On the Three Dead Our Lord Restored to Life

1.                      Lord, our Lord! Grant me a soul full of light,

2.                      and a heart sanctified from bodily thoughts,

3.                      and a mind blooming with wonderous impulses toward Your greatness,

4.                      and an intellect proceeding on Your path which is exalted over the wise,

5.                      and a mouth singing pure glory with a raised voice,

6.                      and a clear[2] word that is unaccusable by the discerning,

7.                      and love that is sweet incense to reconcile You,

8.                      and faith, the pearl which has no price.[3]

9.                      And from Your gift that is full of wealth and is the possessor of treasures,

10.                  may I bring out and give richly to whoever encounters me.

11.                  Command me to scatter from Your treasures in Your congregations[4]

12.                  so the whole word may be enriched by Your treasure-crumbs.

13.                  Your wine is sweet, and look how it moves my lips to cry out Your glory

14.                  on the enviable feasts made by the Bride – the Daughter of Day![5]

15.                  The cup of Your blood makes my teeth tremble from drinking it[6]

16.                  and awakens my songs to speak of Your wondrousness.

17.                  <335> Your Cross was raised on Golgotha and souls moved

18.                  to praise You for Your light that delighted them.

19.                  Oil of myron flowed from the wood of Your crucifixion,

20.                  and its sweet scent perfumed Your congregations.

21.                  Your precious blood dripped on the earth and it shook and trembled.

22.                  It bent and cast out its desolate idols and came to knowledge of You.[7]

23.                  O see, the young girls have abandoned their fathers’ idols

24.                  and come after You, Groom of Light, for You to sanctify them!

25.                  The daughters of the Arameans who forged images of emptiness

26.                  have loved You and forgotten all their fathers’ gods.

27.                  You raised a voice on Golgotha like a strongman

28.                  and summoned the congregations to Your Father’s house.[8]

29.                  O see, Your yoke is set on virgins’ necks

30.                  and the world hastens in the labor of Your crucifixion!

31.                  The earth heard Your good news and blocked off its ears

32.                  from the labor of idolatry that had triumphed in it.

33.                  O see, kings with their crowns bear Your sign

34.                  and rulers’ diadems have become its footstool![9]

35.                  The dignitaries[10] of the earth kneeled to kiss Your Cross,

36.                  and in their garments, they gather dust from Your threshold.

37.                  <336> A new well flowed from You on Golgotha,[11]

38.                  and drinking it made all the earth the Eden of God.[12]

39.                  With a spear they hollowed You out like a mountain and out from You came

40.                  one font that gave life to the whole world.

41.                  The drops of blood that came down from You upon the departed

42.                  shook up Sheol, and the dead awoke to give glory.

43.                  The Day saw You naked on Golgotha

44.                  and tore from itself the garments of light, and darkness rose.[13]

45.                  The [heavenly] sphere[14] saw You stripped between the thieves,

46.                  and took away the light of the luminaries’ garments.

47.                  Black [garments] went out from the Father’s place, [and] creation put [them] on

48.                  lest the death of the Father’s Only-Begotten be ordinary to Him.[15]

49.                  At midday, as if at night, the crucifers grew dark

50.                  lest they look on You stripped between the thieves.

51.                  You are great, Lord, even when You came to smallness,

52.                  for in weakness You uprooted Sheol’s walls!

53.                  Tyrannous Death set his yoke on all generations –

54.                  on strongmen, on the mighty, on rulers –

55.                  and bit by bit he delighted Sheol with corpses

56.                  and heaped up in graves mounds and hills of all heights.

57.                  <337> All the beautiful and all the wise stumbled in Ruin –

58.                  all the righteous – prophets and kings and lords.

59.                  The Lord saw that [Death’s] foot was stretched over all generations,

60.                  and He descended to save that Captive Woman who had been captured.[16]

61.                  And He set out a path of sufferings to walk on,

62.                  through Himself to resurrect the corrupted human race.[17]

63.                  Eve trod a path to the tomb from Paradise,

64.                  and the entire race proceeded on it to the place of Ruin.

