Jacob of Sarug

Mar Jacob (♱ ca. 521) is known by his followers as the flute of the Holy Spirit (sometimes even the Harp), second only in importance to St. Ephrem himself. From an early age, his prophetic voice and poetic splendor were recognized by ecclesiastical authorities.1 He spent the majority of his life preaching throughout the territory of Batnan, but was ordained Bishop of Sarug in 518. Jacob remains not only an important spiritual writer, but an important source for historians of anti-Chalcedonian theology. Of his approximately 700 works, only roughly half survive, some of which have yet to be edited and many of which have yet to be translated into modern languages. Jacob's works can be found in the sources below. 

Bibliography

List of Digitized Manuscripts Containing Jacob of Sarug

Instrumenta

For more  on the life and works of Mar Jacob, see the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship as well as the entry for Jacob of Sarug in A Comprehensive Bibliography on Syriac Christianity.

Table of Contents

Editions of Bedjan

The English titles have been taken from Sebastian Brock, who has published a translation of the titles collected by Bedjan as well as translated several homilies not collected by Bedjan in an edition published by Gorgias Press (here).3 Included for the following volumes are Bedjan's homily number, Brock's title, Bedjan's title, Bedjan's stated manuscript base and a hyperlink to Bedjan's text.

List of Abbreviations:

Other Homilies Attributed to Mar Jacob

A number of homilies have been attributed to Mar Jacob though have not been edited in the above volumes by Bedjan. In the sixth volume of Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug, Sebastian Brock has helpfully included material not found in the Bedjan volumes. Included below are the homilies presented by Brock with his translated title. The Syriac links below are taken from prior edited versions or from the digitized manuscripts if no other edition is available.

P. Bedjan and Brock, S. P., Eds., Homiliae selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis, vol. 6, 6 vol. Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2006. [Back to Top]

Homilies Attributed to Mar Jacob Edited in Other Works [Back to Top]

Letters [Back to Top]4

Most of the Letters in Olinder's work are collected from the British Library and the images are unavailable online, however the catalog records can be searched here.5  The manuscripts collected are found in Olinder, iv-v. The list below represents texts and translations of the letters available online.

Prayers  [Back to Top]