The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Joan Palevsky Imprint in Classical Literature.
CHRISTIANITY IN LATE ANTIQUITY THE OFFICIAL BOOK SERIES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN PATRISTICS SOCIETY
Editor: Christopher A. Beeley, Duke University
Associate Editors: David Brakke, Ohio State University
Robin Darling Young, The Catholic University of America
International Advisory Board:
Lewis Ayres, Durham University John Behr, St Vladimirs Orthodox Theological Seminary, New York Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Marie-Odile Boulnois, cole Pratique des Hautes tudes, Paris Kimberly D. Bowes, University of Pennsylvania and the American Academy in Rome Virginia Burrus, Syracuse University Stephen Davis, Yale University Elizabeth DePalma Digeser, University of California Santa Barbara Mark Edwards, University of Oxford Susanna Elm, University of California Berkeley Thomas Graumann, Cambridge University Sidney H. Griffith, Catholic University of America David G. Hunter, University of Kentucky Andrew S. Jacobs, Scripps College Robin M. Jensen, University of Notre Dame AnneMarie Luijendijk, Princeton University Christoph Markschies, Humboldt-Universitt zu Berlin Andrew B. McGowan, Berkeley Divinity School at Yale Claudia Rapp, Universitt Wien Samuel Rubenson, Lunds Universitet Rita Lizzi Testa, Universit degli Studi di Perugia
Incorruptible Bodies: Christology, Society, and Authority in Late Antiquity, by Yonatan Moss
Epiphanius of Cyprus: A Cultural Biography of Late Antiquity, by Andrew S. Jacobs
Melania: Early Christianity through the Life of One Family, edited by Catherine M. Chin and Caroline T. Schroeder
The Body and Desire: Gregory of Nyssas Ascetical Theology, by Raphael A. Cadenhead
Bible and Poetry in Late Antique Mesopotamia: Ephrems Hymns on Faith, by Jeffrey Wickes
Self-Portrait in Three Colors: Gregory of Nazianzuss Epistolary Autobiography, by Bradley K. Storin
Gregory of Nazianzuss Letter Collection: The Complete Translation, translated by Bradley K. Storin
Bible and Poetry in Late Antique Mesopotamia
Ephrems Hymns on Faith
Jeffrey Wickes
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
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University of California Press Oakland, California
2019 by Jeffrey Wickes
Names: Wickes, Jeffrey Thomas, author.
Title: Bible and poetry in late antique Mesopotamia : Ephrems Hymns on faith / Jeffrey Wickes.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018054719 (print) | LCCN 2018059589 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520972599 | ISBN 9780520302860 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Ephraem, Syrus, Saint, 303373. Hymni de fide. | Hymns, SyriacHistory and criticism. | BibleCriticism, interpretation, etc.HistoryEarly church, ca. 30600.
Classification: LCC BR65.E636 (ebook) | LCC BR65.E636 W53 2019 (print) | DDC 264/.014023dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018054719
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Portions of this book were previously published in 2015 Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Trustees for Harvard University. Originally published in Dumbarton Oaks Papers 69, edited by Margaret Mullett. Portions of this book were previously published in The Poetics of Self-Presentation in Ephrem the Syrians Hymns on Faith 10, in Syriac Encounters: Papers presented at the Sixth North American Syriac Symposium, 2011 , edited by Maria Doerfler, Emanuel Fiano, and Kyle Smith (Leuven: Peeters, 2015), 5163. Copyright Johns Hopkins University Press. This article was first published in Journal of Early Christian Studies 26, no. 1 (2018): 2551. Reprinted with permission by Johns Hopkins University Press.
In Memory of Elsie Marjorie Tompkins
CONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS
WORKS OF EPHREM
Comm. Dia. | Commentary on the Diatessaron |
Comm. Gen. | Commentary on Genesis |
MAH | Madrashe Against Heresies |
MAJ | Madrashe Against Julian |
MAQ | Madrashe on Abraham Qidunaya |
MChurch | Madrashe on the Church |
MCruc | Madrashe on the Crucifixion |
MEpi | Madrashe on Epiphany |
MF | Madrashe on Faith |
MFast | Madrashe on the Fast |
MNat | Madrashe on Nativity |
MNis | Madrashe on Nisibis |
MPar | Madrashe on Paradise |
MPas | Madrashe on Pascha |
MRes | Madrashe on the Resurrection |
MUnlB | Madrashe on Unleavened Bread |
MVir | Madrashe on Virginity |
SF | Memre on Faith |
LEXICA AND ENCYCOPLEDIAS
DJBA | Michael Sokoloff. A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic and Geonic Periods . Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. |
GEDSH | Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage . Edited by S. P. Brock, A. M. Butts, G. A. Kiraz, and L. Van Rompay. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2011. |
LS | Michael Sokoloff. A Syriac Lexicon: A Translation from the Latin, Correction, Expansion, and Update of C. Brockelmanns Lexicon Syriacum. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns and Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2009. |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It gives me great pleasure to thank here the many people who have helped bring this book into being. This book began as a dissertation at the University of Notre Dame. I would like to thank my director, Joseph Amar, and my two readers, Robin Darling Young and Tzvi Novick, for their generous direction and feedback throughout.
The two anonymous readers for the University of California Press took the manuscript seriously enough to offer substantial advice. Their criticisms have made it a far better book. Likewise, the staff at University of California PressEric Schmidt, Archna Patel, and Christopher Beeleywere gracious and helpful throughout the process.
A number of friends, colleagues, and students have read portions of the manuscript. At different stages of its development, Thomas Arentzen, Blake Hartung, Jacob Prahlow, and Anna Williams read the entire manuscript. Amy Alexander, Amanda Berg, Laura Locke Estes, Sarah Gador-Whyte, Scott Johnson, Yvonne Angieri Klein, and Becky Walker read portions of the manuscript. They all are to thank for the version it became. All errors remain my own.