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‘K©öw{ð{: „ï¢[é]: ‹X]r]; = preghiera nel post-communio. Anche gli ultimi due spezzoni non appaiono nella recensione araba. È doveroso concludere queste osservazioni, proposte unicamente per costruire, esprimendo un cordiale apprezzamento per questo im- portante contributo. Tedros Abraha
Sebastan Bџќѐk, Fire from Heaven: Studies in Syriac Theo logy and Liturgy (London: Varorm Reprnts, 2006) (Varorm Col lected Stdes Seres, 863) XIV + 352 pp. ISBN-10: 0-7546-5908-9. The readers of Scrinium will need no introduction to Sebastian Bџќѐј whose studies make a major contribution to various aspects of Syriac scholarship, ranging from the language and history of the Syriac-speaking world to the history, theology and ritual of the Syr- ian Churches. The Fire from Heaven represents the fourth volume of reprinted articles by Sebastian Brock from the famous Collected Stud- ies Series. Besides the obvious usefulness for Syriac scholars to have articles which were previously published in diě erent editions and pe- riodicals now in one work, for a more general audience of scholars in Patristic and Byzantine Studies and in Church History, the entire collection serves as a perfect introduction to the ecclesiastically di- vided Syriac spiritual tradition that developed a distinctive outlook in its early stages independently from Greek-speaking Christianity. The appearance of this volume is even more timely since the present schol- arly paradigm more and more oĞ en requires viewing the Mediterra- nean and Middle Eastern worlds of late Antiquity with their ethnic and doctrinal variety not as a set of separate entities that need to be studied one-by-one but as one Christian civilization developing in an active and complex interaction across languages, cultures, theological and geographical divisions. The collection consists of three major sections: a theological part on the Christology and theological terminology employed in the Church of the East, the specię c terminology of the invocations to the Holy Spirit in the Syriac liturgical tradition and its underlying doctrines, and three publications of Syriac sources containing brief exegetical pieces of liturgical rites. Although the articles were published on dif- ferent dates and in diě erent places, they are assembled in a perfect logical order constituting a continuous narrative in the course of the
Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 04:43:34PM via free access Sebastian Brock 461 volume with each subsequent one developing the theme of the previ- ous one. Each article of the leading scholar in Syriac Studies contains not only a pertinent historical overview of materials presented serving as a good reference tool, but in addition contains apt methodological considerations that may enrich a scholar from ę elds other than Syriac Studies. Part 1. The Christology of the Church of the East The ‘Nestoran’ Chrch: a Lamentable Msnomer. The ę rst article serves as an introduction to the whole section on Christology. It is argued that the name “Nestorian Church” sometimes applied to the Church of the East is thoroughly misleading. The au- thor investigates the reason for the sobriquet, aptly pointing that the “Ecumenical Councils” being summoned by the Byzantine Emperors for seĴ ling ecclesiastical controversies within the Byzantine Empire, were of no direct concern for the Church of the East located within another, Persian Empire unless the Church of the East subsequently decided to recognize their decisions as it happened with the creed and canons of the First Council of Nicaea eighty ę ve years aĞ er the Coun- cil was held. Consequently, the rejection of the Council of Ephesus by the Church of the East happened in fact not due to a doctrinal deci- sion (since no deę nition of faith was issued by the Council) but due to its irregular procedure, and the Council of Chalcedon was viewed by the Church of the East only as an unsatisfactory compromise. Indeed, Nestorius was respected by the Church of the East as “a martyr for the Antiochene Christological cause” and an anaphora aĴ ributed to Nestorius exists in the Church of the East yet none of his works except the apologetic Bazaar of Heraclides was translated into Syriac and no traces of Nestorius’ doctrinal inĚ uence can be traced in the formation of the Christological tradition of the Church of the East. Instead, in the ę Ğ h century the School of Edessa that aĴ racted many students from the Persian Empire enhanced the interaction between Christians on both sides of the Byzantine-Persian border. Within the milieu of the School with its strict Antiochene Christology many works of Theodore of Mopsuestian in the 420s were translated into Syriac, and aĞ er the closing of the School by Emperor Zeno in 489 many teachers moved across the border to Nisibis, whose School became a channel for dis- seminating the theological inĚ uence of Theodore of Mopsuestia in the East making his theology a norm of orthodoxy much the same way as Cyril of Alexandria served as the norm of orthodoxy in West Syria for Severus of Antioch.
