A Syrian In Greek Dress

The identification and publication of an ancient Armenian translation of Eusebius of Emesa's Commentary on Genesis (1980) and the edition of fragments of his work in the Greek Catena in Genesim have opened new perspectives for the study of this fourth-century scholar and bishop of Syrian descent. This book now brings together the evidence of the various branches of tradition of this work, the oldest complete Antiochene commentary to survive. The author concentrates on one of the most striking characteristics of Eusebius' commentary: its interest in translation problems and appeal to alternative readings. Apart from the Septuagint, the version commented on, Eusebius quotes "the Syrian" (ho Syros) and "the Hebrew" (ho Hebraios). It has long been unclear what or who answered to these names. The author proposes a new solution to this problem. The first part of this study deals with the content and affiliations of all biblical quotations in the Commentary, and with their place in Eusebius' method of exegesis. The author demonstrates that Eusebius refered to the Hebrew and Syriac texts in their original languages. He had direct access to the Syriac text (and is thus one of the oldest witnesses to the Peshitta version), but used informants for his knowledge of the Hebrew text. His approach in assessing the value of the different versions of the biblical text is contrasted with that of his predecessors Origen and Eusebius of Caesarea, his contemporary Jerome, and later Antiochene exegetes who followed or criticized him. The second part gives the basis of the first: it is a collection of all passages that cite alternative readings. All texts are given in their original languages and in English translation. A commentary deals with the textual tradition of each passage, identifies the questions Eusebius wanted to solve by the use of alternative readings, contrasts his handling of the text with that of others, establishes his sources, and studies the biblical quotations in detail.

Jacob of Edessa is considered the most learned Christian of the early days of Islam. Exactly 1300 years after his death in 708, fifteen articles written by prominent specialists sketch a fascinating picture of his life and times.

Collection of articles arranged in 5 subsections: Historiography and rhetoric, Christianity in its social context, art and representation, Byzantium and the workings of the empire, and late antiquity in retrospect.

This book studies the afterlife of one of the most well known fragments of the Hebrew Bible. Following the lead of the biblical text through a number of patristic and classical rabbinic sources, it sheds new light on the way Church Fathers and Rabbis approach the themes of procreation, labour, mortality and corporeality.

Most readers of religious literature have no knowledge of the Bible that was used almost universally by early Christians, or of how that Bible was birthed, how it grew to prominence, and how it differs from the one used as the basis for most modern translations. Timothy Michael Law offers the first book for non-specialists to illuminate the Septuagint and its significance for religious and world history.

This text examines doctrinal conflicts concerning the dual nature of Christ in the period after the Council of Chalcedon by considering the life and works of Philoxenos of Mabbug (c.440-523), a Syriac theologian whose surviving corpus amounts to some 500,000 words.

Efter 451 (Chalcedon-synoden) kom syrisk-sprogede kirker til at reprAesentere det ikke-ortodokse. Forud gik 150 ar, hvor kirkesproget i Syrien nok primAert var grAesk, men hvor en sproglig, kulturel og kirkelig mangfoldighed, af og til spAendinger, gjorde sig gAeldende - ikke mindst nar de bibelske skrifter skulle oversAettes og fortolkes. Denne periode og de meget forskelligartede kilder til forstaelse af den (pa grAesk, syrisk, latin og armenisk) har vAeret genstand for en stor del af Henning Lehmanns forskning - i denne bog i form af 15 artikler fra arene 1969-2008.

Shifting Cultural Frontiers in Late Antiquity explores the transformation of classical culture in late antiquity by studying cultures at the borders - the borders of empires, of social classes, of public and private spaces, of literary genres, of linguistic communities, and of the modern disciplines that study antiquity. Although such canonical figures of late ancient studies as Augustine and Ammianus Marcellinus appear in its pages, this book shifts our perspective from the center to the side or the margins. The essays consider, for example, the ordinary Christians whom Augustine addressed, the border regions of Mesopotamia and Vandal Africa, 'popular' or 'legendary' literature, and athletes. Although traditional philology rightly underlies the work that these essays do, the authors, several among the most prominent in the field of late ancient studies, draw from and combine a range of disciplines and perspectives, including art history, religion, and social history. Despite their various subject matters and scholarly approaches, the essays in Shifting Cultural Frontiers coalesce around a small number of key themes in the study of late antiquity: the ambiguous effects of 'Christianization,' the creation of new literary and visual forms from earlier models, the interaction and spread of ideals between social classes, and the negotiation of ethnic and imperial identities in the contact between 'Romans' and 'barbarians.' By looking away from the core and toward the periphery, whether spatially or intellectually, the volume offers fresh insights into how ancient patterns of thinking and creating became reconfigured into the diverse cultures of the 'medieval.'