-
rectly to the gate where Lot was sitting to receive strangers
who came there. Lot rose to meet them as if to meet
strangers, but when he drew near to them there appeared in
the second angel the same vision that Abraham had seen in
the third, and Lot bowed himself with his face to the ground. '188
(2) Even to the Sodomites they appeared in a favorable
aspect, for He said, ''/ have come down to see." For this ''/ have
come down to see," [means] "I have come down to test them."
If they had not run after the vision they saw with such rabid
fury, even though their former sins would not have been
forgiven, they still would not have received the punishment
that they were about to receive.
3. Lot then hastened to bring them inside before the
Sodomites gathered and caused them any offence, but [the
angels] kept stalling on various pretexts so that the Sod-
omites would come and be tested by them. In the case of
Abraham, they had not tarried because they were not in any
way testing him; they had come down to give him a reward
for his test. Since they had come down to test Sodom, they
said to Lot, who was pressing them to enter, "No, we will
spend the night in the street." ?89
386. Gen 18.20. 387. Gen 18.21.
388. Cf. Gen 19.1. 389. Gen 19.2.
4. But Lot urged them more strongly and so they entered

and ate, but before they lay down to sleep, the men of Sodom sur-
rounded the house and said to Lot, "Bring out to us the men who
came to you in the night, that we may know them." 390 Notice that
the angels had entered during the night, which obscures ap-
pearances, and not during the day, in which forms can be
clearly seen. They spread a veil, so to speak, over the sight of
the Sodomites with the darkness that layover their appear-
ance. Although they had entered at night so that, by their
being invisible, they might make more manageable the test
of those who were to be tried, still the Sodomites took no
benefit even from this for they had been preparing them-
selves to do them harm whether it was day or night.
.5. Mter Lot had begged the Sodomites and they still re-
fused, he promised them his two daughters. But the
Sodomites would not take them, and they then threatened
to do more harm to Lot than to the angels and they drew
right up to the door to break it down. 3m Then the men
brought Lot inside with them and the Sodomites outside
were afflicted with blindness. But even by this they were not
admonished, for after this they wore themselves out groping
for the door. Then the men said to Lot, "Take your in-laws,
your sons, your daughters, and anyone else that belongs to
you out of this place for we are about to destroy it." 392 Lot's
sons-in-law are here called "sons," for Lot was soon to marry
them to his daughters.
6. Lot went out and spoke with his sons-in-law and, al-
though the Sodomites were gathered there, they neither
saw him leave nor enter. When he returned, having been
ridiculed even by his sons-in-law, the men seized him and his
wife and his two daughters by the hands and brought them out. 393
The Sodomites did not see them, even though they went out
as a group among them.
(2) Because the women [of Lot's household] had not
been tested in Sodom, they were to be tested by a law set
down for them when they left Sodom. Lot begged that Zoar
390. Gen 19.3-5. 391. Cf. Gen 19.7-9.

392. Cf. Gen 19.10-13. 393. Cen 19. 16.
be preserved so that he might enter there because it was

nearer. [One of the angels] said to Lot, "Behold, I grant you
this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of Zoar;'I')4 it shall
be given to you on account of the dishonor of your two
daughters."
7. When Lot entered Zoar, the Lord brought down upon
Sodom brimstone and fire from before the Lord from heaven/95 that
is, the angel, in whom the Lord had appeared, brought
down from before the Lord, who is in heaven, fire, and
brimstone upon Sodom.
(2) Lot's wife then disregarded the commandment that
had just been given as a test, and she became a pillar of
salt.?'9(i Because Lot's wife thus remained behind, she dou-
bled the trial of Lot and of his two daughters. But not even
by this did they succumb to lay aside the command of the
angel.
8. Because the young women were afraid to dwell in a
desolate city on a mountain, and because they thought that
all Creation had come to an end in a flood of fire as the gen-
eration of Noah did in a flood of water, the elder said to the
younger, "Behold, our father is old and there is not a man on earth
to come into us. Let us make our father drink wine that we may pre-
serve seed from him?m and there might descend, even from us,
a third world like the second from Noah and the first from
Adam and Eve."'1,)8 Although there was wine for them, be-
cause everything in Zoar had been left for their possession,
there was not a man in Zoar for at the very moment the
angel said to Lot, "Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will
not overthrow the city,"'1,)9 Zoar swallowed up its inhabitants.
But all its goods were left so that through those who had
possessed these [goods] the Just One, whom they had pro-
394. Cf. Gen 19.16-22. 395. Gen 19. 24.

396. Cf. Gen 19.26. 397. Gen 19.3 1-3 2.
398. See Hymns on Virginity 38, where Ephrem excuses Lot for getting
drunk as well as the behavior of his two daughters on the grounds that they
thought themselves to be the last persons on earth. See also Hymns on Virp;inity
1.11. See also same tradition in Genesis lUlbbah 51.8.
399. Gen 19. 2 1.

voked by their deeds, might be appeased and through the

goods that it left behind, the righteous Lot who had lost all
he had in Sodom might be consoled.
9. Then the daughters began to bring forward various
pretexts. "We were afraid to sleep because of visions." "Our
mother comes and stands before us like a pillar of salt and
we see the Sodomites burning with fire." "We hear the voic-
es of women crying out from the midst of the fire and young
children writhing in the midst of the conflagration appear
to us." "So for the sake of your daughters' comfort do not
sleep, but amuse yourself with wine that we might rob the
night with a vigil that is free from terror."
(2) Mter they saw that his mind had been stolen by the
wine and that a deep sleep had spread over his limbs, the
elder went in and stole seed from the sleeping farmer, with-
out his perceiving anything. Then this elder daughter, who
had found success the previous day, enticed her sister also to
become a "bride of the moment" and to take on a life in
widowhood.
10. When the younger had thus been persuaded she too
went in and departed without Lot perceiving her. Then,
after the child within the daughters became evident, the
younger complained to the elder saying, "It would have
been better for us to be barren than to die of disgrace, to re-
main with our father without children than that our father
be alone without daughters. For what excuses can we make
to him when he judges us? And what answer shall we give
when he is about to kill us [saying,] 'I said that no man
knew my daughters in Sodom. Who then is the one who has
known them on this mountain?' Should we say that we are
bearing a spirit? When we reach the point of childbirth what
will we do?"
11. Then, while they were fretting over these things, their
father summoned them and said to them, "For days now I
have been secretly watching your stomachs and day by day
you confirm the suspicion of adultery that I have concern-
ing you. Tell me then, whence has this pregnancy within you
come about? When? How? By whom were you raped?"
(2) The elder answered her father and said, "Our be-
trothed pressed our mother to conceal them from you but
to show us to them. Although nature made us their brides,
your lack of sons made us their sisters. These, who had
come to us in the likeness of brothers, when our mother was
compelled to go out for some reason or another, then rose
against us and subdued us like tyrants. When our mother re-
turned and saw us, she threw those wanton ones out of her
house with the disgrace they deserved. But she consoled us
[saying,] "They were your betrothed and not adulterers; you
have received the seed of your ploughmen even though you
were, in all truth, raped."
12. Their father accepted their explanations since these
things they related about the Sodomites were relatively
minor things. For it was nothing that those who had assailed
both each other and angels from on high would rape and
disgrace, before the time of marriage, those to whom they
were betrothed.
13. The elder gave birth and she named him Moab 400 and he
became a nation because he was a son of Lot. The younger,
too, gave birth and named him Bar-ammi,40[ that is, he is the
race of my father because he is from my father. Because the
two daughters had yielded to two disgraces their two sons
became two nations; because the two daughters had been
offered in the place of the two angels, their two offences
were forgiven them. The young women could no longer be
with Lot [as wives], because he was their father, nor could
they belong to any others, for the husband of their youth
was still alive. These two thus condemned themselves and,
because they rashly did what was not right, deprived them-
selves of what they ought to have had. By this last solemn
modesty, however, their previous rashness was greatly par-
doned.
400. Gen 19.37.

401. Gen 19.38. The Syriac equivalent of the Hebrew "Ben-ammi," literally,
"son of my people."
Section XVII
1. Mter these things Abraham went to the territory of the
Philistines and, because he was afraid, said that Sarah "is my
sister." Abimelech, king of Gadar, summoned Sarah to be
brought before him. Because she had been tested by Phar-
aoh, even more because she had conceived Isaac, and be-
cause Abraham was praying very diligently, sleep quickly fell
upon Abimelech when he fell into bed, just as it had upon
Adam. Then God said to Abimelech in a dream, "Behold, you are a
dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a
man s wife. " And Abimelech said, "Will you slay an innocent peo-
pIe? In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I
have done this. " And God said to him, "Because of this I did not let
you touch her, lest you sin against me. "402
2. Abimelech rose early, summoned Abraham and re-
proved him for bringing this sin upon him. Abraham said, "1
was very afraid and called her my sister. But even about this 1 did
not lie, for she is my sister, the daughter of my father but not the
daughter of my mother."403 Sarah was indeed the sister of Abra-
ham: from his father because she was the daughter of his fa-
ther's brother, but not from his mother, for none of her sis-
ters had been married to Haran the son of Terah. Another
woman, a foreigner, was married to Haran. This one, who
loved her tribe more than her children, remained with her
family and refused to go out and accompany Lot, her son,
or Sarah and Milkah, her daughters.
3. And Abimelech said to Sarah, "Behold, I have given your
brother a thousand pieces of silver and am returning you to him
with a gift, because you have veiled the eyes of all those with me and
you have reproved me concerning everything."404 "You have veiled
the eyes of all my people, "because you brought all of his people
to shame with the manifest reproof with which you reproved
402. Cf. Gen 20.1-6.

403. Gen 20.8-g, 12. See also Hymns on Virginity 22.16-18, and Hymns on
the Nativity 20.4.
404. Gen 20.16, Peshitta.
him before them all. Sarah saw, in the deep sleep that He
suddenly threw upon [Abimelech], that God was her help.
So she said in a loud voice before everyone, "It is not right
that you transgress the legal custom concerning your wife by
[committing] adultery, not even by the taking of another
wife."
(2) Unless Sarah received renewed youth in the seed that
she had received, Abimelech would not have desired a
woman ninety years old. Then Abraham prayed and God healed
Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they bore children,
because from the time [Abimelech] had decided to marry
Sarah until he returned her, pangs of childbirth struck all
the women in his household; they would kneel down, but
they could not give birth.40"
Section XVIII
1. Then the time came for Isaac to be born and milk
flowed in the breasts of the old woman. On the day of the
great feast that Abraham prepared when he circumcised
and weaned Isaac, Sarah noticed Ishmael snickering. 406 But
Sarah also saw how much Ishmael shared the characteristics
of his mother, for just as Sarah was despised in the eyes of
Hagar so too did Ishmael snicker at her son, and she
thought, "If he acts thus to my son while I am still alive, per-
haps [Abraham] will make him coheir with my son when I
die and even give him two parts according to [the laws of]
the firstborn.''407
(2) Then Sarah, who showed no envy in any matter that
concerned herself, became envious in this matter concern-
ing her son. She was not envious of Hagar whom she had
given to her husband. Since it was a matter of God's
promise, and the son of the concubine thought that he
would be coheir with the son of the freewoman, Sarah said,
"Cast out the slave woman and her son 40S because it is not just
405. Cell 20.17-18. 406. Cf. Cell 21.4-9.
407. Compare Cinzberg, T.egends, 1 :263-64, where Sarah exhibits this same
concern against Ishmael sharing in Isaac's inheritance.
408. Cell 21.10.
that a son of a handmaid should have any inheritance to-

gether with that son of the promise, to whom it was
promised by God. It is not right that you be opposed to God
and make an heir him whom God has not made an heir."409
2. As for Abraham, who had determined to do [what
Sarah feared] because he made no distinction between his
sons, [Moses] wrote that the thing was very displeasing in the
eyes of Abram on account of his son. Then God said to him, "All
that Sarah says to you, heed her voice, for through Isaac shall your
descendants be named. I will also make a great nation of the son of
the slave woman, because he is your offspring." 410
3. So Abraham rose early and gave Hagar and the child
bread and water and sent them off. [Hagar] went and wan-
dered in the wilderness and an angel called from heaven to
Hagar and said to her; "Behold, God has heard the cry of the child,
so hold him fast with your hands; for I will make him a great na-
tion. " Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water and
she filled [her skin] and gave the child a drink.411
Section XIX
1. After these things, Abimelech and Phicol, the com-
mander of his army, spoke to Abraham, for they saw that
God was with him and had helped him in the wars of the
kings and had also promised him the land of the Canaan-
ites. They also feared that after Abraham destroyed the
Canaanites he would also destroy their own land, so they
hastened to make a covenant with him and the two of them
made a covenant with Abraham.412
Section XX
1. God again tested Abraham and said to him, "Take your son
and go to the land of the Amorites and offer him up as a burnt offer-
ing on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." 413 But lest it
409. See the fragmentary Hymns on the Nativity 20, which is devoted to this
theme.
410. Gen21.11-13. 411. Cf.Gen21.14,17-18.
412. Cf. Gen 21.22-24.
413. Gen 22.1-2. For the Aqedah in SyIiac tradition, see S. P. Brock,
be said that God had greatly alarmed Abraham, God de-

tained him for three days.
(2) Abraham rose early, cut some wood, and took two of
his slave boys and Isaac and went out. But he did not inform
Sarah because he had not been commanded to inform her.
She would have persuaded him to let her go and participate
in his sacrifice just as she had participated in the promise of
his son. And he also [did not inform her] lest the inhabi-
tants of his house stand against him and the women wail in
mourning in his tent, and lest those who dwelt in that place
gather together and snatch the youth from him or make
him put off the day of his sacrifice. If he did not inform
those two whom he took with him but did not bring up the
mountain because he was afraid, how much more would he,
who out of fear was unwilling to reveal it to those two, have
been afraid [to inform] many?
2. While they were climbing Isaac inquired about the sac-
rifice. Abraham then made the same prophecy while they
were ascending the mountain that he had made to the ser-
vants whom he left behind at the base of the mountain.
Then, when he had bound Isaac, set him on the altar, and
drawn out his knife, the angel of the Lord restrained him.414
(2) Lest Abraham think that [his sacrifice] was lacking
anything and had thus been rejected, the angel said to Abra-
ham, ''Now I know that you fear God, for in this one who is
more beloved to you than anything, your love toward the
Lord of all is made known."415
(3) In two things then was Abraham victorious: that he
killed his son although he did not kill him and that he be-
lieved that after Isaac died he would be raised up again and
would go back down with him. For Abraham was firmly con-
"Sarah and the Aqedah," LM 87 (1974): 67-77; idem, "Genesis 22 in SyIiac

Tradition," in Melanges Dominiq11£ Barthelemy, ed. P. Casetti et at., Orbis Bibliclis
et Oriental is, no. 38 (Fribourg-GOttingen, 1981) 2-30; and idem, "Two Syriac
Verse Homilies on the Binding ofIsaac," LM 99 (1986): 61-129.
414. Cf. Gen 22.7-11.
41.'). Cf. Gen 22.12.
vinced that He who said to him, through Isaac shall your de-
scendants be named,416 was not lying.
3. Then Abraham saw a ram in a tree, took it, and offered it
upon the altar in place of his son."417 The question that Isaac
had asked about the lamb attests to the fact that there had
been no ram there. The wood that was on Isaac's shoulders
proves that there had been no tree there. The mountain
spit out the tree and the tree the ram,418 so that in the ram
that hung in the tree and had become the sacrifice in the
place of Abraham's son, there might be depicted the day of
Him who was to hang upon the wood like a ram and was to
taste death for the sake of the whole world.
(2) Then the angel spoke to him a second time, "By myself I have
sworn, " says the Lord, "that I will indeed multiply your seed and all
the nations of the earth shall be blessed in your seed,"419 who IS
Christ.
Section XXI
1. Mter these things, Sarah died in Hebron, one hundred
and twenty-seven years old, and Abraham buried her in the
cave that he had bought from the Hittites. 42o
2. Mter three years, Abraham said to his eldest servant, "Put
your hand under my thigh and I will make you swear that you will
not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites. "421
Abraham made him swear by the covenant of circumcision.
Because God saw that the two heads of the world had dis-
honored this member, He set the sign of the covenant on it
so that that member which was the most despised of all the
limbs would now be the most honored of all the limbs. The
416. Gen 21.12.

417. Gen 22.13. Ephrem reads "tree" here against the Peshitta, which reads
"bush." This reading, "tree," is also found in Targums Onkelos, Neofiti, and Pseu-
drrfonathan. See B. Levy, Targurn Neophyti I. A Textual Study (New York, 1986)
1: 164-66 .
418. See Ginzberg, T>egends, 1:282, where the ram "was created in the twi-
light of Sabbath eve in the week of creation."
419. Cf. Gen 22.15-18. 420. Cf. Gen 23.1-2,19-20.
421. Gen 24.2-3.
sign of the covenant that was set on it bestowed on it such

great honor that those who take oaths now swear by it and
all those who administer oaths make them swear by it.
3. The servant swore the oath to his master and went off
with many choice gifts. He sat beside a well, prayed, and
asked for a sign. Even though he rejoiced in the sign that
came to him, he still waited to see whether she was from
[Abraham's] tribe. When he learned that she was the
daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor,422 he praised God
and went and stayed in their house. 42 '1
4. When the servant told them about the oath that his
master had made him swear and how the prayer that he
prayed at the well was in fact fulfilled,424 Bethuel and Laban
said to him, "This matter of yours and of your master has come
from the Lord. Behold, Rebekah is before you. Take her and go." 425
(2) Then they called the young woman to learn from her
[whether she would return with him or not]. Because she
heard about the oath that Abraham had made him swear,
and about the prayer that the servant had prayed at the well
and about the sign for which he had asked and which had
been granted to him, she feared to say "I will not go," be-
cause she knew that it was the will of the Lord that she go.
So she went and became Isaac's [wife]. By the joy [which he
received] from Rebekah, who came three years later, Isaac
was comforted from the mourning of his mother with which
he had been shrouded for three years. 426
Section XXII
1. Because no law concerning virginity or chastity had
been set down, lest desire ever make a stain in the mind of
that just man, because it had been told him, ''Kings of nations
shall come forth from you," 427 and because God had said about
him, ''1 know that Abraham will command his children and his
grandchildren to keep my commandments,"428 Abraham took for
422. Cf. Gell 2447. 423. Cf. Gell 24.9-32.
424. Cf. Cen 24.34-49. 42.'). Gen 24 ..')0-.') 1.
426. Cf. Cen 24 ..')7-67. 427. Gen 17.6.
428. Gell 18.19, Peshitta.
himself a concubine after the death of Sarah, so that

through the uprightness of his many sons who were to be
scattered in lands throughout the entire earth, knowledge
and worship of the one God would be spread. Abraham
then had sons from Keturah and he sent them eastward with
gifts. Abraham died one hundred and seventy-five years old
and was buried next to Sarah, his wife.429
Section XXIII
1. God blessed Isaac and Isaac prayed for Rebekah who
430
was barren and after twenty years God heard him and she
conceived. Her sons struggled together within her womb.
She went to inquire of the Lord and it was told her, "Two na-
tions are in your womb," that is, the Edomite and Hebrew na-
tions. As to whom she went to inquire it was to Melchizedek
that she went to inquire, as we mentioned above in the ge-
nealogy of Melchizedek. She returned quickly because of
the pangs that were striking her and she gave birth to Esau
and Jacob. 431
2. Jacob saw that the right of the firstborn was despised
by Esau and he contrived to take it from him, trusting in
God who had said, "The elder shall serve the younger." 432 Jacob
boiled some lentils and Esau came home famished after hunting,
and said to Jacob "Let me eat some of that red pottage, " that is,
"Let me eat some of your lentils." Jacob said to him, "Give me
your birthright and you may take all of them. " After Esau swore to
him and sold him his birthright, Jacob then gave Esau [the len-
tils].433 To show that it was not by reason of his hunger that
Esau sold his birthright, Scripture says, After he had eaten he
arose and went away and Esau despised his birthright. 434 There-
fore, Esau did not sell it because he was hungry but rather,
since it had no value to him, he sold it for nothing as if it
were nothing.
429. Cf. Gen 2.').1-7, 10. 430. Gen 2.').11.

431. Gen 2.').21-26. 432. Gen 2.').23.
433. Gen 25.29-34. Read here l'esmu for w(ll's(lw as Tonneau, In Genesim el
Exodum, 86, emends; see also Jansma, "Beitrage," 61.
434· Gen 2.')·34·
Section XXIV
And there was a famine in the land and Isaac sowed and
1.
reaped in that same year a hundred measures. Then, because Abim-
elech the king was afraid of that sojourner, he went to him with Ph-
icol, the commander of his army, and said to him, "We see that the
Lord is with you just as he was with your father in that you have
reaped a hundred measures, as well as in many other things, so we
say, Let us make a covenant between us and you, that you will do
us no harm when you increase in number, just as we did not harm
you when you were still few. " Each swore an oath to the other and
they departed in peace. 4'1S
Section XXV
1.VVhen Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, he said to Esau,
"Go hunt some game and make me some stew that I may eat and
that I myself may bless you before I die. " And Esau went out to hunt
some game. 4 '16 When Rebekah heard this, she went and coun-
seled Jacob lest the birthright of Esau be contrary to the
word of God which said that the elder shall serve the younger.
Jacob, however, refused for he was afraid that instead of
blessings he would receive curses.4'17
2. After Rebekah took upon herself the curses, Jacob did
[as she bid} and took [the two kids} and brought them in. And he
called to his father and his father said to him, "VVho are you?" He
said, "I am Esau. I have done as you told me. " But Isaac was in
doubt about the voice for he was afraid lest the blessings as
well as the birthright elude [Esau]. So Isaac said to him, "Come
near, that I may feel you. " After the true voice had been dis-
guised by reason of the false feel of his hands and he had
been blessed and had departed, Esau came back, made [a
stew] and called to his father. Isaac was stupefied when he
saw how, in the name of Esau, the treasury of his blessings
had also been stripped from him.4?'s
(2) "VVho was it then who hunted game and brought it to me
435. Cell 26.1,12,26-31.

437. Cf. Cell 27.5-12.
438. Cf. Cell 27.13-14, 18-33.
and I have blessed him?-and indeed he shall be blessed."4?g For

Isaac was unable to alter his blessings, first, because he knew
that the will of the Lord had been accomplished just as it
had been told to Rebekah, and secondly, since he had said
to Jacob, "Cursed be those who curse you," 440 he feared to curse
Oacob] lest, by his curses he harm not Jacob, who was
blessed, but that the curse of his lips turn back on himself. 441
3. And Esau cried out and wailed bitterly,442 not because he
lost his spiritual blessings but because he was now deprived
of the bountiful produce of the blessed earth; not because
he was no longer able to be righteous but because he would
not be able to make his brother his servant; not because he
would not inherit eternal life but because the land of the
Canaanites would not be his portion. Since Esau had such
spite for his brother that he wished to kill him, Rebekah
persuaded Jacob to go to the house of Laban lest they kill
each other in their strife, and she be bereft of both of them
at the same time. 44 ?'
Section XXVI
1. Then [Rebekah] spoke to Isaac and [Isaac] blessed
Jacob and sent him to Haran for a wife. The day came to an
end and he spent the night there [where he was]. In place
of the pillows that had always been set out for him in his
mother's tent, he set down a rock for his pillow. Full of self-
pity, he fell asleep. He saw in his dream a ladder set up on the
earth and the top oj it reached to heaven and angels were ascending
and descending on it and the Lord was standing above it.444
(2) The ladder that he saw, he saw because of the ascend-
ing and descending of the angels. Also, by the angels who
were ascending and descending around him while he was
sleeping, God clearly showed what great care He took to-
ward Jacob, that he was being watched not only when he was
awake, but even in his sleep there were angels who were
439· Gell 27·33· 440. Gell 27.29.

441. Compare GenesislWbbah67.3. 442. Gen 27.34.
443. Cf. Gen 27-41-4.'). 444. Cf. Gen 28.1-13.
commanded to ascend and descend around him to protect

him. Thus, in the dream of the ladder, God clearly made
manifest to Jacob the secret care that [He exerted] on his
behalf. When Jacob had gone to sleep, he thought he was
sleeping in a place that was very remote from God, but
when he awoke and saw what care God was taking toward
him in the desert, he said, "I have slept as if in the house of
God and have reclined as if before the gate of heaven." 445
2. To show him that the angels were ascending and de-
scending to protect him, God said to Jacob, "Behold, I am with
you and will keep you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to
this land; Jor I will not leave you until I have done what I have said
to you. " And Jacob said, "Surely the Lord is in this place to protect
me and I did not know it."446
(2) As for the oil that Jacob poured upon the pillar,447 he
either had it with him or he had brought it out of the vil-
lage. In the oil that he poured upon the stone, he was de-
picting the mystery of Christ who was hidden inside it.
3. Jacob named that place Bethel,448 which means the house oj
God, as he had just called it.44'l He then made a vow on the
stone saying, "If God will be with me, and will give me bread and
clothing, this stone shall be God s house and oj all that you give me
I will give a tenth to you." 450 In the rock the mystery of the
church is also represented, for it is to her that the vows and
offerings of all the nations were soon to come. 451
Section XXVII
1. Jacob continued on and turned aside to a well where
he saw Rachel the shepherd girl who, with her bare feet, her
mean clothing, and her face burned from the sun, could
not be distinguished from charred brands that come out of
the fire. Jacob knew that He who had provided the beautiful
Rebekah at the spring now provided Rachel in her mean
445. Cf. Cen 28.17. 446. Gen 28.1S-16.

447. Cf. Gen 28.18. 448. Gen 28.19.
449. Cf. Cen 28.17. 4So. Gen 28.20-22.
4S 1. For the rich image of the rock as Christ and Church in Syriac litera-
ture, see Murray, Symbol,; 205-38.
clothing at the well. Then he performed a heroic deed in

her presence for, through the Son who was hidden in it, he
rolled away a stone that even many could raise only with
great difficulty.452 When he betrothed her to God through
this marvelous deed, Jacob then turned and married him-
self to her with a kiss.453
2. Jacob served seven years for Rachel but when those
days came to an end Laban deceived him and brought him
Leah instead of Rachel. Laban carried out this cunning
scheme [not only] because of the ugliness of Leah, whom in
the seven years of Rachel's betrothal, no man had married,
but [he did it] even more because he saw how much his
flock had been blessed during the seven years that Jacob
had tended it. Laban, therefore, contrived that Jacob would
work for him as shepherd a second time so that in the next
seven years when he worked for Rachel 454 he would redouble
the flock that he had gained in those first seven years.
3. Laban then contrived excuses because of the people of
that country and said, "It is not so done in our country to give the
younger before the elder, "and then he put forth his intentions,
saying to him, "Complete the wedding feast of this one and I will
give you Rachel also for the service you will render me for another
seven years,"455 and Laban gathered the men of the place
around him and thus convinced Uacob] .456 Therefore, lest
Jacob turn the seed of the Just One to heathenism, while
Leah remained in the house of Laban the heathen, and lest
he deceive Rachel his wife (for the betrothed of a man is his
wife), he took the one lest he deceive her and the other lest
he sin against her or his seed. If Laban had not withheld
Rachel from Jacob and said to him, "Work for me seven years in
exchange for Leah, " he would not have been persuaded to
452. Cf. Gen 29.10. See also Ginzberg, Legend" 1:354, where "with his two
arms alone [Jacob 1 accomplished what usually requires the united forces of a
large assemblage of men."
453. Cf. Gen 29.11. 454. The text reads here "Leah."
455. Gen 29.26-27.
456. See Ginzberg, I>egends, 1:360, where Laban makes all his friends take a
pledge not to betray Laban's deceitful plan.
work seven days for her, not because she was ugly but be-
cause he hated to be the husband of two wives.
Section XXVIII
1. Leah bore Reuben, Simeon, Levi, andJudah and then
ceased giving birth, whereas Rachel was barren. Because she
heard Jacob say that Abraham had prayed over the barren
Sarah and was heard, and that Isaac had also prayed for Re-
bekah and was answered, she thought that it was because
Jacob had not prayed for her that her closed womb had not
been opened. For this reason, she said in anger and in tears,
"Give me children, or I shall die!"4S7
(2) Although he was angry with her because she said,
"Give me children, " instead of saying, "Pray that children be
given me," Jacob persuaded Rachel that "even if my fathers
were answered, nevertheless Abraham was heard only after
one hundred years and Isaac after twenty."4S8 When she
learned from him that she, who had become extremely de-
spondent, ought to have great patience, she said to him,
"Then go into my handmaid, she shall bear on my knees and I shall
be comforted by her,"459 following [the example] of Abraham,
who took Hagar and did the will of Sarah because he loved
her. "But you will not be persuaded by me because you hate
me." So, lest she nag him, asking him every day for children,
Jacob, who was sent from his parents to take a daughter of
Laban, agreed to take the foreign woman. But it was also so
that the sons of maidservants might become joint heirs with
sons of freewomen that Jacob took both maidservants and
freewomen. So he took Bilhah and she conceived and bore
Dan and Naphtali. 460
2. VVhen Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she too
urged Jacob to go into her maidservant. 461 When he tried to dis-
suade her, saying ''There is comfort for you; you have chil-
457. Cen 3°.1.

458. In Hymns on the Nativity 8.14, Ephrem compares this demand of Rachel
with the docility of Mary, the mother of Christ.
459. Cen 30·3· 460. Cf. Cen 30-{-9·
461. Cen 30.9.
dren," she said to him, "It is not right that my maidservant

should perform the duties of a handmaid for her fellow ser-
vant, and you have now made me a rival wife of Rachel's
handmaid. Make Rachel also a rival wife to my maidser-
vant." Then, lest he grieve Leah and cause a schism between
the sisters, Uacob] agreed, for the sake of peace in his
dwelling, to go into Zilpah also. Zilpah conceived and bore
Gad and Asher. 462
3. Mter these things Reuben found mandrakes in the field
and brought them to Leah. 463 Some say that the mandrake is a
plant whose fruit resembles apples, which have a scent and
are edible. So by means of these mandrakes, with cheerful-
ness seasoned with faith, Leah made Jacob take her that
night.
(2) Then [Moses] wrote that God heard Leah and she con-
ceived and bore Issachar. Leah said, "God has given me my wage be-
cause 1 gave my maid to my husband."464 Unless it had been by
the will of God that Jacob took Zilpah, no wage would have
been rendered to Leah on behalf of Zilpah. Leah conceived
and bore Issachar and Zebulun and Dinah their sister. 465
(2) Then God remembered Rachel also andsheboreJoseph and
she said, "I have learned that the Lord, and not my husband,
will increase me." 466
Section XXIX
1. After Joseph was born, Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my
wives and my children for whom 1 have served you and let me go. "
Then Laban, who loved not Jacob but himself, said, "1 know from
experience that the Lord has blessed me because of you, so separate
your wage from mine and 1 will grant it."467 Jacob consented
because he had not yet received permission from God to
depart. God, who saw that Laban had cheated from his
wages that one to whom He had promised, "1 will go down
with you and 1 will razse you up from there," made Jacob
462. Cen 30.10-13. 463. Cen 30.14.

464. Gen30.17-18. 465. Cf. Gen 30.18-21.
466. Cf. Gen 30.22-24. 467. Gen 3°.25-28.
rich from Laban's own flock without doing any harm to

Laban.
2. It was to test Laban that the hornless and spotted
lambs increased in his flock, so that he might know that
God was with Jacob and cease doing evil to him. But then
the sons of Laban also defrauded Jacob just as Laban had,
and they said concerning that one who had also made them
rich, "From what is our Jather's he has become rich."468 And that
one who had said, "I know Jrom experience that the Lord has
blessed me because oj you, "changed both in heart and counte-
nance toward UacobJ.
(2) God then appeared to Jacob and told him to return
to the house of his father. 469 Jacob called to Rachel and Leah and
said to them, "Your Jather whom I have served with all my strength
has changed my wage ten times, but God did not permit him to
harm me, in that all his cunning wiles have been turned against
him. If he agreed that the hornless lambs were mine, because he
thought the flock would not bear any hornless, many oj the lambs be-
came hornless; but if he agreed that the spotted lambs [would be
mine], because he thought that Jew spotted ones would be born to
him, the whole flock bore spotted ones." 470
3. And Rachel and Leah said to him, "There is no portion Jor us
in our Jather's house, Jor he gives all that he has to his sons. He has
sold us and has consumed our money, just as he has consumed your
strength Jor the Jourteen years that you served him on our behalf.
Now, do whatever God has said to you, Jor we are ready to go with
you whenever He sends yoU."47!
4. Jacob stole the heart of Laban and Rachel his gods and
they went to the mountain of Gilead. But Laban pursued
and overtook him. The Lord appeared to Laban in a dream and
said to him, "Take heed that you do not speak to Jacob, either great
or small." 472 But Laban was unable to suppress his stubborn-
ness and said, "It is in my power to do you evil but last night the
468. Cen 31.1.

469. Cf. Cen 31.2-3.
470. Cen 31.4-8.
471. Cen 31.14-16.
472. Cen 31.24. Ephrem reads here "great or small" versus the Peshitta
and Hebrew which read "good or bad."
God of your fathers forbade me. But why did you steal my gods to-
gether with my daughters and flee?" 473
(2) Jacob loved Rachel very much for she loved his God
and despised the idols of her father. She despised them as
being useless things, not only by the fact that she stole them,
but also in that, when they were being sought, she was using
them as a seat while she was menstruating.<74
(3) But this did not satisty Laban, for he had risen early
and sought his gods at dawn after the God of truth had ap-
peared to him in the evening. He also retracted his state-
ment, "You have made me rich because the Lord has blessed
me on account of you," when he said, "The flocks are my flocks
and all that you see here is mine. Come now, let us make a
covenant, and let it be a witness between US."475
.5. Because they had been blaming each other, Jacob say-
ing, "God saw that you have cheated my toil and the labor of my
hands and He appeared to you last night," 476 and Laban saying,
"The flocks are my flocks and all that you see is mine," 477 they then
said that all these things that preceded this covenant would
be forgotten.
(2) So Jacob took up a stone and set it up as a pillar and each
man brought a stone and they made a great heap478 [saying,]
"This heap, made up of many [stones], will bear witness, as
if from the mouth of many, against anyone who would
change one thing from the covenant that we are establish-
ing before many. Behold, this heap testifies, to the same de-
gree that those who made this heap are witnesses, that nei-
ther you nor I shall change one thing from the covenant
that we have established by amassing this heap.
6. In order to make it known that the heap was built sole-
ly as a witness that from that time on neither of them should
turn against the other, [Moses] said, Jacob swore by the fear of
his father Isaac, and Laban said, "The God of Abraham and the
God of Nahor judge between US."479
473. Cen 31.19-3 0 . 474. Cf. Gen 31.34-35.

475· Gell 31.43-44· 476. Gell 31.42.
477· Gell 31.43· 478. Gell 31.45-46.
479. Cen 3 1..')3.
Section XXX
After Jacob and Laban had parted from each other, an-
1.
gels of God met Jacob 480 to make known to him that if Laban
did not obey God, who had appeared to him in the evening,
he and those with him would be destroyed at dawn at the
hands of those angels who protect him. Just as God had
shown Jacob the angels that accompanied him when he
went down, He also showed him angels when he was going
up to make him know that the word was true which God
had spoken to him: ''/ will go down with you and I will bring you
up from there."4S! The army of angels 482 that God had shown
Jacob was so that he would not fear Esau, for there were
many more [angels] with Jacob than were with Esau.
2. After these things Uacob] sent messengers to his broth-
er Esau, apologizing for his delay. When he heard that
[Esau] was coming to meet him with four hundred men,
Uacob] became afraid. While he prayed to God to remem-
ber the covenant He made with him when he was going
down, Uacob] still sent his brother an offering of good will
so that [Esau] would not remember the offense that he
committed against him on the day he stole his blessings. 4s ?
3. That night an angel appeared to Uacob] and wrestled
with him.4s4 He both overcame the angel and was overcome
by the angel so that Uacob] learned both how weak he was
and how strong he was. He was weak when the angel
touched the hollow of his thigh and it became dislocated,48S
but he was strong, for the angel said to him, "Let me go. " It was
to show how long they had been contending with each
other that [the angel] said, ''Behold, the dawn is rising."486
Then Jacob sought to be blessed in order to make known
that it was in love that they had laid hold of each other.
480. Cen 32.1.

481. This verse actually occurs at Cen 46-4. Ephrem is perhaps confusing
Jacob's later trip to Egypt with this earlier one to find a wife. Cf. Cen 28.1.'),
where Cod also promisedJacob to be with him always.
482. Cf. Cen 32.2. 483. Cf. Cen 32.3-21.
484. Cf. Gen 32.22-24. 48.'). Cf. Cen 32.2.').
486. Cen 32.26.
Then the angel blessed him to show that he was not angry
that an earthly being had prevailed over him.487
4. God did all that He had promised Jacob. He made him
rich as He had told him. He went down with him and
brought him up as He had promised him. He also rescued
him from Laban, and delivered him from his brother. But
instead of performing the promised vow, which he had
vowed to God when he went down,488 Jacob elected, out of
fear, to send [an offering] to Esau. Therefore, because he
had gone back on his word, his hip joint was displaced. So
he, who at one moment was equal in strength to a fiery
angel, was now standing before Esau lame, but without pain.
Section XXXI
1. Mter these things Jacob went and dwelt in Shechem.
When Shechem, the son of Hamor, saw Dinah, the daughter
of Jacob, he seized her and disgraced her. The sons of
Shechem persuaded the sons ofJacob to give her to them as
a wife. But the sons of Jacob deceived the sons of Shechem
into being circumcised before they would give her to them.
Then, when the pain [of the sons of Shechem] was at its
height, the sons of Jacob fell upon them, without their fa-
ther [knowing], and slew all the males, captured their
women, and plundered their wealth. 489
Section XXXII
1. Mter those things God said to Jacob, "Rise, go up to Bethel,
and make an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled
from before your brother. " And Jacob said to his sons, "Put away
those foreign gods that you have taken as plunder from Shechem, "
and they brought him the molten idols and the rings of
gold that were set in the ears of their idols and they buried
them beneath the oak lest they be a stumbling block for
Jacob's descendants. And Jacob went to Isaac, his father; at He-
487. Cf. Gen 32.26-29.

488. Cf. Gen 28.20-22.
489. Cf. Gen 33.18, 34.1-29.
bron and after twenty-three years Isaac died, a hundred and

eighty years old. His sons, Jacob and Esau, buried him.490
Section XXXIII
1. Joseph was shepherding the flock with the sons of his
father's concubines and brought an ill report of them to
their father. Because Joseph had exposed them in their
deed they hated him.4'll
(2) Joseph dreamed dreams: the first of sheaves; and the
second of the sun, the moon and eleven stars, bowing down
to him. His brothers hated him all the more because of his
dreams. They ridiculed his dreams and said, "How will
Rachel, who is dead, come and bow down to him?" Because
it is said, "A man and his wife are one flesh," Jacob, symbol-
ized by the sun, bowed down on the head of his staff, and
with him, Rachel, symbolized by the moon, bowed down, al-
though she did not [in fact] bow down.4'l2
2. Then Jacob sent Joseph to the flock that he might
bring back to him a report on his brothers. 49 But the broth- Y>
ers, by means of the cloak that was bespattered with blood,

sent Jacob a report on Joseph. 494 With no mercy they cast
him into a pit in the desert 495 but they wept over him with
tears in the house. They sold him naked to the Arabs 496 but
wept over him and wailed in the presence of the Canaanites.
They put irons on his hands and feet and sent him on his
way but composed lamentations over him in the village.
Joseph went down to Egypt and was sold; within a few days
he had changed owners twice. 497
Section XXXIV
1. After these things, Judah took a wife and by her begot
Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er, his firstborn, took Tamar as a wife.
But because he was evil before the Lord, that is, because he
490. Cf. Gell 35.1-5,27-29. 491. Cf. Gell 37.1-4.

492. Cf. Cell 37 ..')-1 1. 493. Cf. Cell 37.13-14.
494. Cf. Gell 37.32-33. 495. Cf. Gell 37.24.
496. Cf. Gell 37.28. 497. Cf. Gell 37.36.
was wicked before the Lord, the Lord slew him.498 Even
though his brother took Tamar out of love for her, because
of his hatred towards his brother, Onan did not wish to raise
up offspring for his brother. When God also slew the second
son because of the cruel stratagem that he had contrived, it
was thought that it was due to the sins of Tamar that her two
husbands had died. Judah then sent her to her father's
house and assured her that when Shelah grew up she would
be given to him.499
2. When Shelah had become a young man and Judah did
not wish to bring her back to his house,50o Tamar thought,
"How can I make the Hebrews realize that it is not marriage
for which I am hungering, but rather that I am yearning for
the blessing that is hidden in them? Although I am able to
have relations with Shelah, I would not be able to make my
faith victorious through Shelah. I ought then to have rela-
tions with Judah so that by the treasure I receive, I might en-
rich my poverty, and in the widowhood I preserve, I might
make it clear that I did not desire marriage."
3. Because Tamar was afraid lest Judah find out and kill
her in vengeance for his two sons of whose deaths she was
accused, she, like Eliezer,501 asked for a sign saying, "Let
Your knowledge not condemn me for this act of desire, for
You know that it is for what is hidden in the Hebrews that I
thirst. I do not know whether this thing is pleasing to you or
not. Grant that I may appear to him in another guise lest he
kill me. [Grant] also that an invitation to lie with him 502
might be found in his mouth, so that I may know that it is
acceptable to you that the treasure, which is hidden in the
circumcised, might be transmitted even through a daughter
of the uncircumcised. May it be that, when he sees me, he
will say to me, 'Come, let me come into you.' "503
498. Cf. Gell 38.1-7.

499. Cf. Cen 38.8-11, andJubilees 41.6 .
.')00. Cf. Cen 38.14.
501. Cf. Gell 24.12-14 .
.')02. Literally, "a word of fornication."
.')03. Gen 38.16.
4. While Tamar was making supplication to God for these

things, behold, Judah came out and saw her. The prayer of
Tamar inclined him, contrary to his usual habit, [to go] to a
harlot. 504 When she saw him she was veiled for she was afraid.
After the word of the sign for which she had asked had been
spoken, she knew that God was pleased with what she was
doing. Afterwards, she revealed her face without fear and
even demanded remuneration from the lord of the trea-
sure. 50S
5. After she stripped the man of his staff, his signet ring,
and his cord and took for herself these three witnesses that
they might testify to the third [person] that was to be gener-
ated from her, she had intercourse with him and returned
to her father's house. so6 After three months it was reported
to Judah that Tamar had committed harlotry and, as a result
of her harlotry, had conceived. When he summoned her
and learned that she had no defense, he commanded that
she be burned. so7
(2) When the inhabitants of Hebron assembled to follow
her who was going out to be burned, she brought out her
witnesses and, through some of her relatives, she sent a mes-
sage to her father-in-law. "By the man to whom these belong, I
have conceived."so8 When Judah saw his pledges, he marvelled
at the faith of that woman. As he extended his hand to take
them back, he reflected on the time that he had given them
to her.
6. He then said, "She is more innocent than 1, " that is, "She
is more righteous than I. What great sinners my sons were.
Because of this, I did not give her to my son Shelah. 50'J She is inno-
cent of that evil suspicion that I held against her and [for
which] I withheld my son Shelah from her." She who had
504. Compare Genesis &lbbah 85.

505. The righteous "deceit" of Tamar due to her trust in God is a favorite
theme of Ephrem. See Hymns on Virp;inity 22.19-20, and Hymns on the Nativity
1.12,9.8 .
506. Cf. Gen 38.16-19. S07. Cf. Gen 38.24.
508. Gen 38.2S.
509. Cf. Gen 38.26,Jubilees 41.19.
been cheated out of marriage was justified in her fornica-

tion, and he who sent her out on account of his first two
sons brought her back for the sake of his last two sons. He
did not lie with her again 510 because she had been the wife of
his first two sons, nor did he take another wife for she was
the mother of his last two sons.511
Section XXXV
1. Mter Joseph had been sold to Potiphar 512 and this one
had become rich because of Joseph, just as Laban had be-
cause of Joseph's father, Potiphar's mistress fell in love with
Joseph and said, "Lie with me." 513 But when he would not sub-
mit to her and she tired of trying to catch him by guile, she
cleverly maneuvered him into the bedchamber in an effort
to subdue him. But after she had caught him by his cloth-
ing, he left it in her hand and fled outside. Because she
thought she would become a laughingstock in the eyes of
her servants, she cried out in a loud voice and those of her
household assembled to be her witnesses, not to that which
she wanted to do, but to that which she had prepared to
say.514
2. But Joseph, who could have fled and, by doing so, have
gone to his father's house, detested this flight which would
have spared him from shame. He rather persevered until he
saw how the dreams that he had seen would turn out.
3.Joseph's master came home and heard the words of his
mistress and of the witnesses who corroborated what she
said. Potiphar saw that Joseph's garment also [bore witness]
against Joseph and so he threw Joseph into prison515 without
his garment just as [his brothers] had cast him into the pit
in the desert without his cloak.
(2) That peace that had come to his master's servants
while Joseph was in his master's house now came to the pris-
oners while he was confined in prison. 516 He also interpreted
510. Gen 38.26. 511. Cf. Gen 38.27-30.

512. Cf. Gen 39.1. 5 13. Gen 39.7.
514. Cf. Gen 39.11-18. 515. Cf. Gen 39.19-20.
516. Cf. Gen 39.21-23.
there two dreams for two of Pharaoh's servants; one was

hung as Joseph told him and the other "placed the cup in
Pharaoh's hand" as Joseph had interpreted for him. Joseph
then sought from the chief butler to be remembered before
Pharaoh but that "remember me," that Joseph had told him
made him forget for two years. 517
4. Pharaoh then saw twin dreams, one of ears of grain
and one of cows. Although they are easily interpreted by
everyone, for the sake of Joseph they were hidden even
from the wise men of Pharaoh. Then, after two years the
chief butler remembered Joseph before Pharaoh and Phar-
aoh summoned him to be brought to him; the hair that had
grown in his grief,joy then cut, and the filthy garments with
which sorrow had clothed him, cheerfulness stripped from
him.5w
5. When Joseph came and heard the dreams of Pharaoh
and saw what calamity was about to come upon the Egyp-
tians, he told them the true interpretation and, in addition,
gave them some beneficial counsel. ''Let Pharaoh select a wise
man and set him in authority over all oj Egypt to gather the grain oj
the good years to reserve a supply Jor the seven bad years so that no
one in Egypt perish in the Jamine." 519
(2) When Joseph said, ''Let Pharaoh select a man, "he spoke
about himself. He, out of modesty, did not say it openly in
his own name, but he would not give it to another, for he
knew that no one else would be able to make suitable provi-
sion for the great scourge that was coming upon them.
Joseph became great in the eyes of Pharaoh through his in-
terpretation of Pharaoh's dreams but even more through
the beneficial counsel that his mind had devised. 520
6. Pharaoh then gave Joseph authority over all his territo-
ry and even added the signet ring with which the treasuries
of his kingdom were sealed. This ring, which had never
been placed on the hand of a non-Egyptian, was taken from
the hand of Pharaoh and, with special honor, set on the fin-
517. Cf. Gen 40.1-23. 518. Cf. Gen 41.1-14.

519. Cf. Gen 41.1.')-36. 520. Cf. Gen 41.37-45.
ger of Joseph. With the ring that he was given, Ooseph] was
given rule over everything. 521
(2) "1, Pharaoh, command that without you[r consent], no one
shall lift up a hand or a foot in all the land of Egypt." 522 Included
among those who were to be subservient to him were all the
army commanders and the princes of the king.
7. Joseph's [former] master was there when the dreams
of Pharaoh were being interpreted. When [Potiphar] saw
that only in respect to the throne was Ooseph] less than
Pharaoh, he returned quickly to his house. In his haste to go
to tell his wife of Ooseph's] greatness, he closely resembled
his wife when she had come out to meet him to accuse
Joseph. Potiphar said to [his wife], 'Joseph, our servant, has
become our master. He whom we sent to prison without
clothing, Pharaoh has now clothed with a garment of fine
white linen. He whom we cast prostrate into prison now sits
upon the chariot of Pharaoh. He whom we had bound in
irons now has a gold necklace set on his neck ... How then
can I look again upon him whom my eyes are unable to look
upon?"
8. Then she said to him, "Do not fear Joseph to whom
you did no evil, for he knows that the disgrace that came
upon him in our domicile, whether justly or not, came upon
him from my own hands. Go, then, without fear with the
princes and army commanders who follow behind his chari-
ot lest he think that the royal dignity he has received is an
affliction to us. To show you that he is not evil, I will now
speak the truth which is contrary to my previous lie. I was
enamored of Joseph when I falsely accused him. I made as-
sault on his clothing because I was overcome by his beauty.
If he is just, it is I whom he will bring to grief and not you.
And if he is [truly] just he will not bring me to grief, either,
because if he had not been wronged he would not have
been imprisoned. If he had not been imprisoned he would
not have interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh and he would
521. Cf. Cell 41.37-42 .

.')22. Cell 41.44.
not have come to this royal dignity of which you just in-
formed me. Although we did not actually exalt him, it is as if
we did exalt him, for it was due to our afflicting him that he
has been accorded such honor and has become second to
the king."
9. Then Joseph's [former] master went and, with those
who were higher in rank than he, followed Joseph's chariot
through the streets of Egypt. But Joseph did him no evil be-
cause he knew that it was God who had permitted his broth-
ers to throw him into the pit in the desert, and [who had de-
livered him] from the pit, in order to send him in irons to
Egypt, and who had permitted his master to send him to
prison so that from that humble seat He might set him
upon the chariot of Pharaoh.
Section XXXVI
1. Joseph went out to gather in the grain, and he laid it
up in every city in which there was enough to store up in
that year. 52? Then at the end of the good years, when those
of famine came, Joseph took special care of the orphans,
widows, and every needy person in Egypt so that there was
no anxiety in Egypt.s24
2. If this famine had been only in Egypt, Egypt would
have had no fear, because of the grain Joseph [had stored
up]. However, there was famine throughout the entire
world and because the entire earth stood in need of [the
grain in] Egypt, the grain supply quickly dwindled and be-
came expensive even for the Egyptians. The Egyptians
would have consumed the grain at little expense, because of
its abundance, if the entire earth had not come down to buy
grain there. To make known that the entire earth hungered,
[Moses] said, The entire world came to Egypt to buy grain from
Joseph, because the famine was severe over all the earth. 525
3. When the famine prevailed even over the house of
Jacob, Jacob said to his sons, ''Do not fear. Behold, I have heard
523. Cf. Gen 41.48-49.

525. Gen 41.57.
that there is grain in the land of Egypt. Go down and buy grain for
us, that we may live and not die."526 When Jacob said, "Do not
fear; "he made known how much they did fear and [when he
said,] "1 have heard that there is grain," that the grain was
being consumed throughout the earth and [when he said,]
"buy grain for us that we may live and not die, "that they had re-
signed themselves to perishing from the famine along with
the entire land of Canaan.
4. Then the brothers of Joseph came and bowed down
before him with their faces on the ground, and Uoseph]
recognized them. 527 Prior to this he had been apprehensive
about when they would come down to procure some grain,
for he knew that they, along with all of Canaan, were afflict-
ed with torment. When he saw them, however, he acted de-
ceitfully while doing business with them and said, "You are
spies." 528
(2) They answered and said, "We do not even know the
Egyptian language so that, by speaking Egyptian, we might
escape notice and deceive the Egyptians. That we dwell in
the land of Canaan you can learn from our offering. More-
over, there are twelve of us and it is impossible that we
should all have the same evil purpose of spying. We have
come of our own will to stand before you. That we are com-
pletely ignorant of the Egyptian language and do not wear
the garb of Egyptians also testifies to our truthfulness. It is
clear that we are not spies, for we are twelve. We are recog-
nized everywhere because of our race and our number. Be-
hold, one of our brothers is with our father and another is no
more."529
.5. But Joseph, who saw that his dreams had not yet been
fulfilled, for he had seen eleven stars bowing down to him
but here were [only] ten,530 kept himself hidden from them
lest, by revealing himself, he be the one to render his
526. Gen 42.2. 527. Gen 42.6-7 .

.')28. Gen 42.9. .')29. Gen 42.13 .
.')30. The fact that the sons of Jacob had just confessed to be "twelve" may
be a sctibal "correction" due to the traditional number ofJacob"s sons. As the
text stands, the "ten" here and the "twelve," above, cannot be reconciled.
dreams false. And he said, "By this you shall be tested whether you
are truly brothers, if you send Jor your youngest brother and bring
him back to me. " Then he threw them in prison Jor three days so
that they might have a taste of the suffering of him who had
been imprisoned there for several years.S'1l
6. Then, after Uoseph] carefully considered his dreams
in which he had seen [his brothers] bow down to him twice,
in the sheaves and in the stars, he knew that, after the sec-
ond, he ought to reveal himself to them. So he took and
bound Simeon before their eyes,"Y>2 to learn from him how they
had convinced their father about [the death of] Joseph.
Uoseph] also knew that Simeon's sons and wife would urge
Jacob to send Benjamin to him as quickly as possible.
(2) Perhaps, Simeon had been particularly malicious to-
ward Joseph when they bound and sold him. But Joseph was
not seeking vengeance from them, for when he was revealed
to them he kissed them. When that one was bound who,
more than any of them, had urged that Joseph be bound,
they would know that it was a just restitution. They even ad-
mitted, "In truth we deserve to endure these things, Jor we have
looked upon the suJJering oj our brother when he beseeched us but we
did not heed him." Sgy>
(3) When Reuben sY>4 had spoken of those things, both
those that had been carried out in Joseph's presence and
[those things that had transpired] without him after they
had thrown him into the pit, Joseph remembered and
wept,"gS not because of what his brothers did to him but be-
cause God had raised him from that place to his present po-
sition.sY>(i
531. Cf. Cen 42.15-17.

532. Gen 42.24.
533. Gen 42.21.
534. Ephrem, following the Peshitta, consistently reads "Reubel" for
"Reuben."
535· Gen 42.24.
536. Literally, "from where to where."
Section XXXVII
1. Mter they had loaded their supplies, the [brothers]
went up and related to their father the evils that they had
endured on this trip and how they had become objects of
ridicule in Egypt, having been falsely accused of spying in
Egypt, and that they would not have escaped this suffering
had it not been for Benjamin. While some of them were re-
counting these things to their father, the others were empty-
ing their sacks and behold, each one found his money in
the opening of his sack. 537
2. J aco b was full of grief because of all that had happened
to them, but even more because of Simeon who was impris-
oned. Although the brothers implored him daily to send
Benjamin with them, Jacob would not assent because of his
fear due to [what had happened to] Joseph. 538 Then, when
their grain had run out and all the children of his house-
hold were languishing from hunger, all his sons drew near
and said to Jacob, "Spare Simeon for the sake of his chil-
dren and be without your youngest son for a few days lest
Simeon's wife be widowed of Simeon."
3. Then Jacob was constrained by the famine, whether he
was willing or not, to send Benjamin with them. So he gave
them supplies and sent them off with blessings and said,
'Just as I was bereaved of Rachel so am I now bereaved of
Rachel's children." 539 Judah comforted his father and said,
"If I do not bring back Benjamin and set him before you then let me
bear the blame forever." 540 Then they took some of the choice
fruits of the land: gum, pistachio nuts, which are berries,
and so forth. They then went down and stood before
Joseph. Joseph commanded his steward to give them lodg-
ing in his house. 541
4. But when the [brothers] saw Joseph's servants hurry-
ing to unburden their beasts and to bring in their baggage,
they said to themselves, grieving, "We have bereaved our fa-
.')37. Cf. Cen 42.29-3.'). .')38. Cf. Cen 42.36-38 .

539. Cf. Gell 43.14. 540 . Gell 43.9.
541. Cf. Gell 43.15-16.
ther of Benjamin and we shall never again see the face of

our father. It was with treachery that our money was put into
the openings of our packs, so that if we escape [the charge
of] spying they might seize us and make us slaves [on the
charge] of theft. Let us confess to the steward about the
money before he begins to accuse us so that our brother
Benjamin might free us from [the charge of] spying and the
confession of our lips from [the charge of] theft."542
5. Then the [brothers] approached Joseph's steward and
said to him, "When we returned the first time we opened
our sacks and behold, there was each one's money in the
opening of his sack. We are now returning it to you because
it is not right that we take the money for the grain together
with the grain."54'1 But when the steward saw how terrified
they were, he consoled them and said, "Rest assured, do not
be afraid. It is not because of the money, which I received,
that we are bringing you into this house. 544 We have eagerly
awaited you because of the truth that is found among you.
You are not going to be condemned for something that you
did not take. You have been summoned to recline and be
seated before our master, for he is just and by the honor
that he has reserved for you this second time, he wishes to
make you forget the disgrace that you endured the first
time."
6. When Joseph entered the house, his brothers brought
him an offering and bowed down to him trembling. He in-
quired about their welfare and they took heart. He asked if
their father was alive and they were put at ease. He asked
whether that one was their brother and he blessed him and
said, "God be gracious to you, my son," and all fear was
taken from their mind. 545 It was in the Egyptian language
that Joseph blessed Benjamin and it was through an inter-
preter that they heard these initial [exchanges].
7. Joseph's affection for his brothers began to show and
he went out to give them a respite, and wept within his
542. Cf. Gen 43.18. 543. Cf. Gen 43.20-22.

