This volume consists of sixteen essays, most of which are revised versions of papers read at a symposium held in May 1995 in Jerusalem at the Hebrew University and the Institute for Advanced Studies. Students of various religious and cultural traditions present their research in Jewish and Christian biblical interpretation. Fields covered include the Second Temple Period (Dead Sea Scrolls and the Life of Adam and Eve), Rabbinic literature, Early Greek and Syriac Antiochene exegesis, Syriac literature, Armenian reflections of Greek and Syriac exegesis (esp. the Armenian translations and reworkings of Eusebius of Emesa, Ephrem the Syrian and Jacob of Edessa), Ethiopic commentary tradition. Particular attention is devoted to the interrelationship between various traditions, e.g. Jewish and Christian, Greek and Syriac, Syriac and Armenian. The volume gives some telescoped insight into the cultural complexity of the Near East in Late Antiquity, where dynamic processes of cultural and religious interaction were continuously at work.

This Festschrift contains forty-one original essays and six tribute papers in honour of Michael E. Stone, Gail Levin de Nur Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies and Professor Emeritus of Armenian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The volume’s main theme is Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, envisioned in its broadest sense: apocryphal texts, traditions, and themes from the Second-Temple period to the High Middle Ages, in Judaism, Christianity and, to a lesser extent, Islam. Most essays present new or understudied texts based on fresh manuscript evidence; the others are thematic in approach. The volume’s scope and focus reflect those of Professor Stone’s scholarship, without a special emphasis on Armenian studies.

A new English translation of the first text translated from Arabic to Armenian for research and classroom use Robert W. Thomson translates this ninth-century commentary defending the miaphysite theological position of the Armenian church against the chalcedonian position of the Greek Byzantine church. Nonnus’s exegesis of the gospel falls in the context of trends in Eastern Christian biblical exposition, primarily the Syrian tradition. Therefore, Thomson emphasizes the parallels in Syriac commentaries on the book of John, noting also earlier Greek writers whose works were influential in Syria. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the Armenian church and church history. Features: Introductory material on the text’s history, manuscript traditions, and theological importance Translation of the Armenian text and commentary Bibliography covering the Armenian, Greek, Syriac, and Arabic texts as well as secondary sources

For a long time the Diatessaron has drawn the interest of modern scholars. Some of the problems related to the Syriac Harmony of the Gospels have been solved. Others still remain in dispute. The Syriac Commentary on the Diatessaron, attributed to Ephraem (306-373), is one of the most important witnesses to the wording of the Harmony. Unfortunately, most of the surviving Syriac folios of the text have been discovered only recently. Consequently, no detailed study on the Commentary has been undertaken yet. It is the aim of this study to present this scholarly demand. This Oxford dissertation deals with the questions of the difficult process of the Commentary's transmission and analyses both the Trinitarian and Christological understanding of its author. By way of a comparison with the "genuine" Ephraem, this study argues that the Commentary in its present form is a compilation from the hand of one of his disciples. However, it serves as an important source on the theological discussions in the Edessa of the late fourth and early fifth centuries.

The present work offers an edition and English translation of the Arabic version of the Life of Stephen of Mar Sabas. When Stephen died in 794 A.D., a vivid account of his life was drawn up within a few years of his death by one of his disciples, Leontius of Damascus. In part autobiographical, Leontius' account offers a unique glimpse into the life of the Palestinian monasteries in the early Islamic period. It also sheds important light on a host of other issues. Among these: the social history of early Islamic Syria and Palestine, the history of the Jerusalem patriarchate, and early Muslim-Christian relations. The present work should be of interest both to scholars of church history and to historians of early Islam.