Jacob of Edessa

The fact that the Qurʾān made no attempt to introduce the jinn suggests that its initial audience was already familiar with them in some way. Yet it remains unclear as to who this audience was, what preconceptions they might have had, and whence they derived them. Scholarship on this problem has tended to assume that the early audience of the Qurʾān knew about the jinn from pre-existing beliefs held by the polytheistic Arab tribes, as reflected in the so-called pre-Islamic corpus of poetry. Thus, the scholarly debate has focused on the assumed shift from the autochthonous cult of the jinn to the strict monotheistic message of Islam. However, this line of argument is circular, given the fact that the “pre-Islamic” corpus shows signs of subsequent influence and redaction from the Qurʾān itself. If the polytheistic Arab tribes were as familiar with the jinn as claimed by modern scholarship, then this would certainly be reflected in the abundant references to spiritual beings in the epigraphic and apotropaic sources in the Semitic languages that can be reliably dated prior to the Qurʾān. But the opposite is the case: there seems to be no awareness of the jinn as such in these sources. So one must look elsewhere for the pre-Qurʾānic origins of the jinn. By comparing the Qurʾānic profile of the jinn with contemporaneous Jewish and Christian scriptural traditions in the broadest sense, one may recognize a number of thematic continuities with an ambivalent class of spiritual beings presented in certain retellings of the book of Genesis, especially the Book of Jubilees, which was translated into Ethiopic no later than the seventh century CE. Such traditions, whether indirect or direct, were evidently familiar to Ethiopic-speaking Christians around the time the Qurʾān was promulgated, and probably Syriac-speaking Christians as well, although this is less certain. Therefore, it is likely that the Qurʾān was invoking related traditions that must have been familiar to “the People of the Book” and their milieux.

This article explores the textual witness of Jacob of Edessa’s revision of Daniel. Jacob’s is an aggregate and mixed text, one that combined both Syriac and Greek biblical traditions. Yet perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Jacob’s Daniel is his conscious effort to include not only “Theodotion” but also Old Greek traditions. This article focuses on his witness to the latter, which is demonstrated at both the micro- and macro-textual levels. Special attention is also paid to the chronological presentation of the Daniel cycle Jacob’s version transmits, particularly the unique location of ch. 9. It is argued that Jacob adopted this chapter order from a lost OG manuscript whose text had previously been altered, perhaps under the influence of Porphyry.

The aim of this paper is to provide a survey of a few Syriac texts, from the 6th to the 9th century, dealing with some questions about the soul. Except for the first treatise, a "Logos peri psychès" translated from Greek into Syriac, all the others were composed in Syriac, by Aḥudemmeh (6th century), Jacob of Edessa (7th century), John of Dara and Moshe bar Kepha (9th century). In this paper we are interested in the properly philosophical aspects of the works, even if the context of their composition was religious. It will emerge that a brief corpus of questions is common to all the authors, – questions about the existence, the incorporeality, the simplicity, the eternity of the soul. Moreover, as it will appear, some authors tried to find harmony between philosophy and theology.

“Eshatologie în Anafora Sfântului Iacob” in Orientalia Patristica - Papers of the International Patristic Symposium April 23-27 2018, Didahia Severin Publishing Drobeta-Tumu-Severin, 2019, p. 453 – 488.
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This is a Romanian translation to my article: “Eschatology in Jacob of Edessa’s Anaphora” in Orientalia Patristica - Papers of the International Patristic Symposium April 23-27 2018, Didahia Severin Publishing Drobeta-Tumu-Severin, 2019, p. 166–200.

“نافور مار يعقوب الرهاويّ +708” المجلّة البطريركيّة السريانيّة الأرثوذكسيّة، دمشق (العدد الأول 2015) tr. [Mor Jacob of Edessa’s Anaphora,] The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Journal 1, Damascus (2015), pp. 15–45.

Among the distinguished liturgical treasure of the Syriac Anaphoras, the one attributed to Mor Jacob of Edessa (708+) deserves a serious attention by comparing it with other Jacob’s woks and letters. This article, which is mainly based on a PhD dissertation , tries to shed light on this important liturgical text that can be linked with the attributed author by comparing its historical context with the circumstances of the Syrian Christian community where Mor Jacob of Edessa used to live. He had the similar challenges during the advent of Islam in the region of North Syria; as can be concluded in his other writings and letters addressed to different monks. The similarities between the circumstances of this Anaphora’s author, considering the eschatological aspects that are remarkably noticed in the text, with Mor Jacob of Edessa’s context are striking. This study is an attempt towards a better understanding of a certain liturgical text attributed to a famous Church author by comparing it with different authentic texts in order to discover some similarities. This paper also presents the Syriac text, according to a 13th century manuscript (Sachau 196), with the Arabic translation in order to make it accessible for the Syriac priests who treat Syriac Anaphoras as living texts.

Through the lens of Jacob of Edessa’s remarks on the Eucharist, this study aims to address when and how Muslims were recognized as a distinctive religious group. This article statistically analyzes Jacob’s use of particular terminology applied to Muslims, Arab rulers, and other adversaries. His careful distinction between ruling powers and faithful adherents demonstrates that Syrian Christians were keenly aware of Muslim religious identity by the late-seventh century.

