| << | Contents | >> |
Memoirs of Edessa and Other Ancient Syriac Documents
[2888] Had the early Christians used icons,—i.e., pictures in their churches,—the churches themselves would everywhere have been visible proof against the Council of Frankfort and all who condemned icons. Sculptured images are not icons, technically.
[2889] Abridged.
[2890] Jacobite primate, died 1286.
[2891] Bishop of Rome a.d. 492–496.
[2892] Wake, Apostolic Fathers, p. 4.
[2893] Vol. ii. pp. 1–31.
[2894] Credib., vi. 605.
[2895] Cap. iv. 24.
[2896] P. xxiii.
[2897] Hist. of the Church, vol. i. p. 109 (Foreign Theol. Lib.).
[2898] Bayer, Historia Edessena e nummis illustrata, l. iii. p. 173.
[2899] Humphreys’ Coin-Collector’s Manual, p. 364.
[2900] It should have been 115.
[2901] Now Dean of Canterbury.
[2902] The translator takes the opportunity of correcting the error by which the preparation of Tatian’s work in vol. iii. of the Edinburgh Series was ascribed to him. The credit of it is due in the first instance to his lamented friend Mr. J. E. Ryland, at whose request, and subsequently by that of the editors, he undertook to correct the manuscript, but was soon obliged by other engagements to relinquish the task. [The correction was duly made in this series. See vol. ii. pp. 59, 61.]
[2903] By Eusebius of Cæsarea.—Tr. The ms. from which this extract from Eusebius is taken is numbered 14,639, fol. 15 b. It is described in Cureton’s Corpus Ignatianum, p. 350.
The Story Concerning the King of Edessa.
[2904] Book I. chapter the thirteenth.—Tr.
[2905] Properly Urrhoi, or Orrhoi (***). It seems probable that the word is connected with Osrhoene, the name of the province in which Edessa held an important place, the correct form of which is supposed to be Orrhoene. The name Edessa (***) occurs only once in these Documents, viz., in the “Acts of Sharbil,” sub init.—Tr.
[2906] “By this title all the toparchs of Edessa were called, just as the Roman emperors were called Cæsars, the kings of Egypt Pharaohs or Ptolemies, the kings of Syria Antiochi.” Assem., Bibl. Or., vol. i. p. 261. Assemani adds: “Abgar in Syriac means lame.” Moses of Chorene, however, with more probability, derives it from the Armenian Avag-aïr, “grand homme, à cause de sa grande mansuétude et de sa sagesse, et de plus, à cause de sa taille.” See below the extract from his History of Armenia, book ii. ch. 26.
[2907] Eusebius has δι᾽ ἐπιστοληφόρου.
See note on ταχυδρόμου, on next page.—Tr.
[2908] Lit. “deemed him worthy of.”—Tr.
[2909] Gr. σωτηρίαν: and so the Syriac word, meaning “life,” is generally to be translated in this collection.—Tr.
[2910] Syr. “near to him;” Gr. τῶν προσηκόντων.
[2911] His real name was Judas Thomas: see p. 8.
[2912] The name is taken from Eusebius, but in the original Syriac treatises, which follow, he is called Addæus.
[2913] In The Teaching of the Apostles he is said to have been one of the “seventy two apostles.” His name, like that of Thomas, seems to have been the very common one, Judas.
[2914] These were kept in the archives of the kingdom, which were transferred by Abgar from Nisibis to Edessa when he made it the capital of his dominions. See Moses Chor. B. ii. ch. 27, infra. The archives appear to have been still kept at Edessa in a.d. 550. [Compare this fact with Tertullian’s statement, vol. iii. p. 164.]
[2915] The kingdom of Edessa was brought to an end and entirely subjected to the Romans in a.d. 217 or 218.
[2916] The extract from the archives was probably made by Sextus Julius Africanus, and copied by Eusebius from his Chronographia.
[2917] Gr. τόπαρχος.
[2918] Called Hanan in the original Syriac document; and so in Moses Chor.; Eusebius has ᾽Ανανίας, which is copied here.
[2919] Gr. ταχυδρόμου. But the post held by Hananias must have been one of more dignity than that of a courier. He was probably a Secretary of State. In The Acts of Addæus (infra) he is called, in connection with the name Tabularius, a sharir, or confidential servant.
It would seem that Tabularius has been confounded with Tabellarius, a letter-carrier.—Tr.
[2920] Or “Abgar Uchomo.” The epithet was peculiar to this King Abgar. He was the fourteenth king: the eleventh was called Abgar Sumoco, or “the Red.”
The occasion of the name “Black” is doubtful: it can hardly have arisen from the fact that Abgar was suffering, as Cedrenus asserts, from the black leprosy.—Tr.
[2921] “Head,” or “chief.”—Tr.
[2922] Comp. Matt. iv. 24; “And His fame went throughout all Syria,” etc. See also Moses Chor. B. ii. c. 30.
[2923] Gr. ἀντιγραφέντα, “written in reply.”
[2924] [John 9.39; 20.29,31; Hab. 1.5; Isa. 52.15; 53.1]
[2925] Cureton, “were assembled and standing;” nearly as Euseb.: παρόντων καὶ ἑστώτων. But in 2 Sam. xx. 1, the only reference given by Castel for the word *** is used for the Heb. נקרא, “he chanced.”—Tr.
[2926] ***, like the προσεκύνησε of Eusebius, may be rendered “worshipped.”—Tr.
[2927] ***; Gr. μεγάλως, lit. “greatly;” C. “nobly.” But nothing more than intensity is necessarily denoted by either word. Compare, for the Syriac, Ps. cxix. 107, 167; Dan. ii. 12.—Tr.
[2928] Compare the letters of Abgar and Tiberius, infra.
[2929] In another piece, The Teaching of Addæus, i.e., Thaddæus, we have a portion of the original Syriac from which Eusebius’ translation was made. The only portions that correspond are: in the present piece, from this place to “—accept that of others,” near the end; and, in the following one, from the beginning to “—that which is not ours.” Some of the variations are worthy of notice.
[2930] See note 9, p. 657, infra.
[2931] This answers sufficiently well to the Greek: ὁς καὶ αὐτὸς προσελθὼν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ἔπεσεν; but, as the original Syriac, p. 12, reads “he too brought his feet to him, and he laid his hands upon them and healed him,” the Greek translation must have been at fault.
For brought read presented.—Tr.
[2932] The original Syriac has “I will not hold my peace from declaring this.”
[2933] So Euseb. The orig. Syr. has “His sender.”
[2934] The orig. Syr. has “the certitude of His preaching.” The error seems to have arisen from the Greek translator confounding *** with ***.
More probably with ***, “newness (of his preaching),” which was freely translated by him (περὶ) τῆς καινῆς αὐτοῦ κηρύξεως; and this, again, was by the Syrian re-translator rendered literally, as in the text.
The word certitude (above) may be rendered unerring truth. —Tr.
[2935] Or “Sheol,” as in Hebrew. The orig. Syr. gives “the place of the dead.”
[2937] Comp.Matt. xxvii. 52.
[2938] Valesius says that the Edessenes commenced their era with the 117th Olympiad, the first year of the reign of Seleucus. The year 340 corresponds, therefore, with the fifteenth year of Tiberius.
It should be the beginning of the 117th Olympiad.—Tr.
A Canticle of Mar Jacob the Teacher on Edessa.
[2939] Or, “My Lord,” or “Mr.”—Tr.
[2940] This is taken from Cod. Add. 17, 158, fol. 56, where is added: “when she sent to our Lord to come to her.”
[2941] [Luke xv. 6.]
[2942] See note on p. 652.
[2943] [This ancient imitation of the Canticles shows how that book was understood, as of Christ and His Church.]
[2944] Taken from Cod. Add. 14,535, fol. i.
II. From the teaching of Addæus the apostle, which was spoken in the city of Edessa.
[2945] From Cod. Add. 12,155, fol. 53 vers.
III. From the epistle of Addæus the apostle, which he spake in the city of Edessa.
[2946] From Cod. Add. 17,193, fol. 36. See Teaching of Addæus, p. 657, infra.
[2947] Or “of the doctrines.”—Tr.
[2948] Extracts iv. and v. are from Cod. Add. 14,601, fol. 164, written apparently in the eighth century.
[2949] i.e., Paneas.—Tr.
[2950] Extracts iv. and v. are from Cod. Add. 14,601, fol. 164, written apparently in the eighth century.
[2951] From Cod. Add. 16,484, fol. 19. It consists of an apocryphal work on the Virgin, of the fifth or sixth century.
[2952] i.e., “My Lady” or “Madam” (= mea domina): it is the feminine form of “Mar.”—Tr.
[2953] Beginning with the new moon of October. The former Tishrin was the month immediately preceding.—Tr.
[2954] The Greek ἐπίτροπος is used.—Tr.
VII. From the homily composed by the holy Mar Jacob, the teacher, on the fall of idols.
[2955] From Cod. Add. 14,624, apparently written in the ninth century.
VIII. From the homily about the town of Antioch.
[2956] From Cod. Add. 14,590, of the eighth or ninth century.
[2957] [A note of the Middle Age. The reverse is taught in the Scriptures, but even Hebrew Christians slurred the name of Paul.]
[2958] This is probably the correct reading: the printed text means “among the Assyrians.”—Tr.
[2959] Lit. “set their faces.”—Tr.
The Teaching of Addæus the Apostle.
[2960] This fragment, extending to the lacuna on p. 658, is contained in the ms. No. 14,654, at fol. 33. It consists of one leaf only, and is part of a volume of fragments, of which the age is certainly not later than the beginning of the fifth century.
[2961] See note 1 on p. 653.—Tr.
[2962] Moses Chor says that he had been suffering seven years from a disease caught in Persia.
[2963] “The certitude.”—C. [See p. 653, supra, note 6.]
