Mar Narsai

Refrain:

Blessed be the Good One Who on the day of his resurrection acquitted our nature and prevailed over the tyrant.

My Brothers:

Jesus' Spiritual Armor

The King on high (of heaven) put on earthly attire,

in order to go forth and bring
back the captivity of men from the strong one (Satan).

His good pleasure' went forth in human attire
in order to give life to men;

and the evil one saw him but
did not discern the power of his hidden Nature.

The likeness of a servant the Creator took on
in order to free all,

and He concealed His glory
within a garment of mortality.

He chose the leader of the host from the same
race that was captive to the evil one;

and He armed him with the Spirit
to go forth and redeem the members of his people.

He gave him divine armor with which he might fight,

so that, when triumphant, he
would possess by its power the name of victory.

The King's armor the corporeal leader of the host put on;

and he placed the helmet of redemptive life upon his head.

Spiritually he put on armor befitting his hidden
Nature

and girded himself with limbs befitting the conflict.

In his soul's faculties the corporeal one armed himself,

because he saw in the Spirit that his adversary was spiritual.

Armed with the Spirit, he battled against the
spiritual ruler of the air (Eph 6:12)

lest he be entangled by his earthly limbs.

In body and soul, he bore the armor that the King gave him;

and he put it on, in love, over the senses of the body and the faculties of the soul.

A hidden battle the mortal one waged with hidden power;

and he triumphed and granted victory to the body and the soul and freed them.

The Conquest over Satan in the Desert

His race was captive to the evil one and death, the tyrants who had rebelled;

and he gave himself to the struggle on behalf of his people.

He went forth into the desert to battle against the evil one and he conquered him

and then prepared himself for
the struggle with insatiable death.

He engaged in a contest with the strong one over
desire for bread

and grappled with him and threw
him down by his constancy in the face of enticements.

The spiritual one was overcome by the corporeal
one by the power of the Spirit;

and the body which passions
had trampled down prevailed over the ruler of the air.

A lowly body mocked and ridiculed the strong one

and took away his armor lest
he battle with it against mortals.

"Begone, 0 evil one, to your partner!" he said
to him.

"Begone! Prepare for yourself
other armor for death.

Begone! Devise for yourself deadly snares with
the aid of mortal ones,

because you are alone and your
power is too weak for the struggle!

Begone! Gather to yourself the sons whom you have
begotten through your strategems,

and arm them with slander as
you are accustomed!

Summon to yourself companions of falsehood to
aid you,

because you are a deceiver,
and with deceivers you are accustomed to conquer!

Satan's Legal Charge

For a short time, he drove away the treacherous
one with whom he battled,

so that Satan might go and
devise schemes under the guise of his lawsuit.

He continually knew that in a legal way he will
enter a suit

and by recalling former things
seek to conquer.

The transgression of God's command in Paradise
he kept recalling,

and upon this offense as evidence
he was relying.

With Adam's desire for fruit as his surety, he
continually brought forth the charge

that this had become his surety
because of the slavery over men that he had acquired by

Adam's eating.

The signature of Even and Adam he kept showing
him, saying:

"Behold! Your parents
have sealed and delivered this over. Read and understand it.

A bond Adam wrote me in Eden, because he succumbed
to sin;

and because he did not repay
it, he pledged his sons as interest.

From the beginning, I have possessed authority
over mortals;

and it was not in secret that
they enrolled themselves and became enslaved as debtors.

It is not because of constraint that your race
is like you, but because of love.

And this is why they willingly
accepted to become slaves!

It was not Adam and the members of his generation
who alone became corrupted,

because man's entire nature
is included under the constraint of mortality.

And if you are corporeal and you share in the
passions of the body,

consider your nature and know
that you are included under the bond of my lordship.

There is not a corporeal being, possessing limbs,
who is not mortal;

and if he is mortal, he is
under my bondage and that of death.

Or show me that you are not mortal, and I shall
turn away from you;

but if you are mortal, your
nature refutes the contention of your words!

Show the edict that Death has given you, stating
that you are not mortal,

even though this I do not accept
for corporeal beings!

You are corporeal! Why are words required in this
suit?

