1.                I have gazed upon Your humility, Lord, as I wonder.

Fill me with instruction – I will proclaim the speech[2] of Your sweetness.

2.                The mind is fixed on Your gentleness, Lord, and wonder seized it

so it would give glory – grant it the impulse to narrate with [wonder]!

3.                At Your shame, which by Your will dawned on earth,

the intellect shook – grant it to speak richly!

4.                O Son of the Most High Who came down to earth to walk on it,

raise up my word to see Your beauty and speak through You!

5.                O Great One Who willed to mix Himself with the lowly,

I am clinging to You – give me Your hand to [reach] the height of Your speech!

6.                O Great One Who came to become small without being small,

magnify my word to cry out openly about Your greatness!

7.                O Rich One Who came down and loved poverty,

grant me Your wealth to scatter freely upon the needy!

8.                My thinking has conceived You – may my word give birth to You in songs.

The mind has observed You; may the mouth speak of You with great glory.

9.                Spread out my thoughts upon my words about You,

and give the mouth the meditation of the heart[3] to tell Your story.

10.             In the hidden heart Your hidden speech is forged and bound –

may it come out to the open with a word and voice toward listeners.

11.             Grant the heart to be a bridal chamber for Your songs,

and thoughts to embrace You in the hidden place,

12.             and knowledge to commune with You warmly,

and the mind to conceive[4] by You a sweet fruit,

13.             and the lips to give birth to Your speech fairly,

and the ear to be a nurse for the new child.[5]

14.             The mouth and ear depend upon You, Son of the Lord of All –

the mouth to speak, and the ear to listen sweetly.

15.             Your speech is more exalted than high and lowly beings,

and Your story is more glorious than speakers and listeners.

16.             You are Wonder, as You were named in prophecy,[6]

and the word and voice are too small to tell Your story.

17.             What a wonder it is for the Fashioner of Babies to become a baby!

And for the Great One to come to smallness – who is sufficient for Him?[7]

18.             He pours out waves for the great sea with His Begetter

and seeks to suck drops of milk at His mother’s breast!

19.             Heaven in its breadth is too small to be His dwelling,

but a young mother’s lap suffices to carry Him.[8]

20.             He stirs up the cherubim with the thunder of rational wheels,[9]

and He lies as a child upon the poor woman’s knees.

21.             Among the heavenly beings He is mighty and fearful for those around Him,

but among the lowly He is humble and mixed with His neighbors.

22.             On high, fire is burned by Him if it approaches Him,

but in the depth a girl cuddles and embraces Him.

23.             He is hidden from the watchers[10] but His appearance is revealed to humanity –

the seraph hides, but He is revealed [to] Joseph and he ministers to Him.

24.             Even Gabriel trembles to dare to approach Him,

but Zaccheaus the tax-collector made Him recline and sit down at His table.[11]

25.             <81> Flame is constricted by Him lest it be charred,

but the woman of blood seized His hem and was healed by Him.[12]

26.             Even the blaze of the heavenly beings fears Him,

but He gives His feet to the sinful woman to kiss.[13]

27.             He provides for generations and His breath gives life to all ages,

and Martha ministers to Him in her house with her supplies.[14]

28.             Great is the wonder! The Great One came down from His Father’s place

and reached, in His love, the utmost limit of lowliness!

29.             And He willed and was conceived in a womb and born in a manger,

was needy for milk, borne up on knees, snuggled in laps;[15]

30.             a boy in the streets, weary on the way, exhausted in the world,

hungry and thirsty and naked and full of suffering.

31.             He is the Way leading people to His Begetter,

and He grew weary on the way – and because of this, His name is Wonder![16]

32.             He is living water to whoever is worthy to drink of Him,

and He asks for water from the Samaritan woman – and she did not give it to Him![17]

33.             It is written in the prophet, “He neither grows weary nor exhausted,”

and He grew weary on the way to make our weary race forget its weariness.[18]

34.             He flees to Egypt and enters the judgment hall to suffer –

His mount is a colt and He is wrapped with a towel at the supper.[19]

35.             With His humility He purchased the world and gave it to His Father,

for He is the Good Heir Who gathered the scattered possessions.

36.             He came down like rain and raised up Sheol’s buried seeds,

and at His gentleness they drank up hope of Him and produced harvests.

37.             He became humble to topple the pride of demons,

and He endured sufferings to make Adam’s sufferings pass away from him.

38.             He humbled Himself to give a poll tax to the king,

to enter the number of men out of His love.[20]

39.             God came down and recorded Himself as one person,

so people might become children of God on His account.

40.             He became their companion and made them His own siblings –

He came down after them and raised them up toward His Begetter.

41.             In His humility He numbered Himself with the lowly,

and with them, they demanded[21] the poll tax from Him like the rest.