[2965] The vowels supplied in this word are conjectural, as is the case with most of the proper names in these Documents. Perhaps the name of this person is to be read Shalamtho, as there is a Σαλαμψιώ, the wife of Phasaëlus, mentioned in Jos., Antiq., b. xviii. c. v.
[2966] Who this was, does not appear. He may have been some connection of Meherdates king of the Parthians, of whom Tacitus, Ann., xii. 12, speaks as having been entertained at Edessa by Abgar.
[2967] According to Moses Chor. b. ii. ch. xxxv., the first, or chief, wife of Abgar was Helena.
[2968] Probably one of the second rank. Tacitus, Ann., vi. 31, 32, mentions a man named Abdus, perhaps the same as this one, as possessing great authority in the Parthian kingdom. [Note 2, p. 653, supra]
[2969] Or “times.”—Tr.
[2970] The remainder of “The Teaching of Addæus” is taken from another ms. of the Nitrian collection in the Brit. Mus., Cod. Add. 14,644. It is one of those which were procured in the year of the Greeks 1243 (a.d. 931) by the abbot Moses during his visit to Bagdad. It appears to be of the sixth century.
[2971] Both “for” and “willing” are conjectural, the ms. being damaged.—Wright.
[2972] Both “for” and “willing” are conjectural, the ms. being damaged.—Wright.
[2973] Possibly “earthquake,” for which sense see Mich., p. 161; and so on p. 659, infra.—Tr.
[2974] Properly “miserable.” Compare Rom. vii. 24; 1 Cor. xv. 19.—Tr.
[2975] Otherwise Cæsarea Paneas, or C. Philippi: now Banias.—Tr.
[2976] Cureton: “the whole object of our Lord’s coming into the world was.” But *** is = omnino.—Tr.
[2977] A few lines are wanting here in the ms.
[2978] The greater part of the word rendered “deaf” is conjectural.—Wright.
The “your” looks as if it were impersonal: “it is useless for any one to talk to the deaf.”—Tr.
[2979] “By” (***) is not in the printed text.—Tr.
[2980] Lit. “the blame in which justice is involved (prop., buried) is yours.”—Tr.
[2981] Comp.Prov. xix. 25.—Tr.
[2982] “This” is doubtful.—Wright.
[2983] I have very little doubt that we should substitute ***—the earth trembled—for ***—who is from the earth.—Wright. [Words in italics are by the translator.]
[2984] Lit. “have proclaimed.”—Tr.
[2985] Cureton renders: “They would not have proclaimed the desolation of their city, nor would they have divulged the affliction of their soul in crying Woe!” Dr. Wright pronounces the two words whose equivalents are given in italics to be very doubtful. Dr. Payne Smith, instead of the latter of the two (***), conjectures ***. This conjecture has been adopted. “Brought down” is lit “cause to drop.”—Tr.
[2986] The ancient Syriac Gospel, Luke xxiii. 48, gives: “And all those who were assembled there, and saw that which was done, were smiting on their breast, and saying, Woe to us! what is this? Woe to us for our sins!”
[2987] i.e., Christianity.—Tr.
[2988] Or “confirmed.”—Tr.
[2989] Perhaps “town” will not seem too insignificant a word if it be taken in its original sense of a fortified place, which the Syriac term also denotes. It seemed desirable to distinguish, if possible, the two words which have been rendered respectively “city” and “town” in these pages. The only exception made is in a single passage were Rome is spoken of.—Tr.
[2990] These words are not in the letter of Christ to Abgar. They must therefore be, either a message brought by Addæus himself, or, much more probably, a later interpolation: earlier, however, than Ephraem Syrus, who alludes to them in his Testament. This notion of the immunity of the city of Edessa is referred to by several Syriac writers. Nor was it confined to the East: it obtained in very early times in our own country, where the letter of our Lord to Abgar was regarded as a charm. In a very ancient service-book of the Saxon times, preserved in the British Museum, the letter followed the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed; and an appended description of the virtues of the epistle closes with these words, according to the Latin version of Rufinus: “Si quis hanc epistolam secum habuerit, securus ambulet in pace.” Jeremiah Jones, writing of the last century, says: “The common people in England have had it in their houses in many places in a frame with a picture before it: and they generally, with much honesty and devotion, regard it as the word of God and the genuine epistle of Christ.” Even now a similar practice is believed to linger in some districts. The story of Abgar is told in an Anglo-Saxon poem, published in Abgarus-Legenden paa Old-Engelsk by G. Stephens, Copenhagen, 1853.
It consists of 204 lines, is a tolerable close rendering of Eusebius, and is ascribed by Stephens to Aelfric, archbishop of York from 1023 to 1052. Note that ambulet (above) is for ambulabit, apparently.—Tr.
[2991] See Eph. i. 18.
[2992] Lit. “obtain.”—Tr.
[2993] Or “lose.”—Tr.
[2994] Lit. “Spirit of holiness.”—Tr.
[2996] Prop. “lost,” or “being lost,” “perishing.”—Tr.
[2997] Lit. “support of your head.”—Tr. The word rendered “support” is not in the dictionaries, but its derivation and form are known. Mar Jacob, infra, has a similar expression: “A resting-place for the head, etc.”
Where, however, his word is derived from a root meaning to “prop up” (***), whereas the root of our word denotes to “bend itself,” “bow down” (***), and is often used of the declining day (as Luke xxiv. 29). It is used of the bending of the head in John xix. 30. The actual leaning of the head of support is not expressed in the verb, but would naturally be inferred from it.—Tr.
[2998] Lit. “the truth of Christ is not believed in many things.”—Tr.
[2999] Lit. “the Spirit of His Godhead” = His Spirit of Godhead = His divine spirit.—Tr.
[3000] Lat. “The Gospel of.”—Tr.
[3001] See p. 652, note 3, supra.
[3002] Abgar had two sons of this name. This is probably the elder, who succeeded his father at Edessa, and reigned seven years. Bayer makes him the fifteenth king of Edessa.
[3003] Abgar’s mother: see p. 657.
[3004] Lit. “reckoning.”—Tr.
[3005] The vowels in this name are supplied from the treatise of Bardesan. Whiston, from the Armenian form, writes the name Samsagram. He was sent, together with Hanan and Maryhab, as envoy to Marinus. See Mos. Chor. B. ii. c. 30.
[3006] See Tac., Ann., xii. 12.
[3007] Lit. “stood.”—Tr.
[3008] The son of Zati (see p. 663, note 7, supra).
[3009] Or “the headbands of the kings.” Nothing appears to be known of the derivation of the word ***, which does not occur in the ordinary lexicons. Dr. Payne Smith has favoured the translator with the following note: “*** is evidently some kind of ornament. In Ephs. ii. 379 (in the form ***) it is an ornament worn by young people. B.A. (Bar Alii Lex. Syro-Arab.) and K. (Georgii Karmsedinoyo Lex.) render it (in the form ***) ***, which may mean ‘a circlet of jewels.’” Cureton says: “These headbands of the king, or diadems, seem to have been made of silk or muslin scarves, like the turbans of orientals at the present day, interwoven with gold, and with figures and devices upon them, as was the case with that worn by Sharbil. See Acts of Sharbil, sub init.” The art. Diadema in Dr. W. Smith’s Antiqq. seems to furnish a good idea of what is intended. The ornament was probably white; and this has caused our expression to be sometimes confounded with the similar ***. See Teaching of Simon Cephas, init.—Tr.
[3010] The same name as Berosus, who is so called in the modern Persian.
[3011] These were the chief gods of Edessa, the former representing the sun, and the latter the moon.
[3012] The reference seems to be to Mark v. 15.—Tr.
[3013] The “soft clothing” of Matt. xi. 8, where the Peshito and the “Ancient Recension” have the same word as appears here. Cureton renders it “silk,” but remarks: “It would appear to be cotton or muslin, lana xylina, not bombycina.” [The word clothing, with the Peshito and, should be credited to the translator.]
[3014] The text has not ***, but it is best to supply it.—Tr.
[3015] Cureton gives “chains,” which in his notes he changes to “silks,” or “muslins,” adopting, with C., the reading *** instead of the *** of the printed text. Mos. Chor. calls Aggæus “un fabricant de coiffures de soie,” according to the translation of Florival; or “quendam serici opificem,” according to Whiston. It may be added that the word *** is doubtless the same as our “silk,” which is only a form of Sericum, an adjective from Seres, the people whose country was the native home of the silk-worm.—Tr.
[3016] These terms could only have been used here in the sense of the Law of Moses and the Gospel. If by the Acts of the Apostles is meant the work of Luke, this passage seems to show that the compiler of this account of Addæus wrote some years subsequently to the events which he relates, or that it has been added by a later interpolator. For at the earlier period of Addæus’ ministry no other part of the New Testament was written than the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, which is probably the Gospel here meant.
[3017] Or “Ditornon.” The reading of the ms. is not clear. It seems that it ought to be Diatessaron, which Tatian has the Syrian compiled from the four Gospels about the middle of the second century. This was in general use at Edessa up to the fourth century, and Ephraem Syrus wrote a commentary on it. If this be so, we have here a later interpolation. [The translator says (of Ditornon and Diatess.): “The two words would differ but slightly in the mode of writing.” He also corrects Cureton, who calls Tatian “the Syrian:” it should be “the Assyrian.”]
[3018] Lit. “the hand of priesthood:” and so passim.—Tr.
[3019] Strabo, de Persis, b. xv. (ch. iii.): “They sacrifice to fire and to water.”
[3020] See his letter in Mos. Chor., infra.
[3021] Dio Cassius, liv. 8: “Augustus fixed as the boundaries of the empire of the Romans the Tigris and Euphrates.”
[3022] See it also, with some variations, in Mos. Chor., infra.
[3023] It was Pilate’s duty, as governor of Judea, to send an account to the Roman Government of what had occurred in respect to Jesus; and his having done so is mentioned by Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and several other writers.