The nature of your body is
utter corruption and mortality!

These things the slanderer was thinking applied
to him,

when he made use of these arguments
against the body.

Like a buckler he was holding up mortality,

believing that he will conquer
him with it as he does other mortals.

Jesus' Reply

The hateful one secretly expressed these things
in his thoughts;

but he who searches the heart
was regarding them as though they were expressed openly.

And because he saw with the inner sight of his
mind what the evil-one was pondering,

he revealed the hatred in his
evil disposition before onlookers.

In a clear voice, he spoke about his secret thoughts:

"Behold! The slanderer comes
to plead his case.

Behold! The prince and ruler of the world is demanding
of me:

'Fulfill the obligations of
mortality as do other mortals'!

Under the guise of a lawsuit, he makes a charge
against me as he does with other men:

'You are a man! Pay as a man
liable to judgment'!

With these arguments he also disputes with me
as with Adam:

'You are an adamite, dust that
the river of my strategems has overwhelmed'!

Why are you proud over the words that have come
to pass in your regard?

Do not boast about what is
not yours, because you are earthly!

The hater of our race looks at me as something
lowly,

but does not discern the power
which clothed me from the womb.

Hidden from him is the reason for my coming to
men;

and he does not know of that
new fashioning that will come to be through me.

Also in silence I conceal my majesty from him,

until he accomplishes his great
treachery by imposing death upon me.

Now in a counter suit, I will show him from laws

that he unjustly calumniates
me with mortality.

If mortals succumbed to him because they sinned,

then I who am clean of the
scars of sin - why does he pronounce judgment against me?

If Adam succumbed and was taken as a hostage because
he listened to his advice,

then why me, whom he has not
prevailed over for even a second - why does he pronounce

judgment against me?

Therefore, it is evident that he wrongfully assails
me in his rashness

and unjustly wields his sceptre
over mortals.

And even though it is evident that I am free from
his slavery,

I accept willingly death from
his treachery.

With death he threatens and tries to terrify me
as other mortals;

but through death, I will deprive
him of his authority.

With the armor of mortal passions, he battles
against me;

but by my own personal suffering,
I will teach him that his armor is weak.

In that very way that he thinks that there have
been given to him as hostages Adam and his sons,

I will cancel the bond of his
lordship over mortals.

By death, he sealed the bond of mankind's debts;

and through death upon a cross,
I will tear it up.

In the sight of spiritual and corporeal beings,
I will void

that sentence of condemnation
about which he boasts as a conqueror.

To heavenly and earthly ones, I will show

the redemption of life and
the renewal that will be fulfilled in me.

Heaven and earth I call upon as reliable witnesses;

and with the name of the hidden
One, I will seal the promise that I have made in words.

Rational and mute beings have become mediators
between me and the evil one,

testifying that, without any
debts on my part, he is provoking a judgment and is attempting

to bring about my death.

And if he is acting wrongly as one iniquitous
and thirsting after blood,

judge justly and rebuke his
iniquity and expose his deceit.

Behold! I will accept his sentence of unjust
condemnation

and show that it is not by
necessity that death has prevailed over me.

Behold! I will descend to the depth of Sheol
as into the sea

and swiftly proclaim the name
of my victory.

Behold! I will fulfill the types of the
mysteries which the just have delineated

and requite Jonah who died
because of me.

In reality I will accomplish this descent,

showing that he (Jonah) descended
and ascended and proclaimed my victory in mystery.

In mystery, a fish swallowed Jonah; and he died
while not dying.

For me, in reality, death will
swallow me, but will not corrupt me.

Let therefore the Gates of Sheol rise up before
me,

so that I may enter and lead
the captivity of Adam away from the strong one!

I will descend in the blood of my own New Testament

and redeem the prisoners whom
death has confined within the pit of Sheol.

With my blood I will write out and seal the redemption
of men,

because death is the witness
who ratifies my Testament.

Upon the gibbet I will write it out in my own
blood

and tear up the bond for the
debtors who succumbed to sin".

Jesus' Descent into
Sheol

The vivifier of all descended and bathed in Sheol,
a dead sea,

and conferred a power of vitality
to the dead waters.

