546 THE JOURNAL OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES A HOMILY OF ST EPHREM. THE MS in which the following Homily is found is in the Library of the India Office (Ethiop. and Syr., No. 9). Prof. Wright, who exa- mined it in 1886, describes it as follows : ' Paper, about 8^ inches by 6 J; 444 leaves, 2 columns, 20 to 29 lines. Leaves are wanting at the beginning and end, as well as after ff. 40 (eleven) and 49 (ten). The quires are of 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 leaves, though 10 predominates; they Downloaded from are signed with letters. This volume is written by two hands, in good, regular Nestorian characters, from the year 1698 to the year 1713 A.D.' {A. G. 2024). For a further description reference may be made to G. Hoffmann's, Opuscula Nestoriana p. lii. http://jts.oxfordjournals.org/ Amongst the contents of the MS are :— The Arabic and Syriac Lexicon of Elias bar Shenaza, Bishop of Nisibis: cf. Lagarde, Praetermissorum Libri Duo; an explanation of difficult words, Syrian and Greek, in the Sdghdinan, by Gabriel Kamse, Metropolitan of Mosul (cf. Assem. B. O. (in 1 p. 566); Universal Canon, by John bar Zobi (Assem. B. O. iii 1 307); Bar-Hebraeus, r<e!a&\& pdxSiCCo .TCVflo.-j (cf. Hoffman's Auszitge p. 231 note 1897, and Ass. B. O. ii 269 note 1); John bar Zobi, discourse in seven-syllable metre at University of Strathclyde on April 9, 2015 on four philosophical problems; Isho'-bokht, Metropolitan of R'eu- Ardashir (cf. Noldeke Gesch. d. Perser und Araber p. 19), on Ten Categories (not mentioned by Assemani in B. O. iii 1 pp. 194-5); writings of David bar Paul of Beth Rabban (Assem. B. O. ii 243), cf. Duval La Litterature Syriaque pp. 380, 406); selections from the Capita Scientiae of Evagrius, with the commentary of Rabban-aphni- Maran (Assem. B. 0. iii 1 187); dialogue between Joseph Hazzayaand disciple ; the book of amusing and facetious stories of Bar-Hebraeus, the subscription to which gives the date .i^K'r*'; extract from the work of Mar Abhd-Isho', Bishop of Nisibis, entitled ' Ordinatio iudiciorum et legum ecclesiasticarum' (Assem. B. O. iii 1 360). It was from this MS that G. Hoffmann published (1) The Canons of Rabban Honain and Rabban 'Anan-Isho', (2) Expositions of difficult words in tha Old and New Testaments, in his Opuscula Nestoriana. The Homily or Hymn is of interest as professing to deal with the opinions of the mysterious and interesting person Bardaisan. But it will been seen that it does not add much to our knowledge of what Bardaisan actually taught. The quarrel which the author picks with DOCUMENTS 547 the famous thinker is over the use of the word K^AuK*. The former would restrict the name to the One Deity, while his opponent appar- ently does not shrink from employing the word to designate created things, e. g. fire. As to the authorship of the homily an objection to its ascription to Ephrem might be raised on the score of the metre. Ephrem does not seem to have commonly used the twelve-syllable verse. Indeed it was supposed that it was invented by Jacob of Sarug (Assem. B. 0. iii 1 p. 3, and Cod. Vat. 389). Assemani, however, seems to think that Downloaded from this metre, together with those of five and seven syllables, goes back to Bardaisan or Harmonius (£. 0. i 61). And even if the evidence for this opinion is slender, we certainly have occasional twelve-syllable lines in Ephrem (cf. Lamy Hymni et Sermones vol. iii p. 13), so that the authorship of Ephrem need not be precluded by the metre which is used. http://jts.oxfordjournals.org/ On the other hand, the general style and contents of the Homily support the ascription of the MS. It is from Ephrem that we derive most of our knowledge of Bardaisan, as Hilgenfeld * says ' so ist und bleibt die Hauptquelle Ephrem'. And it is in the works of Ephrem that we find the closest parallel to the objections raised against the heretic in this hymn. Thus he writes (Op.' Syr. et Lat. Rom. vol. ii p. 443 D):— at University of Strathclyde on April 9, 2015 r«l»i\J."K' re^-rnr^ CLSnso .... [Bardaisan asserted and affirmed that two Gods could not possibly be.... And if not (two) Gods, then there are not (two) Ithye. They set four Ithye according to the four quarters, one they set in the deep, another in the height, &c] And .again (p. 444), ' Marcion and Bardaisan falsely assert the blasphemy that the Creator is not One', rC.ii-> s.