EPHRAEM
499
EPHRAEM
Ethiopian (translations as yet unedited). In medie-
val times some of his minor works were translated
from the Greek into Slavonic and Latin. From these
versions were eventually made French, German, Ital-
ian, and English adaptations of the ascetic writings of
St. Ephraem. The first printed (Latin) edition was
based on a translation from the Greek done by Am-
brogio Traversari (St. Ambro.se of Camaldoli), and
issued from the press of Bartholomew Guldenbeek of
Sultz, in 1475. A far better edition was executed
by Gerhard Vossius (1589-1619), the learned provost
of Tongres, at the request of Gregory XIII. In 1709
Edward Thwaites edited, from manuscripts in the
Bodleian Library, the Greek text, hitherto known only
in fragments. The Syriac original was unknown in
Europe until the fruitful Oriental voyage (1700-07)
of the Maronites Gabriel Eva, Elias, and especially
Joseph Simeon Assemani (1716-17), which resulted in
the discovery of a precious collection of manuscripts
in the Nitrian (Egypt) monastery of Our Lady. These
manuscripts foimd their way at once to the Vatican
Library. In the first half of the nineteenth century
the British Museum was notably enriched by similar
fortunate discoveries of Lord Prudhol (1828), Curzon
(1832), and Tattam (1839, 1841). All recent editions
of the Syriac original of Ephraem's writings are based
on these manuscripts. In the Bibliotheque Nationale
(Paris) and the Bodleian (O.xford) are a few Syriac
fragments of minor importance. Joseph Simeon
Assemani hastened to make the best use of his newly
found manuscripts and proposed at once to Clement
XII a complete edition of the writings of Ephraem in
the Syriac original and the Greek versions, with a new
Latin version of the entire material. He took for his
own share the edition of the Greek text. The Syriac
text was entrusted to the Jesuit Peter Mobarak
(Benedictus), a native Maroniie. After the death of
Mobarak, liis labours were continued by Strphanus
Evodius A.ssemani. Finally this monumental edition
of the works of Ephraem appeared at Rome ( 17:52-46)
in six folio volumes. It was completed l)y the labours
of Overbeck (Oxford, 1865) and Bickell (t'armina
Nisibena, 1866), while other savants edited newly
found fragments (Zingerle, P. Martin, Rubens Duval).
A splendid edition (Mechlin, 1882-1902) of the hymns
and sermons of St. Ephraem is owing to the late
Monsignor T. J. Lamy. However, a complete edition
of the vast works of the great Syriac doctor is yet to
be executed.
(2) Exegetical Writings. — Ephraem wrote com- mentaries on the entire Scriptures, both the Old and the New Testament, but much of his work has been lost. There is extant in Syriac his commentary on Genesis and on a large portion of Exodus; for the other books of the Old Testament we have a Syriac abridg- ment, handed down in a catena of the ninth century by the Syriac monk Severus (851-61). The com- mentaries on Ruth, Esdras, Nehemias, Esther, the Psalms, Proverbs, the Canticle of Canticles, and Eccle- siasticus are lost. Of his commentaries on the New Testament there has survived only an Armenian version. The Scriptural canon of Ephraom resembles our own very clo.sely. It seems doubtful that he accepted the douterocanonical writings; at least no commentary of his on the.se books ha.s reached us. On tlu^ other hand he accepted as canonical the apoc- ryphal Third Epistle to the Corinthians, and wrote a commentary on it. Tlie Scriptural text used by Ephraem is the Syriac Pcshito, slisjlilly ilitfering, how- ever, from the printed text of that very ancient version. The New Testament was known to him, as to all Syrians, both Ivistern and Western, before the time of Rabulas, in I lie harmonized "Diatcssaron" of Tatian; it is also this text which serves as the basis of his com- mentary. His text of the Acts of the Apostles ap- pears to have been one closely related to that called the "Occidental". (J. R. Harris," Fragments of the
Commentary of Ephrem Syrus upon the Diatessaron",
London, 1905; J. H. Hill, "A Dissertation on the
Gospel Commentary of St. Ephraem the Syrian",
Edinburgh, 1896; F. C. Burkitt, "St. Ephraun's
Quotations from the Gospel, Corrected and Arranged",
in"TextsandStudies",Caml)ri.lgc, 1901, VII, 2.) The
exegesis of Ephraem isthat of tin Syriac writers gener-
ally, whether hellenized or not, and is closely related
to that of Aphraates, being, like the latter, quite re-
spectful of Jewish traditions and often based on them.
