Prose Works

This volume presents the work of an early-Christian writer who did not write in either Greek or Latin. It is the first of two volumes that offers new English translations of selected prose works of St Ephrem the Syrian (c.AD 309-373). This first volume contains St Ephrem's "Commentary on Genesis", "Commentary on Exodus", "Homily on Our Lord" and "Letter to Publius". The translators give a general introduction, an extensive bibliography and specific introductions to each of the works. Together, these features provide an overview of the major scholarship on St Ephrem and Syriac Christianity. St Ephrem, the "Harp of the Spirit", composed prose commentaries and sermons of skilful charm and grace, in addition to beautiful hymns, during the time he spent teaching at his native Nisibis and at Edessa in Syria. In the two commentaries presented here, Ephrem focuses only on portions of the sacred text that had a particular theological significance for him, or whose orthodox interpretation needed to be reasserted in the face of contemporary heterodox ideas.
The elaborate rhetorical figures and stylistic devices of the "Homily on Our Lord" and "Letter to Publius" succeed in creating language and imagery nearly as striking as Ephrem's poetry.