[3024] The word is evidently misspelt. The name intended may have been confounded with that of the Albinus who was made governor of Judea at a later period by Nero, a.d. 62. The same person is referred to, in the Exit of Mary, infra: “Sabinus, the governor who had been appointed by the Emperor Tiberius; and even as far as the river Euphrates the governor Sabinus had authority.” The person meant can only be Vitellius, who was then governor of Syria, who removed Pilate from the administration of Judea, sending Marcellus in his stead, and ordered him to appear before Tiberius at Rome. The emperor died before he reached Rome.
[3025] No mention is made by historians of any war with Spain. But about this time Vitellius, mentioned in the preceding note, was mixed up with the wars of the Parthians and Hiberians; and, as Hiberi is a name common to Spaniards, as well as Hiberians, the apparent error may have arisen in translating the letter out of Latin into Syriac.
[3026] Baronius says Pilate violated the law by crucifying our Lord so soon after sentence had been passed, whereas a delay of ten days was required by a law passed in the reign of Tiberius.
[3027] Tiberius is said by Tertullian (Apol., 5) to have referred to the senate the question of admitting Christ among the gods. This has been interpolated into the epistle of Tiberius to Abgar as given in Moses Chor., B. ii. c. 33. He also adds another letter from Abgar in reply to this.
[3028] This word has been so much distorted and disfigured by the transcribers, that I am unable to recognise what is the place intended.—Cureton.
[3029] This word may be read Ortyka, and may be intended for Ortygia near Syracuse, which was not far from the island of Capreæ, where Tiberius then resided, seldom leaving it to go farther than to the neighbouring coast of Campania.
[3030] Lit. “the other villages.” So, in several passages of these Documents, “the rest of the other—.” The habit of including two or more distinguished nations under a class to which only one of them belongs was not unknown among classical writers also: as when, e.g., Thucydides speaks of the Peloponnesian war as the most remarkable of all the wars that preceded it. Milton’s imitation, “The fairest of her daughters, Eve” [Paradise Lost, iv. 324], is well known.—Tr.
[3031] The *** (and) seems to have been altered into *** (of).—Wright. Perhaps “of” is the better reading.—Tr.
[3032] It is plain from the context here, as well as wherever it occurs in these early Syriac Documents, that this title (or that of Guide alone) is precisely the same as that of Bishop, although the Greek word ἐπίσκοπος had not yet obtained in the East. The first mention we find of the title Bishop (in these pages) is in the Acts of Sharbil about a.d. 105–112, where Barsamya is called “the Bishop of the Christians,” although he is more generally designated as here. It is also found in the Teaching Simon Cephas, sub fin., which seems to have been written early in the second century or at the end of the first. The passage in the Teaching of Addæus, p. 665, infra, where it occurs, was interpolated at a much later period. [The parenthetic words of this note are supplied by the translator.]
[3033] Perhaps Φιλώτας.
[3034] Perhaps the same as Izates: see Jos., Antiq., xx. ii. 1, 4; Tac., Ann., xii. 14.
[3035] This seems to be the person spoken of by Moses Chor., B. ii. c. 30, under the name “Mar-Ihap, prince d’Aghtznik,” as one of the envoys sent by Abgar to Marinus.
[3036] Tacitus writes this name Sinnaces: see Ann., vi. 31, 32.
[3037] Patricius.
[3038] These are given at pp. 673 sqq., infra.
[3039] Quoted in the Epistle of Addæus, infra.
[3040] Probably “wicked,” the meaning being that all such wandering is wilful. Cureton makes “hateful” the predicate: “error is abominable in its paths.”—Tr.
[3041] One leaf apparently is lost from the ms. in this place. What follows appears to be part of the reply of those addressed—their “testimony concerning the teaching set forth in their preaching.”—Tr.
[3042] The reference seems to be to Matt. x. 7-10.
[3043] May. The death of Addæus occurred before that of Abgar, which took place a.d. 45. It would appear, therefore, that his ministry at Edessa lasted about ten or eleven years.
[3044] Compare the Teaching of the Apostles, Ord. xviii. p. 669, infra.
[3045] This seems to apply to those who especially belonged to the ministry of the Church.
This is the only passage in the Documents in which women are spoken of as connected with the ministry.—Tr. [The estate of deaconesses was of Apostolic foundation. Rom. xvi. i.]
[3046] The reference is only to their purity of life. It is not implied that they lived in seclusion.—Tr.
[3047] Lit. “their burden-bearing.”—Tr.
[3048] Or “belonging to.”—Tr.
[3049] An allusion to Matt. iv. 19: “I will make you fishers of men.”
[3050] i.e., refusing to accept Christianity: as a few lines before.—Tr. The person referred to would seem to be the second of the two sons of Abgar called Maanu, who succeeded his brother Maanu, and reigned fourteen years—from a.d. 52 to a.d. 65, according to Dionysius as cited by Assemani.
[3051] This ignominious mode of execution, which was employed in the case of the two thieves at Calvary, seems to have been of Roman origin. The object of the king in putting Aggæus to this kind of death was, probably, to degrade and disgrace him.
[3052] This paragraph is a barefaced interpolation made by some ignorant person much later, who is also responsible for the additions to the Martyrdom of Sharbil, and to that of Barsamya. For this Palut was made Elder by Addæus himself, at the time that Aggæus was appointed Bishop, or Guide and Ruler. This took place even before the death of Abgar, who died a.d. 45; whereas Serapion did not become bishop of Antioch till the beginning of the third century, if, as is here stated, he was consecrated by Zephyrinus, who did not become Bishop of Rome till a.d. 201.
[3053] Moses Chor., ii. 36, calls him, in the translation of Le Vaillant de Florival, “Ghéroupna, fils de l’ecrivain Apchatar;” in that of Whiston, “Lerubnas, Apsadari scribæ filius.” Apchatar of the first, and Apsadar of the second, translator are evidently corruptions in the Armenian from the Adbshaddai (= Ebedshaddai) of the Syriac. Dr. Alishan, in a letter to Dr. Cureton from the Armenian Convent of St. Lazarus, Venice, says he has found an Armenianms., of probably the twelfth century, which he believes to be a translation of the present Syriac original. It is a history of Abgad and Thaddæus, written by Ghérubnia with the assistance of Ananias (= Hanan), confidant (= sharir) of King Abgar.
[3054] This work is taken, and printed verbatim, from the same ms. as the preceding, Cod. Add. 14,644, fol. 10. That ms., however, has been carefully compared with another in the Brit. Mus. in which it is found, Cod. Add. 14,531, fol. 109; and with a third, in which the piece is quoted as Canons of the Apostles, Cod. Add. 14,173, fol. 37. In using the second, a comparison has also been made of De Lagarde’s edition of it (Vienna, 1856). This treatise had also been published before in Ebediesu Metropolitæ Sobæ et Armeniæ collectio canonum Synodicorum by Cardinal Mai. It is also cited by Bar Hebræus in his Nomocanon, printed by Mai in the same volume. These three texts are referred to in the notes, as A. B. C. respectively. [It seems to me that this and the Bryennios fragment are alike relics of some original older than both. To that of vol. vii. (p. 377) and the Apostolic Constitutions, so called, this is a natural preface.]
[3055] A. omits “three hundred and.” They are supplied from B. The reading of C. is 342.
[3056] This month answers to Sivan, which began with the new moon of June.—Tr.
[3057] C. reads “fourteenth.”
[3058] The day of Pentecost seems to be put for that of the Ascension.
[3059] Syr. “Baith Zaithe.” Comp. Luke xxiv. 50 sqq.
[3060] Comp. Acts i. 12 sqq.
[3061] [It is evident that the apostles had no such ideas until after the vision of St. Peter,Acts x. 9-35.]
[3062] [It is evident that the apostles had no such ideas until after the vision of St. Peter,Acts x. 9-35.]
[3063] The reading of B. and C.: A. reads “answered them.”
[3064] B. reads “suddenly.” [The translator interpolates upon him.]
[3065] On praying toward the east, comp. Apost. Constitutions, ii. 57, vii. 44; and Tertullian, Apol., 16.
A. C., ii. 57, contains an interesting account of the conduct of public worship. It may be consulted in connection with Ordinances 2, 8, and 10, also.—Tr.
[3067] B. and C. read “at the last.” Ebediesu has “from heaven.”
[3068] i.e., the Eucharist.—Tr.
[3069] C. reads “His holy angels.”
[3070] For Ords. 3 and 4, see Ap. Const., v. 13–15.
[3071] B. reads “His manifestation.”
[3072] The reading of C.
[3073] Lit. “ the evening,” but used in particular of the evening of the sixth day of the week, the eve of the seventh: the evening being regarded, as in Gen. i. 5, as the first part of the day. Similarly, παρασκευή, which the Peshito translates by our word, is used in the Gospels for the sixth day, with a prospective reference to the seventh.—Tr.
[3074] See Ap. Const., ii. 25.
[3075] Comp. Eccl. Canons, No. 43. The Gr. ὑποδιάκονοι is here used, though for “deacon” the usual Syriac word is employed, meaning “minister” or “servant.” From Riddle, Christian Antiqq., p. 301, with whom Neander agrees, it would seem that subdeacons were first appointed at the end of the third century or the beginning of the fourth.—Tr. [See vol. v. p. 417.]
[3076] ***, equivalent, not to ἐπίσκοπος, but to σκοπός = watchman, as in Ezek. xxxiii. 7.
[3077] For this B. reads “world.”
[3078] B. has “camp.”
[3079] See Ap. Const., v. 13.
Christmas, of which no mention is made in these Ordinances, is called “the first of all,” the Epiphany being ranked next to it in the Constitutions.—Tr. [See vol. vii. p. 492.]
[3080] January: the Jewish Tebeth. “The former Canun” is December, i.e., Chisleu.—Tr.
