Popular Patristics Series Volume 45
Why was Cain’s sacrifice rejected, but Abel’s accepted? How did Joseph react when he came home and found Mary with child? Questions such as these served as the starting points for St Ephrem and other poets of the early Syriac tradition in these lively and highly imaginative poems where they explore the deeper spiritual meanings of the biblical text with great insight.
Written with considerable verve, these narrative poems and dramatic dialogues offer the modern reader an unusual and refreshing perspective on some key passages in the Bible.
About the Author: Sebastian Brock is Emeritus Reader in Syriac Studies in the University of Oxford, and an Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. He also translated St Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns on Paradise, PPS10.
1 review
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Poetry in Scripture
This is one of my favorite books. It is a compilation of poetic compositions, written by various Syriac fathers, that meditate on the Scriptures. Many of it has to do with the Old Testament: the Fall, the sacrifice of Isaac. But all of these stories are connected in fresh, interesting, and overwhelmingly beautiful ways to the New Testament and the truth of Christ's Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. There is always something new to glean from this book, and from these writers. It is always worth reading, every time I pick it up.
