On the Lord's saying, “What would it profit a person if he acquired the whole world and lost his soul?”

1.                  The human soul is the great image of Divinity –

2.             O Son of God, through You may she be purified and acquire her beauties!

3.                  Her creation is more exalted than beautiful creations,

4.             [but] she fell in sin. You, O Good Heir, raise her up!

5.                  She was betrothed to You from the waters of baptism.

6.             Protect her in Your embrace from the stranger who abuses her!

7.                  The evil world and its desires full of harm

8.             have mutilated the soul. You, Renewer of All, protect her beauty!

9.                  In Your name resides the Image of the King who is betrothed to You.

10.          Protect her by Your name – let her not be insulted by the rebel!

11.               The world is full of slipperiness, fissures, and snares –

12.          draw the soul after You, Lord, to be with You.

13.               She has fallen, and since it is not easy for her to rise, raise her up!

14.          You are the Mighty One – take up the Weak One who is betrothed to You!

15.               She has slipped and fallen – help her in repentance,

16.          and upon Your shoulders take up the ewe the wolves have broken.

17.               The human soul is Your friend, Lord, and boasts in You,

18.          and even when she falls, she trusts in You to raise her up.

19.               For she is Your daughter, and she is not led off since You are mighty –

20.          she is mingled with You – may You save her from the captor!

21.               Your Cross saved her from worshipping dead images –

22.          may it save her from the slipperiness of wicked passions.

23.               She is upended in iniquity but hangs onto the hope of Your mightiness.

24.          How she gazes at You! O come to her aid, Son of God!

25.               She is Yours, Lord, both at the beginning and in the end –

26.          let not the Evil One, in between, unsettle her from Your company!

27.               Your Father gave the soul His image when creating her,

28.          and You in Your likeness also gave her life with Your Begetter.

29.               And when she was captured, He sent You after her from His high lofts;

30.          a spear and nails met You on the way, and You did not abandon her.

31.               For her sake You were scourged with whips –

32.          do not abandon her, Lord – she is perishing in the lures of desires!

33.               Though she is dissolute, You have strength and might,

34.          and it is easy for You even to make stones from water.

35.               As You created her from the beginning from nothing,

36.          and as You brought her out from among idols when she had been captured,

37.               surround [her] and give her the hand of mercy now that she has sinned,

38.          and for the third time take victory with great glory!

39.               It was fitting that You created her, and it was well, Lord, that You saved her,

40.          and it would again be right if You again pitied the Defiled [Soul]!

41.               The soul did not petition You to create her from the beginning,

42.          and she did not beg You to bear sufferings for her sake.

43.               But now that she has fallen after these two things, she petitions You

44.          that the third [act] might also be Yours – grant her mercy!

45.               Though she did not sense these two first actions,

46.          You showed Your love for her sake and acquired her for Yourself.

47.               One act remains – perform it so she may also be Yours,

48.          for three acts are fitting for You to do!

49.               Since You have created and saved [her], pity [her] and be glorified with three acts,

50.          for who has ever been worthy of glory but You?

51.               The soul is weak even when approaching repentance,

52.          and since she is reviled she is not even pleased with prayer.

53.               Pity the Reviled One whose mouth is shut by her own iniquity,

54.          and account a few tears as many, and grant forgiveness!

55.               The soul that has sinned cannot offer You, Lord,

56.          anything great, for her treasury is empty of good things.

57.               Take two teardrops like the small coins

58.          of that widow – she had nothing but these!

59.               The soul that has sinned is much poorer than that widow,

60.          and she broods over how many debts she has.

61.               O Lord of the debt, grant forgiveness and encouragement,

62.          for if Your forgiveness does not come upon the soul, she will die!

63.               And you, O sinner, pity your beautiful soul

64.          for you have subjugated her to desires by your will.

65.               Neither captors nor thieves have stripped her beauty –

66.          she accuses you, for you have stained her by your own iniquity!

67.               Temporal refreshments and unbeautiful desires

68.          have brought down the soul from the height of spirituality.

69.               And something has worn out – something great has fallen from its height

70.          because you were dissolute, O sinner, in committing iniquity!

71.               See what you have lost and rise and seek her if possible –

72.          the soul is bought for a good price. Do not lose her!

