Interpretations of St. Ephraim on the Books of the New Testament
In the works of Saint Ephraim the Syrian translated to this day, Russian pious people have found and continue to find one of the most abundant sources of spiritual edification. The sincere desire to make this source accessible to Russian people, if possible in all its parts, prompts us to now offer readers a translation of two interpretative works of St. Ephraim the Syrian that have not yet appeared in Russian, namely: his interpretation of the Epistles of the Holy Apostle Paul and the Four Gospels .
“The pillar of the Church, the great father and universal teacher, the Syrian prophet, the Syrian sun, spiritual philosopher and deep scientist, ornate lips and the zither of the Holy Spirit” - this is how Saint Ephraim the Syrian was called by his glorious contemporary Saint Gregory of Nyssa, according to whose words Saint Ephraim “interpreted all ancient and new Scripture, from the creation of the world to the last book of grace”[1]. The Roman edition of the Syriac works of St. Ephraim contains interpretations of the Pentateuch, the Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel (1 and 2 Kings), 3 and 4 Kings, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Zechariah, Malachi and several exeeteric discourses on individual texts. In addition, interpretations are known that were not included in the Roman edition: on the Books of the prophets Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Haggai[2]. The Syrian writer of the 14th century Gebed-Iesu (Obdiah-Jesus) also mentions the interpretation of St. Ephraim on psalms not found in the Roman edition[3]. In the Greek manuscripts of the Vatican, Palatine and Moscow Synodal libraries, under the name of Saint Ephraim, excerpts of commentaries on the Pentateuch, the Book of Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Psalms are read[4]. The following Armenian translation of the works of St. Ephraim also contains an interpretation of Chronicles.
From the Holy Books of the New Testament, Saint Ephraim, according to the testimony of the Syrian writers - Dionysius Bar-Salibi (XII century) and Gregory Bar-Gebray (XIII century), - compiled an interpretation of the Gospels, following the text and order of the Four Gospels of Tatian, starting with the words: In the beginning was the Word.
In the Greek catenas and other works there are passages from this interpretation[5].
The ancient Armenian translation preserves the text of this interpretation of St. Ephraim, printed by the Mekhitarists in the general edition of the works of St. Ephraim in Armenian in 1836, and then in 1876 separately published by Avher and Mesinger in a Latin translation with notes[6]. In 1839, the Armenian “Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, compiled from the works of the holy fathers Chrysostom and Ephraim” was published in Venice. Finally, in the above-mentioned general edition of the works of St. Ephraim in Armenian there is an interpretation of it on the Epistles of the Holy Apostle Paul, translated in 1893 by the same fathers into Latin and published as a separate book[7]. This translation was published from an Armenian manuscript of 999 A.D., which represents a translation probably belonging to the learned and well-traveled Armenian monk Simeon († 1012), from the oldest Syrian manuscript[8].
Our translation was also made from this publication[9]. The published work does not represent a complete and consistent interpretation of the Epistles of the Apostle Paul. These are short and fragmentary notes (scholia) to the Syriac apostolic text, similar to those that we find in the Syriac interpretations of St. Ephraim on the Old Testament and which are quoted by the already mentioned Syrian writer Bar-Gebrei.
Despite the possible and probable influence of the Old Armenian text on the translator from Old Syriac and the Vulgate - on translators from Armenian to Latin, as well as the difficulty of sometimes distinguishing between the literal text and the free exposition (periphrasis) of the interpreter, there still remain very numerous and important traces of the Old Syriac text of the Epistles of the Apostle Pavel.
In view of the importance of the apostolic text in this work of St. Ephraim and the constant interpretative paraphrase in the notes of the exegete (interpreter), we have found it necessary to give a literal translation, comparing the text with the Greek and providing it with notes in places from the discrepancies in the 8th edition of Tischendorf and in the texts of Walton's Polyglot .
Without touching on the issue of Saint Ephraim's knowledge of the Greek language and the original Greek text of the New Testament Scriptures, we should note that in the interpretation of the Epistles of the Apostle Paul the Syriac text is explained[10].
The interpretation does not contain the Epistle to Philemon, but there is the apocryphal letter of the Corinthians to the Apostle Paul and the apocryphal third letter of the Apostle to the Corinthians, which are also placed in this volume.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an Apostle, chosen for the gospel of God, which God had first promised through His prophets in the holy scriptures concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh and was revealed to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, through the resurrection from the dead, in Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship, so that in His name we might subdue all nations to the faith, among whom you are, called by Jesus Christ, to all those who are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that I constantly remember you, always asking in my prayers that the will of God may one day bring me to come to you, for I greatly desire to see you in order to bestow upon you some spiritual gift. to your confirmation, that is, to be comforted with you by the common faith, yours and mine.
I do not want, brethren, to leave you in ignorance that I intended to come to you many times (but have encountered obstacles even until now) so that I might have some fruit among you, as well as among other nations. I owe both Greeks and barbarians, wise men and ignorant. So, as for me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek. In it the truth of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written: “The righteous shall live by faith.”
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth through unrighteousness. For what can be known about God is obvious to them, because God has revealed it to them. For His invisible things, His eternal power and Godhead, have been visible from the creation of the world through the consideration of creatures, so that they are irresistible. But how, having come to know God, they did not glorify Him as God and did not give thanks, but became futile in their speculations, and their foolish hearts were darkened; calling themselves wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed creatures, and reptiles - then God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, so that they defiled their very bodies.
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature instead of the Creator, Who is blessed forever, amen. Therefore, God gave them over to shameful passions: their women replaced natural use with unnatural; Likewise, men, abandoning the natural use of the female sex, were inflamed with lust for one another, men committing shame on men and receiving in themselves due retribution for their error.
And even though they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a depraved mind - to do lewd things, so that they are filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malice, filled with envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil spirits, slanderers, slanderers, haters of God, offenders, self-praisers, proud, resourceful for evil, disobedient to parents, reckless, treacherous, unloving, irreconcilable, unmerciful. They know the righteous judgment of God, that those who do such things are worthy of death; however, not only do they do them, but they also approve of those who do them.
About the Epistles of the divine Paul
The New Testament, as we know, was given to the Greeks either as a gift, or...[11] And although they, thanks to the richness of their language, interpret the Apostle in beautiful expressions, we also want to briefly explain it in the poor speech of the Syrians. True, the words of the divine Paul contain very many thoughts, but we do not see any danger for ourselves if we have not revealed all his thoughts, for we are not interpreting for the people, but for experienced and learned people. We insist only on the meaning of words, and not on the varied sound; we write the truth expressed in them, presenting it briefly. Let the Greeks not be sad when they see the Syrians interpreting the New Testament, for the Syrians are not sad that the Greeks interpreted the Old Testament.