42.             About this demand that was made toward our Savior,

I will now speak for whoever listens lovingly –

43.             about the earthly beings when they demanded the Heavenly One

to give, with them, gold to the king though He did not owe –

44.             about the Mighty One Who wove crowns for rulers

and Whom they mixed with the tax of servants since it pleased Him –

45.             about Simon, the head of the disciples, who came in between

to give money though he did not have any purse at all –

46.             about the stater the Signal[22] struck among the waves

and that the fish reached out and gave to Simon as a steward.

47.             My word goes straight to meet the wonder of the Son of God.

Come, O listeners, double awe upon awe!

48.             The Son of the Rich One came down to the world to walk in it,

and hid His wealth and walked around poorly.

49.             They saw His humility and did not understand He was exalted,

and the foolish scorned Him and demanded from Him the king’s poll tax.

50.             The Sun of the worlds, with His twelve rays,[23]

was going about in the land of Judah with shadows.

51.             And as He was journeying, He and His apostles humbly,

the exactors arrived to take money from the Savior.

52.             The exactors seized Simon, head of the twelve,

to be exacted to give like a steward instead of his master.

53.             They were asking him, “Will your Master give His coins?”

Simon said, “Yes, He will give according to your word.”

54.             <82> With faith that had a little bit of prophecy,

the head of the disciples promised for his Master.

55.             Without having learned whether He would give or not,

he assured them like someone trustworthy[24] that they would receive.

56.             Tell me, Simon, why did you promise the exactors

though your Master had not directed you about such a promise?[25]

57.             If your Master did not want to give, what would you have done?

And if they demanded from you what you promised, what would you have given?

58.             He did not allow you to acquire gold or silver,[26]

so where would you have gotten coins to give like you promised?

59.             For if you had [money], you would have been a stranger to the commandment!

And if you had not acquired [it], what would you have given when required?

60.             Look! The exactors whom you assured – they are coming!

See, O trustworthy one, with what and how will you dismiss them?

61.             Simon was pressed between a promise and the exactors.

He did not possess anything, and was demanded to give like an owner.

62.             He had promised for he knew Who his Lord was –

that He was rich, and able to give whatever was demanded.

63.             He knew He was able to give light to the blind

and cleansing and a pure body to whoever was leprous;

64.             hearing to the deaf and to the afflicted, all [kinds of] healing,

bread to the hungry, and to the feasting, good wine;

65.             if anyone sought healing they would find it in Him,

and if any desired forgiveness they would receive it too.

66.             Compassion for tax collectors, and good hope for sinners!

He held back nothing from whatever anyone sought of Him.[27]

67.             His treasure was open to petitioners and takers,

and there was no way for Him to stop people when they sought Him.

68.             And since Simon the Rock perceived great wealth in Him,

he promised He would not hold back money from the king either.

69.             For he had heard what our Savior said,

“let every person give to the king what belongs to the king,” without dispute.[28]

70.             And because he was confident about the Son of God’s will,

he answered the exactors that they would receive the money they sought.

71.             And after Simon pledged his promise to the exactors,

our Lord came before him to ask about the deed.

72.             “Tell me, Simon, from whom do kings take tax –

from strangers or from heirs, children of the kingdom?

73.             From whom have kings of the earth ever exacted money –

from the house’s servants or from the lords’ children?”

74.             Simon said, “an heir is not subject to [paying] money,

nor are children put under the tax of servants.

75.             An exactor is set over strangers to subject them

with a poll tax and tax when they are exacted.”

76.             Our Lord said, “Then it is clearly evident

that a son is free from the tax and poll tax.”

77.             Humbly the Son of God showed Who He truly was[29]–

that He is Lord of the world and free from exactions.

78.             He was not near that bill Adam owed,

and that [bill] the Mother of Races[30] wrote was not His.

79.             He is the Freeborn, and He is free from exactions,

and He is not subject to judgment with debtors.

80.             He is not indebted to give a poll tax like strangers,

nor to suffer or die like sinners.

81.             Sin did not open in Him a door to enter Death

and He was not indebted to drink the cup the serpent mixed.

82.             But because He willed, He was subjected for sinners,

and He cast Himself down to set debtors free.

83.             <83> And they exacted from Him a tax, and He willed to give [it] though not in debt,

and He gave the king the poll tax like strangers [do].

84.             And He took upon Himself the sweat that came through judgment[31]

and endured pains and bore sufferings that were not His,

85.             and He took and drank the cup the serpent stirred in Eden

and tasted death – for He would not have died unless He willed.

86.             And because He set His path to proceed with humility,

He came down in His compassion to give the king the poll tax.

87.             So as not to scandalize the tax-demanders and upset them,

the Lord of kings gave the tax to wicked servants.

88.             And to show He was the Creator even when being exacted,

He signaled to the sea and it gave forth a stater in great wonder.

89.             Then He ordered Simon to cast a net in the sea –

now let us see clearly who is the sea and Who commanded it.[32]

90.             Simon [went] to the sea, and within the sea the Signal preceded him

and without fire struck the needed stater.[33]

91.             In the mouth of a fish [the Signal] forged it and kept it for Simon to come

and to reach out and take the new money without labor.

