Moshe Bar Kepha's Commentary on the Gospel of Luke

496 Pages·2020·5.998 MB·English

by  Abdul-Massih Saadi

PREFACE
Twenty years ago, as I was cataloging the films of Syriac manuscripts collected by
the late professor Arthur Vööbus, I stumbled upon a certain piece that read, “Thus,
by God’s (assistance), the interpretation of the blessed Luke is ended.” For me, it
was the beginning of a long, open-ended scholarly journey with Moshe Bar Kepha’s
writings. My first reaction was “I found it!” What has been thought to be lost is
found, “rejoice with me.”
I began the process of identifying the related pieces of films of the manuscript
of the Commentary. There was no other way but to read each piece through a magni-
fier and decide (1) whether this piece was related to this Manuscript or not; (2) if
yes, which part of the manuscript it was. The longest piece of Vööbus’ film consist-
ed of 12 negative pictures. At the end, I picked up and arranged all related pieces of
film in the proper sequence, guided by the sequence of the Gospel of Luke.
With this ready information, I re-examined Barsum’s note on the existence of
Moshe Bar Kepha’s Commentary on Luke under the number 68 in the Monastery of
Dayr Zaʿfaran (of Mardin) and Vööbus’ article on “New Discovery…,” where he
identified the manuscript as Mardin Syr 102. After a thorough search at the library
of Dayr Zaʿfaran, we found no trace of the manuscript—not even its number. As a
final resort, we went to the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs in Mardin. Ms. 102
was among its collection, but there was no clear indication of its title and author.
It became clear that by the time of the publication of Barsum’s book, the man-
uscript had been moved from the Monastery of Dayr Zaʿfaran, and its number had
been changed. Tracing the manuscript became even more complicated by the move
to Mardin, during which a few of the manuscript’s quires fell apart and were re-
bound in the wrong order. As a result, it was not easy to identify the manuscript’s
title and author without searching through the manuscript.
Being familiar with Moshe Bar Kepha’s writing, I began to flip through Ms.
102 page by page until I came to the first verse of the first chapter of Luke, written
in red, which reads: “Because many sought to write the accounts of the deeds which
we are familiar with.” Here was the beginning, and praise Him for its beginning and
its end.

vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work is a revised and expanded version of my Ph.D. dissertation submitted to
the Faculty of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in 1999. My sincere grat-
itude is due to my advisors, Professor Edgar Krentz on the New Testament and
Professor David Bundy on Syriac Studies. Their generosity in sharing of their pru-
dence and scholarship is impossible for me to compensate.
My sincere thanks and appreciation go to Professor Lucas van Rompay who
read the first draft of the book and offered me valuable ideas and direction for revi-
sion. Likewise, I dearly thank Professor Jeff Childers for reading, revising, and re-
constructing the introduction.
Infinite appreciation and acknowledgment go to “the Patriarch” of Syriac stud-
ies in our generation, Professor Sebastian Brock. He kindly read the entire work and
provided me with a list of valuable notes and thoughts, which I confidently adopted
and incorporated.
My sincere thanks go to Baylor University and its faculty and administrators,
who granted me a semester sabbatical to turn the dissertation into book. I dearly
thank and appreciate their sincere concern for my success as an instructor, research-
er, and world’s servant.
To my lovely wife Naila Saadi-Somi and my two children Isaac and Gadiel,
who loudly cheered the completion the book.