65.                  The evil serpent became the beginning for the path of Death

66.                  and between it and Eve, they[18] drew Adam to come to Sheol.

67.                  And Eve became like a font of humanity

68.                  and she directed them to walk toward the tomb.

69.                  And crowds upon crowds of people descended to Sheol –

70.                  tribes upon tribes, peoples upon peoples within their boundaries.[19]

71.                  And our Lord took pity when He saw His image that descended to Sheol,

72.                  and He mourned greatly over the corruption of humanity.[20]

73.                  And He moved to come and restore His image which had been corrupted

74.                  and to make peace on the rebellious path of Death.

75.                  His exalted path moved to come from Ephrathah[21]

76.                  from Mary, for, instead of Eve, it entered the Virgin.[22]

77.                  He showed Himself in the synagogues to announce to them

78.                  <338> that the path of Death was shutting up and turning toward Eden.

79.                  And with life-filled teaching He encouraged

80.                  the race bitten by the serpent and cursed viper.

81.                  And one affirmed His teaching, and one did not affirm –

82.                  one listened, and one despised and did not listen.

83.                  The People envied Him and the priests and scribes clamored for His death,

84.                  and His instruction was despised by them.

85.                  And He wished to bring three witnesses from among the dead,

86.                  to confirm through them the word of life that He spoke:

87.                  the daughter of Jairus, the widow’s son, and Lazarus –

88.                  three dead – three witnesses for His proclamation.

89.                  It was not the time for the dead to rise at that coming,

90.                  for the resurrection is reserved to happen at the last coming.

91.                  And He did not come to resurrect the dead when He came,

92.                  but to give hope to the dead, that they would live.

93.                  And since He saw they did not believe Him when He taught,

94.                  He gave life to three people to affirm His word by His deeds.

95.                  He resurrected one in a house, and gave her to her father,

96.                  and He raised one in the middle of a path and gave him to his mother,

97.                  and Lazarus, from within the tomb, and gave him to his sisters –

98.                  three dead in three places were resurrected.

99.                  <339> He saw the path of the tomb was trod with despair

100.              and because of this He filled it with lodging places of great hope.

101.              And He anointed it and set on it milestones of peace and encouragement

102.              so no one would approach despair when proceeding on it.

103.              Our Lord built towers of peace in the valley of Death

104.              so [someone] on the path of the world might journey from them and dwell in them.[23]

105.              And thus He divided it and set up lodging places of life on the path –

106.              at the start of the path, and also its middle and end:

107.              the girl at its start, the youth at the middle of the path,

108.              and at its end Lazarus rose from the tomb.[24]

109.              So it might be easy for walkers when they proceeded on it,

110.              He arranged in it and filled it with milestones of peace and encouragement.

111.              He entered and raised the daughter of Jairus within the house

112.              and began to make the resurrection dawn at the start of His path.

113.              And He made there great peace with new life,

114.              and the crowds of people who were there were astonished.

115.              The great People was there and saw the sign,

116.              and at the wonder, the light of resurrection dawned.

117.              And Death was trampled before the many who were gathered,

118.              and there was hope from the resurrection at that lodging place.

119.              <340> The Son of God showed life on the path He set,

120.              and He began to pacify and clear it and settle it.

121.              Death departed and there was hope for humanity

122.              that no one should fear the serpent’s path when proceeding on it.

123.              And as He was proceeding and establishing the path,

124.              so everyone should enter the place of life without fear,

125.              He encountered a young man whom they were accompanying at the city gate[25] –

126.              that is to say – the middle of the path that He was proceeding on –

127.              and when they did not demand Him or call Him to action,

128.              He wished to make peace in the middle of the path of Death.

129.              He stopped the departed one’s bier, and the carriers stood [still],[26]

130.              and He began to speak with the dead one in great wonder

131.              at the city gate, where there was a great crowd,

132.              and the grief over the only child was strong and inconsolable,[27]

133.              and death was bitter and the path of the tomb very fearful,

134.              thundering with weeping and despair and lamentations,

135.              without peace or safety[28] for anyone proceeding on it,

136.              nor ever a tale of life for one encountering it,

137.              fearful and full of the great serpent’s slithering,

138.              without any trace of life ever seen on it.[29]

139.              <341> And so there the Son stood on the middle of the path,

140.              at the city-gate, and He started to speak to the dead one:

141.              “Young man, young man, I say to you – Rise from there!”[30]

142.              And the dead one woke and began to speak in wonder.

143.              On the middle of the path, the mighty Son seized Death

144.              and there He bound him in the great crowd, that he might become a mockery.