[3081] The era of the Seleucidæ, 311 a.c., appears to be referred to. In this new names were given to certain months, and Canun was one of them. See p. 666, supra.
[3082] Eccl. Can., No. 69.—Tr. See Ap. Const., v. 13–15.
[3083] Properly “the sealer:” for, although the word is not found in the lexicons, its formation shows that it denotes an agent. The meaning seems to be, that the Gospel gives completeness and validity to the Scriptures.—Tr.
[3084] C. reads “forty.”
[3085] See Ap. Const., ii. 57; Teaching of Simon Cephas, ad fin.; Eccl. Can., Nos. 60, 85.—Tr.
[3086] B. and C., as well as Ebediesu, read “and.”
[3087] Lit. “it is not certain (or firm) to him.”—Tr.
[3088] The exact words of the Peshito of 1 Sam. ii. 3. The E.V. following the K’ri ולו, instead of the ולא of the text, renders “and by Him actions are weighed.”
The Peshito translator may have confounded the Heb. verb תּכן, which appears not to exist in Aramæan, with its own verb תּכן (***), through the similarity in sound of the gutturals כּ and ק׃
[3089] See Eccl. Canons, No. 44.—Tr.
[3090] Comp. Eccl. Canons, Nos. 65, 70, 71.—Tr.
[3091] See Eccl. Canons, No. 35.—Tr.
[3092] See the letter of the Church of Smyrna on the martyrdom of Polycarp, and Euseb., Hist. Eccl., iv. 15; [also p. 664, note 4, supra].
[3094] The particip. ***, though usually pass., may, like some other participles Peil, be taken actively, as appears from a passage quoted by Dr. R. Payne Smith, Thes. Syr., s.v. This would seem to be the only possible way of taking it here.—Tr.
[3095] Comp. Ap. Const., ii. 45 sqq.
[3096] [Note the Institutions of Samuel, vol. vii. p. 531, and observe the prominence here assigned to that prophet. Comp. Acts iii. 24.]
[3097] [But note the case of Ambrose and Theodosius; Sozomen, Eccl. Hist., book vii. cap. 25.]
[3099] The belief was common among the Jacobites that Caiaphas, whose full name was Joseph Caïaphas, was the same person as the historian Josephus, and that he was converted to Christianity. See Assem., Bibl. Orient., vol. ii. p. 165.
[3100] [The visible Church and sacraments are necessary, on this principle, to the conversion of the world.]
[3101] [Perhaps a metaphrase of Job v. 12, 13.]
[3102] This would seem to have been written anterior to the time when the title of Bishop, as specially appropriated to those who succeeded to the apostolic office, had generally obtained in the East. [Previously named as in the Greek of 2 Cor. viii. 23.]
[3103] For writings ascribed to Andrew and Thomas, see Apocryphal Scriptures, this volume, infra. Comp. Eccl. Canons, No. 85.—Tr. There is no mention here of the Epistles of Paul. They may not at this early period have been collected and become generally known in the East. The Epistle of Jude is also omitted here, but it was never received into the Syriac canon: see De Wette, Einl., 6th ed. p. 342.
[3104] So the printed text. But “the apostles” seems to be meant.—Tr.
[3105] See note 10 on p. 668.—Tr. It is plain from this that the Epistles were not at that time considered part of what was called the New Testament, nor the prophets of the Old.
[3106] Lit. “nod,” or “bidding,” or “impulse.”—Tr. [See Tertull., vol. iii. p. 252.]
[3107] Lit. “were quiet and silent at.”—Tr.
[3108] Lit. “be an advocate.”—Tr.
[3110] C. reads “Pentapolis.”
[3111] A. has “the Indians;” C. “the Ethiopians.”
[3112] C. adds, “and built a church at Antioch.”
[3113] See note 3, p. 673, infra.
[3114] [The omission of reference to St. Paul is a token of a corrupt and mediæval text here.]
[3115] The reading of C. The ms. A. gives what Cureton transcribes as Gothia, which is almost the same as the word rendered “Inner.” Possibly this explains the origin of the reading of A. “Galatia” was perhaps accidentally omitted.—Tr.
[3116] C. has “the Danube.”
[3117] Or “Soba,” the same as Nisïbis.
[3118] The number seventy-two may have arisen from the supposition, mentioned in the Recognitions and in the Apostolical Constitutions, that our Lord chose them in imitation of the seventy-two elders appointed by Moses.
[3119] Or “place.”—Tr.
[3120] See note 6 on p. 661.
[3121] B. reads “Priscilla,” C. “Pricillas.” Prisca and Priscilla are the forms in which the name occurs in the New Testament.
[3122] Probably the same as Manaen, mentioned in Acts xiii. 1, as associated with Paul at Antioch.
[3123] [The failure to praise the work of him who “laboured more abundantly than all” others, is noteworthy, and can only be accounted for by Middle-Age corruptions of the text.]
[3124] C. adds, “crucifying him on a cross.” C. also adds, “Here endeth the treatise of Addæus the apostle.”
The Teaching of Simon Cephas in the City of Rome.
[3125] This is found in the same ms. as the preceding, quoted as A. There is also another copy of it in Cod. Add. 14,609, referred to here as B. [It looks like an afterthought of a later age, when the teaching of Peter was elevated into a specialty.]
[3126] B. reads “the Apostle Peter.”
[3127] [This apocryphal history proceeds on the theory that St. Peter preceded St. Paul at Rome, which cannot be reconciled with Scripture and chronology. Gal. ii. 9; Rom. i. 5-15.]
[3128] The reading of the ms. is “thirtieth.”
[3129] From this place to “the light” (last line of text on this page), A. is lost, and the text has been supplied from B.
[3130] The ms. gives, “clad in the white.”
[3131] Lit. “His marvellous helps.”—Tr. [See p. 652, supra.]
[3132] [Mark i. 16-17. Compare Jer. xvi. 16.]
[3133] The text A. is resumed after this word. The reading “and now that the light,” etc., seems faulty. The *** (that) might easily have been occasioned by the *** of the word which it precedes.—Tr.
[3134] The word so rendered is much effaced in B., but it seems to be ***, “humbled.”
This, however, might require further change of the text, such as Cureton suggests, so as to give the sense, “He humbled His Godhead on account of our manhood,” unless we translated “in our manhood”—neither of which renderings seems to give so good a sense as that in the text of A.—Tr.
Respecting the word “mingled” (***), which was supposed to countenance the Eutychian heresy, see Assemani, Bibl. Orient., vol. i. p. 81.
[3135] Or “offspring.”—Tr.
[3136] [On the Acts of Pilate see Lardner, Credib., vi. p. 605, and Jones, On the Canon, vol. ii. p. 342. If Leucius Charinus forged what goes by the name, it does not prove that genuine records of the kind never existed. The reverse is probable. See vol. i. p. 179.
[3137] [Vol. vii. p. 453. Compare vol. vi. p. 438, note 15; also vol. i. p. 171. On Justin’s simple narrative all the rest was embroidered by a later hand.]
[3138] From this place to “a gathering-place,” p. 675, line 20, col. 2, the text of A. is lost.
[3139] [St. Peter’s visit could not have been previous to St. Paul’s, and up to that time Simon had certainly not corrupted the Romans (Rom. i. 8). The subject may be elucidated by what follows, infra.]
[3140] Perhaps Cyprianus, which is found written in Syriac in the same manner as the word here.
[3141] This is the time often allotted to Peter’s episcopate at Rome, although it is certain that he did not constantly reside there during that period: we find him the year after at Jerusalem. [The chronological incredibility of this residence in Rome has been fully demonstrated; but it is so entirely inconsistent with the scriptural history, and with that of St. Paul in particular, that no other argument is necessary. On the other hand, it appears to me conclusively established, that St. Peter closed his life in Rome, under Nero. And I think this apostle’s visit fully explained by the fact that the Roman Christians were so largely “of the circumcision,” that St. Paul himself might naturally have invited him to share his own labours in Rome, on the well-known rule of his conduct (Rom. xv. 20; 2 Cor. x. 13-16). See vol. vi. elucid. p. 47.]
[3142] B. has Lainus = Linus, the person undoubtedly meant. The error arose chiefly from the *** [L] being taken as the sign of the accusative case. Below, the name appears as Isus, and in the Acts of Barsamya we have Anus.
This sign of the accusative may be omitted.—Tr.
[3143] In canon x. (see next note) it is said “in the pulpit of the church;” and in the Teaching of Addæus it is said that “a large multitude of the people assembled for the reading of the Old Testament and the New.” The inhibition seems, therefore, to refer only to public reading. [See p. 661, supra.]
[3144] This agrees with the tenth canon in the Teaching of the Apostles. [See p. 668, supra.]
[3145] That is, their martyrdom. But B. reads “labour.”
[3146] This abrupt termination seems to indicate that there was something more which followed. The famine referred to seems to be the same as that mentioned in the interpolated passage at the end of the Acts of Sharbil.
[3147] There are twomss. from which this piece is taken. The first is Cod. Add. 14,644, fol. 72 vers. This, which is referred to as A., has been copied exactly, except that a few manifest errors have been corrected and some deficiencies supplied from the other. This latter, quoted as B., is Cod. Add. 14,645. It is some three or four centuries later than the first. They were first taken down by shorthand-writers, called notarii (notaries), or exceptores, by which name they are mentioned towards the end of this extract; the Greeks called them ταχυγράφοι. They were then arranged in proper order by persons called by the Greeks ὑπομνηματογράφοι, and by the Romans Ab Actis.—The use of ὑπομνήματα and other Greek words seems to show that these Acts were originally written in that language.
Notaries, i.e., actuarii, or at a later day exceptores.—Tr.
[3148] The Latin Acta, to which the Greek ὑπομνήματα here employed corresponds, was used to denote the authorized records of judicial proceedings.—Tr.