ix

ABBREVIATIONS AND SIGLA
ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary (Ed. J. D. Freedman; 6 Vols.; New York: Double-
day, 1992)
AJSLL American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literature
AN Abr Nahrain
ArOr Archiv Orientálni
BR Revue biblique
Byz Byzantion
BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium
Ex.T. Expository Times
GOFS Göttinger Orientforschungen, Reihe Syriaca
HTR Harvard Theological Review
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society
JAAS Journal of the Assyrian Academic Society
JA Journal Asiatique
JThS Journal of Theological Studies
LQF Liturgiewissenschaftliche Quellen und Forschungen
OCA Orientalia Christiana Analecta
OCP Orientalia Christiana Periodica
OC Oriens Christianus
OIP Oriental Institute Publications
OLP Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica
OS Ostkirchliche Studien
PETSE Papers of the Estonian Theological Society in Exile
PG Patrologiae Cursus Completus, series graeca
PO Patrologia Orientalis
PS Patrologia Syriaca
RB Revue Biblique
ROC Revue de l’Orient chrétien
Commonly Cited Sources
Bar Salibi = Vaschalde, Arthur Adolphe, ed. Dionysii bar Salibi Commentarii in Evangelia
II (2). CSCO 113, Syr. 60. Louvain: Secrétariat du CorpusSCO, 1939.
xi
xii MOSHE BAR KEPHA’S COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
Harklean = Kiraz, George Anton. ed. Comparative Edition of the Syriac Gospels: Aligning
the Sinaiticus, Curetonianus, Peshîṭtâ and Ḥarklean Versions. New Testament Tools
and Studies 21.1–4. Leiden / New York / Köln: E.J. Brill, 1996.
Old Syriac Version = Kiraz, George Anton. ed. Comparative Edition of the Syriac Gospels:
Aligning the Sinaiticus, Curetonianus, Peshîṭtâ and Ḥarklean Versions. New Testament
Tools and Studies 21.1–4. Leiden / New York / Köln: E.J. Brill, 1996; Lewis,
Agnes Smith, ed. The Old Syriac Gospels or Evangelion da-Mepharreshê, Being the Text
of the Sinai or Syro-Antiochene Palimpsest, Including the Latest Additions and Emenda-
tions, with the Variants of the Curetonian Text, Corroborations from Many Other MSS.,
and a List of Quotations from Ancient Authors. London: Williams and Norgate,
1910; Bensly, Robert L. and Harris, James Rendel and Burkitt, Francis Craw-
ford, eds. The Four Gospels in Syriac Transcribed from the Sinaitic Palimpsest. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1894; Cureton, William, ed. Remains of a
Very Ancient Recension of the Four Gospels in Syriac, hitherto Unknown in Europe.
London: Murray, 1858.
Hymnen de Fide = Beck, Edmund. Des heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de Fide. CSCO
154–155, Syr. 73–74. Louvain: L. Durbecq, 1955.
Hymnen de Nativitate (Epiphania) = Beck, Edmund. Des heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hym-
nen de Nativitate (Epiphania). CSCO 186–187, Syr. 82–83. Louvain: Secrétariat du
CorpusSCO, 1959.
Hymnen de Ecclesia = Beck, Edmund. Des heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de Ecclesia.
CSCO 198–199, Syr. 84–85. Louvain: Secrétariat du CorpusSCO, 1960.
Saint Ephrem: Commentaire de l’Évangile Concordant (1963) = Leloir, Louis, ed. and
trans. Saint Ephrem. Commentaire de l’Évangile Concordant, Texte Syriaque (Manuscrit
Chester Beatty 709). Chester Beatty Monographs 8. Dublin: Hodges Figgis, 1963.
Saint Ephrem: Commentaire de l’Évangile Concordant (1990) = Leloir, Louis, ed. and
trans. Saint Ephrem. Commentaire de l’Évangile Concordant, Texte Syriaque (Manuscrit
Chester Beatty 709) Folios Additionnels. Chester Beatty Monographs 8. Leuven and
Paris: Peeters, 1990.
Ephrem’s Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron = McCarthy, Carmel, Saint Ephrem’s Com-
mentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron: An English Translation of Chester Beatty Syriac MS
709 with Introduction and Notes. Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement 2. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1993.
Philoxenus of Mabbug (text), (trans) = Watt, John W., ed. Philoxenus of Mabbug. Frag-
ments of the Commentary on Matthew and Luke. CSCO 392–393, Syr. 171–172.
Louvain: Secrétariat du CorpusSCO, 1978.
Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis Vol. = Bedjan, Paulus, ed. Homiliae selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis. 5
Vols. Paris / Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1905–1910.
The Commentaries of Ishoʿdad of Merv (txt), (trans) = Gibson, Margaret Dunlop, ed. The
Commentaries of Isho‘dad of Merv, Bishop of Hadatha (c. 850 A.D.), in Syriac and Eng-
lish. Horae Semiticae 5–7, 10–11. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1911, 1916.
ABBREVIATIONS xiii
Eusebius in Syriac = Wright, William and McLean, Norman, eds. The Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Eusebius in Syriac Edited from the Manuscripts. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, 1898.
Eusebius, trans. = G. A. Williamson, trans., Eusebius, The History of the Church From
Christ to Constantine. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1975.
Sigla
For the Translation
[] = translation of restored or emended word of the Syriac text.
[+] = word (or words) missing from the text.
() = literal translation, which does not have similar English idiom; antecedents of
pronouns; extra words to clarify the intended meaning; the sequence of the folio;
and biblical references.
For the Text
[ ] = restoration of the text.
[+] = unreadable word (or words) from the text.
( ) = the sequence of the folios, and biblical references.
xiv MOSHE BAR KEPHA’S COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