145.              As the widow, the dead one’s mother, shook with weeping,

146.              and the sound of women’s lamentations resembled great thunder,

147.              and the head of Death was exalted and he made light of many,

148.              there He bound him, in the sight of the many who were around.

149.              Life squeezed Death at the city-gate, then,

150.              and there [Death] was trampled like the Philistines’ strongman.[31]

151.              And our Lord built a mighty tower on the middle of the path

152.              so all passersby could lodge in an inn[32] of peace.

153.              He set the sweetness of life in the widow’s mouth there

154.              so no one could say that death is bitter on the path of Sheol.

155.              And the Son of God made there a gathering for life[33]

156.              in the middle of the valley where[34] someone would have feared to walk.

157.              And [on] the path of the tomb where weeping’s thunder spoke,[35]

158.              glory thundered with a song of thanksgiving[36] from the many.

159.              <342> And people began to walk on it without fear

160.              and without suffering, because of the peace of the Son of God.

161.              And when our Lord cleared the middle of the path with peace,

162.              He proceeded on the path to go again towards the end.

163.              Lazarus died, and they brought him and put him in the place of Ruin,

164.              there where the story of all the buried ends,

165.              inside the gates of the Daughter of Darkness – the Full of Woe –

166.              where there is no hope for the dead who are cast down in her.[37]

167.              Lazarus entered and the bolts of Sheol were shut in his face,

168.              and the Daughter of Ruin concealed him[38] so he would be corrupted in her.

169.              And he stayed there in the land of Death for three days,

170.              and on the fourth [Death] began to corrupt him, as [he did to] the rest.[39]

171.              And he gathered and brought forth rows of worms upon the buried man,

172.              and bands of moths from all sides upon the departed man,

173.              and he set [his] molar – corruption – on his body and began to gnaw[40]

174.              and tear him and lacerate him and pulverize him.

175.              And the dead man sent out from the darkness a rotten smell[41]

176.              to his family so they might weep over him, for his story had ceased.

177.              But our Lord came on the path He set and arrived there

178.              and stood at Death’s door and knocked like a strongman.

179.              <343> On the middle of the path He left peace with the dead man He brought to life,[42]

180.              and He came to make good hope for the end.

181.              He came to the tomb to make at the end of the path

182.              one lodging place in which there would be hope for those who dwell in it.

183.              And He saw the land full of despair and corruption,

184.              and corpses and rotten bodies in the place of Ruin –

185.              Death sitting like a prince at Sheol’s gate,

186.              crown woven and clothed with might and power,

187.              establishing his seat upon the heaps of corpses,

188.              and his heel set on the skeleton of rulers.

189.              He had not [ever] heard the voice of resurrection outside his gate,

190.              nor had he seen life tread on his threshold.[43]

191.              Then our Lord shook him with the voice He raised

192.              and called to the dead man, “Come, Lazarus!”, and the dead man came.[44]

193.              Death sits like a judge in the streets of Sheol

194.              and the dead man goes out uncorrupted from Ruin!

195.              Death shook at the new sign he saw in Sheol

196.              and he could not hold back the dead man in the place of Ruin.

197.              The Voice of Life toppled off Death’s crown from him,

198.              and overturned his seat, and brought out the dead man in great wonder.

199.              <344> The Resurrection rose up and kicked Sheol and she vomited the dead,

200.              and she sent out and gave one dead man as He commanded her.[45]

201.              The Thunder of Life rose up to speak outside the gate,

202.              and the corpses began to squirm like roots.