[3149] Αὐτοκράτωρ.—Tr.
[3150] That is, a.d. 112. But the Greek era commences 311 or 312 b.c., and therefore a.g. 416 would answer to a.d. 105. There appears to be some error in the date.
[3151] The king reigning in the fifteenth year of Trajan was Maanu Bar Ajazath, the seventh king of Edessa after Abgar the Black.
[3152] It would thus appear that Paganism and Christianity were tolerated together in Edessa at this time, equal honour being attributed to the head of each religious party. Cf. Teaching of Addæus, p. 661: “Neither did King Abgar compel any man by force to believe in Christ.”
[3153] A little before the passage quoted in the last note it is said that this altar was left standing when the altars to Bel and Nebu were thrown down.
[3154] Perhaps this is the same as the “Archives” mentioned p. 007, note 14.
[3155] B. adds, “before the god Zeus.”
[3156] B. adds here: “And in all these things thou hast forgotten God, the Maker of all men, and because of His long-suffering hast exalted thyself against His mercy, and hast not been willing to turn to Him, so that He might turn to thee and deliver thee from this error, in which thou standest.”
[3157] Lit. “thy old age.”—Tr.
[3158] The Peshito, for Ζεύς in Acts xiv. 12, has “Lord of the gods.”
[3159] B. has “the work of men’s hands.” [Jer. xvi. 20.]
[3160] B. makes a considerable addition here, which it is hardly necessary to quote, the words being in all probability only an interpolation. Cureton elsewhere remarks: “I have almost invariably found in these Syriac mss. that the older are the shorter, and that subsequent editors or transcribers felt themselves at liberty to add occasionally, or paraphrase the earlier application in regard to early Christian literature.—Tr. [But Cureton is speaking for his pet idea.]
[3161] Or “destitute of.”—Tr.
[3162] Lit. “a hidden dead man.”—Tr.
[3163] B. adds, “from Sharbil, his tears flowed and he wept.”
[3164] B. adds, “of baptism, baptizing him.”
The “seal” (σφραγίς) is probably explained by such passages as Eph. iv. 30, that which bore the seal being regarded as the property of him whose seal it was. Thus Gregory Naz. (Orat. 40) speaks of baptism. See Riddle’s Christian Antiqq., p. 484.—Tr.
[3165] [This identifies the “seal” with baptism.]
[3166] B. adds, “and he sat and listened to the Scriptures of the Church, and the testimonies which are spoken in them, touching the birth and the passion and the resurrection and the ascension of Christ; and, when he saw those that came down to him—”
[3167] In B., in a passage added further on, he is styled “Lysinas,” and in the Martyrdom of Barsamya, infra, “Lysinus” or “Lucinus.” In the Martyrologium Romanum he is called “Lysias præses.” Tillemont supposes him to be Lusius Quietus. But the time does not agree. The capture of Edessa under this man was in the nineteenth year of Trajan, four years later than the martyrdom.
[3168] B. adds, “from the Sharirs of the city.”
[3169] B. has added several lines here.
[3170] B. adds, “the Sharirs of the city.”
[3171] Lit. “in which they stand.”—Tr.
[3172] Lit. “kings:” and so throughout.—Tr.
[3173] The Syriac is *** (toris), and is a foreign word, probably the Latin loris, which the Syriac translator, not understanding it or not having an equivalent, may have written loris, and a subsequent transcriber have written toris. It is plain that the latter copyist to whom the text B. is due did not know what is meant: for he has omitted the word, and substituted “Sharbil.”
[3174] B. reads “governor” (ἡγεμών), and so generally in the corresponding places below.
[3175] B. reads “discern.”
[3176] Or “judgment.”—Tr.
[3177] The word used is the Latin “officium” (= officiales, or corpus offialium—Tr.), which denoted the officers that attended upon presidents and chief magistrates. The equivalent Gk. τάξίς is used below [in the Martyrdom of Habib, “attendants”].
[3178] Or “soul.”—Tr.
[3179] Those who officiated at a “quæstio,” or examination by torture.—Tr. The Latin “quæstionarii.”
[3180] i.e., Heb. אֱלוּלּ from the new moon of September to that of October. [See p. 666, supra.]
[3181] Lit. “to be a plea.”—Tr.
[3182] Or “thou art not the avenger of.”—Tr.
[3183] Lit. “candles of fire.”—Tr.
[3184] The passage from this place to “in the eyes,” below, is lost in A., and supplied from B.
[3185] Or “dealer in fables,” if the word employed here, which is a foreign one, be the Latin “fabularius,” which is not certain.
[3187] So Cureton. Dr. Payne Smith remarks: “Cureton’s ‘chest’ is a guess from ***. The only sense of *** with which I am acquainted is cadus, a cask.” The word occurs again in the Martyrdom of Habib. In both places it seems to refer to some contrivance for holding fast the person to be scourged. The root appears to be ***, custodivit, retinuit (Castel).—Tr.
[3188] The martyr Minias, about a.d. 240, had the same torture inflicted on him: “ligneis verubus præcutis sub ungues ejus infixis, omnes digitos ejus præcepit pertundi.” See Surius, Sanctt. Vit.
Not “the same,” perhaps.—Tr.
[3189] Or “bitterly.”—Tr.
[3190] Here a few lines have been torn out of A., and are supplied from B.
[3191] “Which” is not in the printed text.—Tr.
[3192] The word used looks like a corruption of the Latin craticula. Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. v. 1, uses the Gk. word for this (τήγανον) in describing the martyrdom of Attalus, who “was set in the τήγανον, and scorched all over, till the savour of his burnt flesh ascended from his body.”
[3193] [St. Paul’s Stigmata. Gal. vi. 17; Phil. iii. 11.]
[3194] Or “bitter.”—Tr.
[3195] Or “beam.”—Tr.
[3197] Lit. “of confessorship.”—Tr.
[3198] Lit. “of confessorship.”—Tr.
[3199] The Latin “velum,” or rather its plur. “vela.”
[3200] The Gk. ἀπόφασις.
[3201] This expression χαλινὸν ἐμβαλεῖν is used similarly in the life of Euthymus in Eccl. Græc. Monumenta, vol. ii. p. 240.
[3202] See Teaching of the Apostles, Ord. 1, p. 668, note 1.—Tr.
[3203] Lit. “have pity on my salvation.”—Tr.
[3204] By a transposition of letters, B. reads “laics.”
[3205] B. has several lines here in addition.
[3206] The passage hence to the end is evidently a later addition by a person unacquainted with chronology: for it is stated at the beginning of these Acts that the transactions took place in the fifteenth year of Trajan, a.d. 112; but Fabianus (see next note) was not made bishop of Rome till the reign of Maximinus Thrax, about the year 236. [An index of the history of this postscript.]
[3207] B. reads “Fabianus:” in A. the first syllable, or rather letter, has been dropped.—The mention of Fabianus probably arose from the fact of his having instituted notaries for the express purpose of searching for and collecting the Acts of Martyrs.
[3208] The Greek ἔπαρχος.—Tr.
Further, the Martyrdom of Barsamya, the Bishop of the Blessed City Edessa.
[3209] This is taken from the ms. cited as B. in the Acts of Sharbil. There is an Armenian version or extract of this still in existence: see Dr. Alishan’s letter referred to on p. 665. [See elucidation, p. 689, infra.]
[3210] This is a mistake for Cerealis, and the consulate meant must be that of Commodus Verus and Tutilius Cerealis, which was in the ninth (not fifteenth) year of Trajan, which agreed with the 416th year of the Greeks, or a.d. 105.
[3211] See note on p. 678.
[3212] Called Labu at p. 678.
[3213] Lit. “authority.”—Tr.
[3214] See note 6 on p. 658.—Tr. [The Syriac for “assuredly.”]
[3215] Lit. “this mind.”—Tr.
[3216] Lit. “portrayed and fixed.”—Tr.
[3217] [Guardian angels.] Comp. Dan. iv. 13. This designation was given to angels after the captivity, in which the Jews had become familiar with the doctrine of tutelary deities.—Tr.
[3218] Lit. “the Spirit of His Godhead.”—Tr.
[3219] This seems to be Lusius Quietus, Trajan’s general in the East at this time.
[3220] Or “kings.”—Tr.
[3221] We have here probably the most authentic copy of the edict of Trajan commanding the stopping of the persecution of the Christians, as it was taken down at the time by the reporters who heard it read.
[3222] Lit. “am far removed.”—Tr.
[3223] 2 Cor. viii. 12. Both the Peshito and the Greek (if τίς be rejected) have “what it hath:” not “what it is.”—Tr.
[3224] See note on p. 678.—Tr.
[3225] Perhaps “Eutropius.”
[3226] What follows, down to the end, is a much later addition, evidently made by the same ignorant person as that at p. 685, above: see note 2 there.
[3227] That is “Pius.” The blunder arose from taking the prefix D (?) as a part of the name.
[3228] i.e., “Sixtus.”—Tr.
[3229] Or “Eortis.” The person referred to is “Evaristus.” Cureton reads “Erastus:” it does not appear why.—Tr.
[3230] i.e., “Linus:” see p. 675, note 3.—Tr.
[3231] See note 3 on p. 667.—Tr. [Also see p. 666, supra.]
[3232] Put by mistake for “sixteenth,” which agrees with the statement of Julius Africanus as to the date of our Lord’s death; also with the year of the consulate of Rubellius Geminus and Fufius Geminus (the persons intended below), and with the year of the Greeks 341, which was a.d. 29 or 30.
[3233] Prop. “rising,” as of the sun.—Tr.
[3234] The Greek ειλητάριον: see Du Fresne, Glossarium.
Martyrdom of Habib the Deacon.
[3235] This is found in the same ms. as the preceding: Cod. Add. 14,645, fol. 238, vers.
[3236] August.—Tr.
[3237] They were consuls together in a.d. 312, 313, 315.