73.               She is an exalted creation, glorious and beautiful,

74.          for among creatures there is none more exalted than her!

75.               She is the image of the King and the great picture of Divinity,

76.          and all the beauties of all creation fall behind her.

77.               See how beautiful was the light that came on the first day –

78.          yet the great image of Divinity was not depicted on it!

79.               Consider the firmament, the tent fixed upon all the ends [of the world]

80.          which did not suffice to be a picture for the King in its great height.

81.               The confined seas and all the world with its regions

82.          were too small in their circumscriptions for the King’s picture.

83.               The sun and moon and their rays with their risings,

84.          though beautiful, do not have the great icon depicted on them.

85.               Not paradise nor even its spiritual fruits

86.          became the image for the Great Self-Existent One when He created it.

87.               He did not paint His image on the chariot of heavenly beings,

88.          nor on the wings or rational wheels.

89.               His likeness was not depicted on the cherubim nor on the seraphim,

90.          nor on the crowds or orders of flame.

91.               He did not wish for it to be painted on the flame of Gabriel’s companions,

92.          nor on the wonderful spirit of Michael’s companions.

93.               He left in the heights all the high principalities

94.          and made the human soul a likeness and painted His image on her.

95.               And He gave her beauties to be the most exalted of creatures

96.          and lined her with ornaments with free will, as if with gold.

97.               And He filled her with a mind and wisdom and brightness

98.          and an exalted intellect and thoughts full of discernment,

99.               and speech and a voice and spiritual ideas –

100.      and she was beautiful and shone like God Who made her His image.

101.           And her beauty surpassed all the silent creatures,

102.      and rational and material and hidden ones.

103.           And neither luminaries nor angels were like her,

104.      nor the high or middle beings in their natures.

105.           She is the Bride of the King, carrying the likeness of her Lord, the Self-Existent One –

106.      not the chariot, the companion of the watchers and neighbor of hosts.

107.           She is an age of honor, an image of brilliance, a picture of light,

108.      envied by demons and full of the beauties of the Divine.

109.           How much more beautiful and honorable she is than [all] creation!

110.      And nothing except sin could defile her.

111.           Behold! She is luminous, but if she commits iniquity, she will darken –

112.      she is beautiful, but if she deviates, she will become ugly.

113.           Let all the world take care to protect this [soul],

114.      for the discerning know that she, not possessions, is necessary.

115.           She is a pearl redeemed only by the Son of God’s blood

116.      when she was taken captive by persecutors.

117.           Yet see how we despise her, consider her ordinary, and forget her!

118.      She is cast into mire and we do not raise her up from the dung-heap.

119.           Sin has hurt her, but she can easily be restored through repentance,

120.      yet we are too lazy to labor and find the lost beauty!

121.           How disdained is gold and despised is property and ugly is wealth

122.      toward the beautiful lost soul if she is found!

123.           But we have neglected her, disregarded her, and not taken care of her

124.      whom alone it was necessary for us to acquire.

125.           Yet look at us rushing to gather possessions

126.      while we account the Queen of Light to be nothing!

127.           We have not honored her, served her, or boasted in her –

128.      we have not delivered her from the evil things shaking her.

129.           She hates sin, but we do not take care to keep it from her,

130.      for when it enters her it topples, weakens, and abases her.

131.           See sins surrounding the soul from all sides!

132.      We have not repelled them through repentance, which looses bonds.

133.           See how mighty are the rays of the great sun,

134.      but one cloud hides the whole thing from view!

135.           Now again look and see how many the soul’s beauties are

136.      and [how] one fault makes her all ugly if it enters her.

137.           Consider, too, repentance, which is free,

138.      and [how] the soul, the most exalted of creatures, is redeemed through it.

139.           The Son of God bought her at a price when He redeemed her,

140.      yet we do not care to heal her wound for free!

141.           O possessor whose love is bound up with your possessions,

142.      do not despise that greatest possession you have!

143.           You have a soul much greater than possessions –

144.      love her, then, as good as she is, if you love!

145.           Do not love a little property like a fool

146.      while hating and abandoning that great [possession] as if it were nothing.

147.           Love gold like gold according to its weight

148.      and silver, too, like silver, for it is known.

149.           And if there is property, love it according to its worth,

150.      and cherish every possession according to what it is.