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The Chrch of the East n the Sasanan Empre p to the Sxth Centry and ts Absence from the Concls n the Roman Empre. This article develops the theme of the previous one from a his- torical and theological perspective and presents a brief outline of the history of the Church in the Sasanian Empire up to the sixth century with special aĴ ention made to the contacts between the Churches and available sources. The author aĴ empts at correcting the “Eusebian” view on Church history as the history of the Church within the Roman Empire and the “Eurocentric” aĴ itude that still permeates works on Church history up to the present day. The origins of Christianity in the Parthian Empire (up to 224) are mostly legendary. Some sources of the late third century seem to in- dicate the existence of two Christian groups on the Persian soil that may be native Christians and Christians deported in large numbers by Shapur I in the course of his successful campaign against the Romans. This situation played a part in the greatest persecution of Christians by Shapur II that began in 341 and continued until his death in 379 and was conditioned by the hostilities between the Empires, one of which had just obtained a Christian Emperor, and a fear of the disloyalty of “Greek captivity” communities of the descendants of deported Roman people. The Synod of 410 held by the initiative of the Roman ambassa- dor and Western Syrian bishop proposed a series of reforms on eccle- siastical and calendar issues, accepted the Creed and canons of Nicaea I, and the audience of bishops with the shah aĞ er the Council of 410 was the ę rst aĴ empt to regulate the relationship between the Church and the State. It is signię cant that the acts of the Synod of 410 that are transmiĴ ed in both the Eastern Synodicon Orientale and in the Western Syriac recension reĚ ect some signię cant diě erences in Christological terminology. The next Council of 420 put an end to the interference of “western bishops,” but aĞ er the persecutions of the early 420s many Christians crossed the border and ended up in the School of Edessa whose Christology from the 420s developed a clear dyophysite charac- ter under the inĚ uence of the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia. It is emphasized over and over again that in order to have a balanced picture of this Christology we need to set aside a simplistic three-fold division of Churches into Nestorian, Monophysite and Chalcedonian and in a careful and unbiased manner examine the terminology of the Church of the East that oĞ en did not correspond word-to-word with its Greek equivalents and had serious diě erences in meaning and in its whole archaic and metaphorical tenor that led and still leads to
Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 04:43:34PM via free access Sebastian Brock 463 misunderstandings when simply equalized with customary Greek theological terms. At the same time Sebastian Brock carefully delin- eates the similarities in the semantic ę elds of the terms and underlying concepts, avoiding the pitfall of “it’s all the same but named diě er- ently,” while viewing common or even compatible ideas in a historical perspective as missed opportunities for understanding and unity. The Chrstology of the Chrch of the East. A more subtle approach to the traditional tripartite distinction be- tween the Monophysites, the Chalcedonians, and the Nestorians is proposed and presented in the form of a seven-fold model: 1. Extreme Antiocheans or true Nestorians, upholding the “two prosopa” doctrine, 2. Strict Dyophysites outside of the Roman Empire (Church of the East), 3. Strict Dyophysites within the Roman Empire such as Theodoret, the Akoimetai, or the Roman Church, 4. The group which keeps silence on the maĴ ers of Chalcedon (for example the Henoticon, or Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite), 5. Neo-Chalcedonians, 6. “Miaphysites” (Severus of Antioch and others), 7. Extreme Alexandrines (Eutychians or true Monophysites). However, the author notes that even such a division presents an oversimplię ed model since even the sevenfold system may be grouped in a diě erent way, depending on the diě erent criteria of orthodoxy ap- plied. Besides the criterion of compliance to Chalcedon’s deę nition of the middle three positions, the author proposes the criteria of a single subject in Christ, and Christ consubstantial with us and the Father that allows one to view in the same theological spectrum both the Oriental Orthodox and the Church of the East, excluding the radical positions of Eutyches and the two prosopa doctrine. In this paradigm the author locates the teaching of the Church of the East on salvation eě ected for humanity through the human nature of Christ (sometimes expressed as “Man” rather than “human nature”) and the Alexandrian concept of the full reality of the incarnated God the Word with their diě erent but compatible theological emphases. Chrst ‘the Hostage’; a Theme n the East Syrac Ltrgcal Trad- ton and ts Orgns. A curious doctrine of the assumed humanity of Christ as a hostage for the human race is aĴ ested to in several East Syriac sources. In An- tiquity the term “hostage” (Gr. ϵΐΕΓΖ, Syr. hmayr¬) did not have the
Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 04:43:34PM via free access 464 Scrinium IV (2008). Patrologia Pacię ca violent connotation it acquired in our days but designated someone who was given from one side to the other (oĞ en a vassal kingdom to the imperial power, Roman or Sasanian) as a pledge of honoring an agreement that had been made. Such a hostage was well treated and received the beneę ts of life and education at the Imperial court. The article further traces Christological implications and interplay of rich metaphorical meanings of the term in several early writers including Aphrahat and Ephrem: Adam the hostage was taken from Death by Christ, who in turn put on himself Adam’s body and became a hostage for the human race. AĞ er the epoch of the Christological controversies the West Syrian tradition dropped the usage of the metaphor and term altogether, and even the East Syrian tradition conę ned its usage to li- turgical poetry. The article is followed by a list of passages where the term occurs in a Christological context in the East Syrian hudra (texts proper to specię c festivals). Part 2. Invocations to the Holy Spirit and their Background Fre from Heaven: from Abel’s Sacrę ce to the Echarst. A Theme n Syrac Chrstanty. If the ę rst part of the collected volume served as a general introduc- tion to the theological and terminological seĴ ing of the Syrian world with a special emphasis on the East Syrian tradition, the second part of the articles deals with particular aspects of Syrian spirituality and ritual, and acquaints the reader with several liĴ le-known doctrines re- lating to the invocations of the Holy Spirit in the Syriac tradition. The article contains an analysis of Biblical background and a review of passages on ę re descending from heaven in the Syriac tradition. The author treats the pertinent passages from four main points of view: ę re as a sign that God has accepted a sacrię ce, ę re imagery in connec- tion with the Holy Spirit, with the Eucharist and Mary’s conception (given that the Eucharist and Incarnation are treated very closely in the Syriac tradition), and, ę nally, divine ę re as an actor in the mystical liturgy of the heart. ‘Come, compassonate Mother..., come Holy Sprt:’ a ForgoĴ en Aspect of Early Eastern Chrstan Imagery. It is natural for religious writers of all kinds and in all times to ap- ply metaphors in describing one or another aspect of God. If in the European tradition we are used to predominantly male imagery, the Syriac tradition was open to female imagery, readily applying in its rich and poetical theological language such metaphors as the Father’s
Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 04:43:34PM via free access Sebastian Brock 465 breasts being milked or the Godhead as a wetnurse. In certain writings from northern Mesopotamia in both Greek and Syriac, the Holy Spirit is referred to as a “mother” which is partly due to the feminine gram- matical gender of ruha when referred to the Holy Spirit in Syriac. Af- ter about the year 400, the grammatical gender started to be changed to masculine, and the feminine was avoided. The article follows this process both in Syriac translations of the Bible and Syriac theological writings. The Epcless n the Antochene Baptsmal Ordines This article presents a survey and classię cation of various types of epicleses that occur in the prayers for the consecration of baptismal water in ten baptismal services of Churches using Syriac as the litur- gical language: the Church of the East, the Syrian Orthodox, the Ma- ronite, and the Melkite Church. The author, ę rst, studies the formal structure of the baptismal epiclesis, then their content, and Biblical ref- erences, comparing, when necessary, baptismal and Eucharistic epicle- ses of the Antiochene tradition, and providing a wider background from the writings of Greek and Syriac Fathers on baptism, including John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Ephrem, Narsai, and Ja- cob of Serugh. From a structural point of view, epicleses over the baptismal water are divided into four groups depending of the type of their reference to the Holy Spirit (whether the reference is absent, the Holy Spirit is asked to “come,” the Father is asked to “send” the Holy Spirit or an epiclesis using some other verb). The more ancient “come”-type epi- clesis is the only type found among the East Syrian epicleses (although it is also present in the Greek anaphora of Basil as well as in some West Syrian anaphoras and baptismal epicleses), whereas the “send”-type is found exclusively in West Syrian and Greek texts that reĚ ect a rela- tively late development in consecratory epiclesis, regular only in the ę Ğ h century. From the point of view of the epicleses’ contents, the author singles out eight diě erent themes: reactivation of the Jordan’s waters in the font, the baptismal water as “the water of rest” (Ps. 22 (23): 2), baptism as representation of the death and resurrection of Christ, Christ’s bap- tism as a type of his own resurrection, baptismal water as the primeval water (Gen. 1: 2), as a spiritual womb (cf. John 3: 4), as a fulę llment of preę guration by the water of Bethesda (John 5: 4, 7), as the water that Ě ows from the side of Christ (John 19: 34). The main themes of the epicleses reĚ ect the conĚ ict of opinions concerning the relationship of
