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Jacob of Sarug's Homily on Edessa and Jerusalem

Edited and Translated by Jonathan Loopstra
Recognized as a saint by both Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Christians alike, Jacob of Sarug (d. 521) produced many narrative poems that have rarely been translated into English. Of his reported 760 metrical homilies, only about half survive. Part of a series of fascicles containing the bilingual Syriac-English editions of Saint Jacob of Sarug’s homilies, this volume contains his homily on Edessa and Jerusalem. The Syriac text is fully vocalized, and the translation is annotated with a commentary and biblical references. The volume is one of the fascicles of Gorgias Press’s Complete Homilies of Saint Jacob of Sarug, which, when complete, will contain all of Jacob’s surviving sermons.
Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-4335-7
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Publication Status: In Print
Publication Date: Aug 24,2021
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 114
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-4632-4335-7
$35.00
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Mar Jacob of Sarug’s (d. 521) homily “On Edessa and Jerusalem” takes as its principal subject the legendary exchange of letters between King Abgar in Edessa and Jesus in Jerusalem. In this poem-homily Jacob uses his profound skills as a poet and wordsmith to make the case that “the Peoples,” represented by Edessa, have now supplanted “the People,” the Jews of Jerusalem in the history of salvation. He promotes what he sees as the faithful heritage of Edessa, the first-ripe fruit of Gentile faith, against the faithlessness of Jerusalem. King Abgar’s early faith in Jesus, coming before the Crucifixion and Ascension, has bestowed upon Edessa, the “Daughter of the Aramaeans,” a unique heritage. As a poet-theologian, Jacob creatively couches his apology as an imagined conflict between two young women, Edessa and Jerusalem, over the Bridegroom Jesus, promised to one but loved by the other. A final stirring paean conveys a late fifth-century vision of the spread of the Good News to the Gentile nations of the world. The volume constitutes a fascicle of The Metrical Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug, which, when complete, will contain the original Syriac text of Jacob's surviving sermons, fully vocalized, alongside an annotated English translation.

Mar Jacob of Sarug’s (d. 521) homily “On Edessa and Jerusalem” takes as its principal subject the legendary exchange of letters between King Abgar in Edessa and Jesus in Jerusalem. In this poem-homily Jacob uses his profound skills as a poet and wordsmith to make the case that “the Peoples,” represented by Edessa, have now supplanted “the People,” the Jews of Jerusalem in the history of salvation. He promotes what he sees as the faithful heritage of Edessa, the first-ripe fruit of Gentile faith, against the faithlessness of Jerusalem. King Abgar’s early faith in Jesus, coming before the Crucifixion and Ascension, has bestowed upon Edessa, the “Daughter of the Aramaeans,” a unique heritage. As a poet-theologian, Jacob creatively couches his apology as an imagined conflict between two young women, Edessa and Jerusalem, over the Bridegroom Jesus, promised to one but loved by the other. A final stirring paean conveys a late fifth-century vision of the spread of the Good News to the Gentile nations of the world. The volume constitutes a fascicle of The Metrical Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug, which, when complete, will contain the original Syriac text of Jacob's surviving sermons, fully vocalized, alongside an annotated English translation.

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ContributorBiography

JonathanLoopstra

Jonathan Loopstra is an Associate Professor of History at University of Northwestern in St. Paul, MN. He holds an M.St. degree in Syriac Studies from the University of Oxford, a M.A. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a Ph.D. from the Catholic University of America. He works primarily in the fields of Patristics and Middle Eastern Studies, with a particular interest in the history and theology of various Christian communities of the Middle East.

Acknowledgments (vii)
Introduction (1)
   The Legend of Abgar and the City of Edessa (6)
   Edessa vs. Jerusalem: ‘the Peoples’ and ‘the People’ (13)
   A Summary: The Story of Two Daughters (15)
   The Letter of Abgar and Syriac Christian Interpretive Themes (21)
   The Letter of Abgar and Scriptural Quotations (27)
   Outline of “On Edessa and Jerusalem” (35) 
   Comparison of Manuscripts (36)
Text and Translation (41)
Bibliography (95)
   Antioch Bible (95)
   Ancient Authors (95)
   Modern Authors (99)
Index (103)
   Biblical References (103)
   Names and Themes (104)

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