544. Cf. Cen 43.23. .')45. Cf. Cen 43.26-29.
chamber. Uoseph] sat off by himself to eat and he made the

Egyptians sit down. He began to make his brothers sit down
as if around his [divining] CUp;546 the elder according to his
status as elder and the youngest according to his youth. 547 It
is amazing that his brothers did not recognize him: not by
the money in their provisions when they went home the first
time, not when Joseph had Simeon bound, not when he
asked about his old father when they brought Benjamin
back, not when they were accused of cheating, not from the
fact that he made them stay in his house and blessed Ben-
jamin, not even from the fact that he knew the names of all
of them. This was all the more [amazing] since even his ap-
pearance was so similar. Even if his majesty had deluded
them his dreams should have jarred their memory. Al-
though they did not recognize Joseph because of his ma-
jesty, his rank, and his angry tongue, it was, nevertheless, be-
cause of the Lord that he remained hidden from them until
his dreams should be fulfilled in them who had sold him in
order to render them false.
Section XXXVIII
1. Mter the [brothers] ate, drank, and became inebriat-
ed, they rose early and departed, with a cup having been
placed in Benjamin's sack and, again, with each one's
money in his sack. Joseph's steward went out and overtook
them and he poured into their ears the threats that he had
been commanded by his master to say.548
2. The [brothers}, confident in their own trustworthiness,
said, "With whomever the cup is found, let him die, and let all of us
become slaves."549 These men then hastened to take down
546. The word that Ephrem uses here, a transliterated form of the Creek
ITKU<pOS', is found in the Peshitta only at Cen 44 ..'). A divining cup, in Aramaic
kasah, and other divining paraphernalia are used in conjunction with the sons'
seating arrangement in Tarl,:um PseudfJ-jonaLhan here at Cen 43.33. For a discus-
sion of the purpose of this cup, see C. Westermann, Genesis 37-50: A C01mnen-
tary (Minneapolis, Ig86) 132.
547. Cf. Cen 43.30-34 .
.')48. Cf. Cen 44.1-.'). .')4g. Gen 44.9.
their sacks and the steward began by searching through

Reuben's sack. When the steward did not find the cup in
the sacks of the elder sons, he was saddened with grief be-
cause [he knew] the situation would not remain thus for
long. 5so
(2) Then the brothers ofJoseph comforted him and said,
"Search, too, the sack of the youngest, then return quickly
because there in the house you will find the cup of your
master." But the steward, as if to do the will of these men,
stuck his hand into a sack without the cup, wishing to avoid
the sack that it was in. But when Benjamin bade him also to
search in his sack, he thrust his hand in aimlessly and the
cup came out firmly in his hand. 5s1
3. The brothers did not know what to say; they found it
impossible not to put the blame on Benjamin because the
cup had come out from his sack, but the money that had
twice come out from their own sacks did not permit them to
put the blame on him. Then the brothers, confounded by
the things that had befallen them, rent their garments and
went back weeping to that house from which they had just
departed rejoicing. ss2
(2) Joseph, with the anger of Egyptians, shouted accusa-
tions at them and said, "VVhat is this that you have done? You
said that you were just men. At the great meal that we pre-
pared for you we proclaimed your righteousness among the
Egyptians. But today you have become objects of scorn in
the eyes of the Egyptians because you stole the cup with
which I divine for all the Egyptians. Do you not know that such
a man as I can indeed divine?"SS'I Where would they have
learned this except from [that occasion] when it had been
filled in their presence and Joseph struck it and made them
sit down one after the other? S54
550. The Syriac is literally, "He would not be able to stay much longer in
that place." The precise meaning is unclear, but the sense seems to be that the
steward's grief was due to his knowledge of exactly where the cup was to be
found and his unwillingness to discover it.
551. Cf. Gen 44.11-12. 552. Cf. Gen 44.13.
5S3· Gen 44· 1 S·
554. That is, in order by age. See XXXVII.7, above, and note ad [oe.
4. ThenJudah said, "Before God the sins of your servants have

been discovered"-not this one [of the cup], but the one for
which we have been requited with these things. "Therefore,
not only he in whose sack the cup was found but we also will become
slaves to our master." 555 And joseph said, "Far be it from the just
Egyptians to do this!556 These men, because of their great
virtue, do not even eat bread with Hebrews lest they become
unclean by them. How then can we do what is foreign to our
conduct? The justice that hinders us from sinning against
one who has not sinned against us compels us to be avenged
on that one who has caused us offence. The one in whose hand
the cup was found shall remain and be a slave. This will be better
for him than freedom, for this later servitude which will free
him from theft will be better for him than that first freedom
that enslaved him to theft." 557
Section XXXIX
1. Judah then spoke to Joseph with loud cries of lament
until Joseph was overcome 558-not to give them their broth-
er as they hoped, but to reveal to his brothers something
that they were not expecting. Joseph then commanded that
everyone else go out from his presence. 559 While he had
shown everyone the false judgment against them, he would
show no one the judgment of their guilt.
2. Mter everyone had gone out in dismay from his pres-
ence, Joseph changed his language and his tone. In the He-
brew tongue, without a translator, he said, "1 am your brother,
joseph."560 But they were unable to respond for fear that,
after he had made known their offences, he would kill
them. Because they were still in doubt and because the
Egyptians, listening outside the door, might hear him say, "I
am he whom you sold as a slave," and despise them, he said
to them, "Come near to me. "When they drew near he said to
them in a low voice, "1 am joseph, whom you sold to Egypt." 561
555. Cf. Gell 44.16. 556. Gell 44.17.

.')57. Cf. Gen 44.17. .')58. Cf. Gen 44.18-34 .
559. Cf. Gell 45.1. 560. Gell 45.3.
561. Ge1l45+
When he saw that they were gloomy and unable to look at

him because of their shame, he comfarted them, "Do not be dis-
tressed that you sold me, for God sent me befare you far the sake of
providing far the entire earth. The famine will last for five mare
years and there will be no sowing or reaping for I have been tested in
the seven good years that have already passed." 562
3. "So go up quickly to my father and tell him that God has made
me lard not only over my brothers, as my dreams had prophe-
sied, but even over all of Egypt, which they had not promised
me. Tell him of my honor in Egypt that he might give praise on
my behalf because of all that has happened to me in
Egypt."56'1 Then he kissed Benjamin and the two of them
wept on each other's neck and Joseph turned and kissed the
rest of his brothers. When they came to believe what he told
them they opened their mouths and spoke with him.564
Section XL
1. When the things that needed to be said between them
were finished, the doors of that judgment room were
opened. The princes entered rejoicing and the army com-
manders full of gladness. This news was pleasing in the eyes
of Pharaoh and his servants for they had believed that
he who had become like a father to Pharaoh and ruler over
the freemen and princes of Egypt was no slave but was a son
of a freeman from the blessed race of the house of Abra-
ham. 565
2. Then OosephJ sent them off with garments, wagons,
and all sorts of valuable Egyptian goods to bring to their fa-
ther.s66 He commanded them not to quarrel on the way.567
The quarrel which he forbade them was that one say to an-
other, "It was you who counseled us to throw him into the
pit," while another contend with his brother, saying, "It was
you who urged us to sell him naked and in chains to the
Arabs." "As I have forgiven all of you, you forgive each other
lest by all your complaining and your arguing with each
562. Gen 45.5-6. .')63· Gen 45.9, 13·
564. Cf. Gen 45.14-15. 565. Cf. Gen 45.16.
566. Cf. Gen 45.21-23. 567. Cf. Gen 45.24.
other, your joyful trip home, because of your squabbles,

turn into one of grief."
3. Mter the brothers departed, even though they were
pleased that they had found Joseph, they were still grieving
for they had no excuse [to give] to their father. They arrived
and told their father the good news. When Jacob saw the
wagons and gifts he was convinced that they were telling the
truth. His spirit revived and he said, "As great as all these
things are, that Joseph, my son, is alive is even greater than
all these things." 568
4. When they told Jacob about the honor of Joseph,
about the wisdom with which he administered his affairs,
and about how their last judgment was more bitter than the
first, their father asked them and said, "Did you not ask
Joseph how or why he went down to Egypt?" Then, when
they all looked at each other and did not know what to say,
Judah opened his mouth and said to his father, "We are re-
calling our crime today before our father." Because of the
dreams of Joseph, Joseph's brothers thought, in their sim-
plicity, that you and they would soon render him servitude.
They also imagined, in their foolishness, that "it was better
that he alone should be the servant than that we and our fa-
ther should serve him as slaves." They did this because they
took pity on you and on Benjamin and not because you
loved Joseph. "You also loved Benjamin but because he did
not say that we would become servants to him, all of us love
him. Forgive us then for having humiliated Joseph, for it is
on account of our humiliating him that he has come to this
exalted state." Their father then accepted their apology and
said to them, "Because of the good news about Joseph by
which you have brought me joy, this offence, which caused
me great suffering when I heard it, is forgiven you."
.5. Jacob and his entire household packed up to go down
to Egypt. Because he was afraid that Egypt's sorcery might
harm his sons, God appeared to him and said, "Do not be
afraid to go down to Egypt."569 Because Jacob thought that per-
568. Cf. Gen 45.27-28.

haps, because of the good things that would be set out for
them, they would remain in Egypt and thus bring the
promise to nought, [God] said to Oacob], ''/ will bring you
down and I will bring you back up from there."S70 Because Jacob
also feared that Joseph might die, [God] said to him,
Joseph, your son, will set his hands on your eyes."S7l After these
things, Jacob rose up and, full of joy, went down with seventy
persons-this included the two sons ofJoseph. 572
6. Joseph went out to meet his father with chariots and
with many people. Ooseph] got down [from his horse], and
bowed down to his father and they wept on each other's
neck. Then Joseph commanded his brothers to say to
Pharaoh, "We and our fathers are keepers of cattle, "so that they
might dwell in Goshen and thus keep their distance from
those who worship sheep and bulls. 57'!
Section XLI
1. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Settle your father and your
brothers in the best part of the land." And Jacob blessed Pharaoh
and went out from before him.574 Then Joseph sold the grain to
the Egyptians for money and when their money had run out
he sold it for cattle. In the end he bought the lands of the
Egyptians so that he might provide them with food, with the
exception of the land for the priests which he did not buy,
because they receive an allowance that is alotted to them by
Pharaoh. Joseph gave them seed in the seventh year and set
it down as law that they should give one-fifth to Pharaoh. S7S
2. And when the days drew near for Jacob to die, he said to
Joseph, "Put your hand beneath my loins as Abraham [said] to
Eliezer when he made him swear by the covenant of circum-
cision." 576 Then Joseph swore to him that he would take him up and
bury him with his fathers, and Jacob bowed down to him on the
head of his staff. 577
570. Cen 46+ 571. Cen 46+

572. Cf. Cen 46 ..')-7. For the total of seventy, cf. Cen 46.8-27.
573· Cf. Cen 46.33-34. .')74. Cen 47·7,10.
575. Cf. Cen 47.13-26. 576. Cf. Cen 24.2-3.
577. Cf. Cen 47.29-31, Peshitta.
3. When Joseph heard that his father was ill, he went and
brought in his two sons that they might be blessed by Jacob
before he died. And Jacob said, "El Shaddai appeared to me in
Luz while I was sleeping and a rock was set as my pillow and
He blessed me and said to me, '/ will make of you nation~
that is, tribes.' And now Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine as
Reuben and Simeon are. Any more that are born to you shall be
called sons of the tribe ofEphraim and Manasseh." 578
4. Jacob said, "Bring your sons near to me that I may bless
them." 579 Israel crossed his hands because Manasseh was the first-
born and he put his right hand on the head of Ephraim the
younger. 580 Here too the cross is clearly symbolized to depict
that mystery with which Israel the firstborn departed, just as
Manasseh the firstborn, and the peoples increase in the
manner of Ephraim the younger. 581
.5. Then, while blessing the youths, ljacob] said, "Let my
name and the name of my fathers be perpetuated in them, " that is,
let them be called sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 582
Joseph was struggling to set the right hand of his father on
Manasseh, but Jacob refused and said to him, "I am not de-
priving Manasseh of the blessing, for he will also increase,
but his younger brother will increase more than he."583 And
to show that from then on the younger would take prece-
dence over the elder, he said, "By you shall Israel give its bless-
ing, saying, 'May God make you as Ephraim and as Man-
asseh.' "584
6. ljacob] said to Joseph, ''/ have given to you rather than to your
brothers that which I took with my sword and with my bow,"585 be-
cause what had been sold to him for one hundred ewes, he
had acquired by the strength of his arms.586 While the son of
.')78. Cf. Gen 48.1-6.
579· Gen 4 8.9 .
.')80. Gen 48.14 .
.')81. See also Hymns on Virginity 20.7, 21.1 1 .
582. Cf. Gen 48.16 .
.')83. Cf. Gen 48.17-19 .
.')84. Gen 48.20.
585. Gen 48.22 .
.')86. Cf. Gen 33.19, andJosh 24.32.
Rachel was being blessed, Jacob brought back to their

minds, with lamentation, the death of Rachel which had oc-
curred by reason of her son.587
Section XLII
The Blessings ofJacob 588
1. Then Jacob called his sons and said to them, "Gather your-
selves together that I may tell you what shall befall you at the end of
days."589 Even though they were not gathered in the house
they came in from their various activities outside the house
and presented themselves on that day, because Joseph had
come and because their father was suffering greatly. After
Joseph sat down and his brothers sat around him-they
were not expecting either to be blessed or cursed but to find
out what would happen to them at the end-,Jacob opened
his mouth and to Reuben his firstborn he said:
2. ''Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first fruits of my
strength,"590 to make known that until he took Leah he had
persevered eighty-four years in virginity. "The result of might
and the result of strength," 59! [means] either that "you are the
son of my youth and your other brothers are from the re-
mainder of the might and strength of my youth," or "if you
had been similar [to me], the greater part would have been
yours because of your birthright." "You wander about like
water,"592 which runs out of its channel and waters another
land.
(2) Because Uacob] said that ''you wander about like water"
it is likely that Reuben had a wife but forsook her and,
S87. Here in Cen 48.7,Jacob is recalling how Rachel died giving birth to
Benjamin in Gen 3S.16-21.
588. Following the Peshitta, Ephrem puts a heading on this section. For a
similar heading, see Commentary on Exodus XV, below. Throughout these bless-
ings, the Peshitta differs from the Hebrew text. For a study of the blessings in
the targumic traditions which includes some compaIison with the Peshitta, see
A. Levene, "The Blessings of Jacob in Syriac Exegesis," in SP (Kalamazoo/Leu-
ven, 1966) 7:524-30; and, more generally, R. Syren, The Blessings in the Tar-
gums: A Stwly on the Tarl,:umi(' inteJjJretations of Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33,
Acta Academiae Aboensis, Ser. A, vol. 64, no. 1 (Abo, 1986).
S89· Cen 49. 1 . S90. Cen 49·3·
591. Gen 49·3· 59 2 . Gen 49+
though not compelled by thirst, went to drink from stolen

waters. "You wander about like water; you shall not remain, " that
is, in the reckoning of the tribes. This is the reason why
when Moses blessed him he said, "Let Reuben live and not die
and let him be in the reckoning of his brothers." 593 "You went up to
your father's bed' 594 also indicates that he went into Bilhah
while she was sleeping and, therefore, she was not cursed
with him. "Truly you defiled my bed,"595 either by the evil act
that he committed on the bed, or Jacob called that woman a
bed.
3. Mter he finished [blessing] Reuben, Jacob turned to-
ward Reuben's brothers and said thus, "Simeon and Levi are
brothers, weapons of wrath by their nature." 596 "In their secret [coun-
cil!,597 means "I was not aware that they were plotting to circumcise
the Shechemites and slay them." "In their company,"598 that is,
when they went in to slay the men. "I will not be deprived of my
honar,"599 for God instilled fear of them in the surrounding
nations yet preserved me from disgrace. "I was not600 sum-
moned with them to the slaughter. They slew men in their
anger;" 601 not in their justice. Because he had disgraced their
sister, Shechem deserved to be put to death, but not the en-
tire city. By their [stubborn] will "they razed the wall,"602 that
is, the wall [that protects] the houses of that city. "Cursed be
their anger; for it is fierce, "against the inhabitants of Shechem
"and their wrath, for it is cruel,"603 in that they waited for days
until they had won over and had gained the confidence of
[the Shechemites], and until [the Shechemites] had been
circumcised and their pain was at its greatest. Throughout
those days their anger did not subside. 604
(2) "I will divide them in jacob," 605 that is, one against the
593. Cf. Dent 33.6, Peshitta. 594· Cen 49·4·

595. Cen49+ 596 . Cen 49.5.
597. Cf. Cen 49.6, Peshitta. 598. Cen 49.6.
599. Cf. Cen 49.6, Peshitta. 600. Read l'for li.
601. Cen 49.6. 602. Cen 49.6, Peshitta.
603. Cen 49.7.
604. See Cinzberg, T>egends, 1 :397-400, for the roles that Simeon and Levi
played in destroying and plundeling Shechem.
605. Cen 49.7.
other. For they did not possess, after the curse, the unity
that they had had before the curse. They had been united to
such a degree that they did not even inform their [other]
brothers when they went in to be avenged for the shame
committed against Dinah. "I will divide them in Jacob, "that is,
among the descendants of Jacob, "and I will scatter them in Is-
rael," 606 that is, among the offspring of Israel.
4- They became divided from their descendants: Zimri
from the tribe of Simeon and Phineas from the tribe of
Levi. Because Levi had enlisted Simeon as an accomplice to
kill many because of a woman, after the curse, Phineas, be-
cause of a woman, killed the son of Simeon together with
that woman. 607
(2) Although Uacob] divided them in his mind one
against the other because the former unity had been of no
avail, he still scattered those two tribes among the [other]
tribes. He disseminated Levi so that he might receive his in-
heritance from among all the tribes for, unlike his brothers,
no portion had been given to him. Simeon, because his por-
tion was the smallest, spread himself out and took as his in-
heritance the best part from the inheritance of all his broth-
ers.
5. judah, your brothers shall praise you,"60S for you re-
strained them from the blood of Joseph their brother. For it
is on account of you that Joseph became [the head] of two
tribes. If not for your counsel to let him live, all the tribes
would have perished in the famine. Therefore, because you
restrained them from the sin of murder and from death by
famine, "your brothers shall praise you, " on account of these
two things, for it was by your hands that they were rescued
from both those things. "Your hand shall be on the neck of your
enemies." 609 This [verse refers to] the victory that God
promised to the kingdom of David which would spring up
from Judah. It is that submission to which David subjugated
606. Gen 49.7.

607. Cf. Num 25.6-9. 608. Gen 49.8.
609· Gell 49.8.
all the nations from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the Eu-

phrates River.
(2) "From murder; my son, you have gone Up,"610 [means] ei-
ther "you were guiltless in the murder of Tamar and her two
sons" or that he took no part in the murder of Joseph. "He
stooped down and couched" on his property not like an old lion
but "like a lion's whelp,"611 that is, like a young lion who is
afraid of nothing. Although "he couched as a lion" is to be un-
derstood as dealing with his inheritance which no one can
wrest from him, it also refers to the kingdom. Despite the
fact that they were tested and overcome, still no one was
able to take the kingdom from them because the kingdom,
with all its tribes, is protected by the Lord of the Kingdom.
To make known that he was speaking about the crown that
is handed down from Judah and not about the tribe,
[Moses] wrote, "The scepter shall not depart," that is, the king,
"nor the staff, "that is, a prophet who announces the things to
come, "until He comes,"612 not David whom the kingdom
raised to honor, but Jesus, the son of David, who is the Lord
of the Kingdom. 613 Neither the king nor the prophet "will de-
part from the house ofJudah until He comes to whom the kingdom
belongs." 614
(3) 0, let them show me whether there were kings before
David who descended from Judah and preserved the crown
for David. Since there was no king before David, it is evident
that it was by David and by the sons of David that the king-
dom was handed down and preserved for the Son and Lord
of David who is the Lord of the Kingdom. From [the verse]
"judah, your brothers shall praise you" to "the sceptre shall not de-
part nor the staff' is to be understood about Judah, about the
kingdom of David and about the sons of David who are from
610. Gen 49.9, Peshitta. 611. Gen 49.9.

612. Gen 49.10.
613. See Hymns on the Nativity 1.7. See also L. Leloir, "Ephrem et l'ascen-
dance davidique du Christ," in SP (Kalamazoo/Leuven, 1957) 1:389-95.
614. Gen 49.10. On this verse, see T. Jansma, "Ephraem on Genesis
XLIX, 1 O. An Inquiry into the Syriac Text Forms as Presented in His Commen-
tary on Genesis," PdO 4 (1973): 247-56; and Murray, Symbol,; 282-84.
Judah. [The verse] "until he comes to whom it belongs," along

with what follows, however, is to be understood, in its truest
sense, about the Son of God and not about David or the
sons of David, who are from Judah. Even when [Moses] said,
''He comes to whom it belongs, "he clearly showed that all prede-
cessors were but guardians of the post, that is, they were suc-
cessors to a crown that did not belong to them.
(4) ''And Jor Him the nations shall wait,"615 that is, the
church of the Gentiles. 616 ''He will bind his Joal to the vine and
his asss colt to the choice vine."617 He calls the synagogue "the
vine, " as David also did. 618 That "He will bind his Joal to the
vine" is because his kingdom is bound up with and handed
down through the synagogue, that is, "the scepter will not de-
part Jrom Judah until He comes to whom the kingdom belongs. "
6. When our Lord came, He also bound his foal to the
true vine. Just as all symbols are fulfilled by Him, He would
fulfill in truth even this that was handed down to them
in likeness. Either there was a vine in Jerusalem outside of
the sanctuary to which He bound his foal when He entered
the temple, or in that city from which the foal came it had
been bound to a vine. He said, "If they say to you, 'Why are
you untying that foal?' say to them, 'The master requires
it.' "619
(2) "He washes his garments in wine, " that is, His flesh will
be bathed in His blood, "and His vesture in the blood oj
grapes," 620 because in His own blood He will bathe His body,
which is the vesture of His divinity. "His eyes shall be red with
wine, "for the truth of His thought is clearer than pure wine,
"and his teeth white with milk,"621 because the teaching of His
lips is pure and beautiful.
7. ''!ssachar is a strong warrior crouching along the path-
ways."622 This refers to Gideon who sent letters [with pleas]
to come and destroy the Midianites and who, with three

616. For the "church of the gentiles," see Murray, Symbols, 41-68.
617. Gen 49.11. 618. Cf. Ps 80.8, 14.
619. Luke 19.31. 620. Gen 49.11.
621. Gen 49.12. 622. Gen 49.14.
hundred men, prevailed over a great camp of thousands

and tens of thousands. 623 "He saw that his resting place was
good, " that is, the inheritance that came to him, "and that his
land was pleasant," 624 for it was flowing with milk and honey.
Although his inheritance was no better than that of his com-
panion tribes, his praise was greater than theirs. "He bowed
his shoulder to servitude, " not to the nations but to God "and
he became a slave at forced Labar," 625 that is, he became one who
paid tithes from his flocks and from his produce to the sons
of Levi.
8. "Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea," 626 that is, near
the harbors of the sea, "and in port areas,"627 because the
commerce of all those who dwell by the sea is from the in-
come of ships. "And his border shall reach to Sidon," 628 which is
also situated on the sea coast.
g. "Dan shall judge his people, " that is Samson, who judged
Israel for twenty years, "as one of the tribes of Israel," 629 that is,
like one of their brothers, sons of freewomen, descended
from Jacob. "Dan shall be a serpent upon the earth. "These [ser-
pents] are found along the surface of the ground, like those
in the desert of Sinai whose heads peer out from the dust.
"And a viper on the paths." 630 Just as those who travel about in
the pathless desert tremble at serpents on the ground, and
those who travel on the pathways are also terrified of vipers
that hide on the paths, so were the Philistines, who travelled
on paths and in the pathless desert, terrified of Samson. "To
bite the horse's heels and throw its rider backward." 631 It was dur-
ing the great famine that God brought upon the Philistines
that Samson burned their crops by means of foxes, for fire
was carried on their bodies like a rider on its horse. 632 Then
623. Cf.Judg 6,33-7.25.

624. Gen 49.1.').
625. Gen 49.15.
626. Zebulun should precede Issachar here as in Gen 49. In XLIII-4-5,
below, Ephrem follows the correct biblical order.
627. Gen 49.13, Peshitta. Literally, "along coasts of ships."
628. Gen 49.13. 629. Gen 49.16.
630. Gen 49.17. 631. Gen 49.17.
632. Cf.Judg 15.1-8.
the Philistines keeled over from lack of bread and then fell
backwards from lack of nourishment.
(2) "For your salvation I wait, 0 Lord." 6?'I This is either that
the Philistines looked for [salvation] at that time as in the
days when they took captive the ark, the salvation of the
Lord,6?4 or it was thus spoken through the mouth of Jacob in
respect to the sons of Dan or to all Israel, to show that all
the saviors who rose up for them depicted the symbol of
that great salvation which was about to come to all nations
through Jesus, who is the true Savior.
10. "Gad will go out with a band of robbers," 6?S that is, those
forty thousand who, girded for battle, went out before six
hundred thousand who followed them with their children,
their wives and their belongings. 6'16 "And he shall lead the
heel,"6'17 [means] he shall go out at the head, girded and con-
fident, and his company, following him like a heel, shall be
strengthened by him.
11. "The land of Asher shall be good."6?s As Moses said, ''Let
him dip his foot in oil."6?g It is likely that this is the land of
Apamea. ''And he shall provide nourishment for kings,"640 with
pure oil and wines of various flavors that make up his inheri-
tance.
12. "Naphtali is a swift messenger," not who brings rumors,
but "who gives favorable reports."641 This is Barak, who sent
glad tidings to all those who escaped from before the
strength and might of Sisera. 642
13. 'Joseph is a son of growth,"64? for from his youth he has
grown up strong. "Rise up, 0 spring, 0 building supported, "for
he found his support in God, with great trust in God. He is
also supported by his birthright, by the kingdom and by his
brothers. He is also supported like arches by his two sons;
one on his right and one on his left. Then "he went up on the
633. Gen 49.18. 634. Cf. 1 Sam 4.1 1.

635. Gen 49.19, Peshitta. 636. Cf.Josh 4.12-13.
637· Gell 49.19. 638. Gell 49.20, Peshitta.
639· Dent 33.24. 640. Gen 49.20.
641. Gen 49.21, Peshitta. 642. Cf.Jndg 4-4-22.
643. Gell 49.22, Peshitta.
wall,"644 because he was perfected and crowned with the best

things. "Leaders oj troops quarrelled with him and looked on him
with malice,"645 that is, the heads of the tribes. If "heads of di-
visions" were written,646 it would mean exactly the same
thing, for his brothers are the sons of his division,647 and
they looked on him with malice and sold him to Egypt.
(2) ''His bow returned with strength," 648 for he became ruler
and lord over them, but "the power oj his arms grew slack,"649
because, even though the bow is strong, if there is no power
in the arms the strength of the bow is of no use. So it was
with Joseph. Although, like a bow, he had the authority to
kill his brothers, yet he had no anger, which can be likened
to power, toward his brothers. For "the power oj his arms grew
slack" from love. ''From the mighty hand ojJacob," that is, be-
cause of the strong God who was with Jacob, and "because oj
the name oj the shepherd,"6so who would soon lead [his flock]
into the barren desert to the "rock" that gave life to all Israel
when they drank from it.65!
14. "The God oj your Jather will help you" when you fight
against your enemies because you refrained from taking re-
venge on the sons of your father, "and God Almighty will bless
you with blessings oj heaven above,"6s2 that is, with abundant
and continual dew and with good and delightful things
which flow from there on the annual crops that they might
be blessed.
(2) "The blessing oj the deep that couches beneath."6s'I Al-
though everything came to be from nothing, nevertheless
we may say that the clouds receive [their water] from the

646. This is also the reading of this verse in Targum Onkelos.
647. That is, "coheirs."
649. Literally, "the arms of his hands became scattered."
6.')0. Gen 49.24, Peshitta.
6.') 1. Cf. Exod 17.6; Num 20.11; 1 Cor 10.4. See also Ginzberg, I>egends,
3:5 2,6:2l.
6.')2. Gen 49.25.
6.')3· Gen 49.25.
deep. Just as the wisdom of God changed [the waters] to be

salty lest they become stagnant when they are gathered to-
gether, so too did it make [the waters] in the clouds sweet
and pleasant so that mankind, animals, herbs, and plants
could drink of them. "The blessing of heaven" then, [refers to]
rain and dew, while "the blessing of the deep" [refers to] rivers
and springs that provide the water for his inheritance.
(3) "The blessing of the breasts and the womb," 654 is the bless-
ing of love with which a mother blesses her child when the
milk of her breasts flows abundantly and that blessing of
dear ones by which parents bless their loved ones with their
affections. "The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the
blessings of my progenitors,"65s for the blessings with which I
have blessed you are greater than those by which I have
been blessed. For you have been blessed in faith by a father
who sees, but I, in the name of another, received them in
faith. As for my father, he made my brother a servant to me
with the authority that he was to give to my brother on that
day. Therefore my blessings are greater than those of my fa-
ther, not in power but in love.
(4) "Unto the hope of the everlasting hills," 656 [refers to] those
blessings with which you were blessed by Isaac who was
blessed on the mountain and on that high place whereon
he was offered up. "May they be on the head ofJoseph," 657 that is,
just as today he is the honor and boast of his brothers
among the Egyptians, so also may he be their crown and
may he rule over his brothers in his inheritance at the end
of days.
15. "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf" who lies in wait for prey
in his inheritance, "in the morning devouring his prey,"6S8 that
is, when they are delivered from the Indians, from Sen-
nacherib, and from the house of Gog. ''And in the evening he
will divide what he seizes,"65'l for in Jerusalem he will divide his
spoil peacefully with those of the house of Judah who dwell
654· Gen 49.2.'). 65.'). Gen 49.26, Peshitta.

656. Gen 49.26, Peshitta. 657. Gen 49.26.
658. Gen 49.27. 659· Gen 49.27.
with him, and he will bring those things we just mentioned

out from the soldiers' camps.
Section XLIII
1. Now that we have spoken of the literal meaning of the
blessings of Jacob, let us go back and speak of their spiritual
meaning as well. We did not fittingly speak of their literal
meaning nor will we write of their spiritual meaning as we
ought, for we spoke too sparingly of their literal meaning
and we will write of their spiritual meaning much too
briefly.
2. "Reuben, my might and the first fruits of my strength . .. you
wander about like water, you shall not remain . ... "660 Just as the
justice ofJacob cursed his firstborn because of his evil deed,
and this curse of Reuben was blotted out by Moses who was
the descendant of Jacob, so too was death decreed by God
against Adam when he transgressed the commandment, but
the Son of God came and, with the promise of the resurrec-
tion that He promised, brought to nought the judgment
that accompanied Adam out of Paradise.
3. "Simeon and Levi are brothers, weapons ofwrath."661 These
too are figures for Satan and death. For just as Simeon and
Levi, in their anger, destroyed a city and, through their
greed, plundered its possessions, so also Satan, in his envy,
killed the world secretly as Simeon and Levi had killed the
sons of Shechem openly, and death fell suddenly upon all
flesh as Simeon and Levi did on the possessions of the in-
habitants of Shechem. The Gospel of our Lord raised up
those whom sin had slain in secret, and the blessed promise
of the Son raised up the dead upon whom the tyrant Death
suddenly fell. 662
4. "Zebulun who dwells at the shore of the sea" 663 is a type of
the nations who dwell at the side of the prophets. And his
660. Gen 49.3-4.

661. Gen 49.5.
662. Ephrem devotes three hymns, Hymns on Virginity 17-19, to the theme
of Shechem as the type of the church of the Gentiles.
663· Gen 49.13.
border, which shall reach to Sidon,664 is just like the [na-

tion's] border which shall reach to sin, signified by Sidon.
"VVhat are you to me, 0 Tyre and Sidon?" 66S
5. "Issachar is a strong warrior, crouching along the path-
ways"666 of righteouness, for he hunts for life 667 the one who
transgresses and repents. "He saw that his resting place was
good and that his land was pleasant,"668 that is, [Christ] saw
that His church was good and that His dwelling was holy.
''He bowed his shoulder' 669 to the cross and became the one
who paid off the debt.
6. ''Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes."670 If one
from Dan judges His people, how much more will that one
fromJudah, to whom the kingdom belongs,judge all the na-
tions? For our Lord became a serpent to that first serpent
and a viper to Satan, just like the serpent of bronze that
countered the snakesYl Because, however great salvation
from a human being might be, it is [in fact] small,Jacob says
in Spirit concerning the salvation of all, 'Jor your salvation, I
wait, 0 Lord." 672
7. "Gad will go out with a band of robbers," 67'1 forty thousand
armed for battle. But the truth is that they are the twelve
Apostles who went out with a band of robbers before all the
nations to fall on the robber and wrest from him the nations
who were taken by him as booty.
8. "The land of Asher shall be good and [from it] he shall give
nourishment for kings." 674 It is the church who gives healing
with the medicine oflife 67S-not to kings alone but to all sol-
diers who accompany kings.
g. "Naphtali is a swift messenger who gives favorable reports,"67(;
664· Gen 49.13. 66.'). Joel 3-4.

666. Gen 49.14.
667. Or, "salvation." Syriac hayyrl is often used to translate (JwTT]pla in the
New Testament and Patristic literature.
668. Gen 49.1.'). 669. Gen 49.1.').
670. Gen 49.16. 671. Cf. Num 21.4-9
672. Gen 49.18. 673. Gen 49.19, Peshitta.
675. Ephrem's favOlite term for the Eucharist.
for after our Lord taught in the territory of Zebulun and

Naphtali, those who heard him went out, made it known
abroad, and repeated "the favorable reparts, "that this is the one
for whom we have been waiting. 677
10. 'Joseph is a son of growth." 678 Just as Jacob depended on
Joseph instead of Reuben, the firstborn, so also instead of
Adam, the firstborn and rebellious one, the world had one
Son of old age, in the latter days of the world, so that the
whole world might stand and lean on Him as if on a pillar.
"Rise up, 0 spring, 0 building supported"by brothers and sons.
Through the power of our Lord the world is supported on
the prophets and on the Apostles. 679 Joseph became a wall of
plenty to his brothers in the time of famine and our Lord
became the wall of knowledge to the world in the time of
error.
(2) The heads of the tribes looked with malice on Joseph,
and the heads of the Uewish] people on our Lord. "His bow
returned with strength,"680 for the two of them held sway over
their enemies and "the power of his arms grew slack," 681 for they
were unable to shoot arrows at their own brothers. "From the
hand of the Mighty One . .. ," 682 [is] because of the very name
of the Son who was called by the Apostle "the Rock who
walked with Israel in the desert."683
11. "Benjamin is a ravenous WOlf"684 [refers to] Paul, who
was a wolf to the wolves and snatched all souls away from the
evil one, and "in the evening he will divide what he seizes," 685 that
is, at the end of the world he will also rest with a reward
greater than his labors.
677. Cf. Matt 4.13-16, citing Isa 9.1-2.

679. The Prophets and the Apostles were inns and milestones on the path,
see Beck, "Das Bild vom Weg," 1-39.
682. Ephrem alters the text here from "the mighty hand ofJacob," as in
XLII. 13, above.
683. Cf. 1 Cor 1O.{.
684. Gen 49.27.
685. Gen 49.27.
Section XLIV
Then after he blessed his sons, Jacob died, one hun-
1.
dred and forty-seven years old. Joseph went up with the el-
ders of Egypt and the entire household of his father and
buried Jacob with his fathers. Then Joseph and all those
with him returned to Egypt. 686
2. The brothers of Joseph were afraid and said to him,
"Your father gave this command before his death: 'I beseech you for-
give the transgression of your brothers, the sins and the evil things
they have done to you. ' "Joseph wept and said, "Do not be afraid
of me for although your father has died, the God of your fa-
ther, on account of whom I will never strike you, is still alive.
Because He turned the evil that you did to me to my good,
and He placed many people in my hands, God forbid that I
do any evil to those who thus became the cause of life for
many. But,just as I did not kill you in Egypt, do not leave my
bones in Egypt." He made them swear to this and said, "God
will indeed remember you and will bring you up to the land
which He swore to Abraham. Bring my bones up to there so
that even if I do not inherit the land with you, I may be
raised up with you from that land." And Joseph died, one hun-
dred and ten years old, and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt. 687
3. To God who, through his Son, created all creatures
from nothing68s-although they were not written down in
the beginning because they were revealed to the under-
standing of Adam, and every generation handed down to
the next [generation], just what it had learned from the
previous [generation]. Because all went astray from God
and all had forgotten that God was Creator, God had Moses
write all this down for the Hebrew people, after He changed
nature to bear witness to the creation of the elements. In
the desert Moses wrote down those things that had been
manifested in Adam's mind while he was in Paradise, [and
they were handed down] through the ancient peoples who
knew these things without their being written down,
686. Cf. Gen 49.33-.')0.14. 687. Cf. Gen .')0.1.')-26.

688. Cf.John 1.3.
through the intermediate peoples who through the Scrip-

ture heard and believed them, and through the last peoples
who added on to the books of the middle ones, and even
through those who stubbornly remained in their resistance
and were not convinced-and to His Christ and to His Holy
Spirit be glory and honor, now and always, forever and ever.
Amen. Amen.
THE END OF THE COMMENTARY ON GENESIS, THE

FIRST BOOK OF TORAH.
INTRODUCTION
Ephrem entitled his Commentary on the Book of Exodus a tur-

gama ("interpretation"), the Syriac cognate of the Hebrew
targum. The Commentary is by no means a comprehensive
treatment of the Book of Exodus, nor is Ephrem's handling
of the biblical text consistent throughout the work. Rather,
the Commentary is an elucidation of selective portions of the
text that Ephrem has highlighted for their theological signif-
ICance.
(2) Throughout the major part of the Commentary, Eph-
rem is concerned with a straightforward explanation of the
significance of the events recorded in the Book of Exodus.
There is some incidental use made of the typology for which
Ephrem is famous, I but it does not approach the more delib-
erate typological treatment of many of these same themes
which characterizes his hymns. 2 At one point, he simply
notes the typological significance of a series of items without
any further development.? Ephrem's treatment of the Canti-
cle of Moses (Exod 15) consists of little more than a para-
phrase of the biblical text. Those sections that are con-
cerned with the laws (Exod 20-23) are treated selectively,
while a large portion of the text (Exod 26-31) is passed over
with no comment at all.
(3) While we can document no direct contact between
Ephrem and Jewish scholars of his day, the influence of
1. For example, the treatment of the burning bush (111.2), the staff of
Moses (VII.4), the Passover lamb (XII.2), and the water at Mara (XVI.l).
2. The collection entitled Hymns on Unleavened BrNul contains extended ty-
pological treatments of many of the Passover themes that occur in the Commen-
[my, with the expressed realization of the type in the church and its ultimate ful-
fillment in the kingdom. See, for example, Hymns on Unleavened Bread 5.18-23.
3. Cf. XII.3·
217
218 COMMENTARY ON EXODUS
midrashic and haggadic traditions abounds throughout the

Commentary. Such literary parallels are due certainly to the
early formative influence exercised by Judaism on Syriac-
speaking Christianity, notably the Peshitta version of the
Old Testament, which remained for some time the common
Bible of Syriac-speakingJews and Christians alike. Ephrem's
approach to the biblical text is evocative of the scholarship
which was underway in Jewish schools throughout Mesopo-
tamia, and particularly in Nisibis, where Ephrem spent most
of his life. 4
(4) Although the Commentary ostensibly has as its focus
the events narrated in Exodus," the recurring theme in the
first ten sections of the work is one that is common to many
of Ephrem's polemical works, namely, the defense of human
free will against the deterministic teachings of three of
his chief theological opponents, Marcion, Mani, and Bar-
daisan. 6 Ephrem focuses attention on those portions of the
biblical text that demonstrate his belief that the correct use
of human freedom is the key to both personal and social
well-being, and the prerequisite to divine blessing. Ephrem
is concerned to show that Pharaoh acted as a free man, and
that the plagues which befell Egypt were the direct results of
Pharaoh's own obstinacy, and not the effects of anonymous
forces beyond human controP By disparaging the use of as-
4. See Kronholm, Motifs, 2.')-28; and Feghali, "Influence des Targums,"
7 1 - 8 2.
5. A panegyric atttibuted to Gregory of Nyssa expresses the claim that
Ephrem wrote commentaries on all the books of the Bible. See De vita S. Patris
Ephraern Syri, 819-.')0; especially 829A-B. The Syrian ecclesiastical historian,
Barhadbsabba, who died sometime before 650, reports, quite anachronistical-
ly, that Jacob, bishop of Nisibis, appointed Ephrem as "exegete" (in Syriac,
rnpaSsqana) of the school in Nisibis. See Scher, "Mar Barhadbsabba 'Arbaya:
cause de la fondation des ecoles," 337. The Scripture commentaries of
Ephrem remained the object of study in Syrian ecclesiastical schools until the
works of Theodore of Mopsuestia were translated into Syriac, ibid., 382. On
this point see A. de Halleux, "Saint Ephrem Ie SyIien," RTL 14 (1983):
328-.').'), especially 333ff.
6. T. Bou Mansour, "La defense ephremienne de la liberte contre les doc-
nines marcionite, bardesanite et manicheenne," ()('P 50 (1984): 331-46.
7. T. Jansma, "Ephraem on Exodus II, .'): Reflections on the Interplay of
Human Free Will and Divine Providence," OCP 39 (1973): .')-28; idem,
INTRODUCTION 219
trology and magic, Ephrem shows the futility of Pharaoh's

attempts to escape the consequences of his own irresponsi-
ble decisions. One of Ephrem's favorite ways of demonstrat-
ing his point is to draw insistent attention to the precise
wording of the biblical text: "The Lord did not say: 'I have
hardened Pharaoh's heart,' but 'Pharaoh's heart has been
hardened, and he refuses to let the people go,'" (VILl). Al-
though Hebrews and Egyptians alike recognized that the
signs which Moses worked were from God, it was Pharaoh's
refusal to heed the signs that brought devastation to Egypt.
Ephrem emphasizes the fact that God gave Pharaoh ample
time to repent before sending the worst plague of all, the
death of the firstborn of the Egyptians: "Consider how un-
willing God was to strike Egypt. From the very beginning he
told them to repent, but they would not" (IX.2).
(5) There is only one manuscript witness to Ephrem's
Commentary on the Book of Exodus, Vatican Syriac Manuscript
110, which, regrettably, has been preserved only up to
Chapter 32 of the biblical text. This manuscript, which
dates from the sixth century, was obtained from the
Monastery of Our Lady of the Syrians in Egypt. The earliest
edition of the text of this manuscript which was prepared by
Petrus Benedictus is not a critical edition in any sense of the
phrase, and the Latin version which accompanies the Syriac
text is overwhelmingly paraphrastic. 8 Moreover, although
the manuscript is incomplete, the editor supplemented the
missing sections9 from a catena of the exegetical works of
Ephrem and Jacob of Edessa which was prepared by Severus
of Edessa.lO As Jansma has indicated,l1 this supplemental ma-
"Ephraem's Commentary on Exodus: Some Remarks on the Syriac Text and the
Latin Translation,"J887 (1972): 203-12.
8. Petrus Benedictus [Butrus Mubarakl and Simon Evodius A~semani, eds.,
Sandi ~'jJhmem 8Y1'i ojJera omnia, 1:194-235. The Latin version of the text is the
work of P. Benedictus.
9. Ibid., 226D-235·
10. The earliest witness to the catena of Severus is Vatican SyIiac Manu-
scIipt 103, which is dated to the late ninth or early tenth century. See T. Jans-
ma, "The Provenance of the Last Sections in the Roman Edition of Ephrem's
Commentary on Exodus," LM 85.1-2 (1972): 155-69.
11. Ibid., 156ff.
220 COMMENTARY ON EXODUS
terial departs from the earlier sections of Ephrem's authen-

tic exposition in two significant areas. First, while Ephrem
follows the order of the chapters and verses of Exodus when
commenting on the text, the material supplied for the miss-
ing portions of the manuscript contains comments that
refer back to earlier sections of the biblical narrative that
have already been treated. In addition, the material used to
supplement the missing chapters of the Commentary is pre-
dominantly typological in its treatment of the biblical text,
while, as has been noted, Ephrem in his own exposition
confines his comments almost exclusively to the literal sense
of the text.
(6) R. M. Tonneau l2 prepared the critical Syriac edition
that was used to make the present translation.
12. Tonneau, In Genesim et Exodnm.

COMMENTARY ON EXODUS
The Commentari on Exodus, the Second Book of the

Law/ composed by Blessed Mar Ephrem
[Prologuep
x 0 D US, the second book of the Law,4 tells about
the seventy souls who entered Egypt with Jacob,
(2) about the death of Jacob and the people of his
generation, and that a new king arose who killed the infants,
(3) that Moses escaped in a basket, and became the son
of Pharaoh's daughter,
(4) and that, when Moses became a man, he went out
among his brothers to see if deliverance could be achieved
through him,"
(5) and that he killed an Egyptian, and reprimanded a
Hebrew who made an accusation against him, then he fled
to Midian.
(6) [Moses writes] that he sat by a well and defended the
women who were wrongly treated, and that he entered the
house of Jethro who gave his daughter Sephora to him in
marriage,
(7) and that Pharaoh died, and the children of Israel
groaned 6 under their harsh servitude. They prayed and
were answered.
1. Although Ephrem entitled his work on Exodus a tilrgama ("translation,"
"paraphrase"), the Syriac cognate of the Hebrew targum, and his work on Gene-
sis a jru.r{aqii ("interpretation," "explanation"), the terms are employed synony-
mously in the titles of these two works.
2. The Syriac word used here is 'urayta, and derives from the same Hebrew
root as "Torah."
3. The initial section of the Commentary is composed of a selective index of
the material that is found in Exodus.
4. See note 2 above. 5. Literally "through his hand."
6. Read wettana/:t for wettni!! with Jansma, "Remarks," 203-4.
221
(8) [And it relates] that God appeared to Moses in a

bush, and about the staff that became a snake, and about his
leprous hand that was cleansed,
(9) about his departure for Egypt,
( 10) about the angel who appeared where he spent the
night, and who wanted to kill him, and about his entering
Egypt,
(1 1) and that Aaron went out to meet him, and that he
performed signs before the elders of the people who put
faith in him,
( 1 2) and that they came before Pharaoh who refused to
let them go, but he increased their affliction by withholding
straw from them.
(13) [And he tells] about the staff that became a snake,
and the river that turned to blood, about the frogs and the
pestilence, about the gnats and insects, about the boils, and
about the fire that burned in the hail, about the locust and
the darkness, and about the death of their firstborn,
(14) and about the lamb they slaughtered and ate on the
fourteenth [day of the month],
(15) about the hasty departure they made, armed and
furnished with gold, silver, as well as the garments of the
Egyptians7 which they took,
( 16) about the splitting of the sea, the crossing of the He-
brews, and the drowning of the Egyptians,
(17) and about the song Miriam sang at the sea, and that
they went without water for three days.
(18) And [Moses relates] that he made the bitter water of
Marah sweet with a piece of wood; and about the manna he
brought down, and the quail he raised up; and about the
water he made flow from a rock for them on Horeb,
(19) about Amelech who came to do battle with them,
(20) about the coming to Moses of Jethro, his father-in-
law,
(21) and about the Law given to them on Mount Sinai,
7. Read as a nominal rather than an adjectival form with Jansma, "Re-

marks," 204.
COMMENTARY ON EXODUS 223
about the descent of God on Mount Sinai, and about the

laws and regulations He gave them there,
(22) about the ascent of Moses to bring down the tablets,
(23) about the command [to build] the tabernacle: how,
and of what, it should be [constructed],
(24) and about the people who fashioned the calf be-
cause of Moses' delay on the mountain, and that he went up
the mountain a second time to bring down the tablets, and
to intercede for their offense,
(25) and that [Moses] petitioned God to go up with
them, and about [Moses'] saying to Him: "Show me your
glory that I may know yoU."8 [God] showed him, and
warned him about the commandments that He repeated
following the worship of the calf,
(26) and about the construction of the tabernacle, and
about the preparation of all its appointments, and about set-
ting it up on the first [day] of the month, and about the
cloud that overshadowed the tabernacle during the day; and
when the cloud lifted, they set out.
(27) Moses wrote about all these things in the Book of
Exodus. He began his account this way:
Section I
1. Now these are the names of the children of Israel who entered
Egypt with Jacob . .. seventy souls. 9 [Moses wrote] this to show
that the word that had been foretold to Abraham as a
promise 10 had come to pass. Those who entered [Egypt]
numbered seventy, with their old and their young. Mter liv-
ing there for two hundred and twenty-five years, they left
with six hundred thousand armed men, not including those
twenty years of age and under.
2. Mter Joseph and those of his generation died, a new
king rose to power who promulgated a new order to kill the
8. Cf. Exod 33.13, 18. Scripture references are from the New American
Bible.
g. Exod 1.1, 5. Ephrem's method of citing Scripture is elliptical, as in the
current instance, and often paraphrastic.
10. Cf. Gen 12.2.
Hebrew infants.l1 It was not without reason that he did what

he did. For Satan realized that the four hundred years indi-
cated to Abraham were completed,12 and he desired to stran-
gle the deliverer of the Hebrews by killing the infants. In
the meantime, Pharaoh likewise realized that the people
had increased, and that all of Egypt was swarming with
them. He was beside himself, not only because of the im-
mense number of Hebrews, but especially due to the agita-
tion of those who thought they knew the future, based on
the number of years that had passed, and who were also pre-
dicting the deliverance of the Hebrews. 13
3. So Pharaoh decreed death for their infants, and im-
posed hard labor on their fathers in granaries that were un-
necessary.14 If the crops in Joseph's granaries were enough
to sustain Egypt and Canaan and the land of the Amorites
during seven years of famine, would their provisions not
have been more than sufficient to sustain [Pharaoh's] own
land? But the more Pharaoh became intent on the death of
the children, [the more] the Hebrew children increased.
And the more he tried to afflict the people, [the more] he
himself became afflicted by the people. For [Moses wrote]:
"The Egyptians were afflicted by the children ofIsrael."
4- To keep his river from becoming polluted with the
corpses of infants, [Pharaoh] summoned those who give
life,15 to make them into those who give death. 16 By his au-
thority, he wanted to make them [do] the opposite of
[what] their name [implied], by proposing to turn healers
11. Cf. Exod 1.15ff.

12. Cf. Gen 15.13.
13. Jewish tradition held that Pharaoh and his own astrologers were among
those who predicted a deliverer. See, S. M. Lehrman, Midrash Rabbah (London,
1961) 3:25. Also R. Le Deaut, Targwn du Pentateuque, SC 24.') [1] and 256 [2]
(Pads, 1978) 17.
14. Not only does Ephrem agree with rabbinic literature that the granaries
of Pharaoh were unnecessary, but his explanation for this is the same as that
which is found in Jewish sources. Other agreements with rabbinic sources are
noted in the text. See the examples cited in Feghali, "Commentaire," 92, n. 4.
1.'). I.e. Midwives.
16. Cf. Exod 1.15-16.
into killers. But they did not obey him. Even though he was
assured that they were obeying him, they did the opposite. 17
The women whom he instructed18 to kill the children,El ex-
pected to be killed in place of them. But the day they
thought they would receive the crown of martyrdom, they
were rescued from death by a clever statement God put in
their mouth. 20 They became blessed; that is, those who
thought that Pharaoh would kill their entire race became a
great race because of the great number of infants to whom
they gave life .
.5. When Pharaoh was fooled by the women without real-
izing it, he decided to pollute the water with the blood of
the infants, and to feed his fish with the flesh of children.
But this was not in his power either, because the Hebrews
had become so fertile. The rivers became filled with infants,
as Pharaoh willed, but Egypt [remained] filled with [He-
brews], which was not what he willed. 21 When he saw the
river rotting with children, he was elated. But when he saw
Egypt swarming with them, he became despondent. His
order was not rescinded, but neither had his will been at-
tained, in accordance with his order. Infants lay heaped like
locusts on the river bank, but, to his annoyance,22 the streets
of Egypt rang out with their cries.
Section II
1. Moses was born during this period of oppression for
the Hebrews. When his mother saw how beautiful he was,
she hid him for as long as she could. 23 She feared it would be
17. Literally, "They obeyed him in reverse." For an account of the wisdom
of the midwives inJewish tradition, see Ginzberg, Legend" 2:250-54.
18. Read dajJiswithJansma, "Remarks," 204.
Ig. Cf. Exod 1. 17. 20. Cf. Exod 1. 1 g.
21. Compare Ephrem's use of ,1'eiJyanrl ("will") in the Homily on Our Lord, III:
He submitted and bore death, according to his will,

in order to overthrow death, which is not what it willed.
22. PrY,'e Feghali: "... de leur agitation"; "Commentaire," g6.
23. Literally, "She hid him until she could hide him no longer." Cf. Exod
2.2-3·
discovered that they were in defiance of Pharaoh's order,

that their entire family would perish, and that Moses would
not survive. Consider how [the soldiers] searched until
Moses could be hidden no longer. And consider how good-
ness protected [the Hebrews], so that six hundred thousand
set out from there.
(2) Moses' mother put him in a basket, entered [her
house], knelt in prayer, and with mournful tears com-
plained to the God of Abraham about Pharaoh: "You
blessed our people so they would increase, and increased
they have, according to your blessing. But see, Pharaoh has
schemed to deprive the land of cultivators by killing the lit-
tle boys, and to eliminate and put an end to the seed which
you blessed by destroying the children." 24
2. Now Moses' sister, Miriam, remained at the river's edge
to find out what would become of the youth in the basket.
They had confidence in God, and in the youth's beauty, that
the first one to see the basket would take the youth and let
him live. Now it was an especially warm day for Pharaoh's
daughter,2S so although it was not her usual time to bathe in
the river, she went out. Even though she went of her own ac-
cord because of the heat of the day, since she did not go at
her usual time, she went apart from her own accord. Her
freedom was led by compulsion to draw out and bring up
from the river the one who would avenge in the sea the little
boys who had been thrown into the river.26
24. Read yaltie dmnbattel withJansma, "Remarks," 204.

25. Jewish legend held that the day Moses was rescued was unseasonably
warm, and that Pharaoh's daughter, who suffered from leprosy, went down to
the liver to be relieved of her discomfort. See Ginzberg, Legend" 2:266.
26. In his interpretation of this passage, Ephrem is careful to preserve the
free will of Pharaoh's daughter by explaining that the decision to go down to
the liver was her own, but the fact that she did not go at the usual time was the
result of compulsion. For a full consideration of Ephrem's treatment of free
will in this instance and throughout the Commentary (for example in X.3, X.5,
and XVI.I) see Jansma, "Ephraem on Exodus II, 5." At the end of this article,
Jansma proposes a reading of this line based on a scribal error which pointed
the particle man as the preposition men. Feghali ("Commentaire," 98, n. 21)
cites Jansma, but continues to read the line with Tonneau and Assemani, who
3. Seeing that the youth was beautiful, she supposed, as

did her serving girls, that the gods of Egypt had provided a
son for the sterile woman in the river. She obediently took
him in order to remove her shame and increase her conso-
lation, so that the throne of her father would be passed on
to him.
(2) Miriam came along, neither sad nor happy, indiffer-
ent to both of these [emotions]. Assuming the appearance
useful to her purpose, Miriam said to her: "Shall I call one of
the Hebrew women to nurse [the child] for you,27 one with a sin-
cere heart and pure milk? With qualities such as these, she
would be very useful to your kingdom."
(3) So she quickly ran and brought [the boy's] mother,
appropriately dressed and with excellent gifts. She wh02 8
had been willing to give her entire house so that Moses
would not be thrown into the river, was persuaded with diffi-
culty to be the nurse of her son. And when he was given to
her, she was not easily persuaded to take him. She took her
son, and she did not leave the basket. She had sent him
away with sadness, but welcomed him back with joy. She who
had gone down to the river under cover of darkness,
brought him back in broad daylight. 29 She held him in her
arms out in the open as well as in the house. He who had
not seen the light of day for three months 30 saw light at the
river-he who had been cast into the river to be deprived of
light.
4. When Moses completed the years of his education and
was brought into Pharaoh's house, he gladdened his parents
interpret the particle man as the preposition men. The current version adopts
Jansma's reading: l-qatirii man (tZruLiih d-birii hw/iL. For the connection between
liberty and grace in the behavior of Pharaoh, see X'3, X.5, and XVI.l where
Mrilta ("free will") and qatira ("compulsion") are again contrasted. See T. Bou
Mansour, "Aspects de la liberte humaine chez saint Ephrem Ie Syrien," JilL 60
(1984): 252-82, especially 255, n. 8 and 271ff.
27. Cf. Exod 2.7.
28. Read d-kulkh with the relative pronoun, with Jansma, "Remarks," 204.
29. Read nahZui withJansma, "Remarks," 207.
30. Cf. Exod 2.2.
with his beauty, but at the same time, he saddened them

with his stammering. Yol Moses knew he was the son of
Jochabed from his circumcision and from his name, but es-
pecially from the account he had heard from his mother
and his sister.'I2
(2) As the period of four hundred years drew to a close/Yo
he went out to see if deliverance could be brought about
through him.'I4 And because the one he killed was Pharaoh's
most cruel taskmaster, who had refused to accept his repeat-
ed warnings/" [Moses] killed and buried in the sand the
one who distressed the seed that had been blessed so that it
would become as abundant as the sand. He buried him in
the sand on the riverbank in front of his companions whose
corpses would be strewn along the sand of the seashore.
(3) He went out again the next day and saw two men who
were fighting with each other.'I6 As the king's son, he had the
authority to have them beaten and killed, but he did not do
either of these; he justly reprimanded the one who was at
fault. But rather than accept the warning, he accused the
king's son of murder in the presence of many people.
5. "VVho appointed you as our ruler?"'17 You shameless wran-
gler! Do you say to the king's son, "VVho appointed you as our
ruler?" [If] he has authority over those placed over you, does
he not then have authority over you? Moses was troubled,
because he heard the statement from someone whom he
did not think was aware [of what had happened]. This man
who accused him was not the one whom he had rescued
from the cruel Egyptian. If [this man] had not been just, he
would have received the [same] reprimand his companion
did. [Moses] had not killed the Egyptian on account of him.
The man he had rescued from the Egyptian was oppressed
31. Cf. Exod 4.10. 32. Cf. Exod 2.7-10.