151.           And see what is the worth of the soul, and corresponding to her worth,

152.      thus account her great and cherish her!

153.           But who knows how good the Daughter of lights is?

154.      Who takes her, examines her, and weighs her?

155.           Whoever knows the worth of the soul – let him come and speak,

156.      and let her possessors cherish her corresponding to her worth.

157.           The Son of God, Who gave her His image when creating her

158.      and put on her form inside the womb when He redeemed her –

159.           He will tell us what is her worth and how good she is,

160.      for no one but Him knows what the soul is!

161.           He said as He was teaching in the synagogues

162.      how much better the human soul is than possessions.

163.           And He said thus, “What would it profit a person

164.      if he gained the whole world and lost his soul?

165.           Or what could a person give in exchange and comparison for his soul?

166.      For all the whole world’s possessions do not compare to her.”

167.           He weighed her well when creating her, and He knew her worth,

168.      for He weighs the world and mountains and heights.

169.           That Mighty One Who casts the heights on a scale

170.      weighs mountains with the soul and knows her.

171.           And He put the whole world across from her when He weighed her;

172.      the world rose light and the soul outweighed creation.

173.           When the human soul was created, she was weighed with the world

174.      on the true scale of knowledge, full of mysteries.

175.           The Creator put the whole world on one side of the scale

176.      and the soul in the other, and the soul outweighed creation.

177.           He knows how good the pearl is

178.      and He alone can say her worth.

179.           He put her across from the whole world, and established her worth –

180.      that she was better than the whole world, which cannot compare to her.

181.           It is not just that the soul is good corresponding to the whole world,

182.      but the world is nothing, and the soul is something.

183.           The world will fall but the soul will not disperse with it –

184.      the world is grass but the soul is the image of the Divine.

185.           The whole world is like a passing evening shadow,

186.      but the soul does not pass away, for she is the image of the Great Self-Existent One.

187.           And if a person acquires the whole world and loses his soul,

188.      what would he have if his own soul is not his?

189.           He has acquired the world and heaped up gold and increased wealth,

190.      but what is the benefit if his soul is slain by sin?

191.           What point are riches if the Lady of Riches is lost?

192.      Why possessions if the Possessor is not found?

193.           Look! The whole world has been gathered up and become yours

194.      with its possessions, honor, and authority,

195.           its high ranks and ordered seats,

196.      glorious garments and ranks higher than rulers,

197.           all its treasures, all its good things, all its wealth –

198.      all the world is wholly yours, yet you are poor!

199.           The soul has lost; the world has gained – a great disaster!

200.      For the soul acquired the whole world while she herself is poor.

201.           Sins bound her and the world killed her – now see her cast down

202.      in Gehenna. And what has the world she acquired benefited her?

203.           When the Lord of the world disperses it, He will not disperse her,

204.      and the whole world will pass away, and she remain.

205.           She will enter judgement and make an account for her sins,

206.      and the world and wealth will be far off from the judgment hall.

207.           Everything she acquired will be nothing when she is tormented

208.      and what would she benefit if she had acquired the whole world?

209.           She desired and ran after the world diligently,

210.      cared and acquired great wealth very much.

211.           She ascended and rose to stature with a high rank

212.      and was mighty in authority and majesty.

213.           And when she had subjugated the whole world, they took it from her

214.      and brought her into judgment, and the world would not help her.

215.           How she is accused, chastised, and constrained!

216.      And they do not let her possessions go to her.

217.           Then remorse comes and greatly scourges the soul

218.      and accuses her since she has acquired what was not true.

219.           And the soul’s conscience scourges her like a judge

220.      since she went astray after the world – and it does not save her.

221.           But she does not accuse the Judge when He chastises her,

222.      but she cries out, “Your judgment is just and You are right!”

223.           That veil of desires is taken off

224.      of souls in the great judgment before Justice.

225.           The soul stands in judgment and her neck is exposed,

226.      and they do not allow her to cover any of her secrets.

227.           She is naked and exposed before the Judge, as upon her are painted

228.      all her stains, all her sores, and her deeds.

229.           For a Kushite cannot hide his color,

230.      nor the soul disguise all her evil deeds.

231.           Like limbs [her] thoughts are exposed before Justice –

232.      the judgment is right, the Judge just, and the place fearful.