L’article analyse le traitement des noms composés au sein de la tradition grammaticale syriaque. À partir d’un modèle grec multiple, intégrant à la fois l’adaptation de la Téchne grammatiké et les commentaires syriaques au Peri Hermeneias, les auteurs syriaques développent au fil du temps une théorie indépendante, en établissant une typologie tantôt morphologique-syntactique, tantôt sémantique. Une analyse des exemples choisis révèle aussi une oscillation entre la nécessité d’expliquer la structure des composés empruntés au grec et la volonté de décrire et de classer des composés proprement syriaques et d’en comprendre la structure morphologique.

The strange case of Qamṣū of Edessa, the woman "whom the earth threw up". Ephrem of Nisibis mentions in two excerpts the history of a woman in Edessa who, during his time or even before, was the spiritual head of the Šabtāyē. The account is remarkably similar to the legend of Pope Joan and should serve to ridicule the ignorance of those people who were mocked by a female. The history of this woman also appears, with more details, in a letter written by Jacob of Edessa. This article analyzes those Syriac texts and the historicity of that information.

This paper will try to study the Syriac Liturgical Anaphora of Jacob of Edessa (d.708) from an eschatological perspective. One of the main challenges while studying the massive liturgical corpus of Syriac Anaphoras that we have over 80 texts with various patristic authority names (such as the Cappadocian Fathers in addition to other key names in the Syriac Church theology such as Severus, Jacob Baradeus, Jacob of Serug, Philoxenos of Mabbug, etc..). However, most of these names are attributed possibly for the purpose of gaining credibility in the Syriac liturgical community. The argument of this paper is whether we can find some pieces of evidence inside the liturgical text of Jacob of Edessa’s Anaphora to indicate a sort of a relationship between the author and Jacob of Edessa. After presenting a general introduction about Syriac Anaphoras, I will present the text according to the manuscript Sachau 196 and I will analyse the text by studying how the word “faith” is occurring inside it to reflect a feeling of a community praying in persecution and understanding liturgy in an eschatological dimension; thus, it might be similar to Jacob of Edessa’s circumstances.

13 -The Comma Calmly Considered - The Eastern Witnesses : Arabic, Armenian, Ethiopian, Syriac. One of the ad hoc arguments of the critics is to claim that Eastern Christians knew nothing of the Heavenly & Earthly Witnesses (I John 5:7,8). Of course they attempt to demonstrate their argument by pointing to the “evidence” that has been allowed to pass through their preconceived filter. What is striking in this obvious shell game, is that quite a number of Eastern fathers did acknowledge the Heavenly & Earthly Witnesses. Not in some obscure writings, but they did so in confessions and defense of Christian doctrines. Some of the most renowned Eastern fathers have written alluding to or specifically quoting the Heavenly & Earthly Witnesses.
Eastern Fathers; Johannine Comma; Heavenly Earthly Witnesses; tres unum sunt; Ephrem of Antioch; Narsai; Philoxenus; Jacob of Edessa; Al-kindi; Armenian Councils; Sisensis; Adanensis; Sagga Za'ab; Tasfa Seyon; Damiao de Gois; Ethiopian; Arabic; Syriac; Comma Johanneum; Assemani; Islam; Muslim; Theology; Anton Baumstark; Brian Daley;

Jacob of Edessa (d. 708), the polymath of the monastery at Qenneshirn, presents some of the first responses to Islam, capturing daily interactions with the church’s new Muslim neighbors. Prior to the church’s fascination with positioning Islam in apocalyptic literature, Jacob’s writings indicate recognition of something religiously distinct, without sensationalism, interwoven in communal life. Through the lens of the defining practice of the Eucharist, this study examines what Jacob says with regards to Muslims in the vicinity of the holy elements, drawing on his concern for confessional purity against Chalcedonian adherents, and presenting a comparative glimpse regarding Christian interactions with Muslims.
Situating Jacob of Edessa’s response to Islam requires a methodological framework that is attuned to confessional concerns and the uses of terminology in Jacob’s milieu. This paper first looks at confessional concerns among Jacob and his contemporaries, with attention paid to scholarship about defining distinct religious communities in late antiquity and the role of the Eucharist in framing debates. Next, an overview of the terminology available to Jacob is given (including ṭayyāyê, mhaggrāyê, arabāyê, ḥanpê, and heretīqâ), exploring labels used to describe the new Arab rulers and adherents of the faith they brought with them. Analysis of both the vocabulary and Jacob’s usage of specific terms will then frame the discussion of Jacob’s comments regarding his Muslim neighbors and the Eucharist. By understanding Jacob of Edessa’s response to Islam through the evaluation of his comments with regard to Muslims in proximity to the Eucharist, one sees both his steady concern with church purity and his careful attention to the use of Syriac terms.

“Câteva consideraţii despre Iacov de Edessa şi Hexaimeronul Sfântului Vasile cel Mare” in: Orientalia Patristica - Papers of the International Patristic Symposium May 1-4, 2017 (No. IV/2017), Didahia Severin Publishing Drobeta-Turnu-Severin 2018, pp. 504–534.

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This is a Romanian translation to my article: “Some Remarks on Jacob of Edessa & Basil of Caesarea’s Hexaemeron” in : Orientalia Patristica - Papers of the International Patristic Symposium May 1-4, 2017 (No. IV/2017), Didahia Severin Publishing Drobeta-Turnu-Severin 2018, p. 203–231.