33. Cf. Cen 15.13. 34. Literally, "through his hand."
35. Here and in several other places throughout the CommenLary (e.g. 11.5),
Ephrem uses language that seeks to justify the killing of the Egyptian taskmas-
ter by Moses. For parallels inJewish targumic tradition, see Le Deaut, Tarl,,'um
du PenLaLewjue, 2:22; and Feghali, "Commentaire," 99, n. 24.
36. Cf.Exod2.13· 37. Exod2.14·
like the young girls at the well. 38 By killing the Egyptian,

Moses wanted to give relief to the Hebrews who were op-
pressed by him. The man who had been rescued revealed
[the matter] to this man out of love. But this man accused
Moses out of malice.
6. When Pharaoh heard about this, an opportunity for
slander presented itself to the generals and to the taskmas-
ters whom [Moses] had reprimanded for mercilessly mis-
treating the Hebrews. Pharaoh became enraged, and would
have soaked his hands in the blood of his son and sent the
heir of his crown to Sheol. So Moses became frightened,
and to prevent his true parents from enduring the torments
of his adoptive parents, "He fled to Midian, and sat by a well." 39
(2) When he saw some dissolute herdsmen who were
forcibly trying to take the water that some young girls40 had
drawn, [Moses] being ajust man, saved them from this coer-
cion; and being a compassionate man, he drew water for the
flock of the maidens. When their father asked them about
their hasty return and learned of the justice and compas-
sion of Moses, he sent after him to repay him with bread
which he fed him in his house for the kindness he had ex-
tended to his daughters at the well. 41
7. Moses was wondering where he would go, and with
whom he would stay. When the priest42 sent after him, he
knew that the One who rescued him from death in the river
by means of Pharaoh's daughter, and likewise let him slip
through Pharaoh's hands and escape from under Pharaoh's
eyes, put it in the mind of the priest to take Moses in, and
make him his daughter's husband. He slipped away from
38. I.e. The daughters ofJethro. Cf. Exod 2.16ff.

39. Exod 2.15·
40. The Syriac term sabrata ("young girls") is used synonymously with
talyaLrl ("maidens," "unmanied girls") which occurs at the end of this sentence.
41. Cf. Exod 2.18-20.
42. Ephrem refers to Jethro by the title of k£unra, a term used in the Peshit-
ta to distinguish a pagan priest from kahn/i, a pliest of the Mosaic Law. For al-
ternatives to the Hebrew cognate la5hen in the targums see Le Deaut, Targum du
Pentateuque, 2:24, n. 10. See also A. Catastini, "Observations on Aramaic Epigra-
phy,"jSS 3 2 /2 (1987): 273-77.
magicians, and was received by a priest. He had no fear of

the priest, just as he had had no fear of the magicians. If he
had helped them, he had not been harmed by them.
Nonetheless, Aaron was suffering, and Miriam was mourn-
ful-those who previously had been proud to sing his prais-
es. 4 ?'
8. Because of Moses' beauty and integrity, and especially
because of God who was with him, they convinced Moses to
marry Sephora. Just as Jacob had been spared the disgrace
of tending sheep because of the daughters of Laban, Moses
likewise was spared the care of the flock because of Sephora
and her sisters.
(2) So he married Sephora who bore him two sons. He
circumcised one of them, but she did not let him circumcise
the other one. 44 She was strong-willed because of her father
and brothers. She may have consented to become Moses'
wife, but she had not consented to become a daughter of his
faith. She was a daughter of priests who was brought up on
sacrificial meat, and who was accustomed to worshipping
many gods. So she did not give him both of them [to cir-
cumcise], but neither did she withhold both of them. She
gave one, so that the circumcision of Abraham would con-
tinue in him, but she withheld the other, through whom the
uncircumcision of her father's house would be passed
down. 45
g. Moses did not follow his father or his father-in-law [re-
garding the names] of his sons. He named the first one after
his escape and his dwelling in a strange land46 for the sake of
43 . .Jansma speculates that the relative clause that closes this paragraph
refers to the jealousy of Aaron and Miriam indicated in Num 12. See Jansma,
"Remarks," 20.').
44. Although the Commenlmy does not identify which of Moses' two sons
was not circumcised, according to Targum Pseudrrfonathan IV.24 it was Gershom
who remained uncircumcised. See Le Deaut, Targwn du Pentateuch, 2:39.
45. See IVo{ for the result of Moses' failure to circumcise both sons.
46. Cf. Exod 2.22 and 18.3 where the meaning of the name Gershom is ex-
plained as though it were derived from the Hebrew ger ("stranger") and sam
("there"). See also Le Deaut, TargurIl tiu Penlaleurh, 2:26-27.
God. And he named the other one<7 after his rescue from
Pharaoh.
(2) Mter Moses had been in Midian for forty years,
Pharaoh, the oppressar of the people, died. The Hebrews groaned 48
from their servitude. 49 They recalled God's covenant with Abra-
ham, whose time was fulfilled. 50 Thirty years in addition had
passed. They prayed for this, and they were answered. God
saw that the children of Israel were enslaved, and God knew
their affliction, as well as the remedy he would offer them.
Section III
1. "While Moses was tending sheep alongside Horeb, he saw an
angel in the fire that burned in a bush." 51 Moses went to look at
the bush that the fire did not consume, and as he ap-
proached, a simple vision of an angel appeared to him. As
he came [closer], it was not the angel that [first] appeared
to him who addressed him, but God, who later appeared to
him by means of an angel in an awesome vision and said to
him: "Do not approach this spot as you would some common place.
This is a holy place,"52 as the place where Jacob slept [was
holy] on account of the ladder and the angels who were as-
cending and descending to guard him.53 And this place [is
holy] on account of God who dwells in the fire that burns in
the bush. "Remove your sandals"54 and go trample 55 the Egyp-
tians. See, it is thirty years past the time of their picking. Up
to this point, Moses proceeded without fear. But when he
saw a sight that was more than his eyes [could bear], he hid
his face out of fear of looking at God the way he looked at
the angel. 56
47. I.e. Eliezer. Cf. Exod 18+ 48. See note 6 above.
49. Cf. Exod 2.23. 50. Cf. Mark 1.15.
51. Exod 3.1-2. 52. Exod 3 ..').
53· Cf. Cen 28.lOff. 54· Exod 3·5·
5.'). The Syriac verbs '~ar"to trample" or "to press," and q!ap "to pick" or "to
harvest" used in the following sentence are employed in reference to the pro-
cessing of grapes and olives. For a parallel use of these verbs by Ephrem, see
Hymns on the Crucifixion .').g: "The vinedressers also picked and pressed."
56. Read the singular with Jansma, "Remarks," 207.
2. The bush which was unsuitable even as an image of

dead gods"7 was able to depict within itself the mystery of
the living God. Moses, this is a sign to you; as you saw God
dwelling in the midst of the fire, by fire must you serve the
God who dwells in the fire.
3. And his Lord said to him: ''/ have indeed seen the oppression
of my people in Egypt for eighty years, and I have come down to
deliver them through yoU,"R and to bring them into the land of the
Canaanites, the land I promised to their fathers." 59 Moses
said: "VVho am I to go before Pharaoh? 60 Although I have a royal
title, I will not be received by him. And now that I do the
work of a simple shepherd, who will allow me to go before
Pharaoh? And even if I were let in, what importance would
he see in me to believe my words?"
4. And his Lord said to him: "Gather the elders whose cry has
ascended to me. 61 Tell them that I am mindful of them, and
that I will lead them up to the land of the Canaanites. And
since you fear that they will not hear you, see, I am telling
you that they will hear your voice. Enter Pharaoh's presence
with the elders, and say to him: 'We shall set out on a three-days'
journey to sacrifice to the Lord.'62 And since Pharaoh will not
allow this to happen, he and his armies will set out on a
three-days' journey, and will become sacrifices to animals
and birds that will pounce on their drowned bodies that are
heaped on 6 ? the seashore.
(2) 'Just as I have told you that the sons of your nation
will listen to you, see, I also tell you that Pharaoh will not lis-
ten to you. It will not be because of his mighty hand, or be-
57. Ephrem may be reflecting a popularly heldJewish belief that the bush
which burned without being consumed was a thorn bush, and that its thorns
provided a natural deterrent against those who might think to carve its wood
into images: "There were good reasons for selecting the thornbush as the vessel
for a divine vision. It was 'clean,' for the heathen could not use it to make
idols." See Ginzberg, Legend" 2:303. Other reasons for the choice of a thorn-
bush are given in Lehrman, Midmsh &lbbah, 3:53.
58. Literally, "through your hands." 59. Cf. Exod 3.7-8.
60. Cf.Exod3.11. 61. Cf.Exod3.16.
62. Cf. Exod 3.18.
63. Read simply 'alwithJansma, "Remarks," 20S.
cause of his idols that stand before him, but because of their
pride that I will strike the Egyptians with all the wonders I
will work among them. Then he will let you go.
(3) "But so that you may be sure that you will leave, I will
show mercy to the people, and they will plunder the Egyp-
tians. 64 By doing this, my promise to Abraham will be ful-
filled. But [the Hebrews], on account of all the treasures
they will seize as they are leaving, will never again be able to
look at the faces of the Egyptians." 65
Section IV
1. Since Moses knew the hardness of heart of the sons of
his nation, he asked for signs that would convince them.
"They will not hear my voice, and they will say: 'The Lord has not
appeared to you.' "66 Knowing he would ask for signs, God said
to him: "In order that they may believe that it is I who have
sent you, throw your staff on the ground." So he threw it
down, and it became a snake. Moses shied away. By giving
him this sign to convince the people, [God] also convinced
him. "As you fear Pharaoh, you also fear the snake. You will
overcome the army of Pharaoh with the plagues, just as you
were able, by my command, to take hold of the staff when it
was rigid, but which you feared when it started to slither."67
(2) Then [God] said to him: "Put your hand in your bosom." So
he put it in, and it became leprous. He put it in again, and it be-
came clean. 68 First, [God] ordered him to convince the peo-
ple with the snake, and with his hand that became leprous
and then clean. Then [God said to him]: "Pharaoh is no
more difficult than the serpent, nor is his army, which I
shall change into whatever I want, just as I changed your
hand. If the Egyptians do not believe these two signs which
you will work before them, and before the sons of your na-
tion, pour water from the river onto dry land, and it will
turn to blood." 69
64. Cf. Exod 3.1 g-22.
65. Read me"myewithJansma, "Remarks," 205.
66. Exod 4.1. 67. Literally, "once it was loosed."
68. Cf. Exod 4.6-7. 6g. Cf. Exod 4.8-9.
2. Mter [God] performed for Moses the signs he request-

ed, [Moses] also asked his Lord to loosen his tied tongue. "1
have never been an eloquent man, neither yesterday, nor the day be-
fore yesterday. And since the time that you spoke with me, there has
been no change in my stammering." 70
(2) His Lord said to him: "You will become great by that
which makes you small, so that you will become an eloquent
prophet for the God who is silent. I will be with your mouth,
not to loosen your tongue or improve your answers, but so
that something better might result from the sound of your
stammering." 71
3. Moses returned to Midian 72 and told his father-in-law
that he was going to see if he had caused his brothers in
Egypt any suffering as a result of his separation from them.
They certainly had not kept him [from following] the will of
God which was working on their behalf from above. But be-
cause [Moses] feared the Egyptian authorities whom he had
annoyed because they oppressed the people, and [because
he believed] they would incite the anger of the new
Pharaoh against him like the previous one, his Lord said to
him: "All the men who were seeking your life have died." 7?
(2) So Moses gathered his wife and sons and took up his
staff to go to Egypt. As he was leaving Midian, [the Lord]
again commanded him to say to Pharaoh: ''Thus says the
Lord: 'Send my firstborn son to me that he may serve me, lest per-
haps in place of my firstborn whom you withhold, though you are
unable to do so, 1 should kill your firstborn, which I am quite
able to do. Before all the [other] plagues, I will strike your
firstborn son, which will be the greatest of all the
plagues."'74 God said [this] to Pharaoh by way of speech,
but by way of action he showed him the plague of the snake,
which was the least of all [the plagues] .
4. At the place where they were spending the night, the
Lord came upon Moses, and wanted to kill him,7" because
70. Cf. Exod 4.10. 71. Cf. Exod 4.12.

72. Cf. Exod4.18. 73. Exod 4. 19.
74. Cf. Exod 4.22-23. 75. Cf. Exod 4.24.
he had discontinued circumcision in Midian for one of his

sons who had not been circumcised. From the day [the
Lord] spoke with him on Horeb, he had not been united to
his wife, who was distressed; and she was under judgment
because she had not put full faith in his word. [Moses]
blamed her for keeping his son from being circumcised.
They spent the night [preoccupied] with these thoughts.
Suddenly, an angel appeared for both of these reasons,
while seeming to appear only because of circumcision.
(2) [The angel] appeared to Moses in anger so that his
departure [from Midian] would not be ridiculed because he
had discontinued circumcision without necessity, while the
Hebrews had not interrupted it in spite of the death of their
children. Now whom should he have feared, God, who pre-
scribed circumcision, or his wife,76 who had stood in the way
of circumcision? 77
(3) When Moses' wife saw that he was about to die be-
cause she had stood in the way of circumcision, about which
and on account of which he had argued with her that
evening, she took a piece of flint, and still trembling from the
vision of the angel, circumcised her son, letting him be spat-
tered with his [own] blood. Then she held the angel's feet
and said: "1 have a husband of blood. 78 Do not cause suffering
on the day of the celebration of circumcision." Because
there was great joy on the day Abraham circumcised Isaac,
she said: "I too have a husband of blood. If you do not [re-
frain from harm] on account of me, who circumcised my
76. Literally, "his rib." Cf. Gen 2.21-24.

77. By att1ibuting the attack of the angel upon Moses to the fact that his
wife Sephora had prevented the circumcision of one of their sons, Ephrem fol-
lows a tradition common to Palestinian targumic sources. See Le Deaut, Tar-
!,rum du Pentateuque, 2:38-41. For an almost identical interpretation of Moses'
encounter with the angel in Aphrahat see Demonstration 6.3. For a full treat-
ment of this passage see Guillaumont, "Un midrash d'Exode 4,24-26," 89-95.
In a curious version of this same story, the angel is replaced by Satan, who ap-
pears in the guise of snake, and swallows Moses, who is rescued only when his
wife circumcises the uncircumcised son. See Ginzberg, I>egends, 2:295. Also,
Lehrman, Midrash &lbbah, 3:85.
78. Exod 4.25.
son with my own hands, or on account of Moses, refrain on

account of the commandment of circumcision itself which
has been observed." 79
5. When [the angel] left, Moses took the opportunity to
say to Sephora: "If you were so afraid of [the angel] who ap-
peared to you for a single moment, how much more should
I be fearful and sanctify myself for God, who is visible to me
all the time, and who worked wonders through me, and who
has sent me, armed with this staff, to deliver six hundred
thousand?"
(2) So [Moses] returned Sephora [to Midian]; first, be-
cause of her son who had been circumcised, so the discom-
fort would not be too much for him on the road; and sec-
ond, so that Sephora and her sons would not be entering
Egypt at the very time when all of Israel would be leaving
Egypt.
6. The Lord appeared to Aaron, and sent him to meet
Moses, so that [by seeing] what took place in fact, just as it
had been foretold to him in word, [Moses] would believe
from this point on that everything else would happen in the
same way. So the two of them gathered the elders and
worked wonders before them, as it had been decreed. And
they believed in Moses, just as the Lord had said to him.
Section V
1. They entered Pharaoh's presence together and said to
him: ''Thus says the Lord: 'Let my people go that they may
observe a feast in my honor in the desert.' "so Now due to
the presence of the elders of the people, and because he
heard of the signs [Moses] had performed before the el-
ders, Pharaoh did not strongly resist. Rather, he said to
them: "Why, Moses and Aaron, do you keep the people from
their work?" 81
(2) As they continued speaking with him, he became en-
raged, and instead of asking for a sign to let the people go,
79. Cf. Exod 4.26. 80. Exod 5.1.

81. Cf. Exod .').4.
he said: "Who is the Lord that I should hear his voice?" By

saying "Who is the Lord?" he was asking to see, by means of
signs, the one whose form was not visible to him. It was
[Pharaoh] himself who brought down the plagues with the
bold statement: "Who is the Lord?"82
(3) His harsh nature was not satisfied with what he said,
so he went further, and refused [to give] the people straw,
so that faced with 83 this necessity, they would not think
about leaving any more. 84 So the people spread out to look
for straw, which was very difficult to find since it was Nisan,
the season of flowers, and not Tammuz or Ab, the season for
threshing. 85 The scribes of the people complained to
Pharaoh because they were being mistreated by his taskmas-
ters. But he had no pity on them. Rather, he said to them:
"You are asking to go and sacrifice to the Lord because you
are lazy." 86
2. When the scribes saw the children of Israel in such a
bad state,87 they complained to the Lord against the house
of Moses, in the very presence of Moses. Moses said to the
Lord: "Since I spoke to Pharaoh in your name 88 the deliver-
82. Ephrem takes up the theme which he will repeat throughout the Com-
mentary, that Pharaoh was responsible for the plagues as a result of his unwill-
ingness to repent in the face of repeated warnings. One midrashic source
reads: " ... when God warns a man once, twice, and even a third time, and he
still does not repent, then does God close his heart against repentance so that
He should exact vengeance from him for his sins. Thus it was with the wicked
Pharaoh. Since God sent five times to him and he took no notice, God then
said: 'Thou hast stiffened thy neck and hardened thy heart; well, I will add to
thine uncleanness'; hence, 'For I have hardened his heart"'; Lehrman, A1idrash
Rd,iJah, 3:152. See note 3 on the same page. Also see the conclusion to VI of
Ephrem's Commentary.
83. Read b-hadewithJansma, "Remarks," 20.').
84. Cf. Exod 5.6ff.
8.'). Nisan (March 1.') to April 1.')) is the first month of the Hebrew year.
Tammiiz (June 1.') toJuly 1.')), andAb (July 1.') to August 1.')) correspond to the
dry summer months. For the significance of allusions to Nisan in the writings
of Ephrem, see G. Rouwhorst, "L'evocation du mois de Nisan dans les hymnes
sur la Resurrection d'Ephrem de Nisibe," in OCA 229 (Rome, 1984) 100-110.
86. Cf. Exod 5.8.
87. The Syriac sim ply has the adverbial form bisayit ("wickedly," "badly").
88. Cf. Exod .').23.
ance that the people had hoped for has not come about; in
fact, their oppression has increased over what it had been."
Section VI
1. And the Lord said to Moses: ''IJ Pharaoh asks Jor a sign,
throw down the staff in Jront oj him, and it will become a snake. "
However, Pharaoh summoned magicians who did the same thing by
means oj their spells,s,} that is, they imitated [Moses], and did
exactly as he had done. Now when [Scripture] says they did
it by means of their spells, [it means] that what they did was
not unusual, but that they employed the methods they al-
ways did. But when they thought they had beaten Moses by
imitating what he did, they made a mistake that they would
not [soon] forget. gO The staff of Moses swallowed their staffs.
They thought that they could change the natures [of
things], but they were unable to save their staffs from the
staff of Moses.
(2) The staff [of Moses] swallowed the staffs [of the magi-
cians] so that death would not swallow the firstborn. From
the staffs that were swallowed, [Pharaoh] should have
learned that unless he repented, the firstborn also would be
swallowed. First, [the Lord] told him to repent, but that did
not happen. Then he struck [him] with [a plague] that was
more severe than all the others. If they had mended their
ways as a result of the earlier [plagues], they would have
been spared [the plague] of the firstborn, which was more
severe than all those that came before it.'ll
Section VII
1. The Lord did not say: "I have hardened [Pharaoh's]
heart," but, ''Pharaoh's heart has been hardened, and he refuses to
8g. Exod 7.9, 11.

go. Literally, "They committed an unforgettable fault."
g1. Ephrem makes it clear that the pUlpose of the plagues was to encour-
age Pharaoh to repent. When he did not, only then was Egypt struck with the
tenth and most devastating plague of all. Once again, Ephrem indicates that re-
pentance, and thus avoidance of the plagues, remained available to Pharaoh
until the end. See Jansma, "Reflections," 11-13.
let the people go,."92 Again, the Lord said to Moses: "Go to
[Pharaoh}, and stand on the river bank,."93 [He told him this]
because [Pharaoh] went to the river early in the morning ei-
ther to pour out oblations, or because he went early every
day [simply] to enjoy himself. [But judging] from
[Pharaoh's] reliance on the magicians, it is likely that the
king of Egypt went to pour out oblations at the river of
Egypt.
(2) So Moses went out and told him on behalf of his Lord
to let the people go. When he refused, [Moses] struck the
river that Pharaoh previously had polluted with the blood of
the infants whom he had drowned in it, and the water was
changed to blood. The fish that had grown fat on the
corpses of little boys died. This second plague was also [in-
tended to] be territying, because the fish died instead of the
firstborn, and if [Pharaoh] was not convinced by the death
of the fish, he would be by the death of the firstborn. The
magicians also did the same with their spells,94 and Moses did
nothing to stop them.
2. If [the magicians] had been [acting] against Moses, he
would have stopped them with the first plague, the way he
stopped the plague of ulcers, and drove them off.95 But since
[the plagues] came from [Moses], and [were directed]
against [the magicians'] own people, [Moses] did not stop
them from striking Egypt with him,96 because a deceitful
heart which is divided against God is not at peace with itself.
And so, rather than striking the oppressors of their people,
or rising up so that their people would not perish, the magi-
cians began striking their people along with Moses. So he
92. Exod 7.14. One of Ephrem's favOlite methods of calling attention to

the precise reading of the biblical passage is to point out what the passage
under consideration does not say. Ephrem's purpose in the current instance is
to preselve Pharaoh's free will so that his repeated refusals to let Israel go, as
well as the plagues that followed his refusals, would be the results of his own ir-
responsible decisions. See note 82 above.
93· Exod 7. 1 5. 94· Exod 7. 2 2.
9.'). Cf. Exod 9.1 1 .
96. Pace Feghali, "Ie peuple d'Egypte"; "Commentaire," 1 09.
did not stop them. By encouraging their ruin, they were en-
couraging the ruin of Egypt.
(2) Although they changed the natures [of things],
which is difficult, they were careful not to change their
[own] natures, which is easy. And although they turned
water into blood and caused Egypt to suffer they might have
turned the blood into water, to annoy Moses, but they did
not do this because they could not do it. They could only do
those things to which their skill97 was accustomed.
3. After this, again he wrote not that the Lord hardened
[Pharaoh's] heart,98 but that Pharaoh's heart was hardened,
and he did not hear them,9'} just as the Lord had said to
Moses. And again [Scripture] says, "Pharaoh returned and en-
tered his house. And he gave no thought to it ."100
4. When Pharaoh was not convinced by this, "Aaron again
raised the staff with his hancC'lOl-the staff, a sign of the cross,
that caused all the plagues when it swallowed the snakes,
just as [the cross] would destroy all idols. With [the staff],
[Moses] divided the sea lO2 and drowned the Egyptians; that
prefigured the destruction of the Canaanites.
Section VIII
1. ''Frogs came and covered the land of Egypt, but the magicians
did the same with their spells." lOY, If they had loved Egypt, they
would have done away with the frogs rather than add sym-
bolic frogs to the real frogs of Moses. But neither did they
have a remedy to drive away the frogs of Moses, nor could
they strike back. They could only make the likeness of frogs
appear in place of the frogs [of Moses] . And so, they did not
97. A~ Ephrem uses these terms, 'abuduta ("creativity") is characteristic of

divine liberty which alone is able to create ptimary elements, while 'umanulii
("human skill") is dependent upon 'aMlduta since it requires something preex-
istent upon which to exercise an action. See Bou Mansour, "La defense
ephremienne," 334-36.
98. See note 92 above. 99. Cf. Exod 7.22.
100. Exod 7.23. 101. Exod 8.2.
102. Read jJelgeh ri-yammrl withJansma, "Remarks," 206.
103. Exod 8.2-3.
strike back, and they did not provide a remedy-those

whose business was the making of illusions.
(2) A generation of fish died, and a generation of frogs
was produced. Those who no longer were afflicted with
dead fish, were afflicted with living frogs. Pharaoh asked
when the frogs would be driven away. They died and were
piled in heaps, so they would not think that it was an halluc i-
nation. 104 But with this respite, Pharaoh [again] hardened his
heart and would not listen to them. 105
2. Again Aaron struck the dust of the earth with106 his staff, and
gnats descended on man and beast and on all the land.107 But the
magicians did this also with their spells, not to increase the
gnats, as in the first plague, but to drive them away. But they
were unable [to do so]. When their false skill was tested and
exposed as false, they confessed: "It is the finger of God. "108 But
Pharaoh remained unconvinced by Moses or the magicians
who said to him: "It is the finger of God." And [Moses]
wrote not that the Lord hardened [Pharaoh's] heart, but
that Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not hear them, just
as the Lord had said.109
3. As a result of the plague of the river, and of the frogs,
and of the gnats, both the land of Goshen, where the chil-
dren of Israel were living, and the land of Egypt were afflict-
ed. But with the plague of the insects, there was a distinc-
tion made between the [two] lands. [Moses] inflicted it on
the land of Egypt, but not on the land of Goshen. So Pharaoh
said to the house of Moses, "Go wherever you want in our land, and
sacrifice to your God without fear." Moses answered: "Be-
cause we sacrifice bulls and sheep, which are worshipped by
you, if we were to sacrifice the gods of the Egyptians before
their very eyes, they would stone us. So we will make a three-
days' journey to sacrifice to Him as He commanded us." 110
104. Pace Feghali, "l'esplit ne pellt l'imaginer"; "Commentaire," 110. The

Syriac transliterates the Greek <puvTurr[u.
10.'). Exod 8.1 1.
106. Read b-iJutreh withJansma, "Remarks," 206.
107. Cf. Exod 8.13. 108. Exod 8.1.').
109. See note g2 above. 110. Cf. Exod 8.21ff.
Pharaoh said: ''/ will let you go, as long as you do not go Jar; and
pray also Jor me." III But as soon as the insects disappeared,
Pharaoh broke his promise, and would not let the people
go. After this, [Moses] inflicted a plague of insects on their
cattle, distinguishing between the cattle of the Hebrews and
the cattle of the Egyptians. But not even as a result oj this was
[Pharaoh} persuaded to let the people go. 112
Section IX
1. Again, Moses scattered ashes in the presence oj Pharaoh, and
boils spread over man and beast. The magicians were unable to
stand before Moses, because they could not cause the boils in
the same wayan the bodies of the Hebrews, and there was
no place left on their own bodies to cause them. 11'\
2. Again [the Lord] brought down pestilence on the
house of Pharaoh and on his people. [The Lord] said [to
Pharaoh]: "This is why I have confirmed your contentiousness," 114
which means, "this is why I did not kill you with the first
plague, in order to demonstrate my power to you through the
chastisements which I myself would bring upon your land.
Tomorrow I will send severe hail. Order the cattle that survived
the pestilence to be brought in, so that they will not be killed
by the hail." IlS
(2) Consider how unwilling God was to strike Egypt. 116
From the very beginning He told them to repent, but
[Pharaoh] would not. Then [the Lord] commanded
Pharaoh to bring in his cattle. If they had brought in their
cattle as they were commanded, upon what would the hail
Ill. ExodS.24. 112. Cf.Exodg.7.

113. Cf. Exod g.10-11.
114. Exod g.16. Pace Feghali, "Voila pourquoi je t'ai maintenu jusqu'a la
fin ... "; "Commentaire," Ill. The phrase in SyIiac reads: '(ufimtak b-(!eTyana.
See XLI for a parallel expression.
115. Cf.Exodg.lg.
116. Ephrem's emphasis on the opportunities God gave Pharaoh to repent
reflects an indebtedness to rabbinic sources. See Jansma, "Reflections," 13.
Also S. Schechter, A.'jJeds oj &lbbinic Theology, replint (New York, 1961) espe-
cially ch. XVIII; and G. F. Moore,judaism in the FiTst Centuries oj the Christian lim,
vol. 1, part 3 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ig62) ch. S.
have fallen? The hail will fall 1l7 so that a miracle will be wit-
nessed as it kills the cattle of those who did not believe. Let
the animals be brought i n 118 so that [God] may keep watch over
the portion of the repentant.
3. Hail and fire fell together; neither did the hail extin-
guish the fire, nor did the fire meltll9 the hail. Rather, it
burst into flames in the hail as in a thicket, and turned [the
hail] as red as iron in the fire, blazing in the hail, and care-
ful of the trees. The force [of the hail] splintered the ancient
trees,120 but the fire in [the hail] protected the hedges, seed
beds, and vineyards. 121
4. Pharaoh said to Moses: "This time I have sinned." 122 And
the previous times he hardened his heart, did he not sin?
And even if he sinned the previous times, he did not sin the
way he did this time. [The Lord] warned him to bring in the
cattle, but he was not persuaded. This is why his offense was
more serious in this plague than in all the [other]
plagues. 123
(2) Moses went out, and with the raising up of his hands, the
thunder stopped, and the rain fell no longer on the earth. 124 Either
it vanished from the air, or it condensed in the clouds and
117. Exod 9.19.

118. Exod 9.19.
119. Literally, "consume."
120. Cf. Exod 9.25.
121. Although the biblical text records that the hail spared nothing (Exod
9.25), Ephrem, in accord with popularJewish belief, suggests that the destruc-
tion was not complete: "But the vegetation in the field suffered even more than
man and beast, for the hail came down like an ax upon the trees and broke
them. That the wheat and the spelt were not crushed was a miracle." Ginzberg,
I>egends, 2:3.')6-57.
122. Cf. Exod 9.27.
123. See note 82 above. Ephrem refutes the determinism of three theologi-
cal foes, Bardaisan, Mani, and Marcion, and traces the source of evil to the
wrong use of human freedom. See Bou Mansour, "La liberte chez Saint
Ephrem Ie Syrien," PriO 11 (1983): 89-156; 12 (1984/85): 3-89: "Son souci
nous semble plutot celui de rattacher Ie mal ala volonte humaine qui, par une
decision de discelnment, s'avere etre capable de choisir aussi bien Ie mal,"
(XII,13)'
124. Exod 9.33.
went [back] up. It was not as light coming down as it was

going back up. After this, Pharaoh and his servants became ob-
stinate, and would not let the people go. 125
Section X
1. And the Lord said to Moses: "Go to Pharaoh, and do not
be afraid of his haughtiness, Jor it is I who have hardened his
heart l26 by the patience I showed to him during the plagues
[that came] through your hands. If I believed in his repen-
tance, it was not because I was unaware of his treachery; I
foretold to you that Pharaoh would not listen to you unless I
performed signs which you would tell to your generations
[to come].127
2. Moses said to Pharaoh: "Unless you let the people go, I will
send Jorth locusts to consume whatever you saved Jrom the hail." 128
Pharaoh's servants said to him: ''How long will we hold back
this people to our [own} undoing? Let them go sacrifice to their
Lord,129 otherwise we will be stricken as our land and our
possessions have been. Or are you unaware that all oj Egypt has
been devastated]" lYoO
(2) Pharaoh said to Moses: "You may leave with your be-
longings,m but the land of one of the kings [holds] misfor-
tune for you." 1'\2 Surely, if you had wanted to keep them
from misfortune, you would not have made them endure
misfortune in your own land. If you prevented them from
125. Cf. Exod 9.34-35.

126. Cf. Exod 10.1. Ephrem passes over without comment the fact that the
passage explicitly states that it is the Lord who had hardened Pharaoh's heart.
127. Cf. Exod 10.2. 128. Cf. Exod 10-{-5.
12g. Cf. Exod l().7.
130. This final sentence has been left out of Tonneau's Latin version. See
Tonneau, in Genesim el~'xodum, CSCO 153.72, Ilg, line 18.
131. Feghali adds "et vos enfants"; "Commentaire," 113.
132. Ephrem explains Pharaoh's words by speaking of a certain king who
would do the people harm. He seeks to assign the blame for this to Pharaoh
himself, who kept the people subjugated. Targurn P>ewio-jonalhan 10.10 ex-
pands the passage to indicate that, like a magician, Pharaoh was able to foresee
the difficulties that the people would encounter in the desert. Cf. Le Deaut,
Targum de Penlaleuque, 2:75.
leaving out of love, you would not have added to your al-
ready heavy yoke by withholding straw from them. The peo-
ple for whom this God has worked every wonder do not fear
human misfortune.
3. Next, Moses sent forth locusts that devoured the grass
and whatever the hail had spared. Pharaoh said: "1 have
sinned against the Lord and against you. Forgive my fault." 133
Now if he had hardened his heart, he would not have spo-
ken these [words], because a heart that is hardened is a
stranger to remorse. He prayed when he was punished, but
became defiant when he was relieved. This was a free man,134
and these two [kinds of behavior] testifY to his free wil1. 135
[The Lord] sent forth locusts at the command of Moses, but
the repentance of Pharaoh held off the locusts.
4. Then Moses brought darkness over all of Egypt for three days
and three nights. But the Hebrews had light136 to rest from
their labors, and to make preparations for their departure .
.5. Pharaoh said to Moses: "Go with your wives and chil-
dren to worship the Lord. Leave only the herds 137 to assure us
that you will return." Moses answered: "[Our] herds are too
small for the great sacrifices we are going to offer to our
God. This is why you must also give us animals, if you have any
left, so we can sacrifice some of them before the Lord. 13s Besides, we
do not know what to sacrifice to the Lord until he himself
sets apart what he will choose from our flocks." The Lord
hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he refused to let the people go. 139
Now if [the Lord] hardened his heart, there could be no
change in a heart that God hardened. But [Pharaoh] said:
"I will let them go" when he was punished, and as soon as
[the punishment] passed, he prevented them from going.
This hardening of the heart was not from God, but from the
innermost mind,140 which submits to keeping the command-
133. Cf. Exod 10.16-17.

134. The Syriac reads bar !tire, "a son of the free."
135. See note 123 above. 136. Cf. Exod 10.22-23.
137. Cf. Exod 10.24. 138. Cf. Exod 10.25.
139. Cf. Exod 10.27. See note 126 above.
140. Literally, Lar'iLii ri-gawwii, "the inner mind."
ments when it is punished, but tramples [God's] 141 laws as

soon as [the punishment] ceases. 142
Section XI
1. And the Lord said: "Let each one ask his neighbar for gold
and silver objects. In the middle of the night the firstborn of Egypt
and the firstborn of the cattle shall die. There will be wailing
throughout all of Egypt," 143 just as there had been wailing in all
the Hebrew households when their infants were thrown into
the river. "Your servants will come down to me and say: 'Leave
with this people, ' and I shall leave." 144 This plague, then, that let
the people go, confirmed Pharaoh in [his] contentiousness,
because by [this] time, it was not the first [plague that had
occurred] .145
Section XII
1. This month shall stand at the head of the months of the year.
And on the tenth of this month, [each] man will procure a lamb for
his household, and will keep it until the fourteenth. Then he will
slaughter it at sunset, and sprinkle some of its blood on the door-
posts and the lintels of the house where they will eat it.146
2. The lamb is a type of our Lord, who entered the womb
on the tenth of Nisan. 147 From the tenth day of the seventh
141. Literally, "your."

142. Ephrem argues against the plain meaning of the text in order to up-
hold the principle of Pharaoh's free will. See note 126 above. AlsoJansma, "Re-
flections," 10.
143. Cf. Exod 11.2,4,6.
144. Cf. Exod 1 1.8.
145. Tonneau has translated this obscure line: "Haec nempe plaga, quae
dimisit populum, pharaonem perseverare fecit in contentione, eo quod prima
non fuit tempore," Tn Genesirn et Exodurn, CSCO 1.')3.72, 120. A possible explana-
tion of the meaning of the line might be found among midrashic texts which
record: "God revealed unto (Moses) that Pharaoh would not let Israel go free
before the plague of the firstborn; hence, there was no need to tell him of this
plague later"; Lehrman, Midmsh &lbbah, 3:84. See also note 3 on the same
page.
146. Exod 12.2-7.
147. In his treatment of the Passover Iitual [XII.2, 3], Ephrem departs
from his generally straightforward approach to the text, to draw out aspects of
month, when Zechariah received the announcement of the

birth of John, until the tenth day of the first month, when
Mary received the announcement of the angel, six months
passed. This is why the angel said to her: "This is the sixth month
for the one who was called sterile." 148
3. And so, on the tenth [of Nisan] [when the lamb
was confined, our Lord was conceived. And on the four-
teenth, when]Wl [the lamb] was slaughtered, its type was
crucified. The unleavened bread, which, he said [shall be
eaten] with bitter herbs, is a type of his newness. The bitter
herbs are a type of those who received him and suffered.
The fact that it was roasted is a type of what is baked in the
fire. 150 [The command: "You will wear] your belts around your
waists, and your sandals on your feet" 151 is a type of the new
company of disciples which prepares to set out and an-
nounce the Gospels. 152 "Your staffs in your hands" [is a type
of] their crosses on their shoulders. "Standing on your
feet," because no one receives the living Body while seated.
And "No stranger shall eat of it" because no one eats the
Body who is not baptized. "No bone in him shall be bro-
ken," because although our Lord's hands and feet were
pierced and his side was opened, not a bone in him was bro-
ken.
4. The firstborn of the Egyptians died in the middle of
the night, and every person, in the solitude of his own
house, mourned the death of his firstborn, the first of his
sons. Just as the river had been filled with the firstborn of
its typological significance. For a fuller typological treatment of this theme, see
Hymns on Unleavened Bread, 5.18-23, where Ephrem concludes:
The type was in Egypt/the reality in the church;
the seal of the reward/(will be) in the kingdom.
For a parallel compatison series in Aphrahat, see Demonstration 12.9.
148. Luke 1.36.
149. Feghali ("Commentaire," 115) has omitted the bracketed words from
his version.
150. An allusion to the euchatistic bread.
1.')1. Cf. Exod 12.11.
152. Literally, sabratii "good tidings."
the Hebrew women, Egyptian tombs were filled with the

firstborn of the Egyptian women.
5. Pharaoh summoned the house of Moses and said to
them: ''Leave with everything you own, and invoke a blessing
upon me." ISg Moses had said concerning the servants of
Pharaoh that they would ask him to leave/ 54 but more than
what he predicted [actually] happened: Pharaoh himself,
on behalf of his servants, asked them to leave. They insisted
that they go, not because [the Egyptians] had repented, but
because they thought that they would all die like their first-
born.
6. Six hundred thousand men left Rameses, and made
camp at Succoth. The time they spent in Egypt amounted to
four hundred and thirty years. 155 This figure should not be
calculated from the time Jacob entered [Egypt], but from
the day God established the covenant with Abraham. 156
Section XIII
1. The people took the spoils from the Egyptians, and
Moses [took} the bones ofJoseph/ 57 and they set out well-armed.
From the first day, the Lord overshadowed them with a cloud dur-
ing the day, and with a pillar offire at night. 158
153. Cf. Exod 12.31-32.

154. Cf. Exod 1l.S.
1.')5. Cf. Exod 12.37-40.
156. Ephrem's purpose seems to be to reconcile the figure of four hun-
dred thirty years (cf. Exod 12 -40) and the figure of four hundred years (cf.
Gen 1.').13). The figure of four hundred years is calculated from the birth of
Isaac, thirty years after Abraham's vision (cf. Cen 15)' Although Targum Neojili
simply states: "The sojourn of the children of Israel (in Egypt) ... lasted four
hundred thirty years," Targum Pseudrrfonathan expands this to read: "The time
which the children of Israel spent in Egypt lasted for thirty weeks of years,
which amounts to two hundred ten years; but the number was four hundred
thirty since Yahweh had spoken with Abraham, since the time he spoke with
him on the fifteenth of Nisan between the portions (of his sacrifice) up until
the day they left Egypt"; see Cinzberg, Legend,; 5:420. Also, Feghali, "Commen-
taire," 1 16, n. 44.
157. Cf. Exod 13.19.
15S. Exod 13.21.
Section XlV
1. But Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart, and
said: "What have we done?159 After all the plagues that have
come upon us, we have let the Hebrews go, after having pil-
laged our treasures and our clothes. Death would be prefer-
able to us rather than to let the Hebrews mock the kingdom
of the Egyptians."
2. [The Egyptians] gathered their forces and set out, con-
fident that they could destroy the people and regain their
[own] treasures in addition to the treasures of the people.
So Pharaoh set out with his army against the Hebrews who
had departed with their hands held high, that is, with silver
and gold, garments and possessions and good health, just as
God had promised Abraham.
(2) When the children of Israel saw the Egyptians, they
became terrified. 160 How many Egyptians were there that six
hundred thousand Hebrews should fear them? Because they
had their wives and children and possessions with them,
they were at a disadvantage. 161 Who would look after their
families, and who would guard their possessions?
3. So Moses said to them: "As it was in Egypt, so shall it be
here. The Lord will fight on your behalf, while you shall remain
undisturbed."162 The Lord said to Moses: "What are you pray-
ing that I do for you? 163 I prepared what I would do for the
people [even] before you prayed. Lift up your staff,"164
which is a sign of the cross, "and strike the sea, and divide
it. 165 See, I will harden the heart [of the Egyptians]," that is
[to say], "I will not restrain the boldness of the Egyptians,
who witness a new wonder, the dividing of the sea, but who
159. Exod 14 ..').

160. Cf. Exod 14.10.
161. Literally, "their hands were weakened."
162. Exod 14.14.
163. Cf. Exod 14.15. Ephrem, in agreement with targllmic tradition,
speaks of the "prayer" of Moses rather than a "cry." See Le Deallt, Targum du
Pentateuque, 2:114-15.
164. Exod 14.16. Read (!ulm" withJansma, "Remarks," 206.
165. Cf. Exod 14.16, 17.
do not take the warning. 166 For this reason, I shall be glorified
by the defeat that I will bring down on Pharaoh and his en-
tire army. The Egyptians shall know before they die that I am
the Lord." This is [why the Egyptians] said: "Let us flee be-
fore the children of Israel; the Lord has waged war on their
behalf against Egypt."167
4- The angel took the pillar of cloud that was in front of
them, and placed it between the camps of the Egyptians and
the Hebrews. 168 [The cloud] overshadowed the people in
the daytime, but when the angel placed it between the
camps at night, it produced darkness over the Egyptians like
[the darkness] which was over them for three days and
three nights. l69 But for the children of Israel there was light,
on account of the pillar of fire that gave light. 170
(2) This happened to frighten the Egyptians and to en-
courage the Hebrews, for if [the Egyptians] had mended
their ways as a result of the darkness, they would not have
dared to go down to the sea. A parching wind blew all night
long to turn the sea dry 171 for the sake of the repentance of the
Egyptians, when it could have been divided with the blink of
an eye.
S. The Egyptians pursued the Hebrews with no fear of
the darkness that separated them from the Hebrews, and
without being disturbed by the sea that was divided. During
the night, through a sea that was divided, they went rushing
forward to do battle with the people who were led by the
column of fire. During the morning watch, the Lord ap-
166. Ephrem explains the biblical passage in such a way as to place respon-
sibility for the defeat at the sea at the feet of the Egyptians, who, by failing to
heed God's warning, rushed headlong to disaster. See XIV4. See note 82
above.
167. Cf. Exod 14.17ff.
168. Cf. Exod 14.19.
169. Cf. Exod 10.21.
170. The reading of the text of Exodus is unclear on this point. Ephrem
follows targumic tradition and maintains that the column of fire produced
light for the Israelites. See M. Noth, Exodus (Philadelphia, 1962) 115. Also Le
Deaut, Targwn du Pentateuque, 2:114.
171. Exodl4·21.
peared to the Egyptians and threw them into confusion. He

clogged the wheels of their chariots 172 so that they could nei-
ther pursue the people nor escape from the sea. But they
did not fear the Lord who appeared to them, and they were
not deterred by their wheels that were clogged. They boldly
drove their chariots with full force.
6. It is written 173 that Moses raised his hand over the sea174
while it was divided. Likewise, when the sea returned to its
place, it is written 175 that Moses stretched out his hand over [the
sea].176 It seems that [from the time that the sea] was divid-
ed, until the time that all the people had passed through,
the hand of Moses was actually extended, as it would be
later during the battle with Amelech.177
7. The Lord struck the Egyptians, and not so much as
one of them survived. The Hebrews saw dead Egyptians on
the seashore, just as the Egyptians had seen the children of
Israel heaped on the riverbank. As a result of what hap-
pened in Egypt and at the sea, "The people believed in the Lord
and in Moses, his servant." 178
Section XV
The Canticle of Moses 179
1. Moses and the children of Israel sang this canticle to the
Lord. 180 Moses led the canticle, and all the people responded
after him: Sing praise to the Lord who is clothed in majesty, that
is, the Lord who took vengeance on the horses and their rid-
ers which he hurled into the sea. 181 He is powerful and praise-
worthy:182 powerful for drowning the Egyptians, and praise-
worthy for rescuing the Hebrews. Yahweh is Lord, that is, it
is the Lord himself who became our rescuer, not newly craft-
172. Cf. Exod 14.24-25. 173. Literally, "He wrote."

174. Exod 14.21. 17.'). Literally, "He wrote."
176. Exod 14.27. 177. Cf. Exod 17.8-16.
178. Cf. Exod 14.31.
179. Section XV consists almost entirely of a paraphrase of the biblical pas-
sage. It is the only section of the Commentary which is given a title.
180. Exod 15.1. 181. Exod 15.1.
182. Exod 15.3.
ed calves. Therefore, he is my God; I shall sing praise to him.

The God oj my Jather, Abraham, I shall exalt him. l8'\
(2) The Lard is a mighty warrior.184 He fought for us against
the Egyptians, while we remained undisturbed. He hurled
into the sea the magnificent chariots oj Pharaoh, 185 and the power-
ful army in which he took such pride. His finest warriars
whom he handpicked and sent after us, drowned in the Red
Sea; they sank to the bottom like rocks,l86 before their corpses
became swollen. 0 Lard, your right hand is adarned with power,
that is, it has power to crush your enemies,187 the Egyptians. You
sent Jorth your wrath which devoured them like stubble l8s in Egypt
and in the sea. With the breath oj your mouth, the water rose Up.IS'l
Either with a breath from you, the water changed direction
and rose up to be divided, or, at the command of your lips,
the currents stood upright, as though in wineskins, until the
six hundred thousand children of Israel passed through.
The depths became solid in the middle oj the sea,190 and drowned
the Egyptians. And so that we would know why they were
drowned, it is written l91 that the enemy said: "I will overtake
them, and divide the spoils, and devour them . .. ," 192 and so on.
With your breath, the sea covered them,I'l'l and their cruel
thoughts perished with them.
(3) Lord, who is like you among the gods of renown? VVho is
glorious in his sanctuary like you,I'l4 that is, in your holy
dwelling? You are terrifying to the Egyptians, praiseworthy
to the Hebrews, working wonders in the sea and in the land
of the Egyptians. In your goodness, you led this people you
rescued l9" from Egypt with a cloud and a pillar [of fire]. The
nations heard, that is, the Amorites heard about the river that
turned to blood, and they shuddered. Fear gripped those living
in Philistia l96 because of the death of the firstborn of the
183. Exod 15.2. 184. Exod 15.3.

185. Exod IS.4. 186. Exod 1S.S.
187. Exod 15.6. 188. Exod 15.7.
189. Exod 15.8. 190. Exod 15.8.
191. Literally, "He wrote." 192. Exod IS.9.
193. Exod 15.10. 194. Exod 15.11.
195. Exod 15.13. 196. Exod 15.14.
Egyptians. Fear gripped the princes of Edom and the leaders of

Moab 197 because of the sea that was divided. All those living
in Canaan scattered in fear, that is, the inhabitants of Canaan
were routed 198 when they heard that Pharaoh and his army
were drowned in the sea.
(4) These nations were struck with such terror that they
did not come to wage war with us, so that the people you
rescued would pass over them. You will plant them on the
mountain of your inheritance,199 that is, the land of the Canaan-
ites. You will establish your dwelling place in Jerusalem
where you, Lord, have prepared a sanctuary. Lord, establish
it with your hands, that is, so that its foundation is from you.
The Lord will reign over us forever and [over] no other peo-
ple. Pharaoh's chariots and horsemen went into the sea be-
cause they pursued us, and the water flowed over them and
covered them. 20o
2. The prophetess Miriam took . .. 201 How did she become a
prophetess?202 Either, like Isaiah's wife, she had the hon-
orary title of prophecy, although she was not a prophetess,
or because she was a just woman.
3. That day the people divided themselves into two
groups and sang a canticle to the one who divided the sea
and drowned their pursuers on that very day. Moses led the
singing for the men, and Miriam [led it] for the women:
Sing praise to the Lord who is clothed in majesty. He is majestic
because he annihilated [the Egyptians] effortlessly and easi-
ly inflicted all these plagues on them.
Section XVI
1. Once they crossed the sea, God decided to test them by
depriving them of water. At Marah they complained about
197. Exod 15.15.

198. Exod 1.').16. See also Josh 2.9-10 and 9.9ff.
199. Exod 15.17. 200. Cf. Exod 15.18ff.
201. Exod 15.20.
202. The question of the origins of Miriam's title of prophetess had been
raised by Jewish sources: "Because MiIiam prophesied, 'My mother is destined
to give birth to a son who will save Israel'; and when the hOllse was flooded with
[the lack of] water. God showed Moses a piece of wood.

VVhen he threw it into the water, the water became sweet. 20 Y> The
wood is a type of the cross which sweetened the bitterness of
the nations. After changing the water, he imposed laws on
them, so that just as the wood had the power to alter nature,
the law might lure freedom and persuade it.204
2. After being tested at Marah, they came to Elim, and
from Elim, to the desert of Sinai [where] the people com-
plained about [the lack of] meat. So he gave them bread
from heaven that they might gather enough food for the
day, and not be concerned for tomorrow. Some [gathered
too] much, out of greed, while others [gathered too] little,
out of carelessness. But the identical portion yielded more
to the one who had less, and less to the one who had
more. 20S They had to work for the manna,206 so idleness
would not corrupt them. And so, the Sabbath was estab-
lished for the slaves, the hired workers, the bull, and the ass.
light at the birth of Moses, her father arose and kissed her head and said: 'My
daughter, thy prophecy has been fulfilled.' This is the meaning of: And Miriam
the prophetess, the sister olAaron, tool< a timbrel (Exod 1.').20); 'The sister of Aaron'
but not of Moses?-[She is so called] because in fact she said the prophecy
when she was yet only the sister of Aaron, Moses not having been born yet." See
Lehrman, A1idrash lWbbah, 3:28. Also Le Deaut, Targum du Pentateuque, 2:129,
n.19·
203. Exod 1.').2.').
204. As Feghali indicates, two separate developments can be obselved in
Ephrem's treatment of the passage. The first is the common patristic under-
standing of the wood as a type of the cross; the second is targumic, which con-
siders the wood as a type of the law. Feghali, "Commentaire," 1 21, n. 48. See
Oligen, Horneties sur 1'J<,'xotie, SC 16 (PaIis, 1947) 167-69. And Le Deaut, Tar-
gum du Pentateuque, 2: 128.
20.'). Popular Jewish belief held that the manna fell in equal portions to
every individual, regardless of the amount that was collected: "Manna, indeed,
had the peculiarity of falling to every individual in the same measure; and
when, after gathering, they measured it, they found that there was an orner for
every man"; Ginzberg, Legend" 3:46.
206. Beyond the collecting of the manna itself, there is no suggestion of
the work to which Ephrem may be referring. One Jewish tradition relates: "Re-
lieved as they were of all the cares of subsistence through the gift of manna, it
was plainly the duty of the Israelites to devote themselves exclusively to the
study of the Torah"; Ginzberg, T>egentls, 3:.')0.
But they did not observe it. Some went out to gather
manna, but found none. 207
3. It is said that [the manna] was like coriander and that
it tasted like honey. [This is] to indicate that the manna
pleased every taste. They filled ajar with it to keep it for the
generations [to come] ; whatever was kept overnight became
infested with maggots, but [the manna] that was in the jar
for the generations [to come] did not become infested.
They ate [manna] for forty years,208 until they reached the
border of the promised land.
Section XVII
1. When they arrived at Rephidim, and there was no
water, they stopped complaining and started arguing. Moses
said in his prayer: "What should I do? Before long, they will want
to stone me. If only [to prevent] my dying at their hands, give
them water, so they will leave me in peace."209 He produced
water for them at Horeb in the sight of the elders. They had
said: "How is the Lord among us, when there is not even
enough water for US?"210 But he made the water flow in the
sight of the elders so they would know that the Lord was
truly with them.
(2) Forgetting the earlier signs, they tested [the Lord by
demanding] others, while they had the continual [signs] of
the cloud and the column, the manna and the quail. But be-
cause they had [these signs] for a long time, they did not
think of them as signs. This is why they tested [the Lord by
demanding] new signs, [to see] if [the Lord] were with
them or not.
2. Mter these things, Amelech came to do battle with
them. 211 Joshua went out to meet him, while Moses went up
the mountain with the staff of God in his hand. Moses held
the staff only at the time of mighty works and wonders, so
that you should know that it is a type of the cross, whose
207. Cf. Exod 16.27.
208. Pace Feghali, "quarante jours"; "Commentaire," 1 21.
209. Cf. Exod 17+ 210. Cf. Exod 17.6 , 7.
211. Cf. Exod 17.8ff.
power effects all wonders. Aaron and Hur, who, as they say,
was the brother-in-law of Moses, went up with Moses. [As
long as] he kept his hands aloft,212 Israel had the advantage,
and waged war against the boldness of the nations that
threatened to wage war with the people.2l'I And when
[Moses] lowered [his hands], the nations gained the advan-
tage over those who constantly complained against the Lord
and Moses.
(2) With Moses' hands raised up, and with the stafflifted
at his side, the sign of the cross was seen clearly in him.
Joshua contended on the plain, and Moses [contended] on
the mountain. When the people saw that he rested his
hands, they became frightened [and started] to retreat be-
fore their enemies, but when he raised them, they were en-
couraged to advance against their adversaries.
3. The Lord said to Moses: "Write this memorial in a book, be-
cause I intend to erase completely any memory oj A melech. 214 Write,
so that all nations may hear it and fear to come and wage
war against you, and so that the Amelechites will repent and
annul the sentence against them." Moses built an altar and
called it ''The Lord has tested"21S because [the Lord] test-
ed-through the belligerent Amelech-all nations that
were weaker than he, so that if they came to wage war, they
too would be destroyed as he had been. When [the He-
brews] realized that their advantage, as well as their defeat,
depended on the hands of Moses, they did not seek terms of
peace. 216 For he said: "Seek terms of peace with the cities be-
fore you engage them in battle."
4. See the hand oj Yahweh upon the throne, that is, the hand
of the Lord upon the throne of judgment which God estab-
lished for Moses over the people. And see the Lord's battle with
Amelech Jrom one generation to the next,217 that is, until he is de-
stroyed.
212. Literally, "With the lifting up of the arms of Moses ... "
213. Cf. Exod 17.11ff. 214. Exod 17.14.
215. Exod 17.15.
216. Literally, "Ask for the right hand."
217. Cf. Exod 17.16.
Section XVIII
1. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, came, and Moses went out
to meet him.218 He used to bow to him when he was in exile,
and he continued to do so after all the wonders that took
place through him.219
(2) After he bowed to his father-in-law, he told him about
the wonders that had happened through him,220 in order to
make him a disciple. [Moses] had been with him for forty
years without making him a disciple with his words, but
when Oethro] heard about the signs, he became a disciple,
and said: "Now I know that the Lord who did these things for you
is greater than all the gods who could not do [them] for their
worshippers."221 He said this either because of the plans that
[the Egyptians] had made against them, or because [the
Egyptians] murdered the infants to exterminate the people,
or because, by withholding the straw, the people would be-
come provoked with Moses, or because [the Egyptians]
thought that [the people] would be destroyed in the desert,
and [the Egyptians hoped to] lay hold of what was not theirs
as well as what was theirs.222
2. Jethro offered sacrifices to the Lord. 223 Now either he offered
[them] through Moses, or he set them aside to sacrifice in a
place designated by the Lord. According to his plan, Moses
established captains [of groups] of thousands and hun-
dreds, and [groups] of fifties and tens, to judge the people,
and to act on [Moses'] behalf. After this, Jethro returned to his
own land. 224
Section XIX
1. In the third month, forty-five d ays225 after their depar-
ture from Egypt, Moses went up the mountain to God who
said to him: "You have seen for yourselves what I have done to the
218. Cf. Exod 18'5-7.

21g. Literally, "through his hand."
220. Literally, "through his hand."
221. Cf. Exod 18.g-11. 222. Cf. XIV. 1, 2.
223. Cf. Exod 18.12. 224. Cf. Exod 18.27.
225. Pace Feghali, "quatre-<:ent cinquante aIlS"; "Commentaire," 124.
Egyptians," 226 that is, the plagues which I inflicted on them

on the land and in the sea. I lifted you up, as on eagles'
wings, by the cloud that guided you, and I brought you to
me on this mountain. "Now, if you hear my voice, you will be
more beloved to me than all nations, because I have chosen you
alone for myself from all generations to become a kingdom
of priests, and a holy nation for me."227 Accordingly, some of
them [became] kings, and some [became] priests, and all of
them [were] pure of the uncleanness of the nations. 228
Section XX
1. [The Lord] laid down commandments for them there,
saying: "1 am the Lord who visits the sins of fathers on their chil-
dren, down to the third and fourth generations of those who hate
me."229 This means that in his patience, he tolerates the
wicked man, his son, and his grandson. But if they do not re-
pent, he will punish the first [one born] of the fourth gen-
eration who imitates the wickedness of his fathers. "But 1 will
do justice down to the thousandth generation [to him] that loves
and keeps my commandments, as I have done for you and your
people because your fathers are of the house of Abraham
and Isaac."23o
2. All the commandments he laid down for them depend
on this saying: Do not do to your neighbor what is hateful to
you. "Do not kill," so that no one else will kill you. "Do not
covet your neighbor's wife," so that you will not be punished
through your wife for the trap which you set for someone
else's wife. "Do not steal what is not yours," so that others will
not steal what is yours. "Do not bear false witness against your
neighbor," so that no one else will witness falsely against you.
"Do not covet anything of your neighbor's," so that no one will
covet anything in your house. 231
226. Exod 19.4. 227. Cf. Exod 19.6.