With a gentle breeze, he stirred those who were
senseless;

and thousands of the dead began
to proceed to the rendezvous of life.

By a silent vibration, the mighty one called upon
insatiable Death;

and terror seized him (Death)
when he heard about the new report of the restitution of the

dead.

"Give me the captive sons of Adam whom the evil
one gave you!

You have enslaved long enough
the free-born sons under your harsh yoke."

The Raising of the
Dead

The tyrant Death trembled and was dismayed at the
sound of his words;

and, although unwillingly,
he brought forth the captivity of men to meet him.

The prisoners came forth from within the pit of
lifelessness

and proclaimed the hope of
the resurrection of the dead to those without hope.

New tidings the dead brought to those living and
dead;

but the living rejected the
new message which the dead spoke.

The buried who came to life became its envoys
to the buried dead,

and announced the news about
the word of redemption in the ears of everyone.

At the voice of the departed, were raised the
dead of iniquity,

while they were seeing the
renewal of the body and the redemption of the soul.

The dead to the dead were recounting the new event
that had come to pass

of how a dead man prevailed
over death and raised the dead.

This great marvel was being spoken of in the land
of Judea, (Matt. 27:52-53)

whenever a dead man would chance
upon a living one whom he used to know.

It was not the departed who died a long time ago
who came to life by the cross,

because each one was recognizing
his brother and kinsman.

For he did not raise those of former times -who
were far removed

lest the eye of flesh might
deny the testimony of truth.

From the same generation of those who used to
live in this present life,

some of them he raised to be
witnesses of his proclamation.

Hail to The Risen Conqueror

Hail to the mighty one who descended to Sheol by
that way that everyone has,

because he opened the way for
man's journey from the -household of death!

Hail to the, buried one whom death devoured but
who has not been corrupted!

Hail to the corporeal one whose
bodily structure has not decomposed!

Hail to the athlete who engaged in a contest with
the strong one!

The strong one had thought
that he had fallen; but he, in turn, overthrew him

and raised up his race!

He fell as he wanted in body and soul, as befitted
those guilty;

but he rose and was raised
to life and raised the body and freed the soul.

With this intent, he engaged in a contest with
the strong one,

that, by his victory, he might
free his race om bondage.

By death, the vivifier of the universe subdued
the subduer of the universe.

In that very way that he thought
that he prevailed over men, he was humbled.

By death, Adam and his sons wrote out a bond of
slavery;

and through death, the Second
Adam freed Adam and his sons.

The mortal Second Adam died because of Adam;

and the son of Adam rose and
gave life to Adam and his offspring.

There died the corporeal one who was structured
with the timbers of the Spirit;

but he rose and was raised
to life by the power of the Divine Artificer Who

pulled him down and built him up.

The Presence of Angels
at Jesus' Grave

At the resurrection of his body, there rejoiced
earthly and heavenly ones;

and he gladdened those who
were sad because of his death.

The spiritual ones rejoiced because he had conquered,
by his death, insatiable

Death;

and they descended and attended
upon his body in the grave as a conqueror.

His grave was considered by the heavenly ones
to be the King's temple;

and they were chanting a hymn
of victory to the subduer of Death.

Praise they shouted forth to him while he was
ascending out of the grave:

"Blessed is he who, by his
death, has murdered death who had corrupted men!"

They were greatly saddened over his departure
from life as they would over a king;

but he clothed them with a
radiant appearance on the day of his resurrection.

In white garments he showed the heavenly ones,

to teach them about the renewal
which will come to be through him.

The vigilant ones then showed earthly beings the
wondrous sight

of the radiant garment which
bodies will put on the day of the resurrection.

Through the comeliness of their garments, they
taught them,

and in a sign of peace, they
sowed in their ears their message of redemption.

"Whom do you seek," an angel said to the women,
"the living one among the dead?

Come! See that he has risen and been raised to
life and has prevailed over death!"

The angels rolled away the rock from the mouth
of the grave by a hidden act;

and an entrance opened before
their eyes, and they entered and examined the grave.