92.             The disciple came toward the sea, and the fish came

from out of the depth to meet Simon, as it was sent.

93.             The net went down and the fish went up swiftly

to cast itself into Simon’s net willingly.

94.             The fish was rushing on the way of the sea to go up and give

the forged[34] money the sea sent to its Lord the King.

95.             The depths in their deepest parts wove together a forged crown

to send to the Lord of Heights Who commanded them.

96.             The sea brought up an image of glory for the Son of God

and gave it to the fish to give to Simon, head of the disciples.

97.             The fish came up and came upon the net full of mysteries

and captured itself to lay out the money without delay.

98.             The apostle cast a net in the sea and brought up the fish

and opened its mouth and took out the stater it kept.

99.             He kept the commandment that he should have no purse at all

and saw clearly that all creation was his purse!

100.         Simon reached out his hand as if toward a big purse

when he had to take the stater out of the sea.

101.         The Son of God’s steward stood at the seashore

to demand from [the sea] that tax demanded of his Lord.

102.         The servant Simon became an exactor to his companion the sea

so he could send away and cast out the prodding exactors.

103.         And the sea responded and without exaction gave a stater

lest its Lord be scorned on land by the exactors.

104.         The disciple saw he had been sent not to acquire [anything],

and he learned all creation is the Son’s possession.

105.         Land and sea are the subdued servants of the house of God,

and whatever the land does not give to the Son, the sea has filled up.[35]

106.         On land they demanded Him to give the king the poll tax,

and the sea shook to bring [it] up instead of [the land], rejoicing.

107.         The land scorned the Son Who willed to be scorned,

and its companion the sea paid [Him] honor with great glory.

108.         Thus was the whole way of the Son of God,

for He settled upon greatness and smallness.[36]

109.         With glory and shame and praise and disgrace

He went through the world, for He was God and He was human.

110.         He went about in smallness and in greatness

and was seen in ordinary and glorious deeds.[37]

111.         His humble deeds also appeared near His exalted ones,

and His elevated ones were mixed with His lowly ones.

112.         <84> He was the Mediator Who came to lay peace between the sides:

Son of God and Son of Man without change.

113.         Through Himself, He fished in the two sides and united them,

and in Him, those who had been at enmity since the beginning became one.

114.         The Father begot Him without beginning divinely

and at the end He dawned from Mary bodily.

115.         He became flesh through us and mixed us with Himself and became from us,

and He made us [be] from Himself, and through Himself reconciled us with His Begetter.

116.         When He had lowered Himself to be scorned as a human,

honor burst forth and praise ascended to Him, for He was God.

117.         When they despised and disparaged Him, they mixed Him with them like a lowly being.

He showed what was His and performed a wonder, for He was the Most High.

118.         When they looked at His mother, they accounted Him an equal and despised His honor.

He displayed His power and became a preacher about Who His Father is.

119.         The one who invited Him to the supper accounted Him as a prophet,

but at His forgiveness, He was believed to be the Lord of the prophets.[38]

120.         The groom at Cana accounted Him a wedding-guest like the rest,

but He transformed water, and the feast learned He was the Creator.[39]

121.         Toward the Samaritan woman, He needed water and was weary on the way,

but He revealed a secret and the world learned He was the Provider.[40]

122.         With the disciples on the boat it was like He was heavy with sleep,

but by His rebuking the sea He showed clearly He is Lord of the seas.[41]

123.         They demanded from Him the poll-tax and He willed to give it like a poor man,

and the fish proclaimed that even in the depths He has treasure.

124.         The water-dwellers became witnesses for Him, that He was rich,

and from the treasure-houses He had in the sea He took a stater.

125.         The sea sent a letter to the earth in the fish’s fins:[42]

“Let not your Lord, Who came to walk on you, be scorned!

126.         He is not poor – let Him not be harassed by the exactors.

His wealth is great – why should He be scorned as if He were needy?

127.         Look, the stater He sent for and which I have delivered is from what is His.

Receive it and pay it, and rebuke your children so they do not disparage Him!”

128.         The earth said, “And if He had commanded me, I would have given,

for His commandment is great wealth to both you and me.

129.         Unless He wills there is no sustenance for me and you,

but if He signals, see how wealth piles up in both me and you!

130.         It is easy for Him to make dirt into silver and stones into gold,

for where He willed, He transformed water to wine.

131.         If He signaled to me, I would pile up staters through the whole world,

just as at His signal He multiplied bread in me without bakers.

132.         His will is ruler over His creatures,

and by it they are commanded to give something from nothing.

133.         Earth and sea with their perimeters are His,

and His hidden signal sets creation in motion for His deeds.”

134.         He signaled to the sea and it gave a stater in great wonder –

in the sea He struck it, in the fish He forged it, to Simon He gave it.

135.         Exaction came upon our Savior though He was not in debt,

and He willed to give, but not in an ordinary way.[43]

136.         Since He saw they were demanding from Him as if from a human,

He gave a gift like God to astonish them.