233.           And every person who has acquired the world and lost his soul

234.      will be ashamed there with [his] property that does not benefit him.

235.           Love of the world will be lifted away like smoke

236.      by the wind of judgment blowing there strongly.

237.           And the soul will hate and be ashamed by the wealth she has acquired,

238.      for there she learns it is nothing for the one who acquires it.

239.           Whoever wishes to hear the word of the Son of God,

240.      from now on will hate wealth, for it is nothing,

241.           and he will learn to acquire the soul alone among possessions,

242.      for all the wealth of the whole world does not compare to her.

243.           “For what would it benefit a person,” said our Lord,

244.      “if he acquired the whole world and lost his soul?”

245.           And if there were an ear to listen spiritually,

246.      possessions would not be more beloved than the soul.

247.           We have learned what the soul is and what are possessions

248.      from the Great Teacher Who wishes for all to live.

249.           Yet we consider the Great One’s word to be ordinary, and we do not wish

250.      to love the soul and hate wealth which does not benefit us.

251.           Love of the world obscures our soul like smoke

252.      and does not allow her to see how beautiful she is –

253.           how luminous, how wise, how beloved –

254.      and how much we have hated her by bringing her down to desires!

255.           O you soul! Beloved of your Lord, who has deceived you?

256.      Who has mocked you? Who has seduced you with desires?

257.           Who has brought you down from the height of spirituality

258.      to this shame and lowliness of slaves in which you are fallen?

259.           You the daughter of the Freeborn, daughter of the King, daughter of Light!

260.      Why do you wear the color of night, which is so dark on you?

261.           The Fair One said, “that serpent who insulted me

262.      among the trees stripped and deceived me. Now he bites me!

263.           He ambushed me there and stole my garments I wore,

264.      and here again he deceives me with the love of the world!

265.           Every day he cast fruits before me from that Tree of Knowledge

266.      so I might eat and die through its desires.

267.           They made me a guardian of the vineyard there among the trees,

268.      but I did not guard my hand from that fruit which killed me!

269.           They placed me like a guardian by that Tree of Life,

270.      but I plucked a fruit from that Tree of Knowledge,

271.           and the serpent pulled and brought me down from that great height

272.      with his despicable deceit – see me fallen in the wicked world!

273.           And when the Tree of Life pitied me and gave me my garments,

274.      the snake came to renew my nakedness and mock me.

275.           O Son of the Virgin, You crushed his head in Your crucifixion –

276.      save me from him, for he inflates desire and weakens me!

277.           The snake is slain by the spear sharpened on Golgotha –

278.      let him not live through love of the world which is close to me!

279.           My enemy is audacious – conquer through me so I may conquer the one tormenting me!

280.      I will not conquer if I am my own – I will conquer him if I am Yours!

281.           If I fall ten thousand times, raise me up!

282.      I have entered Your company – may I go with You toward Your Begetter!

283.           Through Your contest I will conquer him, for I am weak –

284.      conquer my enemy for me lest You be grieved if he conquers me!

285.            You have redeemed me from captors at a great price –

286.      O Son of God, let my captor not again take me away from You!

287.           Your precious blood is shed for my sake on Golgotha –

288.      may I not be lost after being bought to be Yours!”

289.           A blow struck the Savior for the human soul,

290.      so she would be set free from slavery and return to her land.

291.           He laid Himself in the abyss of the dead for her sake,

292.      and descended and brought her up from Sheol’s deeps and depths.

293.           They led Him to judgment and bound Him to a scourging pillar;

294.      they spat in His face, but He did not wish to turn from salvation.

295.           He dove down into the sea of suffering and brought up the pearl

296.      for the sake of the great image painted on her, lest it be lost.

297.           It did not weary Him as He was suffering for her sake,

298.      for He knew how good she was, and He bought her with His blood.

299.           Lest His Father’s image be abandoned in the place of ruin,

300.      He went down and probed Sheol and brought up the pearl with Him.

301.           And knowing how much better she was than [all] creation,

302.      He revealed in the Gospel that the whole world does not compare to her.

303.           And therefore [He said], “what would it benefit a person

304.      if he found the whole world and lost his soul?”