228. The fact that Ephrem knew neither 1 Pet 2.9 nor Rev 5.10 may ac-
count for the fact that he failed to apply this classic text from Exodus to the
Church.
229. Cf. Exod 20.5. 230. Cf. Exod 20.6.
231. Cf. Exod 20.13ff.
3. Consider how well our Lord spoke when he said: "The

Law depends on these two commandments,"232 this is, the natural
precepts that are found in the Law and the Prophets, apart
from those laws which were formulated for particular cir-
cumstances, [for example]: "You shall build an earthen altar;
you shall apply no iron tool to the stones, so that you do not defile
it." 233 "See, 1 have spoken to you from heaven. You shall not make
gods of gold and of every other sort with me. You shall not ascend to
my altar by way of stairs, and no carved stone shall be found there
at all,"234 lest, while working on the stones of the altar, they
should fashion for themselves a god for that altar.
Sections XXI-XXII
1. On this day, he laid down for them the precepts of the
laws between a man and his neighbor. "When a man sells his
daughter as a serving girl, and she displeases her master," who
then does not receive her as he had promised her when he
first desired her, "he may not sell her to foreigners," 235 since this
would be breaking faith with her after having been satisfied
with her.
2. "Whoever beats a man to death shall be put to death. But if he
did not hunt down [his victim], but God handed him over into his
hand," that is, if the day of his death has arrived, and this
man, without willing it, has served the will of God, "1 will
make for this man a place to which he may flee." 236 The man who
has died, and whose killer had no intention of killing him,237
has not died apart from the will of God, for it is He who
placed the killer face-to-face with the one who was killed lest
the outcome determined by the will of God be deviated
from, with the result that [God] leave the deceased among
the living.
3. "When two men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman,
but cause her no injury," that is, if the foetus has not matured
and its body is not fully formed, [the one who strikes her]
232. Matt 22-40. 233. Cf. Exod 20.2.').

234. Cf. Exod 20.26. 23.'). Cf. Exod 21.7-8.
236. Exod 2 1. 1 2ff.
237. Literally, "of doing this."
shall pay dearly. But if [the foetus] has matured, "he must ren-
der a life for a life." 2'18
Section XXIII
1. "Do not sacrifice the blood of a victim with leavened bread."2?',)
[This might happen] either because "there should not be found
any leavened bread" 240 among them when slaughtering the
lamb, or so they would not mix sacrifices, and thereby offer
up the blood of one sacrifice with that of another which had
been slain and placed on the altar. "The fat of the feast shall
not be kept until morning";241 the fire of the altar shall consume
it the same day. The care which you give to the fat is an indi-
cation of your care for a better sacrifice.
2. ''Do not boil a kid in its mother's milk";242 that is, "it shall
stay with its mother for seven days, and on the eighth day you shall
give it to me." 24?
3. "See, I am sending my angel before you. Pay attention to him,
for my name is upon him."244 This means that he occupied the
place of God by virtue of the divine name that He placed
upon him.
Section XXIV
1. Moses built an altar. . . and sent young Israelites,245 that is,
the sons of Aaron, to prepare bulls for the holocausts. They
had not yet been anointed to serve as priests. Then he read the
book of the covenant before them, and they said: "We will do every-
thing the Lord has said. " Then he sprinkled some of the blood on the
people, and said: "This is the blood of the covenant which you have
ratified, so that we should hear and do everything the Lord has
said."246 With this blood of the covenant, a type of the
Gospel is depicted, since, by the death of Christ, [the
covenant] is given to all nations. 247
238. Exod 21.22-23. 239. Exod 23.18.

240. Exod 12.19. 241. Cf. Exod 23.18.
242. Exod 23.19. 243. Exod 22.28.
244. Exod 23.20-21. 245. Cf. Exod 24-4-5.
246. Cf. Exod 24.4-8.
247. It is curious, though typical of Ephrem and other early Syriac authors,
2. The house of Moses and the seventy elders went up [the moun-
tain] to see God. Under their feet [there appeared to be] sapphire
bricks [that were] as clear as the color of the sky.248 The bricks re-
minded them of their slavery in Egypt, and the sapphire re-
called the sea which was divided for them, and whose color
was as clear as the sky. He said: "You shall not use the lewd
colors of adulterous women." God did not impose His hand
on the elders to protect them . . . .249 He brought them up
[the mountain] for the vision, not for the gift of prophecy
which would be given to them later.
3. He gave them tablets written by the finger of God, so
that the commandments of God would be precious in their
eyes because God had written them. Moses and Joshua went
up the mountain. And the Lord called to Moses on the seventh day
from within the cloud, and the entire house of Israel saw the
glory of the Lord. 250
Sections XXV-XXXI
1. During these same days, [God] gave [Moses] com-
mandments concerning the building of the tabernacle: of
what it should be made, and how; and the vessels they
should make for the sanctuary; and [the commandments]
concerning the holy oil, the incense, and the priestly sacri-
fice. By saying [to him]: "You shall make everything according to
the model of the tabernacle that I will show you," 251 he first called
it a model and a temporal tabernacle,252 to indicate that it
was transitory and that it would be replaced by the church,
the perfect prototype which lasts forever, and so that they
would esteem it 253 because of its likeness to the heavenly
tabernacle.
that the blood of the Sinai covenant is not viewed as a type of the Eucharist as
one might expect. On this point see Murray, Symbol" 54.
248. Cf. Exod 24.9-10.
249. Exod 24.11. A short lacuna occurs in the SyIiac text at this point.
250. Cf. Exod 24.13-16. 251. Exod 25.9.
252. On the Peshitta's interpretation of the Hebrew 'ohel mo'ed ("tent of
meeting") as nUL,Own zabnii ("temporary tabernacle"), see Murray, Symbol" 222.
253. Literally, "so that it would be precious in their eyes."
2. And He also said: ''/ will meet to speak with you above the
propitiatory."2s4 [This means that] the voice of God would
come from between the cherubim to the priest who would
enter once a year.
Section XXXI!
1. VVhen the people saw that Moses delayed coming down Jrom
the mountain, they made Aaron Jashion gods to lead them, "because
[they said] we do not know what has become oj this Moses who
brought us out oj Egypt."25S But did he not go up the mountain
in your presence? And did he not enter the cloud before
your very eyes? Go up the mountain, and if you do not find
him or Joshua, do whatever seems best to you. But if you
have the manna and the quail, and the column and the
cloud, how then is Moses himself not there, since everything
you have, you have through him?2S6
2. While Aaron was arguing with them, he realized that
they wanted to stone him as they had done to Hur. It was to
Hur that Moses ordered the elders to render their judg-
ments when he went up the mountain. But when Moses
came down, there is no mention of his charge. This is why it
is said that they killed [Hur] during their revolt against
Aaron over the golden calf, because he rebuked them, say-
ing: "Do not make a substitute for God." And so, lest Aaron
also die and they be liable for a blood feud for his murder at
their hands, and lest they make many calves for themselves
instead of just one, and lest they return to Egypt,257 [Aaron]
sent craftsmen to collect their wives' earrings, so they would
prevent their husbands from forging calves, either to pro-
tect their earrings, or because of their love of God. 2s8
254. Cf. Exod 25.22.

2.')5. Cf. Exod 32.1.
256. Literally, "through his hands."
257. Feghali adds "et a ses dieux"; "Commentaire," 129.
2.')8. Ephrem's intention seems to be to justity Aaron's complicity in mak-
ing the golden calf. "Aaron had no fear for his life, but he thought: 'If Israel
were to commit so tenible a sin as to slay their pliest and prophet, God would
never forgive them"'; Ginzberg, I.egends, 3:121ff.
3. It is written: All the people removed the gold earrings that

were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 259 As these earrings
had been given to them with love when they received them
from the Egyptians, so now, the calf had become so beloved
by them that they gave their earrings to make [it].
4. The craftsmen took the gold and designed a model.
Then they made a molten calf and said: "This is your God who
brought you out of the land ofEgypt." 260 They denied God all the
wonders he worked for them in the sea and on the land, in
order to attribute to the calf which they loved things it never
did. Regarding the fact that it says: Aaron was afraid and built
an altar before them,261 it seems that, when they made them 262
exercise the priesthood before the calf, they killed Hur.
.5. In order to delay them until Moses came down the
mountain, Aaron said to them: "Tomorrow [shall bel a feast of
the Lord." So they got up early and offered sacrifices, and ate
manna, and drank the water that Moses made flow. They rose
up early to revel frantically before the caif,263 under the [very]
cloud that protected them.
6. And the Lord said, that is, the true God said to the god
of his people: "Your people have become depraved; they have made
a calf." 264 And [the people] said: "This is your god who brought
you out of the land of Egypt."265 By revealing this, [God] pre-
pared [Moses] for the prayer he would say. He said further:
259. Cf. Exod 32.3. 260. Exod 32+

261. Cf. Exod 32.5.
262. The precise sense of the Syriac is somewhat obscure. Tonneau [In
Genesim ellixorium. CSCO 153.72, 132] translates "videtur, ab eis coacto Aaron
fungi sacerdotio coram vitulo, Hur occisum esse." Jansma ["Remarks," 212]
has suggested the emendation: "while they (the Israelites) compelled them
(Aaron and Hur) . . . . " Finally, Feghali's version ["Commentaire," 129] ap-
proaches a paraphrase: "II semble que, quand ils forcerent (les pretres) a ex-
ercer leur fonction sacerdotale devant Ie veau, ils tuerent Hour." The root of
the ambiguity may stem from a sC1ibal error that inadvertantly substituted the
masculine plural pronoun l-hun for the proper name l-harun. Based on this re-
constmction, the sentence might more plausibly read: "When they made
Aaron exercise the priesthood before the calf, they killed Hur."
263. Cf. Exod 32.5-6. 264. Cf. Exod 32.7.
26.'). Cf. Exod 32.8.
"Let me put an end to them,"266 instead of saying to him: "Pre-

vent me from putting an end to them." If He had wanted to
do harm to the people, He would not have revealed their
ruin to the one who breached their gaps.267 Therefore, by re-
vealing this to [Moses], it is clear that He was not going to
do the people harm; He was prepared to forgive. So He in-
vited Moses to pray, for a great fault could not be forgiven
without them incurring a great penalty. He revealed to
Moses that He was going to destroy them, so that, when
Moses interceded and they were forgiven, the pardon would
be magnified in their eyes and the intercessor would be
loved with [all] their minds.
7. Through the intercession of Moses and the memory of
their fathers, [Moses] appeased the Lord on the mountain.
He turned to go down with Joshua, [carrying] the two
tablets in his hands. Joshua said to Moses: "There is the sound
of battle in the camp."268 If Joshua had been in the camp, he
would not have said this, because he would have known
about the statue of the calf. And if he had been with Moses
on the mountain, he would not have said this, because he
would have heard God say to Moses that the people had be-
come depraved. But he was not with Moses, and he was not
with the people; he was between Moses and the people. He
stayed with his master for seven days, and when the Lord
called Moses, Uoshua] remained alone, without his master.
8. When Moses saw the calf and [heard] the cymbals, he
broke the tablets at the foot of the mountain which he
brought down from the mountain. 269 Of what use were the
commandments to a people who had replaced the One who
laid down the law with a calf? Moses did not know ... 270 He
had the calf ground into powder; and put it into water which he
made the people drink. 271 Those who had caused the calf to be
266. Cf. Exod 32.10.

267. See Hymns on Nisibis 13.17, where Ephrem speaks of the prayer of the
bishop as breaching the defenses of the city against the enemy.
268. Exod32.17. 26g. Exod32.1g.
270. A short lacuna in the Syriac occurs here.
271. Cf. Exod 32.20.
made were made to drink the dust of the calf. Although all
the people gave earrings, some gave out of fear, like Aaron,
who built that altar because he was afraid. Only those who
originated [the idea] in their minds, and then encouraged
the others, were made to drink the dust. [Moses] said to
Aaron: "What has this people done to you that you should lead
them into so serious a sin?"272 He did not [say]: "You led them
into sin .... "273
(2) Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and said: "Whoever
is for the Lord, let him come to me." The sons of Levi gathered
[around him]. He said to them: "Thus says the Lord: 'Let
every man put his sword on his hip.' "274 The Lord did not say to
him . . . 275 before he relented. When [the Lord] was con-
vinced by him, [Moses] said: "The Lord relented from the pun-
ishment He said He would inflict on the people." 276 At the top [of
the mountain] stood the intercessor, and at the bottom of
the mountain, the avenger. Faced with justice . . . mercy.
And in the camp [stood] one who was anxious to discipline
... the command of God ...
272. Exod 32.21.

273. FOllr lines of the manlisClipt are illegible.
274. Exod 32.25-27.
27.'). See note 92, above. A series oflacunae, which are indicated in the ver-
sion by ellipses, interrupt the final paragraph.
276. Cf. Exod 32.14.
INTRODUCTION
As the only surviving example of a prose mzmra by Eph-

rem, The Homily on Our Lord preserves rare evidence of
Ephrem's ability to achieve rhetorical elegance in a non-po-
etic form of writing.! The Homily is replete with elaborate
stylistic devices that demonstrate a highly developed techni-
cal skill. This carefully crafted prose style, sometimes called
"artistic prose," is also found among Ephrem's contempo-
raries in the Greek-speaking world, notably the Cappado-
cian Fathers.2 Syria stood at the crossroads of the ancient
world where Semitic, Hellenistic, and Mesopotamian cul-
tures freely intermingled. The existence of similar rhetorical
styles in Syriac and Greek is a reminder of the fact that
many areas of Syria were bilingual, and this encouraged the
development of similar literary styles in both languages.'!
(2) The Homily on Our Lord is divided into fifty-nine sec-
tions of unequal length, and contains many of the great
Christological and Trinitarian teachings that Ephrem elabo-
rated in his hymns. Although Ephrem devotes much of the
Homily to the universal Christian themes of the person of
Christ, the incarnation, and the mystery of redemption
(Sections I-XIII), he develops these themes in the evocative
and highly nuanced theological idioms of native Syriac-
speaking Christianity. The initial phase of the Homily culmi-
nates in the expression of one of the richest themes in early
1. For a convenient introduction to Ephrem's poetic form see Brock,

Hymns on Paradise, 33-39. For an analysis of the construction of the doctlinal
hymns see idem, "The Poetic Artistry of St. Ephrem," 21-28. Also, idem,
"Ephrem's Letter to Publius," 261-30.').
2. See Murray, "The Charactelistics of the Earliest Christianity," 3-14, espe-
cially 9-14; idem, "Some RhetOlical Patterns in Early SyIiac Literature,"
10 9-3 1 .
3. See Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to Publius," 266.
269
270 HOMILY ON OUR LORD
Syriac-speaking Christianity, the cosmic drama of Christ's

descent to Sheol, his freeing of Adam and all those who
were imprisoned with him, and the ultimate victory over
death. This is all by way of preparation for the central focus
of the Homily (Sections XIV-XXIV), the explanation and in-
terpretation of Christ's encounter with the sinful woman in
the house of Simon the Pharisee which is recorded in Luke
17. With penetrating insight into the biblical narrative,
Ephrem contrasts the suspicion and doubt of Simon with
the faith and solicitude of the sinful woman whose actions
are an acknowledgement of Christ as Son of God. Ephrem
combines his detailed knowledge of Scripture with his literal
reading of the text to show that mildness always accompa-
nied Christ's speech, even when there seemed to be a vio-
lent result, as in the case of the blinding of Paul (Sec-
tions XXV-XXXIII).4 Ephrem explains that it was altogeth-
er appropriate for Christ to combine speech that was mild
to Paul's ears with an appearance that was overwhelming
to his eyes since only this combination could have had the
desired impact on Paul. Sections XXXIV and XXXV of the
Homily initiate a digression on the divine and human na-
tures in Christ which reveals a dogmatic preoccupation un-
characteristic of the authentic Ephrem; in all likelihood,
these sections of the Homily represent later additions to
the text. Ephrem continues with the theme of the Pharisee's
inability to understand the true meaning of the events
taking place in his house (Sections XLI-XLIX), and then
goes on to link Simeon the priest and Simon Peter the
Apostle (Sections L-LVIII), both of whom share the same
Syriac name with Simon the Pharisee, Sem,un. Ephrem's
purpose is to show how Old Testament prophecy and priest-
hood came to be passed on to Christ, who fulfilled prophecy
4. Ephrem's impressive knowledge of SClipture is also evident in his men-

tion of the fact that although Old Testament Prophets were able to cure dis-
eases such as leprosy, there is no recorded instance of a Prophet restoring the
use of the senses to a disabled person (XII). Elsewhere, Ephrem's familiatity
with Scripture allows him to mention almost off-handedly that Christ pro-
nounced precisely "ten woes" against those who crucified Him (XXVI).
INTRODUCTION 271
and passed the priesthood on to Simon Peter and the other

Apostles.
(3) Throughout the Homily Ephrem draws from the rich
repertoire of titles of Christ which represents a unique lega-
cy of Syriac-speaking Christianity." While the New Testament
inspiration of many of these titles is obvious, for example,
"Shepherd," "Fisherman," and "Carpenter," others such as
"Physician," "Medicine of Life," "Master Builder," and ''Trea-
surer" depend on Sumerian, Akkadian, and Persian an-
tecedents.
(4) Translations of the works of Ephrem can never ade-
quately represent the full range of his literary artistry or his
alertness to the subtleties of the sounds and rhythms of his
native Syriac. 6 Ephrem, who is known from his hymns as a
master of parallelism and antithesis, often uses these same
devices in the Homily to summarize and to punctuate the
point which he has been developing. At the end of a section
in which he links the eternal power of the Creator with the
cure of the deaf-mute recorded in Mark 7.32-37, he con-
cludes: ''The one who let Adam speak all at once, without in-
struction, let deaf-mutes, whose tongues are taught only
with difficulty, speak with ease," (X). When the resurrection
of Christ was denied, and with it, his power to create and
give life, Ephrem shows with subtle irony that the power of
Christ was alive in His disciples: ''The disciples, who were
thought to have stolen a lifeless corpse, were found to be
giving life to other corpses!" (XIII).
(5) The Homily refutes the severely ascetical image of
Ephrem which is found in his Syriac Vita and in many
monastic-inspired works that were falsely attributed to him.7
This ascetical influence which is marked by a decidedly neg-
ative attitude toward women and a tone of rigorous moraliz-
5. See the discussion in Murray, Symbols, 159-204.

6. For some examples of Ephrem's rhythmic prose style in transliteration
see the General Introduction.
7. For a general orientation to the development of the Syriac ViLa of
Ephrem, see Outtier, "Saint Ephrem d'apres ses biographies et ses oeuvres,"
11-33·
272 HOMILY ON OUR LORD
ing is countered by the Homily's emphasis on the fervent

faith of the sinful woman in contrast to the spiritual blind-
ness of Simon the Pharisee. The Homily reflects the mildness
and moderation which represent Ephrem's authentic spirit:
Our Lord gave his assistance through persuasion rather than
through admonition. Gentle showers soften the earth and thor-
oughly penetrate it, but a beating rain hardens and compresses
the surface of the earth so that (the rain) will not be absorbed
(XXII).
Like the parables, the Lord's gentleness and humility were

intended to serve as timeless examples: "Our Lord spoke
humbly ... so that the leaders of his church would learn to
speak humbly," (XXVI).
(6) The complete text of the Homily is preserved in only
one manuscript, British Library Manuscript 14570, ff. 22-
52 (hereafter, MS. A), which was published with a Latin
translation by Thomas]. Lamy.8 A quite literal English trans-
lation of the text of the Homily contained in this manuscript
was published by A. E. Johnston. 9 In 1966, Dom Edmund
Beck prepared the critical edition of the Homily based on
the above-mentioned manuscript and a second mansucript,
British Library Manuscript 14656 (hereafter, MS. B), which
contains only a portion of the Homily.lO
8. Lamy, Sancti Ephraemi Syri hymni et serrnones 1 :147-247, and 2:XXI-XXIII.

9 . .J. Gwynn, ed., The Niane and PosL Niane FaLhen (Oxford, 1898)
10. E. Beck, ed., Des heiligen Ephraern des Syrers Serrno de Domino Nostra, CSCO
270/71 (Louvain, 1966).
THE HOMILY ON OUR LORD
The Homily of Mar Ephrem on Our LordI
Section I
OODNESS slandering mouths and
ENCOUNTERED
made them praising harps; this is why all mouths
should give praise to the one who removed slander-
ous speech from them. 2 Praise to you who set out
from one haven and resided in another, to come and make
us a haven for the One who sent you. 3
(2) The Only-Begotten4 journeyed from the God-
I. The Homily opens with four lines of approximate isocola that have been
carefully crafted for rhythm and sound. Similar patterns are found throughout
the composition. See Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to Publius," 261-65.
2. Ephrem uses the Syriac gdap ("slander," "blaspheme") and its derivatives
in his treattnent of the theme that will occupy the m,~or part of the Homily, the
encounter ofJesus with the sinful woman in the home of Simon the Phmisee
(Luke 7.36-50). From Ephrem's perspective, Simon becomes a metaphor for
the chronic unbelief of Israel. As Simon failed to discover the tt'uth of who
Jesus was, Israel consistently failed to grasp the meaning of the signs with which
God surrounded it. See Sections XXIII and XLVII where "blasphemy" is turned
into "praise." The following table locates the pIimary passages where the term
occurs in the Homily. The references are to Beck's cIitical edition:
Section Page I>ine Section Page I>ine

XXIII 21 2
3 XXX 28 11
XXI 17 17 XLII 38 15
3. Literally, "him." Cf.John 14.23.

4. In Syriac zljidaya. As perhaps the most written about technical term in
Syriac-speaking ChIistian tradition, l(udaya has generated a vast body of schol-
arly literature. In addition to its use in Syriac versions of the New Testament to
mean "Only-Begotten," it is also common in Syriac ascetical literature where it
designates a hermit, and eventually, even a monk. Some scholars have speculat-
ed that the term zljidaya may underlie the Greek flovaX6S. See Beck, "A~keten-
273
headS and resided in a virgin, so that through physical birth

the Only-Begotten would become a brother to many.1i And
he journeyed from Sheol and resided in the kingdom, to
tread a path from Sheol, which cheats everyone, to the king-
dom, which rewards everyone. 7 For our Lord gave His resur-
rection as a guarantee to mortals that He would lead them
out of Sheol, which takes the departed without discrimina-
tion, to the kingdom, which welcomes guests with discrimi-
nation, so that we might journey from where everyone's
bodies are treated the same, to where everyone's efforts are
treated with discrimination. s
(3) It is He who went down to Sheol and came up from
tum und Monchtum bei Ephraem," 341-63; idem, "Ein Beitrag zur Tenninolo-
gie des iiltesten syIischen Monchtums," 254-67; also E. A.Judge, "The Earliest
Use of Monachos for 'Monk' (P. ColI. Youtie 77) and the Origins of Monasti-
cism," JAC 20 (1977): 72-89; and Brock, Hymns onPamdise, 25-33.
5. In Syriac ILuLii, literally "Being." This noun and its derivatives are of para-
mount importance to Ephrem, especially in his polemical works. The root It is
cognate to the Greek 6 wv and the Hebrew YHWH (cf. Exod 3.14). In several
hpnns, Ephrem uses zLuLii as an epithet for the Father: "Blessed is he, 0 Lord,
who knows that you are in the bosom of ztu.ta" (cf. Hymns on Faith 3.13; also
John 1.18). The term likewise occurs in the earliest euchmistic anajJhorae to
identify the Father. See, for example, W. Macomber, "The Ancient Form of the
Anaphora of the Apostles," in East olByzantium, 8.'), where Christ is spoken of as
Imkrii d-ILuLii, ("the firstborn of Being"). Finally, by employing ILuLii in this posi-
tion in the sentence, Ephrem is able to parallel the following phrase !Ja-bLulLii
("in a virgin"). See Beck, Die Theologie, .')-13; also Bethune-Baker, Nestonus and
His Teaching, 212-17.
6. Cf. Rom 8.29; also Hymns on FaiLh 62.10.
7. For imagelY similar to that in this paragraph, see Hymns on Paradise 2.2,
and Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to Publius," 13. Murray has shown that the escha-
tological sense of malkuLa ("kingdom") persisted among early Syriac-speaking
writers. See Murray, Symbols, 239-46.
8. This sentence previews the Homily's lengthy treatment of Simon the
Phmisee and the sinful woman (Luke 7.36-5°). Simon, who had not wel-
comedJesus appropriately, is here paralleled to Sheol, which sentences the de-
parted indiscIiminately. The sinful woman who attended to Jesus evokes the
kingdom, where guests are welcomed as they deserve. Significantly, the verb
msawya which is used in the Homily in its sense of "treated the same" (I) is the
smne verb that appears in the Peshitta's version of this pericope where it is used
in its sense of "to dry," in the phrase "dry ... his feet with her hair" (cf. Luke
7.3 8).
HOMILY ON OUR LORD 275
that (place) which corrupts its lodgers, in order to bring us

to that (place) which nurses its inhabitants with its blessings.
Its inhabitants are those who have crowned and festooned
unfading dwellings for themselves9 in that world with what
they possess of the fading buds and blossoms of this world. 10
(4) The Firstborn, who was begotten according to His na-
ture, underwent yet another birth outside His nature, so
that we too would understand that after our natural birth,
we must undergo another (birth) outside our nature. ll As a
spiritual being, He was unable to become physical until the
time of physical birth. And so too physical beings, unless
they undergo another birth, cannot become spiritual. The
Son, whose birth is beyond investigation,12 underwent an-
other birth which can be investigated. 13 So, by the one we
learn that His majesty is limitless, and by the other we real-
ize that His goodness is boundless. For His majesty increases
without bounds, whose first birth cannot be imagined by
any mind; and His goodness overflows without limit, whose
other birth is proclaimed by every mouth.
g. Cf. Neh 8.15 andJohn 14.2.

10. Ephrem expressed the identical image in poetry:
I also saw there the dwellings of the righteous,

scented with ointment, fragrant with pelfumes;
they are festooned with flowers,
crowned with blossoms.
A person's dwelling is in proportion to his deeds:
one is humble in its decor,
another astounds with its beauty.
The colors of one are fading;
another is brilliant in its glory.
Hymns on Prlr(uiise 5.6.
11. "According to nature" and "outside of nature" are similarly distin-

guished in Aphrahat, Demonstration 6.10.
12. Ephrem is here refening to the generation of the Son from the Father,
which is beyond human understanding. See the following note.
13. The Syriac term 'nqqaba, variously translated "analyze," "investigate,"
"pry into," is one of several terms that Ephrem uses in a negative sense to char-
acterize inappropriate theological speculation. See Murray, "The TheOlY of
Symbolism," 1-20. Section three of this article outlines Ephrem's polemic
against rationalism.
Section II
It is He who was begotten of Divinity,ll

according to His nature,
and of humanity,
which was not according to His nature,
and of baptism,
which was not His habit;
So that we might be begotten of humanity,
according to our nature,
and of divinity,
which is not according to our nature,
and of the Spirit,
which is not our habit. 1[,
(2) And so the one who was begotten of Divinity under-

went a second birth in order to bring us to birth again. Hi
(3) His birth from the Father is not to be investigated;
rather, it is to be believed. 17 And His birth from a woman is
not offensive; it is noble!18 His death on a cross is evidence
of His birth from a woman, for whoever dies was also born.
14. Here Ephrem uses 'alahutii ("divinity," "Godhead") as an abstraction for
the Father. The term is used in the Homily in reference to the Son as well.
1.'). Here and in several hymns, Ephrem indicates that it is as a result of the
incarnation and the working of the Spirit in baptism and in the other sacra-
ments that human divinization is possible. See Hymns on Virginity 46; Hymns on
Faith 10 and 18.
16. The carefully structured prose that opens this section of the Homily in-
dicates something of Ephrem's mastelful handling of parallelism and antithe-
sis. The lines are arranged in chiastic units.
17. See Hymn,\onFaithS1.3.
18. In his polemic against dualism that denigrated the physical body,
Ephrem insistently draws attention to the physical body of Jesus (see also Sec-
tions X and XIII) and argues that neither the body nor any part of the created
order is to be despised. For example, the following words attributed to Mary:
The Son of the Most High came and dwelt in me,

and I became His mother. As I gave birth to Him,
His second birth, He too gave birth to me
a second time. He put on His mother's robe,
His body, and I put on His glory."
Hymns on Virginity 16.11.
See also Hymns against Heresies 47. 2 and Hymns on Faith 19. 2-3.
(4) The announcement of Gabriel declares His genera-

tion 19 from His Father: "The power of the Most High will over-
shadow yoU."20 Now, since it is the power of the Most High, it
is certain that He is not the offspring of a mortal. So His
conception in the womb is related to His death on a cross,
and His first birth is related to the angel's explanation. For
whoever denies His birth will be refuted by His cross. And
whoever supposes His origin was from Mary will be correct-
ed, since His divinity is prior to all else. For whoever thinks
that His origins were physical falls into error by reason of
(the Scripture): Who shall declare his generation ?21
(5) The Father begot Him, and through Him He made
all creation. 22 Flesh begot Him, and in His flesh He put pas-
sions to death. 23 Baptism begot Him, that through Him it
might make (our) stains white. Sheol begot Him to have her
treasuries despoiled by Him.
(6) In the way24 of those who are born, He came to us
from His Father. And in the way of those who die, He set out
to go to His Father, so that, by the fact that He came by
birth, His coming would be seen; and by the fact that He re-
turned by resurrection, His going would be affirmed.
Section III
Our Lord was trampled by death, and turned to tread a
path beyond death. He is the one who submitted and en-
19. Here Ephrem employs the factive form mawledii, rather than the simple
form yaldii that he has used up to this point.
20. Luke 1.3.'). On the Jewish Aramaic background of the Syriac verb aggen
("overshadow," "cover over") see S. P. Brock, "Passover, Annunciation and Epi-
clesis: Some Remarks on the Term AGGEN in the SyIiac Versions of Luke
1:3.')," NT24 (1982): 222-33·
21. Isa .')3.8. The limit of human knowledge is a constant preoccupation of
Ephrem, especially as it relates to his struggle against Arianism. See Beck, Die
Theologie, 23-34,62-80; and Brock, The I>uminous Eye, 12-1.').
22. Literally, "through him he created creatures." SeeJohn 1.3; Col 1.16; 1
Cor 8.6; Heb 1.2.
23. Cf. 1 Pet 2.24.
24. E. Beck has written extensively on the importance of the term 'ur!ui
("way") in Ephrem. See Beck, "Das Bild vom Weg," 1-39; also Murray, Symbol,;
246-49.
dured death, as it willed, in order to overthrow death, con-

trary to (death's) will. Our Lord carried his cross 25 and set
forth as death willed. But on the cross He called out and
brought the dead out of Sheol, contrary to death's will.
With the very weapon 26 that death had used to kill Him, He
gained the victory over death. 27 Divinity28 disguised itself in
humanity and approached (death), which killed, then was
killed: death killed natural life, but supernatural Life killed
death.
(2) Since death was unable to devour Him without a
body, or Sheol to swallow Him without flesh, He came to a
virgin to provide Himself with a means to Sheol. They had
brought Him a donkey to ride when He enteredJerusalem 29
to announce her destruction and the expulsion of her chil-
dren.?o And with a body from a virgin He entered Sheol,
broke into its vaults, and carried off its treasures. Then He
came to Eve, mother of all the living.?[ She is the vine 2 whose
fence death broke down with her own hands?g in order
to sample her fruit. And Eve, who had been mother of all
the living, became a fountain of death for all the living.
But Mary, the new shoot, sprouted from Eve, the old vine,
and new life dwelt in her.?4 When death came confidently,
as usual, to feed on mortal fruit, life, the killer of death,
was lying in wait, so that when death swallowed (life) with
2.'). Cf.John Ig.17.
26. For Ephrem's use of a similar image see Hymns on Faith 24.1.
27. Cf. Matt 27 ..')0-.')2.
28. In Syriac 'alahuta, here used as an abstraction for the Son. See note 14
above.
2g. Cf. Matt 21.1-11; Mark ILIff.; Luke Ig.2gff.;John 12.12ff.
30. Cf. Matt 23.37-2.')-46.
31. Gen 3.20.
32. Vine imagery is common among early Syriac-speaking authors, partiCll-
larly in the context of the incarnation where Mary is spoken of as "the vine"
who bears Cluist "the grape." However, the image is rarely used so explicitly of
Eve. See R. Murray, "The Vineyard, the Grape and the Tree of Life," in Symbols,
ch·3·
33. The image is common in the hpnns, for example: " ... the vineyard it-
self made a breach in its fence for the tramplers" (Hymns on Nisibis 43.3).
34. Cf. Murray, "Mary the Second Eve," 372-84.
no apprehension, it would vomit it out, and many others

with it.
(3) So the Medicine of Life" flew down from above and
joined Himself to that mortal fruit, the body. And when
death came as usual to feed, life swallowed death instead.
This is the food that hungered to eat the one who eats it.
Therefore, death vomited up the many lives which it had
greedily swallowed because of a single fruit which it had rav-
enously swallowed. The hunger that drove it after one was
the undoing of the voraciousness that had driven it after
many. Death succeeded in eating the one (fruit), but it
quickly vomited out the many. As the one (fruit) was dying
on the cross, many of the buried came forth from Sheol at
(the sound of) His voice.?6
(4) This is the fruit that escaped death, which had swal-
lowed it, and brought the living out of Sheol, after whom it
had been sent. Sheol stored up all that it had devoured. But
because of one thing which it could not eat, it gave back
everything inside which it had eaten. When a person's stom-
ach is upset, he vomits out what agrees with him as well as
what disagrees with him. Death's stomach became upset, so
when it vomited out the Medicine of Life which had soured
it, it vomited out with Him the living as well, whom it had
been pleased to swallow.
35. "Medicine of Life" (samm /:tayyi) is a particularly rich Syriac title for
Christ. For the background of the phrase in ancient Mesopotamian religion see
Widengren, MesojJotamian ~'lements in Manirhaeism, 129-38. A comprehensive
treatment of the title in a sacramental setting may be found in P. Yousif, CEu-
charistie chez Saint Ephrern de Nisibe, DCA, no. 224 (Rome, 1984) 31 7ff.
36. Cf. Matt 27.52-53. Ephrem's use of "the buried" conforms more closely
to the Diatessaronic reading "dead men" than to the canonical reading "bodies
of the saints." On this point see W. Petersen, The Diatessaron and Ephrem Syrus as
Sources oj Rmnanos the Melodist, CSCO 475.74 (Louvain, 1985) 96-99. But see
Hymns on Unleavened Bread 3.14.
Section IV
This is the Son of the skillful carpenter37 who set up His
cross over all-consuming Sheol and conducted humanity
over to the place oflife. 38 Since humanity fell into Sheol be-
cause of a tree,39 it passed over to the place of life upon a
tree. 40 And so, on the tree where bitterness was tasted, sweet-
ness has been tasted, so that we might learn who it is who
has no rival among his creatures. Praise to you who suspend-
ed your41 cross over death so that souls could pass over on it
from the place of the dead to the place oflife. 42
Section V
The nations confess you because your word became a
mirror43 before them in which they might see hidden death
devouring their lives. Idols are ornamented by those who
craft them, but they disfigure their crafters with their orna-
mentation. (The mirror) brought (the nations) directly to
your cross where physical beauty is disfignred, but spiritual
beauty is resplendent. The one who was God pursued the
nations who were pursuing gods that were not gods at all.
And (using) words like bridles," he turned them away from
many gods (and brought them) to one.
37. Cillist is also identified as "Catpenter" and "Son of the Carpenter" in

Hymns on Faith 17.11.
38. See Hymns on Faith 6.17. On Ephrem's use of the image of the chasm in
Luke 16.26 see Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to Publius," 275.
39· Cf. Gen 3·3·
40. The cross as the "Tree of Life" and source of the sacraments is a popu-
lar image atnong Sytiac-speaking authors. See Murray, Symbol,; 320-24.
41. Literally, "his."
42. For the image of the cross as a bridge see Hymns on Virginity 8.1; and
Hymns on the Chun.-h 49.8.
43. The mirror (cf. Section XXI) is an image of great importance for
Ephrem. See, for example, Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to Publius," § 10, where
Ephrem's entire meditation is "seen" in a mirror; also, Beck, "Das Bild yom
Spiegel," 5-24. Cf. 2 Cor 3.18.
44. Imagery of the bridle is commonly employed by Ephrem in connection
with discussions of free will in order to indicate the limited nature of human
knowledge: "Our ignorance is a btidle to our knowledge. And from these in-
(2) This is the mighty one whose proclamation (of the

Gospel) became a bridle in the jaws of the nations/" turning
them away from idols to the one who sent Him. Dead idols
with closed mouths fed on the life of their worshippers. For
this reason, you mixed your blood, which repelled death
and terrified it, in the bodies of your worshippers, so that
the mouths of those who consume them would be repelled
by their life. 46
(3) You even repelled death from Israel who killed you,
and who is marked with your blood, because idolatry tasted
your blood on (Israel). That is, paganism learned to avoid
(Israel) because of your blood, even though (Israel) never
learned to avoid paganismY
Section VI
Israel crucified our Lord on the charge: "He turns us
away from the one God."48 But they continually turned away
from the one God through their many idols. So, believing
that they had crucified the one who was turning them away
from the one God, they discover that it is precisely because
of Him that they turned away from all the idols to the one
God. Since they did not learn on their own that He is God,
they should have learned by His prodding that He is God.
For the good that befell them through His hand indicts
stances it does not follow that the All-knowing One wished to make us ignorant,
but He placed our knowledge under a helpful guardian," ["etter to Hypatius. in S.
~'phraemi Syri. RfliJUlae ejJis("opi lidesseni. Dalaei alioTUmque. Opera Seleda. ed . .J..J.
Overbeck (Oxford, 186.')) 42, 12-16. See its use again in Section XL. For the
possible biblical inspiration behind Ephrem's use of bridle imagery, see Ps
32.9, Prav 26,3, and Isa 30.28.
4.'). Cf. Isa 30.28.
46. Ephrem links physical contact with the historical/eucharistic body of
Jesus to the ability to escape from eternal death. For a rare expression of this re-
lationship outside of Syriac-speaking tradition, see Irenaeus, Against Heresies
IV.18 ..').
47. The theme of Israel's turning away from God recurs throughout the
Homily (cf. Sections VI, XVIII, and XIX). Ephrem will use the example of
Simon the Pharisee, a "son ofIsrael" (Sections XLII, XLIII, XLIV), as evidence
that idolatry (pla/<1lLI/i) and paganism ((uInjJul/i) are endemic to Israel.
48. Cf.John 19.7.
them of the evil that their hands did. And so, even if the
tongues49 of the ungrateful denied Him, the advantage they
gained (through Him) proves them wrong.
(2) Goodness weighed them down more than they could
stand, in order to make them aware that, while bearing your
blessings, they were denying your existence. (Your good-
ness) even took pity on them because they had made their
lives into a pasture for dead idols: a single calf which they
fashioned in the wilderness fed on their lives, as though on
grass in the wilderness. When the idolatry that they had hid
away in their hearts and brought out of Egypt came out in
the open, it openly killed those in whom it secretly had
dwelt. It was like fire hidden in wood; when it emerges SO
from the wood, it consumes it.SJ Moses pulverized the calf
and made them drink it in the waters of testing,"2 so that all
who had lived to worship the calf would die by drinking it.
The sons of Levi, who rallied to Moses with drawn swords,
attacked them.s'I But the sons of Levi did not know whom
they should kill, because those who had worshipped mixed
with those who had not worshipped. But the One for whom
distinctions are easy to make separated those who commit-
ted idolatry from those who had not, so that the innocent
would be grateful that their innocence had not escaped the
notice of the just one, and the guilty would be brought to
justice because their crime had not escaped the Judge.
(3) The sons of Levi became avengers in the open:
(Moses) placed a mark on the offenders to make it easy for
the avengers to avenge. The drink of the calf entered those
in whom the love of the calf had dwelt and left a clear mark
on them,s4 so that the drawn sword could cut them down.
(Moses) gave the waters of testing to the synagogue that had
fornicated with the calf, so that the mark of the adulteresses
49. Literally, "tongue." 50. Literally, "is born."
51. The image is of fire potentially existing in wood. Cf. Hymns on Virginity
3.7 and Hymns on Faith 6.').8.
52. Cf. Exod 32.20. 53. Cf. Exod 32.26-28.
54. Cf. Tonneau, ed., in Genesim et ~'xodum, 20-31. The SyIiac verb nfrliJ
used in Num .').19 suggests that the sign was a swelling of the bodies of those
who had worshipped the calf.
would appear on it. 55 This is where the law comes from con-
cerning women drinking the waters of testing,56 so that, in
the mark which appeared on the adulteresses, the syna-
gogue would recall its fornication with the calf, and with
fear be on guard against another (fornication), and with re-
gret remember the first one. So when they pass judgment
on their women who stray from them, they are passingjudg-
ment on themselves for straying from their God.
Section VII
Glory to you who, by your cross, removed the paganism
over which both uncircumcised and circumcised stumbled!
Thanksgiving to you, Medicine of Life 57 for all, who plunged
down after life for all, and returned it to the Lord of all!
The lost who have been found bless you, for by finding the
lost, you made the ever-present angels rejoice,58 who were
not lost. The uncircumcised give you thanks because you
broke down the intervening hostility with your peace. 59 In
your own flesh you received the external sign of circum-
cision, according to which the uncircumcised who were
yours were not considered to be yours. Then you conferred
your sign, circumcision of the heart,60 by which the circum-
cised were recognized as not being yours. For you came to
your own, but your own did not accept yoU. 61 And it is by this
fact that they are recognized as not being yours. But those
to whom you did not come in your love cry out after you62 to
fill them with the crumbs which fall from the children's
table. 63
ss. The same idea is found in the hymns:
Holy (Moses) took the synagogue up Mount Sinai;

he made her body bright with white clothes, but her heart was dark.
She committed adultery with the calf, and despised the Most High.
He broke the tablets, the book of the covenant.
Hymns on Failh 14.6.
56. Cf. Num 5.16-28. 57· See note 35 above.

SS. Cf. Luke 1 S. 1o. S9· Cf. Eph 2.14.
60. Cf. Rom 2.29. 61. Cf. .John 1.11.
62. Cf. Matt 15.22. 63· Cf. Matt 15.27.
Section VIII
God was sent by the Divinitt" to come and shatter the
64
images which were not gods. Once He removed the title 66 of

"god" which dressed them up, their defects became appar-
ent. And their defects are these: They have eyes but do not see,
and ears but do not hearY Your proclamation convinced their
worshippers to exchange their many gods for one. By taking
away the title of divinity from idols, the worship that had
been attached to the title was likewise withdrawn. Worship
accompanies the divine title, so worship returned to Him
from all nations. In the end, that praiseworthy title will fully
return to its Lord. This is why in the end worship will also
fully return to its Lord, so that it will come about that every-
thing is subject to him; then he will subject himself to the one who
made everything subject to him.6s So the title, rising from one
level to another, will be joined to its source. When all crea-
tures are joined in love to the Son by whom they were creat-
ed, and the Son is joined in the love of the Father from
whom He was begotten, then, at last, all Creation will con-
fess the Son through whom it has received all blessings. And
in Him and with Him, it shall also confess His Father who
distributes all riches to us from His treasury.6'}
Section IX
Glory to you who clothed yourself with the bodyo ofmor-
tal Adam, and made it a fountain of life for all mortals! You
are the Living One whose killers became the sowers of your
64. In Syriac 'alaha ("God")' i.e., the Son.

65. In Sytiac 'alahuLli ("divinity") is used here as an abstraction for the Fa-
ther. See note 14 above.
66. Literally, "name."
67. Ps 115,5,6. 68. 1 Cor 15.27-28.
69. 1 Cor 15.27-28.
70. The phrase lbe'S pagra ("clothed himself with a body") is the favorite
metaphor of Syriac-speaking authors to desctibe the incarnation. Ephrem em-
ploys it in its various forms throughout the Homily. See Brock, "Clothing
Metaphors," 15ff.; and Murray, Symbols, 69-94 and 310-12; also Bou Mansour,
La jJensee, 235-38.
life: like a grain of wheat, they sowed it in the depths, so that

it would sprout and raise up many with it. 71
(2) Come, let us make our love a great, common censer.
Let us offer up our songs and prayers 72 like incense to the
One who made His cross a censer to the Divinity,73 and of-
fered His blood on behalf of us all.
(3) The Most High bent low to earth-dwellers and distrib-
uted His treasures to them. And although the needy ap-
proached His humanity, they received the gift from His di-
vinity. Thus, He made the body He put on (to be) the
treasurer74 of His wealth. My Lord, bring it forth from your
vaults, and distribute it to the needy, the members of your
family. 75
Section X
Glory to the One who took from us in order to give to
us,76 so that we should all the more abundantly receive what
is His by means of what is ours. Through an intermediary,
humanity was able to receive life from its helper, just as, in
the beginning, it had been through an intermediary that it
had received death from its killer. You fashioned a body for
yourself to be a servant,77 so that through it you might give
your love to all who love you. And because you put on a visi-
ble body,78 the hidden designs of those who killed (you) and
those who buried (you) became visible in you. For your
killers killed you and were killed by you because of your
body. And those who buried you were raised up by you be-
cause of your body; their love buried you, but their faith was
raised up with you.
(2) That unreachable power came down and put on
71. Cf.1 Cor 15.36. 72. Cf. Hymns on Virginity 31.5.

73. In Syriac 'alahul/I. Used as an abstraction for the Father. See note 14.
74. In SyIiac flzzabr/i is a common title of ChIist (cf. Sections LIV and LV),
which occurs throughout early Syriac literature. For the pre-Christian back-
ground of the term, see, Murray, Symbol,; 193-95.
75. Literally, "the sons of his lineage."
76. Cf. Irenaeus, Against Heresies XXXII.9.
77. Cf. Phil 2.6, 7. 78. See note 70 above.
limbs that could be touched so that the needy could ap-

proach Him and, embracing His humanity, become aware
of His divinity. By means of the fingers of Oesus') body, the
deaf-mute sensed that He came near his ears and touched
his tongue. So, by means of fingers that could be touched,
the deaf-mute touched his untouchable divinity at the mo-
ment the restraint on his tongue was loosed and the impen-
etrable canals of his ears were opened. 79 For the Architect of
the flesh, the Crafter of the body, came to him. And with
His gentle voice He made painless openings in deaf ears.
And a closed mouth, incapable of producing speech, pro-
duced praise for the one who made its impotence fertile
with a birth ofwords. 80 So the One who let Adam speak all at
once, without instruction, let deaf-mutes, whose tongues are
taught only with difficulty, speak with ease.
Section XI
See, yet another question arises: what languages 81 did our
Lord permit deaf-mutes to speak, who came to Him from all
languages? And if this is easy to know, let us turn to what is
more important than this, namely, to know that it was
through the Son that the first person was made. By the fact
that it was through (the Son) that speech was given to the
mute children of Adam, we should also know that it was
through (the Son) that speech was given to Adam, their first
father. Here likewise, deficient nature was filled up by our
Lord. The One in whom the fullness of nature exists cer-
tainly is able to fill up the deficiencies of nature. And there
is no greater deficiency than when a person is born without
79· Cf. Mark 7.3 2 , 33.

80. The signs that Christ worked are spoken of by Ephrem as "inspiring
praise" (see the opening line of the Homily). He also expressed this in poetic
form:
The wine in the jars (John 2.1ff.) is similar to and related to

this eloquent wine that gives birth to praise,
As that wine also gave birth to praise
from (its) drinkers who witnessed the wonder.
Hymns on Faith 14.2.
81. Literally, "tongues."

speech. If it is by reason of speech that we surpass all crea-

tures,82 then its deficiency is the greatest of all deficiencies.
Certainly, all fullness exists in the one through whom all de-
ficiency is filled. Since it is through Him that all parts of the
body receive fullness in the womb secretly, their deficiency
was filled by Him openly, so that we would learn that the en-
tire body was formed by Him in the beginning.
(2) He spat on His fingers and put them in the deaf-
mute's ears.83 And he made mud with his saliva, and applied it to
the blind man's eyes,84 so we would know that, just as there was
a deficiency in the pupils of that blind man from his moth-
er's womb,85 so too, there was a deficiency in the ears of this
deaf man. So, with yeast86 from the body of the one who
completes, the deficiency of our creation was filled up. It
would not have been appropriate for our Lord to sever a
part of His body to fill up the deficiency of other bodies. He
filled up the deficiency of the deficient with something He
was able to separate from Himself. Just as mortals consume
Him by means of something edible, in the same way He
filled up deficiency and gave life to mortality. So we should
learn that the deficiency of the deficient was filled up from
a body in which fullness resided. And life was given to mor-
tals from a body in which life resided.
Section XII
The prophets worked all (sorts of) signs, but nowhere (is
it recorded that) they filled up a deficiency in the parts of
the body. Physical deficiency waited to be filled up by our
82. Cf. Hymns on Faith 2.251 and Prose Refutations 1.1 13 ..').
83. Cf. Mark 7.33.
84· John g.6.
85· John 9.1-3, Ig-20.
86. By referring to Christ's saliva as "yeast," Ephrem demonstrates his abili-
ty to let certain images overlap to achieve a kind of communimlio iriiomalum, or
exchange of attributes. This allows him the creative flexibility to speak of the
eucharist as though it were the historical body ofJesus, and to speak of the his-
tOlical body ofJesus as though it were the euchatist. In this complex typological
parallel, Ephrem merges the all-healing capacity of Christ's body, even his sali-
va, with yeast, which for Ephrem constituted an intrinsic element in the eu-
chatistic bread. Cf. 1 Cor 5.6.
Lord, so that souls would realize that every deficiency is

filled up by Him. The discerning should realize that the one
who fills up the deficiencies of creatures is the Master
Craftsman of the Creator. When our Lord was on earth He
let deaf-mutes hear and speak languages they had never
learned, so that once He was raised up, they would know
that He would let His disciples speak in every language. 87
Section XIII
The crucifiers assumed that our Lord had died, and that
His signs had died with Him. But His signs were seen living
through His disciples, so that the killers would recognize
that the Lord of the signs was alive. First, the accusations of
His killers that His disciples had stolen His corpse caused a
tumult. 88 Then later, His signs (performed) by His disciples
caused a tumult. The disciples, who were thought to have
stolen a lifeless corpse, were found to be giving life to other
corpses!89 But the unbelievers were quick to say that His dis-
ciples had stolen His body, so that (the unbelievers) would
be caught in the humiliation which was about to be re-
vealed. And the disciples, who (they claimed) stole a dead
body from living guards, were found to be banishing death
in the name of the One who was stolen, so that death would
not steal the life of the living.
(2) Now our Lord permitted the deaf to hear up to the
time he was crucified, so that once He was crucified, all ears
would hear and believe in His resurrection. His truth first
came to our hearing by the mouths')() of deaf-mutes which
were opened, so that (our hearing) would not be in doubt
about the proclamation of the account (of His resurrec-
tion). Our Savior armed Himself in every way so as to rescue
us in every way from our captor. For it was not simply a body
that our Lord put on; He likewise arrayed Himself with
limbs'll and clothes, so that by reason of His limbs and
clothes, the afflicted would be encouraged to approach the
87. Cf. 1 Cor 13.1ff. and Acts 2-4; also Hymns on Unleavened Brerul 13.7.
88. Matt 28.13. 89. E.g. Acts 9.36-43,20.9-12.
90. Literally, "speech." 91. Or "physical organs."
Treasury of Healing, and so that those who were encour-

aged by His tenderness would approach His body, while
those who were apprehensive for fear of Him would ap-
proach His clothing. One woman's fear allowed her to come
only as close as the hem on His cloak,92 while another
woman's love drew her eagerly to His body.93 Those who had
not been healed by His words were disgraced by a woman
who received healing from His clothes. And the man who
had not wanted to kiss His lips was humiliated by a woman
who kissed His feet. 94
Section XlV
Our Lord worked wonders with common things so that
we would know of what those who scorn wonders are de-
prived. For, if such healing as this was snatched from His
hem in secret, He was most certainly capable of the healing
that His word worked in public. And if impure lips became
holy by kissing His feet,95 how much holier would pure lips
become by kissing His mouth. With her kisses the sinful
woman received the favor of blessed feet that had labored to
bring her the forgiveness of sins. She was graciously com-
forting the feet of her Physician96 with oil, who had gracious-
ly brought the treasury of healing to her suffering. The One
who fills the hungry was not invited on account of His stom-
ach; the One who justifies sinners invited Himself on ac-
count of the sinful woman's repentance.
Section XV
Our Lord was not hungry for the Pharisee's refresh-
ments; He hungered for the tears of the sinful woman.
Once He had been filled and refreshed by the tears He hun-
92. Cf. Matt 9.20; Luke 8.44.
93· Cf. Luke 7·47·
94. Cf. Luke 7.4.'). 9.'). Cf. Luke 7.38.
96. In Syriac 'asyii ("Physician") is a favorite Syriac title for Christ, and one
that Ephrem employs frequently in his (,ommentmy on the Diatessamn. In Hymns
on Nisibis 34, Ephrem expands the application of the term to include Old Testa-
ment "physicians" who ministered to an ailing world before the coming of the
"Medicine of Life." See note 35 above.
gered for, He then chastised the one who had invited Him
for food that perishes,97 in order to show that He had been
invited not to nourish the body but to assist the mind. 98 Nor
was it as the Pharisee supposed, that our Lord mixed with
eaters and drinkers for enjoyment,99 but rather to mixlOo His
teaching in the food of mortals as the Medicine of Life. lol
For just as the evil one had given his bitter counsel to the
house of Adam under the guise of food, the Good One gave
His living counsel to the house of Adam under the guise of
food. lo2
(2) This is the Fisherman lO '\ who came down to catch the
lives of the lost.lo 4 He observed publicans and prostitutes
running off to debauchery and drunkenness, so He hur-
riedly spread His nets where they gathered, to snatch them
from the food that sustains the body, (to bring them) to fast-
ing that sustains spirits.
Section XVI
Now, the Pharisee had made elaborate preparations for
our Lord at his banquet, while the sinful woman did simple
things for Him there. For all his elaborate fare, the Pharisee
only let our Lord taste the feebleness of his love. But with
her tears, the sinful woman let our Lord taste her abundant
love. The one who had invited Him to a grand banquet was
chastised because of his feeble love, while (the sinful
97. Cf. Luke 7.44-47;john 6.27·

98. In Syriac, re'yanrl "mind," but often used for "soul."
99· Cf. Luke 7·37·
100. The image is that of a physician using mortar and pestle to com-
bine (in SyIiac, mzag) remedies. The same SyIiac root is used to express the
union or "mixing" of the divine and human natures in Cluist. See note 195
below.
102. Here Ephrem explicitly relates the title "Medicine of Life" to its eu-
charistic context.
103. The title "Fisherman" (in SyIiac, sayyad/i), with its obvious New Testa-
ment links, is applied to Chlist, the Apostles, and tlte bishops by Ephrem and
other Syriac-speaking authors. See Murray, Symbols, 176-78.
104. Cf. Mark 1.17.
woman) blotted out the great bond105 of her debt with her
meager106 tears.
(2) Simon the Pharisee had welcomed our Lord as a
prophet on account of the signs (he had performed), not
because of faith. For he was a son of Israel,107 who, when
signs approached, likewise approached the Lord of the
signs. 108 But when signs ceased, there he stood, naked and
without faith. This man also thought our Lord was a
prophet when he saw signs accompany Him. But when our
Lord stopped (performing) signs, (the Pharisee) was over-
come with the doubt of his countrymen: "If this man were a
prophet, he would know that this woman is a sinner."109 But our
Lord, for whom anything is always simple, even then did not
stop performing signs. For He observed that the blind mind
of the Pharisee slipped away from Him as soon as he set
aside signs for a while. He mistakenly said: "If this man were a
prophet, he would know. ... " With this thought, the Pharisee
doubted that our Lord was a prophet. And with this same
thought, he learned that He is Lord of the Prophets. Our
Lord brought him help from the very source of his error. 11 °
Section XVII
Our Lord told (the Pharisee) the parable of the two
debtors, and He let him be the judge, to catch someone who
did not have truth in his heart with his own tongue. "One
owed jive hundred denarii ... ,"111 by which our Lord indicated
to the Pharisee the enormity of the sinful woman's debts. So
the man who had thought that our Lord did not know that
she was a sinner, found himself hearing from (our Lord)
how great was the debt of her sins. The Pharisee, who had
supposed that our Lord did not know who the sinful woman
10.'). Cf. Col 2.14. 106. Literally, "smal!."

