The Life and Works of Severus of Antioch in the Coptic & Copto-Arabic Tradition: Texts & Commentaries

477 Pages·2014·4.314 MB·English, Coptic, Arabic

by  Youhanna Nessim Youssef

The Life and Works of Severus of
Antioch in the Coptic and
Copto-Arabic Tradition
Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies
28
Series Editors
George Anton Kiraz
István Perczel
Lorenzo Perrone
Samuel Rubenson
Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies brings to the scholarly world the
underrepresented field of Christianity as it developed in the Eastern
hemisphere. This series consists of monographs, edited collections,
texts and translations of the documents of Eastern Christianity, as
well as studies of topics relevant to the world of historic
Orthodoxy and early Christianity.
The Life and Works of Severus of
Antioch in the Coptic and
Copto-Arabic Tradition
Texts and Commentaries
Youhanna Youssef
9
34
2014
Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
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2014 ܛ 9
ISBN 978-1-61719-738-3 ISSN 1539-1507
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Data
Youssef, Youhanna Nessim.
The life and works of Severus of Antioch in
the Coptic and Copto-Arabic tradition : texts and
commentaries / Youhanna N. Youssef.
pages cm. -- (Gorgias Eastern Christian
studies, ISSN 1539-1507 ; 28)
Includes bibliographical references.
In English, Arabic, and Coptic. Original texts
in Greek.
ISBN 978-1-61719-738-3
1. Severus, of Antioch, approximately 465-538.
2. Coptic Church. 3. Christians--Arab
Countries. I. Severus, of Antioch, approximately
465-538. Selections. Coptic. II. Severus, of
Antioch, approximately 465-538. Selections.
Arabic. III. Severus, of Antioch, approximately
465-538. Selections. English. IV. Title.
BR65.S3956Y68 2014
270.2092--dc23
2014031566
Printed in the United States of America
To my wife Marie-Therese
and my daughters Julie and Jacqueline

To my colleagues
in the Centre for Early Christian Studies
headed by Professor Pauline Allen
v

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents ................................................................................... vii
Acknowledgements ................................................................................. ix
Introduction ............................................................................................. xi

Part I ......................................................................................................... 1
Chapter I. A Quotation from a Work
Related to Severus of Antioch .................................................... 3
Chapter II. Severus of Antioch in Scetis ........................................... 11
Chapter III. Severus of Antioch
in the History of the Patriarchs ................................................ 35
Chapter IV. A Contribution to the Coptic Biography
of Severus of Antioch ................................................................ 61

Part II ....................................................................................................... 81
Chapter I. The Coptic Catena on the Four Gospels
According to Severus of Antioch ............................................. 83
Chapter II. Arabic Manuscripts of the Philalethes
of Severus of Antioch .............................................................. 119
Chapter III. A Coptic Version of the Homily 28
of Severus of Antioch .............................................................. 127
Chapter IV. The Coptic Marian homilies
of Severus of Antioch .............................................................. 135
Chapter V. Fragments of the Coptic Version
of the Sixtieth Homily of Severus of Antioch...................... 153
Chapter VI. Notes on the Traditions
Concerning the Trisagion ........................................................ 157
Chapter VII. Coptic Fragment
of a Letter of Severus of Antioch .......................................... 169
Chapter VIII. A Letter of Severus of Antioch
to Anastasia the Deaconess ..................................................... 177
Chapter IX. Some Patristic Quotations of Severus of Antioch
in Coptic and Arabic Texts ..................................................... 195
vii
viii SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH
Chapter X. The Quotations of Severus of Antioch
in the Book of the Professions of the Fathers ............................. 205

Part III................................................................................................... 267
Chapter I. Text Attributed to Severus of Antioch
on the Thief ............................................................................... 269
Chapter II. The Homily on the Archangel Michael
Attributed to Severus of Antioch Revisited ......................... 289
Chapter III. Recommendations to the Priests
Severus of Antioch or Severus of Ashmunain ..................... 305
Chapter IV. The Encomium of St Philotheus,
Ascribed to Severus of Antioch ............................................. 317
Chapter V. The Pseudo Severi .......................................................... 377

Part IV .................................................................................................... 383
Chapter I. Severus of Antioch in the Coptic Liturgical Books .... 385
Chapter II The Role of Severus of Antioch in the Dialogue
between Greek, Coptic and Syriac Cultures ......................... 395
Chapter III. Severus of Antioch as Seen
by Modern Coptic Historians ................................................. 417

Bibliography .......................................................................................... 429
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Duty bound as I am, I hereby acknowledge my deep gratitude to
the publishers and the learned societies for their kind permission to
use my articles which appeared in their publications. Wherever
necessary, corrections and additions to the original manuscript
have been made.
Part I was published in the following publications:
Chapter 1. “An new fragment of a life of Severus of Antioch,”
Oriens Christianus 88 (2004) 109–114.
Chapter 2. “Severus of Antioch in Scetis,” Ancient Near Eastern
Studies 43 (2006) 141–162.
Chapter 3. “Severus of Antioch in the History of the Patriarchs
of the Coptic Church,” Parole de l’Orient 28 (2003) 435–458.
Chapter 4. “A contribution to the Coptic Biography of Severus
of Antioch,” Coptic Studies on the Threshold of a New Millenium:
Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Coptic Studies —
Leinden, August 27–September 2.2000, ed. M. Immerzell and
J. Van der Vliet, Orientalia Lovensiensa Analecta 133, Leuven
2004, p. 413–426.
Part II was published in the following publications:
Chapter 1. “The Coptic catena on the four gospels according to
Severus of Antioch I. the gospel of Matthew,” Bulletin de la
Société d’Archéologie Copte 43 (2004) 95–120.
Chapter 2. “Arabic Manuscripts of the Philalethes of Severus of
Antioch,” Proche Orient Chrétien 51 (2001) 261–266.
Chapter 3. “A Coptic version of the Homily 28 of Severus of
Antioch,” Bulletin de la Société d’Archéologie Copte 43 (2004) 121–
126.
Chapter 4. “The Coptic Marian homilies of Severus of Antioch,”
Bulletin de la Société d’Archéologie Copte 43 (2004) 127–140.
ix