E-Book Overview
Jacob of Edessa (c.640-708) is considered the most learned Christian of the early days of Islam. In all fifteen contributions to this volume, written by prominent specialists, the interaction between Christianity, Judaism, and the new religion is an important issue. The articles discuss Jacob's biography as well as his position in early Islamic Edessa, and give a full picture of the various aspects of Jacob of Edessa's life and work as a scholar and clergyman. Attention is paid to his efforts in the fields of historiography, correspondence, canon law, text and interpretation of the Bible, language and translation, theology, philosophy, and science. The book, which marks the 1300th anniversary of Jacob's death, also contains a bibliographical clavis.
E-Book Content
Jacob of Edessa and the Syriac Culture of His Day
Monographs of the Peshitta Institute Leiden Studies in the Syriac Versions of the Bible and their Cultural Contexts Editorial Board
s.p. brock – s.h. griffith – k.d. jenner a. van der kooij – t. muraoka – w.th. van peursen
Executive Editor
R.B. ter Haar Romeny
VOLUME 18
Jacob of Edessa and the Syriac Culture of His Day Edited by
Bas ter Haar Romeny
LEIDEN • BOSTON 2008
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
ISSN 0169-9008 ISBN 978 90 04 17347 7 Copyright 2008 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands
CONTENTS
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix BIOGRAPHY
Jacob of Edessa’s Life and Work: A Biographical Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Alison Salvesen Jacob and Early Islamic Edessa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Robert Hoyland JACOB AS A HISTORIAN AND CORRESPONDENT
The Chronicle of Jacob of Edessa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Witold Witakowski Jewish Pseudepigrapha in Jacob of Edessa’s Letters and Historical Writings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 William Adler Greetings to a Virtuous Man: The Correspondence of Jacob of Edessa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Jan J. van Ginkel JACOB AS A JURIST
Jacob of Edessa and Canon Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Herman G.B. Teule The Canons of Jacob of Edessa in the Perspective of the Christian Identity of His Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Konrad D. Jenner JACOB AS AN EXEGETE AND REVISER OF THE PESHITTA
The Textual Vorlagen for Jacob of Edessa’s Revision of the Books of Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Richard J. Saley Jacob of Edessa’s Version of 1–2 Samuel: Its Method and Text-Critical Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Alison Sal