137.         With the new money sent from His Father’s place,

He dismissed the exactors so He might not give like earthly beings.

138.         Divinely, from nothing, He gave the gift,

for it had not been created but He created and gave it when it was demanded.

139.         The Son has stewards on land and sea:

on land, Simon, and in the sea, He commands the fish.

140.         Both the lowly and middle beings[44] obey Him,

and He can command both the silent and rational.

141.         <85> His servants do not give their needs from something

when they are demanded, but wondrously rather, from nothing.

142.         In the figure of one steward He made and gave health

to the sick without medicine or roots.[45]

143.         And within the sea He commanded another of the lowly ones

and it gave a stater without forgers or minters.

144.         The Son of the Most High willed to become from the middle beings,

and even the lowly beings rose up to Him with their honors.

145.         The King of the Worlds stood in the middle of the lands

and both the high and lowly beings exalted His honor.

146.         From the high ones, the angels came with their Hosannas,

and from the lowly, the fish honored Him with their honors.

147.         Since He was scorned by the middle beings whom He visited,

He was glorified by the high and lowly ones.

148.         The Groom of Light Who came to wed the Daughter of the Earthly Ones –

the heights and depths sent to Him their wedding gifts.

149.         The firmament sent a star to Him to minister to His dawn

lest He be scorned among the dark beings He was visiting.[46]

150.         The sea sent one stater through the fish

lest He be harassed by the audacious exactors.

151.         Lest He give from the staters of earthly beings,

He struck a new one where He sought and dismissed them.

152.         O the stater that did not see fire when struck,

which they did not set on an anvil when it was forged!

153.         The Minter Who struck Adam with His image

struck the stater in the sea and sent it to Simon to delight in it.

154.         Who can tie up water in a veil,[47]

or give a child to a virgin without intercourse,

155.         or put wine in a pitcher without grapes,[48]

and even strike a stater in water without fire?

156.         Only our Lord could, Who did these things in His birth,

for He is living water, and the virgin womb was His veil.

157.         And He became a child to a mother, exalted over intercourse,

and He transformed water to good wine and revealed His glory.[49]

158.         And He gave a stater the waters forged with a hidden Signal,

and with clear acts He revealed He is truly the Creator’s Son.[50]

159.         This stater Simon brought up from the sea

is full of mysteries and is unknown without love.

160.         Whoever has faith and discernment

understands what types are depicted in it.

161.         Why did the Son of God give a stater from the sea?

Let us ask with love while our voice is exalted over dispute.

162.         On land they demanded Him to give the poll-tax to the king,

so why did He dispatch the sea to bring [it] up from it?

163.         Why did it please Him to give a stater when they did not demand Him?

For they only demanded two zuze, as it is written.[51]

164.         Why through the fish, and why from the sea?

There is a reason, and is too high for us to speak!

165.         Why the fish-hook, and why was Simon sent?

For even in this there is something hidden from us!

166.         These things did not fill up the Son’s need,

but rather signified the mysteries and types which came about.[52]

167.         Through this stater salvation came for the whole world,

for our Lord is the image of the Father present on it.

168.         The fish is Death, and the sea the grave of the Son of God,

and this stater is the Savior Who bought us with His blood.

169.         He came up from the grave like the stater from the sea,

without corruption, and He bought the world away from evil things.

170.         <86> Death spit Him out like that fish did to the stater,

and He came up and exposed all the error of little gods.

171.         Demons and devils became exactors for Adam’s race,

and they took acts of worship from humanity like a tax.

172.         They bound it, bent it, and demanded it to worship altars;

they strained it with sacrifices and libations of dead images.

173.         And our Lord came up like a stater from the sea

and dismissed the exactors and took away their authority.

174.         He redeemed the downtrodden from the exactions of that tax

which the Accuser, in his tyranny, had demanded of them.[53]

175.         These types were signified in that stater –

it is not for any need that it was drawn up from the sea.

176.         With the net of apostleship, He drew up to the high place

Adam, who had sunk[54] into Sheol’s depth like the sea.

177.         And because of this, through Simon’s hands, the head of the disciples,

He brought up the image from the depth to the height above.

178.         The Son of God snatched fishermen with His gospel

and made them fishers of men for new life.

179.         And in that fish and stater that Simon brought up,

He depicted the catch of apostleship without confusion.

180.         The Gospel descended after Adam’s image;

it had been corrupted under the earth but came up to live in Eden.

181.         The hook the apostle set signified the Cross

that descended and raised up the human race from ruin.

182.         The chief disciple’s fish-hook is our Lord

Who descended to Sheol and raised up humanity to His Father’s place.

183.         Slain bait lies in the net of apostleship,

and with it the Only-Begotten’s apostles catch Death.

184.         The Gospel is the net, and the bait placed in it is the Son’s body,

for with it the apostles choke Death so he might spit out the dead.[55]

185.         With the catch of fish, they showed how to set

bait for the fish and capture it wisely.

