Ancient Christian commentary Ephrem The Syrian
Does Ephrem The Syrian's commentary on 1 Thes 4:17 show up in this commentary set? I am having a hard time finding his commentary on this.. HELP>>>
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Yes, it appears...
It references Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers 2 13:224 logosres:npnf27;ref=Page.p_224;off=1703
"This Jesus that gathered and carried, and brought with him of the fruit, was longing for the Tree of Life to taste the Fruit that quickens all. For Him Rahab too was looking; for when the scarlet thread in type redeemed her from wrath, in type she tasted of the Truth. For Him Elijah longed, and when Him on earth he saw not, he, through faith most throughly cleansed, mounted up in heaven to see Him. Moses saw Him and Elijah; the meek man from the depth ascended, the zealous from on high descended, and in the midst beheld the Son. They figured the mystery of His Advent: Moses was a type of the dead, and Elijah a type of the living, that fly to meet Him at His coming. For the dead that have tasted death, them He makes to be first: and the rest that are not buried, are last caught up to meet Him."
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Short answer: No.
All you'll find is excerpts from Hymn 1 of the Hymns of the Nativity, which I doubt is what you are looking for. Seems Ephraim's commentaries are not easy to locate in an English translation. They are not included in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers by Schaff. Here is all that you find in the ACCS on 1 Thess. 4:17:
THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: This Jesus that gathered and carried and brought with him of the fruit was longing for the Tree of Life to taste the fruit that quickens all. For him Rahab too was looking. For when the scarlet thread in type redeemed her from wrath, in type she tasted of the Truth.49 For him Elijah longed, and when he did not see him on earth, he, thoroughly cleansed through faith, mounted up to heaven to see him. Moses saw him and Elijah.50 The meek man from the depth ascended, the zealous from on high descended, and in the midst beheld the Son. They figured the mystery of his advent: Moses was a type of the dead, and Elijah a type of the living, that fly to meet him at his coming. For the dead that have tasted death, them he makes to be first: and the rest that are not buried, are at last caught up to meet him. HYMNS ON THE NATIVITY 1.51
Gorday, P. (2000). Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture NT 9. (90). Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
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There seems to be a controversy of whether he taught a pre-trib rapture. I have a quote from him that he did, which is suprising because I cannot find that info in any other early church father. But some have contested that it is not his writings. So I thought I would look at his commentary to prove which side is right. However I have come up short.. I cannot find his commentary.
Thanks for you help fella's
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see Paul J. Alexander's The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition. I believe there is a reasonable doubt at to the author - St. Ephrem the Syrian, pseudo-Ephrem, or St. Isidore.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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MJ. Smith said:
see Paul J. Alexander's The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition. I believe there is a reasonable doubt at to the author - St. Ephrem the Syrian, pseudo-Ephrem, or St. Isidore.
I read that there is some doubt to the authorship. His commentary would prove it, but I have been searching forever and nothing,.........
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Blair, have you tried looking in Migne?
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I am not familiar with that term. What is that?
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My apologies Blair. I was referring to Migne's 'Patrologia Graeca', a very large collection of early Christian literature in Greek. For decades it was the standard Greek source for the early Christian literature. The 19th century English translations of the 'Early Church Fathers' were translated from Migne, though Migne contains much which was never translated.
Logos has finally started preparing the first 18 volumes for publication. Until then, many of them are available through Google Books or other sources (see here). I have a complete electronic facsimile set, but it isn't OCR'ed so I can't search it, and it's an absolute pain to locate and read texts.
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Thanks..Unless I missed something I do not see his commentary there.
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His commentary is probably not in one of the publicly available volumes through Google Books, but Ephrem's works are available in Migne. However, the specific commentary for which you are looking may well be under a different name if it was only attributed to Ephrem and was actually written by someone else.
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A good start would be to determine whether or not there is any such commentary attributed to Ephrem. It could also be referred to as 'Pseudo-Ephrem', or attributed to another author.
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Interesting question.
At Wikipedia there is a listing of the contents (authors) of the Patrologia Graece: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrologia_Graeca
I searched it in vain for Ephrem or Ephraim of Syria. There is a 6th C Ephrem of Antioch but that is not the 4th C Ephrem you are interested in. So perhaps he is in PG but not listed in the Wikipedia index.
Schaff obviously is aware of him, but to find him I cannot.
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
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MacOS Sierra / Logos 7 Collector's Edition & All Base Packages / Logos Now
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Excellent article...
What happened to his commentary on 1 Thes? Wiki says it exists but I cant find it anywhere.
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Mark A. Smith said:
Interesting question.
At Wikipedia there is a listing of the contents (authors) of the Patrologia Graece: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrologia_Graeca
I searched it in vain for Ephrem or Ephraim of Syria. There is a 6th C Ephrem of Antioch but that is not the 4th C Ephrem you are interested in. So perhaps he is in PG but not listed in the Wikipedia index.
Schaff obviously is aware of him, but to find him I cannot.
I know, that is the weirdest thing. His commentary disappeared...
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Mark A. Smith said:
At Wikipedia there is a listing of the contents (authors) of the Patrologia Graece: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrologia_Graeca
I searched it in vain for Ephrem or Ephraim of Syria.
Maybe because he was a Syrian writing in Syriac, and the series is called Patrologia Graece?
But thanks for the link. I've been planning to do a comparison between Migne and the ECF, to see what's in the former that's not in the latter. Now I have a place to start.