\ oocn L (For Ephrem's use of r£»&v»r< cf. p. 554 c.) And elsewhere (p. 532) a heretic is referred to as recognizing as r<I»Aurc; air, fire, water. Hahn and Hilgenfeld suppose this to be Bardaisan. It is noticeable too that the author devotes much more space to the 1 Bardesanes der leiete gnostiker (Leipzig, 1864) p. 39. N n 2 548 THE JOURNAL OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES exposition of the right belief than to the examination of the errors of his opponent. This is quite in Ephrem's manner; so the very fact that we learn so little about Bardaisan is some evidence that the ascription of the homily to Ephrem is not incorrect. The general style of the attack and the treatment of the particular case accordingly both point in' the same direction, supporting the authorship of Ephrem. Downloaded from ._ rt\£s crA GOTO Jwsi crA ocn.i r£»&ur^ Oob :tu .PVM caisso K^x. ocas ©coo http://jts.oxfordjournals.org/ ^a.i cucn at University of Strathclyde on April 9, 2015 aA in^. K'^aa rtflAn Ocn .!& ens ^i -T^ reLso.i Ami ^o ^acW&ir*'.! o r£sicma rdauoi w/n*aittvo rdsooi col DOCUMENTS 549 ^o.i AaA K'CTAK' AK1 ^.irC ^co .>cnc\i&ocn AAS KIICLU retlso col »*oA.i y .oca cnAucAl juji&vsn wrt" reiird^ ^SQ Kilo Downloaded from http://jts.oxfordjournals.org/ oA oca .Sk»ai.i ^ Oca at University of Strathclyde on April 9, 2015 uiiuu ^r^ re'iopcarj Oca vyO ^ ctca •:• v-,-^-1 A& cairq KlflOLA rdAo isa-iil y^TOkir) AA l rdioca oca >a."vo.i yJ^U ^r^ ?S'W \ AOT vy ,cr> ^ ^ .v\"i=3-1 icnoAurC' v^*oi.l r^uoi y^T&i A \ A 1 So MS points. MS' has S3 of CD&UlX»jfilQ in red. The omission of SO would make the scansion right. 550 THE JOURNAL OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES _ OL."i.i TJrc* r^Ai KiAuK' cucn .roA\ftni*»iv nellLsoAvso r^l.i rdLuj cuco Downloaded from Oca http://jts.oxfordjournals.org/ •:• ^D.TSS rdA ^sa \x^.r<f ^Ocoli rd-Ljj o.i*» K'icu re'vi^J ctx.ivA ^socu Art1 K'oo cuco at University of Strathclyde on April 9, 2015 rtlfiaxa.i vv«''<' oruoco .'uz.rfi ^_^>.ii DOCUMENTS 551 Translation. Again, a hymn of Mar Ephrem against Bardaisan. There is One Being, who knows Himself and sees Himself. And He dwells in Himself, and from Himself sets forth. Glory to His Name. This is a Being who by His own will is in every place, who is invisible and visible, manifest and secret. He is above and below. Mingling and condescending by His grace among the lower (beings); Downloaded from loftier and more exalted, as befits His glory, than the higher. The swift cannot exceed his swiftness, nor the slow outlast his patience. He is before all and after all, and in the midst of all.. He is like the sea, in that all creation moves in Him. As the water besets the fish in all their movements, so also does God beset all created things. http://jts.oxfordjournals.org/ And as the water is clad with the fish at every moment, (so) the Creator is clad with everything which is made, both great and small. And as the fish are hidden in the water, (so) there is hidden in God height and depth, far and near, and the inhabitants thereof. And as the water meets the fish everywhere it goes, so God meets every one who walks. And as the water touches the fish at every turn it makes, (so) God accompanies and sees every man in all his deeds. Men cannot move from earth which is their chariot, neither does at University of Strathclyde on April 9, 2015 any one go far from the Just One who is his associate. The Good One is united to all His possessions, which are everywhere, as the soul is united to the body, and light to the eyes. A man is not able to flee from his soul, for it is with him. Nor is a man hid from the Good, for He besets him. As the water surrounds the fish, and it feels it, so also do all natures feel God. He is diffused through the air, and with thy breath enters into thy midst. He is mingled with the light, and enters, when thou seest, into thine eyes. He is mingled with thy spirit, and examines thee from within, as to what thou art. In thy soul He dwells, and nothing which is in thy heart is hid from Him. As the mind precedes the body in every place, so He examines thy soul before thou dost examine it. And as the thought greatly precedes the deed, so His thought knows beforehand what thou wilt plan.