186.         And from the explanation of the fish they learned to catch –

how Death could be caught with the Bait full of life.

187.         The fish-hook descended and deceived the fish and he didn’t know

that devouring it would ruin him and not harm the bait.[56]

188.         Our Lord inclined His body to Death as to a fish –

[Death] devoured Him and was caught like the fish who gave the stater.

189.         And the image rose up from the depth to the height above

and dismissed with its value all the exactors of emptiness.

190.         Simon’s net is wholly full of types and mysteries,

and if love will listen, I will speak further.[57]

191.         Adam in Sheol was the stater full of beauties,

for on him was depicted the great image of Divinity.

192.         And Christ came and sought out the lost one in Sheol’s caves

and found and polished him and drew him up to His height without corruption.

193.         The exactors came to collect two zuze from the Son,

but He did not wish to give them only two. Why?

194.         They did not seek anything except two [zuze] for the poll tax,

but He gave them four out of His love, though they were not seeking [them].

195.         So He would not divide the stater, the image of His Father,

He brought it up whole from out of the depths, completely.

196.         In these zuze He depicted the elements from which the first Adam was composed,

[Adam] who was the image like the stater.

197.         But Satan divided the image with great deceit

so it would not remain in the perfection which was given to it.

198.         And when the exactors divided this stater into two,

Christ Who came made it one through His crucifixion.

199.         <87> And for this reason He was not subject to [giving] two zuze,

lest the complete image be divided into parts.

200.         He gathered us in Himself and made us one in one Spirit,

for the Accuser had scattered us toward idols.

201.         He became for us coagulant, and He curdled our dissipated milk

and He made us, through Himself, solid produce for His Father’s glory.

202.         He became for us leaven, and through His taste firmed up the whole lump,

for the human race had desisted[58] from firmness.

203.         Christ gave one stater to the tax-collectors

undivided, and He made whole the image that had been divided.

204.         Christ is one, never divided into two,

for He is high and lowly without confusion.

205.         He is one to His Father, hidden and revealed without change –

the Father begot Him, the Virgin conceived Him – a great wonder!

206.         From God and from a woman, the Child is one,

for He is complete and perfect like the stater with the great image.

207.         He is not divided into two, for He is not divisible into parts.

He is the Only-Begotten, the image indivisible into two.

208.         For this reason He did not wish to give two zuze,

lest it be that He saved the earth with two images.

209.         The Wise One gave one stater whose image was one

so the world would know He Who saved it by His blood is one.

210.         The Likeness of a Servant and Image of the Glory of the Hidden Father[59]

resembles His Father and has resembled us while He is one.

211.         It was not two images of two zuze as they sought,

but entirely one stater as He wished.

212.         Like sinners, the tax-collectors sought two

to divide the Son by some means, but He was not divided.

213.         In two zuze are an image and an image – two amounts –

but in the stater the image is one, of the one Savior.

214.         Through His Son, the Father bought us for life, not through His sons –

the exactors took one stater, not zuze.[60]

215.         In the sea it was melted, in the fish forged, carrying a mystery;

it was depicted in examples, bearing types, and full of wonders.

216.         The depths sent it out, the heights rejoiced at it, and the apostles delighted.

The disciples rested, and the troublemaking exactors left.

217.         The Son of the Living One came up from the depths, from Sheol’s hollows,

and set peace between the heavenly beings who were at enmity.

218.         He rose from the tomb like that image from the sea,

and the puffed-up authorities ceased their commotion.[61]

219.         He came out of Death like the stater from that fish,

and exposed the demons who snatched God’s name.[62]

220.         He brought up Adam who had sunk into Sheol’s depths

and renewed his image that had grown old among the dead.

221.         Death had snatched Adam, the image of creatorship

and brought and put him inside his citadels like a hostage.

222.         The Father sent and put in his place His Only-Begotten

and saved His image that had been taken hostage for his debts.

223.         And He found His image and did not destroy His Only-Begotten,

for Death spit Him out like that fish did to the stater.

224.         The fish became a grave for Jonah, son of the Hebrews,[63]

for the entire way of the Son of God was depicted in him.

225.         Jonah was taken hostage in the fish and in the sea,

and at his going up he saved Nineveh from being ruined.

226.         He was buried in the sea and inside the fish for three days

to be a sign for Him Who would be resurrected on the third day.

227.         And Jonah came up like the stater full of types,

and with him the city of the Peoples was purchased away from devastation.

228.         <88> An image was depicted there, of the beauties of the Son of God,

Who would save the human world from ruin.

229.         Jonah went down and died to depict Son of God’s death;

he came up and was resurrected to clearly preach His resurrection.

230.         Jonah’s fish and that fish Simon brought up

became witnesses to the resurrection of the Only-Begotten.

231.         From two mouths His witness thundered from the sea,

for in the Law, one alone was unacceptable.[64]

232.         The one fish spit out the prophet uncorrupted,

and this other gave a stater that had not been struck.

233.         And they became two witnesses from the sea for one Savior –

for how He would come up from the depths when He saved us.