Why indeed did the vigilant ones take away the
rock that had been sealed?

Because it was difficult for
the conqueror of death to raise up the rock?

For behold! The resurrection which was exceedingly
difficult he accomplished by

an act. Then how is it
that the rock which was easy to remove he did not raise?

His body he rescued from the mouth of death, a
swift lion;

But for a lowly rock he called
spiritual ones to raise it up!

It was not difficult for that command which raised
his body

to lift up the rock before
the entrance and then let him go forth.

For the eyes of corporeal ones, they took away
the rock,

so that they might see the
grave and the body's clothing and take hope.

To assure men, he opened the grave in the presence
of eye-witnesses,

so that they would not doubt
about his resurrection over whether or not he had risen.

That he rose is certain! And this is far more
radiant than the sun!

The spread of his preaching
testifies to this to the four quarters of the world.

And even though his resurrection is revealed to
the universe through deeds,

to the hard-hearted and blind
of soul it is not visible.

That he rose and has been raised to life - behold!
the manifestation is seen

in his majestic power which
has nullified error and loosened the bonds of mortality.

The Fulfillment of
Jonah's Prophecy

He rose after three days, and the promise that
he spoke was not broken;

and he fulfilled the mystery
which the son of Amittai depicted in the belly of the fish.

For three days, the prophet was in the depth in
mystery;

and he accomplished this mystery
in reality by being three days in the grave.

In regard to Jonah, the mystery was that he died
while not dying and he returned to life.

and here the fact is that he
truly died but was not corrupted.

The Son of Amittai ascended out of the depth of
the sea, just as he descended;

and he depicted the manifestation
of death and life and the return of the Gentiles.

With this intent the Divine Will sent Jonah
to search after the Gentiles,

that he might depict the mystery
of this that has come to be at the fulness of the ages.

Also the first-fruits for the universe died for
the sake of all,

and rose and was raised to
life and proclaimed life to the Jewish People and the Gentiles.

The Significance of
The Folded Garments

He came forth from the grave and left his garments
as testimony,

that he has henceforth put
off mortality and put on glory.

Two things he signified by the garments that he
left behind, acting as a wise man:

that to him they are useless
and that they will be witnesses for the faithless.

The faithlessness of the sons of Jacob was revealed
to him

on how they would cover over
with calumny the bestowal of his new life.

By the garments which he left behind, he exposed
their treacherous intentions,

by showing how his body snatchers
neglected his garments in the grave.

In myrrh and aloes his body was embalmed and laid
carefully in the grave;

and for those carrying him
off it was easy to remove him in his garments.

If then they stole him as terror-stricken fugitives,

how is it that they took off
and folded his garments in tranquility?

Blind jealousy has blinded the calumniators;

and they have not discerned
the public witness of his bodily resurrection.

With garments of silver they wanted to cover over
his proclamation of a new life;

but he rent the garment, fashioned
from deceit, and its fabrics.

With silver they had purchased him from Judas
for the bondage of death;

and after he had risen, they
denied his resurrection with treacherous silver.

Nature's Testimony
Concerning the Resurrection

But what can treacherous silver do against evident
truth,

when it is, as it were, heralded
from the mouth of inanimate beings?

Rocks and graves and the Temple veil cried out
to rational beings,

"Arise, slumberers, and receive
the hope of life for the dead"!

And if inanimate and mute " beings have shouted
his victory,

of no avail then is the
treacherous silver 'and it is not to be believed!

Rational and dumb beings became his witnesses
to the faithless,

and they have subscribed to
the testament concerning his death and his life.

As a skillful scribe, the powerful Spirit sealed
his victory

and demonstrated this by the
veil which He rent in two.

He showed that He had left the Temple of Sacrificial
Atonement for the Jewish People

and that He no longer takes
pleasure in the blood of heifers for the reconciliation of men.

The veil revealed His rebuke for the insolent,

in that, if an inanimate being
was struck and rent, how much more will He do this to

rational beings?

Man's moral discernment was deserving of wrathful
scourgings;

but He raised a rod and struck
a garment instead of the mind.

He put back the sword of condemnation out of mercy

and raised His hand to bring
down His rod; but His love restrained Him.