107. For Ephrem, Simon the Pharisee's unbelief represents the persistent
unbelief of Israel: "The Pharisee was overcome with the doubt of his country-
men," Section XVI. See also Sections XLII, XLIII, and XLIV.
108. Cf. Matt 12.38ff. 109. Luke 7.39.
110. Literally, "at the place error had entered him."
1 1 1. Luke 7.41.
was, or her reputation, found himself the one who did not
know who our Lord was, or His reputation. The one who
had not even realized his mistake was admonished by his
mistake. His mistake prevented him from knowing how mis-
taken he was, so he received a reminder from the one who
came to remind the mistaken.
(2) The Pharisee witnessed wondrous signs at the hand
of our Lord, just as Israel had at the hand of Moses. ll2 But
because there was no faith in him, faith on which to secure
the wonders he saw, a feeble excuse scattered them: ''IJ this
man were a prophet, he would know that this woman is a sinner."uy,
He put aside the amazing things he had seen and blindness
overcame him on account of a slight provocation, for he was
a son of Israel.
(3) Bitter signs had accompanied (Israel) as far as the
(Red) Sea so that they would fear (God). And blessed won-
ders surrounded (Israel) in the desert waste so that they
would be reconciled (to him). But for want of faith (Israel)
rejected (the signs) with the feeble excuse: ''As Jor the man
Moses who brought us out, we do not know what has become oj
him."1l4 They no longer considered the triumphs that had ac-
companied them; they only saw that Moses was not near.
And so, with this as a convenient excuse, they could draw
near to the paganism of Egypt. Therefore, Moses was not
seen by them for a while, so that the calf could be seen with
them, (and) so that they could worship openly what they
had been worshipping secretly in their hearts.
Section XVIII
When their paganism came out of hiding and into the
open, Moses also came out of hiding and into the open to
deliver openly the penalty to those whose paganism had be-
come unrestrained beneath the holy cloud that overshad-
112. In the following several sections Ephrem explores the parallels be-
tween Israel's unbelief in Moses and Simon the Pharisee's unbelief in Jesus. Cf.
Hymns on FaiLh 3.317-18; and Murray, Symbol,; 52-55.
113· Luke 7.39.
114. Exod 32.1.
owed them.1l5 God deprived the flock of its shepherd for

forty days, so that it would show that it trusted securely in
the calf as the god that had pastured it with every delight. It
made as its shepherd a calf which could not even graze!
Moses, who inspired fear in them, was taken away from
them, so that idolatry, which fear of Moses had quieted in
their hearts,l16 would cry out from their mouths.l17 And they
did cry out: ''Make gods for us to lead us."llS
Section XIX
When Moses came down, he realized from the tam-
bourines and cymbals that their paganism was raging in the
vast desert. He immediately restrained their madness by
means of the Levites and (their) drawn swords. And here
too our Lord concealed His knowledge a while when that
sinful woman approached Him, so that the obstinate think-
ing of the Pharisee could take shape, like the rebellious calf
his fathers had shaped. When the Pharisee realized his mis-
take,1l9 the Lord's knowledge shone upon it and dispelled it:
"1 entered your house, and you offered me no water for my feet. But
this (woman) has moistened them with her tears. Because of this, her
many sins are forgiven her."120 Now when the Pharisee heard
our Lord refer to her sins as "many sins" he felt completely
ashamed because he had been so completely mistaken in
thinking that our Lord did not truly know that she was a sin-
ner. From the beginning, our Lord appeared as though He
did not know that she was a sinner. He permitted the man
who saw His signs to show the doubt in his mind, so that it
would become clear that his mind was bound to the unbe-
lief of his fathers.
(2) The Physician 121 who brought a hidden disease out
into the open did not help the disease along, He killed it. So
long as a disease remains hidden, it afflicts the parts of the
body. But once it is discovered, it is destroyed by means of
115. Cf. Exod 13.21. 116. Literally, "heart."
117. Literally, "mouth." 118. Exod 32.1.
Ilg. Literally, "when the error of the Pharisee gathered in him."
120. Luke 7 -44,47. 121. See note g6.
medicines. And so, while the Pharisee witnessed great

things, he fell into doubt over small things. When our Lord
realized that smallness made great deeds small in the (Phar-
isee's) mind, He immediately let him know not only that she
was a sinner, but also that she had sinned greatly,122 so that
the man who had not put faith in wonders would be put to
shame by small things.
Section XX
God gave Israel the opportunity to display its paganism in
the vast desert in order to chastise Israel with sharpened
swords so that its paganism would not spread among the na-
tions. Our Lord permitted the Pharisee to think wrong
thoughts so that He could quite rightly chastise him for his
arrogance.
(2) The Pharisee thought wrongly about things the sinful
woman had quite rightly done. But then our Lord rightly
corrected him about the right things he had wrongly failed
to do: "1 entered your house, and you gave me no water jor my
jeet''-the failure of an obligation. "But she has moistened them
with her tears"12?'-the fulfillment of an obligation. "You did
not anoint me with oil''-an indication of carelessness. "But
this (woman) anointed my jeet with scented oil" 124_a sign of solic-
itude. "You did not kiss me''-evidence of hostility. ''But this
woman has not stopped kissing my jeet" 12S_a token of love.
(3) Our Lord believed and indicated that the Pharisee
owed Him all these things, and that he had withheld them
from our Lord. But the sinful woman entered and per-
formed everything that (the Pharisee) had failed (to do).
Because she paid the debts of a man who failed to pay
them,126 the Just One forgave her her own debt, her sins.
122. Literally, "the abundance of her sins."

123. Luke 7.44. 124. Luke 7.46.
12 5. Luke 745.
126. Literally, "because she paid the debts of the unjust one .... " "Oil (in
Syriac, mesf:ui) in its love, like Christ (msilyfl) pays debts that are not its own,"
Hymns on ViTl,:iniLy 7.12. Cf. Co] 2.14.
Section XXI
While the Pharisee doubted that our Lord was a prophet,
he was unwittingly pledging himself to the truth (by think-
ing): "For if this man were a prophet, he would know that this
woman is a sinner."127 Therefore, if it should be found that
our Lord knows that she is a sinner, then, Pharisee,128 by
your own reasoning He is a prophet. And so our Lord did
not hesitate to indicate not only that she was a sinner, but
also that she had sinned very much, so that the testimony of
his own mouth would trap the accuser.129 (The Pharisee) was
one of those who had said: "Who can forgive sins but God
alone?"130 Our Lord took the testimony from them, that who-
ever would be able to forgive sin is God. From this point on,
the struggle was this: for our Lord to show them whether or
not He was able to forgive sin. And so He quickly healed the
parts (of the body) that were visible, to confirm that He had
forgiven the sins which were not visible.
(2) Our Lord put a statement before them that was in-
tended to trap the one who spoke it. When they sought to
trap Him as they intended, they were trapped by Him as He
intended. Lll (He said): "Do not fear; my son; your sins are forgiv-
en yoU."132 Anxious to trap Him on (the charge of) blasphe-
my, they unwittingly pledged themselves to His truth (by say-
ing): "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"133 So our Lord
corrected them: "If I show that I am able to forgive sins,
even though you do not believe I am God, stand by your
statement to the effect that 'God forgives sins.'" So, to let
them know that He forgives sins, our Lord forgave his sin
127. A short form of Luke 7.39 as in Section XVII.
128. Ephrem frequently employs the literalY device of direct address to add
a sense of immediacy and to heighten the drama of the passage. Here, as in
Section XLIV, he speaks directly to Simon. See the last paragraph of Section
XXVI where Ephrem addresses Paul.
129. Literally, " ... so that the testimony of his own mouth would prove the
liar wrong."
130. Luke ,').21.
131. For a parallel construction see the opening paragraph of Section III.
132. Matt 9.2. Cf. Luke ,').20. 133. Luke ,').21.
that was hidden, and made him carry his stretcher in the
open,1'I4 so that by carrying a stretcher, which had (previous-
ly) carried the one who was carrying it, they might be con-
vinced that deadly sin had been put to death.
(3) This is amazing: while our Lord was calling Himself
Son of Man, His enemies had unwittingly made Him God,
the forgiver of sins! Thinking they had trapped Him with
their strategy, it was He who had confused them with their
own strategy. And by confusing them with their own strate-
gy, He made them testify to His truth. Their evil thinking
was their bitter bondage, and to make sure that they would
not escape their bondage, our Lord strengthened it for
them by strengthening (the paralytic and saying): "Get up;
take your stretcher and go home."l'Is It would be impossible for
them to retract their testimony that He is God, because He
had (in fact) forgiven sins. Nor could it be proved that He
had not forgiven sins, because He had (in fact) restored
limbs. So our Lord linked hidden testimony to visible testi-
mony, so that the infidels would choke on their own testimo-
ny. And this is how our Lord turned their own argument
against them, because they did battle against the Good One,
who battled against their sickness with His cure.
(4) What Simon the Pharisee thought, and what his asso-
ciates, the scribes, thought, they thought secretly in their
hearts. But our Lord brought it out in the open. Right be-
134. Ephrem commonly contrasts kasya ("hidden," "concealed") and galya

("revealed," "open") to distinguish the divine nature in Christ, which is beyond
human understanding, and His human nature, which has become accessible by
the goodness of God. See Hymns on the Nativity 16.S. Section I of the Homily ex-
presses the same thought in slightly different terms: "The Son, whose birth
(from the Father) is beyond investigation, undelwent another birth, which can
be investigated." In the present instance, and frequently throughout the Homi-
ly, the terms distinguish between tlte activity of God on a supernatural level
from what is perceived on a purely human level. This distinction is repeated in
various ways in the paragraphs that follow: "hidden testimony"/"visible testimo-
ny," "secretly in their hearts" /"brought it out in tlte open," "his visible
signs"/"their hidden thoughts," "hidden thinking"/"hidden divinity." See
Brock, The Luminous Eye, 14-1S.
135· Luke 5.24.
fore them, our Lord depicted their hidden thoughts, so that

they would realize that His knowledge is a mirror disclosing
hidden thoughts. And since they failed to recognize Him in
His visible signs, they might recognize Him as He depicted
their hidden thoughts. Then their hearts would know that
He is God, by the fact that He had searched them OUt. 136
And once they realized that they were unable to conceal
their thoughts from Him, they would stop thinking evil of
Him. They thought evil in their hearts, but He exposed it
openly (by asking): "Why are you thinking evil in your hearts ?"137
Thus by the fact that our Lord saw their hidden thinking,
they would see His hidden divinity. The fact that the erring
were speaking ill of His divinity made them recognize His
divinity.
(5) They spoke ill of our Lord because of His body and
thought that He was not God. They threw Him down, yet it
was because of His body-the body that they experienced as
passing among them-that they recognized that He is
God. 138 By throwing Him down, they showed that God on
high could not be born with a body here below. But by his
quick movement upward, He taught them this: indeed, the
body which was thrown down was not His (only) nature, for
it rose quickly upward rather than descend. So, by means of
a body that moved quickly upward through the air from
below, they came to know the God who came down to the
depths from on high in His goodness.
136. Cf. Ps 139.1.

137· Matt 9-4.
138. Cf. Luke 4.30. Here, as well as in several hpnns, Ephrem indicates a
different ending to Luke 4.28-3° that records the rejection of Jesus at
Nazareth. The Diatessaron apparently presented a conclusion to this episode in
whichJesus was actually thrown over the edge of the hill, but escaped death by
"flying through the air." Cf. Hymns on Unleavened Brerul 16.10-13; Hymns on Nisi-
bis 43.22. For evidence of a similar reading of the pericope in Aphrahat, see
Demonstration 2.7. For a discussion of the passages in Ephrem in which this oc-
curs, and possible Oligins of the Diatessaronic reading, see T. Baarda, "The Fly-
ingJesus': Luke 4:29-30 in the Syriac Diatessaron," VC40 (1986): 331-41.
Section XXII
Now why did our Lord offer that Pharisee a persuasive
parable rather than a stiff reprimand? He offered that crafty
fellow a parable to lure him, without his even being aware,
to straighten out his crooked ways. A ray of sun effortlessly
melts away water that has been frozen by a blast of bitter
wind. So our Lord did not confront him provokingly, thus
denying one who was obstinate the opportunity of being ob-
stinate again. Rather, He tamed him, then He introduced
him to the yoke, so that, once yoked, (our Lord) might plow
with the obstinate man the way He intended. Because
Simon had been so presumptuous in his thinking, our Lord
approached him meekly, so that (Simon's) teacher would
cause him no offense.l'\,}
(2) If the Pharisee had the Pharisees' pride, how was our
Lord to grant him humility, so long as the treasury of humil-
ity was not within his reach?140 But since our Lord taught hu-
mility to everyone, He showed how his treasury was free of
the symptoms of pride. This happened on our account, to
teach us that the pride that intrudes upon treasures dissi-
pates all of them with its own bragging. This is why "you
should not let your left hand know what your right hand is
doing." 141
(3) So our Lord did not admonish him roughly, because
His coming was (one of) goodness. Yet He did not refrain
from admonishing him, because His next coming would be
(one of) retribution. He terrified them by coming in humil-
ity, because it is a terrible thing to Jall into his handsA2 when He
comes with flaming fire. Our Lord gave most of His assis-
tance with persuasion rather than with admonition. Gentle
showers soften the earth and thoroughly penetrate it, but a
beating rain hardens and compresses the surface of the
earth so that it will not be absorbed. A harsh statement evokes
anger 14? and with (a harsh statement) comes injury. Whenev-
139. Literally, "so he would not have an offender as a teacher."
140. Literally, "under his hand." 141. Matt 6.3.
142. Heb 10.31. 143. Prav 15.1.
er a harsh word opens a door, anger enters in, and on the

heels of anger, injury.
Section XXIII
Since all assistance accompanies humble speech, He who
came to give assistance used (humble speech). Consider the
power of humble speech: it suppresses fierce rage and it
calms the waves of a tempestuous mind. Listen to what that
Pharisee was thinking: "If this man were a prophet, he would
know. ... "144 Mockery as well as slander is detected here. Lis-
ten to what our Lord devised in the face of this: "Simon, I
have something to say to yoU."145 Love and admonition are
detected here. This is the loving speech friends use with
friends; when an enemy rebukes an enemy, he does not
speak to him like this! The ferocity of their rage does not
permit enemies to speak reasonably to each other.
(2) It was He who interceded for His crucifiers,146 so that
we would know that raging fury did not rule Him. The tor-
ture of His crucifiers was to come, to show that He was gov-
erned by discretion and not by rage.
Section XXIV
And so, at the very outset of His parable, our Lord of-
fered an expression of conciliation to reconcile a Pharisee
whose mind had grown doubtful and divided.
(2) This is the Physician 147 who prepared cures 148 for
(our) adversities. Our Lord devised a statement that was like
an arrow. At its tip He put conciliation and anointed it with
love to soothe the parts (of the) body. He no sooner shot it
at the one who was filled with conflict, than conflict turned
to harmony. Directly following the humble statement of our
Lord who said: "Simon, I have something to say to you,"149 he
who had secretly detracted responded: "SPeak, my Lord."150 A
sweet utterance penetrated a bitter mind and brought forth
144· Luke 7·39· 145· Luke 7-40.

146. Cf. Luke 23.34. 147. See note 96 above.
148. Literally, "helps." 149· Luke 7.40.
150. Luke 7-40.
fragrant fruit. He who had been a secret detractor before

the utterance gave public praise after the utterance. 151 With
a sweet tongue, humility subdues even its enemies to do it
honor. For it is not among its friends that humility puts its
power to the test, but among those who hate it that it dis-
plays its trophies.
Section XXV
The King of heaven armed Himself with the weapon of
humility and conquered an obstinate man, eliciting a good
response from him as proof! Of this weapon Paul says: With
it we lay low the pride which rears itself against the knowledge of
God.152 Paul based this on his own experience. For just as he
had battled proudly but was humbly defeated, so is every
pride defeated that rears itself against this humility. The
Saul who had set out with harsh words to subdue the disci-
ples was subdued by the Lord of those disciples with a hum-
ble word. The One for whom everything is possible forsook
everything and appeared and spoke to him in humility
alone, to teach us that nothing is better suited to harsh
minds than a humble tongue.
(2) Paul heard neither rebukes nor threats, but faint
words unable to avenge even themselves: "Saul, Saul, why do
you persecute me?"153 Words considered incapable of avenging
even themselves were found to be avenging and snatching
him from the Jews as a worthy instrument. He who had
been filled with the bitter will of the Jews became filled with
the sweet message of the cross. When he was filled with the
bitterness of the crucifiers, he troubled the churches with
his bitterness. But once he became filled with the sweetness
of the cross, he embittered the synagogues of the crucifiers.
(3) And so with humble words our Lord opposed the one
who laid siege to his churches with oppressive chains. Saul,
who subdued the disciples with bitter chains, was subdued
with pleasant persuasion, so that he would not subdue the
disciples again. He was subdued by the cross, silencer of evil
151. See the opening sentence of Section I for the source of this imagery.
152. 2 Cor 10.4-5. 153· Acts 9+
voices; none who are nailed to it can do harm or strike a

blow. When Paul stopped imprisoning the disciples, he was
subdued by the bonds of the deniers.154 Once subdued m
bonds, he loosed the chains of idolatry by his fetters.
Section XXVI 155

"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"156 The One who con-
quered persecutors (here) below, and reigns over angels (in
heaven) above, spoke from above in a humble voice. The
One who on earth pronounced ten woes 157 against His cruci-
tiers, above pronounced not a single woe against Saul, His
persecutor. Our Lord pronounced woes against His cruci-
tiers to teach His disciples not to flatter their killers. Our
Lord spoke humbly from above so that the leaders of His
church would speak humbly.15s
(2) Now, if someone should ask: "How did our Lord
speak humbly with Paul if Paul's eyes were seriously in-
jured?" they should realize that this impairment did not (re-
sult) from our compassionate Lord, who spoke humbly
there. Rather, (it was the result) of the intense light that
shone intensely here. This light was not a punishment that
befell Paul on account of the things he had done. It injured
him with the intensity of its rays, as he himself said: "When I
arose, I could see nothing because of the brilliance of the light. "159 If
it was a brilliant light, Paul, how did a brilliant light become
for you a blinding light? It was a light that shone according
to its nature above (in heaven). It was not in its nature to
shine below (on earth). So long as it shone above, it was
pleasing. But as soon as it shed forth its rays below, it be-
154. I.e. The Jews, who denied thatJesus was God.

155. Section XXVI marks the beginning of a lengthy digression in which
Ephrem considers the physical result of a human encounter with divinity. He
cites examples of divine epiphanies to Paul, Moses, and Daniel.
156. Acts 9-4-
157. Cf. Matt 18.7, 23.13, 14, 15, 16,23,25,27,29,26.24. See also Hymns
on the Nativity 25.10; and Hymns on the Church 27.3.
158. This statement is remarkable for its directness. Ephrem generally
prefers more allusive language.
159. Acts 22.6,11; cf. Acts 9.8,26.13.
came blinding. The light was both harsh and pleasing:

harsh and intense to physical eyes, but agreeable and pleas-
ing to (eyes) of fire and spirit. 1(iO
Section XXVII
''1 saw a light from heaven more brilliant than the sun, and
its light shone upon me." 161 Thus immeasurably intense rays
streamed forth and flowed over weak eyes, for which rays of
light in moderation are comforting. Even the sun in moder-
ation helps the eyes, but immoderate and unrestrained, it is
harmful to the eyes. Yet it does not harm the eyes like some
avenger, out of anger. In fact, it is the friend of the eyes, and
beloved of (its) pupils. This is amazing: with gentle rays, it is
friend and helper of the eyes, but with intense rays, it is the
harmful enemy of (its) pupils.
(2) Now if the sun here below, of the same nature as our
eyes here below, can do harm to them with its intensity, not
with its anger, and with its brilliance, not with its rage, how
much more can a light from above, of the same nature as
the things from above, do harm with its intensity to one who
is below, who is not of its nature and who looks at it sud-
denly?
(3) Now if this sun to which Paul was accustomed could
cause injury from its intensity when he looked at it in an un-
customary way, how much more harmful would the bril-
liance of that light be for one whose eyes had never been ac-
customed to it. Daniel also "melted and flowed away from
every side" in the presence of the glory of the angel whose
intense brightness suddenly shone upon him.162 It was not
because of the angel's fury that human frailty melted away,
just as it is not because of any fury or hostility in fire that
makes wax melt before it, but rather because of the frailty of
wax that it is unable to remain firm and withstand the fire.
160. In Syriac-speaking Christianity, heavenly beings are metaphorically

spoken of as "creatures of fire and spirit," and are contrasted with the purely
"physical" eyes of mortals. See Brock, Holy Spirit in the Syrian BajJtismal Trruiition,
11-14; and idem, The I.uminous Eye, 24.
161. Acts 26.13; cf. Acts 22.6, 9.13. 162. Cf. Dan 10.S.
And so, when the two approach each other, the force of the
fire prevails of itself, and the wax deteriorates even beyond
its original frailty.
Section XXVIII
The majesty of the angel was seen in itself. The frailty of
the flesh in itself did not endure: "I became utterly powerless."163
Even when men view their fellow men, they wither in their
presence. And this is not because of any shining splendor of
theirs that they tremble, but because of their severe will. Ser-
vants become alarmed at their masters' fury, and the con-
victed tremble for fear of their judges.
(2) These things did not happen to Daniel because of the
angel's threat or displeasure, but because of (the angel's)
awesome nature and intense brightness. The angel did not
come to him threateningly. If he had come threateningly,
how did a mouth filled with threats become filled with a
greeting of peace? "Peace to you, desirable man."164 The mouth
that was a thundering fountain- "the sound of his words was
like the sound of many armies"165-this same mouth became a
fountain that inspired peace. And when it reached those ter-
rified ears that thirsted for an encouraging greeting of
peace, a draft of its peace broke loose and flowed forth. And
ears that had been terrified by the initial sound were en-
couraged by the greeting that followed, (for Daniel said:)
"Let my Lord speak, for I have been strengthened."166
(3) So as not to bring him the message with an appear-
ance that would strike terror in the heart, the majesty (of
the angel) first greeted the weakness (of the man), and with
the encouraging greeting that the majesty (of the angel)
gave, the weakness (of the man) that had been aggravated
dismissed the fearful conclusion (it had drawn).
163. Dan 10.S. Literally, "My insides were turned to destruction." This
reading, which agrees with the Peshitta, is followed consistently throughout the
text.
164. Dan 10.11. 165. Dan 10.6.
166. Dan 10.20.
Section XXIX
What then shall we say concerning the Lord of the angel
who said to Moses: "No man sees me and lives "?Hi7 Is it because
of the fury of His wrath that whoever sees Him dies? Or is it
because of the splendor of His essence?Hi8 Eyes that have
been fashioned and created cannot look at that essence, 169
which is neither fashioned nor created. For ifit is because of
wrath that no one lives who sees Him, He (must have) let
Moses see Him out of His great love.
(2) And so, the Self-Existentl70 One is deadly to those who
see Him,l7l not because of His severe wrath, but because of
His intense brightness. This is why the one who let Moses
see His glory in His great love, likewise in His great love pre-
vented (Moses) from seeing His glory. This is not because
the glory of His majesty was in any way diminished, but be-
cause frail eyes would not have been able to endure the
overwhelming flood of its brilliance. This is why God, who
out of love intended that the gaze of Moses be directed to
the fair radiance of (His) glory, likewise out of love did not
intend that the gaze of Moses be overwhelmed by the
mighty rays of (His) majesty.172
(3) This is why Moses saw without seeing: he saw in order
to be uplifted, but he did not see so that he would not be
harmed. By the fact that he saw, his frailty was uplifted, and
by the fact that he did not see, his weakness was not over-
whelmed. In the same way, our eyes look at the sun but do
not see it. They are aided by what they see, but by what they
do not see, they are not harmed. The eye sees so as to be of
use; it is not bold, in order to avoid being damaged. And so,
out of love, God kept Moses from seeing the glory that was
too harsh for his eyes.
(4) In the same way Moses, out of love, kept his fellow
167. Exod 33.20.

168. In Sytiac, zLulck. See note 5 above.
169. Exod 33.20.
170. In Syriac, ztya, a form derived from ztuta. See note 5 above.
171. Literally, "see his sight." 172. Cf. Exod 33.17-23.
countrymen from seeing the splendor that was too intense

for their eyes. He learned from the One who overshadowed
and spread out His hand,m hiding the radiance of His glory
from him so it would not harm him, that (Moses) should
also spread out a veil and hide (his) intense brilliance from
the frail so that it would not harm them. When Moses real-
ized that children of flesh like himself were unable to look
at the borrowed glory on his face,t74 he was overwhelmed
that he had dared to look at the glory of that essence l75 in
whose flood heavenly and earthly creatures submerge and
emerge, neither fathoming its depths, nor reaching its
shores, nor finding its boundary or limit.
Section XXX
Now if someone should say: "Would it not have been easy
for God to allow Moses to look upon His glory without
being harmed, or to allow Paul to see the light without
being injured?" Whoever says these things should know that,
while it would be easy for the sovereign rule of God to alter
the natures (of things), it would be contrary to the provi-
dent nature of God that the course (of nature) should be in-
terrupted. Just as it would be easy for the arm of the crafts-
man to destroy what he has made, it would be contrary to
the judgment of the craftsman to damage his master-
pieces. 176 If someone wants to say concerning this, based on
what seems right to him: "God should have done this," (that
person) should know that this is what he should do: he
should not say this about God! The first requirement of all is
this: man does not teach God what He should do. It is not
man who should be God's teacher. It is the greatest insult
that we should become masters of the one by whose exquis-
ite creation these created mouths of ours are able to speak.
It is an unpardonable offense that an audacious mouth
should teach God, who in His goodness taught it how to
speak, what (God) should do.
173· Exod 33.22. 174· Exod 34·33·
175. In SyIiac, 'lula. See note 5 above.
176. Literally, "finely crafted objects."
(2) If someone should say: "God should have done this,"

then I too will say, since I have a mouth and a tongue: "God
should have denied humanity177 the freedom 178 that it uses to
find fault with the One who is faultless." But I would not
dare say: "He should have denied (freedom)," lest I too be-
come a teacher of the One who is not taught. After all, the
Just One would have found fault with Himself if He had
withheld freedom from humanity, and out of jealousy had
denied a feeble creature the gift that made it greatY'l This is
why in His goodness He gave (freedom) without hesitation,
so that He could not justly find fault with Himself, even
though slanderers, using His gift of freedom, unfairly find
fault with Him.
Section XXXI
Why did the eyes of Moses radiate with the glory he saw,
(while the eyes) of Paul, rather than radiating, were utterly
blinded by that light? We should know that the eyes of
Moses were not stronger than Paul's; they shared the same
relationship to flesh and blood. Another power graciously
sustained the eyes of Moses, but no power lovingly rein-
forced (the eyes) of Paul beyond their natural power. Was it
withheld from them in anger? If we say that their natural
power was taken from them, and this is why they were over-
whelmed and overcome by the intense light, or, on the
other hand, (if we say) that, had their natural power re-
177. Literally, "a man."
178. ljiruta ("liberty," "free will") is a central theme in the writings of
Ephrem. Faced with deterministic docttines that attempted to limit divine free-
dom, Ephrem stresses the transcendence of the Divine Being (in Syriac, ztya)
and the chasm that separates God from the created order. Human freedom is
nothing less than a participation in divine freedom (cf. Hymns on the Chun.-h
22.3), and the way in which human beings most resemble the Creator (Hymns
on Paradise 12.18). It is through the proper use of freedom that humanity real-
izes its potential and fulfills the divine will (Hymns on the Chunh 3.9). The ulti-
mate abuse of human freedom consists in questioning the freedom with which
God chose to create and to save. See Beck, Ephriims Polemil< gegen Mani und die
Manirhiier; and T. Bou Mansour, "La liberte chez saint Ephrem Ie Sytien," PriO
11 (1983): 89-1.')6,12 (1984/8.'»): 3-89.
179. Hymns on Paradise 12.18; Hymns on the Church 22.3.
mained, they would have been able to endure that light that
was not of their nature, we should realize this: whenever
anything is revealed to us that is greater than and beyond
our nature, the strength of our nature is unable to endure
in its presence. But if another power beyond our nature re-
inforces us, we are able to endure the presence of some-
thing extraordinary which we do not experience in nature
because of what we receive above and beyond nature.
Section XXXII
Consider that while the power of our ears and eyes exists
in us by nature and is found in us by nature, not even our
sight and hearing can withstand intense thunder and light-
ning-first, because they occur with such power, and sec-
ond, because their intensity suddenly surprises and stuns
our weakness. This is precisely what happened to Paul: that
light with all its intensity suddenly struck his weak eyes and
injured them, but the majesty of the voice diminished its
strength, passed through his ears, and opened them. The
contentiousness of the Jews had sealed up (his ears) like
wax. But the voice did not harm his ears the way the light
harmed his eyes. Why? So that he would hear, but not see.
This is why the doors of hearing were opened with their key,
the voice. But the doors of sight were closed shut by light,
which opens them.
(2) Why was it necessary (for the ears) to hear? Because
through speech, our Lord was able to show that He was per-
secuted by Saul, but He was not able to show through sight
that He was persecuted. There was no way to show the Son
of David fleeing and Saul chasing after him. This in fact
happened with the first Saul and the first David. 180 Both the
one who was persecuting and the one who was persecuted
saw and were seen one by the other. But here,181 only the ear
was able to hear of the persecution of the Son of David. The
eye was unable to see His persecution. The one who had
been persecuted in person while He was below was being
180. Cf. 1 Sam 23, 24.
181. I.e. In our Lord's case.
persecuted through others now that He was above. This is

why (Saul's) ears were opened but his pupils were closed
shut. He who was unable to show Saul through sight that
He was being persecuted, showed him by word that He
was being persecuted when He cried out saying: "Saul, Saul,
why do you persecute me?"182 So the eyes were kept closed be-
cause of their inability to see His persecution. But the ears
were opened because they were able to hear of His persecu-
tion.
(3) Even though the eyes of Moses were physical, like
those of Paul, his interior eyes were Christian. For "Moses
wrote concerning me . . . . "IS'I In the case of Paul, his exterior
eyes were as open as those within were closed. The exterior
eyes of Moses radiated because his interior eyes saw clearly.
Paul's exterior eyes were kept closed, so that by the closing
of his exterior eyes those within would be opened. He who
had been unable to perceive our Lord through His signs
with exterior eyes, perceived Him with interior eyes once his
physical (eyes) were closed. And because he took an exam-
ple from his own experience, he wrote to those whose bodi-
ly eyes saw clearly: "May he enlighten the eyes of your hearts." 184
So, visible signs in no way helped the exterior eyes of the
Jews; faith of the heart opened the eyes of the hearts of the
nations.
(4) If Moses simply had come down from the mountain
without his face radiating, and had said, "I saw the radiance
of God there," the infidel fathers would not have believed
him. And likewise with Paul: the crucifying sons would not
have put faith in him if his eyes had not been injured, and
he had said, "I heard the voice of Christ." This is why, as
though out of love, (God) set a desirable mark of radiance
on Moses in order to convince them that (Moses) had seen
the waves of divine radiance. But on Saul, as on a persecu-
tor, He set the infamous mark of blindness so that the liars
would believe that he had heard the words of Christ. And so
182. Acts 9.4.
183. John 546.
184. Eph 1.18.
that those (fathers) would not speak against Moses, nor

these (sons) doubt Paul, God placed (miraculous) signs on
the bodies of the blind and sent them out among those who
had strayed, (among) those who wore signs on the fringes of
their garments. 185 They did not remember the signs on their
garments, and they strayed even farther with the bodily
signs. For neither the fathers who saw the radiance of Moses
obeyed Moses, nor did the sons who saw the blindness of
Paul put faith in Paul. Three times in the desert they threat-
ened to stone the house of Moses like dogs. For they said:
The entire assembly shouted to stone them. 186 And three times, in
the middle of civilization,187 they beat Paul with rods like a
dog (as he said): "Three times I was beaten with rods. "188
(5) These are lions who, for the love of their Lord, were
beaten like dogs. They were torn apart by flocks of sheep.
The flocks stoned the shepherds who protected them, so
that treacherous wolves could rule them. 189
Section XXXIII
Now the crucifiers who plied the soldiers with bribes 190
might possibly allege of Paul: "The disciples bribed him; this
is why he agrees with the disciples." Those who quickly of-
fered a bribe, intending that our Lord's resurrection would
not be proclaimed, were using the excuse of a bribe to make
false accusations, so that Paul's vision would not be believed.
This is why the voice confused him, and the light blinded
him, so that his confusion might pacity his temper, and his
blindness might confound his detractors.
(2) The voice confused his hearing because it spoke gen-
tly: "Saul, why do you persecute me?"191 And the light blinded
his sight so that when the detractors alleged that he had ac-
cepted a bribe, and (said) this was why he had been per-
suaded to lie, his blindness (that resulted from) the light
185. Cf. Matt 23.5. 186. Num 14.10; cf. Exod 17-4.
187. In Sytiac, "ayna ("the sown"). Ephrem contrasts it with (t1'.trba ("the
desert").
188. Cf. 2 Cor 11.2,'j. 189. Cf. Matt 10.16-23.
190. Matt 28.12. 191. Acts 9+
would refute them. It was because of that (light) that he was

persuaded to speak the truth. Those who thought that his
hands had taken a bribe, and that was why his lips had lied,
should know that his eyes gave (up) their light, and that was
why his lips proclaimed the truth.
Section XXXIV 192

Furthermore, this is why the humble voice accompanied
the intense light, so that, from the combination of the hum-
ble and the sublime, our Lord might produce help for the
persecutor, just as all His assistance is produced from a com-
bination of the small and the great. For the humility of our
Lord prevailed from the womb to the tomb. Observe how
majesty accompanies and escorts His weakness, and the sub-
lime His humility. For just as His humanitym was observed
in a multiplicity of ways, His divinity was revealed through
glorious signs, so that it would be known that the One who
existed among them was not one, but two. His nature is not
simply humble, nor is it simply sublime; rather they are two
natures, lofty and humble, one mixed 194 in the other. For
this reason, both these natures display their properties, so
that by the properties of both of them, humanity would be-
come aware of both of them so that it would not be conclud-
ed that He is simply one, who in fact is two through a mix-
ing,190 but that it would be understood that He is two on
account of a mingling,l')6 who is one with respect to
192. Sections XXXIV and XXXV take up analytical and dogmatic COnCelTIS
that reflect less Ephrem's authentic writings than Christological developments
in the fifth century. These sections of the Homily have been judged by Beck to
be later insertions into the text. Cf. Beck, Se17llO de Domino nos/ro, CSCO 271, i.
193. Based on the contextual sense required here, Beck has corrected the
Syriac that has: "his majesty."
194. In SyIiac, Mat.
195. In Syriac, muzaga. Ephrem and other early Syriac-speaking authors use
the verb mzag ("mix," "fuse") and its derivatives to express the union of the di-
vine and human in Christ, as well as the union of the divine persons. See Beck,
Die Theologie, 38. For the use of mzagin a sacramental context see R. Murray, "A
Hpnn of St. Ephrem to Christ on the Incarnation, the Holy SpiIit and the
Sacraments (=Hymns on Faith, 10)," ~'CR3 (1970): 142-50.
196. In Syriac, !:tultana.
essence. E17 These are the things our Lord taught by His hu-
mility and His majesty to Paul on the road to Damascus.
Section XXXV
Our Lord appeared to Paul humbly, because humility ac-
companied His majesty, so that it would be known with re-
gard to His majesty who it was who spoke humbly. Just as the
disciples here below proclaimed our Lord in humility and in
exaltedness, in humility by virtue of the persecution (they
suffered), and in exaltedness by virtue of the signs (they
worked), our Lord likewise proclaimed Himself in humility
and in exaltedness in Paul's presence, by the exalted intensi-
ty of that light that radiated and by the humility of that
humble voice that said: "Saul, why do you persecute me?"198
(This happened) so that the proclamation of (the Lord) by
His disciples before multitudes would be like His proclama-
tion of Himself. Just as it would not have been known there
that He was humble had He not spoken humbly, in the
same way, if He had not appeared there with a bright light,
it would not have been known that He was exalted.
Section XXXVI
If you should ask: "Why was it necessary to speak humbly,
since He could have convinced him by the majesty of the
light?" you should know, inquirer, that this is the answer you
will be given: He spoke humbly because it was necessary that
He speak humbly. And this is also why He spoke humbly: be-
cause the All-Wise did nothing there that was not appropri-
ate. He who gave the skill to craftsmen to use the appropri-
ate tool for whatever they undertake, does He Himself not
know what He has granted others to know? This is why
everything in which divinity either has engaged or engages,
(that is) the very thing in which it engages at a given time,
serves the purpose at that time, even if divinity's finest works
seem just the opposite to the blind. But, so that we do not
stifle a wise inquirer with repressive words, one who desires
197. In SyIiac, lLulii. See note 5 above.

198. Acts 9+
to grow with honest conviction like a seed (groWS) in the

rain, know, inquirer, that since Saul was the persecutor, our
Lord sought to make him the persecuted rather than the
persecutor.
(2) This was why he was quick to cry out wisely: "Saul, why
do you persecute me?"199 so that when the one being made a
disciple heard the one who was making him a disciple cry
out: "Why do you persecute me?" Saul would know that the Mas-
ter who was making him a disciple was a persecuted Master,
and he would quickly lay aside the persecution of his former
masters and put on the persecution of the persecuted Mas-
ter. Any master who intends to teach a person something
teaches either by deeds or by words. If he does not teach by
words or deeds, a person could not be instructed in his
craft. And so, although it was with deeds that our Lord
taught Paul humility, He taught him with words about that
persecution of which He was unable to teach him with
deeds. 20o Before He was crucified, when He taught the perse-
cution that is humility, our Lord taught His disciples by
deed. 201 Mter He completed (His) persecution by the cruci-
fixion, as He said, "Everything is jinished,"202 He could not go
back again and foolishly begin something that once and for
all had been finished wisely. Or do you want to repeat the
crucifixion and humiliation of God's Son?
Section XXXVII
Now, although our Lord in His goodness had previously
humbled the greatness of His divinity, in His justice He did
not want to humble again the feebleness of His humanity
that had been magnified. But since He had to teach perse-
199· Acts 9-4-

200. Here, as in Sections XXXVII and XL, Ephrem considers the question
of how Christ, who is in heaven, can be persecuted on earth. It is noteworthy
that he never concludes that this persecution continues in Chlist's Mystical
Body. See Murray, Symbols, 86.
201. If Ephrem has John 13 in mind, the phrase might be translated more
freely: " ... our Lord taught His disciples by serving them."
202. John 19.30.
cution to the persecuting disciple, and since it was not possi-

ble for the Master to descend to be persecuted over again,
He taught him with his voice what He could not teach him
with a deed: "Saul, why do you persecute me?"203 the interpreta-
tion of which is: "Saul, why are you not being persecuted for
me?"
(2) The strength of that intense light which shone upon
Saul persuaded him not to assume that our Lord was being
persecuted on account of his weakness. If Saul's eyes were
unable to endure the rays of that light, how would Saul's
hands be able to bind and tie the disciples of the Lord of
the light? But his hands tied the disciples so that, by their
bonds, he might learn their strength. His eyes were unable
to endure the rays so that he might learn his weakness by
their strength. If the intensity of that light had not shone
upon him, and our Lord had said to Saul: "Saul, why do you
persecute me?" given the arrogant pride that Paul possessed at
that time, he might have said to Him: "This is why I perse-
cute you, because you said, 'Why do you persecute me?' Who
would not persecute you when powerlessly you provoke your
persecutor with these feeble words?"
(3) But the humility of our Lord was heard in that voice,
and the intensity of the light shone in the rays, so that Paul
was unable to ignore the humility of the voice because of
the radiance of the light.
Section XXXVIII
His ears became disciples to the voice that they heard, be-
cause his eyes could not endure the rays that they saw. Now
this is amazing: the appearance of the light stunned his eyes
and injured them, while the voice of the Lord of the light
penetrated his ears without injuring them. Which should be
stronger: the light, or the Lord of the light? If the light that
His hand fashioned is this mighty, then how mighty must be
the One in whose hand it was fashioned? If the Lord of the
light is mighty, as He surely is, how did the voice penetrate
203· Acts 9+
the hearing without injuring it as the light injured his sight?

Now listen to the amazing wonder that our Lord did in His
goodness to bring assistance. Our Lord did not want to
humble the light that He possessed, so the Lord of the light
humbled Himself. Just as the Lord of the light is mightier
than the light itself, mightier yet is the glory of the Lord of
the light who humbled Himself rather than humble the
light.
Section XXXIX
As it also is written: An angel appeared to him to strengthen
him during the night as he prayed. 204 Now all the mouths of
heavenly and earthly creatures are too feeble to give thanks
to Him by whose hand the angels were created, who, for the
sake of sinners, was strengthened by that angel that was cre-
ated by His own hand. Just as that angel then was glorious
and radiant while the Lord of the angel, in order to raise up
fallen Adam, was weak and submissive, so here too, the light
shone with intense brightness while the Lord of the light, in
order to aid one persecutor, spoke in weak and submissive
words.
Section XL
This is why that light, whose intensity was not decreased,
penetrated the pupils (of his eyes) with its intense bright-
ness and injured them, while the humble voice of the Lord
of the light, who humbled his aid, penetrated needy ears and
aided them. But so that the aid of that voice that was hum-
bled could not be accused of deceit, the strength of that
light was not humbled, so that by the light which was not
humbled, the aid of that voice that was humbled would be
believed. Now this is amazing. Until our Lord humbled His
voice, Paul did not humble his actions. Although our Lord
was in splendor with His Father before He came down to
put on a body, people did not learn of His humility from His
splendor. But when He humbled Himself and came down
from His splendor, then in His humiliation His humility
204· Luke 2243.
took root among people. When He was raised and ascend-

ed, again He was in glory at the right (hand) of His Father.
But Paul did not learn his humility from this splendor. This
is why the One who was exalted and sat at the right (hand)
of His Father forsook glorious and exalted sounds, and in
feeble, humble tones, like someone oppressed and wronged,
cried out and said: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"205
Then humble whispers overcame harsh bridles, for with hum-
ble whispers as bridles, the One who was persecuted led His
persecutor from the wide road of persecutors to the narrow
road of the persecuted. When all the signs that took place in
the name of our Lord failed to convince Paul who was hur-
rying down the road to Damascus with arrogant haste, our
Lord rushed to refute him humbly. Then with the sounds of
humility He put an end to the rough haste of his arrogance.
Section XLI
The one who used humble words with Paul, His persecu-
tor, used the same humble words with the Pharisee. Humili-
ty is so powerful that even the all-conquering God did not
conquer without it. Humility was even able to bear the bur-
den of a stiff-necked nation in the desert. Moses, the hum-
blest of men, was given charge of the nation that was the
most stubborn of all men. God, who needed nothing to save
His people, later found Himself in need of the humility of
Mosesjust to abide the grumbling and complaining of (His)
critics. Only humility could tolerate the perversity of a na-
tion that dismissed signs in Egypt as well as wonders in the
desert. Whenever pride caused divisions in the nation, the
prayer of humility206 healed their divisions. Now, if the hu-
mility of a tongue-tied 207 man endured six hundred thou-
sand,208 how much more does His humility endure, who
granted speech to the tongue-tied! For the humility of
Moses is a (mere) shadow of the humility of our Lord.
205. Acts 9-4.

206. Literally, "humility through its prayer."
207. Cf. Exod 4.1 1.
208. Cf. Exod 12.37.
Section XLII
Our Lord realized that Simon the Pharisee was uncon-
vinced by the wondrous signs he saw, so He came to him to
convince him with humble tones. And the one whom
mighty wonders failed to subdue submitted to humble
words. Now, what were these wonders the Pharisee saw? He
saw the dead live, lepers cleansed, and sight returned to the
blind. 209 These are the signs that prompted the Pharisee to
invite our Lord as a prophet. But he who invited Him as a
prophet then insulted Him as someone who was ignorant,
(for he said:) "If this man were a prophet, he would know that this
woman who approaches him is a sinner."21o Now let us insult the
Pharisee and say: "If he were discerning,211 he would have
learned from the sinful woman who approached him that
our Lord is not a prophet, but Lord of the Prophets!" The
tears of the sinful woman were testimony that they were not
appealing to a prophet, but to one who, as God, was an-
gered by her sins. Because prophets were unable to give sin-
ners life, the Lord of the Prophets Himself descended to
heal those who engaged in all kinds of evil. What physician
prevents the stricken from coming to him, you blind Phar-
isee who slandered our Physician?212 Why did the stricken
woman, whose wounds were healed by her tears, approach
Him? He who descended to be a fountain 213 of healing
among the sick announced: ""'lwever is thirsty, let him come
and drink."214 When this man's fellow Pharisees took excep-
tion to the healing of sinners, the Physician explained this
about His art, that the door was open to the sick, not to the
healthy: "The healthy have no need of a physician, but those who
have engaged in all kinds of evil."215
209. Matt 11..'); Luke 7.22; cf. Isa 29.18-19, 3.') ..')-6, 61.1.
210. A free rendeling of Luke 7.39.
211. Ephrem plays on the words parasa "discerning" and pitta "Pharisee."
213. MS. B, which left off at Section XXV, takes lip again at this point.
21 4. John 7.37.
21.'). Cf. Matt 9.12; Mark 2.17; Luke .').31-32.
(2) Healing the sick is a physician's glory. But to increase

the disgrace of the Pharisee, who had disparaged the glory
of our Physician, our Lord who worked signs in the streets,
worked even greater signs once He entered the Pharisee's
house than those that He had worked outside. In the
streets, He had healed sick bodies, but inside, He healed
stricken souls. Outside, He had given life to the death of
Lazarus; inside, He gave life to the death of the sinful
woman. He restored the living soul to a dead body that it
had left, and He drove off the deadly sin from a sinful
woman in whom it had dwelt. But that blind (Pharisee), for
whom wonders were not enough, discredited the common
things he saw because of the wondrous things he failed to
see.
(3) He was a son of Israel who attributed weakness to his
God, rather than to himself, (for they had said): "If he struck
a rock, and water poured out, is he not also able to give us
bread?"216 When our Lord realized how wondrous things had
eluded (the Pharisee's) feebleness, and with them common
things as well, He quickly came up with a simple statement
suited to an infant growing up on milk but incapable of
solid food. m
Section XLIII
Pharisee, by whatever it is you know that our Lord is not a
prophet, we know218 that you do not know the Prophets. By
stating: "If this man were a prophet, he would know . .. "219 you in-
dicated that whoever is a prophet knows everything. But
note, there were things that were hidden from the Prophets.
How, then, do you attribute the disclosure of all hidden
things to the Prophets?220
216. Ps 78.20, Peshitta.

217. Heb 5.12; cf. 1 Cor 3.1-2.
218. Literally, "it is known."
219. Luke 7.39.
220. The section that follows incorporates several shifts in address. Al-
though this is not uncommon in Syriac, the modern reader may find it distract-
ing.
(2) This foolish teacher who scrutinizes the writings of

the Prophets does not even know the (correct) interpreta-
tion 22 ! of their writings. It is not simply that this Pharisee
failed to see our Lord's majesty; he did not see the weakness
of the Prophets, either. Our all-knowing Lord allowed that
sinful woman to enter and receive His greeting, but Elisha,
who was ignorant, said to the Shunammite woman: "Greet-
ings to you and your child."222 So the man who thought he
knew that our Lord was not a prophet is known as being
someone who does not know the Prophets. Evil that is hid-
den in a mind that cannot restrain it, the evil that is in a
clever one, always knows how to find an excuse for opening
a door. As soon as the excuse that shelters the liar is discov-
ered, he knows he will find yet another (excuse) to turn to
his use. 22 ?'
(3) Observe this son of Israel, whose fraudulence is like
that of Israel, for paganism was hidden away in the mind of
that nation. 224 This is why Moses was taken away from them,
so that the evil within them would show itself. But in order
neither to dishonor themselves nor to let it be known that
they were asking for idols, they looked for Moses first, then
for the idols. (They said:) "We do not know what has become oj
this Moses."22S If God, who cannot die, brought you out of
Egypt, why are you asking about a man who someday will
die? Or perhaps Moses assured you: "I am your god, because
your God is going to destroy the other god you petitioned"?
(4) Now they certainly did not want Moses to be their
god, because Moses could hear and see and find fault. They
were looking for a god who did not hear or see or find fault.
And since Moses would die someday, what good would he
be? For your God lives and has revealed Himself to you in
221. Literally, "readings."

222. 2 Kings 4.26, Peshitta. Elisha indicates by his greeting that he is igno-
rant of the child's death.
223. This thought is expressed again in the concluding sentence of Section
XLIII.
224. The identical argument was presented in Section XIX.
22.'). Exod 32.1, Peshitta.
living testimony: that bright cloud above them sheltered

them, the pillar of fire gave light to them by night, water
flowed from the rock, and they drank from its streams.
Everyday they enjoyed the taste of the manna, whose report
we have heard. In what way was Moses removed from you,
when behold, the signs of Moses were all around you? What
advantage is the person of Moses to you when you have a
provider such as this: your clothes do not wear out,226 you
are refreshed by soft breezes, heat and cold do not trouble
you, you are free of battles and far from the fear of the
Egyptians! So what did Israel lack that it should be search-
ing for Moses? Blatant227 paganism was all that it lacked. (Is-
rael) was not searching for Moses; Moses was merely the
excuse to go after the calf. And so we have briefly demon-
strated that when the mind is intent on a certain thing, but
it meets with some contradiction, it forcibly manipulates it
to open the door to whatever it wants.
Section XLIV
And you, Pharisee, so thirsty for blasphemy, how did our
Lord not seem to you to be a prophet? See, all the marks of
the Lord of the Prophets could be observed in Him. Stream-
ing tears immediately announced that they were being shed
as in the presence of God. Plaintive kisses testified that they
were coaxing the master of the debt to tear up the bill. The
precious oil of the sinful woman proclaimed that it was a
"bribe" for her repentance. These were the medications the
sinful woman offered her Physician,228 so that He could
whiten the stains of her sin with her tears, and heal her
wounds with her kisses, and make her bad name as sweet as
the fragrance of her oil. This is the Physician who heals a
person with the medicine that that person brings to Him!
(2) These were the wonders that were visible on that oc-
casion. But instead of these, the Pharisee saw (only) blas-
phemy. What was there to conclude from the weeping of the
226. Deut 8-4; 29-4- 227. Literally, "open."

sinful woman, except that here is the One who justifies sin-
ners? Decide in your own mind, foolish teacher. Why was
this woman weeping so bitterly at a festive banquet, so that,
while the guests were enjoying the food, she should be tear-
fully grieving? As a sinner, she was accustomed to engage in
lewd behavior. If, on this occasion, she found her way back
to innocence from sinful lewdness, then recognize, you who
say, "If he were a prophet, "229 that here is the One who makes
the lewd respectable. From the fact that you know she is a
sinner and that you now observe her repentant, ask yourself:
"What changed her?" You 2?o should have fallen down and
worshipped the Silent One who made sinners pure with His
silence, when the Prophets were unable to make them pure
with their mighty voices.
(3) Something amazing and wonderful was witnessed in
that Pharisee's house: a sinful woman sitting and weeping,
without saying why she was weeping. Nor did the One at
whose feet she sat ask: "Why are you weeping?" The sinful
woman had no need to ask our Lord anything with her lips,
because she believed that, as God, He knew the requests
that were concealed in her tears. Nor did our Lord ask her:
"What have you done?" because He knew that she was pay-
ing for shameful deeds with innocent kisses. And so, be-
cause she believed that He knew hidden things, she offered
Him the prayers in her heart. The One who knows hidden
things has no need of outward lips. If the sinful woman did
not prevail upon our Lord with (the words of) her lips, (it
was) because she knew He was God; and our Lord, being
God, could see her thoughts. This is why she did not ask
Him anything.
(4) You obstinate Pharisee, from the silence of the two of
them, do you not discern the bearing of the two of them?
She was asking Him in her heart, as God, and as God, He
silently fathomed her thoughts.
(5) But the Pharisee could neither see nor understand
229. A gap begins in MS. A at this point. The text is supplied from MS. B
for the length of the lacuna.
230. Literally, "he."
these things. Because he was a son of Israel, although he

looked, he did not see. And when he heard, he failed to un-
derstand. When our Lord realized that the Pharisee was
thinking evil of Him, He treated him kindly, not harshly.
Sweetness came down from above to moderate our bitter
propensity for evil. And so our Lord taught that Pharisee
from his own experience: 231 "As I recognized the evil in your
heart but dealt with you kindly, so I lovingly received this
woman although I recognized her evil deeds."
Section XLV
Let us hear how patience pursued a hasty conclusion, and
drew it from haste to discernment.
(2) "A creditor had two debtors. One owed him five hundred di-
nars, the other, fifty dinars."232 Hearer, do not be wearied by the
length of the parable's recitation, and act counter to the
one who showed patience in the parable, for the sake of as-
sistance. "Finally, since neither of them was able to repay him, (the
creditor) exonerated both of them. To which, do you suppose, was he
more kind?"
(3) Simon answered, "1 suppose to the one who had been forgiv-
en more. "
(4) Our Lord said to him, "You are correct."
(5) Our Lord, in His justice, congratulated the perverse
man for his correct judgment, who, in his wickedness, had
condemned the Good One for the compassion He had
shown.
(6) Many things are concealed in this parable; it is a trea-
sury filled with much assistance.
(7) What233 need did our Lord have for the Pharisee to
decide about the two debtors, except to show majesty itself
in pursuit of feebleness? A feeble thing does not follow after
majesty. Our Lord, who knows hidden things, patiently ques-
tioned Simon, in order to shame the ignorant, who are
quick to condemn but not to ask. "If I did not exonerate
until I heard your opinion, why did you rush to condemn
231. Literally, "from and of himself." 232. Luke 7-41ff.
233. MS. A resumes.
the sinful woman before hearing her story from me?" This
happened to teach us to be prompt to investigate, but slow
to pass judgment.
(8) If the Pharisee had been patient, our Lord's forgive-
ness of the sinful woman would have taught him everything.
Patience has a habit of granting everything to those who
possess it.
Section XLVI
Again, by forgiving the two debtors, our Lord let the one
experience forgiveness who stood in need of forgiveness,
but in whose eyes the forgiveness of debts was abhorrent.
While the Pharisee's own debts needed forgiving, forgive-
ness of the sinful woman's debts was abominable in his eyes.
If forgiveness of debts had been on the Pharisee's mind,
that sinful woman who came to God, not to priests, to for-
give her debts, would not have appeared (so) disgraceful in
his eyes. Priests were unable to forgive sins such as these, but
because of the wonders our Lord worked, the sinful woman
had faith that He could likewise forgive sin. She also knew
that whoever could heal the parts of the body could whiten
the stains of the soul as well. But the Pharisee, despite the
fact that he was a teacher, did not realize this. The foolish
teachers of Israel were used to being disgraced by the de-
spised and rejected. They were disgraced by that blind man,
to whom they said: "We know that this man is a sinner. "2'14 He
said to them: "How did He open my eyes? After all, does
God not hear the cry of sinners?"2'1S
(2) These were the blind teachers who became the lead-
ers of others, but whose own crooked path was set straight
by a blind man. 2?6
Section XLVII
Listen to the amazing thing our Lord did. Because the
Pharisee had thought that our Lord did not know that the
234· John 9. 2 4. 235· Cf.John 9·30.

236 . Cf.John 9.39-41.
woman who approached Him was a sinner, our Lord made

the Pharisee's own lips like harp strings, and played her sins
on his lips without the Pharisee even realizing it. 237 And the
one who had shown his disapproval as though he knew,
found himself a harp on which someone else played what
He knew. Our Lord compared the debts of the sinful
woman to the five hundred dinars, and related them within
the Pharisee's hearing in the parable that he heard. Then
(the Lord) drew them out of his mouth with the judgment
he rendered, without Simon realizing as he judged, that the
five hundred dinars represented the sinful woman's debts.
This same Pharisee who thought that our Lord did not
know her sins, was found to be the one who did not know
them when he heard her debts in the parable and voiced his
opinion about them. But once it was finally interpreted for
him by our Lord, then the Pharisee realized that his ears
and lips had become like strings on which our Lord played
the praises of his knowledge. This Pharisee was an associate
of those scribes against whom our Lord passed judgment
with their own mouths: 238 "What will the owner of the vineyard
do to those workers? "239 They said to Him, against themselves:
"He will utterly destroy them, and will lease the vineyard to workers
who will bring him fruit at (harvest) time. "This is the divinity240
for whom everything is easy: with the same mouths that slan-
dered Him, He passed judgment against those very mouths.
Section XLVIII
Glory to the Hidden One who put on visibility so that sin-
ners could approach Him.241 Our Lord did not keep the sin-
ful woman away, as the Pharisee thought (that He should).
The sole reason He descended from the heights, which no
237. See the opening sentence of the Homily for the image of the harp.
238. Literally, "mouth."
239. Matt 21.40; cf. Mark 12.9; Luke 20.15.
240. In Syriac, 'alfihuta, here applied to Christ. See note 14 above.
241. The juxtaposing of kasyii ("hidden") with /1)e" galyulii ("put on visibili-
ty") is classic Ephremic language for the incarnation. See notes 70 and 134
above.
one could reach, was so that short publicans like Zacchaeus

could reach Him.242 He who cannot be contained clothed
Himself2 4? in a natural body so that all lips might kiss his feet
as the sinful woman (had done). The blessed ember244 hid
Himself in a garment of flesh that touched all unclean lips
and made them holy. His feet invited tears, whose stomach,
it was thought, had been invited to a banquet.
(2) This is the good Physician 24s who set out to go to the
sinful woman who sought Him out in her SOUU46 She anoint-
ed the feet of our Lord, who had not trampled over her, she
whom all had trampled over like dust. The Pharisees tram-
pled over her. They justified themselves but ridiculed every-
one (else). But the Merciful One, whose pure body made
her impurity holy, showed her compassion.
Section XLIX
Mary anointed the head247 of our Lord's body, as a symbol
of the "better part" she had chosen. 248 The oil was a prophe-
cy of what her mind had chosen. 249 While Martha was occu-
pied with serving, Mary hungered to be satisfied with spiri-
tual things from the one who also satisfies bodily needs for
us. So Mary refreshed Him with precious oil, just as He had
refreshed her with His most excellent teaching. With her
oil, Mary indicated a symbol of the death of Him who put to
death her carnal desire with His teaching. 2so With the invest-
ment of her tears, the sinful woman confidently gained the
242. The allusion is to Luke 19.2-10. 243. See note 70 above.
244. "Blessed Ember" is a SyIiac title of Christ, used particularly in a eu-
charistic context in allusion to Isa 6.6. See Brock, The Luminous Eye, 81-82.
245. See note 96 above. 246. Literally, "mind."
247. Ephrem identifies Mary (and Martha) who anoints the feet of Jesus
(John 12.3), with the woman mentioned in Matt 26.7 (Mark 14.3) who anoint-
ed the head ofJesus. On the fusing of Mary the mother ofJesus with Mary Mag-
dalene see S. Brock, "Mary and the Gardener," FriO 11 (1983): 223-34; and
Murray, Symbols, 146-48 and 329-3.').
248. Cf. Luke 10.42.
249. Ephrem is here playing on the relationship between me,,(t/i ("oil,"
"ointment") and rnsiilii ("anointed," "Christ").
2.')0. Cf. Matt 26.12; Mark 14.8: "She has contributed toward my burial
preparation."
forgiveness of debts at His feet, while the woman with a flow

of blood received healing from the hem of His garment. 251
Mary openly received the title "blessed" from His mouth in
payment for the work of her hands at His head. She poured
precious oil on His head and received a wonderful promise
from His mouth.
(2) This is the oil that was planted on high but that put
forth its fruit here below. 252 (Mary) planted at His head, and
reaped fruit from His lips: "She will have renown and this
memorial everywhere my good news is proclaimed."253 What she re-
ceived from Him was allowed to pass down to all genera-
tions, nor can it be kept from all generations. As the oil she
poured on His head before all the guests gave off its fra-
grance and pleased Him, so too the good name He gave her
spreads out to all generations and honors her. And just as all
the banquet guests were aware of her oil, so too all who
enter this world should be aware of her deed. This is the in-
vestment whose interest accrues throughout all generations.
Section L
When Simeon the priest took Him into his arms to pre-
sent Him before God,254 he saw and understood that (Sime-
on) was not presenting Oesus), but that it was (Simeon)
who was being presented by Oesus). The Son was not pre-
sented to His Father by a servant; the servant was presented
to his Lord by the Son. The One through whom every offer-
ing is presented cannot Himself be presented by another.
An offering does not present the one who offers it; rather,
offerings are presented by those who offer them. Conse-
251. Matt 9.20ff; Mark 5.27-29; Luke 8-44.