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Christ’s own baptism and his death, and interest in the role of the Holy Spirit in Christ’s baptism. Towards a Typology of the Epcleses n the West Syran Anaphoras The study constitutes a compliment to the existing study on East Syrian Anaphoras.1 The West Syrian tradition (Syrian Orthodox and Maronite) possesses an exceptional quantity of no less than 70 anapho- ras, 66 of which are used for the present study. The epicleses are clas- się ed according to their basic structure, syntax, verbs describing the Spirit’s descent upon the oě erings, presence or absence of “on us,” the terms of reference to bread and wine within the epiclesis, the place from where the Spirit is sent (heaven, height, etc.), epithets, accom- panying the Spirit, paradigmatic actions of the Spirit referred to in the anaphora, and consecratory verbs. The variety of Syriac anapho- ras and their complex relationship are presented in three concluding Tables. Invocatons to/for the Holy Sprt n Syrac Ltrgcal Texts: Some Comparatve Approaches This philologically oriented article surveys the invocation of the Holy Spirit in the anaphoras where verbs “send” (with the Spirit as the object) or “come” (with the Spirit or occasionally the Word as the subject) as well as verbs describing a sanctifying action are present. The author systematizes anaphoras in accordance with three main features: the diě erence between invocations (whether they are to the Father with a request to send the Spirit or to the Spirit with a request to come); the syntax; and the specię c terms describing the actions of the Spirit. The distribution of the more ancient “come” and “send” reĚ ect not a language-based diě erence (Greek vs. Syriac), but a geographi- cal and to some extent chronological diě erence. A striking variety of Syriac anaphoras as opposed to few existing Greek ones, and some surviving fragments in Greek and Coptic suggest that a similar di- versity of anaphoras might have existed in Greek, and new fragments should not necessarily be directly related to surviving Greek anapho- ras. Another methodological point raised by the author concerns the nature of borrowing between the anaphoras. It seems that instead of direct borrowing from one or another existing anaphora, the compil- ers of anaphoras used, in the words of the author, “a store of formu- laic building blocks” similarly to the stock components of epic poetry.
(1) B. Bќѡѡђ, L’Epiclèse dans les liturgies syriennes orientales, Sacris Eru- diri 6 (1954) 48–72.
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These formulaic building blocks, even in the case of their occurring in large numbers in diě erent texts should not be treated as indicators of any generic relationship but rather point to a certain shared tradition. Finally, Sebastian Brock provides evidence for a possible case of the inĚ uence of Syriac usage (a technical term aggen) on the Greek. The Lost Old Syrac at Le 1:35 and the Earlest Syrac Terms for the Incarnaton The article considers early Syriac renderings of the word πΔΉΏΉϾ- ΗΉΘ΅ from Luke 1: 35. In the absence of Old Syriac manuscripts for this passage, Syriac Diatessaron, the PeshiĴ a, Philoxenian and Har- klean all use the verb aggen with a manifestly Jewish Aramaic (Tragu- mim) background. However, in his genuine writings Ephrem quotes the passage using a diě erent verb, šr¬ (reside), another Jewish Ara- maic term of saving divine action. This verb instead of aggen is also predominant in the liturgical poetry belonging to the ę Ğ h/sixth cen- tury, including such famous authors as Narsai (d. ca. 500) and Jacob of Serugh (d. 521), as well as in Philoxenus of Mabbug. Sebastian Brock proposes two hypotheses (on the initial presence of each verb in Old Syriac) and concludes that šr¬ does not represent the lost Old Syriac of the passage, and proposes a possible explanation for choosing a less literal translation of the Greek with aggen: the translator was aware of the connection between aggen and the Hebrew p¬sah and wanted to connect the Syriac date of 10th Nissan for the conception of Jesus with the Passover narrative (Ex. 12) thus creating “a typological link between the passover lamb and Christ the paschal lamb.” An Early Interpretaton of P¬sah: ‘Agg¾n n the Palestnan Targm In antiquity there existed at least six interpretations of the verb p¬sah that occurs three times in the Biblical account of Exodus (Ex. 12:13,23,27). Its Aramaic rendering (‘agg¾n) was not only richer in nu- ances of meaning than the Hebrew equivalent higgÎn and specialized p¬sah but was by itself a technical term for saving divine activity. Passover, Annncaton and Epcless: Some Remars on the Term Aggen n the Syrac Versons of L. 1:35 This study continues the exploration of the destiny of the term ag- gen in the Syriac tradition. Its technical meaning of divine action in the Aramaic tradition led to adoption of the term by the earliest translators of the New Testament for rendering a number of Greek words. Third and fourth century Syriac writers seem to have lost the awareness of its original meaning and preferred to use other verbs. The signię cance of the term aggen was revived in the mid fourth century when it was
Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 04:43:34PM via free access 468 Scrinium IV (2008). Patrologia Pacię ca used for translating the Greek non-Biblical word πΔΚΓΘΣΝ in the epiclesis of the anaphora of James which by itself might have reĚ ected the Aramaic aggen. AĞ er that the term was actively used among the seventh- and eighth-century East Syriac mystics to describe the activ- ity exercised by the Holy Spirit upon the soul. From Annncaton to Pentecost: the Travels of a Techncal Term The article contains a chronological survey of the Syriac verb aggen (“to tabernacle”). Initially a Jewish Aramaic term for divine saving ac- tion present in the PeshiĴ a, it was used for describing divine action in the incarnation in Luke 1:35 and John 1:14. During the ę Ğ h and sixth centuries the term spread in usage beyond these passages: Philoxenus uses it for describing the action of the Holy Spirit in the baptism of Christ. Since in the East Syriac tradition the term designated divine ac- tion upon human beings, the term was avoided in the case of Christ’s Baptism and Transę guration, most likely to counter possible charges of adoptionism, and among the feasts aggen was predominantly used for Pentecost. The term was also used in sanctię cation of water for Christian baptism, for blessing baptismal candidates and candidates for ordina- tion, in a number of anaphoras, and in the East Syriac mystical tradition for describing inner spiritual experience. The ę ndings of the article are summarized in three Tables tracing its occurrence in Syriac NT, PeshiĴ a OT and Targum, and the chronological development of the term. The Ruah ElçhÎm of Gen. 1:2 and ts Recepton Hstory n the Syrac Tradton The Syriac tradition reveals a whole variety of solutions for the problem of interpreting the Biblical ruah elçhÎm of Gen. 1:2. which could mean divine Spirit, generative power or simply “wind.” As the accompanying participle for the action of the ruah the PeshiĴ a has rahhep that is associated with the activity of the Holy Spirit thus pro- viding a sacral understanding of ruah elçhÎm. The understanding of the ruah as the Holy Spirit is aĴ ested to in the Acts of Thomas; the same interpretation is proposed by a “Syrian” from Basil of Caesaria’s Commentary on Hexaemeron (II.6) who is now known to be Eusebius of Emessa. The opposite view of ruah as referring to wind/air is repre- sented by Ephrem and Theodore of Mopsuestia in their Commentaries on Genesis, whose authority made this view dominant among the stu- dents of the School of Edessa and since the seventh century it became a standard interpretation of this passage in the Church of the East. In the West Syriac tradition Jacob of Serugh followed the same view whereas
Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 04:43:34PM via free access Sebastian Brock 469 most writers agree with Basil and his Syrian (whom many wrongly identię ed with Ephrem). This controversy over interpretation is also reĚ ected in the liturgical texts of diě erent Syriac traditions. Part 3. Editions and Translations Some Early Syrac Baptsmal Commentares Syriac preserves three interrelated ę Ğ h-seventh century commen- taries on the baptismal service that are collated and published along with their English translation. Their earliest form was likely used by Narsai, and it is aĴ ested to in the Mss. of all three Syriac Churches, Chalcedonian (where it is aĴ ributed, wrongly, to John Chrysostom), Syrian Orthodox, and Church of the East (where it is preserved in a Sogdian translation). The fact that the commentary must have existed prior to the division of the three ecclesiastical traditions as well as the absence of post-baptismal anointing, becoming widespread in the An- tiochene region only in the second half of the ę Ğ h century, allows the editor to date the commentary to the beginning of the ę Ğ h century. The commentary shows some similarities to Theodore of Mopsuestia yet reveals a more primitive structure of the service which means that both belong to the same catechetical tradition. An Early Syrac Commentary on the Ltrgy Some Mss. used for the edition of the baptismal commentary in the previous article also contain a commentary on the Eucharistic liturgy, and the edition of this Commentary, its English translation and detailed notes are presented in this article. It is very fortunate that in the present volume these originally separate publications covering a single docu- ment can be put side by side. The commentary testię es to the Syrian catechetical tradition around 400, and served as a source for later com- mentaries of all three Syriac-speaking Churches for many centuries. Gabrel of Qatar’s Commentary on the Ltrgy The publication contains a new English translation of the important but liĴ le known Commentary on the Liturgical Services of the Church of the East by Gabriel of Beth Qatraye (early seventh century) that is preserved in a single not quite complete manuscript (British Library, Or. 3336 (13th C.)) as well as the listings of chapters of ę ve Memre of the Ms. This earliest extant East Syriac commentary on the liturgy apart from Narsai’s liturgical verse homilies dates from a time before the radical liturgical reforms of Catholicos Isho’yahb III (649–659). Vladimir Baranov
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