He did not demand from them satisfaction for his
death, as though they were guilty,

because it did not befit the
vivifier of men to destroy men.

Mortality Crucified
and Raised to Life

"For the life of men," he said "I have come --
not for destruction!"

And he confirmed his words
through deeds.

He died for the sake of all and gave life to the
universe, as he had promised.

He fulfilled and accomplished
the salvific act required for all.

The Second Adam died in his nature as befitted
mortals

and crucified with him mortality
and gave it life by his life.

He gave over the edifice of his body's temple;
and the evil ones pulled it down.

But the Word of the Father
restored and built it according to His promise.

He descended according to his nature that begets
passions and dwelt in Sheol

and brought up with him a catch
of men to a new life.

He broke through the wall which death had built
before the dead,

and opened a way for mortality
to vitality.

Jesus' Victory Speech

He raised his voice as a captain before his soldiers:

"Rise and take courage! I have
conquered death and the evil one!

I engaged in a hidden contest in my visible body

and conquered the strong one
in this trial of strength and plundered his wealth.

A just law suit I entered against him before the
Judge,

and then condemned him because
our race was unjustly captive to him.

The bond of Adam's iniquity he brought forth and
showed in accordance with the laws

but one that had not been sealed
with the signature of reliable witnesses.

And then there was revealed the lie that was hidden
in his words.

The King Himself rebuked him
and gave the order to cast him into exile.

And now therefore that I have conquered and the
strong one, the enemy of our

race, has succumbed,

I make my companions also share
in the greatness of my victory.

The power of immortal life the Spirit gave me;

and with it I will arm passibility
against passions.

Behold! Spiritual armor is forged for carnal beings.

Put it on, O mortals, and battle
and conquer spiritually!

Under a sentence of death you were condemned and
given as hostages.

Come! Receive gratis the bond
containing your debts and acquire life!

By my own death , I have crushed death who corrupted
men.

And through my victory, there
has been condemned and exposed the ruler of the air."

Hail to the victory of that one who, when he was
conquered, conquered the tyrant!

Hail to the fall of the corporeal
one who fell and raised up mankind!

There fell the mortal one, the temple of flesh
whom the Spirit built;

but the good pleasure of the
King Who was dwelling in him has renewed and

built him up.

Narsai the Nestorian
Rejects His Adversaries' Position

Who is the one who fell under death,O lovers of
death,

and who is the one who paid
the debtors' bond and freed them?

Whose death is it who died in his nature and has
truly risen?

Whose resurrection is it whose
heralds were also inanimate beings?

Reveal to us the goal of your intentions, so that
we may take aim against it!

Why do you want to call the
dead one, 'the one who has conquered death'?

To which nature befit the Passion and also victory?

Reveal and signify to us as
searchers after truths!

If the Word, the Offspring of the Father, has
suffered in His Nature,

then our nature did not suffer-with
Him in the death of His Being!

If our lowly nature has not died and also been
raised to life,

O then false and vain is the
hope of life for the dead!

If an impassible Nature death was devouring,

how then did It suffer? In
Its own Nature or in our nature?

If according to Its own Nature It experienced
death, this is impious!

Did all of It then suffer or
did It in part suffer and was tried?

Behold! There is nothing Impassible- or passib!e,

which partly suffers and partly
remains unchanged!

If the Only Begotten fell according to His Nature
under death,

then He would interrupt the
perpetuity belonging to name of His Divine Essence.

And if He fell according to your discourse,
not according to ours -

who would raise Him from His
fall and give Him life?

That this 'Fallen One' should raise Himself, this
is perverse!

And that another should raise
Him, then He is in need and also deficient!

And if the Spirit and the power of the Father
righted His fall,

behold, it is apparent that
He is far inferior to the Divine Essence!

And if He is less than the Divine Essence - it
is not I who have said this! -

why do you find fault with
Arius as alien to the faith?

For this reason the Church has expelled him out
of its doors,

that he diminishes the Son
and makes him inferior to His Begetter.

And if in this way this is iniquitous to speak
in this way,

weave a crown for the blasphemer
because he has expounded well!