2.')2. Ephrem merges the image of the oil (in Syriac, meS1:ui ) that was
poured on the head of Christ (in Syriac, m"i(lfl), with ChIist himself, who was
"begotten of divinity" and "underwent a second birth" (cf. Section II). Oil occu-
pies a place of considerable importance in Syrian baptismal rites (see Brock,
The Holy Spiril in Ihe Syrian Baplismal Trruiilion, 37-40), and functions as a type
of the gifts that Jeslls gave, as well as the repository of divine gifts in the sacra-
mental life of the church; see Hymns on Virp;inity 7.1-1.')). For the possible inspi-
ration of this sentence see Ps 85.12-13.
253. Matt 26.13. 254. Luke 2.28.
quently, the receiver of offerings allowed Himself to be pre-

sented by someone else, so that, while presenting Him,
those who presented Him might present themselves
through Him. Just as He gave His body to be eaten, so that
once eaten, it would give life to those who eat it, in the same
way He allowed Himself to be presented, so that the hands
of those who presented Him might be sanctified by His
touch.
(2) So even though the arms of Simeon seemed to be
presenting the Son, the words of Simeon testified that it was
he who was being presented by the Son. Therefore, there
can be no question for us about what happened; what was
said puts an end to questioning: ''Now, therefore, you dismiss
your servant in peace. "255 Whoever is dismissed in peace to go
to God is presented to God as an offering. And to make it
known by whom he was being presented, he said: ''For my eyes
have seen your compassion."256 Now, if goodness had not been
at work in him, why would he be giving thanks? He was quite
properly giving thanks because he had been (found) worthy
to receive into his arms the one whom angels and prophets
had eagerly longed to see: ''For my eyes have seen your compas-
sion."257 Let us understand clearly: is compassion compas-
sionate toward another, or is it shown compassion by anoth-
er? If compassion is all-compassionate, then Simeon
properly called our Lord "compassion," who showed him
compassion by releasing him from a world filled with decep-
tions to go to an Eden filled with delights. It was the priest
who said and attested that he was being presented like an of-
fering that was being taken from this passing world to be de-
posited in safekeeping. Whenever a person finds what has
been lost, he has the responsibility of safeguarding it. There
was no possibility of our Lord becoming lost; those who had
been lost were found by Him! So the servant, who had been
very careful not to become lost, was presented by the Son,
who could not be lost. ''For my eyes have seen your compas-
sion."258 It is clear that Simeon carried compassion in the
255. Luke 2.29· 256. Luke 2.30.
257. Luke 2.30. 258. Luke 2.30.
baby he carried. He invisibly received peace from the child

he visibly held in his arms. (That child) was glorious even
when a feeble, little man carried him, and the one who car-
ried Him became exalted by Him.
Section LI
Because Simeon was able to carry in his weak arms the
very majesty that created things cannot endure, he knew
that his weakness was strengthened by the power he
carried. 259 At the same time Simeon, with all creatures, was
invisibly being lifted up by the all-prevailing power of the
Son Himself. This is amazing, that while a weak man was vis-
ibly carrying the power that gave him strength, that power
was invisibly carrying the one who carried it. Majesty made
itself small so that those who held it could endure it. As
majesty bent itself down to our smallness, so should our love
lift itself above every desire in order to meet majesty.
Section LII
And the boat that carried our Lord-it was (our Lord)
who carried it when He stopped the wind that threatened to
sink it (when He said): "Be silent, be still."260 Although He was
on the sea, His arm was able to reach the source of the wind
and stop it. The boat carried His humanity, but the power of
His divinity carried the boat and everyone in it. To show
that not even His humanity required a boat, in place of the
boards that the carpenter assembled and nailed, the Archi-
tect of Creation made the waters firm, assembling and sub-
duing them under His feet. Our Lord strengthened the
hand of Simeon the priest in the temple so that he could
carry the power that carries all, just as it was He who
strengthened the feet of Simon the Apostle so that they
could support themselves on the water. 261 And so, the
name 262 that carried the Firstborn in the temple, the First-
259. Cf. Section XXVIII. 260. Mark 4.39.

261. Cf. Matt 14.28-33.
262. I.e. sern'im, the Syriac for Simon the Pharisee, Simeon the priest and
Simon the Apostle.
born later carried on the sea to show that, if He could carry

him over a threatening sea, He did not need to be carried
by him on dry land. Our Lord visibly carried him on the sea
to teach us that He was also invisibly carrying him on dry
land.
Section LIII
The Son came to the servant not to be presented by the
servant, but so that, through the Son, the servant might pre-
sent to his Lord the priesthood and prophecy that had been
entrusted to his keeping. 26 '1 Prophecy and priesthood, which
had been given through Moses, were both passed down, and
came to rest on Simeon. He was a pure vessel who consecrat-
ed himself, so that, like Moses, he too could contain them
both. These were feeble vessels that accommodated great
gifts, gifts that one might contain because of their goodness,
but that many cannot accept, because of their greatness.
Simeon presented our Lord, and in Him he presented the
two gifts he had so that what had been given to Moses in the
desert was passed on by Simeon in the temple. Because our
Lord is the vessel in which all fullness dwells,264 when Sime-
on presented Him to God, he poured out both of these
263. Ephrem views the presentation in the temple as the occasion upon
whichJesus received the gifts of prophecy and priesthood from the priest Sime-
on, even though, in the Commentmy on the Diatessamn, he traces the pIiestly line
to Jesus through John the Baptist, who received it from his father, Zechariah.
See Leloit-, ed., Saint ~'jJhrem. Commentaire de l'evangile ("oncordant, 47-48. In ei-
ther case, it is the understanding of the SyIiac-speaking authors thatJesus re-
ceived the Aaronic priesthood, perfected it, and transmitted it to the church.
See Aphrahat, Demonstration 6.289.22. In at least one instance, in an apparent
reference to Heb 5.6ff., Ephrem traces the pIiesthood that Jesus receives to
Melchizedek:
His divinity is from God,

and His humanity is from mortals,
His pIiesthood is from Melchizedek,
His kingship is from the house of David.
Blessed is His combining (of them)."
Hymns on the Resurrection 1 . 1 2.
upon Him: the priesthood from his hands, and prophecy

from his lips. The priesthood had always been on Simeon's
hands, because of (ritual) purifications. Prophecy, in fact,
dwelt on his lips because of revelations. When both of these
saw the Lord of both of these, both of them were combined
and were poured into the vessel that could accommodate
them both, in order to contain priesthood, kingship, and
prophecy.
(2) That infant who was wrapped in swaddling clothes 265
by virtue of His goodness was dressed in priesthood and
prophecy by virtue of His majesty. Simeon dressed Him in
these, and gave Him to the one who had dressed Him in
swaddling clothes. As he returned Him to His mother, he re-
turned the priesthood with Him. And when he prophesied
to her about Him: "This child is destined far the downfall and
rising . .. "266 he gave her prophecy with Him as well.
Section LIV
So Mary took her firstborn and left. Although He was visi-
bly wrapped in swaddling clothes, He was invisibly clothed
with prophecy and priesthood. 267 Thus, what Moses had
been given was received from Simeon, and it remained and
continued with the Lord of these two (gifts). The former
steward and the final treasurer handed over the keys of
priesthood and prophecy to the One in authority over the
treasury of both of these. 268 This is why His Father gave Him
the Spirit without measure,269 because all measures of the Spirit
are under His hand. And to indicate that He received the
keys from the former stewards, our Lord said to Simon: "1
will give you the keys of the gates."270 Now how could He give
them to someone unless He had received them from some-
one else? So the keys He had received from Simeon the
265. Luke 2.12. 266. Luke 2.34.

267. See notes 70 and 241 above.
268. Ephrem introduces the image of the keys (Matt 16.19) as spnbols of
the passing of authority to Christ. Ephrem refers to Christ as both "steward··
and "treasurer..• See note 74 above.
269. John 3.34. 270. Matt 16.19.
priest, he gave to another Simeon,271 the Apostle. So even

though the Qewish) nation did not listen to the first Sime-
on, the (Gentile) nations would listen to the other Simeon.272
Section LV
Because John also was the treasurer of baptism, the Lord
of stewardship came to him to take the keys of the house of
forgiveness 273 from him. John had been whitening the stains
of debt with common water, so that bodies would be fit for
the robe of the Spirit imparted by our Lord. Therefore,
since the Spirit was with the Son, he came to receive bap-
tism from John to mix 274 the Spirit, which cannot be seen,
with water, which can be seen, so that those whose bodies
feel the wetness of the water should be aware of the gift of
the Spirit in their souls, and that as the outside of the body
becomes aware of water flowing over it, the inside of the
soul should become aware of the Spirit flowing over it. So
when our Lord plunged down into baptism, He clothed
Himself with baptism 275 and drew it out with Him,just as He
had put on prophecy and priesthood when He was present-
ed in the temple, and He left bearing the purity of the
272. Ephrem engages in simultaneous wordplays on "em'un ("Simeon"/
"Simon"), sma', ("hear"/"obey")' and 'amma/'mmne, ("nation"/"nations"). For
an example of similar verbal dextetity, see Hymns on Virginity 36.6, as noted by
McVey, trans., iijJhrem the Syrian Hymn.l; 422, n. 583.
273. In Syriac, bit Mlssaya. The term lYUssaya has a long and rich history in
Syriac. It was used by the translators of the Peshitta to render the Hebrew "ajJ-
jJoreth, or "mercy seat" (Exod 25.17-19), the gold lid of the ark of the covenant
where God was invisibly present on the Day of Atonement to accept the repen-
tance of the people. In liturgical usage, it canies with it the sense of "absolu-
tion," "pardon," and even "exorcism." Finally, Syriac-speaking tradition uses the
term as a title for Christ who became the forgiveness of sins and the locus of
reconciliation with the Father. See R. Payne Smith, Thesaurus Syriacus (Oxford,
1879) 1:1222-23; alsoJ. P. Amar, "The Sytiac Hussaya: A Consideration of Nar-
rative Techniques," Dialwnia 22.3 (1988-89): 153-68.
274. In Sytiac, mzag. See notes 100 and 195 above.
275. In Sytiac, 11)e" ma'muriztii. See notes 70 and 241 above. Ephrem now
speaks of Christ as "putting on baptism" as another necessa,y passage in His
pursuit of fallen humanity. For the full progression of this movement, see
Hymns on the Chunh 36,3-6 in Brock, The Luminous iiye, 70-74.
priesthood on His pure limbs and the words of prophecy in

His innocent ears. When Simeon consecrated the body of
the infant who consecrates all, that body took the priest-
hood with its consecration. Likewise, when Simeon prophe-
sied over Him, prophecy hastened to the child's ear. If John
leaped for joy in the womb 276 at the words of the Lord's
mother, how much more should our Lord hear (Simeon's
words) in the temple? For behold, it was because of Him
thatJohn was able to hear in the womb.
Section LVI
Everyone of the gifts that had been laid aside for the
Son, He picked from its 277 proper tree. He took baptism
from the Jordan, even though John baptized again after
Him. He took priesthood from the temple, even though the
high priest Annas exercised it. And He also took prophecy,
which had been handed down by the righteous, even
though Caiaphas used it once to weave our Lord a crown. 278
And He took kingship from the house of David, even
though Herod 279 kept the position and functioned in it.
Section LVII
This is the One who flew down from the heights, and
when all those gifts He had given to the ancients saw Him,
they came flying from everywhere and settled on the one
who gave them. They assembled from everywhere and came
to be grafted on their natural tree. For they had been graft-
ed on bitter trees, that is, among wicked kings and priests.
This is why they quickly came to their sweet root.
(2) This is the Divinity280 who came down like rennet
within the nation of Israel so that its parts would be gath-
ered to Him. When He took from them what was His own,
He left what was not His own. For the sake of what was His
own, He even endured what was not His own. He endured
276. Luke 1.41. 277. Literally, "their."

278. Cf.John 11.50, 18.13-14, 19.2. 279. MS. B leaves off here.
280. In Syriac, 'alfihuta, here used in the context of the incarnation. See
note 14 above.
Israel's idolatry for the sake of the priesthood. He endured

(Israel's) soothsaying for the sake of prophecy. And he en-
dured Israel's wicked authority for the sake of His holy
crown.
Section LVIII
When our Lord took His priesthood from them, He con-
secrated all nations with it. When he took His prophecy, He
revealed His promises to all generations with it. And when
He wove His crown, He also tied up the mighty one who
captures everyone,281 and He divided his spoils. These gifts
were absent from the fig tree 282 which, lacking fruit, lacked
great deeds like these. This is why the one without fruit was
cut down, so that these gifts might go forth and its fruits in-
crease among all nations.
Section LIX
All these havens He passed through to come and make
our bodies havens for His dwelling. Therefore let each of us
become His dwelling! "VVhoever loves me, we will come to him,
and make our haven with him"28'1 (says) the Godhead,284 whom,
without a single creature being lost to Him, a small, humble
mind 28s can accommodate.
THE END OF THE HOMILY ON OUR LORD.
281. A return to the imagelY in Section I.

282. Matt 2.1 gff. Ephrem applies the image of the barren fig tree to Israel.
283. John 14.23.
284. In Syriac, 'allihuta, here used in reference to Christ. See note 14
above.
285. Or "soul."
INTRODUCTION
The Letter to Publius was relatively unknown until 1901,

when the great British scholar F. C. Burkitt, in his study of
Ephrem's Gospel quotations, remarked that it was "surpris-
ing that no one has ever thought it worth while to edit."! De-
spite Burkitt's urging, no one undertook the task for over
seventy years until Sebastian Brock edited the Letter with an
accompanying English translation and commentary in
1976.2 The Letter survives in a single manuscript, Brit. Lib.
Add. 7190, ff. 188'-193','1 which W. Wright dates to the
twelfth century.4 The manuscript contains numerous ex-
tracts, from both Greek and Syriac writers, on various asceti-
cal topics. It is from Brock's edition that the present transla-
tion was made."
(2) Nothing is known of this Publius to whom the letter
is ostensibly written. From section 17, we know that he was a
baptized Christian, as Ephrem refers to the "imprint" he
had received. Theodoret writes in his History of the Monks of
Syria of a Publius who forsook his royal lineage and went off
to live a solitary life in a hut not far from Zeugma in Eu-
phratensis during the time of Valens (364-78).6 The dates
1. F. C. Burkitt, S. lijJhmim\ QuoLaLions Fom Lhe GosjJel,; Texts and Studies

(Cambridge, 190.')) 7.2:7°.
2. Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to Publius," 261-305. As will be evident, the
present translation and commentary owe much to this edition. See also idem,
"An Unpublished Letter ofSt. Ephrem," Pd~ 4 (1973): 317-23.
3. V. Rosen:J. Forshall, CaLalogus Codicum OrienLalium qui in Museo BTiLanniro
asseruanLUI; part 1 (London, IS3S) So, n. 4S,
4. W. Wright, Catalogue alSyriac ManuscrijJts in the British Museum (London,
IS71) 1206.
5. The present translator would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr.
Brock for passing on several suggested emended readings to a manuscript that
is very difficult to read.
6. P. Canivet and A. Leroy-Molinghen, eds., Theo(uJreL de CyT, HisLoire des
335
336 LETTER TO PUBLIUS
of Publius' solitary life thus correspond to Ephrem's final

years in Edessa. It is also tempting to explain Ephrem's use
of the imagery of royalty in terms of Publius' former life.
The connection, however, is much too tenuous and nothing
of certainty can be stated here.
(3) The literary format is that of a letter. Although there
are not a few letters attributed to Ephrem, the Letter to Pub-
lius is one of the very few that are likely to be authentic. 7
The Letter to the Mountaineers,s the Letter to the Men of Homs'}
and the letter of Ephrem to the Catholicos PapalO are all
spurious. l l
(4) The Letter to Publius is essentially a meditative vision
on the last judgment. Ephrem opens immediately with the
imagery of the Gospel as a mirror. In this mirror, a favorite
image of Ephrem,12 the righteous are able to envision them-
selves in Paradise while the wicked and impious can only see
the utter destitution and endless agony of Gehenna. This of
course leads Ephrem to consider the sheep and the goats as
moines de Syrie 1 :328-44. English translation in Plice, trans., A History oj the

Monh olSyria, .')S-62.
7. On the basis of the biblical text, Burkitt concluded that the letter was
genuine, S. ~'phmim\ Quotations ji-om the Go"pel" 70. In his edition, Brock saw
"nothing in its contents which militates against such a conclusion: the artistical-
ly balanced prose style, the imagelY (in particular that of the mirror)' the
phraseology and the thought are all in favour of the attIibution given in the
manuscript." Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to Publius," 261.
S. See Beck, ed., Sermones TV, 2S-43, and his comments in the accompany-
ing translation volume, viii-xi. The contrary arguments of A. Voobus, A Letter oj
Ephrem to the Mountaineers: A I>iterary-Critical Contribution to Syriac I>iterature, Con-
tributions of the Baltic University, no. 2.') (Pinneberg, 1947), can no longer be
maintained.
9. This letter is still unedited; an extract is found in Brit. Lib. Add. 17193,
foI.10'-11'.
10. The apocryphal letter from Ephrem to the Catholicos Papa exists in an
unedited Vatican manuscript. See P. Cersoy, "Les manuscrits orientaux de Mgr.
David au Musee Borgia de Rome," 7A!itschrififiir Assyrologie 9 (1S94): 370, no. 19
(f) .
11. The only other letter that is certainly authentic is the I>eUer to Hypatius.
See E. Beck, "Ephrams Brief an Hypatios iibersetzt und erklart," OC.')S (1974):
76- 1 20.
12. See Beck, "Das Bild vom Spiegel," 1-24.
INTRODUCTION 337
well as the parable of Lazarus and the rich man on which he

dwells at some length.
(5) As Brock has already pointed out, this text is most re-
markable for Ephrem's views on the nature of Gehenna.
Ephrem insists that the traditional language and imagery
about the last judgment are metaphorical; it is rather the in-
dividual's conscience, here reflected in the mirror, that
serves as the realjudge before Christ. Ll In many ways this no-
tion is consistent with Ephrem's ideas on free wilp· and also
anticipates the ideas found in the Commedia of Dante.
13. See, however, the very realistic vision given in Sermones II.2: 137-76.
Beck, however, questions the authenticity of this hymn. Ironically, Ibas was
accused at the second Council of Ephesus of denying the literal reality of
Gehenna.
14. See Bou Mansour, "Aspects de la liberte humaine chez saint Ephrem Ie
Syrien"; and idem, "La liberte chez saint Ephrem Ie Syrien."
LETTER TO PUBLIUS
From the Letter to Publius

OU WOULD do well not to let fall from your hands
the polished mirror of the holy Gospel of your Lord, I
which reproduces the image of everyone who gazes
at it and the likeness of everyone who peers into it. While it
keeps its own natural quality, undergoes no change, is de-
void of any spots, and is free of any soiling, it changes its ap-
pearance before colors although it itself is not changed. 2
Before white things it becomes [white] like them.
Before black things, it becomes dark like them.
Before red things [it becomes] red like them.
Before beautiful things, it becomes beautiful like them" and
before ugly things, it becomes hideous like them. 4
It paints every detail on itself. It rebukes 5 the ugly ones for

their defects so that they might heal themselves and remove
the foulness from their faces. It exhorts the beautiful to be
watchful over their beauty and even to increase their natural
1. For the Gospel as a polished or smooth mirror, see Hymns on Faith 2.1,
12.19,40.1,67.8; and Hymns on Virginity 31.12. See also Beck, "Das Bild vom
Spiegel," .')-24; idem, "Zur Terminologie von Ephraems Bildtheologie," in
Typus, Symbol, Allegorie bei den ostlichen Viitern und ihren Parallelen im Mittelalter,
239-77·
2. This same image is also found in Hymns against Heresies 32.7,16.
3. See also Hymns on Fasting9.1.
4. This is a common image in Ephrem for moral depravity. See Hymns on
Virginity 11.1, 31.12; Hymns against Heresies 32.11. In Hymns against Heresies
32.3, Ephrem says the mirror becomes "perfect before the perfect and sickly
before the sickly." See also below, 19.
5. The mirror also rebukes in Hymns on Virginity 1 1.1, 31.12; Hymns on Faith
18.12; Hymns against Heresies .')5.7; and Hymns on Nisibis 16.4.
338
LETTER TO PUBLIUS 339
beauty with whatever ornaments they wish, lest they become

sullied with dirt.
Although it is silent, it speaks.
Although it is mute, it cries out.
Although it is reckoned as dead, it makes proclamation.
Although it is still, it dances.
Although it has no belly, its womb is of great expanse.!;
And there in those hidden inner chambers every limb is

painted and every body is framed in a bare fraction of a sec-
ond. Within it they are created with undetectable quick-
ness.
2. For this mirror is a foreshadowing of the holy tidings
of the outer Gospel/ within which is depicted the beauty of
the beautiful ones who gaze at it.s Also within it the blemish-
es of the ugly ones who are despised are put to shame. And
just as this natural mirror is a foreshadowing of the Gospel,
so also is the Gospel a foreshadowing of that heavenly un-
fading beauty by which all the sins of Creation are reproved
and by which reward is given to all those who have pre-
served their beauty from being defiled with filth. To every-
one who peers into this mirror, his sins are visible in it. And
everyone who takes careful notice will see in it that portion
which is reserved for him, whether good or evil.
There the kingdom of heaven is depicted and can be seen by
those who have a pure eye."
There the exalted ranks of the good ones can be seen.
There the high ranks of the middle ones can be discerned.
There the lowly ranks of the evil ones are delineated.lO
6. Similar imagery is found in Hymns on Faith 81.6; for the womb of the mir-
ror, see also Hymns against Heresies 32-4.
7. See Beck, "Das Bild vom Spiegel."
8. See Hymns on Faslingg.l.
g. See Hymns on Faith 67.8, for the necessity of a pure eye. See also Brock,
The I>uminous Eye, .')2-60. The image is clearly based on Matt .').2g.
10. Ephrem divides Paradise into three similar levels, Hymns on Paradise
2.10. See also Sed, "Les hymnes sur Ie paradis de saint Ephrem," especially,
463-67.
There the beautiful places, which have been prepared for those
worthy of them, are evident. 11
There Paradise can be seen rejoicing in its flowers.l'
3. In this mirror, Gehenna in flames can be seen by those

who deserve to dwell there. l ? In Paradise there are joyous
promises for the good as they wait for [the day] when they
will receive their masters with uncovered faces. But in
Gehenna, the promises for the wicked will be grievous at the
time when they see their masters abased in stature.
There the outer darkness can be seen clearly and from within it
can be heard the sound of wailing and weeping, of groans,
and ofgnashing of teeth.ll
There in their bonds people wail as they are tortured, and it be-
comes more intense according to their wickedness so that
they are punished with all justice.
4. There that rich man,'" who used to wear different clothes every
day and used to take delight in his luxuries, wails from
anguish inside Sheol.
There the groaning cry of the rich man can be heard crying
out to Abraham, the father of the just, "Send Lazarus, your
son, to moisten my tongue for I am afflicted, It; for my sins are
burning me up and my evil deeds like coals of a broom tree l7
are roasting me."
And there was sent from the mouth of the Just One lH to that
evildoer a direct reply, like a swift messenger with swift wings
flying over that dreadful chasml9 that has been set as a bound-
ary between the good and the evil. And that letter of jus-
11. Cf.John 14. 2-3.
1 2. See Hymns on Paradise 10, passim.
13. See Homily on Our Lord, 5, above.
14. Cf. Matt 8.12,22.13,25.30.
15. Or, Dives, see Luke 16.19-31. Ephrem often alludes to this parable.
See Hymns on Paradise 1.12, 7.27; Hymns on Nisibis 10.7; and Se17lwnes I:3.159ff.
See also 14, below.
16. Luke 16.24.
17. Ps 1204. For this translation, see M. Dahood, Psalms Ill, Anchor Bible
17A (New York, 1970) 197.
18. Read "d_k'ina" for "k'ina." The manuscript reads, literally, "the just
mouth."
19. Luke 16.26.
tice, which was written by the mouth of the Just One, was
carried forthwith and sent to the deaf ear of that one who
had never opened the gate of his ear for any holy voice to
enter. And in that letter, which it carried like a speedy mes-
senger, were drawn those gentle sounds of just judgment:
"My son, remember that you received your precious and luxurious
things while you were alive whereas at that time Lazarus received
his evils and his afflictions. And now he is unable to come to
help you in your torments because you did not help him when
he was in anguish from his diseases. For this reason you are
seeking his aid just as he once sought your aid. But you re-
fused. Now he is unable to come because that great chasm,
which cannot be crossed, is between us. No one from you can
come to us, nor can any from us come to you. "20
.5. Fix the eye of your mind and gaze on this mirror of
which I spoke to you above.
N otice 21 the twelve thrones that are fashioned on it for judgment. 22
Notice how the tribes stand there trembling and how the many
nations stand there quaking.'"
Notice how their bodies shake and their knees knock.
Notice how their hearts palpitate and how their minds pine.
Notice how their faces are downcast and how their shame is
thick upon them like darkness.
Notice how their souls languish21 and how their spirits flicker.
Notice how their tears overflow and soak the dust beneath them.
Notice how their complexions are changing to green. One takes
on that color and hands it on to his companion.
Notice their faces, which used to be joyful, have been
transformed to look like soot from a cauldron. 2['
Hear their many groans and their wailing moans.
Hear their sighs of grief and their churning innards.
20. Cf. Luke 16.25-26.

21. Similar anaphoras starting with "Notice" occur in Hymns on Faith 53;
Sermons on Failh 6.233ff.; and Sennones 1:5.568ff.
22. Cf. Matt 19.28 [=Luke 22.30].
23. The tribes are the Jews and the nations are the Gentiles. See also
below. 7.
24. The root of this word, jJSfi, is not found in any of the lexica. 1 follow
here the suggested translation of Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to Publius,.· 296.
25. Cf. .JoeI2.6; Nah 2.10 (ll in Peshitta).
Notice their deeds:

those that were in secret have now become manifest;
those that were done in darkness now shine forth like the sun;26
those that they had committed in secret now make their com-
plaint with loud voice.
Notice how everyone stands, his deeds before himjusdy accusing
him in the presence of his judge.
Notice how their evil thoughts have now taken on shape and stand
before their masters to accuse them. 27
Notice their slanderous whisperings crying out in a loud voice,
and how the snares once hidden are now revealed before them.
A little further ... 28

6. Notice that Judge of righteousness 29 as he sits,
the Word of His father,30
the wisdom of His nature, 31
the arm of His glory,
the right hand of His mercy,
the ray of His light,"
the manifestation of His rest,
that one who is equal in essence" with the one who begot Him,
that one whose nature is commensurate with the nature from
which He sprang forth,
that one who is at once near and far from Him,"4
26. Cf. Mark 4.22; Matt 10.26; Luke 8.17,12.2. The same image occurs in
Se17lwnes 1:5.326.
27. A similar image is found in Hymns on the Chunh 17.6, and in the appen-
dix to the same collection, on p. 139.
28. Here is the division between the two fragments in the manusClipt. We
have numbered the paragraphs consecutively following Brock's "Ephrem's Let-
ter to Publius."
29. Cf. Ps 9.8, 96.10-13, 98,9, et al.; 2 Tim 4.8. For SyIiac love of titles, see
Murray, Symbol,', 159-204,354-63,
30. Cf.John 1.1.
31. 1 Cor 1.24, 30.
32. See Hymns on Faith 71.20; and E. Beck, lijJhriims Trinitiitslehre im Dild von
Sonne/Feuer, [.ieht und Warme, CSCO 42.') (Louvain, 1981).
33. In SyIiac, {aweh b'itutrl. See Beck, Die Theo[ogie, 5-13.
34. For ChIist being both "near" and "far" from the Father, an Ephremic
metaphor for "divine" and "human," see Hymns on Virginity 36.9; Sermons on
Faith 2.711; and Hymns on Nisibis, 21.13, 50.6.
that one who is at once joined with Him and separated from
Him,S['
in His presence and not at a distance,36
at His right hand and not far away,"7
who shares the same dwelling but not as a foreigner,""
the gate of life,""
the way of truth, 10
the propitiatory lamb,ll
the pure sacrifice,12
the priest who remits debts:"
the sprinkling that purifies,"
the one who created [all] that was made:'
the one who formed and the one who established,
the one who fashioned creatures,
the one who gives senses to the dust,
who clothes the earth with perception:6
who gives movement to all flesh,
who separates the places of every species,
who differentiates faces without number,
who renews the minds of all races,17
who sows all wisdom everywhere,
who stretches out the heavens,411
who adorned them with lights:"
35. See also Hymns on Faith 32.16,4°.2; Sermons on Faith 1.156, 2.593.
36. Cf.John 1.1.
37· Cf. Matt 26.64; Acts 2·33, 7·55, 56.
38. This is perhaps an anti-Marcionite phrase here. See also Hymns on the
Nativity, 17.17.
39. Or "salvation." Cf.John 10.9.
40. Cf. John 14.6.
41. Cf.John 1.29,36. This same progression of "gate ... way ... lamb" oc-
curs also in Hymns on Faith 57.3. For the propitiatory lamb, see Hymns on Faith
62.3, and Hymns on the Nativity 3.15.
42. Cf. Eph ,').2.
43. Cf. Reb 2.17; see HymnsonPamtiise, 4.3.
44. Lev 14.7, 17 et al. Cf. Num 8.7. The same expression is found in Hymns
on Virginity, 3 1 .4.
45. SeeJohn 1.3; Col 1.16; Reb 1.2.
46. Cf. Gen 2.7, and Hymns on Faith 50.5.
47. Cf.Rom 12.2.
48. Cf. Ps 104.2; Isa4o.22, 42.5, 44.24; Zech 12.1.
49. Cf. Gen 1.16-17.
who gave names to them all,"'}

who spread out the earth on a foundationY' that cannot be
touched,
who is the architect of the mountains,52
who built the high places,
who commands the grasses,
who causes trees to spring forth,
who causes woodplants to give seed,
who causes fruit to grow,
who distinguishes tastes,
who gives color to blossoms and shape to all flowers,
who measures heaven with His span, with that power that can
not be measured,
who meted out in the palm of His hand the dust of the earth in that
right hand which cannot be meted out,
who weighed the mountains on scales with a knowledge that can-
not be comprehended,
and the hills on a balance'" with an unerring understanding
by which the gathering places of the seas 55 that envelop all Cre-
ation and the depths of the sea that cannot be grasped by
us are considered to be even less than a drop there before
Him. 56
7. God from God,57
the second light of Being,""
50. Cf. Ps 1474, and see Hymns on the Churrh47.1O.

51. Cf. Isa 48.13.
52. For ChIist as architect, see Hymns on the Nativity 3.15; Hymns againstJu-
lian4.22; and Hymns on Nisibis 48.10.
53. This is a conjectured translation; the Syriac word is otherwise unattest-
ed. See Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to Publius," 299.
54. Cf. Isa 40.12. The same "exegesis" of this verse from Isaiah can be
found, almost verbatim, in P. Bedjan, Homiliae Sancti Isaaci Syri Antiochae (Paris,
19(3) 1:49. This poem is perhaps the only known work that shows acquain-
tance with this Leiter.
5.'). Cf. Cen 1.10.
56. Cf.Isa4o.15·
57. See Homily on Our Lord 8.
58. For Christ as "the second," i.e., of the Trinity, as a common designation
for the Son in Ephrem, see Hymns on Faith 23.13, 40.1, and Hymns on the Nativity
26.5. For light, see John 14-5.
the treasure house of all riches that have been or will

be made,s9
the judge of the tribes,60
the measure of justice,
the scale without deceit,';!
the even measuring rod,
the measuring bowl that is not false,
wisdom that does not err,
intelligence that cannot pass away,
the renewer of creatures,
the restorer of natures,
the resuscitator of mortality,62
who rolls away the cloud of darkness,63
who brings to an end the reign of iniquity,
who destroys the power of Sheol,
who shatters the sting of evil,64
who brings captives to the light,';"
who raises up from AbaddonG6 those who were cast down,
who removes the darkness,
who makes worthy of rest,
who opens mouths that had been shut6; and
who breathes in life just as of old. 6"
8. Look then upon that divine child whose names surpass

the reckoning of mortals and whose titles are more numer-
ous than the computations of the earth: 69
59. See Hymns on ViTl,:inity 31.7; Hymns on Faith 24.2; and the Homily on Our
Lordg.
60. Cf. Matt 19.28 [=Luke 22.30]. See Commentary on GenesisXLIII.6, above.
61. Cf. Prav 16.11.
62. For this image see Hymns on the Nativity 3.9; Hymns on Nisibis 4g.8,
6.').1.').
63. Cf. .J0hn 8.12.
64. Cf. 1 Cor 15.56; Hos 13.14; and the refrain to Hymns on Nisibis 37.
6.'). Cf.1sa42.7.
66. Rev g.l1.
67. See the Homily on Our Lord 10; Hymns on the R£suITedion 4.2; Hymns on
Nisibis .')g.16, 6g.24.
68. Cf. Gen 2.7.
6g. For the impossibility of enumerating all the titles of ChIist, see Hymns
on Virginity 4.S; Hymns on Faith 44. 1ff., .')3.13, 62-63, 82.6; Hymns against Heresies
53.13; and Hymns on Unleavened BTerul5.14.
King of kings, 70
the Messiah affirmed by the prophets,7]
who spoke through the Prophets,72
who sends the Spirit,73
who sanctifies every soul in the Spirit, for His aid is
manifest. 74
Consider this Only-Begotten, 75 the multitude of His names,
this one who does the will of Him who sent Him, this one whose
will fulfills the will of Him who begot Him.76 Look at Him,
on that day, sitting at the right hand of Him who begot Him,77
in that hour, placing the sheep at His right hand and the goats at
His left hand, at that moment, calling out to His blessed ones,
while giving them thanks, "Come, inherit that kingdom,"78
which from of old had been made ready for them in His
knowledge and which from the beginning had been prepared for
them. 79
When He was hungry they fed Him in the poor. He was thinty
and they gave Him to drink in the disabled.
He was naked and they clothed Him in the naked.
He was imprisoned and they visited Him in the imprisoned.
He was a stranger and they took Him in with the aliens.
He was sick and they visited Him in the infirm.SO
And when they did not make their good works known be-
fore Him, those same beautiful works, which were depicted
on their limbs, sounded the trumpet and gave witness on
70. Cf. 1 Tim 6.15; Rev 17.14, 19.16. 71. Cf. Acts 10.43.
72. Heb 1.1.
73. Cf.John 14.26; and Sermons on Frlith 4.1 79-80.
74. For Christ's manifest aid, see Hymns on the Nativity 3.18; Hymns on Nisibis
35.13,42.5; Homily on Our Lorti 24; and Hymns on Unleavened Bre(ui1.15.
75. Cf. John 1.14, 18; 3.16, 18; 1 John 4.9; and the general introduction,
above.
76. Cf.John 4,34,5,30,6,38. See also Sermons on Faith 2.601.
77. Cf. Mark 16.19 and notes 36 and 37, above. See also Hymns on Nisibis
43.22; Sermons on Faith 1.79, 4.181.
78. Cf. Matt 25.33-34. See also Hymns on the Crucifixion 3.14.
80. For "hungly ... sick," cf. Matt 25.3.')-40.
their behalf. Like luscious fruits on beautiful trees they

hung on them and stood like bunches in order to be wit-
nesses to the truth that these persons had truly wrought
them.
g. For just as the deeds of the wicked are their accusers81
before the righteous Judge,82 making them bend and bow
down their heads silently in shame, so also their beautiful
deeds plead cause for the good before the Good One. 83 For
the deeds of all mankind are both silent and speak-silent
by their nature yet they speak when one sees them.
(2) In that place, there is no interrogation, for He is the
judge of knowledge; nor is there any response, for when He
sees it, He hears. He hears with sight and He sees with hear-
ing. Because in that one thing, which is not a composite, is
hearing and sight, swiftness, touch, sensation, smell, taste,
discernment, knowledge, and judgment. Also by that which
is not a composite, there is given out the reward of good
things and the punishment of evil things to the two sides:
those on the right hand and those on the left. 84
(3) It is not that there really are a right and a left in that
place, but rather these are names for those who are hon-
ored among us and for those in our midst who are unwor-
thy. Rather we reckon that there is a throne for the Judge in
that place and we call the place of the good "the right,"
while we label the place of the wicked "the left." We call the
good "sheep" because of their docility, and we call the
wicked "goats" because of their impudence. We call His jus-
tice "a balance" and His retribution to us "the measure of
truth."85
81. Cf. Isa 59.12; Wis 4.20; 2 (4) Esd 7.35.

82. See note 29, above.
83. This title for God, stemming from Mark 10.17-18, is frequent in
Ephrem. See Hymns on Virginity 25.1; Hymns on Faith 27.7; Hymns against Heresies
.') 1.1; the refrain to Hymns on the Church 2.'), and also Commentary on the Diates-
saran 2.').1-1 1.
84. Cf. Matt 25.33.
8.'). See Hymns on Paradise 1 1.4-8, where Ephrem also insists that the termi-
nology used of Paradise is metaphorical.
10. Take firm hold, then, of this clear mirror of the di-
vine Gospel in your two hands and look at it with a pure eye
that is able to look at that divine mirror. For not everyone is
able to see himself86 in it, but only the one whose heart is
discerning, whose mind is sympathetic, and whose eye de-
sires to see its helper. Look at it, then, and see all the images
of Creation, the depiction of the children of Adam, both
the good and the wicked. Within it can be observed the
beautiful images of the works of the good and the unsightly
images of the deeds of the wicked. They are conceived with-
in it so that at their time they might be given birth either to
praise those who did [the good works] or to rebuke 87 those
who performed [the evil deeds]. See that just as here [the
mirror] rebukes the ugly, so also there will it manifest within
itself their ugly deeds. Just as here it sets out the good for
praise, so there will it also mark out in itself their beautiful
deeds.
1 1. At times even we when we were in error, mired in the
pride of our mind as if with our feet88 in the mud, did not
perceive our error because our soul was unable to see itself.
Although we would look [into the mirror] each day, we
would grope around in the dark like blind men89 because our
inner mind did not possess that which is necessary for dis-
cernment. Then, as if from a deep sleep, the mercy of the
Most High, poured out like pure rain, was sprinkled on our
drowsiness and from our sleep we were roused and boldly
took up this mirror to see our self)() in it. At that very mo-
ment we were convicted by our faults and we discovered that
we were barren of any good virtue and that we had become
a dwelling place for every corrupting thought and a lodge
and an abode for every lust.
86. Or, "his sou!."

87. This is a conjectured translation as the manuscript is difficult to read
here. See the various possible readings in Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to Publius,"
302 .
88. Dr. S. P. Brock kindly offered us this suggested reading after his edition
was already published.
8g. Cf. Deut 28.2g; Isa 5g.10.
go. Or "sou!."
12. 1 saw there virtuous people and 1 longed for their beauties,
[I saw] the places whereon the good were standing and 1
earnestly desired their dwellings.
1 saw their bridal chamber'" on the opposite side into which
no one who did not have a lamp was allowed to enter. 92
1 saw their joy and 1 sat mourning the fact that 1 possessed
none of the deeds 'l3 that were worthy of that bridal cham-
ber.
1 saw that they were arrayed in a garment of light,'l1 and 1 was
distressed that no noble garments had been prepared for
me.~JS
1 saw their crowns, which were adorned with victory, and 1

was grieved that 1 had no victorious deeds with which 1
might be crowned.
1 saw there virgins knocking [at the gate], and there was no
one who would open it for them,% and 1 wailed because 1
lacked the deeds of that blessed ointment.
13.1 saw there many crowds shouting at the gate 97 and no one
would respond to them, and 1 was alarmed that 1 had none-
of those virtues that had the power to open the gate of the
kingdom.
1 heard the clamor of many voices saying, "Lord, Lord, open
{the gate] for us.""" And a voice from there fell upon my ears,
swearing to itself, "I do not know you"'J9 to be worthy of salva-
tion. lOo
1 saw there those who were pleading, "We ate and drank in your
presence,"101 but [the voice] answered and said to them, "It
is not I whom you sought but only that you ate bread and were sat-
isfied. " 102
91. For the image of the bridal chamber in Ephrem, see Hymns on Virp;inity
5.10; Hymns on Faith 11.18.
92. Cf. Matt 2.'). Iff.
93. See Commentary on the Diatessaron 18.19, where the "oil of the lamps"
also equals "good works."
94. See Hymns on Paradise 7.5,24. See also Brock, The I>uminous Eye, 65-76;
and idem, "Some Aspects of Greek Words in Syriac," in Synhretismus im syrisch-
jJenischen Kulturgebiet, ed. A Dietlich, Abhandlungen del' Akademie del' Wis-
senschaften in GOttingen, no. 96 (GOttingen, 197.')) 98-1°4, for the Jewish ori-
gin of this image.
95. Cf. Matt 22.12. 96. Cf. Matt 25.11-12.
97. Cf. Matt 2.').10 [=Luke 13.25l. 98. Matt 25.11 [=Luke 13.2.')l.
99. Matt 25.12 [=Luke 13.2.')l. 100. Or "life."
101. Luke 13.26. 102. John 6.26.
14. I also, like them, had always taken refuge in His name
and had been honored in His honors and had always
wrapped His name like a cloak over my hidden faults, but
fear then seized me, terror shook me, and a great alarm
counseled me to turn back so that perhaps those provisions
required for that narrow way that leads to the land of the liv-
ing[(l'\ might come to me. I04 For I saw no one there who was
able to give any relief to his companion or to moisten his
tongue in that burning fire. For that deep chasm, which keeps
the good separate from the wicked, did not allow them to
give any relief to those others. lOS
15. I saw there pure virgins 106 whose virginity, because it
was not adorned with the precious ointment of desirable
deeds, was rejected. 107 They implored their fellow virgins to
give them some assistance, but they received no mercios and
[they asked] that they might be given the opportunity to go
and purchase for themselves some deeds, but this was not
permitted them because the end, their departure from this
life, was coming quickly. I drew near to the gate of the king-
dom of heaven and I saw there those who did not bear the
title "virgin" who were crowned with victorious deeds, for
their virtues filled the place of virginity. For just as those
who had been espoused lo9 to Him only in their bodies had
been rejected because they were naked of any garment of
good deeds, so too those who had espoused their bodies in a
chaste marriage while their spirit was bound to the love of
their Lord were chosen, and they wore their love for Him
like a robe with [their] desire for Him stretched over all
their limbs.
16. And when I saw those there, I said to myself, "No one
from henceforth should rely solely on the chaste name of
virginity when it is lacking those deeds that are the oil for
the lamps." And while I was being reproved by this dreadful
vision of others being tortured, I heard another voice from
the mouth of the mirror crying out, "Keep watch, 0 feeble
103. Or, "land of salvation." 104. Cf. Matt 7.14.
105. Cf. Luke 16.24-25. See also Hymns on Paradise 1.17.
106. Cf. Matt 25.1ff. 107. See SerrnonsI.2.1227-2S.
lOS. Cf. Matt 25.S-9. 109. See Hymns on Virginity S.lO.
one, over your wretched soul. It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God."110 Have you not heard children
shouting to you, "If a man gain the whole world yet lose his soul
what will he gain?" or, "What shall he give in return for his
soul?"lll Do you not see what happened to that man whose
land yielded abundant crops because he said to his soul, "My
soul, eat and drink, be at ease, and enjoy yourself for abundant
crops have been gathered in for you for many years?" 112 Have you
not heard that while this word was yet sweet in his mouth a
bitter word was poured into the womb of his ear. ll3 Although
it had no understanding, it cried out saying, "On this very
night your beloved soul is required of you. This thing which you
have prepared, whose will it be?" 114
17. Be alarmed by this your seal, and consider where all
the children of Adam are, who like locust ll5 have swarmed
over the earth since the first day. Rouse yourself from this
deep sleep that is enfeebling you and that is spreading over
all your limbs like a shadow of death. Rise, then, and bring
yourself back to those former generations about which you
have heard. Where is Adam? Where are your fathers who
like fatted sheep lived luxuriously in the midst116 of the Par-
adise of Eden, who like friends spoke fearlessly with God,
whose arms made all creatures obedient to their authori-
ty, whose power held the authority over sea and dry land,
whose feet tread upon the dreadful serpentsll7 and before
whom those beasts, which are rebellious nowadays, bent
their necks, whose minds used to reach up to heaven and
to seek out the deepest part of the deep as if it were dry
land?
18. Where are those ten generations from Adam to Noah?118 Were
they not washed away in that flood ofwaters?1l9
110. Heb l().31. Ill. Matt 16.26.

112. Luke 12.1g.
113. For the image of the ear's womb, see Hymns on the Church 4g.7 and St1~
mons on Faith 1. 1 97 .
114. Luke 12.20. 115. Cf. Isa 40.22.
116. Literally, "in the womb." See Hymns on Prlr(uiise 10.1, IS.g.
117. Cf.PSgl.I3' lIS. See Gens.
11g. Cf. Gen 7.1-24.
Where are those generations of the Sodomites? Were they not

also swept away in a flood of fire? 120
Where are those generations from then until today?
Where are those who in that time used to live for almost a
thousand years?
Have they not diminished and passed away? If the ink writ-
ten on goatskins had not preserved for us the memory of
their names, we would not even have known that they had
ever existed. 121
19. Come, I will lead you out to the gloomy sepulchres.
Come down, in your mind, with me even to lowest Sheol and I
will show you there kings cast down upon their faces, their
crowns buried in the dust with them.
Come, see the princes, those who once luxuriated in silks, how
the worm has now become their bed and the grub their cov-
ering.!22
Come, look at those military chiefs who used to command
thousands of armies, how they have become useless vessels
of dust and things of no understanding.
Look carefully at the dust of the earth and consider that it is
your kin. l2? How long will you delude yourself and think that
you are any better than the grass on the housetops?124 For the
heat of one day dries out the grass. The burning fever of a
single day also causes a desirable body to become parched.
(2) Where are the kings,12S their raiment, their crowns, or
their purple?126 Where are their dominions, their battles,
their armies, their companies, their treasuries, or their
wealth? See how their spears are shattered, their bows de-
stroyed, their swords rusted, their arms eaten by worms.
Their generations have departed and passed on, the threads
120. Cf. Gen 19.28. The expression "flood of fire" occurs also in Commen-
Imy on Genesis XVI.S. For similar expressions, see Brock, "Ephrem's Letter to
Publius," 303-4.
121. Cf.Wis2.2.
122. Cf. Isa 66.24; Mark 9048;.Jatnes 5.1.
123. Cf. Gell 3.19.
124. Cf. Ps 128.6; Isa 40.7-8.
125. Cf. Bar 3.16.
126. See Hymns on Nisibis 74.10, 76.21.
of their lives are severed like a tent full of worms at their

death, and like a web about to be cut;127 their military expedi-
tions are cut down and they are brought to ruin.
20. Notice how their songs have turned to mourning,
their harps to the sound of weeping, how their laughter is
overcome by mourning, their sweet melodies by songs of
lamentation. The garment of a spider has been woven for
them there and a bed of worms lies beneath them and a
covering of moths is spread over them like a tunic. 128 Tables
lie upended before them. Their splendid state of luxury is
completely reversed. Their administration is destroyed and
is rendered useless. Their glory is laid out in the dust and all
their luxury is also buried there in ashes. Bridegrooms are
plundered and brides are forsaken who have been thrown
out of their bridal chambers, and the crowns have withered
on their heads and together with them they are sprinkled
with the dust from the earth. Over them is spread a garment
of darkness which Sheol has woven for them on a dingy
loom. From every mouth there you hear the sound of wail-
ing because there is no one there who can console his com-
panion. 129
2 1. Everything that their eyes see causes them suffering,
for when they reach out to the boundary of the chasm, they
quickly pass over it and fly to the garden of Eden and hover
over the Paradise of God130 and see the blessed place of rest
and are filled with desire for the banquet tables of the king-
dom. 131 And they hear the sound of pure melodies com-
bined with holy songs and intermingled with the praises of
God. And as they stretch out they soar to heaven and the
gates of the kingdom are opened. Before their Lord they
hover with joy, sending only the sound of their mouths back
and forth to each other. There the vision of their eyes is al-
lowed to come and go, and on the two sides 132 it either
127. Cf. Isa 38.12.

128. Cf. Isa .')9 ..')-6; and also Sermones I.4 ..')4.
129. Cf. Luke 16.26; 2 (4) Esd 7.104-.').
130. See Hymns onPamdise 1.12, 7.29.
131. Cf. Luke 22.30. See also Hymns on Paradise 2 ..'),7.24.
132. See Hymns on Paradise 7.29.
grieves or gives joy so that when the good look out upon the
wicked their lot increases and they rejoice therein. But, as
for the wicked, their souls are condemned and their distress
is multiplied.l?'I
2 2. Perhaps, for the wicked, that which they see is Gehen-
na, and their separation is what burns them with their mind
as the flame. That hidden judge who dwells in the discern-
ing mind has spoken and there has become for them the
judge of righteousness and he scourges them without mercy
with torments for the compunction of their soul. Perhaps, it
is this that separates them and sends each of them to the
place suitable for him. Perhaps, it is this that lays hold of the
good with its extended right hand and sends them to the
Exalted Right Hand. It also takes hold of the wicked in its
left hand, equal in power, and casts them into the place
which is called "the left."l'\4 And perhaps, it is this that silent-
ly accuses them and quietly pronounces judgment upon
them.
23. In this matter, I believe the inner mind has been
made judge and law, for it is the embodiment of the figure
of the law and itself is the figure of the Lord of the law. And
for this reason there is given to it complete authority
to be portioned out in every generation although it is one,
to be imprinted on every body although it is indivisible,
to be painted on every heart although it is inseparable,
to fly over all without tiring,
to rebuke all without shame,
to teach and guide all without compulsion,l3S
to counsel them with no constraint on them,
to remind them of the judgment to come while cautioning them,
to recall to them the kingdom of heaven so that they might yearn
for it,
to point out to them the beneficent rewards so that they might
desire them,
to show them the severity of the judgment so they might restrain
themselves,
133. See Hymns on Paradise 1. 17.