305.           And therefore, He would heal the desire-stricken soul with [her] tears

306.      and her illness would cease, and she become beautiful.

307.           O Son of God Who redeemed her by Your blood, through You may she be purified

308.      and acquire her first beauty and return to her land!

 ܀܀܀܀܀

[1] This homily is based on Christ’s statement recorded in Matthew 16:26 and Mark 8:36. I have checked Bedjan’s text against Vatican Syriac 118. While I have kept many of Bedjan’s section divisions, I have included some of my own.

[2-Line 2] “Soul” in Syriac is grammatically feminine. I have translated the pronouns throughout the homily as feminine because Jacob frequently uses feminine imagery to describe the soul.

[3-Line 14] The verb ܢܣܒ, found here in the imperative, can also have the sense of “taking” i.e., marrying, someone.

[4-Line 20] “may You save her from the captor” lit. “by You may she be saved from the captor.” In Line 19, the translation “for she is Your daughter” is a bit uncertain to me, but I am unable to make better sense of it.

[5-Line 22] “may it save her from…” lit. “by it may she be saved from.”

[6-Line 26] “in between” lit. “in the middle.”

[7-Line 28] Genesis 1:26-27. The words the Peshitta uses for God’s “image” and “likeness” in which humans were created are “ܨܠܡܐ” and “ܕܡܘܬܐ.” I will translate these Syriac words accordingly in this translation.

[8-Line 33] “You have strength and might” lit. “in You are strength and might.”

[9-Line 36] “idols” lit. “images” (ܨܠܡ̈ܐ).

[10-Line 39] Or, “it was fitting to You that created her, and it was pleasing to You, Lord, that You saved her.”

[11-Line 44] See Jacob’s homily on Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones for a similar expression of this idea: “And if, though the world never asked Him, He created it in His mercy, / when it does petition Him, how can He refuse all its requests? // Without supplicating Him, people came into being though they did not exist. / Now that they have come into being, how can He neglect their salvation? // … // Who asked You to create people? But You created them. / And who petitioned You also to raise them from death? // Your mercy moved in You – it was not a person’s petition that made You incline / to create humanity from the beginning. // Your mercy again drew You toward their graves / to call and raise from destruction the heirs who fell.” (Lines 9-10, 22-24). From Roger Akhrass and Imad Syryany, eds., 160 Unpublished Homilies of Jacob of Serugh 1.46, pp. 397-398.

[12-Line 52] “she is not even pleased with prayer”: lit. “not even prayer is pleasant to her.”

[13-Line 53] “by her own iniquity”: lit. “by the iniquity of her hands.”

[14-Line 58] Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4.

[15-Line 62] “to the soul she will die”: lit. “to the soul, she [would be] dead.”

[16-Line 66] “by your own iniquity”: lit. “the iniquity of your hands.”

[17-Line 70] This word is found in the ethpa ‘al form, where it means here “to be slack/loose/dissolute.” This stands in stark contrast with Christ, described earlier in the homily with the aph‘el of this same verb as not “abandoning” the soul, His creation (see lines 30 and 32).

[18-Line 70] Lit. “in the iniquity you performed.”

I am unsure if I am translating the first line of this couplet well.

ܘܰܒܠܳܐ ܡܶܕܶܡ ܡܶܕܶܡ ܪܰܒܳܐ ܢܦܰܠ ܡܶܢ ܪܰܘܡܶܗ

[19-Line 76] “fall behind her”: lit. “are behind/after her.”

The word I have translated as “picture” is ܨܘܪܬܐ. I have translated it this way also in lines 80, 82, and 107. I have translated it as “form” in line 158.

[20-Line 78] Genesis 1:3-4.

[21-Line 84] Lit. “though beautiful [i.e., the sun and moon, etc.], the great icon is not depicted on them.”

[22-Line 86] “Self-Existent One”:  ܐܝܬܝܐ. This word occurs multiple times in the homily and can have a very important theological sense. It is often translated as “Being,” “Essence,” or “Existence,” along with the word ܐܝܬܘܬܐ. I have followed Edward Mathews’ suggested translation.

[23-Line 88] Jacob often cites Ezekiel’s vision of the Divine Chariot, which was elevated on four winged heavenly creatures and had spinning wheels. Jacob often uses the phrase “rational wheels” in reference to these wheels. See Ezekiel 1:4-28.

