Students of the Bible in 4th and 5th Century Syria : Seats of Learning, Sidelights and Syriacisms

Decades of rigorous research shed light on the concealed legacy of 4th and 5th century Syriac writers, whose texts linger through misplaced translations and false attributions. A unified collection of studies reveals rich connections between Syrian language, culture, and textual traditions.

A number of prolific writers were active in the Syrian Church of the 4th and 5th centuries. However, in some cases these writers are only accessible by virtue of sidelights thrown e.g. from Armenian and Latin translations (as is the case with Eusebius of Emesa); or, their works may be hidden under false attributions in Greek manuscripts (as, e.g. in Pseudo-Chrysostomica - in fact belonging to Severian of Gabala); or, their relationship to the Syriac language and culture may be misrepresented in modern research (as for Theodoret of Cyrrhus). Since the 1960s Henning Lehmann's research has concentrated on disclosing secrets and answering puzzling questions in such contexts, in particular concerning Eusebius, Severian and Theodoret, calling for sound scholarship in identifying syriacisms and school traditions. The 15 chapters of this book, originally published over the years 1969-2005 in various conference reports, periodicals, Festschriften etc., and in various languages, can be studied here as a coherent collection - all in English.