203.              And if He had called and not distinguished the dead man by his name,

204.              His voice would have raised all the dead if He wished.

205.              [But] He called one, and one went out as He called him,

206.              and trembling fell on Death’s land in great wonder.

207.              The Resurrection entered, which had been sent by our Savior,

208.              and probed and brought out one Lazarus, the dead man who lived.

209.              And Death shook at the two wonders he saw there:

210.              a dead man who lived, and a living man walking without being undone.[46]

211.              The Son of God’s mightiness dawned,

212.              and greedy Death’s tyranny was scorned.

213.              Behold the change! A dead man ascended to a high degree

214.              and Death descended and embraced misfortune[47] at Sheol’s gate.

215.              At that end of the path of Death there was victory

216.              and a great feast from the new resurrection that dawned.

217.              That lodging place that came about for the world in the midst of fear

218.              Christ made a harbor of peace for all who enter it.[48]

219.              <345> And the entire path that was among the dead was filled with peace –

220.              its middle and start and also its end – through the Son of God.

221.              Jairus rejoices and the widow’s face is glad,

222.              and songs of new glory thunder in Lazarus’ home.

223.              From [one] inn to its companion, the Son of God pacified the entire path,

224.              for He planted it and filled it with all life.

225.              And the entire path thundered with the good news that came about,

226.              and the story of Death was extinguished and subsided from generations.[49]

227.              And in three lodging places Christ placed life:

228.              inside a house, and on the middle of the path, and inside a tomb.

229.              Thus also from the human race,

230.              He chose three ages[50] and began to resurrect:

231.              at the start of the path, He brought a girl to life when He began,

232.              at its middle He raised a young man, as it is written,

233.              and at its end He brought out a man from the tomb,

234.              and He gave hope to the whole nature, that He would resurrect it.

235.              On the path of the tomb, three images of mightiness

236.              He snatched and brought out from between greedy Death’s teeth.[51]

237.              May teaching that is full of wonder about Your coming rise up,

238.              and may it depict an image of the fearful day on which You dawn.[52]

239.              At the start of the path, let Jairus’ house give thanks,

240.              <346> for in it is a girl who gives a crown like victory.

241.              At the middle of the path may the serpent that devoured the dead one be depicted,

242.              along with You, plucking and bringing out the dead one from between its teeth.

243.              At the end of the path may Your image be depicted like a strongman

244.              who kicked Sheol, and she birthed a dead man in an untimely way.[53]

245.              On the entire path of Death [there are] images for Your mightiness!

246.              In every lodging place in which there is an icon, may Your honor rise.

247.              Let every inn of the path give glory, for You pacified them,[54]

248.              and to You be thanksgiving at every mile[55] on which someone proceeds.

249.              From the house of Jairus may gifts of glory come to Your Name,

250.              and from the widow may a crown of thanksgiving be offered to You.

251.              From Bethany may the two sisters with their crowns

252.              come out to meet You when You uproot Sheol’s streets.

253.              Let the rotting dead man who went out from Ruin give thanks,

254.              [for] he even saw You there binding Death in his land.

255.              Let the young man give thanks, whom You brought out from between [Death’s] teeth,

256.              and who became an heir for the bereaved woman who was oppressed.

257.              Let the girl give thanks concerning Your resurrection in her father’s house,

258.              for in her house she heard Your living voice that raises the dead.

259.              May the entire path that is among the dead give thanks to You, Lord,

260.              <347> for You pacified it that they might walk on it without fear.