[24-Line 93] “Principalities” refers to one of the ranks of angels.

[25-Line 107] “an age of honor”: I am unsure how to translate this phrase. The Syriac word in construct state usually means “world,” “age,” or, adverbially, “for eternity.”

ܥܳܠܡܰܬ ܗܶܕܪܳܐ ܨܰܠܡܰܬ ܙܺܝܘܳܐ ܨܽܘܪܰܬ ܢܽܘܗܪܳܐ

[26-Line 114] Lit. “for she is necessary, not possessions, for those who are discerning.”

[27-Line 117] Lit. “Yet see how she is despicable to us and ordinary to us and forgotten by us.”

[28-Line 122] Lit. “toward the beautiful one – the soul who was lost – if she is found”

[29-Line 134] “from view”: lit. “from viewers.”

[30-Line 148] The idea seems to be that the weight and therefore value of silver was standard/known.

[31-Line 150] Lit. “and let every possession be cherished by you according to what it is.”

[32-Line 152] Lit. “thus may she be accounted great and cherished by you.”

[33-Line 168] Isaiah 40:12.

[34-Line 170] Lines 168-170 may more literally be translated: “for the world and mountains and heights are weighed by Him, // by that Mighty One Who casts the heights on a scale. / By Him, the soul is weighed with mountains, and He knows her.”

[35-Line 174] Lit. “On the true scale of knowledge, full of mysteries, / the world was weighed, and the human soul, when she was created.”

[36-Line 180] “which cannot compare to her”: lit. “and it [the world] does not compare to her.”

[37-Line 37] ܠܰܘ ܐܰܝܟ ܟܽܠܗܶ ܥܳܠܡܳܐ ܒܰܠܚܽܘܕ ܛܳܒܳܐ ܢܰܦܫܳܐ

[38-Line 184] Psalm 103:15.

[39-Line 39] “Lady of Riches” and “Possessor” are feminine and refer to the soul.

[40-Line 195] “ordered seats”: lit. “seats that are ordered in it” – i.e., various powerful ranks.

[41-Line 205] “make an account”: More often translated as “defend” or “make excuses”: ܢܦܩܐ ܪܘܚܐ

[42-Line 246] The syntax of the line is a bit difficult, but this is the sense.

ܠܰܘ ܩܶܢܝܳܢ̈ܶܐ ܛܳܒ ܡܶܢ ܢܰܦܫܳܐ ܚܰܒܺܝܒܺܝܢ ܗ̱ܘܰܘ

[43-Line 248] 1 Timothy 2:4.

[44-Line 249] Lit. “Yet the word of the Great One is ordinary to us and we do not wish”

[45-Line 260] I am not sure if I am rendering the last few words exactly right. It might more literally be translated, “Why do wear the color of night, and it is dark (or: darkness) to you?”

  ܠܡܳܢܳܐ ܠܒܺܝܫܰܬܝ ܓܰܘܢܶܗ ܕܠܺܠܝܳܐ ܘܚܶܫܽܘܟܳܐ ܠܶܟܝ

[46-Line 263] These garments refer to the “garments of light” or “garments of glory” often described in Syriac tradition as the garments Adam and Eve wore before the fall.

[47-Line 276] Genesis 3:15.

[48-Line 278] John 19:34.

[49-Line 280] Lit. “In that I am my own, I will not conquer; in being Yours, I will conquer him.”

[50-Line 282] “I have entered Your company”: ܠܘܺܝܬܳܐ ܫܩܰܠܬܳܟ

[51-Line 285] Lit. “At a great price I am redeemed by You from captors.”

[52-Line 306] The syntax of this couplet seems a bit awkward and I am unsure if I am translating it well. The soul being healed by tears refers to tears of repentance.

ܘܡܶܛܽܠܗܳܢܳܐ ܠܢܰܦܫܳܐ ܕܒܶܠܥܰܬ ܒܰܪ̈ܓܺܝܓܳܬܳܐ܆ ܒܕܶܡ̈ܥܶܐ ܢܶܥܨܽܘܒ ܘܢܶܫܠܶܐ ܟܺܐܒܳܗ̇ ܘܬܶܗܘܶܐ ܫܰܦܺܝܪ܀

Translated July 2026.