"You," I say, "do this!" We cannot!

There is a great chasm between
us and you, and it is unbridgeable!

We do not give over to the heretics a rent garment

and we do not pour new wine
into wineskins of error!

We do not give our pure, holy faith

to dumb dogs who do not perceive
the power of the hidden Divinity!

We do not cast the pearls of our soul's confession

before minds that are animal-like
lovers of dung!

We do not travel along a trackless way with the
erring

and we do not go forth on a
false path of passibility!

We do not abase the One exalted above the universe
to affliction

and we do not kill that vitality
which gives life!

It is the lowly nature of man that fell in Sheol
under death;

it is a son of mortals who
died according to his nature for the abolition of death!

Death had struck the earthen vessel, formed out
of dust,

which the Fashioner of the
universe has refashioned.in a spiritual way.

He is the one who dwelt three days with those
deceased,

and he was raised to life on
the third day and has raised his race to life.

He is the one who descended to the lowly things
of earthly beings,

and he is the one who has ascended
above the universe to raise up the universe.

Into his bodily structure, the insolent thrust
nails and a spear;

and by his renewal, he has
cancelled the bond incurred because of its bodily passions.

He descended unto the lion's den, clad in the
armor of the Spirit,

and snatched the prey of Adam's
body which was torn to pieces.

He cried out in Sheol as a strong man; and its
foundations shook;

and he smashed its gates and
broke its bars and plundered it and went forth.

The Angels Proclaim
His Victory

The gates raised up their veil as he was going
forth;

and the spiritual ones were
singing praise to the power that brought him his victory.

Heaven and earth became his spokemen to the faithless.

"They have rejected life"!
the deceased cried out and dumb beings have confirmed this.

The multitudes on high descended to honor the
earthly one

and celebrated his death and
proclaimed his life to his companions.

The hope of life the vigilant ones brought to
the household of mortals:

"Arise and take courage, 0
earthly ones, in the abolition of death!

Cry out and say to the corrupter of your limbs:

'Where is your sting, O serpent
who killed us in the eating of the fruit?'

Repeat this and mock him, as you laugh at his
strategems!

What will you do because life
has cut down the tree of death?"

Like Samson, they spoke with him in riddles,

saying : "The body which you
had devoured has become a source that begets life.

From within the eater there came forth to him
spiritual food;

and from our dust that begets
passions has emanated a sweetness."

A Concluding Exhortation

Let there rejoice with us heaven and earth, rational
and dumb beings,

because the sacrifice of our
body has reconciled the Lord with His creatures!

One first fruit our race has offered to the Divinity;

and He has given us, through
him, a sign of peace and the renewal of the universe.

With us let earthly and heavenly beings confess
:

"Blessed be He Who in our body
has shown His love for those whom He has fashioned."

Fk^rwbw 0ml4

Peshitta.org

In reply to message #0
 
Greetings in the Name of YHWH,

That hymn is absolutely fascinating. Where can I get a copy ?

In reply to message #1
 
Shlama Akhi Bar-Khela,

I'm trying to find one myself....

One of the symptoms of being interested in a neglected field of study is the lack of readily available materials in print.

I found this somewhere on the web a while back.

Akhi Dean Dana's parish of the CoE in Tarzana, California, has a copy in their library of Mar Narsai's hymns, which can be checked out (not bought), and unfortunately it is not in English (only Aramaic.)

Fk^rwbw 0ml4

Peshitta.org

In reply to message #2
 
>Shlama Akhi Bar-Khela,
>
>I'm trying to find one myself....
>
>
>One of the symptoms of being
>interested in a neglected field
>of study is the lack
>of readily available materials in
>print.

Wow, I am starting to feel like people just don't care if Aramaic dies out.
>
>I found this somewhere on the
>web a while back.
>
>Akhi Dean Dana's parish of the
>CoE in Tarzana, California, has
>a copy in their library
>of Mar Narsai's hymns, which
>can be checked out (not
>bought), and unfortunately it is
>not in English (only Aramaic.)