234.         As Jonah was in the fish for three days,

He would also be in the heart of the earth for a reason.[65]

235.         And like the stater that redeemed people from the exactors,

He would come up and redeem the world from debts at His dawning.

236.         Jonah’s fish depicted His death and resurrection,

and Simon’s depicted His redemption clearly.

237.         The Father bought us at a price for life to be His own;

He gave His Stater to set us free from the evil exactors.

238.         With the Image of Glory He made redemption for Adam’s image

which had been corrupted in the abyss of Sheol, Devourer of the Dead.

239.         These types were depicted in that stater –

let no one think the thing happened otherwise!

240.         The Gospel depicted that stater from the sea

for the world to learn about hidden things through revealed things.

241.         The birth, death, and resurrection of the Son of God

were depicted in the fish and in the image of that stater.

242.         Who has given fruit to a virgin without intercourse?

He Who forged a stater in the sea without craftsmen!

243.         How did Death spit out the Son without corruption?

Like that fish who stretched forth an image full of beauties.

244.         How did He preserve us from the exactions of impure devils?

Like He dismissed the exactors in the polishing of that stater.

245.         How did He descend after humanity to raise it up?

Like a fish-hook He brought up the catch from the sea.

246.         Let the Virgin rejoice at her Only-Begotten’s creations,

for all of them testify to His birth and her virginity!

247.         The fish in the sea became a preacher to the sea-dwellers

that the virgin field gave forth wheat without seed.

248.         Simon’s fish became like a demonstration for the resurrection,

that the Only-Begotten did not see corruption in the womb of Death.

249.         The Gospel gathered up hidden wealth into that stater

and gave it to Simon, son of the poor, to do business with it.

250.         All ranks honored the Son in their dwellings –

heights and depths, the middle and sides within their borders.

251.         Gifts of glory were offered up on all sides

for the earth to know Who and Whose Son was saving her.[66]

252.         Since He became an infant, infants longed for Him from wombs,

and since He became a child, children with branches cried Hosannas.[67]

253.         He was feasting, and His good wine cried out Whose Son He was;

He went out to the wilderness, and His bread proclaimed He is the Son of God.[68]

254.         On land His mighty deeds shone forth mightily.

In the sea His types were depicted clearly.

255.         The fish honored Him with the new money His Signal forged,

and with every voice land and sea sang His praise.

256.         He became a stater and bought us with Himself and made us His own.

Blessed is He Whose salvation sea and fish proclaimed!

܀܀܀܀܀

[1] This homily interprets the miracle of the stater in the fish’s mouth recorded in Matthew 17:24-27. I have translated from the Syriac text of Roger Akhrass and Imad Syryany’s edition: 160 Unpublished Homilies of Jacob of Serugh (Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate, 2017) vol.1, pp.80-89. I have kept some of this edition’s section divisions but also introduced some new ones.

[2] “speech”: ܡܐܡܪܐ. As in lines 5, 10, 13, 15.

[3] Cf. Psalm 19:14.

[4] Reading ܬܒܛܢ with the two variants instead of ܬܒܛܢܝ.

[5] This language is echoed in other of Jacob’s homilies. See, for example, his homily on the ascension of Elijah.

[6] Isaiah 9:6. See Jacob’s homily on this verse: https://www.syriactexts.com/jacob-of-serugh/on-isaiah-96.

[7] ܘܪܰܒܳܐ ܕܢܺܐܬܶܐ ܠܰܙܥܽܘܪܽܘܬܳܐ ܡܰܢ ܣܳܦܶܩ ܠܶܗ. The exact sense of the Syriac is hard to render into English.

[8] Lit. “but the bosom of a young mother suffices for Him to be carried in.”

ܙܥܘܪܝܐ ܫܡܝܐ ܒܪܘܝܚܘܬܗ̇ ܬܗܘܐ ܥܘܡܪܗ܆ ܘܣܦܩܐ ܟܢܦܐ ܕܐܡܐ ܛܠܝܬܐ ܕܢܙܕܝܚ ܒܗ̇.

These two lines are a common theme in Jacob’s homilies. A Syriac Orthodox Christmas hymn, taken from the bo‘wotho for Christmas, quote one of Jacob’s homilies on the Nativity to the effect: ܙܥܘܪܝܐ ܗܝ ܫܡܝܐ ܠܐ ܐܚܕܐ ܠܗ ܐܢ ܫܪܐ ܒܗ̇. ܘܪܘܝܚܐ ܠܗ ܟܢܦܐ ܕܡܪܝܡ ܕܢܙܕܝܚ ܒܗ̇.

[9] “Rational wheels” (ܓܺܝ̈ܓܠܶܐ ܡ̈ܰܠܳܠܳܬܳܐ) is a common phrase Jacob uses to describe the wheels of the heavenly chariot, described in Ezekiel’s vision. See Ezekiel 1:4-28, and especially verses 15-21.

[10] “Watchers” (ܥܺܝܪ̈ܶܐ) are angels.

