The Gendered Body in Verse: Jacob of Serugh and Romanos Melodos on the Woman with a Flow of Blood

The Gendered Body in Verse: Jacob of Serugh and Romanos Melodos on the Woman with a Flow of BloodJournal of the Bible and its ReceptionSyriaca.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/TT434HV5/tei

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2024-08-15-04:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Erin GalgayWalshThe Gendered Body in Verse: Jacob of Serugh and Romanos Melodos on the Woman with a Flow of Bloodhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/TT434HV5https://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/TT434HV5https://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/TT434HV5Journal of the Bible and its Reception9:120221-26This article examines the reception history of the story of the woman with a flow of blood as recounted in Mark 5:25–34, Matthew 9:20–22, and Luke 8:43–48 within the writings of two late antique poets: Jacob of Serugh (ca. 451–521 CE) and Romanos Melodos (b. ca. 485 CE). In their poetic compositions, Jacob and Romanos retell and interpret biblical stories employing narrative expansions and the attribution of imagined speech. The Syriac poet, Jacob of Serugh, wrote in the form of narrative poems, or mēmrē , while Romanos perfected the form of the Greek kontakion. Like prose homilies, these poems reached Christians from across the social spectrum, providing spiritual instruction and delighting audiences. Previous reception histories of this biblical narrative have largely overlooked late antique and early Byzantine poetry performed within the liturgical space. In addition to filling this lacuna in scholarship, this article also highlights how these understudied poems contribute to our understanding of early Christian discourses of (im)purity. Romanos emphasizes the symbolic value of the gendered body, blending the imagery of stain, impurity, and sin. In contrast, Jacob’s lexical choices and poetic style underscore the woman’s physical and emotional strife. Through speech and the description of the woman’s bodily state, both poets provide dramatic depictions of the woman’s encounter with Jesus that enrich our understanding of how late antique Christians interpreted this biblical story. Walsh, Erin Galgay. “The Gendered Body in Verse: Jacob of Serugh and Romanos Melodos on the Woman with a Flow of Blood.” Journal of the Bible and Its Reception 9:1 (2022): 1–26. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/jbr-2022-0002. Erin Galgay Walsh, The Gendered Body in Verse: Jacob of Serugh and Romanos Melodos on the Woman with a Flow of Blood, Journal of the Bible and Its Reception 9:1 (2022): 1–26, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/jbr-2022-0002.Gospel of LukeGospel of MarkGospel of MatthewIV-VII CEJacob of SarugJacobitesLk 8:43-48New TestamentRomanosVI CEexegesisgenderhealinghymnographypoetrywomen