The Rabbula Corpus: Comprising the Life of Rabbula, His Correspondence, a Homily Delivered in Constantinople, Canons, and Hymns

769 Pages·2017·6.185 MB·English

by  Robert R. Phenix Jr., Cornelia B. Horn

WRITINGS FROM THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD
The Rabbula Corpus
Comprising the Life of Rabbula, His Correspondence,
a Homily Delivered in Constantinople,
Canons, and Hymns
Translated with an Introduction and Notes by
Robert R. Phenix Jr. and Cornelia B. Horn
THE RABBULA CORPUS
WRITINGS FROM THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD
General Editors
CraigA.GibsonandRonaldHock
Editorial Board
ChristopherA.Baron
AndrewCain
MargaretM.Mitchell
TeresaMorgan
IlariaL.E.Ramelli
ClareK.Rothschild
KarinSchlapbach
JamesC.VanderKam
L.MichaelWhite
Number
VolumeEditors
SusanAshbrookHarveyandJohnT.Fitzgerald
The Rabbula Corpus
Comprising the Life of Rabbula,
His Correspondence, a Homily Delivered
in Constantinople, Canons, and Hymns
withTextsinSyriacandLatin,English
Translations,Notes,andIntroductionby
Robert R. Phenix Jr. and Cornelia B. Horn
Atlanta
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To our friends, Jim and Denis.

Table of Contents
Preface ix
Abbreviations xi
1. Introducingthe Rabbula Corpus xvii
1.1.SituatingtheRabbulaCorpusintheHistoryofRe-
ligions inLateAntiqueSyria xix
1.2. TheStudyofRabbulaof Edessa xxiii
1.3. TheGenreoftheLifeofRabbula xxvii
1.4. Two Witnesses to Rabbula: The Life of Alexander
AkoimqtqsandtheLife ofthe Man ofGod lviii
1.5. The Life of Rabbula: Sitz im Leben and Date of
Composition lxx
1.6. Rabbula’sImitationofChrist cxiii
1.7. The Electionof RabbulatotheSeeofEdessa cxxx
1.8. RabbulaandthePresenceofOtherReligions
in Edessa cxxxviii
1.9.RabbulaandtheCyrillianControversy:April428to
April433 clxiv
1.10. The Poor andRabbulatheBenefactor cxcv
1.11. RabbulaandChurchReformin Edessa cxcviii
1.12. RabbulaandtheStructuresoftheChurch
in Edessa ccii
1.13. RabbulaandtheSyriacBible ccxiv
1.14. Summary ccxvii
2. The Rabbula Corpus ccxix
2.1. The Life of Rabbula and Rabbula’s Homily in Con-
stantinople ccxix
2.2. Collectionsof CanonsAttributedtoRabbula ccxxi
2.3. TheLettersof theRabbulaCorpus ccxxix
2.4.SyriacTranslationofCyrilofAlexandria’sDerecta
fide ad Theodosium ccxl
2.5. AdditionalCorpusMaterials ccxlii
viii therabbulacorpus
3. Texts and Translations
3.1. The LifeofRabbula 2
3.2. Rabbula,HomilyinConstantinople 84
3.3. Collectionsof Canons 94
3.3.1. AdmonitionsfortheMonks 94
3.3.2.CommandmentsandAdmonitionsforthePriests
and theChildren ofthe Covenant 102
3.3.3. CanonsfortheMonks AttributedtoRabbula 118
3.4. Letters 126
3.4.1. CorrespondencewithCyrilof Alexandria 126
3.4.2. CorrespondencewithAndrewofSamosata 146
3.4.3. John of Antioch, Letter to the Bishops of Os-
rhoene 178
3.4.4. Rabbula, Letter to Gemellina, Bishop of Per-
rhe 180
3.5.SyriacTranslationofCyrilofAlexandria’sDerecta
fide ad Theodosium 200
3.6. HymnsAttributedtoRabbula 286
3.6.1. Two Hymns Preserved in the Hymns of
Severus ofAntioch 286
3.6.2. Hymns PreservedintheEightTones 288
Appendix: Correspondences between Hymns in Overbeck’s
Edition and in the Syrian Liturgical Tradition (Mosul
Breviarium) 411
Bibliography 419
General Index 475
Preface
Althoughwehavebeenassiduousinbringingthisprojecttocom-
pletion,attimesillness,attimesvexation,attimesthetribulation
ofothersandthecommerceoftheworldhavehinderedus.
Inthethirteenyearssincethisprojectbegan,portionsofthe
Rabbula Corpus have appeared in modern translation. We hope
that the translations provided here oVer at times a diVerent per-
spectivetotheSyriacwordingandthatthenotescontainedherein
arehelpfulfororientingreaderstosomeoftheinterestingaspects
ofthiscollection.
Theintroductionisintendedasaguideandnotasareplace-
ment of more detailed studies. We hope that the bibliography is
up-to-dateasofthefinalpageproofs,andweapologizetoanyone
whoseworkweoverlooked.
Throughoutthelongjourneyofthisproject,therehavebeen
manyindividualswhohavehelpedusandafewwhohavehindered
us. We thank all those who, even at the last minute, have assisted
us. We thank SBL Press for their patienceand Amy M. Donald-
son,whocopyeditedour manuscriptandcaughtmanyerrors.
CorneliaB. HornandRobertR.PhenixJr.
Berlin-Friedenau,Germany
October11, 2014