TO THE READER.

A decorative drop-cap "P" is adorned with intricate patterns of leaves and floral scrolls.
A few years ago, the first volume of the Works of Saint Ephrem was published in Greek and Latin. The Most Distinguished Joseph Assemanus Giuseppe Simone Assemani (1687–1768) was a Lebanese Maronite scholar and titular archbishop who served as a librarian at the Vatican; he was instrumental in bringing Eastern Christian manuscripts to Europe. oversaw the edition and was preparing the second and third volumes when he was ordered by the Supreme Pontiff to sail to Syria on certain ecclesiastical matters, forcing him to interrupt what he had begun. The established plan had been to keep this order: first, the works of the Holy Doctor that were already available in print from old Greek or Latin translations would be distributed into three volumes; the remaining works would follow, all of which were unknown to the Latin world and most even to the Greeks. However, so that a task of such magnitude—hardly to be completed even with the tireless labor of many years—would not be endlessly delayed by unnecessary hesitation (as "wave pushes wave, and day pushes day"), it seemed best to bypass the original order. Thus, we are presenting the fourth volume now, which is also the first volume of the second part. For it was decided to divide all the Holy Doctor’s Works into two parts, as I just hinted: one containing the Greek-Latin texts, and this one containing the Latin-Syriac.

The volume of Saint Ephrem’s Works that we now publish comprises his commentaries on the early books of Divine Scripture, translated from Syriac into English original: "Latinum" (Latin). Following the instruction to translate everything to English for the reader.; it represents a summary of history from the first origin of the world down to the migration of the Hebrews into Assyria and Chaldea. The Pentateuch The first five books of the Bible., and the books of Judges and Kings, present this principal and most noble part of Sacred History. There will follow, God willing, another volume of Explanations of all the Prophets, and a third will follow that, containing various and diverse treatises. Most of these are polemical and fight against heresies; Saint Epiphanius, who was almost a contemporary of the Blessed Ephrem, testifies that our Doctor's native soil was most fertile in producing such works. To these, a seventh volume—and perhaps even an eighth and ninth—would have had to be added, if only we had been permitted to obtain the Holy Doctor's commentaries on the New Testament. Saint Gregory of Nyssa indicates these existed, and another Gregory, of Tagrit, a twelfth-century author, testifies that he saw them; they are also attested to by the summaries inserted in the Catenae A "catena" (Latin for chain) is a form of biblical commentary made up of fragments of earlier fathers' writings strung together. on Matthew and Mark published by our Balthasar Corderius,

and by a great many fragments noted in the Vatican Index—see those in Ruth (Codex 746), in the Psalms (Codex 752), and in the Gospels (Codex 665). These show that Ephrem was by no means unknown to the Greeks of a later age. From this you will further understand how truly that famous Moses of Mardin A Syrian Orthodox priest and scholar who traveled to Europe in the 16th century to facilitate the printing of the Syriac New Testament. affirmed to Andreas Masius A 16th-century Flemish linguist and diplomat who was one of the first Europeans to study Syriac. that Saint Ephrem was "most prolific" original Greek: "πολυγραφότατον" (polygraphotaton). and comparable to Chrysostom and Augustine in the abundance and variety of his writings. Therefore, just as it is the prerogative of illustrious men who write much and with some praise for their learning, it must be granted to the writings of the Divine Ephrem that we judge them to need neither an index nor a defender. But because there is a lust for dissent and fighting implanted in the minds of some—such that where they notice others leaning toward one side, they immediately fly to the defense of the other, not because they dislike being deceived or in error, but because they delight more in struggling—for the poet did not sing falsely: "For we are two races of living men upon the earth." Odyssey, Book 8 original Greek: "δύο- ζωοὶ γάρ τ᾽ εἰμὲν ἐπὶ χθονί φυλ᾽ ἀνθρώπων;". In the context of the Odyssey, this line refers to the different natures or fates of men. I see that this must be investigated first and demonstrated with the most certain evidence: that the commentaries of Saint Ephrem which we now publish truly bear his name, and have no other father than the one they claim.

There is an old saying familiar to the Syrians as well as the Arabs: "There are things which contain their own witness, and there are things which must seek it elsewhere." Certainly, the writings of the ancient Fathers have marks impressed in the same style in which they were composed, indicating their true authors; if these are present, it would be a redundant effort to seek other indicators. For why should an interpreter be asked when the guest reveals himself by his own face? In the time of Augustine, certain learned men contended that the Letter of Saint Cyprian to Jubaianus had been wrongly inscribed with his name; Augustine disagreed because, he said, Letter to Vincent "his style has a certain unique face by which it can be recognized."

I say that the writings of Saint Ephrem have such a face, which the impressed marks (like features drawn by a learned hand) express. First is the choice of subject matter and the type of treatment, which are most consistent with Ephrem’s purpose and age; the equality and tenor of the style, though varied and manifold, is everywhere consistent with itself. We are thus compelled to say one of two things: either all the works which have hitherto carried Ephrem’s name were written by Ephrem’s pen, or none were. This argument, which we only point out here, must be weighed more fully below in its proper place; it is evident to those reading the Holy Doctor’s own original manuscripts.