[3238] It does not appear who is meant.—Tr.
[3239] The Greek στρατηγία, with a Syriac termination. Στρατηγοί was used for the Latin Magistratus or Duumviri.
[3240] He laid the foundation of the church at Edessa a.d. 313: see Assem., Bibl. Orient., vol. i. p. 394.
[3241] Called “Thelsæa” by Metaphrastes, p. 700, infra.
[3242] Lit. “learn and see.”—Tr.
[3243] The word used is probably ἐντολικός = præfectus: see Dr. Payne Smith, Thes. Syr.—Tr.
[3244] Dr. Wright’s reading, by the change of a letter, for “shall perish.”—Tr.
[3245] This place was on the right bank of the Euphrates, and derived its name from a bridge of boats laid across the river there. It was about forty miles from Edessa.—Tr.
[3246] Cureton has ***, which he renders “alone.” Dr. Payne Smith considers this a mistake for ***.—Tr.
[3247] In Latin, “Theotecnus.”
[3248] Or “an old man.”—Tr.
[3249] The Gk. τάξις here used corresponds to the Latin officium. See note 4 on p. 679.
[3250] Or “domestics.”—Tr.
[3251] Lit. “rectitude.”—Tr.
[3252] Lit. “then.”—Tr.
[3253] See note 3 on p. 681.—Tr.
[3254] Lit. “Wilt thou renounce that in which thou standest?”—Tr.
[3255] Lit. “scourgings.”—Tr.
[3256] [Seems to be a reference to Rev. xx. 4.]
[3257] Pointing to the image.—Tr.
[3258] Or “the stocks.” The word is of the most indefinite kind, answering to ξύλον and lignum.—Tr.
[3259] For this sense, which appears to be the one intended, it is necessary to change *** into ***.—Tr.
[3261] Lit. “it is written for me.”—Tr.
[3262] Rom. viii. 18.—Tr.
[3263] Matt. x. 39.—Tr.
[3264] Matt. vii. 6.—Tr.
[3265] Chaldee, “restrain (literally, smite) His hand.” See Dan. iv. 35.—Tr.
[3266] Or “departed from his covenant.”—Tr.
[3267] The Gk. κοιμητήριον.—Tr.
[3268] Cureton’s “for” seems not so good, the reference not being to a single tomb.—Tr.
[3269] Probably that in which Sharbil and Babai were buried: see p. 684, above.
[3270] Lit. “secular persons,” or “men of the world.”—Tr.
[3271] In Simeon Metaphrastes, whose copy would seem to have had a slightly different reading, it is written Bethelabicla, and is said to lie on the north side of the city.
[3272] i.e., the sixth day of the week. See note 9 on p. 668.—Tr.
[3273] As Simeon Metaphrastes, infra, evidently made use of these Acts of Habib in his account of that martyr, it is probable that his narrative of the martyrdom of Guria and Shamuna also was founded on the copy of their Acts to which Theophilus here refers.
Martyrdom of the Holy Confessors Shamuna, Guria, and Habib, from Simeon Metaphrastes.
[3274] Cureton gives it in Latin.—Tr.
[3275] This piece is taken from the well-known work of Surius, De probatis Sanctorum vitis. It does not appear who made this Latin translation.
Metaphrastes is a celebrated Byzantine writer, who lived in the ninth and tenth centuries. He derives his name from having written paraphrases, or metaphrases, of the lives of the saints. Fabricius gives a list of 539 lives commonly attributed to him.—Dr. W. Plate, in Smith’s Dict. Biog. and Myth.—Tr.
[3276] [A token of mediæval origin.]
[3277] Ps. cxlvi. 3.—Tr.
[3278] Dux.
[3279] Matt. x. 33.—Tr.
[3280] 2 Cor. iv. 16.—Tr.
[3281] Or “through his disobedience in the matter of the tree,” if per ligni inobedientiam are the real words of the Latin translator, who is not, generally speaking, to be complimented for elegance or even correctness, but seems to have made a servile copy of the mere words of the Greek.—Tr.
[3282] Matt. x. 28.—Tr.
[3283] 2 Cor. v. 1.—Tr.
[3284] Lit. “with one foot.”—Tr.
[3285] i.e., the anniversary.—Tr.
[3286] In the Syriac account “Telzeha:” see p. 690, supra.—Tr.
[3287] Compare the “combs” of the Syriac, p. 684, supra.—Tr.
[3288] Reading “totum” for “solum.”—Tr.
[3289] Rom. viii. 18.—Tr.
[3290] Lit. “bitter.”—Tr.
Moses of Chorene. History of Armenia.
[3291] This extract is taken from the edition, in two volumes, printed at Paris, of which the following is the title: MOÏSE, DE KHORÈNE, auteur du Ve Siècle: HISTOIRE D’ARMÉNIE, texte Arménien et traduction Francaise, avec notes explicatives et précis historiques sur l’Arménie, par P. E. Le Vaillant de Florival.
[3292] Book ii. chapter. xxvi.
II. Founding of the town of Edessa; brief account of the race of our illuminator.
[3293] Chapter xxvii.
[3294] Chapter xxviii.
IV. Abgar returns from the east; he gives help to Aretas in a war against Herod the Tetrarch.
[3295] Chapter xxix.
[3296] Chapter xxx.
VI. Abgar’s letter to the Saviour Jesus Christ.
[3297] Chapter xxxi.
[3298] Chapter xxxii.
VIII. Preaching of the apostle Thaddæus at Edessa; copy of five letters.
[3299] Chapter xxxiii.
IX. Martyrdom of our apostles.
[3300] Chapter xxxiv.
X. Reign of Sanadroug; murder of Abgar’s children; the princess Helena.
[3301] Chapter xxxv.
XI. Restoration of the town of Medzpine; name of Sanadroug; his death.
[3302] Chapter xxxvi.
[3303] The ms. from which this is taken is Cod. Add. 17,158, fol. 30 vers. Mar Jacob, bishop of Sarug, or Batnæ, was one of the most learned and celebrated among all the Syriac writers. He was born a.d. 452, made bishop of Sarug a.d. 519, and died a.d. 521. He was the author of several liturgical works, epistles, and sermons, and, amongst these, of numerous metrical homilies, of which two are given here. Assemani enumerates no less than 231. Ephraem Syrus also wrote a similar homily on Habib, Shamuna, and Guria.
The metre of the original in this and the following homily consists of twelve syllables, and six dissyllabic feet; but whether they were read as iambs ortroches, or as both, appears to depend on the nature of the Syriac accentuation, which is still an unsettled question. Hoffmann, in his slight notice of the subject (Gram. Syr., § 13), merely says: “Scimus, poësin Syriacam non quantitatis sed accentus tantum rationem habere, versusque suos syllabarum numero metiri. Quâ tamen poëseos Syriacæ conditione varietas morarum in pronuntiandis vocalibus observandarum non tollitur.”—Tr.
[3304] Lit. “here and there.”—Tr.
[3305] Cureton has “prosperous,” which Dr. Payne Smith condemns, remarking: “*** I find generally used for the Gk. ἄριστος, and once or twice for κράτιστος. It answers more frequently to strenuus = courageous, heroic.”—Tr.
[3306] Lit. “the party” or “side.”—Tr.
[3307] As in Gal. v. 7, answering to the Gk. ἐγκόπτω. The verb *** (Pa.) properly means to disquiet (as in John xiv. 1), then to hinder.—Tr.
[3308] The ordinary word for “Christians” in these documents is the borrowed Χριστιανοί: here a native word is used, formed from the one which we read as “Messiah.”—Tr.
[3309] A corruption of the word σαμψηρά is used here. It is said by Josephus, Antiq., xx. 2, 3, to have been the name given by the Assyrians to some kind of sword. Suidas mentions it as a barbarian word for σπάθη, a broadsword. Cureton’s “scimetar” would be preferable, as being somewhat more distinctive, if it appeared that a scimetar could have two edges.—Tr.
[3310] The temptation was strong to render ***, “became unleavened” (or, “tasteless”), a sense apparently required by the decided figure employed and by the language of the next couplet, where “insipid ” corresponds to “salt.” The word *** (= ἄζυμον), moreover, if not the Arabic *** (to which Schaaf, though it does not appear on what authority, assigns the meaning “sine fermento massam subegit”), seems to point in the same direction. Dr. Payne Smith, however, is not aware of any instance of the proposed meaning: he says, “My examples make *** = ἐκλείπω, to fail.”—Tr.
[3311] Or “brought to contempt.”—Tr.
[3312] Lit. “society.”—Tr.
[3313] Or “that his voice might cease.”—Tr.
[3314] Lit. “mooted.”—Tr.
[3315] Lit. “reached the king in great rage (i.e., so as to cause great rage, *** being often = εἰς denoting result), and, because…, he decreed.”—Dr. Payne Smith.
[3316] Lit. “openness of countenance.”—Tr.
[3317] Prop. “agitate questions.”—Tr.
[3318] Or “deacon.”—Tr.
[3319] Or “so as to cease.”—Tr.
[3320] Lit. “he entered into bondage.”—Tr.
[3321] The equuleus is meant.—Tr.
[3322] Or “of the sacrifices.”—Tr.
[3323] Lit. “bitterly.”—Tr.
[3324] Jer. xvii. 5.—Tr.
[3325] Lit. “side,” or “party.”—Tr.
[3326] Lit. “the sacrifices of.”—Tr.
[3327] Lit. “from him.”—Tr.
A Homily on Guria and Shamuna.
[3328] Or “who changes not.”—Tr.
[3329] Σαμψηρά.—Tr.
[3330] Or “salvation:” a different word from that used in speaking of the serpent.—Tr.
[3331] Lit. “as a man.”—Tr.
[3332] Or “rending asunder.”—Tr.
[3333] Lit. “the garden.”—Tr.
[3334] i.e., “Bethsaida.”—Tr.