134. Cf. Matt 25.33.
13.'). See Hymns on Nisibis 16.6.
to make known to them the sweetness of the Only-Begotten so

that they might be comforted.
With them [the mind] runs after all good things, strength-
ening them. Over them it flies when they incline to hated
things and reproves them. For its mercy is similar to that of
its Lord in that it does not turn away from them when they
are defiled with impurities and is not ashamed of them
when they are wallowing in the mud. As for those who obey
it, it will remember them and as for those who do not heed
it, it will recall to them. Here it is mingled with them in
every form whereas there it stands before them on this day
[ofjudgment] .
24- And when I saw these things in that bright mirror of
the holy Gospel of my Lord, my soul became weak and my
spirit was at an end and my body was bent down to the dust;
my heart was filled with bitter groans that perhaps my stains
might be made white by the washing of my tears. And I re-
membered that good Lord and kindly God who cancels
through tears the bond of those in debt I36 and accepts lamen-
tation in the place of burnt sacrifices. I37 When I came to this
point, I took refuge in repentance and I hid myself beneath
the wings of compunction. I sought refuge in the shade of
humility and I said, "What more than these am I required to
offer to Him who has no need of sacrifices and burnt offer-
ings?" Rather, a humble spirit, which is the perfect sacrifice
that is able to make propitiation for defects, a broken heart in
the place of burnt offerings, and tears of propitiation in the
place of a libation of wine are things which God will not re-
ject. I38
25. That, then, which I saw in that living mirror that
speaks, on which the images of all the deeds of men move-
from Adam until the end of the world and from the resur-
rection until the day of the judgment of righteousness-and
that which I heard from that blessed voice that could be
heard from inside it, I have written for you in this letter, my
beloved brother.
136. Cf. Col 2.14. 137. See Hymns on Virp;inity 13.9.
138. Cf. Ps .')1.17.
GENERAL INDEX
Aaron, 222, 230, 236, 240-41, 2.')4, adultery, fornication, 163, 166, 183,
256,262-63,265; sons of, 260 185,282-83
Ab,237 air, 84, 92, 109,243,297
Abaddon,345 Akkad, Akkadia, 26,147
Abba Bishoi, see Bishoi, Abba Alexander, P., 136
Abel, 59, 69,124-28,133; blood of, Alexandre, M., 94,100,123
127,130,143; cheeks of, 131 Alexandria, School of, 68
Aberbach, M., 79 alien, see foreigner
Abercius, bishop of Hierapolis, 7 All-knowing One, see God, titles of
Abgar V Ukhama, King of Edessa, All-Wise, see Cillist, titles of
8-10,34 allegory, 62, 68, 74, 338; see also exe-
Abgar VIII the Great, 9 gesis; literary techniques
Abimelech, 71,1.')4,16.')-67,172 altar, 71,142,168-69,181,2.')6,
Abraham, 33, 70-73,148- 60, 259-60,263,265
165-71,176,179,198-99,212, Amar,]. P., ix, xvii, 1.'), 17, 21-22, 2.'),
223-24,226,230 -3 1,233,235, 27-28,33,35-38 ,43,60,330
248-49,252,340; see also Just ambassador of peace, 72
One; descendants of, 67, 149, Amelech, 222, 251, 255-56
1.') 1-54, 167, 169; see also just Amelechites,2.')6
ones; house of, 71, 152, 158, 168, Amid, 31-33
196,2.')8; tent of, 70,146,158-.')9, Ammianus Marcellinus, 32-33
168; tlibe of, 170; Abram, 148-51, AnlO1ites, 154, 167, 252; land of,
1.')4, 167; herdsmen of, 1.')0 224
Absimius,26 Anlphilochius ofIconium, 16, 22
Abu 'Mr, 7 Ananiso,l.')
abyss, 77-78, 80, 89, 92, 98,121, anaphora, 274, 341
141; creation of, 77; face of, Anderson, G. A., 101
77-78; of waters, 77 Aner,15°
Achaemenid empire, 26 angel, watcher, 14,43,70,72,76,
Acts of Ihe Penian Marlyn, 44 105, 109, 112, 116, 123, 135, 145,
Actsoj'Thomas, 11,38,44 1.').')-.')6,15 8,160-62, 164,
Adah,13 1 167-69, 173-74, 180-81, 222,
Adam,43,47,.')3-54, 60, 64,69, 90, 23 1,235,247,2.')0,260,277, 28 3,
92-95,97,99-110,113-24,127, 301-3,314,326
130 ,133-34,162,16.'), 209, anger, fury, rage, wrath, 72, 119,
211-12,270-71,284,286,314, 126-28,136 ,143,159,176 ,194,
3.') 1, 3.')5; descendants of, 90, 92, 201,2 0 7, 209,234-3.'),298-99,
95,133,286,348,351; see al\{) 302-4, 306; see al\{) God, attIibutes
Abel, Cain, Seth; house of, 69, of
107,115,290 animal, beast, 90-91, 93, 95-96 , 99,
Addai, 9-10; see also Doctrine oj'Addai 103-7,109-10,112,118-19,121,
Adiabene, 9-10, 28, 147 124,132,137-40,142-43,154,
adulterer, adulteress, 164, 282-83 19 1,208,23 2,24 1-43,24.'),35 1
359
360 INDEX
Annas, 331 AssyIian Church, see Church of the

antijewish character of texts, 30; see East (or A~syrian, or Nestorian
aLID Jews, Jewish nation Church)
Antioch, 11, 19 astrology, 218-19
Antioch by the Callirhoe, see Edessa astrology, astrologers, 224; see aLID
Antiochus IV Epiphanes, 33 magic, magicians
antithesis, see literary techniques Atargatis, cult of, 34
Apamea, 206 Atonement, Day of, 330
Aphrahat, Denwnslralions, 3, 10, 20, Audiens, 50
30 ,38 ,4 1,44,63,235,247,275, authority,30, 104, 143, 186,20 7-8 ,
297,3 28 224,228,329,332,351,354; see
Apophthegmata Patrum, 3, 60 also dominion, rule
Apostles, 55,118,211,270-71,274, avadce, 108
290; see also the names of Azema, Y., 3, 39
individual apostles; the Twelve, Azizos, cult of, 34
210
Aptowitzer, V., 124 b'nay q'yama, 20; see aLID Daughters of
Aqedah, 167 the Covenant
Arabia, 7 Babel, Tower of, 67, 70, 147-48
Arabs, 73,182,196 Babu, 28-29
Aramaic language, 5, 74 Bailey, L. R., 141
Ararat, see Mount Ararat Balai, 3, 38, 42
architect, see Cluist, titles of; of Cre- banquet, see feast
ation, see Christ, titles of; of the baptism, 12,50,54, 276-77,302,
flesh, see ChIist, titles of; of the 325,330-31; see aLID ChIist, cloth-
mountains, see Christ, titles of ing of;John the baptist
AIianism, 50, 277 Bar Hebraeus, 74
Arians,5 0 Bar-ammijBen-ammi, 164
Atius,35 Barak,206
Ark of Noah, 69, 83,137-45,141- Bardaisan, 7,13,34-37,49-50,
42; of the Covenant, 59, 206; ann 61-62,64,75-77,79,86-87,218,
of His glory, see Christ, titles of 243; son of, see Harmonius; disci-
At-menia,6 ples of, 61; On Fale, 37; teachings
arms, 175, 199, 207, 211, 227, 256, of,60-61
305,325-27,342,351-52 Bardaisanites, teachings of, 75
army, 232-33, 249-50, 252-53 Bardy, G., xvii
At-pachshad, 148 Barhadbesabba, 22,29,36, 218
arrogance, 106, 128, 294, 315; see Barnard, L. W., 6
aLID pride, humility Barr,.J.,94
arrow, 211, 299 barrenness, 71, 149, 152, 155,
asceticiSITl, 11-12, 15, 17-20 , 24, 35, 157-59, 163, 171, 176; see aLID
39, 273, 335; see also encratism, birth, pregnancy, womb
eremeticallife, monastic practices; Barsamya, see martyrs of Edessa
in Jewish sectarian ideology, 11 Basil of Cae sa rea, 13, 15-16,79
Asher, 177, 206, 210 Bauer, W., 6, 8, 79
ashes, 242, 353 Baumstark, A, 17, 23
ass, 139, 155, 204, 254 beast, see animal, beast
A~semani,J., xv, xvii, 63,226 Beck, E., ,,'V-,,'Viii, 19-20, 24,30,32,
Assemani, S. E., 63,219 37,39-42,45-46 ,50 ,53,55,
assembly, 309 61-62,74-75,79,120,137,211,
INDEX 361
272-74,277,28(~306,31(~ 119, 145-46, 158, 172-73, 180,

336-38,342 183,191,199,207-9,226,248,
Becker, H., 41 275,282,284; dew of, 84; of
Bedjan, P., 1.'),22-23,28,344 Jacob's sons, 73
Behemoth, see Leviathan and Behe- blind, blind man, 287, 291-92,
moth 3°8-9,311,316-17,322,348
Being, see God, titles of blood, 143, 182,202,204,222,225,
being, earthly, 181; heavenly, 112, 229,233,235,239-4°,246,2.')2,
302; human, 104, 149,210,306; 260-62,281,285,306,325
living, 99, 123; physical, 27.'); self- Bloomfield, B. c., 6
existent, 67-68, 87; selfoSubsistent, blossoms, 275, 344; see also flowers
7.'),86; spiritual, 76, 27.') boat, 101,327
Bel, cult of, 34 body, 8,19,32,94,114,122,136,
Bellarmine, R., 3 23 2,24 2,2.')9,274,276,278-79,
belly, 118; see also stomach 281-90 ,293,297,299,309,3 14,
Ben-ammi, see Bar-ammi 317,322,324,326,33°-32,339,
Benedict XV, Pope, 18 341,350,352,354-55; physical,
Benjamin, 190-94, 196-97,200, 27 6
208,211 Body of Christ, see Cluist, body of
Bestul, T. H., "."viii Bojkovsky, G., "."vi
Beth Garbaye, 33 bondage, see captivity; see aLID captive;
Bethel, 174, 181 slavery, selvitude
Bethuel, 170 bonds, see chains
Bethune-Baker,]. F., 74, 274 Book of Steps, 38
betrayer, see Satan Book oj the Laws oj the Count,,;e.,;
Bevan, E. A., "."vi, 43, 47 37-38; see also Harmonius
Bezabde, 31-32 Borborians, 50
Bickell, G., xvi Botha, P.]., "."viii
Bidez,.J., 13,25 Bou Mansour, T., xviii-xix, 45-46,
Bilhah, 72, 176, 201 4 8,.')3,68,218,227,24°,243,
bird, 80, 91-95, 99,103-4,124, 284,306,337
137-40 ,142,15 2-.')4 Bouvy, E., 16
birth, 55, 71, 81, 119, 124, 131, 156, bow, 199,207, 211; see aLID, rainbow,
163-64,166,171,176,247-48, weapon
254,275-77,286,296,325; see Bowder, D., 31
also pregnancy, womb, barrenness; Bowersock, G., 31
natural, 275; ofChIist, 275-77; Bravo, C., xix, 47
pangs of, 118-19, 121-22, 166, bread, 120, 150, 158, 167, 174, 195,
171; physical, 274-75, 296; spiIi- 206, 229, 247, 3 17, 349; euchaIis-
tual,275-7 6 tic, 287; from heaven, 2.')4; see also
birthlight, 71, 171-72,200,206; see lnanna; leavened, 260;
also Esau, blessings of unleavened, 247
Bishoi, Abba, 15-16 breast, 166, 208
bishop, 7, 9, 17, 20, 24, 27-30 , 37, breath,99
218, 264,281,290 briar, see tltOln
bitterness, 254, 280, 300 bribe, 309-10, 319
Blackmann, E. C., 62 bride, 163-64,353
Blanchard, M., 16 Bridegroom, see Christ, titles of,
blasphemy, see slander bridge, see cross as bridge
blessing, 69, 72-73, 82, 9.')-96, 103, bridle, 280-81, 315; see also yoke
362 INDEX
Brinkman,J.,7 captor, see Satan

Brock, S, P., xvi, xix, xxx, 4-7,25,33, Caquot,A.,xx, 123, 149
4 1-42,44-46,49,5 2-54,59,63, carpenter, 280, 327; see alWi Cluist,
66-67,101,106,149, 167, 26 9, titles of
273-74,277,280,284,296,302, Casetti, P., 168
3 24-25,330,335-37,339, Caspian Sea, 29
34 1-42,344,34 8-49,35 2 Catastini, A., 229
Brooks, P., 12 Cathars,50
brother, 72 cattle, 93-94, 9 6 , 99,104,129,131,
Brown, P. R., 19,47 154,198 ,242-43,246
Browning, R., 31 cave, 71,169
Bruns, P., xix celibacy, 11-12, 20, 142
Budge, E. A. Wallis, 15 censer, 285
bull, 124, 139, 143, 198,241,254, Cersoy, P., 336
260 Chabot,J. B., 17,26
Bundy, D. D., xx, 30, 3,'J, 62, 64-65 chains, bonds, fetters, irons, 123,
bUlied, see dead 182,187-88,196,300-301,313,
Burkitt, F. c., xvi, xx, 4,34,43,47, 340 ,35,'J
77,335-3 6 Chalcedonians, 47
burning bush, 217, 222, 231-32 Chaldeans, 92,142,152
burnt sacIifices, see sacIifices, burnt chamber, 185, 193; blidal, 349, 353;
Byzantine liturgy, 6; Kontakion see inner, 339
Kontakion, Byzantine chaos, 61
chariot, 198, 251-,'J3; of Pharaoh,
Caiaphas, 331 187-88
Cain, 59, 69, 124-33, 143; daughters charity, 51
of, 135-36; descendants of, 129, Charlesworth,J. H., 38
132-33,136; house of, 133-34, Charon, C., 6
136; shame of, 129; sones) of,69; chasm, 280, 306, 340-4 1, 350 , 353
sons of, 13,'J; tribe of, 69, 136-37 chastity, 142, 170
Calah,147 Chaumont, M.-L., 6-7
calf, 124, 154; fatted, 158; golden, Chedorlaomer, 150
223,25 1-5 2,262-6 5,282-83, cherub, cherubim, 54,109,123-24,
29 2-93,3 19 262
Cameron, R., 11 chiasm, see literary techniques
camp, 20,'J, 209; of Egyptians, 2,'J0; of children, 106, 119, 134, 1,'J5, 163,
Hebrews, 250; of the Hebrews, 165-66,170,176-77,191,206,
264-65 221,223-26,23 1,235,237,24 1,
Canaan, 69, 70, 145-46, 149, 153, 244-45,248-5 2,258
189,224,253 Chionites, 28
Canaanites, 151, 167, 169, 173, 182, ChIist, 53-54, 133, 169, 174, 213,
240; land of, 232, 253 260,269-271,274,279,286-87,
Canivet, P., 19,27,335 3()1, 3()7- 1 4, 3 2 5, 3 2 9, 337, 342;
Cappadocia, 19 as teacher, 298; attributes of; see
Cappadocian Fathers, 269 "lWl God, attributes of; all-
Cappadocians (inhabitants of knowing, 318; compassion, 301,
Cappadocia),146 321, 324, 326; equal in essence
captive, imprisoned, 34,'J-46; see also with the Father, 342; exaltedness,
pIison 311; feebleness, weakness, 310,
captivity, 146, 1,'J4, 296 312-13,327; fountain of healing,
INDEX 363
316; fullness, 287; gentleness, 272; Hand, 354; Firstborn, 275, 3 27-
gIOlY, 276,314-1.'),317,327; 29; firstborn of Being, 274; Fish-
goodness, 273, 275, 282, 297-98, erman, 271, 290; forgiver of sins,
312,314,324,329; humility, 272, 296; gate oflife, 343; God, 280-
298,300, 310-11,313-15;justice, 81,284,295-97,316,319-20,
312,321,347; knowledge, 293, 322; God from God, 344; God-
297,344, 346 ; Im~esty, 275, head, 276; God's Son, 312; good
310-11,318,321,327,329; Lord, 35.'); Good One, 290, 296,
meekness, 298; mercy, 355; might, 321,347; grape, 278; He who
3 13; power, 271, 327, 344; silence, clothes all, .')2; He who gives drink
320; splendor, 314-15; sublime, to all, 52; helper, 285; Hidden
310; sweetness, 321, 3.').'); tender- One, 323; infant, 329, 331; intel-
ness, 289; truth, 295-96; will, 225; ligence that cannot pass away, 345;
body of, 51,204,276,278-79, Judge, 347; of knowledge, 347; of
281,284-89,297,314,324,326, righteousness, 342; of the hibes,
331; see also church (Mystical 345;Just One, 294; King of heav-
Body), euchatist; as fountain of en, 300; King of kings, 346; lamb,
life, 284; as treasurer of His 52; Life, 278; Living One, 284;
wealth, 285; ears of, 331; feet of, Lord, 52, 204, 209-1 1, 246- 47,
274,289,293-94,320,324-25, 2.')9,272-74,277-78,281,
327; fingers of, 286-87; hand(s) 284-301,307-24,326-32,338,
of, 281, 292, 298, 30.'), 313-14, 349,3.')0,3.')3,3.')5;ofall, 283;of
329,344,346; head of, 324-25; David, 203; of stewardship, 330; of
limbs of, 286, 288,331; lips of, the angel, 314; of the Kingdom,
289, 325; mouth of, 350; saliva of, 203; of tlte law, 354; of the light,
287; touch of, 326; voice of, 349, 313-14; of the Prophets, 291,
350,355; clothing of, 52, 204, 316,319; oftlte signs, 288, 291; of
323; baptism as, 330; body, 284- the Symbols, 53; manifestation of
85,288,314,324; clothes, 288- His rest, 342; Master, 312-13;
89,32.'); garment of flesh, 324; His Builder, 271; Craftsman of the
mother's robe, 276; in pIiestllOod, Creator, 288; of the debt, 319;
329-30; in prophecy, 329-30; measure of justice, 34.'); measuring
swaddling clotltes, 329; divine na- bowl that is not false, 345; measur-
ture, 270, 27.')-78, 285-86, 290, ing rod, even, 34.'); Mediator, 69;
296-97,310,312,327-28,342, Medicine of Life, 45,210,271,
345; human nature, 270, 276, 279, 283, 289-90; Merciful One,
278,285,290,296,310,312, 324; mercy seat, 330; Messiah,
327-28, 342; teaching of, 290, 294,324-2.'),346; Mighty One,
324; teachings on, 269, 310; titles 52,281; Most High, 285; near and
of, .')2, 271, 285,345; see also God, far from Him, 342; One, 28.')-86,
titles of; All-Wise, 311; architect, 288-89,300-301,310,313,315,
344; Architect of Creation, 327; 320,325-26,329,331; Only-Be-
Architect of tlte flesh, 286; ar-chi- gotten, 20, 273-74,346,355;
tect of the mountains, 344; arm of Physician, 271, 289, 293, 299,
His glory, 342; Carpenter, 271, 316-17,319,324; pIiestwho re-
280; Christ, 308; compassion, 326; mits debts, 343; propitiatory lamb,
Crafter of tlte body, 286; divinity, 343; Provisioner of all, 52; pure
276, 278,323,331-32; ember, sacrifice, 343; ray of His light, 342;
blessed, 324; Establisher of all, 52; receiver of offeIings, 326; renewer
Exalted One, 52; Exalted Right of creatures, 34.'); restorer of na-
364 INDEX
ChIist (("onLinued) gods, 284; ofJoseph, 185, 187; of

tures, 345; resuscitator of mor-tali- majesty, 251, 253; white clothes of
ty, 34.'); right hand of His mercy, the synagogue, 283
342; IighteousJudge, 347; Rock, cloud, 69, 78, 80, 85-86, 88, 144,
174; Savior, 206, 288; scale with- 2°7-8,223,243,248,252,255,
out deceit, 345; second, 344; sec- 258,261-63,345; of heaven, 77
ond light of Being 344; selvant, Colless, B. c., 6
52,285; Shepherd, 52, 271; Silent Cologne Mani Codex, 11; see also Mani,
One, 320; Son, 51, .')4, 68, 94, Manichean
115, 133, 147, 175,203,209, column, see pillar
211-12,275-7 6 ,278 , 284,286, Commander, see God, titles of
296,325-28,330, 33 1,344;of command, order, 223, 22.')-26, 233,
David, 203,307; of God, 204, 209, 245,25 2, 265
270; of Man, 296; of the Most commandment, 67, 69, 93, 9.'),
High, 276; of the skillful carpen- 100-104, 106, 108-11, 114-16,
ter, 280; Splendrous One, 52; 118, 120-21, 126, 162, 170, 209;
sprinkling that purifies, 343; stew- of circumcision, 236
ard, 329; sweet root, 331; treasure commandments, 102,223,24.')-46,
house of all riches, 345; Treasurer, 258-59,261,264; see "LID Law
271,285,329; Treasury of Heal- Commensurate with the nature, see
ing, 289; tree, natural, 331; un- Christ, titles of
reachable power, 285; way of commerce, 20S
truth, 343; wisdom of His nature, compassion, 326; see "LID, Chlist, at-
342; wisdom that does not err, tributes of, titles of; God, attribut-
34.'); Word, 52, .')3; Word of His es of; Moses
Father, 342; word of, 280, 289, compulsion, 86, 226-27, 354; see also
300, 303, 308, 312-16; Christen- free will; will
sen, A., 26 conception, 5.'), 81, 119, 277
Chronicle o/A rbela, 7 Constantine, 27,31
Chronicle of~·des.m, 8, 36 Constantinople, 1.')
Chronicle oj" Sem, 1 5, 3 1 Constantius, 28, 31
Chrysostom, John, 6, 39; Homilies on conversion, 119
Genesis, 94 Coptic, 16
Church, 5,139,174,210,217,247, coriander, 2.')5
258,261,272,300-301,32.'),328; corn,73,9°
as Mystical Body, 312; as rock, corpse, 224, 228, 239, 2.')2, 271,
174; of the Gentiles, 204, 209 288
Church of the East (or AssyIian, or cosmology, 61-62, 76
Nestorian Church), 5,15,31 Council of Ephesus, second, 337
circumcision, 71, 228, 230, 235-36, Council ofNicaea, 1.'), 27, 3.')
28 3 counsel, 72,108,110-14,116,120,
city, 72,130,147-48,162,188,201, 186,202,290
204, 209 covenant, 69, 71, 13 2, 143-44, 147,
civilization, 309; see also wildelness 153-.')4,1.')6,167,169-70,172,
clothing, 5.'), 106, 174-75; see also 179-80,231,248,261; see also
naked, nakedness; fringes onJews' Daughters of the Covenant; ark of
clothing, 309; incarnation as, see the, 330; blood of the, 260; book
Christ, clothing of; Jewish, 319; of the, 260, 283; of circumcision,
Joseph's cloak, 182; of Dives, 340; 7°,157,169,198; of peace,
of Egyptians, 189,249; offalse 69-70 ,72
INDEX 365
cows, 186 Daughters of the Covenant, 24, 36;

Crafter of the body, see Christ, titles of see also b'nay q'yarna
craftsmen, 138,262-63,280,305, David, 61, 92, 202-4, 307; house of,
3 11 328, 331; Son of, see Christ, titles
crafty one, see Satan of; sons of, 203-4
Cramer, W., xx, 76 dawn, 80-81, 89-91, 152, 179, 180
creation, 14,43,48-49,51,59-60, day, 70, 80-81, 87-88, 90-92,102,
62,67,73-74,76- 80,84,86-88, 115,124,129,136-37,139-43,
90-94,96-98,104,114,116,121, 152-53, 157-59, 161, 163, 166,
142,162,169,212,277,284,287, 168-69,173,17.')-76,180,182,
3 0 5,3 2 7,339,344,34 8 19 0 -9 1 ,19 8 ,200-201,206,208,
creatio ex nihilo, 49, 67-68, 75-76, 81, 225-27,234-35,239,245,2.')0,
85; of earth, 74, 77; of heaven, 74, 254,259-61,264,293,351-52;
77 latter, 211; of creation, 69, 74-78,
Creator, see God, titles of 80-93,96-100,103,105,121;of
creditor, 321 judgment, 346, 3.')5; of Noah, 98;
cross, 46, 54, 116, 150, 199, 210, of one's life, 119-20, 135, 146,
240,247,249,254-56,276-80, 1.')3; sabbath, see sabbath
283, 285, 300; as bridge, 280 de Halleux, A., xx, 39-41, 45, 51, 56,
crown, 116,203-4,208,229, 218
331-32,349,352-53; of martyr- deacon, 14,21-22
dom, 225; of the Law, 59 dead, the buried, 278-80, 316
crucifiers, killers, 225, 278, 284-85, deaf, deaf-mute, 271, 286-88,341
288,299-301 ,308-9 death, .')3, 7 1-73,102,112,116,119,
crucifixion, 312 121-23, 128-2 9, 132, 134, 143,
Crusades, 6 169,171,183,200-202,209,212,
cure, see lnedicine 221-22,224-2 5,229,235,23 8-
Cureton, W., 34 39,247,249,25 2,2.')9-60,270,
curse, 95,100,115,119-20,122-23, 276-81,285,288,317-18,324,
128,130,136,145,172-73,202, 3.')0-5 1,353
20 9 debt, 210, 291, 294, 319, 322-23,
cymbals, 264, 293; see also 3 25,330,343,3.')5
tambourines debtor, 291, 321-22
Cyril of Alexandria, 65 deeds, 116, 13.')-36, 138, 140, 148,
Cyrillona, 3, 26, 38 153,163,182,209,275,312-13,
320-21,32.'),332,340,342,
Dahood, M., 340 347-5 0 ,355
Dalmais, I. H., xx, 46 Delehaye, H., 28
DaInaSCllS, 311, 315 deliverance, 70-71,149,154,221,
Dan, 176, 20.'), 210; sons of, 206 224, 228, 237-38
Daniel,301 -3 deniers, seeJews
Danielou,j.,47 depths, 78, 285, 297,305,344
Dante, 5, 337 descendants, 202
Danube, 100-101 desert, see wilderness
darkness, 61, 75-78, 80-81, 86-89, desire, 72, 350, 353
98,161,227,24.'),2.')0,340-4 2, destruction, 243, 278, 303
345, 353; see "LID shadow dew, 78, 207, 208; of blessing, 84; of
Darling, R. A., xx heaven, 84
daughters of Eve, 121 Dewey, A..J., 11
daughters of men, 134-36 Diatessaron, 279, 297
366 INDEX
Didpnus of Alexandlia, 133 263,270,284,286-88,303,

Dietrich, A., 349 307-8,313-14,323,341,349; see
dignity, 73; see a[", honor a[", Chlist, body of; Eve; Mary,
Dinah, 177, 181; rape of, 72,181,202 mother of Christ; as womb, 351; of
Diocletian, 26, 34 grain, 186
Diodore of Tarsus, 79 earth, 74-78, 80-85, 87, 89-101,
Dionysius of Alexandlia, 7 103, 105, 109, 114-15, 120,
disabled, 346 123-24,126-28,130-31,134,
disciples, 247, 257, 271, 288, 300- 136-37, 139, 141-44, 147-48,
301,309,311-13; see also Ephrem 162,169,171,173,188-89,196,
as disciple; of Addai, 9; of Bar- 2°5,241,243,272,288,298,301,
daisan, 37; ofEphrem, 13, 16-17, 312,343-45,3.') 1-53; face of, 81,
22,39; ofJesus, 9, 54; of Mani, 10; 87,97-98,127-28,147; sUlface
of Thomas, 9 of, 272, 298
disease, sickness illness, 8, 73,122, eartlt-<lwellers, 285
270 ,296,34 1 east, 61, 89,91,99,123,130,139,
disgrace, 163-64, 187, 192,201 15 1
Dives, 337, 340 Eaton,]. H., 5
divinity, 112-14, 116, 151,204,276, Eber, 148
301; title of, 284; see also Christ, Edar, 129-30
titles of; God, titles of Eden,46,99-101 , 123, 13(~326,
divinization, 276 35 1,353
Dodrine oj Add"i, 8 Edessa, 6-10,12,15,22,29,32-37,
dogs, 309; image of Moses' house, .')9-60,62,147,281,336;Antioch
309; image of Paul, 309 by tlte Callirhoe, 33; archives of, 9;
dominion, rule, 81, 94-9.'),103,117, as Athens of the East, 34; cults of,
187,3°5,352; seealsoauthOlity 33-34; fmnine of, A.D. 373 12-13,
donkey, 278 36; flood in, 8; Mount Edessa, see
door, 70,126,141,158-59,161, mount, Edessa; School of, 36, 43;
19.')-96,299,307,316,318-19 Ulfa, 33; Urhai, 33
dOOlPOSts, lintels, 246 Edom, 253; kings of, 72
doubt, 68,152-.')3,1.')7,172,19.'), Edomites, 1.')7, 171
288,29 1,293-94 education, 227
Draguet, R., 1.'), 18, 21 Egeria, see Etheria
dream, 38, 72-73,1°5,165,173-74, Eg}pt, 15-16,63,67-68,73, 78, 149,
178,182,18.')-87, 189-90 ,193, 154,180,182,186,188,19 1,
196-97 195-98,20 7,212,218-19,221-
Drijvers, H.]. W., 10,33-34,37-38, 25, 227, 232, 234, 236, 238-40,
47,61-62,75-77,79 242,244-5 2,257,261-62,282,
dualism, 276 292,31.'),318; Ephrem's travels
Dummer,.J.,3 to, 16; gods of, see gods; kingdom
dust, 32, 99, 118, 120, 205, 241, 265, of, 149; land of, 73,187,189,198,
3 24,34 1,343-44,352-53,355 224,240-41,252,263; monasti-
Duval, R., 16, 33-35 cism in, 1.'); Egyptian, 68, 142,
dwelling, 95,146,158,177,275, 149, 155, 186, 188-89, 193-95,
332,343,348-49; see also haven, 198,208, 21 9,222,224,228-29,
tabernacle; of Christ, 210 23 1,233,239-42,247-53,258 ,
263, 319; language 189, 192
em'lings, 262-63, 265 Ehlers, B., 61
ears, 53,108,112,119,181,193, El-Khoury, N., xx, 74-77
INDEX 367
elders, 222, 232, 236, 255, 261-62 on Lhe DiaLessamn, 21, 40, 42, 46-
elements, 75-77, 79, 87, 212, 240 48,.')3-54,94,142,289,328,347,
elephants, 28, 139 349; Homily on Our Lord, 44-45,
Eliezar (son of Moses), 231 225,340,344-46; Hymns against
Eliezer (selvant of Abraham), 71, Here,.,'ie,.,~ 25, 29, 35, 45, 49-5 0 , 52,
183,198 60-62,7.'),116,276,33 8-39,
Elijah, 42, 78 345-47; Hymns againsljulian, 32-
Elim,254 33,41, 344; Hymns on Abraham
Elisha, 318 Kidunaya and julian Saba, 41;
El kasi tes, 1 1 Hymns on Epiphany, 79; Hymns on
El Shaddai, see God, titles of Failh, 41, 45, 4 8, 50-55, 75, 77,
ember, blessed, see Christ, titles of 94,99-101,104,114,135,137,
embryo, 87 139, 145, 274, 276, 278, 28(~
Emerton,]. A., 97 282-83,286-87,292,310,338-
Emmanuel bar Shaharre, 59 39,341,343-45,347,349; Hymns
Encomium on Ephrern, attributed to on Fasting, 41, .')4, 338-39; Hymns
Gregory of Nyssa, 35, 39, 218 on Holy Week, 41; Hymns on Nico-
encratism, 8, 11; see also asceticism, media, 32, 40, 1 14, 140-41; Hymns
eremeticallife, monastic practices ()nNi,.,'ibi,.,~ 17,24,27,30,32,41,
enemy, 151,202,207,211,252,256, 53,.')5,82,94,108,113,116-17,
264, 296, 299; Satan as, see Satan 128, 135, 142, 144,264,278,289,
Enoch, 129-30, 133-34 297,33 8,340,34 2,344-46,3.')2,
Enoki, K., 5 354; Hymns on Paradise, 4 1, 45,
Enosh, 130, 133, 136 4 8-49,5 1,.')9,63,66-67,80,82,
Ephraim, 73, 157, 199 93, 100-102, 104, 106, 108-9,
Ephratha, 72 111-12,114,116,118, 12 3,130,
Ephrem, 3, 13,35-36,38-39,42-43, 134-35,141,269,274-75,306,
4.')-.')6,3.')2; as deacon, 12,29; as 339-40 ,343,347,349-.')1,3.')3-
disciple of Christ, 24; as doctor of 54; Hymns on Ihe Church, 4 1 , 53,
the universal Church, 4, 18; as 94, 104, 106-7, 112, 114, 116-17,
Halp of the Holy SpiIit, 3, 39; 119, 134,280,301,306,33°,342,
ascetical image of, 14-15, 17-21, 344, 347, 3.') 1; Hymns on the Cruci-
39,42,271; attitudes towards fixion, 142,231,346; Hymns on Lhe
women, 271; baptism of, 25; Nativity, 41, .')2, 74, 76-77, 87, 94,
disciples of, see disciples of 106,114,117,133,135,142,145,
Ephrem; feast of, 37; iconography 165,167,176,184,203,296,301,
of, 18,37; life of, 12, 18, 25, 28, 343-46; Hymns on Ihe Pas,.halFeasl,
32-33, 37; liturgy left in Nisibis, 41; Hymns on the Pearl, 4 1, 54;
31; ministry of, 24; relics of, 16; Hymns on Lhe ResulTedion, 237,328,
study of, ix; translations of works, 345; Hymns on Unleavened Bread,
39-40; ViLa tradition, 14-22,25, 53, 21 7,247,279,288,297,
27-28,33,35-38,43,60,27 1; 345-46; Hymns on Virginity, 2.'), 41,
works of, 3, 20,30,38,40,271, 49-5 1,53,55,81,100,106,137,
274,342; Against Heresies, 41; 144,149,162,165,184,199,209,
Againsl julian, 41; Armenian 276,280,282, 285, 294,325,33(~
Hymns, 104, 142, 151, 158; Com- 33 8,34 2,343,345,347,349-.')0,
menlmy on ~'xodus, 42-44, 64, 200; 355; Leiter 10 HyjJaLiu.\; 281, 336;
Commentary on Genesis, x, 26, 33, T>etter to Publius, 44, 5.'), 269, 273,
40 ,42-43,49, 59-66, 345, 35 2; 280,335-36,34 1-42,344,348;
Commentary on!ob, 40; Commentary Prose Refutations, 3,42-43,47,
368 INDEX
Ephrem (continued) Iian method of, 47-48,68; al-

50-5 1,61-62,77,86,108,2 8 7; legorical, 47-48; Antiochene
Se17lwne,\; 146,336-37,34°-42, metltod of, 47, 94; Ephrem's
350,353; Sermons on Faith, 75, 94, method of, 47, 60, 62-64, 220,
34 1-43,34 6 ,35 1 223; Hellenistic, 63;Jewish, 63,
Epiphanius, 3; Pananon, 151 88,9°,93-94,99,102, 1°4-6,
Equal in essence, see ChIist, titles of 110-11,118,124,129,132,136,
Er, 182 14°-42,145,148-49,15 1,175,
Erech, Erekh, 33, 147; see "LID Edessa, 218,224-26,23 2,235,237,24 2 -
Ulfa, Urhai 44,246,248,253-54,277,349;
eremeticallife, 14, 17,20; see "LID as- literal, 48, 50, 74, 220, 270; Nesto-
ceticism, encratism, monastic prac- rian, 74, 76, 87
tices exegete, 2 18
error, 68, 226, 277, 291,293,348 exile, 153,257; from Eden, 69, 96,
Esau, 71-72,151,171-73,180-82; 12 3-2 4
blessings of, 72; descendants of, eye, 24, 55, 70,107-14,125-26,135,
72; sons of, 156 155,158,165-67,172,185-87,
essence, 74, 120; see also God, essence 19°,194,196,198,2°4,229,231,
of 241,261-62,264,27°,284,3°1-
Essenes, 11 2,3°4-8,310,313,322,326,339,
Establisher of All, see ChIist, titles of 341, 348, 353; blink of an 98, 105,
Eternal, see God, titles of 250; twinkling of an 80, 89, 105
eternal pIinciples, see pIinciples, eter- Ezekiel, 77
nal
EtheIia,34 face, 68,125-26,128,145,157,160,
Eucharist, 45,210,247,261,274, 174, 184, 189, 192; see also Moses
279,281,287,29°,324,326; see faitlt, 50, 52, 55-56, 70, 117,
also mysteries; living Body, 247 15 2-53,157,177, 183-84,208,
Euphratensis, 335 222, 23(~ 235,259,270, 285,
Euphrates, 7,101,154,203 291-92,294,3°8-9,322
Eusebius of Caesarea, 7-9, 37 faitltful, 79
Eusebius of Emesa, 79, 133 Fall, 59-6o, 64, 104, 139
EvagIian terminology, 21 famine, hunger, 73, 102, 110, 149,
Evagrius, 21 153,17 1-72,186,188-89,191,
Eve, 43, 53-54, 60, 64, 94,104-22, 196, 202, 205, 211, 224, 279; see
124,127,162; as fountain of also Edessa, famine of A.D. 373
death, 278; as mother of all tlte liv- father, 71-73,105,129-32,144-45,
ing, 278; as old vine, 278; ear of, 149,15 1,154,157,162-65,17 2,
53 176,178-79,181-85,189-93,
evening, 78, 87-88, 90-91, 152-53, 196-201,2°7-8,212,274,33°;
179-80,208,211,235 see aLID God, titles of
evil, evildoer, 100, 102, 111-12, 116, fathers, 224, 232, 258, 264
122,13 1,137-3 8,155,178, feast, banquet, 236, 260, 263, 290,
187-88 ,191,212,243,282,297, 320,324-25; tables at, 353
316,318,321,34°-41,345 feet, 73, 115, 159, 174, 182, 187,
evil one, see Satan 206,235,247,25°,261,3 27,348,
Exalted One, see Christ, titles of 351; see also Christ, body of
Exalted Right Hand, see Christ, titles Feghali, P., xxi, 63-66, 86, 218,
of 224-26, 228-39, 241-42, 244,
exegesis, 54, 82, 101, 344; Alexand- 247-48,254-55,257,262-63
INDEX 369
fence, 102, 123, 136,278 Forshall,.J.,335

Festugiere, A., 19 Foundation oj" the Schools, see
fetters, see chains Barhadbesabba
field,93,97, 103-4, 107, 120, 126, fountain, .')4, 303, 316; of death, see
177 Eve; of healing, see Cillist, attIi-
Fiey,J.-M., xxi, 6-7, 24, 26-30 , 37 butes of; of life, see Christ, body of
fig tree, see tree Fraade, S. D., 133
fingers, 116, 127; see also Christ, body fragrance, 100,27.'),319,325; see also
of; God oil, ointment, pelfume
fire, flames, 61, 72, 7.')-76, 78, 81, Fransen, P., xxi
85,87,89, ll6, 121, 125, 152, fraud, 72, 318
1.')4,162-6 3,174,20.'),222, freeman, 112
23 1-3 2,243,247,260,282,298 , free will, freedom, 195,218,226-27,
302-3,3 19,340 ,3.')0,3.')2,354; 239,243,245-46 ,254,280,3°6 ,
pillar of, 248, 250 337, see a[", compulsion; God, at-
firmament, 76-78, 81, 84, 86-90, 92 tributes of; will
firstborn, 171, 211; death of the, Frelichs, E. S., 31
219,222,234,238-39,246-48, friend, 299-300, 302, 3.') 1
252-53; see a[", Christ, titles of; Froidevaux, L., xxi
plagues;Jews as, 199,234; laws of fruit, 38, 82, 90, 108, 111-13, 116,
the, 166; of Being, seeClllist, titles ll8, 120, 122-25, 136, 144, 159,
of; of the cattle, 246; of the Egyp- 177,191,200,2°9,278-79,3°0,
tians, 222, 246-48, 252-53; of 323,325,332,344,347;nlort~,
flock, 124; of the Hebrews, 278-79; of womb, 1.')6
247-48; ofJacob, 200, 209, 211; Frye, R. N., 26, 29, 31
ofJoseph, 199; ofJudah , 182; of fUlY, see anger
llie "briar of sin," Marcion, 62
Fischer, R. H., 44, 63 Gabriel, 277
fish,9 2,94-95,225,239,24 1 Gad,177,206,210
Fisherman, see Christ, titles of GadaI', 165
Fitzmyer,.J. A., 5 garden, 43, 96,101,104,109,120,
flesh, 52,10.'),121,129,131-32, 123-24;ofEden,.')4, 3.')3
134-35, 138-39, 141-44, 157, garment, raiment, 54, 194, 196,204,
182,2°4,2°9,225,277-78,283, 3.')0,3.')2; see also Christ, body of;
286, 3(% 30 5-6 , 3 24, 343 naked, nakedness; heavenly, 106;
flood,60,83, 129, 137-39, 141-42, love for Christ as, 350; noble, 349;
144,147,162,304-5; of fire, 162, of a spider, 353; of darkness, 353;
3.')2; of waters, 351; floodgates, 84; of flesh, see Christ, clothing of; of
of heaven, 141; of wrath, 84 glory, 54, 106; of good deeds, 350;
flowers, 237, 27.'),340,344; see also ofJoseph, 18.'), 186-87; ofleaves,
blossoms 106, 121; oflight, 349; of mollis,
folly, foolishness, 95, 11.'), 117-20, 3.')3; of skin, 121; of the Egyptians,
12 7, 147, 159, 197 222,249
food, 83,9°,100,136,198,254, Garsoian, N. G., 6
279, 290 , 3 20; solid, 317 gate, 343, 349; of ear, 341; of heav-
foreigner, alien, 148, 16.'), 176, 2.')9, en, 174; of kingdom of heaven,
343,346 350, 353; oflife, see Chlist, titles
foreknowledge, 95 of; of Paradise, 104; ofSheol, see
forgiver of sins, see Chlist, titles of Sheol; of Sodom, 160; of the king-
fornication, see adultery dom, 349
370 INDEX
Geerard, Mo, xxi, 17, 39 101-5,107-9, I l l , 113, 115-28,

Gehenna,33 6-37,340, 354 130-35,137-44,146-48,1.')0,
Gelineau,.J., xxi 152-54,156-60,165-71,173-75,
Gemser, Bo, 74 177-81,183-84,188,190,192,
genealogy, 171 195-97,199,201-2, 205-9,212,
generation, 67-70, 97,129-41,148, 219,222-23,225-26,230-37,
154,162,212,221,223,24 1 ,244, 239,241-42,245-46,248-50,
255-56,258,325,332,351-52, 25 2-.')7,2.')9-64,273,281, 28 3,
354 293-95,297,300-301,304-6,
Genesis lWbbah, 76, 82, 87, 90, 93, 96, 308-9,31.'),317-18,325-26,328,
99,102,104,124,136,141,145, 330 , 344, 35 1,353,355; attlibutes
147,149,15 1,162,173, 184 of; see also Christ, attributes of;
genres; poetry; dialogue poem, 45; compassion, 119,326; glory, 223,
hymn, 41,4.'), .')2, .')9, 64; prose; 261,304-.'),342; goodness, 252,
exposition, 42-43,221; homily, 296,305-6; grace, 123;justice,
17,41-42,59,67, 149,269; para- 127; kindness, long-suffering, 128;
phrase, 43, 217, 221; see also tar- light, 342; love, 304; majesty, 251,
gums, targumic traditions; rhetori- 253,304; mercy, 136,342,348;
cal prase, 44 patience, 244, 258; power 251,
Gentiles, 204, 341; see also church of 271,277; praiseworthy, 251-52;
the Gentiles rest, 342; splendor, 304; tenifying,
George Syncellus, 39 252; transcendence, 306; weak-
Gera, So, 8 ness, 317; will, 234, 259, 306;
Gershom, 230 wrath, 2.')2, 304; bosom of, 274;
Gerson, Do, xxi, 63 command of, 265; command-
Gideon, 204 ments of, 261; essence of, 304-.'),
Giet, So, 79 311; finger of, 241, 261; house of,
gifts, 122, 1.')7, 165, 170-71, 197, 174; lips of, 252; mouth of, 2.')2;
227,254,261,285,306,325,328, name of, 260; nature of, 77, 305,
33 0 -3 2 342; titles of; see also Christ, titles
Gihon, 100-101; see "LID liver (Nile) of; All-knowing One, 281; Being,
Gilead, mountain of, 72, 178 75, 274,344; Divine Being, 306;
Ginzberg, L., x, 63, 88,90, 92-93, Commander, 113; Creator, 48-51,
99,102, 104,106,108,118, .')5,60-61,67,75,89, 103,212,
123-24, 12 9, 132, 135-3 6, 271, 288, 306; Divinity, 276, 284-
140-42,145,148,1.')1,166,169, 85, 3 11 , 325; El Shaddai, 199;
175, 2()1, 2()7, 225-26, 232, 235, Eternal, 50; FatlIer, 51,133,274-
243,248,254,262 77,284-8.'),314-15,325,329,
Giver, see God, titles of 342; Giver, 157; God on high,
glory, 107, 114,213,27.')-76,302, 297;Godhead,273-74,276,33 2;
304-6,314-15,317,327,353; see Good One, 347; Healer, 51;judge,
also Christ, attributes of; God, at- 11.'), 282;Just One, 100, 162, 17.'),
tributes of; clotlIing with, 96, 99, 282,306; kindly God, 355; living
104,106,108,122 God, 232, 351; Living One, 1.')6;
gnashing of teeth, see teeth, gnashing Lord, 71,93,97-99,101,103-5,
of 107, 109, 1 1.'), 1 21, 124, 130,
gnosticism, 61-62 133-35, 137, 139, 140-42, 146-
goat, 1.')2, 1.')4, 336, 346-47 47,1.')0-5 2,15.')-.')8,162,168-74,
God,35,48-52,55-56,60, 62,68- 177-79,182-83,193,206,210,
72,74-79,81-85,87,89-99, 219,232-34,236-41,244-46,
INDEX 371
248-53,255-58,260-61, 263- see alWi ~'ncomium on lijJhrem (attIib-

6.'),3°3,32.'),328; Lord God, uted to him)
102; Lord of all, 61; Lord of the Gribomont,.J., xxi, 19
angel, 304; Maker, 69; Mighty Griffith, S. H., xxii
One, 211; Most High, 150,277, Grossfeld, B., 79
283, 348; Musician, Divine, 53; guard, guardian, 102, 204
One, 68, 229, 264, 273, 282, Guillaumont, A. xxii" 21, 60, 63,
305-6; res-cuer, 2.') 1; Self-Exis- 235
tent One, 304; Spirit, 50; voice of, Guillaumont, C., 21
237, 2.')8, 262; warrior, 252; Yah- Guria, see martyrs of Edessa
weh, 248, 251, 256, 274; God Guy,.J.-C., 24
from God, see Christ, titles of; God- Gwynn,]., 272
head, see ChIist, titles of; God, ti-
tles of; God on high, see God, titles Habib, see martyrs of Edessa
of Hagar, 70-71,155-56,166-67,176;
gods, idols, images, 32, 60, 68, 75, as the "slave woman," 166-67; de-
11~ 14~ 178-79, 181,23(~232- scendants of, 155
33,24°,25 1-.')2,2.')7,2.')9,262- haggadah,45, 63, 218
64, 280-82, 284, 293,318;of hair, 274
Edessa, 34; of Egypt, 227, 241 Hallier, L., 8, 36
God's Son, see Chlist, titles of Ham, 134, 144-46; sons of, 146, 151
Gog, house of, 208 Hamor, 181
gold, 222, 246,249,259, 263 hands, 68, 99, 103, 115, 118, 121-
Gollancz, H., 31 22,134,137,143,1.')1,1.')5-5 6,
Gomorrah,160 161,165,167,169,172,179-80,
Good Lord, see Christ, titles of 182, 184-87,194-95,198-99,
Good One, see Christ, titles of; God, 202,2 0 7,211-12,221,228-2 9,
titles of 233, 23 6, 240, 243-44, 247, 249,
goodness, 326, 328; see alWi Cillist, at- 25 1-53,255-57,259,261-62,
tributes of; God, attributes of 264,278,282,298,310,313,
good will, 180 325-27,329,338,342-43,346-
Goshen, 198; land of, 241 48, 351, 354; see also Christ, body
Gospels, 55, 62,101,209,247,260, of; Moses
335-36,338-39,348,3.')5 Hansen, G. C., 13
grace, 55, 95-96, 227; personified, Hanson, A. G. P., xxii, 66
110, 119, 136, 138; see also God, Haran, 70,148,16.'),173
attlibutes of Hannonius, 13; see ([Lv) Bardaisan;
Graffin, F. xxi" .')4 Bool< of the I>aws of Countries
Graham, W. C., 74 Harnack, A. v., 10,62
grain, 124-26, 186, 188-89, 191-92, harp, harp strings, .')3, 108, 273, 323,
198 353
granaries, 115-16,224 Hartranft, C. D., 13, 38
grape, 231, 278; Cillist as, see ChIist, HaIvey, S. A., 35
titles of Hatra, 7, 33,147
grape stones, 144 Hausherr, I., xxii, 52
grass, herbs, 89-90, 98,136,208, Hausman, B. A., 18
245,282,344,35 2 haven, 273,332; see alWi dwelling
Greece, 13 Hayman, A. P., 30
Greek language, 269 Hayyot, 123
Gregory of Nyssa, 14,3.')-36,39,218; head, 113, 119, 151, 169, 182,
372 INDEX
head (("onLinued) 188, 192, 196-97,201,208,213,

198-99, 205-8, 21 1, 347, 3.')3; see 350; see also dignity, shame
a[1f) ChIist, body of Hopkins, S., 149
healer, 224; see also Christ, titles of; Horeb, 222, 23 1, 23.'), 25.')
God, titles of horsemen, 251, 253
heart, 5.'),137,142,1.')7-59,16.'), house, household, 164, 182-8.'), 187,
178,192,219,227,233,237-41, 19 1-94,200-201,221,227,
243-45,249,282-83,29 1-93, 229-3 0 , 240 , 246-47, 253, 258 ,
296-97,303,308,320-21,341, 270,293-94,317,320; see a[1f)
348 ,354-.')5 Abraham; Adam; Cain; God; Gog;
heaven, 14,38,71,74-78,80, Isaac; Israel;.Jacob;.Judah; Laban;
85-86,88-9 1,94,96-97,147, Lot; Noah; Pharaoh; Seth; Terah;
15 2,154,162, 167,173-74, of forgiveness, 330
207-8,254,259,300,312,339, Howard, G., 8
343-44,35 0 -5 1,353-54 Holl, K., 3
Hebrew language, 74, 19.') humanity, 82, 99,113-14,141,276,
Hebrews, 171, 183, 195,212,219, 278,280,285,306,310,330; see
224-25,229,23 1,235,24 2,245, also mankind
249-52; see a[1f) Israel; Israelites; humility, 298, 300, 310-15, 355; see
Jews; synagogue also Christ, attributes of;
Hebron, 169, 181-82, 184 arrogance, pIide
Hedrick, C. W., 8 hunger, see famine
heel, 119, 139,205-6 Hm, 256, 262-63
heights, 323, 331; see also depths hymns, 13, 1.'),36,40-41,4.'),60-61,
Hellenistic Christianity, 11, 63 63-64,67,75-76 ,79,99,101,
Hem, 71; sons of, 71 106-8, I l l , 114, 134-35, 138-39,
Hemmerdinger-Iliadou, D., xxii, 39 209,217,269,271,274,337
herbs, bitter, 247; see also grass,
herbs Ibas,337
hermit, 17,37,43,60,273 idols, see gods
Herod, 331 ignorance, 138, 160,316,318,321
Hess, R. S., 97 'ihidaya, 20
Heth, sons of (Hittites), 71,169 image, 232, 338, 348
Hexaemeron, 16,59 of God, 94,133,143
Hidal, S., xxii, 43,76-77,93, 137, images, see gods
15 1 immortal, see life, immortal
hidden judge, seejudge, hidden imprisoned, see captives
Hidden One, see Christ, titles of Incarnation, .')2-53, .')5, 74, 269, 276 ,
Hieronpnus, 15 278,284,310,323,331; as cloth-
hip, hip joint, 72, 26.') ing, see Christ, clothing of
Hittites, see Heth, sons of incense, 261, 285
Hodgson, R.,Jr., 8 India, 9, 28, 34
Hoffman,.J. H. G., 31 Indians, 208
Hoffman, R . .J., 62 infallible, see knowledge, infallible
Holy SpiIit, 16,51,54,68,79,147, infant, 221, 224-25, 239, 246 , 257,
210,213,302,310,32.'); see also 317; see also Christ, titles of
spirit infirm, 346
holy dwelling, see tabernacle inheritance, 73, 146, 149, 154, 156,
honey, 205, 255 167,202-3,205-6,208
honor, 72,97,99,125,170,186, injury, 298-99,302
INDEX 373
inner chambers, see chambers, inner Jacob of Sarug, 3, 42, 59

inns, milestones, 211 Jaeger, Wo, 14
insect, 104 Jansma, To, xxii-xxiii, 60, 64, 66, 68,
intelligence, 107,34.'); see also Christ, 70 ,74-76 ,79,81,84,87,93,97,
titles of 117,147-48,171,203,218-19,
intercession, 71, 264 221-22,22.')-27,23 0-33,237,
interpretation, 313, 318; see aLWI gen- 238,240-42,246,249,263
res, prose Japhet, 134, 146
investigation, 275, 296 Jared, 133
Iraq, 141 Jerome, 3, 39
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 281, 285 Jerusalem, 204, 208, 253, 278
irony, see literary techniques Jesus, 53-.')4, 203, 206, 273-74, 27 6 ,
ISayab of Adiabene, 31 281,287,292,297,301,324-25,
Isaac, 33, 70-73, 15 1, 16.')-73, 176, 328; see also Christ; flying, 297
179,181-82,199,208,235,248 ; Jethro, 221-22, 229, 234, 257
house of, 72, 178,258 Jewish Christianity, 62, 106
Isaac the Teacher, 17 Jewish community, 10, 31, 45; literary
Isaiah, wife of, 253 influence of, xi, 45, 62-64, 218; in
Iscah, 148; see aLID Sarah Nisibis,3°
Ishmael, 70-71,15.')-.')7,166 Jews,Jewish nation, 106, 291, 293,
isocola, see literary techniques 300-301,304-5,308,318,
Israel, 107, 199, 202, 205-7, 211, 330-31,341; see also Hebrews; Is-
23 6 ,239,246 ,253,256 ,262,273, rael; Israelites; synagogue; deniers,
281, 292, 294, 319, 331-32; see 301; God's children, 283; holy na-
also Hebrews; Israel; Israelites;Jews; tion, 258; infidels, 308; liars, 308;
synagogue; as idolatrous, 281; chil- most stubborn, 31.'); stiff-necked,
dren of, 221, 223-24, 231, 237, 315; bitter will of tlte, 3()();
241, 248-52; foolish teachers of, contentiousness of, 307; hardness
322; fraudulence of, 318; house of heart of, 233; infantile state of,
of, 72, 261; son of, 281, 291-92, 69; pelversity of, 315; unbelief of,
317-18,321; unbelief of, 273, 293
29 1-9 2 Job,9 2
Israelites, 146, 250, 254, 260; see also Jochabed, 228, 254
Hebrews; Israel;Jews; synagogue John Chrysostom, see Chrysostom,
Issachar, 177,204-5,210 John
Iyor, 141, 144 John the Baptist, 11.'),247,328,
330-31; as treasurer of baptism,
Jabal, 129, 131-32 330
Jackson, Bo, 25 John tlte Evangelist, 94
Jacob,71-73,82, 145, 1.')1, 1.')7, Johnston, A. Eo, 272
171-82,188-91,197-202,205-7, Joined witlt Him and separated from
209-12,221,223,230-31,248;as Him, see Christ, titles of
Israel, 199; blessings of, 73, 200, Jordan, 150,331
209; daughter of, 181; Joseph,72-73, 177, 182, 18.')-200,
descendants of, 181,202,209; 202-3,206-7,211-12,223-24;
house of, 188; sons of, 181, bones of, 73, 248; brothers of, 73,
188-89 188-89,191-200,206-8,212;
Jacob of Edessa, 59, 219 dreams of, 197; head of, 208; sons
Jacob of Nisibis, 15,21,24-25, Of,198
27-3 0 ,3.'),218 Josephus, 9-10
374 INDEX
Jewish AnLiquiLie,,; 87,141 274,346,349,353; gate of, see

Joshua son of Nun, 96, 146, 25S-S6, gate of kingdom; of David, 202-3;
261-62, 264 of Egyptians, 186, 227, 249; of
Joshua the Stylite, 37 heaven, 339, 3So, 3S4; of priests,
Jovian, 32 258
Jubal, 131-32 King of kings, see Christ, titles of
Judah, 72, 176, 182-84, 191, 195, kingship, 328-29, 331
197,202-4,210; house of, 157, Kirchmeyer,J" xxii, 39-40
20 3,208 Kirsten, E., 9
judge, 109, 136, 160,291,303,337, Klijn, A. F.J" 1 1,38
342, 345, 347, 354; see al\{) Cluist, knife, 168
titles of; God, titles of; hidden, knowledge, 62, 68, 78, 127, 160, 171,
354; of Iighteousness, 342, 354 183,211,293,297,300,323,347;
Judge, E. A., 274 see also Christ, attributes of;
judgment, 72, 115, 118-21, 131, human, 277, 280-81; infallible,
154,160, 19S-97, 209,341,347, 114; natural, 12
354-55; last, 72, 336-37 Kontakion, Byzantine, 4
Julian, Emperor, 28, 31-32 Kowalski, A., xxiii
Just One (of Abraham), 340-41; see Kronholm, T., xxiii, 61, 63, 67, 74,
also Christ, titles of; God, titles of 79,82,94,99,101,103-5,107-8,
just ones, 68 111-12,114,118-19,128,
Abraham as father, 340 133-35,137-41,218
justice, 95,108-9,137,195,201, Kruse, H., 61
209,258, 26S, 282,312,321,340, Kutscher, E. Y., S
345, 347; see also Christ, attributes
of; God, attributes of; letter of, Laban, 72, 170, 175, 177-81, 185;
340-41; personified, 110, 119, daughters of, 176, 230; house of,
127-28,136, ISO 72,170, 173,175,178 ;sonsoL
17 8
Kaczynski, R., 41 labor, see work
Kanjiramukalil, S., xxiii Labourt,.J.,6
Kawerau, P., 7 ladder, 72, 173-74, 23 1
Kechichian, P., xxiii lamb, 124, 139, 169, 178,343; see
Kenan, 133 also Christ, titles of; propitiatOlY,
Keturah, 156, 171; sons of, 156 343; see also Christ, titles of;
keys, 307, 329-30 Passover lamb
Khuzistan, 31 Lamedl, 69, 129-34
killers, see crucifiers lam ps, 349; oil of the, 349-50
kindness, see God, attIibutes of, titles Lamy, T . .J., xvi, xxiii, 15,42,272
of lance, sword, S4, 123-24, 128, 154,
king, 100, 149-51, 153-55, 157, 199, 265,282,293-94,352;see
167,170,172,187-88,203,206, also weapon
210,221,223,228,244,25 8,33 1 , land, 70, 73, 84, 93,100,123-24,
346, 352; see also Christ, titles of; 130 ,13 2, 13S-36 , 139, 149-50 ,
of Edom, 72; of Egypt, 239; of 152-55,167,171-74,189,191,
Elam, 150; of Gadar, 165; of 198,200, 20S-6, 210, 212, 232,
Israel, 72; of Nabatea, 34; of 244,257,263,351; see al\{)
Salem, 1 So; of Sodom, 1 So; of the promised land; dry, 79, 83-84, 89,
Philistines, 72; 9 2-93,143,233,3 28,35 1;of
kingdom, 203-4, 206, 210, 217, 247, Egypt, lS2, 154,226,241-42,
INDEX 375
244,258; of Paradise, 99-H)l; of 283-85,287-88,290,316-17,

salvation, 350; of the living, 3.')0; 3 26, 343, 345, 349-50 , 353; see
strange, 230 also Christ, titles of; divine, 55;
Langerbeck, H., 14 eternal, 114, 117, 120, 123, 173;
language, 62,147-48,195,269,286, immortal, 109, 114, 123; mortal,
288; see also tongue; Aramaic, 5, 109; natural, 278; supernatural,
74; Egyptian, 189, 192; Greek, 27 8
269; Hebrew, 74,19.'); Syriac, 13, I4e ojEphrem, 27,34,37,43,60; see
269,27 1 also Ephrem, Vita tradition
Lattke, M., xxiii light, sun, 56, 61,75-78,80-92,96,
L"usi(u.· Histmy, 21 174,182,227,244-46 ,250 ,254,
Lavenant, R., xxiii 298,301-2,304-7,309-11,
law, 101-3, 106, 109, 161, 170, 198, 313-14,319,342-45; see "LID God,
2 17,221-23,229,246 ,254,2.')9, attributes of; ray; garment of light
264,283,354; tablets of, 223, 261, lightning, 307; see "LID thunder
264, 283 limbs, 49, 91,154,163,169,296,
Lazarus (raised from the dead), 317 339, 346 , 350-5 1; see also Christ,
Lazarus (the poor man), 337, body of
340 -4 1 lintels, see dOOlposts
Le Deaut, R., 224, 228-30, 23.'), 244, lion, 139-40, 203, 309
249-50 ,254 lips, 115-16, 127, 173, 192,204,
Leah,72, 17.')-78, 200 2.')2,289,310,320,323-24,329;
Lebon,.J.,16 see "LID ChIist, body of; God
Lehrman, S. M., 224, 232, 235, 237, literary techniques, 269, 271; see also
246 ,254 allegory; exegesis; antithesis, 271,
Leloir, L., ,,"'Vi, xxiii, 20,40,47, .')6, 276; chiasm, 44, 276; direct
203,3 28 address, 295; irony, 271; isocola,
lepers, 316 4 1,273; metaphor, 273, 284,302,
leprosy, 226, 270; see "LID Moses, lep- 337,342,347; parallelism, 44,
rous hand of 47-48,271,276; rhythm, 44,271,
Leroy-Molinghen, A., 335 273
letter, 204,340-41,35.') liturgical practices, 302, 32.'), 330;
LeLler to the Men oj Homs, 336 Byzantine, 6; SyIiac, 6
I"eUer to the Mountaineers, 336 Living God, see God, titles of
Levene, A., xxiv, 141, 200 Living One, see Christ, titles of; God,
Levi, 176,201-2,209; sons of, 205, titles of
265, 282; tlibe of, 202; see "LID lord, 103, 184, 196; see "LID ChIist, ti-
Levites tles of; God, titles of; God, see God,
Leviathan and Behemoth, 92-93, titles of; of all, see Christ, titles of;
109 God, titles of; of David, see Christ,
Levites 293; see "LID Levi, tlibe of titles of; of stewardship, see ChIist,
Levy, B., 169 titles of; of the angel, see Christ, ti-
liars, 295 tles of; God, titles of; of the King-
libation, see sacrifice dom, see Christ, titles of; of the law,
Lietzrrlann, H., 11 see Chlist, titles of; of the light, see
Lieu,].,3 2 Christ, titles of; of the Prophets,
Lieu, S. N. C., 31-32, 41, 62 see Chlist, titles of; of the signs, see
life, .')3, 99,110,123,128,134,141, Christ, titles of; of the Symbols, see
143,149,151,163,207,210,212, ChIist, titles of
224-2.'),234,262,271,278-81, Lossky, V., 46
376 INDEX
Lot, 7°-71,148-5°,160-65; daugh- Marcion 35, 47, 49-50, 61-62, 64,

ters of, 71, 161-64; descen-dants 218,243
of, 149; herdsmen of, 150; house Marcionites, 49, 62, 137,343; teach-
of, 71,161; servants of, 150; sons ings of, 75
of, 161, 164; wife of, 161-64 Maries, L., xvi, 40, 151
love, 67,102,113,119,125,138- Maronite Church, .')
39, 149, 157-58 , 168, 180, 183, Marquart,J,,9
18.'), 207-8; see also God, attri- marriage, 3.')0
butes of Martha, 324
lower regions, 61 Martikainen,]., xxiv
Luz, 199 Martin,J, R., 18
lyre, 131-32 martyr acts, 28
martyrdom, crown of, see crown, of
Macedonia, 33 martyrdom
Macomber, W,' 274 martyrs of Edessa (Barsamya, Guria,
Madey,].,6 Habib, Shamona, and Sharbil),
magic, magician, sorcery, 197,219, 34; Barsamya, 35; Sharbil, 35
230, 238-42, 244; see also astrol- Marutha of Maipherkat, 28
ogy, astrologer Mary Magdalene, 324; identified with
Mahalalel, 133 the sinful woman, 324-2.')
Mahr, A" xxiv Mary, Mother of God, 49, 53, 176,
majesty, 99,158,193,275,303-4, 247,276-77,324,329,331; see
3°7,310-11,318,321,327,329; aLID virgin; mother of Chlist, 52; as
see also Christ, attributes of; God, new shoot, 278; as second Eve, .')3,
attlibutes of; weakness 278; as vine, 278; ear of, 53
Maker, see God, titles of master, 259, 264, 30.'), 3 12 , 340 , 342;
man, mankind, 82,91,93-94,96, see aLID Christ, titles of; Builder, see
10.'),107,124,131-32,135, Christ, titles of; Craftsman of the
137-3 8 , 142-45, 153, 155, 157, Creator, see Chlist, titles of; of the
159-60,162-6 3,16.'),170 ,17.'), debt, see Christ, titles of
179,182-84,186,194,208,347; Mathews, E. G"Jr., ix, xxiv, 14, 17,
see also humanity 21-22,40-4 1,.')4
Manasseh, 73, 199 Mathews, T. F., 6
Mandeans, 1 1 matter, 49, 62
Mani, 10-11,35,49-5°,61-62,64, McCullough, W. S., 8
86-87,218,243,306; see also McVey, K, xi, xxiv, 33, 4 1, 53, 330
Cologne Mani Codex measure of justice, see Chlist, titles
Manichaean, 10,49-50,306; see also of
Cologne Mani Codex Measuring bowl that is not false, see
Manichaeism, 62, 87, 279; see also Christ, titles of
Cologne Mani Codex; teachings of, measming rod, even, see Chlist, titles
75 of
manifest aid, 346; see also medicine, meat, 158, 230, 254
cure Media, 7
Manifestation of His rest, see Chlist, Mediator, see Cluist, titles of
titles of medicine, cure, remedy, 55, 279,
Inanna,222,254-55,262-63,3 19 283,289-9°,294,296,299,316,
see also bread from heaven 319,32.'); see also manifest aid
Marah, 253-54; water at, 217, 222, Medicine of Life, see Chlist, titles of
254 Mehl~ael, 129-30
INDEX 377
Melchizedek, 70,150-51,171,328; Moab, 164,253

see also Shem Mobarek, P., 63, 65
sons of, 151 Molenberg, C., xxiv
Melki,j., xxiv, 40 Monastery of Our Lady of the Syrians
Melkite (or Greek Catholic) Church, 6 (Egypt), 63, 219
memory, memorial, 256, 264, 32.'), monastic life, 19; see also asceticism;
352 Egypt, monasticism in; encratism;
Mercier, C., ,,"'Vi, 40 eremetic life; Syria, monasticism
Merciful One, see Christ, titles of in; cell, 12, 24; philosophy, 13;
mercy, 115, 118, 133, 182,26.'),35°, practices, 13,20,23; terminology,
354-55; see aL", Christ, attributes 20
of; God, attributes of monasticism, 274
mercy seat, propitiatory, 262, 330; see money, 73, 178, 191-94, 198
also Christ, titles of; lamb, propitia- Monimos, cult of, 34
tory nlonk, 15, 18-19,21,24,27,37,
Mesopotamia, 7-8, 28,31,45,71, 273-74
218,279 Monophysites, 47
Messalians, .')0 moon, 82, 89-92, 182
Messiah, see Chlist, titles of Moore, G. F., 242
metaphor, see literary techniques morning, 90-91, 208
Methuselah, 134, 140 mortal, 123,274,277,284,287,290,
Methushael, 129-31 3°2,3 28 ,345
metlical homilies, see genres, prose mortality, 345
Meyer, R. T., 13 mortar and pestle, 290
Midian, 221, 229, 23 1, 234-35 Moses, 43, 4 8, 60, 63, 67-68, 75, 77-
Midianites, 204 78,80,82,8.'),9 1-9 2,94,96-97,
midrash, 63, 218, 235, 237, 246; see 99-100,103-4,106-7,121,124,
also genres, poetry 135,137,144,147,201,206, 2°9,
midwives, 224-25 212, 21 9,221-23,225-45,248-
Mighty One, see Christ, titles of; God, 49,25 1,253-.')7,260-6.'),282,
titles of 292-93,301,304-6,308-9,315,
Milcah, 148, 165 318-19,328-29; beauty of, 226,
milk, 27, 55, 166, 204-5, 208, 227, 228,230; Canticle of, 44,217,
260,3 17 2.')1,2.')3; compassion of, 229; face
mind, 55, 67, 94,107-8, I l l , 125, of, 107,231,308; radiance of, 68,
163,17°,186,19 2,200,202,212, 308-9; family of, 226; gaze of,
264-65,275,290-91,293-94, 304; hand of, 292; leprous, 222,
299-3°0,318-20,322,324,332, 233; house of, 237, 241, 248, 261,
34 1,343,34 8 ,35 1-5 2 ,354; 309; humility of, 315; integtity of,
human, .')0; inner, 24.'), 348, 3.')4 230; justice of, 229; staff of, 69,
Mingana, A., 3, 7 96,217,222,233-34,236,238,
mingling, see mixing, mingling 240-41,249,25.')-.')6; teaching of,
miracle, 68, 243 60; titles of; deliverer, 224; inter-
Miriam, 226-28, 230, 2.')3-54; song cessor, 264; servant of the Lord,
of,222 251; shepherd, 293; the one who
mirror, .')5, 79, 280, 297,336-41, breached their gaps, 264; voice of,
347,348,350,355; as womb, 339 232-33; stammering of, 228, 234,
Mitchell, C. W., ,,"'Vi, 62 315
mixing, mingling, 61, 290, 310, 330, Moshe bar Kepha, 59
3.')5 Moss, C., xxx
378 INDEX
Mosshammer, A., 39 Nasrallah,.J.,6