As an exegete, Ephraem is sober, exhibits a preference
for the literal sense, is discreet in his use of allegory;
in a word, he inclines strongly to the Antiochene
School, and reminds us in particular of Theodoret.
He admits in Scripture but few Messianic passages in
the literal sense, many more, however, prophetic of
Christ in the typological sense, which here is to be
carefully distinguished from the allegorical sense.
It is not improbable that most of his commentaries
were wTitten for the Christian Persian school (Schola
Pcrsarum) at Nisibis; as seen above, he was one of its
founders, also one of its most distinguished teachers.
(3) Poetical Writings. — Most of Ephraem's sermons
and exhortations are in verse, though a few sermons
in prose have been preserved. If we put aside his
exegetical writings, the rest of his works may be di-
vided into homilies and hymns. The homilies (Syriac
memre, i. e. discourses) are written in seven-syllable
verse, often divided into two parts of three and four
syllables respectively. He celebrates in them the
feasts of Our Lord and of the saints; sometimes he ex-
pounds a Scriptural narrative or takes up a spiritual
or edifying theme. In the East the Lessons for the
ecclesiastical services (see Office, Divine; Breviary)
were often taken from the homilies of Ephraem. The
hymns (Syriac madrashe, i. e. instructions) offer a
greater variety both of style and rhythm. They were
written for the choir service of nuns, and were destined
to he chanted by them; hence the division into stro-
phes, the last verses of each strophe being repeated in
a kind of refrain. This refrain is indicated at the
beginning of each hymn, after the manner of an anti-
phon ; there is also an indication of the musical key in
which the hymn should be sung. The following may
serve as an illustration. It is taken from an Epiphany
hymn (ed. Lamy, I, p. 4). — Air: Behold the month.
Refrain: Glory to Thee from Thy flock on the day
of Thy manifestation. Strophe: He has renewed
the heavens, because the foolish ones had adored all
the stars | He has renewed the earth which had lost its
vigour through Adam = A new creation was made by
His spittle I And He Who is all-powerful made straight
both bodies and minds= Refrain: Glory to Thee
etc. — Mgr. Lamy, the learned editor of the hymns,
noted seventy-five different rhythms and airs. Some
hymns are acrostic, i. e., sometimes each strophe begins
with a letter of the alphabet, as is the case with several
(Hebrew) metrical pieces in the Bible, or again the
first letters of a number of verses or strophes form a
given word. In the latter way Ephraem signed sev-
eral of his hymns. In Syriac poetry St . Ephraem is a
pioneer of genius, the master often imitated but never
equalled. He is not, however, the inventor of Syriac
poetry; this honour seems due to the aforesaid heretic
Bardesanes of Edessa. Ephraem himself tells us that
in the neighbourhood of Nisibis and lidcs.sa the poems
of this (inostic and his son Ilarmonius contributed
efficaciously to the success of their false teachings.
Indeed, if Ephraem entered the same field, it was with
the hope of vamiuishing heresy with its own weapons
perfecte<l by himself. The Western reailer of the
hymns of Ephraem is inclined to wonder at the enthu-
siasm of his admirers in the ancient Syriac Church.
His " lyricism " is by no means what we understand by
that term. His poetry seems to us prolix, tiresome,
colourless, lacking in the personal note, and in general
devoid of charm. To be just, however, it must be