261.              May my feeble tongue give thanks to You, Lord, for though it is not worthy,

262.              it has become a harp to speak Your praise. To You be glory![56]

܀܀܀܀܀

[1] A) The three raisings this homily refers to are those of Jairus’ daughter (Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:22-43, and Luke 8:40-56), the widow’s son (Luke 7:11-17), and Lazarus (John 11). B) One of the MSS Bedjan used was Vatican Syriac 118 ff.131v-134r. I have checked his text against this MS, and it includes many more variants than Bedjan lists. Generally, I have only noted cases where I used the MS to check unclear readings. Otherwise, I have noted in the footnotes the cases where lines are missing or transposed. C) This homily greatly resembles in theme and language a homily attributed to Ephrem on Lazarus, found in Vat.sir.117, on ff. 362v-364v, and edited by Joseph Assemani (Sancti Patris Nostri Ephraem Syri Opera Omnia, v.2.2 of Syr/Lat, 387-395). The similarities are so exact as to indicate some relationship between the two texts. It should be noted that the homily attributed to Ephrem also bears close resemblances to Jacob’s homily on the Raising of Lazarus (see the translation and notes at https://www.syriactexts.com/jacob-of-serugh/on-the-raising-of-lazarus-from-the-dead). I have included select quotations of these similarities in the last footnote. D) Finally, it is interesting to note that Jacob’s homily on the Three Dead is sometimes quoted in the bo’wotho for the prayers for Lazarus Saturday in the Syrian Orthodox and Maronite traditions. Its themes are also repeated in hymns for this day.

[2] “clear” or “public/manifest” or “revealed” (ܓܠܝܐ).

[3] Cf. Matthew 13:45-46.

[4] “Your congregations”: ܟܢܘܫ̈ܬܟ (as in line 20).

[5] i.e., the Church.

[6] “drinking it” lit. “its drinking.”

[7] “came to knowledge of You” lit. “knew You.”

[8] Matthew 27:50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46.

[9] Lit. “and rulers’ diadems are made the footstool of its feet.” I.e., kings’ crowns bear the sign of the Cross and become the “footstool” for the sign of the Cross. For an extended exposition on the sign of the Cross on the Roman emperor’s crown, see Jacob’s homily On Moses’ Extended Hands, homily 24 in: Roger Akhrass and Imad Syryany, eds., 160 Unpublished Homilies of Jacob of Serugh: Volume I (Homilies 1-72) (Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate, 2017), 1:196-197. Lines 107-134. Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:25-27.

[10] “dignitaries” or “first dwellers/settlers” of a land. Syriac: ܒܘܟܢ̈ܝܗ̇

[11] John 19:34.

[12] Lit. “all the earth became, from its drink, the Eden of God.”

[13] The next several lines refer to the sun darkening at noon during the Crucifixion. See Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-45. The translation of the phrase “tore from itself” is a bit unclear to me (ܘܣܕܩ ܡܢܗ ܠܒܘ̈ܫܝ ܢܘܗܪܐ).

[14] “sphere” or “orbit” or “circuit,” including possible usage as a technical term to refer to the Zodiacal circuit. Syriac: ܡܘܙܠܬܐ.

[15] “ordinary” or “common,” though the word can also mean “darken” (ܫܚܝܡ). The meaning of the line in terms of the Father’s role was a bit confusing to me. Vat.sir.118 has: “that the great grief over the Only-Begotten might not be ordinary.”

[16] The “Captive Woman” is the Church/the Bride.

[17] Lit. “that through Him, the human race which was corrupted might be resurrected.”

[18] Vat.sir.118 has the singular masculine here – i.e., “and between it and Eve, [the serpent] drew Adam to come to Sheol.”

[19] “within their boundaries”: Bedjan, and Vatican Syr. 118, clearly have ܒܬܚܘܡܝ̈ܗܘܢ instead of ܒܛܘܗܡܝ̈ܗܘܢ (in their lineages/genealogies), which I would have expected.

[20] Lines 71 and 72 are not in Vat.sir.118.

[21] I.e., Bethlehem.

[22] ܙܳܚܰܬ ܕܬܺܐܬܶܐ ܐܽܘܪܚܶܗ ܪܳܡܬܳܐ ܡܶܢ ܐܳܦܰܪܬܳܐ܆ ܡܶܢ ܨܶܝܕ ܡܰܪܝܰܡ ܕܰܚܠܳܦ ܚܰܘܳܐ ܒܬܽܘܠܬܳܐ ܥܶܠܰܬ܀

The second line of the couplet is confusing to me and may have word play going on. The subject of ܥܠܬ could in theory be Mary, Eve, or the “path.” The “virgin” could either be Eve or Mary – indeed, in other homilies Jacob emphasizes that Eve was created a virgin (see, for example, his Homily on Creation, Day 6 p.332 Gorgias translation; Bedjan vol.3 p.125 for Syriac text only). Part of the interpretation depends on the dolath, which may either be explanatory or relative. If explanatory: “from Mary, for instead of Eve, the Virgin [Mary] entered.” Or: “from Mary, since instead of Eve the Virgin, [Mary] entered.”