Most High, see Christ, titles of; God, nation, 232-33, 252, 2.')8, 280-81,
titles of 284,294,308,315,33~332,341;
mother, 52, 72, 105, 260, 276, 278, see also Jewish nation
287,329,331; of Moses, 225-28, nations, 71, 146, 148-49, 151,
253; of all the living, see Eve; of 153-.')4,1.')6-57, 164, 167,
Christ, see Mary, Mother of God 169-71,174,199,201,203-6,
mount Ararat, 141; Edessa, 43; 209-10, 2.')3-54, 256, 258, 260,
Qardu, 141; Sinai, 222-23, 330, 341; see also tribe
257-58 ,261-6 5, 28 3 nature, 19,46,48, .') 1, .')3, 74-75,
mountain, 93, 9 8, 109,126,135, 82-83,85,137, 16 4,201,212,
139,141,162-63,167-69,208, 237-3 8,240 ,2.')4,275,280,3 02 ,
255-56,308,344; ofinhetitance, 305,307,342,345,347; deficien-
253; see also Jerusalem; Paradise as, cyof, 286; divine, 50-.') 1, 69,
101 275-76,290,296-97,301-3,310;
mouth, 179, 183, 196,206,225,234, fullness of, 286; human, 67,
25 2,273,275,281,286,288-89, 275-76,290,296,307,310
293,295,303,305-6,314,323, natures, 7.'); see also Christ,
325,340-41,345,351,353; see divine/human nature
also Christ, body of; God Nau, F., 7, 26
lnurder, 69,126-27,132-33,202-3, Near and far from Him, see Chlist, ti-
228, 262 tles of
Murray, R., xxiv, xxv, 4-6, 9-12, 20, Nebo, cult of, 34
25,30,44,46-47,52-54,105, needy persons, 188
123,174,203-4,261,269,271, neighbor, 246, 258-59
274-75, 277-78 , 280, 284-85, Nestorian Church see Church of the
29(~292,31(~312,324,342 East (or Assytian, or NestOlian)
Musician, Divine, see God, titles of Church
Mygdonius River, 28 Nestorians'47
mysteries, 68; see also eucharist Nestorius, 74, 274
mystery, 46, 48, 52, 54-55, 96 , nets, 290
149-50 ,174,199,23 2, 269 Neusner, j., 10, 31
Mystical Body, see church New TestaInent, 20,47,53,121,210,
27 1,273,290
Naamah,13 1 night, 78, 80-82, 87-91, 137, 139,
Nabatean kings, see kings, Nabatea 141,143,15 2,160-61, 163,173,
Nag Hammadi, 11 177-80,222,234-35,245-48,
Nahor, 148, 170, 179 250 ,3 14,3 1 9,35 1
naked, nakedness, 54, 105-6, Nimrod, 33, 146-48
113-15,117,121,144-4.'),182, Nisan, 80, 237, 248
196, 346, 350; see also clothing; Nisibis, 7,10,12,17,24-33,35-37,
garment 62,147,218; baptistery in, 29;
names, 74-75, 79, 83, 103-7, 110, church of, 27, 29-30; School of,
13 1,147,15.'),17 2,186,193,199, 22,29,36,218; siege of, 27-29
207-8, 211; of the Lord, 133 Noah, 60, 69-70, 83, 98,134,
Naphtali, 176, 206, 210-11 138-46 ,148,1.')1,162,3.')1;
narrow road of the persecuted, see house of, 83, 141; sons of, 138,
way 143
Narsai, 3, 59 Nod,13°
Narses, King of Persia, 26 north, 61, 101, 139, 146
INDEX 379
nosttils, 99 126,133,13 6 ,14 1 , 2()9, 212,336,

Noth, Mo, 250 339-40, 347, 35 1; land of,
Noujaim, Go, xxv, 51 99-l()0; of God, 353; trees of, see
Numbers Rabbah, 104 trees of Paradise
nurse, 227 parallelism, see literary techniques
Parmentier, L., 24
oath, 71,170,172 Parthia,7
oblation, see sacrifice Parthian Empire, 34
ocean, 39 Parthians, 26
Odes oj"Solomon, 10,37-38 Passover, 217, 277; lamb, 217, 222,
offering, see saClifice 246, 260; titual, 246
Ogren, I., X,,"'V path, pathway(s), see way
oil, 174,206,289,294,319,324-25, patience, 115, 176; see also God, at-
349; see also fragrance, ointment, tributes of; long-suffering, 140
perfume, ChIist, titles of Messiah; patliarchs" narratives of, 43-44
for the lamps, 3.')0; holy, 261 Paul, 7,10,77,94,118,211,270,
ointment, 275, 324, 349-50; see a[", 295,300-302,305-9,311-15; see
fragrance, oil, pelfume also Saul
Old Testament, 43, 47, 53, 74-75, Paulinians, 50
121,218,270 , 289 Payne Smith, R., 330
olive, 83, 231 pearl,54
On Fate, see Bardaisan Peeters, Po, 17,27,37
Onan, 182-83 Peleg, 148
One, see Christ, titles of; God, titles of Pelliot, Po, 5
Only-Begotten, see ChIist, titles of Pena,I.,19
oppression, 225, 232, 238 Pentateuch, 67, 97
order, see command Pentecost, 7
Origen, Homilies on Exodus, 254 people, 73, 9 6,146 ,153,1.')6, 165,
orphans, 188 175,198-99, 205,210,212-13,
Ortiz de Urbina, I., X,,"'V, x,,"'Vi, xxx, 17, 226,228,23 1-34,23 6-39,24 2,
24,29,42 244-46,248-54,256-58 ,260,
Outtier, Bo, ,,"'Vi, x,,"'Vi, 13, 1.'),20-22, 262-6.'); ancient, 212; eternal, 96;
27 1 innocent, 165;.Jewish, 211-12; see
Overbeck,].]., xvi, 281 also Hebrews; Israelites;Jews; of
God, 133, 135; temporal, 96
paganism, 10, 1.'),2.'),31-32,35 Peral Torres, A., xxvi
pagans, heathens, infidels; paganism, pelfume, 275; see a[",fragrance, oil,
106,229,23 2,281, 283,292-94, ointment
296,318-19; of Egypt, 292 persecution, 7, 26, 28, 307-8,
Palestine, 8 3 11 - 13; Decian, 3.')
Palladius, 3,12-15,17,21,24,29, persecutor, 32, 301, 308, 310,
3.')-36 312-1.'); wide road of the, see way
Palmyra, 33 Persia, 26-28, 3 1-3 2, 34
Palut, 9, 35 Persian Empire, 5, 27-28
Papa, Catholicos, 336 Peshitta, x, 63, 74, 76, 79, 96, 106,
parable, 272, 29 1, 298-99,321,323, 123,136,14 1,144,149,16.'),
337,340 169-70,178,190,193,198,200-
Paradise, 15,53-.')4,59,69,80,90, 201, 203-8,210-11,218,229,
93,95-96,99-103, 104, 107-9, 261,274,303,317-18,33(~341
1 1 1, 1 13, 1 15-16, 120, 123-24, Peter the Apostle, see Simon
380 INDEX
Petersen, W. L., xxvi, 279 Potiphar, 185, 187-88; wife of, 73,
Petre, H., 34 18 5, 18 7
Petrus Benedictus, 219 Pouchet,.J., 79
Pharaoh,7 0 , 73,149-5 0 ,155, 165, power, see Christ, attributes of; God,
186-88,196 ,198,218-19,221- attlibutes of
22,224-29,23 1-34,23 6-46 , praise, 56, 273, 286, 300, 323, 348,
248-5°,252-53; dreams of, 186- 353
87; eyes of, 229; hand of, 232; praiseworthy, see God, attributes of
hands of, 229; house of, 70, 149, prayer, 71, 125, 154-55, 170, 184,
242; servants of, 73, 186, 244, 226,249,255,263-64,285,315,
246, 248-49; wise men of, 186 3 20
Pharaoh's daughter, 221, 226, 229 pregnancy, 163; see also birth, womb,
Pharisee(s), 298, 316, 324; see aL", barrenness
Simon the Pharisee Price, R. M., 24
Phicol, 167, 172 pride, 233, 298, 300, 3 13, 3 15, 348;
Philistia, 252 see also arrogance, humility
Philistines, 146, 165, 205-6 priest, pliesthood, 30, 150-51, 154,
Phillip, disciple of Bardaisan, 37 229-30, 258, 260, 262-63,
Phillips, G., 8 270-71,322,326,328-32,343;
Philo, On the Sacrifices o/Abel and see also Christ, titles of; Aaronic
Cain, 124 pliesthood, 328; lands of, 73, 198
philosophy, 34 principles (itye), eternal, 61,76-77
Philoxenos, 7 prison, 73, 185, 187-88, 190; see aL",
Phineas, 202 captive, captivity
Photinians, 50 proclamation, 281, 284, 288, 311
physician, 289-90, 316-17; see also prologue, 59-61, 66
Christ, titles of promise, 96, 114, 116, 142, 149, 159,
Piganiol, A., 28 166-68,198, 209,223,233,242,
Pigulevsbja, N., 26 3 2 5,33 2 ,340
pillar, 174, 179, 21 1; of cloud, 250, promised land, 155, 255
292,319; of fire, 81, 248, 250, prophecy, 105, 168,253-54,261,
252,255,262,319; of salt, 162- 270,324,328-32
63 prophet, prophetess, 79, 203, 234,
Pishon, 100-101 253-54,262,270,29 1-9 2,295,
pit, 73,182,185,188,190,196 299,316-20,326; see aL", Chlist,
plagues, 70, 218-19, 233-34, 237- titles of
44,246,249,253,258; boils, 222, Prophets, 55, 92,154,209,211,259,
242; darkness, 222; firstborn, 222, 270,287,291,316-20,346
234, 238-39, 246-48 , 25 2-53; propitiatory, see mercy seat
frogs, 222, 240-41; gnats, 222, prose homily, see genres, prose
241; hail, 222, 242-45; insects, prostitute, harlot, 184, 290
222,241-42; locusts, 222, 244- prototype, 261; see also shadow; type;
45; pestilence, 222, 242; river to typology
blood, 222, 233, 239, 241,252; providence, 218
ulcers, 239 provider, see Chlist, titles of
plants, 98, 120, 134, 208 Provisioner of All, see Christ, titles of
plunder, see treasures public, open, 282, 287, 289, 292-93,
poison, 53 296-97,300,319,323,325,342;
Polotsky, H . .J., xxvi, 16 see aL", secret, hidden
poor, 346 publican, 290, 324
INDEX 381
Publius, 335-36; see a[", Ephrem, Rephidim, 255

works of, T>etter to Publius reptile, 80, 93, 96, 103, 117, 137-38
punishment, 69, 71, 1l0, 115, rescuer, see God, titles of
118-21,127,130 ,13 2-33,147, Resen, 147
153-54,160, 265,301 Reshaina, 147
pupils (of eyes), 287, 302, 308, 314 rest, 96-97; see also Christ, titles of;
purifications, 329 God, attIibutes of; temporal, 96
pure sacrifice, see Christ, titles of restorer of natures, see Christ, titles of
resurrection, 54, 134, 143, 168, 209,
Qardu, see mount, Qardu 27 1,274,277,288,30 9,355
quail, 222, 255, 262 resuscitator of mortality, see ChIist,
Quasten,j., 7 titles of
Qlllllran, 1 0- 1 1 Reu, 148
Reuben/Reubel, 176-77, 190, 194,
race, 225 199-201,209,211
Rachel, 72,174-79,182,191,200; revelation, 51-52,151,158,329
children of, 191 rhythm, see literary techniques
rage, see anger rib, 94, 104-5, 113, 116, 235
Rahmani, I. E., xvi Ricciotti, G., xxvi
rain, 84, 97-98, 139, 143,208,243, Richardson, E. C., 3
272,298,3 12 ,348 light hand of His mercy, see ChIist,
rai n bow, 144; see also bow titles of
ram, 71,152,154,169 lighteousJudge, see Cluist, titles of
Rameses, 248 righteous ones, 154, 275,331,336
ranks, 339 lighteousness, 138-39, 142, 152-53,
rape of Dinah, 163-64 194,342,354-55
rationalism, 275 liver, 83-84, 92, 100-101,208,225;
ray, 298,301-2,304,313,342; see see also water
also light liver (Nile), 100, 154,222,224-27,
ray of His light, see Christ, titles of 229,233,239,24 1,246-47,25 2;
reason, 99, 107, 114, 119, 149 see a[", Gihon
Rebekah, 71-72, 151, 170-74, 176 road, see way
receiver of offerings, see ChIist, titles Robbins, G. A., 101
of Robinson, T. A., 8
Red Sea, 222, 226, 240, 249-53, 258, Robson, P., xxvi
261, 263,29 2 rock, 173-75, 179, 199,207,211,
redemption, 269 222,252,317,319; see also ChIist,
Refson, K., 66 titles of
region, 95, 139, 146; above, 61, 95; Rolfe,.J. C., 32-33
below, see lower region Roman Catholic Church, 18
Rehoboth,147 Roman Empire, 26, 31, 33, 62
remedy, see medicine Romanos the Melodist, 4, 279
renewer of creatures, see Christ, titles Rome, 7, 26-27, 34
of Roncaglia, M. P., xxx
rennet, 331; ,"iee abio bread, leavened; Rosen, V., 335
yeast Rousseau, D.O., x"",,,i, 16
Renoux, C., xvi, xxvi, 40 Rouwhorst, G. A. M., xxvi, xxvii, 237
repentance, 118, 120, 128, 136-38, rule, see dominion, rule
237-38,244-45,250,289,319, ruler, 96, 99,103,107,117,121,
33 0 ,355 146,148,196,207,228
382 INDEX
sabbath, 97,169,254 sea, 68,78,82-84,89,92-96,98,

Sabellians, 50 101,1°9,143,2°3,2°5,327-28,
Saber, G" xxvii 344, 35 1; see also ocean, Red Sea,
sacraments, 276, 279-80,310, 32S water
sacrifice, holocaust, fat, libation, obla- sea coast, seashore, 205, 209, 228,
tion, offering, 69-72, 124-26, 23 2,25 1
134,142,152-53,167-69,174, season, go, 92, 143,237
180, 189,19 2,23 2,239,245,2S7, Sebeok, T. A, S
260-61,263,325-26,343,355; second, see ChIist, titles of
see also Christ, titles of second light of Being, see Christ, titles
Saeki, y" 5 of
salt, saltiness, 83-84, 208; pillar of, Second Sophistic, panegyrical tradi-
see pillar of salt tion of, 14
salvation, 47,206,210,343, 349-So secret, hidden, 280, 282, 28S, 287,
salvation history, 123 289,292-93,296-97,299-300,
Samaritans, 151 317-18,320-21,323,342; see also
Samir, K, xxvii, xxx, 65 public, open
Samson, 205 Sed, N., xxvii, 45, 63, 339
sanctuary, see tabernacle seed, 7(~ 119, 121, 136 , 153, 155,
sand,228 162-64,166, 169,175,198,226,
Sarah, 70-71,148-49,151,153, 228,243,3 12 ,344
15S-S9, 165-71, 176; see also Segal,]. B., xxvii, 4, 6, 9-10, 33-34
Iscah; as the "free woman" (cf. Gal Seleucia-Ctesiphon, 27, 3 1, 147
4.21-31), 71, 166; descendants of, Seleucus I Nicator, 33
149 Self-Existent One, see God, titles of
Sassanian Empire, 6, 26, 29,3 1, 34 self-existent being(s), see being, self-
Sassanians, 26 existent; elements
Satan, 50, 104, 108-10, 121, 209-10, self-subsistent being(s), see being, self-
224,235; fall of, 114; titles of; be- subsistent
trayer, 117; captor, 288; crafty Sennacherib, 208
one, 117; enemy, 113-14; Evil Sephora, 221, 230, 234-36
One, 108, 290; mighty one, 332; seraph, seraphim, 109
tempter, 108-11, 115, 121 Serapion, bishop of Antioch, 9
Saul (king), 79, 307 Serjuni, A R., xxvii
Saul (Paul), 300-301, 307-9, selpent, 53, 69, 85, 92-93, 106-19,
311-13,315; see also Paul 121, 20S, 210, 233, 3S1; see also
Savior, see Christ, titles of snake
scale without deceit, see Christ, titles of Semg, 148
scepter, 203-4 servant, 71, 73, 96 ,112,150 -5 1 ,
Scetis, 15 153, 15S, 158, 168-70 , 173,
Schechter, S., 242 176-77,185-87,191,195-97,
Scheidweiler, F., 24 208,251, 28S, 32S-26, 328; see
Scher, A., xxvii, 15,22,29,31,33, "llf) ChIist, titles of
36 ,218 female, 71, 96,167,176-77; see also
Schiwietz, S., 16 serving girl
Schmidt, M., X"-'Vii, 52 service, 78, 80-82, 88,93,97, 175
scribe, 42,237,296,323 serving girl, 227, 259; see allf) servant,
Scripture, 14,47-49,5 1, S3, 5S, 67, female
80,85-86,88,98,113,129,135, servitude, see slavery
14S, 15 1, 17 1, 21 3,270 Seth, 130, 133, 136; daughters of,
INDEX 383
131; descendants of, 136; house Simeon the priest, 270, 325-31; as
of, 133; sons of, 130, 132, 134-37; treasurer, 329; as steward, 329
tlibe of, 69, 133, 135-36 Simeon, son ofJacob, 176, 190-91,
Sethites, 132-33, 136 193, 199, 201-2, 209; son of, 202;
Severus of Antioch, 16 tlibe of, 202
Severns of Edessa, 219 Simon the ApostIe, 270-71,327,
Severus of Cabala, On the Creation 3 29-3 0
of the World, 94 Simon the Pharisee, 270, 272-74,
shadow, 78, 80, 86, 88, 351; see a[", 281,289-96,298-99,315-23,327
darkness; prototype; type; typol- Sims-Williams, p" x,,'Vii
ogy Sin, cult of, 34
shame, disgrace, 106, I l l , 127, 129, Sinai desert, 205, 2.')4; see also Mount
132, 165, 185, 196,202; see ([Lv) Sinai
honor Singara, 31-32
Shamona, see martyrs of Edessa Sisera, 206
Shapur II, 26-29, 31-32 skill, 240-41,269,311; divine, 69;
Sharbil, see martyrs of Edessa human, 240
Shechem, 72,181,201,209 Skudlarek, W" 20
inhabitants of, 201, 209 slander, blasphemy, 61,229,273,
sons of, 181,209 295,299,306,316,319,323,342
Shechemites, 201 slave, 31,145-46,152,154,166,
sheep, 104, 198-99, 230-31,241, 168,19 2-93,19.')-97, 205,221
336,346-47,351; flock of, slavery, servitude, 96, 155, 195, 197,
229-30 ,24.'),309 205,221,23 1,261
Shelah, 148, 182-84 Smith, R. Payne, 4
Shem, 67, 70, 134, 146, 148, 1.')1; see snake, 222, 233-35, 238, 240; see also
also Melchizedek; descendants of, selpent
146; sons of, 1.')6; tent of, 146 Sodom, 71,150,159-63
Sheol, 229, 270, 274, 277-80, 340, Sodomites, 70-71,150-51,160-61,
345, 3.')2-53; gate of, 128 16 3-64,35 2
shepherd (not ChIist), 103, 124, soldiers, 309
174-7.'),207,232,293,309; see Solomon, 78
also Christ, titles of; Moses, titles of Son, see Christ, titles of; of David, see
Shunammite woman, 318 Christ, titles of; of Cod, see Christ,
sickness, see disease titles of; of Man, see Cluist, titles
Sidon, 20.'), 210 of; of the Most High, see Christ, ti-
siege, 30 tles of; of IDe skillful caIpenter, see
signs, 90, 1 10, 130, 140, 144, 159, Christ, titles of
169-70,183-84,219,222,232- songs, 28 5, 353
34,236-3 8,240,244,249,255- sons of Cod, 13.')-36
57,273,282-83,286-88,29 1-94, sorcery, see lllagic, lllagicians
296-97,308-11,315-17,319; see soul, 73, 94, 107,211,221,223,280,
also wonders 288,29~317,322,324,33(~332,
Silent One, see Christ, titles of 341,346,348,3.')1,354-5.')
silk, 352 south, 61,101,139
silk route, 34 Sozomen, 3,13-14,16,21,24-2.'),
silver, 222, 246, 249 28,3 2,35-36,3 8-39
Simeon bar Sabbae, 27-28 spear, see weapon; see also lance, sword
Simeon Metaphrastes, 14 speech, 108, 270, 273, 286-88, 299,
Simeon of Sarno sata, 16 3 0 7,3 15
384 INDEX
Sperber, A., 79 spnbols, symbolism, 48-49,51-53,

Spira, A., 14 .')5-56 ,63,68, 204,206,275,3 24,
spiIit, 79, 94, 163, 197,241,27 2, 329, 338; see also literary tech-
276,290,302,329-30,341, niques, metaphor; mystery
346, 350, 355; see also God, titles synagogue, 204, 282-83, 300; see ([[If)
of; Holy Spirit; evil spirit of God, Hebrews; Israel; Israelites;jews
79; of God, 135; robe ofilie, Syren, R., 200
33 0 Syria, 3, 6-8,10-12,1.'),19,21,24,
spiIitual being, see being, spiritual 26-27,38-39,65,269; culture of,
splendor, 105, 107, 1 10; see also .'); language of,.'), 13, 269, 271; lit-
Christ, attributes of; glory; God, erature of, 38,42,59,79, 148 ,
attributes of 167,174,28.'),336; monasticism
Splendrous One, see ChIist, titles of in, 19, 24, 274
spoils, see treasures Syriac-speaking Christianity, 3-6, 8,
Sprengling, M., 74 10-11,218, 269-7 1,274,280-81,
spring (of water)' 92, 97-98,100- 284,290,310,328,330
101,141,174,206,208,211 Syrian Catholic Church, 5
sprinkling that purifies, see Christ, ti- Syrian Orthodox (Jacobite) Church,
tles of 5
stain(s), 170,277,319,322,330, Syro-Malabar Church, 6
33 8 ,355 Syro-Malankar Church, 6
star, luminary, 82, 89-90, 96, 152,
182, 189-90 tabernacle, sanctuary, holy dwelling,
statues, see gods dwelling injemsalem, 204, 223,
Stephen, 7, 77 252-53,261; see ([[If) cherubim; in-
steward, 191-94; see also Christ, titles cense; mercy seat; oil; priest; tent
of; Simeon the pIiest of meeting; vessels; heavenly, 261;
stomach, 163,279,289,324,339; see temporal,261
([[If) belly Tabet,.J.,65
stranger, 70, 118, 1.')8, 160, 230, 24.'), Tamar, 72,182-84,203
247,34 6 tamboUlines, timbrel, 254, 293; see
straw, 116,222,237,24.'),2.')7 also cymbals
street(s), 144-45, 160, 188,225, Tammllz, 237
317; see also way targum, targumic traditions, 43, 63-
stretcher, 296 64,74,79,93,14 1, 169,200,218,
struggle,jacob's with angel, 72 228-29, 235, 249-50, 254; see also
Sturm,.J.,26 genres, prose; Onkelos, 79, 169,
stylite, 37 207; Neofiti, 93,97,102,123,136,
substance(s), 49,67-68,74-75, 169, 248; Pseudf)-jon([Lh([n, 93, 102,
77-78 ,81,86-88,9 1 123,141,144,169,193,230,244,
Succoili, 248 24 8
Sumer,45 Tarsus, 31
Slllnlner, go, 143,237 taskmaster, 228-29, 237
sun, see light; see also ray Tatian, 11
supplication, 115-16, 118-19, 184 tax, 27
sweetness, 280,300, 321; see also teacher, 298,322; foolish, 318, 320,
Christ, attributes of 322; see also Israel, foolish teachers
sweet root, see Christ, titles of of
sword, see lance teaching, 86, 204
symbolic theology, 48 tears, 118, 126, 176, 182,226,
INDEX 385
289-91,293-94,316,319-20, 101,17 1 ,220,226,244,24 6, 26 3,

3 24,34 1,3.').') 282
teeth, 204; gnashing of, 340; see a[", Torah,67, 21 3,221,254
wailing and weeping Torres, A. P., 65
Teixidor,.J., xxvii, 61 Tn-u an, 35
temple, 2°4,327-28,331; see also transcendence, see God, attributes of
tabernacle; presentation in, 328, transgression, 95, 100-102, 106,
330 114-16,212
tempter, see Satan treasurer, see Chlist, titles of;.John the
Ten Napel, E., .')9 Baptist; Simeon the priest
tent, 129, 131, 144, 173,353; of treasures, plunder, spoils, 30, 183-
meeting, 261 84,233,248-49,2.')2,27 8, 284-
Tel' Petrossian, L., xvi, xxvii 85,298 ,33 2
Terah, 148, 16.'); house of, 149 treasUlY, treasure house, .')9, 186,
testament, 38 285,298,321,329,345,352; see
Testament ofEphrem, 17,3.'),37 also Christ, titles of; of Sheol,
testimony, 112, 295-96, 316, 319 277-78; of God, 284; of humility,
testing, waters of, 282-83 298; of mercy, 99
Theodore of Mopsuestia, 218 tree(s), 71, 89-91, 97-100,102,
Theodoret of Cyr, 19, 21, 24, 27- 107-12,11.')-17,124, 1.')8, 16~
28,39; History 0/ the Monks o/Syria, 243,280,331,344,347; broom,
24-25, 335; Questions on Genesis, 340; fig, .')4, 332; fruit-bearing, 90;
94 natural, see Chlist, titles of; of
thief, robber, 101,206,210 knowledge, 69; oflife, 100, 109-
Thomas, Apostle, 9, 34; Church of, 10,113- 14,119-20,122-23,
34; tomb of, 34 278,280; of Paradise, 90, 96,100,
Thomson, R. W., 6 102,107, I l l , 115; of the knowl-
thorn, briar, weed, thistle, 62, 101, edge of good and evil, 100, 102,
120-21,23 2 108-9, I l l , 114, 117-18, 120,
throne, 347; of Egypt, 187, 227; 122-23; olive, 5.'); spiritual trees of
ofjudgnlent, 256; of Yahweh, Paradise, 100
2.')6 Treppner, M., xxvii
twelve thrones ofjudgment, 341 trial, 115, 117, 140, 160, 162
thunder, 52, 243, 307; see also light- tribe(s), 69,129,132,137,1.')1,154,
ning 156-57,165,199,201-3,205,
Tigris, 101 207, 210-11,341,34.'); see also na-
title, 232,251,253,271,279,284, tion(s); ofIsrael, 205; ofllie
289,324-2.'),33°,342,34.'),3.')0; descendants of Cain, 133; twelve,
divine, 284; see a[", ChIist, titles 157
of; God, titles of; Moses, titles of; Trinity, 25, 30, 122,310,342,344;
Satan, titles of see a[", God; ChIist; Holy Spirit;
Tobia bar Tobia, 9 spirit
tohu and bolm (void and desola- teachings on, 269
tion), 76-77 trophies, 300
tomb, sepulchre, 34, 248, 3 10, 352 truth, 25,48,157,164,179,187,
tongue, 38-39, 68, 7°,146-47,159, 19°,19 2,197, 2°4,210,273,288,
193, 195,234,27 1,282,286,29 1, 291,295-96,310,343,347; see
300, 306, 315, 340, 3.')0; see also also Christ, attributes of
language Tubal-Cain, 131
Tonneau, R. M., xvi, x"",,,ii, 63-6.'), 68, Tugwell, S., 4
386 INDEX
type(s)'48, 68,139,209,217, water, 61, 75-80, 82-85, 87-90, 92,

246-47, 2S4-SS, 260-61, 32S; see 98,100,103,141,144,162,167,
aLID prototype; shadow 200-201,208-9,222,225,229,
typology, 46-49, S 1-S3, SS, 60, 101, 233, 239-40 , 2S2-5S, 263-64,
145,217,220,247,287; seeaLID 293-94,298,317,319,327,330,
prototype; shadow 351; face of, 78; of wrath , 134
Tyre, 210 wax,302-3,30 7
way, path, road, pathway, 5S, 84, 1 16,
unreachable power, see Cillist, titles 123,129,131,134-35,138,204-
of S, 210-11, 236, 274, 277, 298 ,
Vr ofilie Chaldees 70,148,152 311,315,322,343; narrow, 35 0 ;
V ITa, see Edessa narrow road of the persecuted,
Vrhai, see Edessa 315; wide road of the persecutor,
uterus, see womb see way, 315
Way of truili, see Christ, titles of
Vaillant, A., x"",iii weakness, 303-4, 307, 310, 313,
vainglory, 147 317-18, 327; see aLID ChIist, attlib-
Valens,33S utes of; God, attributes of; majesty
van den Broek, R" 11 wealth, 181,352
van derHorst, P., 146 weaning, 71
Van Rompay, L., xxii, 66, 79 weapon, bow, spear, 201, 209, 278,
Van Vossel, V., xxviii 300, 352; see also lance, sword
vaults, see treasuries weed, see iliorn
vegetation, 82, 90-91, 97-98, 243 Weinstock, S., 7
veil, 107, 161,305 well,71, 156, 167, 170, 174-75,221,
Vellian,]., 6 229
Vennaseren, MJ., 11 west, 61, 89, 91,101,139,146
vessel, 108, 232, 261,328-29, 3S2 Westermann, C., 193
village, 144, 159, 174, 182 wheat, 116, 158,243; grain of, 285
vine, 38, 60, 204; see also Eve as old whispers, 315, 342
vine; Mary, mother of Christ as White, H. G. Evelyn, 16
new vine; true, 204 wickedness, 69,137,321,336,340
vineyard, 69, 144, 243, 278, 3 23 wide road of the persecutor, see way
virgin, 274, 278, 349-So; see also Widengren, G., 87, 279
Mary, moilier of Cillist widows, 188
virginity, 129, 134, 170, 200, 3So Wiessner, G., 28
~~on,38,7(~72, 105, 109-10, 152, wilderness, desert, desert waste,
156-S8, 160, 163, 231-32, 23S, 19-20,68,81, 15S, 167, 174,
248 ,261,30 9,33 6-37,350 ,353 182,185,188,205,207,211-
Vologeses, 29 12,236 ,244,254,257,282,
VOObllS, A., xiv, xxviii, 12, 17-19,22, 292-94, 309, 315, 328; see aLID civi-
29,37,4 2,336 lization
will, 82, 84,98,125,146,156,170,
wailing and weeping, 340, 349, 3S3; 173,176-77, 189,194,201,22S,
see aLID teeth, gnashing of 259, 278 , 300, 3 0 3, 306, 346; see
Walsh,]., xxviii also free will; compulsion; divine,
war, 148, 150, 167 346; see also Christ, attributes of;
warrior, 204, 210; see also God, titles God, attributes of
of Wimbush, V., 17
watcher, see angel/watcher
INDEX 387
wind, 61, 76, 78-80, 85, 87-88, 250, word,96

298,3 2 7 word (of God), 83, 89, 92, 96-97,
wine, 71,144-45,150,162-63,204, 103,172,180
206,286,3SS Word, see Christ, titles of
wineskins, 252 Word of His Father, see Cluist, titles
Winkler, G., 20 of
winter, 90, 143 work, labor, toil, 96,120,122-23,
Wischmeyer, W., 7 134,179, 205,211,224,23 2,236 ,
wisdom, 103, 106-7, 197,208,225, 245,254,3 2 5
342-43, 34S; divine, 104; see also workers, 323; hired, 2S4
ChIist, titles of works, 68, 74, 81, 90, 96-97,121,
Wisdom of His nature, see Christ, ti- 137,311,348; beautiful, 346;
tles of good, 346, 349; mighty, 68, 255
witness, 49, 179, 184-8S, 347 world, 48-49, S3, 61, 67-68, 95, 97,
woes, ten, 270, 301 121, 12 3,13°,137,153,159,162,
wolf, 139, 208, 211, 309 169,188,209,211,269, 27S, 289,
woman, 119, 166,201-2,324; 325-26,351,355; etemal, 96
foreign, 16S, 176; free, 71, 166; of worship, S5, 223, 284
Eve, 104-5, 107-8, Ill, 113, wrath, see anger; see alWi God, attlibut-
116-18,121; of Mary, 276; of es of
Rachel, 72; of Rebekah, 170; of Wlight, W. C., 23, 28, 37, 335
Sarah, IS2, IS9, 16S-66; of
Tamar, 184; pregnant, 259; Shu- Yahweh, see God, titles of
nammite, see Shunammite woman; Yarshater, E., 26
sinful, 270, 272-74, 289-95, yeast, 287; see "lWl bread, leavened;
316-24; slave, 166-67; sterile, rennet
227,247; with a flow of blood, yogurt, 55
28 9,3 2 5 yoke, 24S, 298; see also bridle
womb, 52, 71, 85, 87, 98,124,151, Yousif, P., xxviii, xxix, 46, 279
IS3, IS6, IS8, 171, 176,208,246,
277,287,310,331,339,351; see Zacchaeus, 324
also birth; ear, womb of; mirror as; Zarpanalean, G., 6S
pregnancy; barrenness Zebulun, 177,205,209,211
women, 24, 118, 163,221,225, 2S3, Zechariah, 247,328
271,283; adulterous, 261; Egypt- Zeugma, 335
ian, 248; free, 176, 205; Hebrew, Zillah, 131
227,248 Zilpah, 72, 177
wonders, 233, 236, 245, 249, 25 2, Zimri,202
255-57,263,286,289,292,294, Zingerle, P., xvii
314-17,319,322; see also signs Zoar, 161-62
wood, 138, 142, 168-69,222,232,
2S4, 282
INDEX OF HOLY SCRIPTURE
Old Testament
Genesis 3-4-5: 111 6.4: 136

1-11:67 3S 122 6·5, T 137
1-3:44,49 3.6: 108 6.12: 129, 131,
1-2:59-60 3·T 113 134-35
1.1: 62, 74-75, 85 3.8: 115 6.13-16: 138
1.1-2,4: 66 3.10: 115 7. 1- 24: 35 1
1.2: 76-79 3. 11 : 11 7 7. 2: 139
1.4: 81 3.12: 118, 130 7+ 139-40
1.7-8: 87 3.13: 118, 121 7. 11 : 84, 141
1·9: 83, 89 3.14: 118-19 7.12,16: 141
1.10: 83,344 3.1.'): 119 7.23: 141
1.11-13:9° 3.16: 119-20 7.24: 141
1.14:90 ,92 3.17: 130 8.3-.'): 141
1.14,16:9°,9 1 3.17-18: 120 8:13-14: 141
1.16-lT 343 3.19: 120, 352 8.16-17: 142
1.17: 82 3.20: 121,278 8.20: 142
1.20-21: 92 3.22: 122 8.21: 142
1.20, 24: 103 3.23: 12 3 8.22: 143
1.21: 93 3.24: .')5, 123 9. 1- 2: 143
1.24: 93 4.1-4: 124 9-4-T 143
1.26:93-94 4..'): 12 5 9.11-15: 142
1.27: 94, 10.') 4.6-8: 126 9. 13: 144
1.28: 95 4.9-11: 127 9.21-22: 144
1.31:81,89 4.12: 128, 130 9. 24: 145
2.1-2: 96 4.13-14: 128 9. 25: 145
2·4: 69, 97 4.15: 128-30 9·2T 146
2.5-6: 97-98 4.16-17: 130 10.9: 146
2·7: 99, 343, 34.') 4.17-22: 13 1 10.10-12: 147
2.8: 99 4.17-20: 129 11.1-9: 67
2.9: 100 4.18-24: 13 1 l1.1,4-T 147
2.10: 100-101 4.20: 12 9 11.10-29: 148
2.15: 101 4.23: 13 1 11.31: 148
2.16-lT 102 4.26: 133 12.1-2: 149
2.19-20: 104 5:35 1 12.2: 223
2.19: 103 5.3-18: 133 12..'):149
2.21-24: 23.') 5·3: 133 12.10-13: 149
2.21-22: 105 5.24: 133 13·7:1.')0
2.23: 105 5.29: 134 13. 11 ,
2.24-25: 106 5.3 2: 134 13-14: 150
3. 1: 107 6.1: 131, 134 13.16: 15 2
3.2-3: I I I 6.2: 134 14.1-2: 1.')0
3.3: 280 6·3: 135 14.10-16: 150
388
INDEX OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 389
14.18-20: 1.') 1 22.13: 169 37.28: 182

15: 248 22.15-18: 169 37.32-33: 182
1.').1-9: 1.')2 23.1-2,19-20: 169 37.36: 182
15·3: 154 24.2-3: 169, 198 38.1-11: 183
1.').11: 1.')2 24.9-32: 170 38.14: 183
15. 12: 154 24.12-14: 183 38.16-19: 184
1.').13: 1.')2, 1.')4, 24.34-51: 170 38.16: 183
224,228,248 24.57-6T 17° 38.24-25: 184
1.').14-16: 1.')4 25.1-7,10: 171 38.26: 184-85
15. 15: 153 25.11: 17 1 38.27-30: 185
1.').16: 1.')4 25.21-26: 17 1 39.1: 185
15· 1T 153 25.22-23: 15 1 39·T 18 5
1.').18-20: 1.')3-54 25.29-34: 17 1 39.11-23: 185
16.2-5: 155 26.1,12,26-31: 172 4°.1-23: 186
16.7-1.'): 156 27.1-14: 172 41.1-36: 186
17. 1-2: 157 27.18-33: 17 2 41.37-45: 186-87
17.6: 157, 17 0 27. 29: 173 41 -48-49: 188
17. 10: 157 27·33-34: 173 41.53-5T 188
17.16-20: 1.')7 27·39: 84 42.2: 189
17·23: 157 27-4 1-45: 173 42.6-T 189
18.1-2: 1.')8 28.1-13: 173 42.9: 189
18·3: 158 28.10: 231 42.13: 189
18.6-8: 1.')8 28.15-19: 174 42.1.')-17: 190
18.9-13: 159 28.15: 180 42.21: 19°
18.1.')-18: 1.')9 28.20-22: 174, 181 42.24: 190
18.19: 159, 170 29. 10- 11 : 175 42.29-38: 19 1
18.20-21: 160 29.26-27: 17.') 43.9: 19 1
19.1-2: 160 30.1: 176 43.14-16: 19 1
19.3-5: 161 30.3-9: 176 43.18: 192
19.7-13: 161 30·9: 176 43.20-23: 192
19.16-22: 162 30 .10- 14: 177 43.26-29: 19 2
19.16: 161 30 .17-28: 177 43·30-34: 193
19.24: 162 31.1-8: 178 44. 1-5: 193
19.26: 162 31.14-16: 178 44·9: 193
19. 28: 3.')2 31.19-30 : 179 44. 11 - 13: 194
19.31-32: 162 31.24: 178 44. 15: 194
19.37-38: 164 3 1 ·34-3.'): 179 44· 16-34: 195
20.1-6: 165 31.42-46: 179 45. 1: 195
20.8-9, 12: 165 31..')3: 179 45·3-4: 195
21.10:166 32.1-26: 180 45.5-6: 196
21.11-13: 167 32.26-29: 181 45.13-16: 196
20.16: 165 33.18: 181 45.21-24: 196
20.17-18: 166 33. 19: 199 45.27-28: 197
21.4-9: 166 34.1-29: 181 46 .3: 197
21.12: 169 35.1-.'): 182 46-4: 180, 198
21.14,17-18: 167 35.16-21: 200 46·5-2T 198
21.22-24: 167 35.27-29: 182 46.33-34: 198
22.1-18: 34 37.1-11: 182 47·7,10: 198
22.1-2: 167-68 37.13-14: 182 47.13-26: 198
22.7-12: 168 37.24: 182 47.29-31: 198
390 INDEX OF HOLY SCRIPTURE
Genesis (amlinued) 3 ..'): 23 1 10.27: 24.')

4 8.1- 6: 199 3.7-8: 23 2 11.2,4,6: 246
48.T 200 3. 11: 23 2 1 1.8: 246, 248
4 8.9: 199 3. 14: 75, 274 12.2-T 246
4 8.14: 199 3. 16: 23 2 12.11: 247
48.16-20: 199 3. 18: 23 2 12.19: 260
48.22: 199 3. 19-22 : 233 12.31-32: 248
49: 200, 205 4. 1: 233 12.37-40: 248
49.1: 200 4. 2: 69 12·37: 3 15
49·3-4: 20 9 4.6-9: 233 13.19: 248
49.3: 200 4.10: 228, 234 13.21: 81, 248,
49.4: 200-201 4. 11 : 3 15 293
49.5: 201, 209 4. 12 : 234 14·.'): 249
49.6: 201 4. 18- 19: 234 14. 10: 249
49.T 201-2 4. 22- 24: 234 14. 14-16: 249
49.8: 202 4.24-26: 235 14. 16: 69
49·9: 20 3 4.26: 236 14. 17: 249-50
49. 10: 203-4 5.1,4: 236 14.19: 250
49.11-12: 204 5.6: 237 14.21: 2.')0-5 1
49.13: 205, 209-10 5.8: 237 14.24-25: 25 1
49.14: 204, 210 5. 23: 237 14.26-28: 149
49.15-16: 20.'), 210 7·9: 69, 238 14.27,31: 25 1
49· 1T 20 5 7. 11 :23 8 1.'):4.'), 21 7
49.18-21: 206, 210 7. 14-15: 239 15.1: 25 1
49.21: 211 7. 22: 239-240 1.').2: 252
49.22: 206-7, 211 7.23: 240 15·3: 25 1 - 2 52
49.23: 20 7 8.2-3: 240 1.').4-11: 2.')2
49.24: 207, 211 8·5: 69 15. 13: 252
49.25: 207-8 8.11: 24 1 1.').14: 2.')2
49.26: 208 8.13: 241 15· 15- 1T 253
49.2T 208-9, 8.15: 241 1.').18, 20: 253-.')4
211-12 8.21: 241 15. 25: 254
49.33-50: 212 8.24: 242 16.27: 2.')5
.')0.15-26: 212 9·T 242 17+ 255,3 0 9
9.10-11: 242 17·.')-9: 69
Exodus 9· 11 : 239 17.6, T 255
1.1,5: 223 9.16: 242 17.6: 207
1.1.')-16: 224 9. 19: 242- 243 17.8-16: 25 1
LIT 225 9. 25: 243 17.8: 25.')
1.19: 225 9· 2T 243 17.11: 256
2.2-3: 225 9·33: 243 17.14-16: 256
2.2: 227 9·34-35: 244 18·3: 230
2.7-10: 228 10.1-2,4-5: 244 18.4: 231
2·7: 227 lO·T 244 18·5-T 257
2.13-14: 228 10.13: 69 18.9-12 , 27: 257
2.1.')-16: 229 10.16-1 T 245 19-4,6: 258
2.18-20: 229 10.21: 250 20 ..')-6: 258
2.22: 230 10.22-23: 245 2(U3: 258
2.23: 231 10.22: 78 20.25-26: 259
3.1-2: 23 1 10.24-25: 245 21.7-8: 259
21.12: 2.')9 33.24: 206 128.6: 3.')2

21.22-23: 260 33. 28 : 84 139. 1: 297
21.28: 143 147·4: 344
22:45 Joshua
22.7: 136 2.9-10: 2.')3 Proverbs
22.28: 260 4.12-13: 206 3. 20: 78
23.18-21: 260 9·9: 2.')3 1.').1: 298
24.4-8: 260 17.13: 146 16.11: 345
24.9-11: 261 24.32: 199 26.3: 281
24.13-16: 261
2.').9: 261 Judges Ecclesiastes
25. 17-19: 330 4.4-22: 206 1.T 83
2.').22: 262 6.33-7.25: 205 Wisdom
32.1: 262, 292, 293, 15.1-8: 206 2.2: 352
3 18 4. 20: 347
32.3-8: 263 1 Samuel
32.10: 264 4.11: 206 Isaiah
32.14: 265 16.14: 79 2.2: 101
32.17: 264 6.6: 324
32.19: 264 1 Kings 9.1-2: 211
32.20: 264, 282 18·44: 78 27.1: 9 2
32.21:265 29.18-19: 3 16
32.2.')-27: 265 Nehemiah 30.28: 281
32.26-28: 282 8.15: 275 35.5-6: 3 16
33. 13,18: 223 38. 12 : 353
33. 17- 23: 3 0 4 Job 40 .7-8: 352
33. 22 : 30 .') 38.30 : 87 40 .12 ,15: 344
34·33-35: 107 4(U5: 9 2 40.22: 343, 35 1
34·33: 3 0 .') 42..'): 343
Psalms 4 2 ·T 345
Leviticus 8.5: 96 44. 24: 343
14·7, IT 343 8.6: 106 4 8 . 13: 344
9. 8: 342 .')3.8.: 277
Numbers 15.1: 101 54.10: 69
5.16-28: 283 24.2: 98 .')9.5-6 : 3.')3
5.19: 282 24.3: 101 59. 10: 348
8·7: 343 32.9: 281 .')9. 12 : 347
14. 10: 30 9 50 .10: 93 61.1: 316
20.11: 207 .') 1.17: 3.')5 66.24: 352
21.4-9: 210 74.13-14: 92
2.').6-9: 202 78.20: 3 17 Baruch
25.12: 69 80.8, 14: 204 3. 16: 352
85. 12- 13: 3 2.')
Deuteronomy 91.13: 35 1 Ezekiel
8·4: 3 19 96 . 10- 13: 342 1.1,22:77
28.29: 348 9 8 .9: 34 2 28.13-14: 101
29·4: 3 19 104. 2: 343 34.2.'): 69
33: 200 104.26: 92 37.26: 69
33.6: 201 115.5, 6: 284
33.14: 82 120-4: 340
392 INDEX OF HOLY SCRIPTURE
Daniel Hosea
7.10: 68 13. 14: 34.') N,~llUm
10.6: 303 2.10: 341
10.8: 302-3 Joel
10.11,20: 303 2.6: 341 Zechariah
3.4: 210 12.1: 343
Pseudepigrapha
4 Esdras Jubilees
7·35: 347 41.6: 183
7. 104-5: 3.')3 41.19: 184
New Testament
Matthew 25. 12: 349 16.1T 147

2.19: 332 2.').1: 349-3.')0 16.19: 346
3.11-12:116 25.8-9: 350
4.1-11: 109 2.').30 : 340 Luke
4.13-16: 211 25·33: 346-347, 1.26-38: 54
5·29: 339 3.')4 1·3.'): 277
6.3: 298 25.34-4 0 : 346 1.36: 247
7. 1 4: 35 0 26·7: 324 1.4 1: 33 1
8.12: 340 26.12: 324 2.12: 329
9.2: 295 26.13: 32.') 2.28: 32.')
9·4: 297 26.24: 301 2.29-30: 3 26
9.12: 3 16 26.64: 343 2·34: 3 29
9.20: 289,3 25 27.50-52: 278 4. 28-30 : 297
l().16-23: 309 27.5 2-.')3: 279 5. 20- 21 : 295
10.26: 342 28.12: 309 5.24: 296
11·5: 3 16 28.13: 288 5.31-32: 3 16
12.38: 29 1 7·22: 316
14. 28-33: 327 Mark 7.36-.')0: 273-74
15.22,27: 283 1.15: 231 7·3T 29 0
16.19: 329 1.17: 290 7.38: 289
16.26: 351 2.1T 316 7·39: 29 1-9 2, 295,
18·T 301 4. 22 : 342 299,3 16- 17
19. 28 : 341, 34.') 4·39: 3 2 7 7-40 : 299
21.1-11: 278 5. 2 7- 2 9: 3 2 .') 7-41: 29 1
21.40 : 3 23 7·32-3T 27 1 7-41: 321
22.12: 349 7.32-33: 286 7-44-47: 290
22.13:340 7·33: 2 8 7 7 -44: 293-94
22-40 : 259 9.4 8: 3.')2 7-4.'): 289, 294
23.37-2.').46: 278 10.17-18: 347 7-4 6 : 294
23·5: 3 0 9 11.1: 278 7 -47: 289, 293
23.13-29: 301 12·9: 323 8.1T34 2
25. 10- 12: 349 14·3,8: 324 8-44: 289,3 2.')
10.42: 3 24 13:3 12 10-4-5: 310

12.2: 342 14. 2: 275 11.25: 309
12.19-20: 3.') 1 14. 2-3: 340
13. 25-26: 349 14.6: 343 Ephesians
1.').10: 283 14. 23: 273,33 2 1.18: 308
16.19-3 1: 340 14. 26: 346 2.14: 283
16.24-25: 3.')0 16.11: 121 .').2: 343
16.25: 341 18.13-14: 33 1
16.26: 280,340-41, 19. 2:33 1 Philippians
353 19.T 281 2.6, T 285
17: 270 19. 17: 278
19. 2- 10: 324 19.30: 3 12 Colossians
19.29: 278 1.16: 94, 277,343
19.31: 204 Acts 2·9: 328
20.1.'): 323 2.4: 147,288 2.14: 29 1, 294,3.')5
22.30 : 34 1, 345, 353 2·33: 343
22.43:3 14 7·5.')-.')6: 77, 343 1 Timothy
23.34: 299 9·3: 77 2.14: 118
9·4: 300-3 01 , 6.15:346
John 308-9,311-13,
1.1: 342-43 3 1 .') 2 Timothy
1.3: 94, 212, 277, 9.8: 301 4.8: 342
343 9.13: 302
1.4-5: 344 9.36-43: 288 Hebrews
1.11: 283 10·43: 346 1.1: 346
1.14: 346 20.9-12: 288 1.2: 277,343
1.18:274,346 22.6: 77, 301-2 2.17: 343
1. 29, 3 6 : 343 22.11: 301 5.6: 328
2.1: 286 26.13: 77,301-2 .').12: 317
3. 16,18: 346 7·3: 15 1
3·34: 3 29 Romans 10.3 1: 298, 35 1
4·34: 346 2.29: 283
5.30 : 346 4·3,22:1.')2 James
5-46: 308 8.29: 274 5. 1 : 35 2
6.26: 349 12.2:343
6.2T 133,290 1 Peter
6.3 8: 346 1 Corinthians 2.24: 277
7·3T 3 16 1.24,3°: 34 2
8.12: 34.') 3.1-2: 3 17
9.1-3: 287 5.6: 28 7
9.6: 2 87 8.6: 277
9.19-20: 28 7 10-4: 207,211 Apocalypse
9.24,30: 3 22 13.1: 288 .').10: 2.')8
9.39-41: 322 15.27-28: 284 9· 11 : 345
10·9: 343 15.36: 285 17. 14: 346
11.50 : 33 1 19. 16: 346
12·3: 324 2 Corinthians
12.12: 278 3.18: 280

St. Ephrem The Syrian - Selected Prose Works

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THE FATHERS

Elizabeth Clark Kathleen McVey

FORMER EDITORIAL DIRECTORS

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

The Homily on Our Lord

The Editors presented volume 1 of FOTC, The Apostolic

This volume contains a selection of the prose works of

major studies in European languages. Secondary works per-

of being generally available while also exempting us from

NIS New Testament Studies.

Ephrem '5 Works

_ _, ed. Ephraem Syrus. Serrnones in Hebdomadam Sanctam. CSCO

Selected Secondary Sources

. "Die Mariologie der echten Schriften Ephrams." OC 40

_ _ . "La defense ephremienne de la liberte contre les doctrines

Bundy, D. D. "Ephrem's Critique of Mani: The Limits of Knowl-

Feghali, P. "Un commentaire de la Genese attribue a saint

Griffith, S. H. "Ephraem, the Deacon of Edessa, and the Church

_ _ . "Ephraem on Exodus ii. 5: Reflections on the Interplay of

Garsoian, T. F. Mathews and R. W. Thomson, 3-16. Washing-

_ _ . "La vergine nella teologia di S. Efrem." In OCA, no. 197,

Techerche sur I'evolution de la fite pascale chriitienne aNisibe et aEdesse

Kapitel der Genesis. Erganzungsheft zur Theologisch-Praktischen

JPodipara, CMf, ed. J. Madley and G. Kaniarakath, 54-69. Kot-

Brock, S. P. "Sytiac Studies 1961-197°, a Classified Bibliography." PdO 4

The golden age of Syriac literature, which extended from

1. See Y. Azema, ed., Theodoret de Cyr, Correspondance ITT, SC 1 1 1 (Paris,

ratively that Ephrem "was obviously more pious than

3. Cited, with approbation, by R. Payne Smith, "Ephraim the Syrian," in Di(.c

the East or Assyrian church (also known as Nestorian), and

(Leiden, 1973); and B. C. Colless, "The Traders of the Pearl," Abr-Nahrain 9

ian communities in various regions of Syria and Mesopo-

The Chronicle oj Edessa records a flood that destroyed the

22. See L. HallieI', Untersuchungenuber die Edessenische Chronih. TU, no. 9,

but that He would send one of His disciples after He had

26. The correspondence is cited in Eusebius, HistoTY of the Church 1.13.

brought Addai to Abgar. There are other indications that

30. See, for example, Rom 1.16, 2.10.

ran and Nag Hammadi, and most notably the Cologne

tendency affected not only the fringe sects but exerted

in Edessa, he shows no awareness that Ephrem actually

Brooks (London, 1975) 6.')-77; and idem, "The Characteristics of Earliest

wrote, the church historian Sozomen devoted a rather

Sozomen adds much new detail and several anecdotes to

(16) There is also a long Encomium on Ephrem that has

(18) While this Encomium served as the Byzantine proto-

for Ephrem's biography in the Syriac and oriental tradi-

(20) In 1933, H. Polotsky showed that the pericope con-

Testament of Ephrem. This document survives in a Syriac as

Christian world, in literature, as the texts just enumerated

tory is faced with a complex problem: Ephrem quite different

project of editing the Syriac works of Ephrem. Based on this

was asked to give a reassessment of the biographical tradi-

Commentaire de l'J<,'vangile con("oHumt, CSCO 220 (Louvain, 1961) 53-67; idem,

(30) Outtier then went on to demonstrate that the Syriac