[3335] Or “steward.”—Tr.
[3336] Lit. “with openness of countenance.”—Tr.
[3337] Lit. “portray the image of their crowns.”—Tr.
[3338] Lit. “magnified his words.”—Tr.
[3339] Lit. “as breath.”—Tr.
[3340] Lit. “how much the outstretched forms bore in consequence of the inflictions.”—Tr.
[3341] Or “depend.”—Tr.
[3342] Or “beloved.”—Tr.
[3343] Lit. “purchase.”—Tr.
[3344] ***, though not in the lexicons, is the same word that appears in Castel as ***.
[3345] Lit. “to the forms (σχήματα) of all afflictions.”—Tr.
[3346] This seems preferable to Cureton’s “Ye are the stewards of (her) faith.” The expression exactly corresponds in form to that in Luke xvi. 8 (Peshito): “the steward of injustice” ="the unjust steward.”
[3347] Lit. “crucifixion.”—Tr.
[3348] Or “elders.”—Tr.
[3349] By this name the men referred to (not, however, the elders, but the two false witnesses suborned by them) are called in 1 Kings xxi. 10, 13. The expression in the text is literally “sons of iniquity,” and that is used by the Peshito.—Tr.
[3350] Or “have an open countenance.”—Tr.
Introduction to Ancient Syriac Documents.
[3351] New-York Independent, June 24, 1886.
[3352] That is, in vol. xxii. of the Edinburgh edition.
[3353] Vol. xxiv., ed. Edinburgh. The latter was formerly ascribed to Justin Martyr.
[3354] The Ambrose and the Serapion.
Bardesan. The Book of the Laws of Divers Countries.
[3355] Lit. “Son of Daisan,” from a river so called near Edessa.—Hahn. [Elucidation I. “The Laws of Countries” is the title. For “Various Countries” I have used “Divers.”]
[3356] Called by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iv. 30, The Discourse on Fate (῾Ο περὶ εἱμαρμένης διάλογος). This is more correct than the title above given: the “Laws” are adduced only as illustrations of the argument of the piece. The subject would, however, be more properly given as “The Freedom of the Will.”
[3357] Lit. “going in.” Cureton renders, “we went up.”
[3358] Lit. “felt him.”
[3359] Lit. “before him.” Merx: “ehe er kam.”
[3360] The word used is formed from the Greek εὐσχημόνως. [Here observe what is said (in Elucidation I.) by Nöldke on the Hellenization theory of Mommsen, with reference to this very work; p. 742, infra.]
[3361] Lit. “hast anything in thy mind.”
[3362] Lit. “there are for thee other things also.”
[3363] *** is here substituted for the *** of the text, which yields no sense.
[3364] Lit. “the wisdom of the truth.”
[3365] Lit. “are not able to stand.”
[3366] Or, “in the hand of the operator;” but it is better to employ two words.
[3367] Or, “and the sphere.”
[3368] The word ***, here used, occurs subsequently as a designation of the Gnostic Æons. Here, as Merx observes, it can hardly go beyond its original meaning of ens, entia, Wesen, that which is. It evidently refers, however, in this passage to a system of things, a world.
[3369] Lit. “required.” [It is a phenomenon to find this early specimen of “anthropology” emanating from the far East, and anticipating the Augustinian controversies on “fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute.” Yet the West did not originate the discussion. See vol. iv. p. 320. See the ethical or metaphysical side of free-will discussed in Eaton’s Bampton Lectures for 1872, p. 79, ed. Pott, Young, & Co., New York, 1873. On St. Augustine, see Wordsworth’s valuable remarks in his Bampton Lectures for 1881.]
[3370] Gen. i. 27. The Hebrew itself, בצלס אלהיס is given in Syriac characters, without translation.
[3371] Cureton renders, “for which he is created.” Merx has, “das ihn gemacht hat.”
[3372] The Greek στοιχεῖα.
[3373] ***, that which exists, especially that which has an independent existence, is used here of the Gnostic Æons. They were so called in respect of their pre-existence, their existence independent of time or creation. When they came to be “created,” or more properly “fashioned,” they were called “emanations.”
[3374] Lit. “of their nature.”
[3375] Lit. “the strength of their exactness,” i.e., their exact (or complete) strength. Cureton has, “their force of energy.”
[3376] “being lessened,” or “lowered.”
[3377] Lit. “do not take place by.”
[3378] Cureton renders, “have the use of his hands:” Merx gives “etwas erwirbt.”
[3379] Or “towns.”
[3380] Lit. “without ill-will.”
[3381] Lit. “every man in whom there is a soul.”
[3382] Lit. “can do rejoicing.”
[3383] The Greek ζιζάνια.
[3384] Lit. “a mind the son of the free.”
[3385] Lit. “is the man’s own.”
[3386] Lit. “is not sound in his nature.”
[3387] Cureton, “for good hope.” But *** is a common expression for “in hope,” as in Rom. viii. 20.
[3388] Lit. “did one deed.”
[3389] Lit. “used one mind.”
[3390] Lit. “in whom there is a soul.”
[3391] Φύσις.
[3392] Lit. “as children of the free.”
[3393] Lit. “in which there is a soul.”
[3394] Lit. “let him see.”
[3395] Lit. “patient,” i.e., tolerant of the craving which seeks gratification.
[3396] Lit. “in which they had stood.”
[3397] Or “volitions.”
[3398] Lit. “have stood in.”
[3399] So Merx, “in either Rede.” Cureton, “by a vain plea.”
[3400] Lit. “this knowledge of art (or skill).”
[3401] To what other work of his he refers is not known.
[3402] Cureton, “is capable.” Dr. Payne Smith (Thes. Syr., s.v.) says, referring to *** as used in this passage: “eget, cupit, significare videtur.”
[3403] So Dr. Payne Smith. Merx renders, “Even that which men desire to do.” Cureton has, “and the same men meditate to do.”
[3404] Lit. “the sevenths.”
[3405] Lit. “Chaldæans.”
[3406] Lit. “my weakness.”
[3407] Or “sects” (αἱρέσεις).
[3408] Lit. “rich.”
[3409] ***, Shlitâne. [Of Angels, see vol. i. p. 269.]
[3410] ***, Medabhrâne. Merx, p. 74, referring to the Peshito of Gen. i. 16, thinks that by the Potentates are meant the sun and moon, and by the Governors the five planets.
[3411] [The book of Job and the Book of Ecclesiastes, with the eloquent and pathetic remonstrance (chap. iii. 18–22) “concerning the estate of the sons of men,” are proofs that God foresaw the struggles of faith against the apparently unequal ways and rulings of Providence. For popular answers see Parnell’s Hermit, and Addison, Spectator, No. 237. But a valuable comment may be found in Wordsworth’s Bampton Lectures (for 1881) on the one Religion, p. 5, Oxford, Parker, 1881.]
[3412] Merx renders *** by “emanation,” quoting two passages from Eph. Syr. where the root *** is used of the issuing of water from a fountain. Dr. Payne Smith says: “The word seems to mean no more than cursus: cf. Eusb., Theoph., i. 31. 5, 55. 1, 83, 22, where it is used of the stars; and i. 74. 13, where it means the course of nature.”
[3413] Read *** for ***.
[3414] Lit. “in their descents.”
[3415] Lit. “in their descents.”
[3416] Or “nativity,” “natal hour” (*** = place of birth, “Geburtshaus:” Merx).
[3417] Lit. “this agent of change.” Cureton, “this alternation.” “Das diese Veränderung bewirkende Agens” is the rendering of Merx.
[3418] Dr. Payne Smith thinks the reference to be to the Gnostic νοῦς, ψυχή, and σῶμα, which seem to be spoken of just before. This difficult passage is rendered by Cureton: “And this alternation itself is called the Fortune, and the Nativity of this assemblage, which is being sifted and purified for the assistance of that which,” etc. Merx has, “…zur Unterstützung des Dinges, welches…unterstützt worden ist und unterstützt bleibt bis zur Vernichtung des Weltalls.”
[3419] Lit. “are Nature’s own.”
[3420] Lit. “a sufficiency in measure for all bodies.”
[3421] Lit. “be heads to.”
[3422] Lit. “know ye distinctly.”
[3423] Or “heads.”
[3424] Lit. “agent of change,” as above. Merx: “das Veränderungs-princip.”
[3425] Lit. “excellence.”
[3426] i.e., zones of the earth. See p. 732, note 2, infra.
[3427] Or, “power as to themselves.”
[3428] Lit. “the matter compels thee to be convinced.”
[3429] Lit. “Chaldæans.”
[3430] Lit. “Chaldaism.”
[3431] The Greek κλίμα, denoting one of the seven belts (see p. 732, below) into which the earth’s latitude was said to be divided. The Arabs also borrowed the word.
[3432] Or “family.”
[3433] That is, their own “houses,” as below. Each house had one of the heavenly bodies as its “lord,” who was stronger, or better “located” in his own house than in any other. Also, of two planets equally strong in other respects, that which was in the strongest house was the stronger. The strength of the houses was determined by the order in which they rose, the strongest being that about to rise, which was called the ascendant.
[3434] Lit. “the signs of humanity.”
[3435] The text adds ***.
[3436] Lit. “while Mars was witness to them.”
[3437] The difficult word *** is not found in the lexicons. Dr. Payne Smith remarks that it could only come from ***, which verb, however, throws away its ***, so that the form would be ***. He suggests, doubtfully, that the right reading is ***, from ***, which is used occasionally for appetite, and forms such an adjective in the sense of animosus, animâ præditus; and that if so, it may, like *** in Jude 19; 1 Cor. 15.44,46, be = ψυχικοί, having an animal nature, sensual. Eusebius and Cæsarius have σπατάλους, a word of similar force.