If relative: “from Mary, who, instead of Eve the Virgin, entered.” Or: “from Mary, who, instead of Eve, entered a virgin.”

Though it seems a bit strange, support for “path” as the “subject” entering either Mary or Eve comes from the fact that the “path” is the subject of the first line of the couplet. I have chosen this reading.

Finally, it is possible that there is ambiguity meant here over the application of the term “virgin” to either Mary or Eve – the audience may be meant to recall here Mary-Eve typology. A possible translation that captures this ambiguity would be “It entered instead of Eve the Virgin Mary.” However, this translation would remove the one part of the Syriac that seems rather straightforward (i.e., beginning with “from Mary”)!

[23] Or, “that on the path of the world, we might journey from them and dwell in them.”

[24] Lines 107 and 108 are placed after line 234 in Vat.sir.118. (Line numbering according to my numbering in this translation – i.e., according to Bedjan’s text).

[25] Luke 7:12. Vat sir 118’s reading here seems better, and helps make sense of some of the parts I was confused about in Bedjan’s.

Bedjan: ܦܓܥ ܒܗ ܥܠܝܡܐ ܒܬܪܥܐ ܕܟܪܟܐ ܕܡܠܘܝܢ ܠܗ܆ ܐܝܟ ܕܠܡܐܡܪ ܡܨܥܬܗ̇ ܕܐܘܪܚܐ ܕܪܕܐ ܗ̱ܘܐ ܒܗ̇

Vat.sir.118: ܦܓܥ ܒܥܠܝܡܐ ܒܬܪܥܐ ܕܟܪܟܐ ܐܝܟ ܕܠܡܐܡܪ܆ ܡܨܥܬܗ̇ ܕܐܘܪܚܐ ܕܪܕܝܐ ܠܩܒܪܐ ܒܚܫܐ ܪܒܐ

[26] Luke 7:14.

[27] “inconsolable” lit. “there was no consolation.”

[28] “without peace or safety”: ܘܠܝܬ ܗܘܐ ܫܝܢܐ ܘܐܦܠܐ ܫܠܡܐ.

[29] Lit. “and [any] trace of life was utterly unseen on it.”

[30] Luke 17:14.

[31] I.e., Goliath. See 1 Samuel 17:48-52. Vat.sir.118 has “the strongman of the Israelites.”

[32] “inn”: ܡܣܝܘܢܐ. I translated this based on a definition from Audo, who states that the word can mean “a place in which someone lodges or dwells to fill the time.” This makes more sense in context than the definition of “a day’s journey” which is given by Margoliouth and Sokoloff.

[33] The meaning of this line is unclear to me, but perhaps the idea is that the Son “gathered” life together on the path. Vat.sir.118 has no variants. Syriac: ܘܥܒܕ ܬܡܢ ܟܢܫܐ ܠܚ̈ܝܐ ܒܪܐ ܕܐܠܗܐ

[34] “where” lit. “in which.”

[35] Lit. “And [on] the path of the tomb on which the thunder of weeping spoke.”

[36] “song/voice/sound of thanksgiving” or “of confession” (ܒܩܠ ܬܘܕܝܬܐ).

[37] The “Daughter of Darkness” and the other feminine epithets refer to Sheol.

[38] “concealed him”: ܟܡܬ ܥܠܘܗܝ.

[39] John 11:17, John 11:39.

[40] Or, “and Corruption set his molar on his body and began to gnaw….” “corruption” may either be the subject or in apposition to “molar.”

[41] John 11:39.