Fol. 1r of Moshe Bar Kepha’s Commentary on Luke
INTRODUCTION
MOSHE BAR KEPHA: CHURCHMAN AND EXEGETE
Our knowledge of the life of Moshe Bar Kepha1 comes primarily from the follow-
ing sources: 1) two anonymous Vitae, the first of which exists in a shorter tenth-
century recension and a longer twelfth-century recension,2 and the other a thir-
teenth-century composition based on the aforementioned long recension;3 2) the
Chronicle of Bar Hebraeus,4 and 3) the anonymous Chronicle of 1234.5 Though brief, the
early Vita conveys a plausible portrait of Moshe Bar Kepha’s life. He was born
probably around 813 in Balad, a town near the Tigris River in Mesopotamia.6 At an

1 Also Mushe bar Kipho and Moses bar Kepha. See J. F. Coakley, “Mushe bar Kipho,”
in Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, ed. S. Brock et al. (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgi-
as Press, 2011), 300.
2 Edition and translation by J. Reller, ed., Mose bar Kepha und seine Paulinenauslegung nebst
Edition und Übersetzung des Kommentars zum Römerbrief, GOFS, I. reihe Syriaca 35 (Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz, 1994), 24–26 [24–29], 362–364. See J. S. Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis Clemen-
tino-Vaticana, in qua manuscriptos codices syriacos, arabicos, persicos, turcicos, hebraicos, samaritanos,
armenicos, æthiopicos, Graecos, ægyptiacos, ibericos & malabaricos (Rome: Typis Sacrae Congrega-
tionis de Propaganda Fide, 1721), 2:218–219; W. Wright and S. Cook, A Catalogue of the Syriac
Manuscripts Preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge (Cambridge: University Press,
1901), 2: 807.
3 See E. Sachau, Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, vol. 23,
Verzeichniss zur syrischen Handschriften (Berlin: A. Asher, 1899) 2.685–86.
4 J. Abbeloos and T. Lamy, eds., Gregorii Barhebræi Chronicon ecclesiasticum (Louvain:
Peeters, 1872–77), 1:393–95; 2:215–18, 251.
5 J.-B. Chabot, ed., Anonymi auctoris chronicon ad annum Christi 1234 pertinens (CSCO 81;
Paris: E. Typographeo Reipublicae, 1916) 275; translation by A. Abouna, Anonymi auctoris
chronicon ad annum Christi 1234 pertinens (CSCO 354; Louvain: Secrain: ctoris chroni, 1974),
207.
6 Balad is in northern Iraq, above Mosul, and is currently known as “Old Mosul.” See
Ignatius Aphram Barsoum, The Scattered Pearls: A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences, trans.,
Matti Moosa (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2003), 552.
1
2 MOSHE BAR KEPHA’S COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
early age, he joined the monastery of Mar Sergius7 on the “Barren Mountain,” near
Balad. There, he was educated under the guidance of Rabban Quryaqos. From this
monastery, Moshe Bar Kepha launched out on his ecclesiastical career, becoming
one of the most prolific and influential scholars of the Syrian Orthodox Church.
As a churchman, Moshe Bar Kepha served in several ecclesiastical positions
