The Jewish Literature of the Second Temple as a Possible Source of Ephrem the Syrian’s Doctrine about the Teacher as a Scribe, Inspired by God (In the 6th <i>Hymn De crucifixione</i>)Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета. Серия III: ФилологияSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/A7G4G3QE/tei
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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Sofya VladimirovnaFomichevaThe Jewish Literature of the Second Temple as a Possible Source of Ephrem the Syrian’s Doctrine about the Teacher as a Scribe, Inspired by God (In the 6th <i>Hymn De crucifixione</i>)http://syriaca.org/cbss/A7G4G3QEhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/A7G4G3QEhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/A7G4G3QEВестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета. Серия III: Филология732022103-118In his 6th Hymn <i>De crucifixione</i> devoted to the interpretation of the three days’ problem of Jesus’ resurrection, the Syriac poet and theologian Ephrem the Syrian (4th c.) functions as a teacher of astronomical and calendric lore. The article focuses on the probable sources of the construction of Ephrem’s authority as a teacher in this hymn. The author demonstrates that the astronomical discourse in the Syriac hymn is constructed with the specific structural devices, e.g., the first-person discourse, the term ܚܘܫܒܢ ‘calculation’ and metaphorically expressed with the image of the scribe. These elements have obvious parallels within the Jewish Aramaic texts of the Second Temple, e.g., the Aramaic Astronomical Book and the Document of Levi. Like in Ephrem’s Hymn <i>De crucifixione</i>, these texts use the astronomical and other arithmetical calculations. The Jewish scribes who composed these works, transformed the old Babylonian mathematical lore into new narrative forms. In the course of this, these real scribes used fictive authority of the biblical figures associated with writing, such as Moses, David, Enoch, Noah, &c. The article pays attention to the similar use of these biblical figures in Ephrem’s hymns and draws a conclusion about the self-definition by Ephrem as a scribe who is inspired by God and who obtains a capability to interpretate God’s “secrets”. As a result, Ephrem “blends” the Christological typological interpretation of the “secret” or “symbol” with ancient Jewish and Mesopotamian connotations. Hence, in his sixth Hymn <i>De crucifixione</i>, the Syrian poet functions not as a theologian but as a teacher with quasi-prophetic status who is aligned with Moses and David and imitates their writing and interpretative activities. I believe that these conclusions may shed light not only on the origins of Ephrem’s works, but on the origins of the Syriac Christianity as a whole.
Fomicheva, Sofya Vladimirovna. “The Jewish Literature of the Second Temple as a Possible Source of Ephrem the Syrian’s Doctrine about the Teacher as a Scribe, Inspired by God (In the 6th Hymn De crucifixione).” Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета. Серия III: Филология 73 (2022): 103–18. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.15382/sturIII202273.103-118.
Sofya Vladimirovna Fomicheva, The Jewish Literature of the Second Temple as a Possible Source of Ephrem the Syrian’s Doctrine about the Teacher as a Scribe, Inspired by God (In the 6th Hymn De crucifixione),” Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета. Серия III: Филология 73 (2022): 103–18, https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.15382/sturIII202273.103-118.EphremIV CEIV-VII CEJewish backgroundOT apocryphaastronomyhymnographypoetryscribes