Homilies of Jacob of Serugh

Ecclesiastical Affiliation

Syriac Orthodox

Century

5th-6th Centuries (451-521)

Reference Works

GEDSH 433-435

BHO 413-414

Homilies

Jacob’s corpus of homilies is the largest in the Syriac tradition. Akhrass (2015) identifies over four hundred. There are nearly two hundred modern editions and translations of his works. I am engaged on another project to make a full listing of these, along with detailed information about their presence in manuscripts. Here I have listed only the largest collections and some critical editions. 

Metrical Homilies

Albert, Micheline, ed. Jacques de Saroug: Homélies contre les Juifs. Translated by Micheline Albert. Patrologia Orientalis 174 (38.1). Turnhout: Brepols, 1976.

Alwan, Khalil, ed. Jacques de Saroug: Quatre homélies métriques sur la création. Translated by Khalil Alwan. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 508-509, Scriptores Syri 214-215. Leuven: Peeters, 1989.

Amar, Joseph P., ed. A Metrical Homily on Holy Mar Ephrem by Mar Jacob of Sarug. Translated by Joseph P. Amar. Patrologia Orientalis 209 (47.1). Turnhout: Brepols, 1995. 

Bedjan, Paul, ed. Acta martyrum et sanctorum. 7 vols. Paris: Harrassowitz, 1890-1897. Pages 1:131-1431:160-1723:665-794:650-6655:615-6276:650-6616:662-6736:674-689.

Bedjan, Paul, ed. Homiliae selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis. 5 vols. Paris: Harrassowitz, 1905-1910. Volume 1Volume 2Volume 3Volume 4Volume 5

Bedjan, Paul, ed. S. Martyrii qui et Sahdona quae supersunt omnia. Paris: Harrassowitz, 1902. Pages 639-865.

Bedjan, Paul, and Sebastian P. Brock, eds. Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug. 6 vols. Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2006. Volume 6 contains four homilies in addition to those included in Bedjan's other publications.

Brock, Sebastian. "Jacob of Serugh's Verse Homily on Tamar (Gen. 38)." Le Muséon 115, no. 3-4 (2002): 279-315.

Brock, Sebastian P. "The Syrian Orthodox Reaction to the Council of Chalcedon: Jacob of Serugh's Homily on the Council of Chalcedon." Texts and Studies: A Review for Hellenism in Diaspora 8-10 (1989-1991): 448-59.

Deppe, Klaus, ed. Kohelet in der syrischen Dichtung: Drei Gedichte über das Kohelet-Buch con Afrēm, Jakob von Sarug und Johannes von Mossul. Translated by Klaus Deppe. Göttinger Orientforshungen, Syriaca 6. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1975. Pages 68-121.

Strothman, Werner, ed. Der Prophet Hosea. Göttinger Orientforschungen, Syriaca 5. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1973.

Strothmann, Werner, ed. Drei Gedichte über den Apostel Thomas in Indien. Translated by Werner Strothmann. Göttinger Orientforschungen, Syriaca 12. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1976.

Prose Homilies

Zingerle, Pius, trans. Sechs Homilien des hieiligen Jacob von Sarug. Bonn, 1867. [Available from archive.org here]

Rilliet, Frédéric, ed. Jacques de Saroug: Six homélies festales en prose. Translated by Frédéric Rilliet. Patrologia Orientalis 196 (43.4). Turnhout: Brepols, 1986.

Further Bibliography and Notes
Guide to Manuscripts

Vööbus, Arthur. Handschriftliches Überlieferung der Mēmrē-Dichtung des Ja'qōb von Serūg. 4 vols. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 344-345, 421-422, Subsidia 39-40, 60-61. Leuven: Secrétariat du CorpusSCO, 1973-1980.

Guides to Homilies

Akhrass, Roger-Youssef. "A List of Homilies of Mar Jacob of Serugh." Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Journal 53 (2015): 87-161. [Available at academia.edu]

Brock, Sebastian P. "The Published Verse Homilies of Isaac of Antioch, Jacob of Serugh, and Narsai: Index of Incipits." Journal of Semitic Studies 32, no. 2 (1987): 279-313.

Bedjan, Paul, and Sebastian P. Brock, eds. Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug. 6 vols. Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2006. Pages 6:373-411.

Websites

Syri.ac has a list of his homilies according to the Bedjan volumes with link sto individual homilies here.