The Hymns on Faith
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ST. EPHREM THE SYRIAN

THE HYMNS ON FAITH

Translated by

JEFFREY T. WICKES

Saint Louis University

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS

Washington, D.C.

Copyright © 2015

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS

All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ephraem, Syrus, Saint, 303-373.

[Hymni de fide. English]

Hymns on faith / St. Ephrem the Syrian ; translated by Jeffrey Thomas Wickes, St. Louis University.

pages cm. — (The fathers of the church, a new translation ; volume 130) Includes bibliographical references and index.

isbn 978-0-8132-2735-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Hymns, Syriac. 2. Hymns, Syriac--Translations into English. I. Wickes, Jeffrey Thomas, 1978– translator. II. Title.

br65.e633h9513 2015

264'.014023—dc23

2014042752

THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

A NEW TRANSLATION

VOLUME 130

EDITORIAL BOARD

David G. Hunter

University of Kentucky

Editorial Director

Andrew Cain

University of Colorado

Brian Daley, S.J.

University of Notre Dame

Susan Ashbrook Harvey

Brown University

William E. Klingshirn

The Catholic University of America

Joseph T. Lienhard, S.J.

Fordham University

Rebecca Lyman

Church Divinity School of the Pacific

Wendy Mayer

Australian Catholic University

Robert D. Sider

Dickinson College

Trevor Lipscombe

Director

The Catholic University of America Press

FORMER EDITORIAL DIRECTORS

Ludwig Schopp, Roy J. Deferrari, Bernard M. Peebles, Hermigild Dressler, O.F.M., Thomas P. Halton

Carole Monica C. Burnett

Staff Editor

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Syriac Transliteration Chart

Abbreviations and Sigla

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

i. Ephrem and Syriac Christianity

ii. Ephrem’s Life and Works

iii. The Collection of the Hymns on Faith

iv. The Audience and Context of the Hymns on Faith

v. The Language of Investigation and Ephrem’s Theological Voice

a. bṣâ

b. b‘â

c. draš

d. ‘qab

e. Other Vocabulary

vi. A Note on Translation

THE HYMNS ON FAITH

Hymn One

Hymn Two

Hymn Three

Hymn Four

Hymn Five

Hymn Six

Hymn Seven

Hymn Eight

Hymn Nine

Hymn Ten

Hymn Eleven

Hymn Twelve

Hymn Thirteen

Hymn Fourteen

Hymn Fifteen

Hymn Sixteen

Hymn Seventeen

Hymn Eighteen

Hymn Nineteen

Hymn Twenty

Hymn Twenty-One

Hymn Twenty-Two

Hymn Twenty-Three

Hymn Twenty-Four

Hymn Twenty-Five

Hymn Twenty-Six

Hymn Twenty-Seven

Hymn Twenty-Eight

Hymn Twenty-Nine

Hymn Thirty

Hymn Thirty-One

Hymn Thirty-Two

Hymn Thirty-Three

Hymn Thirty-Four

Hymn Thirty-Five

Hymn Thirty-Six

Hymn Thirty-Seven

Hymn Thirty-Eight

Hymn Thirty-Nine

Hymn Forty

Hymn Forty-One

Hymn Forty-Two

Hymn Forty-Three

Hymn Forty-Four

Hymn Forty-Five

Hymn Forty-Six

Hymn Forty-Seven

Hymn Forty-Eight

Hymn Forty-Nine

Hymn Fifty

Hymn Fifty-One

Hymn Fifty-Two

Hymn Fifty-Three

Hymn Fifty-Four

Hymn Fifty-Five

Hymn Fifty-Six

Hymn Fifty-Seven

Hymn Fifty-Eight

Hymn Fifty-Nine

Hymn Sixty

Hymn Sixty-One

Hymn Sixty-Two

Hymn Sixty-Three

Hymn Sixty-Four

Hymn Sixty-Five

Hymn Sixty-Six

Hymn Sixty-Seven

Hymn Sixty-Eight

Hymn Sixty-Nine

Hymn Seventy

Hymn Seventy-One

Hymn Seventy-Two

Hymn Seventy-Three

Hymn Seventy-Four...

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About The Hymns on Faith

Ephrem the Syrian was born in Nisibis (Nusaybin, Turkey) around 306 CE, and died in Edessa (Sanliurfa, Turkey) in 373. He was a prolific author, composing over four hundred hymns, several metrical homilies, and at least two scriptural commentaries. His extensive literary output warrants mention alongside other well-known fourth-century authors, such as Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil of Caesarea. Yet Ephrem wrote in neither Greek nor Latin, but in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic. His voice opens to the reader a fourth-century Christian world perched on the margins between the Roman and Persian Empires. Ephrem is known for a theology that relies heavily on symbol and for a keen awareness of Jewish exegetical traditions. Yet he is also our earliest source for the reception of Nicaea among Syriac-speaking Christians. It is in his 87 Hymns on Faith—the longest extant piece of early Syriac literature—that he develops his arguments against subordinationist christologies most fully. These hymns, most likely delivered orally and compiled after the author’s death, were composed in Nisibis and Edessa between the 350s and 373. They reveal an author conversant with Christological debates further to the west, but responding in a uniquely Syriac idiom. As such, they form an essential source for reconstructing the development of pro-Nicene thought in the eastern Mediterranean. Yet, the Hymns on Faith offer far more than a simple Syriac pro-Nicene catechetical literature. In these hymns Ephrem reflects upon the mystery of God and the limits of human knowledge. He demonstrates a sophisticated grasp of symbol and metaphor and their role in human understanding. The Hymns on Faith are translated here for the first time in English on the basis of Edmund Beck’s critical edition.

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