[11] Luke 19:1-10.

[12] Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48.

[13] Luke 7:38.

[14] Luke 10:38-42.

[15] Lit. “and He willed and became a conceived [child] in the womb, and a born [child] in a manger, / [became] needy for milk, borne up on knees, hugged in laps.”

[16] A) John 14:6. B) John 4:6. C) Isaiah 9:6.

[17] John 4:7-14. See also John 7:37-38.

[18] A) Isaiah 40:28. B) Lit. “and He grew weary on the way to make the weariness of our weary race forgotten.” See John 4:6.

[19] Matthew 2:13-15 (flight to Egypt); John 13:4 (washing of the feet). For the colt and the judgment hall, see the gospel narratives on Palm Sunday and the questioning of Christ by the Sanhedrin and Pilate.

[20] Matthew 17:24-27. The idea is that the Son became accounted as being among the number of men – i.e., as being human. Because He is counted as human, He can therefore redeem humanity. This theme is often exposited in regards to the census Mary and Joseph had to take part in – Jacob says, for example, “They mingled You among the number of people in the census, and because You came from them, You brought them out from exile.” (Line 43 in his homily on Isaiah 9:6).

[21] Jacob uses the root ܬܒܥ throughout the homily to describe the tax-collectors and their demands for payment. It is not easily translated into English, so I have translated it variously using forms of the words “demand” and “exact” and, fewer times, “require.” I have translated the word “ܬܳܒܽܘܥ̈ܶܐ” as “exactors,” reserving the term “tax collector” for more specific phrases.

[22] “Signal”: remzo. This word is difficult to translate. It signifies the divine action and will.

[23] Jacob characteristically calls the twelve disciples the twelve “rays” of Christ the Sun. See, for example, his homily on the raising of Jairus’ daughter: “[Jesus] went with [Jairus] and all the Twelve as well – the twelve bright hours of the day. // The twelve apostles were like rays of the Great Light, for they clung to Him and He drove away the night from humanity” (Lines 97-100).

[24] “like someone trustworthy”: ܐܰܝܟ ܫܰܪܺܝܪܳܐ. ܫܰܪܺܝܪܳܐ could have the sense of an office-holder. This word is also found in line 60.

[25] Lit. “though you were not ordered by your Master concerning your promise?”

[26] Matthew 10:9.

[27] Lit. “and to all who sought Him, from all they sought of Him, He did not keep it from them.”

[28] Matthew 22:21.

[29] “Who He truly was” lit. “His truth” (ܫܪܪܗ).

[30] I.e., Eve.

[31] Genesis 3:19.

[32] I am unsure of the translation and sense of the phrase “[let us see clearly] who is the sea.” Perhaps the point is that the sea is the servant of the Son (see line 105).

ܦܩܰܕ ܠܶܗ ܠܫܶܡܥܽܘܢ ܕܢܰܪܡܶܐ ܡܨܺܝܕܬܳܐ ܒܝܰܡܳܐ ܗܳܝܕܶܝܢ܆ ܘܢܶܚܙܶܐ ܒܓܶܠܝܳܐ ܕܡܰܢܽܘ ܝܰܡܳܐ ܘܡܰܢ ܦܳܩܶܕ ܠܶܗ.

[33] I am unsure if I am translating the first half of line 90 correctly: ܠܝܰܡܳܐ ܫܶܡܥܽܘܢ ܘܰܠܓܰܘ ܝܰܡܳܐ ܩܰܕܡܶܗ ܪܶܡܙܳܐ܆ ܘܰܕܠܳܐ ܢܽܘܪܳܐ ܛܒܰܥ ܐܶܣܬܽܝܪܳܐ ܕܡܶܬܒܰܥܝܳܐ ܗ̱ܘܳܬ. In any case, the point seems to be that the “Signal” (ܪܶܡܙܳܐ) sent by Christ forged the coin inside the fish’s mouth and caused the fish to be caught by Simon.

[34] “Forged” in Syriac (in this homily, from the root ܚܫܠ) does not carry the sense of counterfeiting that it does in English. I have used this word for translation for lack of better synonyms – “cast”, for example, would be a technically incorrect description of the process of making coins in the late ancient Roman world. A blank piece of metal would be heated and placed in between two engraved dies, and the top die would be struck to imprint the images on either side of the coin. “Cast” coins, as were found in China, were made by pouring molten metal into a mold.

[35] ܝܰܡܳܐ ܘܝܰܒܫܳܐ ܥܰܒ̈ܕܶܐ ܟܒܺܝ̈ܫܶܐ ܕܒܶܝܬ ܐܰܠܳܗܳܐ܆ ܘܗܰܘ ܡܳܐ ܕܒܰܨܰܪ ܝܰܒܫܳܐ ܠܰܒܪܳܐ ܝܰܡܳܐ ܡܰܠܺܝ

The second half of the line is hard to render exactly into English. The word “ܒܰܨܰܪ,” which I have translated as “does not give,” has more of the sense of “subtracting,” “taking away,” and “omitting.”