[42] This reading was confusing to me. Bedjan: ܒܡܨܥܬ ܐܘܪܚܐ ܐܪܦܝ ܫܝܢܐ ܒܡܝܬܐ ܕܐܚܝ

Vat sir. 118’s reading is easier: “On the middle of the path our Lord laid great peace, / and came to make good hope for its end.” ܒܡܨܥܬ ܐܘܪܚܐ ܐܪܡܝ ܡܪܢ ܫܝܢܐ ܪܒܐ

[43] Lit. “The voice of resurrection had not been heard by him outside his gate, / and life, which treads upon his threshold, had not been seen by him.”

[44] John 11:43.

[45] The idea is that Sheol only gives up only one dead person, according to Christ’s command, but “the dead” in the previous line is plural (ܘܓܣܬ ܡܝ̈ܬܐ). Bedjan lists a variant that has “her food” instead (ܐܘܟܠܗ̇).

[46] The first wonder is that Lazarus was raised from the dead. The second wonder is that he was bound with burial shrouds (“not undone” or “not untied”) yet walking without impediment. There is also a play on words here, since “undone” (ܫܪܐ) is the same word often used to mean “decomposed” – Lazarus, who had already started to decompose, was raised without being “undone” or “decomposed.” See Jacob’s homily on the Raising of Lazarus for a longer reflection on these two wonders and an extended play on these meanings of the root ܫܪܐ.

[47] “embraced misfortune” or “a fall”: ܥܦܩ ܡܦܘܠܬܐ. An expression I was only able to find one other time from a search in Simtho, which happens to be Jacob’s homily on the Lord’s combat with Satan (i.e., the Temptation), where Jacob is describing Satan’s fall. See Bedjan v.3 p.359.

[48] “who enter it” lit. “its enterers.”

[49] There is a word play in this line with the words “story” (ܫܪܒܐ) and “generations” (ܫܪ̈ܒܬܐ): ܘܫܪܒܗ ܕܡܘܬܐ ܕܥܟ ܘܐܫܬܗܝ ܡܢ ܫܪ̈ܒܬܐ

[50] “ages” or “statures/measures” (ܡܘܫ̈ܚܬܐ). The idea is that Christ chose a person from three different stages of human life (a little girl, a young man, a grown man) to symbolize the resurrection would touch the entirety of human nature.

[51] Line 236 is not in Vat.sir.118.

[52] Line 238 is not in Vat.sir.118.

[53] “in an untimely way” lit. “not in her time.”

[54] “pacified them” lit. “pacified it.” This refers to the inns.

[55] “milestone” or “mile.”

[56] Below I quote some selections from the homily attributed to Ephrem on Lazarus that greatly resemble Jacob’s homily. I quote and cite according to Assemani’s edition.

·       “In Lazarus, a dead man who had decomposed, He wished to show forth His power, for in deed He makes the resurrection rise, not preaching it with words.” p.389A.

·       “He preached encouragement and good hope to the entire race, that with the three witnesses whom He called to life, He might affirm the resurrection. The Wise One chose and took three ages from the dead – a man, a girl, and a youth – the first, the last, and the middle, from Adam to the end. He sought to affirm one resurrection, so that He might increase hope for the far-off with the three dead who were near.” p.389C-E.

·       “The girl from within the house, He resurrected and gave her to her father, and He raised up the young man, as he was going on the way of the grave. … From within the house and from the path and from the tomb He called to the dead, that on the entire path of Death He might lay milestones of the resurrection. He sprinkled the entire way of Death with the hope of life, for at its beginning, end, and middle He made His resurrection dawn.” p.391A-B.

·       “Instead of saying, ‘Come out’ (sing.), if He had said ‘Come out’ (pl.), the entire crowd of dead would have come out with Lazarus. His voice made a distinction that He wanted one alone, and the [resurrection] of the many was kept for the end of time, at the completion. But if He wished at that point not to say ‘Come’ (sing.) but [instead] ‘Come’ (pl.), not Lazarus [alone] would have come out, but all the dead.” p.394F-395A.

Translated by Aimee Hannoush, November 2025.