over a period of fifty years.8 For ten years he ministered to his congregation in Ta-
krit as a Periodeutes or Visitor (ܐܪܘܥܣ). In about 863, he was elected bishop to the
diocese of Beth Remman.9 According to some sources, the united diocese included
8F
Beth Kiyonaya, Beth ʿArbaye,10 and Mosul.11 At his episcopal ordination, Moshe Bar
9F 10F
Kepha was given the name Severus. Over the next forty years he served his diocese,
but he also served the larger ecclesiastic community through his writings. He died in
903 and was buried in the monastery of Mar Sergius.
Moshe Bar Kepha was a prolific writer. His writings reflect various aspects of
West Syriac theology and ecclesiology in the ninth century. His literary legacy is es-
pecially important as a crucial piece of the chain linking the earlier Syriac exegetical
tradition, beginning with Ephrem (d. 373) and including the classical period of the
sixth–ninth centuries, with the “Syriac Renaissance” of the eleventh–thirteenth cen-
turies,12 the latter being represented in particular by Dionysius Bar Salibi and Bar
Hebraeus.13 Moreover, Moshe Bar Kepha’s use of sources crossed Christian confes-
sional boundaries in such a way that his works are tinged with aspects of Syriac exe-
gesis from both East and West Syriac traditions. Thus, Moshe Bar Kepha’s exegeti-
cal writings demonstrate a degree of cultural continuity up to the ninth century; and

7 The monastery is located in northern Iraq, between Singar and Balad; see Barsoum,
The Scattered Pearls, 566.
8 For a brief discussion of the varying traditions regarding Moshe Bar Kepha’s ecclesi-
astical career, see H. G. B. Teule, “Moses bar Kephā,” in D. Thomas and A. Mallett, ed.,
Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, volume 2: (900–1050) (History of Christian-
Muslim Relations 14; Leiden: Brill, 2010), 98; also Mose bar Kepha und seine Paulinenauslegung
nebst Edition und Übersetzung des Kommentars zum Römerbrief, 21–58.
9 Beth Remman is also known as Baremman; it was a town by the Tigris, northeast of
Mosul, now in ruins. See Barsoum, The Scattered Pearls, 552.
10 Beth ʿArbaye is an ecclesiastical province that includes Beth Zabdai to the north,
Balad to the south, and Nisibis. See A. Harrak, “Beth ʿArbaye,” in Gorgias Encyclopedic Diction-
ary of the Syriac Heritage, 71.
11 British Library, Add. 17,188, fol. 1a, copied in the tenth or eleventh century, de-
̈
scribes Moshe Bar Kepha as ܐܝܒܖܥ ܬܝܒܕܘ ܢܡܪ ܬܝܒܕ ܐܦܘܩܣܦܐ “the bishop of Beth Rem-
man and of Beth ʿArbaye”; W. William, Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum,
Acquired since the Year 1838 (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1871), 620–622.
12 See Teule, “Renaissance, Syriac,” in Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage,
350–51.
13 A. Vööbus, Discovery of the Exegetical Works of Moshe bar Kepha: The Unearthing of Very
Important Sources for the Exegesis and History of the New Testament Text in the Version of the Vetus
Syra, PETSE, 25 (Stockholm: Cultura, 1973), 11–13.