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I was right. Here's the one containing Ephraim: Patrologia Orientalis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrologia_Orientalis.
And here's Logos list of contents in Patrologia Graece: http://www.logos.com/images/products/4345/pg1-18contents.pdf
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fgh said:
Here's the one containing Ephraim: Patrologia Orientalis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrologia_Orientalis.
I simply can't find Ephraim/Ephrem in this listing. Maybe you saw him but I can't find him.
Ephraim where art thou?
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
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Mark A. Smith said:fgh said:
Here's the one containing Ephraim: Patrologia Orientalis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrologia_Orientalis.
I simply can't find Ephraim/Ephrem in this listing. Maybe you saw him but I can't find him.
Ephraim where art thou?
[:D] LOL I did even more searching today, yet still no results..
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The NPNF has this note:
His Commentary on the Epistles of St. Paul has likewise been preserved for us in Armenian. Both have been published by the Mechetarist Fathers of St. Lazaro; first in Armenian, afterwards in a Latin version.
Schaff, P. (1997). The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. XIII (147). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.No luck on tracing that.
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
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I found this one mentioning 1 Thess.4:17 - see the line underscored...
24. My beloved, men who are inferior in understanding, dispute about this
that I write to thee, and say:—“What is the place in which the righteous shall
receive a good reward; and what is the place in which are torments, in which
the wicked shall receive the punishments of their works?” O man that thinkest
thus, I will ask thee, and tell thou me, why is death called death, and why is
Sheol called Sheol? For it is written that when Korah and his companions made a
schism against Moses, the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and
they went down alive into Sheol. Therefore that was the mouth of Sheol that
was opened in the wilderness. David also said, The wicked shall turn back to
Sheol. We say that to Sheol, in which Korah and his companions were swallowed
up, thither shall the wicked be turned back. For God has power, if He chooses,
to give inheritance of life in heaven, and if it please Him, in the earth.
Jesus our Lord said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. And to one of those who were crucified with Him, who
believed on him He swore:—Thou shalt be with Me to-day in the garden Eden.
And the Apostle said, When the righteous shall
rise again, they shall fly upwards to meet our Redeemer. But,
however, we say thus: That which our Redeemer said to us is true:—Heaven and
earth shall pass away. And the Apostle said, Hope which is seen is not
hope. And the Prophet said, The heavens shall pass away as smoke, and
the earth as a garment shall wear away; and its inhabitants shall become like
it. And Job said concerning those that sleep, Till the heavens wear out,
they shall not be aroused, nor shall they wake out of their sleep. From
these things be thou persuaded that this earth, in which the children of Adam
are sown, and the firmament that is over men, (even) that firmament which is
set to divide the upper heavens from the earth and this life, shall pass away,
and wear out, and be destroyed. And God will make a new thing for the children
of Adam, and they shall inherit inheritances in the Kingdom of Heaven. If He
shall give them inheritance in the earth, it shall be called the kingdom of
heaven. And if in Heaven, it is easy for Him to do. For with the kings of the
earth also, although each one of them abides in his own place, yet every place
to which their authority extends, is called their kingdom. So the sun is a
luminary set in the heaven, yet for every place to which its rays extend, its
authority suffices, whether on sea or on land. And observe that the princes of
the world also have banquetings and delights, and in every place or state into
which they go, their banquetings are with them; and in whatever place pleases them,
they make a prison-house. For the sun in twelve hours circles round, from the
east unto the west; and when he has accomplished his course, his light is
hidden in the night-time, and the night is not disturbed by his power. And in
the hours of the night the sun turns round in his rapid course, and turning
round begins to run in his accustomed path. As for the sun that is with thee,
thou wise man, from thy childhood till the completion of thy old age, thou
knowest not where he runs in the night-time, so as to circle round to the place
of its course. Is it necessary for thee to inquire into those things that are
hidden from thee?—Early Church Fathers, Empher, demonstration XXII, Of Death and the Latter
Times, 24.0 -
Ephrem Syrus is in the 'Apophthegmata Patrum', Appendix 1 of Patrologia Graeca 65, page 168. This is why he can't be found in the Wikipedia listing of Patrologia Graeca, since it doesn't even list the appendices to PG 65, let alone the names of all the writers whose comments are in the volume.
The elusive pseudo-Ephrem commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4 isn't there (nor the real commentary, if it even exists in Greek), but other comments of Ephrem's are. Comments from the early church fathers in Migne don't always appear under their own names, they're sometimes buried in assorted fragments or collections under various titles.
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Mark A. Smith said:fgh said:
Here's the one containing Ephraim: Patrologia Orientalis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrologia_Orientalis.
I simply can't find Ephraim/Ephrem in this listing. Maybe you saw him but I can't find him.
Do what I did: search the page for "eph". You'll find him under volume 30. Only the hymns, though.
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I'm guessing the acute in 'Éphrem' may be confusing the text search in some browsers.
Volume 30. 1963. 894 p. Texts in Armenian, Georgian, Latin and Syriac
- I - Hymnes de saint Éphrem conservées en version arménienne. Texte
arménien, traduction latine et notes explicatives / Louis Mariès et
Charles Mercier,
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0 - I - Hymnes de saint Éphrem conservées en version arménienne. Texte
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Not to mention that Ephrem is sometimes transliterated as Aphrem in other sources. Search engines are only so good...
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Yeah, and in Swedish it's Efraim, and I believe the Swedish Syrian Orthodox call him Afram or Afrem.
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