[36] ܟܽܠܳܗ̇ ܐܽܘܪܚܶܗ ܕܒܰܪ ܐܰܠܳܗܳܐ ܗܳܟܰܢܳܐ ܗܘܳܬ܆ ܕܥܰܠ ܪܰܒܽܘܬܳܐ ܘܰܙܥܽܘܪܽܘܬܳܐ ܡܶܣܬܰܡܰܟ ܗ̱ܘܳܐ

[37] “in ordinary and glorious deeds”: ܒܰܫܚܺܝ̈ܡܳܬܳܐ ܘܒܰܫܒܺܝ̈ܚܳܬܳܐ. In both lines 110 and 111, for the sake of English, I have translated the feminine plurals as “deeds” though more literally they might be translated as “things.”

[38] Luke 7:36-50.

[39] John 2:1-11.

[40] John 4:4-42.

[41] Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25.

[42] “in the fish’s fins”: lit. “in the fish’s hands,” more idiomatically rendered as “through the fish.” See also line 150 and 164 (where I have kept the idiomatic rendering).

[43] Lit. “and He willed to give, but He did not will to give in an ordinary way.”

[44] i.e., the irrational creatures and humans.

[45] I think this refers to Simon and his miracles of healing.

[46] See the story of the Magi following the star to the baby Jesus in Matthew 2:1-12.

[47] Proverbs 30:4.

[48] Lit. “or put wine in a pitcher that is not from grapes.”

[49] John 2:11.

[50] Lit. “And with clear acts He revealed His truth [i.e., what is true about Himself]: that He is the Son of the Creator.”

[51] As will become clear, a stater was worth four zuze.

[52] Lit. “It is not the need of the Son filled up in these things, / but the mysteries and types which came about were signified.”

[53] I had a difficult time translating the second half of this line. I have opted to translate according to the variant present in manuscript B. I include the Syriac text of the lines as included in the main text, and the variant of manuscript B:

ܦܪܰܩ ܠܰܟܒܺܝ̈ܫܶܐ ܡܶܢ ܬܰܒ̈ܥܳܬܳܐ ܕܗܳܝ ܡܰܕܰܐܬܳܐ܆ ܕܰܒܛܪܽܘܢܽܘܬܶܗ ܕܳܐܟܶܠܩܰܪܨܳܐ ܠܗܽܘܢ ܬܳܒܰܥ ܗ̱ܘܳܐ܀ (Main Text)

ܦܪܰܩ ܠܰܟܒܺܝ̈ܫܶܐ ܡܶܢ ܬܰܒ̈ܥܳܬܳܐ ܕܗܳܝ ܡܰܕܰܐܬܳܐ܆ ܕܳܐܟܶܠܩܰܪܨܳܐ ܒܰܛܪܽܘܢܽܘܬܶܗ ܠܗܽܘܢ ܬܳܒܰܥ ܗ̱ܘܳܐ܀ (Manuscript B)

[54] The word for “sunk” in Syriac is the same word Jacob uses to mean “struck” (ܛܒܥ), enhancing the pun on Adam being “struck” and “sunken” like the stater.

[55] “for with it” is feminine, which means it is referring to either the Gospel or the net.

[56] Lit. “that if he devoured it he would be ruined by it and not harm [the bait].”

[57] Lit. “and if there were love that listens, I would speak further.” I think this is the sense of the line, though I may be mistaken.

ܘܶܐܠܽܘ ܐܺܝܬ ܗ̱ܘܳܐ ܚܽܘܒܳܐ ܕܫܳܡܰܥ ܬܽܘܒ ܐܳܡܰܪ ܗ̱ܘܺܝܬ܀

[58] “desisted”: ܦܛܰܪ. This word can also mean “to be unleavened.”

[59] These titles are taken from: A) Philippians 2:7. B) Colossians 1:15.

[60] Lines 204-214 may be read in the context of the Chalcedonian schism. Jacob, a Miaphysite, insisted on the oneness of the Son and His indivisibility, though here and in other homilies he is often careful not to use the word “nature(s)” explicitly.

[61] Lit. “and the commotion of the puffed-up authorities ceased.”

[62] Lit. “and by Him the demons who snatched God’s name were exposed.”

[63] See the story of Jonah, books 1-4. Jonah, swallowed by a fish for three days, is commonly seen by the early Church as a prefigurement of Christ’s death and resurrection.

[64] See, for example, Deuteronomy 19:15; also Matthew 18:16 and John 8:17.

[65] “for a reason”: ܡܶܛܽܠ ܦܽܘܪܣܳܐ

[66] Lit. “so the earth would know Who He was, and Whose Son, when He saved her.”

[67] A) This refers to John the Baptist leaping in his mother’s womb: Luke 1:41-44. B) On Palm Sunday.

[68] These lines refer to the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11) and to the miracles of multiplication of loaves and fishes.

Translated by Aimee Hannoush, June 2026.