Paul, I guess I can be really mad, huh ? Well, I always have you, my Assyrian-speaking friend! Once more, that hymn was very beautiful. I noted that the hymn included some interesting titles for the devil too, particularly "the strong one."
>
>
>
>Fk^rwbw 0ml4
>
> Peshitta.org

In reply to message #3
 
Shlama Akhi Bar-Khela,

Wow, I am starting to feel like people just don't care if Aramaic dies out.

Your feeling is, for the most part, correct. Most of them would care, like you all do on this forum, if they even knew about it.

That's why I started doing what I'm doing.

Paul, I guess I can be really mad, huh ? Well,
I always have you, my Assyrian-speaking friend! Once more, that hymn was very beautiful. I noted that the hymn included some interesting titles for the devil too, particularly "the strong one."

I like Mar Narsai a lot. He showed a tremendous knowledge of scripture and theology, and he composed very beautiful poetry in Aramaic.

Imagine how many more poets just like him are waiting to be discovered in the 250,000 pages of uncataloged, untranslated Aramaic manuscripts in the possession of just one library.

If there were a quarter of a million pages of unknown, uncataloged, untranslated Greek manuscripts - spanning 2,000 years, how many scholars would be working on translating them?

Would there ever be a quarter of a million pages of Greek manuscripts left untranslated and neglected?

Just something to think about.

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Peshitta.org

In reply to message #4
 
Akhi Paul:
The samething occurs in a lot of Rabbinic literture which is left untranslated to this day. examples are the Jerusalem Talmud, Zohar Ha Khodesh,Midrash NeOlam, Otzar Ha Midrashim,and many others in particular the Qabistic writings like the additional portions of the Zohar in aramaic only to this day. All the Hebrew commentaries on the Talmud have only a handful translated to English. There are millions of pages of untranslated Rabbinic liture today, not just Christian Aramaic, but Jewish Aramaic and Arabic, hebrew and the like. Shlama W'Berkhata,Sam

In reply to message #4
 
>Shlama Akhi Bar-Khela,
>
>Your feeling is, for the
>most part, correct. Most
>of them would care, like
>you all do on this
>forum, if they even knew
>about it.

Perhaps you are right. But when there are Arabs in the East forcing their language on Assyrians and "scholars" like James Tabor in the West, we will always have a sweaty struggle preserving the language.

I like Mar Narsai a
>lot.He showed a
>tremendous knowledge of scripture and
>theology, and he composed very
>beautiful poetry in Aramaic.

Saint Ephrem was really good too.
>
>Imagine how many more poets just
>like him are waiting to
>be discovered in the 250,000
>pages of uncataloged, untranslated Aramaic
>manuscripts in the possession of
>just one library.

Where is this library located? Are there plans for translation?
>
>If there were a quarter of
>a million pages of unknown,
>uncataloged, untranslated Greek manuscripts -
>spanning 2,000 years, how many
>scholars would be working on
>translating them?

Plenty
>
>Would there ever be a quarter
>of a million pages of
>Greek manuscripts left untranslated and
>neglected?

Never would a million Greek manuscripts be left untranslated.
>
>Just something to think about.

"Now that I understand this right
Let me take it to the mic
This revolution has just begun."
>
>
>Fk^rwbw 0ml4
>
> Peshitta.org

In reply to message #6
 
Shlama Akhi Bar-Khela,

Where is this library located? Are there plans for translation?

Right here in the U.S. - the collection belongs to the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Chicago, but is housed at the University of Chicago Library.

Dr. Saadi is currently the only scholar working on cataloging and translating these manuscripts.

He has invited me to join the effort, while working towards a Doctorate in this area of study. I'm thinking about it - when my time frees up a little more. Then, and only then, you may accurately refer to me as a 'scholar.'

That'll make 2 people working on 250,000 pages, something it would take 1,000 people a lifetime - plus some, to finish.

This collection contains manuscripts from modern-day Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Jordan.

It should contain some fascinating things - who knows what we'll find? Only time will tell.

To see Dr. Saadi talking about this topic, check this out - he speaks near the end of the video:

https://www.atour.com/media/audio-video/video/Aramaic/Aramaic.mp4

Archive: MP4 video file

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Peshitta.org