[3438] Cureton’s rendering, “and some adorn themselves,” etc., is not so good, as being a repetition of what has already been said. It is also doubtful whether the words can be so construed. The Greek of Eusebius gives the sense as in the text: κοσμοῦσαι πολλῷ χρυσῷ καὶ λίθοις βαρυτίμοις τοὺς ἵππους. If ***, horses, be masc., or masc. only, as Bernstein gives it, the participle should be altered to the same gender. But Dr. Payne Smith remarks that Amira in his Grammar makes it fem. Possibly the word takes both genders; possibly, too, the women of Bactria rode on mares.
[3439] Lit. “possess.”
[3440] The zenith.
[3441] Lit. “name,” or “report.”
[3442] Lit. “made.”
[3443] Lit. “is not very angry.”
[3444] Eusebius has, Παρ᾽ ῞Ελλησι δὲ καὶ οἱ σοφοὶ ἐρωμένους ἔχοντες οὐ ψέγονται.
[3445] Lit. “how many times.”
[3446] The text of Eusebius and the Recognitions is followed, which agrees better with the context. The Syriac reads “Germans.”
[3447] So Eusebius: ἀγχονιμαίῳ μόρῳ. Otherwise “suffocation.”
[3448] So called from containing each ten of the parts or degrees into which the zodiacal circle is divided. Cf. Hahn, Bardesanes Gnosticus, p. 72.
[3449] Lit. “who surround the whole world.”
[3450] Lit. “have been in all the winds.”
[3451] Lit. “for.”
[3452] Lit. “able.”
[3453] Lit. “commands.”
[3454] According to Neander, General Church History, i. 109, this was the Abgar Bar Manu with whom Bardesan is said to have stood very high. His conversion is placed between 160 and 170 a.d.
[3455] For ***, Merx, by omitting one ***, gives ***, “readings.” But what is meant is not clear. Ephraem Syrus ascribes certain compositions of this name to Bardesanes. Cf. Hahn, Bard. Gnost., p. 28.
[3456] Or “Hutra.”
[3457] Lit. “this man who is seen.”
[3458] Lit. “all natures.”
[3459] Lit. “this order.”
[3460] Lit. “natures.”
[3461] The Greek σύνοδοι.
[3462] The five planets are called by their Greek names, Κρόνος, κ.τ.λ.
A Letter of Mara, Son of Serapion.
[3463] [Elucidation I. p. 742, infra. See p. 722, supra.]
[3464] Lit. “good conscience.”
[3465] Or, “my daily converse is with learning.” So Dr. Payne Smith is inclined to take these difficult words, supplying, as Cureton evidently does, the pronoun ***. The construction would be easier if we could take the participle *** as a passive, and render: “It (the kind of life men lead) has been explored by me by means of study.”
[3466] Lit. “Græcism.”
[3467] The meaning probably is, that the maxims referred to lost their importance for him when he entered upon the new life of a Christian (so Cureton), or their importance to mankind when Christianity itself was born into the world. But why he did not substitute more distinctive Christian teaching is not clear. Perhaps the fear of persecution influenced him.
[3468] That is, the matters constituting “a liberal education.”
[3469] Cureton’s less literal rendering probably gives the true sense: “with whose liberty nothing else can be compared.”
[3470] Cureton: “I have heard.” The unpointed text is here ambiguous.
[3471] Read ***, instead of ***, “peoples.”
[3472] Perhaps “our” is meant.
[3473] Cureton: “and the dark cloud collected our sighs.” But the words immediately following, as well as the fact that in each of the clauses the nominative is placed last, favours the rendering given.
[3474] Lit., “borrowed.”
[3475] Lit., “because thy loneliness has.”
[3476] Or “error.” He may refer either to the delusion of those who pursue supposed earthly good, or to the false appearances by which men are deceived in such pursuit.
[3477] For *** read ***.
[3478] Cureton: “A sage among men once began to say to us.” This would require ***, not ***.
[3479] ***.
[3480] Lit., “made captive.”
[3481] For *** read ***.
[3482] No verb is found in the lexicons to which *** can be referred. It may perhaps be Eshtaphel of a verb ***, cognate with ***, “to be bent.”
[3483] For *** read ***.
[3484] Or “moderation.”
[3485] Cureton: “dumb.” The word *** has both senses.
[3486] Or “penitent.”
[3487] So Dr. Payne Smith, who is inclined to take *** in the sense, “it goes before, it is best, with respect to it.” Cureton translates, “it should also proceed to practice,” joining *** with the participle just mentioned; whereas Dr. Smith connects it with ***, thus: “but that it should be put in practice is best with respect to it.”
[3488] This appears to show that the life of learned seclusion which he has been recommending is one of celibacy—monasticism.
[3489] Or, “and thou shalt be to me a comfort,” as Cureton.
[3490] That is, “myself.”
[3491] Such appears to be the sense of this obscure passage. The literal rendering is, “We acknowledged of old that we received equal love and honour to the fullest extent from her multitude” (or, from her greatness); “but the time forbade our completing those things which were already accomplished in our mind.” What things he refers to (for his words seem to have a particular reference) is not clear. The word rendered “greatness,” or “multitude,” is in reality two words in pointedmss. Here it does not appear, except from the sense, which is intended.
[3492] Lit., “We are putting ourself to the proof to see how far we can stand in wisdom,” etc.
[3493] “This is a very hopeless passage.…Perhaps the codex has ***, ‘the kingdom of our ruin,’ i.e., the ruined country in which we used to dwell. For possibly it refers to what he has said before about the ruined greatness of his city, captured by the Romans. I suppose Mara was a Persian.”—Dr. Payne Smith.
[3494] Or, “the time.”
[3495] This piece has much in common with the Discourse to the Greeks (Λόγος πρὸς ῞Ελληνας), ascribed by many to Justin, which is contained in vol. i. pp. 271–272 of this series. Two things seem to be evident: (1) That neither of the two pieces is the original composition: for each contains something not found in the other; (2) That the original was in Greek: for the Syriac has in some instances evidently mistranslated the Greek.
[3496] The Greek ὑπομνήματα.
[3497] Lit., “and in the beginning of his words.”
[3498] Lit. “what is the newness and strangeness of it.”
[3499] The word also means “sin;” and this notion is the more prominent of the two in what follows.
[3500] It is difficult to assign any satisfactory meaning to the word ***, which appears, however, to be the reading of the ms., since Cureton endeavours to justify the rendering given. “Calamities,” a sense the word will also bear, seems no easier of explanation. If we could assume the meaning to be “nations” (nationes), a word similar in sound to that found in the text, explaining it of heathen peoples, Gentiles (comp. Tertullian, De Idol., 22, “per deos nationum”), this might seem to meet the difficulty. But there is no trace in this composition of a Latin influence: if a foreign word must be used, we should rather have expected the Greek ἔθνη.
[3501] Il., ii. 177 sq.
[3502] Lit., “they say.”
[3503] It has been proposed to substitute in the Greek copy λιπαροῦ, “dainty,” for λεπροῦ. But the Syriac confirms the ms. reading. The term is thought to be expressive of the contempt in which shepherds were held. See vol. i. p. 271, note 1.
[3504] In the Greek this is adduced as an evidence of his weakness: “because he was unable to stop his ears by his self-control (φρονήσει).”
[3505] ***, the reading of the text, which can only mean “fled,” is manifestly incorrect. The Aphel of this verb, ***, “caused to flee,” is suggested by Dr. Payne Smith, who also proposes ***, “exstirpavit.”
[3506] Or, “your heroes.”
[3507] This is not intended as a translation of ***, which is literally “conquered.” Dr. Payne Smith thinks it just possible that there was in the Greek some derivative of ὑπερβάλλω ="to surpass belief,” which the Syrian translator misunderstood.
[3508] This is conjectured to be the meaning of what would be literally rendered, “et id quod coactum est.”
[3509] Lit., “of how many censures is…full.”
[3510] Since he could change his form to suit his purpose.
[3511] That is, “the Daughter” (namely, of Demeter), the name under which Proserpine was worshipped in Attica.
[3512] Because the behaviour of which he had to complain was sanctioned by the highest of the gods.
[3513] For ***, “was tried,” read ***. The Greek has μεμίσητο. Cureton: “forgotten.”
[3514] The word is “Balthi.”
[3515] Dr. Payne Smith reads *** instead of ***, word which, as Cureton says, is not in the lexicons.
[3516] The reading of the Greek copy, ἀκολάστως ζῶσαν, is here given. The Syrian adapter, misunderstanding ἀκολάστως, renders: “and is without punishment.”
[3517] Cureton, “break.”
[3518] Lit. “look at.”
[3519] So in the Greek copy. The Syriac, which has “valiant,” appears to have mistaken ἄνανδροι for ἀνδρεῖοι.
[3520] The tradition seems to be followed which makes Procne to have been changed into a swallow, and her sister (Philomela) into a nightingale.
[3521] Cureton: “play with a tremulous motion.” But the Syriac very well answers to the Greek ἐκκαλούμενοι πρὸς οῖστρώδεις κινήσεις, if we take *** to denote result: q.d., “so as to produce movement.”
[3522] Greek, ἐκβακχευόμενοι.
[3523] Lit. “bed of falsity.” [Compare notes on vol. i. pp. 271, 272.]
[3524] For previous quotations refer to p. 721, supra.
[3525] It must not be inferred that I speak as a Syriac scholar. I have laboured unsuccessfully, and late in life, to repair my sad neglect at an earlier period; and I can speak only as a penitent.
[3526] Dean Payne Smith has assumed the unfinished task of Bernstein.
[3527] See his Preface to the Testament, published at Hamburg a.d. 1664. He had the type cut at his personal expense, and set up the press and lodged the printers in his own house.
[3528] See his translation of the Peshito Syriac version, Stanford & Swords (Bishop Hobart’s publishers), New York, 1855.
Search Comments
This page has been visited 0061 times.
| << | Contents | >> |
10 per page